Reclamation
"Sir, another messenger from Captain Erd Uleb Dintab of the Black Fire Pirates is here."
"Turn him away again. This time though let him know that the next messenger he sends is going to be killed on the spot."
"Yes captain!"
Dintab's messenger took great care to leave this pirate's territory quickly. As it had been for as long as he could remember, sometimes merely stepping foot into another pirate captain's turf could mean death. Even as powerful as Dintab was, there could be no guarantee for his safety. The messenger arrived back at the guild base and breathed a large sigh of relief upon entering.
He made his way swiftly from room to room on the way to the captain's chamber. Fellow pirates noticed only briefly his passing as they were all preoccupied with matters entrusted to them as well. Dintab's chamber had no guards at its door, for he never needed any. Yet even given his power, there was always one person that he allowed with him nearly at all times. The messenger knocked, and surely enough the young pink haired girl opened the door and went to the captain.
"Ethiw Trencur has returned." The girl whispered to Dintab as he stared out a southern window overlooking most of the city.
"Come in Ethiw."
"Aye sir." The messenger responded.
Dintab looked upon his messenger as he stood just past the dorrway. His entire body was covered in heavy wool clothing, including his head.
"I've told you before that all that isn't necessary with me. I'm fairly certain that at this point, none of our comrades care either. Now, I'd rather not have to order you to take it off, but I will."
"Sorry captain."
After a few short moments, Ethiw felt lighter and much freer as the heavy clothing fell to the ground. The messenger smiled at his captain, standing now only in a plain white shirt and pants. Dintab smiled back almost longingly at the pale figure before him. It was like looking at a specter. No sign of color anywhere on the young mans body, nor even in his eyes.
"Beautiful…" Dintab breathed heavily. "Every time I look upon your ghostly visage, it makes me think of death."
The one eyed pirate walked briskly over to his skeletal subordinate and pulled up his hand in his own. Without a word more, the captain pulled the pale boy close and the two embraced. Ethiw felt that he must have been blushing, though there were never any visual signs of it. After their kiss, Dintab led the other to his makeshift throne.
"Sit. Amd? Come over here as well please."
The young girl came quickly over and Dintab placed her in the chair next to the pale young man.
"There are some things that I must say while the opportunity is available to me. It's been a week since the arrival of the Datri brothers, yet no activity out of the norm that I am aware of. I don't know when this city will erupt, but I know it is merely a matter of time. When that time comes, I have made arrangements for the Black Fire to leave this city with my dear Amd as its new leader."
The two young pirates looked at each other in surprise for a moment before looking to their captain questioningly.
"In addition to this, you, Ethiw will become second in command. I am taking only a handful of the crew with me. The most troublesome and bloodthirsty of the bunch, so that perhaps if you were to choose it, you could end this life of piracy for yourselves."
"Erd!" The girl cried out.
Dintab placed a gloved hand on the two's cheeks to calm them as he stared at each in turn.
"You two are the dearest things to me in this life. Amd, when I found you alone and wandering amidst the rubble of the last Saint Morning Wolves guild ship six months ago, I had every intention of sending you to be with the burning corpses that were your parents. I don't know why I didn't. I think that at first I was just captured by your youth and beauty, as you stood there bewildered to the point you could not cry. You weren't the first young girl I've taken into these chambers, however you were the last, and the only one to remain for more than the night.
Ethiw, we've known each other for a considerable amount longer. I knew the moment I saw you beaten and left bleeding in that alleyway that you and I were meant to be together. We later found the miserable group responsible and consecrated our love on their lifeless bodies. Even over the time you've spent with me and all the things you've seen, you managed to retain a strange innocence about you.
Only by knowing and loving you both, have I come to finally understand that I am a monster. It took two of life's castoffs to allow me to understand that I do not want you to end up as I am. So consider this the last order of your captain. The two of you must live on. You are both without any sin, and I want it to remain as such for as much time as I have left here."
