Episode 9: a Favor of Open Seas
8th of Verimensis
As evening fell across Cortex, the two groups met up at the room Partick and Sam had rented from a local inn. Ulrich briefed Jeremie on the possible transportation they had found and he was, to put it nicely, less than pleased. Aelita butted in, offering her reassurance that Emily was a friend and could be trusted but he wasn't swayed, answering with "Pirates ship slaves and smuggle illegal goods to supply criminals! You can't expect me to work with one in good conscience!"
Yumi muttered something under her breath, and Patrick eyed her suspiciously. She glared back at him. She suspected that he knew her secret and was only holding his tongue for the sake of his cousin. Aelita took Jeremie's hands and pleaded, "Emily is a good person! She would never sell slaves or supply illegal goods! She just needs us to provide backup, and we'll be on our way to Carthage in no time!" She smiled warmly at him, having abandoned her wig and cap but keeping the remainder of her disguise on. She'd tied her short hair back, and he freed one of his hands so he could push a stray hair out of her face. Aelita smiled, leaning her head against his hand, and she added calmly, "After all, she did help me escape the Gypsy."
Patrick sat up straighter. "The Gypsy? What is that, a slaver ship?" He asked innocently.
Jeremie glared at him and angrily shouted it was none of his business. Odd scoffed and leaned closer to the magistrate. "If he were my cousin, I'd ask for an annulment."
Patrick chuckled. "He's not so bad, as I'm sure you've observed." He listened quietly as Jeremie, Yumi, Laura, Ulrich and Aelita argued about whether or not to take Emily's offer. "By the way, what's going on between him and Aelita? I know that they were dating when you guys came to Kadic, but… something has changed. Or is it just me?"
Odd hesitated. "I don't know what's safe to tell. Also, Aelita's paying me to keep quiet about some things."
He grinned. "Paying you in what? Silver? Don't you all share your coin?"
"Most of it, but of course we all have our own purses." Odd stretched. "But she's giving me some coin and string."
"String?"
"…I'm easily amused."
Patrick laughed loudly, obviously at an awkward time as the others, even Sam, looked at him. He covered his mouth embarrassedly, covering his remaining giggles. Ulrich folded his arms and said, "Listen, either we meet Emily at Jaufre's warehouse or we don't. Just know that if we don't we're likely stuck here until either Xana attacks or the sundered Veil brings the zombie apocalypse to Cortex."
Laura opened her eyes wider. "I hadn't thought of it that way." She folded her hands together. "If those are our options… then I don't think we've got a choice. We've got to trust the kn—the pirate." She pushed stray hair behind her ear. "I wouldn't normally suggest that we work with a criminal, but I suppose that's the least of our problems."
Yumi grinned, a slight twinkle in her eye. "Then the group votes in favor of trusting Emily?" She suggested, "Majority rules, no?"
Jeremie looked gently at Aelita, who smiled at him. "Very well. Where is Jaufre's warehouse?" He asked.
Sam crossed her legs. "Near the docks. He's a fish merchant. Don't need the wolf to smell that." She said. She twisted her red locks. "You know, I never liked fish."
"Right. Then we should get moving. I hope that Emily doesn't expect us to do anything illegal." Jeremie said.
The Heroes began to walk for the door, and Odd stood to follow them. Patrick shot up. "Wait! I'm coming with you!"
Jeremie froze, and he turned. "Like Tartarus you are!" He cursed.
Patrick crossed his arm, refusing to back down. "Listen, Jeremie. From the way you all talk… you're in serious trouble. It's not like me to pry, and I'm sure that I'm the last person that you want to talk to about this, but it's my duty as a magistrate to protect the citizens of the mortal realm from danger." He narrowed his eyes. "And where you all tend to go, dangers follow. And besides…" he smirked slightly, "you never did tell me why you called me here."
Jeremie scowled, and he looked like he was about to argue. Laura spoke up. "I think it would be a good thing to bring a magistrate along with us on our journey. After all, we often encounter monsters and hostile witches."
"Do not forget that I can silence magicians just like a magistrate!" The Wise