Amd could hold back no longer, leaping into the body of the man before her, and throwing her arms about his large frame.
"But, sir, what about you?" Ethiw asked.
"Unlike you I am no innocent. I am beyond redemption. All I can do is chase down my sins until they bury me"
There was a shaking and a loud noise following that the three felt. From out the southern window, plumes of smoke could be seen from the city.
"And so it finally begins." Dintab said, pushing away from the weeping girl and walking to the door. "Amd Kinp and Ethiw Trencur, your lives are now your own."
The two sat together for what seemed like an eternity alone in the room as the sound of another explosion could be heard from out the window.
Throughout the entire city the sounds of battle could be heard. Screaming and shouting echoed in the streets. Smoke from several explosions choked the sky above, casting darkness over Saint Morning. Bodies littered the ground that had become slick with blood.
"It looks like you came through quite well with your part of the plan Tina." Sefton said looking at the short haired brunette. "It's a shame that your business will be set back so much with the loss of all the fuel."
Tina tipped her purple cap and smiled. Sefton laughed to himself. She was wearing almost all purple, from her knee high heels to her blouse and short skirt. This girl didn't seem like the fighting type, and yet here she was ready and almost eager to go. Tina pulled two small canisters of fuel and readied her custom ignition mechanism.
"Shall we start Sefton?"
"Oh, after you."
The pair went through the building quickly coming against very little resistance. Most pirates were out in the streets now, combating fires, confusion, and an unforeseen enemy. News of the uprising never got back to most pirate leaders until it was brought to them in the form of assassins. It took some work, but Sefton and Tina both walked out of their first pirate home stained with the blood of their target. Without taking time to rest, they both hurried on to the next leader assigned to them.
At the other end of Saint Morning, Dawelien and Weneibo watched in awe for a moment of their new partner's ability.
"Martin certainly is agile for a man going on sixty." Dawelien said, watching the old white haired man beat down a pirate with two swift swings of his staff.
The man's blue robes made constant noise like that of a flag in the wind as he moved from one pirate to another. The next beat back with a hard front kick of his sandaled foot, followed by a blast of air magic from his staff.
"Come on!" Weneibo yelled. "We're taking too much time here; we have to find our target!"
"Wait!" Dawelien yelled chasing after his friend as they pushed through a small group of pirates, with Martin covering their rear.
Dust fell from beams with every rumble of a new explosion in the underground complex holding the citizens of Saint Morning that were non-combatants. The room was packed wall to wall nearly, with children and the elderly. The few that belonged to neither group looked to one young lady standing at the front of the room.
"Miss Nithiw…is everything going to be alright?" One of them asked.
"What's going on up there?" Asked another.
"I realize that you all had little time to prepare for this. I know you are doing much on faith here and I am grateful. Please understand that we couldn't keep everyone informed for fear that our plans would be found out."
"What plans?"
"We are taking back the city."
Whispers washed over the room.
"As I speak, the remnants of Saint Morning's army are engaging pirates in the streets with the help of volunteers that I have been getting into the city slowly. Amongst those volunteers, we have several groups that will be working under the cover of confusion and targeting guild leaders. Obviously, they won't get all of them, however we expect to scare the weaker guilds underground long enough to reestablish some authority and order."
"What authority?"
"How?"
More questions rose with the voices of the people. Nithiw held both hands up and slowly regained the crowd.
"Please! Please listen! This is only the first stage of reclaiming the city. We will try to eliminate as many of the major pirate guilds as possible and when the moment is right, we will move into the second phase with help from an old friend of mine."
There was a knock against the door just behind Nithiw. Upon opening it, Modos came into the light.
"How are things going?" Nithiw asked.
"Mostly as planned, but we may have a problem."
"What is it?"
"Targos."
Far to the north, and just east of Saint Morning's great dock, Dintab stood waiting. Behind him there were two mounds with simple wooden posts driven into them. He watched for some time the carnage of the city before finally the moment he had been waiting for arrived. The pirate smiled as he watched the man in red armor come toward him, and then stop only about thirty meters away.
"I knew you'd come." He said staring at the man with his one good eye.
"I knew you'd be here."
"Well of course. This is where we've done battle on several occasions. It only seems fitting that this is where you should die."
"You seem to forget who took that eye of yours Dintab."
"And you forget who took your loves."
Targos' eyes swept quickly over the two graves behind the pirate. The warrior closed his eyes a moment damming up the memories. He swallowed hard and opened his eyes trying to refocus merely on his opponent. The other man just smiled.
"I suppose that would be silly. You forgetting about that. After all, that is what began this grand affair of ours isn't it? Our first battle together and we were comrades of a sort. I commissioned you to help me eliminate a rival guild, and you brought along that woman and boy. What were their names? Oh it doesn't matter."
Targos put a hand on both his axe and sword.
"We had only known each other for a small number of days, but I really knew you. I knew you in ways those two never could. You became my first love you know. Never had I met somebody so pathetic in my life. I was the only one to see it, the only one to feel it. Your hatred. Your anger. Your sadness. Your loneliness and self loathing. All these things you kept shut in while living a farce with the new family you created."
Targos drew both weapons and let them hang at his sides.
"I fell in love with your pain and so I had to see it unchained. After I killed them, it was glorious watching you break, bringing you to the edge of sanity and leaving you there. Every time we met after that, it was incredible. Like pure ecstasy when we exchanged blows each time, and we grew together. You developed your earthen magic and two weapon style. After you took my eye, I learned fire magic and left you a burning pile of flesh. We hadn't seen each other since then. Now look at you. New armor, new friends, same old pathetic Targos though."
Datri clenched his teeth, feeling the dam spring its first leak.
"I thought I saved you from the lies. I thought I freed you from yourself. But here you are still lying to yourself and everyone else. Feigning happiness and strength, while inside you suffer on. Thinking you hate me for killing those fools. I know the truth. You don't hate that I killed them. You hate that I destroyed the illusion, and deep down inside, you know that I'm the only one who will ever truly understand you. Deep inside, you love me for it."
The last beams of reason and focus gave way to the purest flood of hatred as Targos howled like a wild animal and charged at the pirate. Dintab quickly put one palm to the grass and summoned a field of ice. Before laying a step onto the frozen ground, the red armored man swung his sword along the earth in the same direction as his enemy. Just as in the city, rock and sand began to roll forward crushing through the frosted floor, with its caster running in the dusty wake.
Dintab easily avoided the resulting stone spear but his enemy was nearly on top of him already. The pirate sidestepped a downward swing from the axe and more closely a backswing from the sword. Within the same motion, Targos attempted to bring the axe upward but found Dintab's foot on the handle. The one eyed man's attacks were faster than the other seemed to remember, landing a combination of punches and one kick. While stumbling back Targos swung out with his sword, merely managing a cut along the other man's boot.
"You…you bastard! You cut my boot! I love these boots!" The pirate said staring angrily at the bottom of his right shoe, now cut wide open.
"Stop saying that word like you have the faintest clue of what it means! You could never know what real love is you sick freak!"
Targos took the opportunity before him, whispering lowly then slamming one foot hard on the ground summoning a small earthquake centered on his opponent, then leaping at him. Surprisingly the pirate avoided both weapons easily and countered with another combination of hits sending him to the ground, much further back this time.
"Really now, I'm a bloody pirate Targos. Most of my life I've spent on a ship and you expect me to be effected by a little tremor? Now get up!"
Now Dintab spoke his own magical words, also stomping hard on the earth. there was a low rumbling sound, and Targos could not roll away before water sprung forth from the ground, launching him several feet in the air. The pirate wasn't done though, now summoning shards of ice which he flung at the man while in the air. All but one was destroyed, while the last frosty dagger buried itself deep in Targos' shoulder before he crashed on the ground.
"How do you like my water skills? Dintab said with a laugh. "A very dear boy to me taught me these tricks. I think I'm coming along quite nicely. I have to admit though, I still favor fire."
As the red armored warrior struggled with pulling the slippery sliver of ice from himself, Dintab cast another spell. Making three sweeping gestures of his hands, three rows of fire grew across the field with Targos at the point of their intersection. After a moment of watching the blaze, the flames began to all retract toward the center of their crossing. The pirate stood in shock to see Targos on one knee, as the flames that were covering him slowly vanished.
"Well now. That explains the new armor. And here I thought you just liked the color. Fire absorbing armor…very clever." Dintab remarked while watching the other man struggle to his feet still in pain. "However, I'm glad to see that it still causes you a fair amount of pain in the process. Now this might just make things more fun."
Two curved blades of fire materialized in the pirate's hands which he sent at his enemy, watching gleefully as they spun through the air before hitting their mark. Targos gritted his teeth in pain but began walking forward as his armor absorbed the attack.
"Wonderful!" The man's one eye grew with excitement.
Dintab's fingers glowed red with his next spell. Waving both hands in front of him, he sent the small red balls fluttering slowly toward the other man. They hung in the air just a moment all about Targos before expanding rapidly, causing small fiery explosions popping around him like fireworks. He hadn't begun walking again before seeing an enormous flaming orb rocketing towards him. Attempting to brace himself, Targos planted his feet firmly and threw his hands in front of him.
When the dust from the explosion cleared Targos was barely standing, and he couldn't move. He looked across the field as his opponent was summoning one of his strongest flame attacks. From nothing soared into the air a large bird made completely of fire. Dintab played with it a little, sending the falcon toward a swarm of moth bees, incinerating them instantly, before finally directing the beast at his enemy. The blazing bird sailed through the air just above the ground leaving a scorched trail before ascending, then twisting as it arched back down directly onto Targos.
Flame, stone, and smoke plumed over where the man previously stood. Dintab only smiled as he came closer to realize his play thing had not been killed, but only nearly. Targos struggled to all fours, while flames still licked at him and his now brightly glowing armor.
"I think that armor is at its limit and you with it. Really though…did you expect that to be enough against me? An armor that absorbs flame, but not enough of the damage with it to really make a difference? You slightly disappoint me Targos. I'm afraid it's time to end this foreplay."
Targos could smell his own burnt hair tips, and feel his armors heat through the layers beneath it. He picked himself to one knee, and realized that the axe he had taken from the dead pirate a week prior had melted. At the sight of the liquid metal dripping between his fingers, burning them, he laughed.
"Oh how I love a man who can laugh at his own impending doom." The pirate said.
"Thank you."
"For what my dear?"
"For lending me your fire."
Targos pierced the earth before him with his sword and spoke quickly in a hushed voice causing the ground to shake violently.
"Is this a joke? Your last ditch effort is another little dirt quiver?" Dintab mocked.
Suddenly cracks began to scar the ground, carving out a giant circle with Targos at its center. Dintab finally became still in shock as the circle began to lift into the air slowly, leaving a crater in the hill the size of a large building. Targos appeared at the front of the massive floating chunk of earth as it began to tip slightly. The fire that had been held by his red armor began pouring off of him and wrapping his platform in flame.
"Where's your sense of humor now pirate!" He roared.
Targos was too far away to make out Dintab's smile. He did however notice the man throw one hand up in the air and begin to cast a spell. A harpoon of pure ice about half as long as the crater left in the ground materialized just as Targos commanded his meteor like mass to plummet. When the two spells collided the icy spear simply shattered apart, sending its shards through the air and into the fiery warrior. Dintab closed his one eye and smiled madly greeting his end. This was the last image Targos saw before the flaming stone struck its mark.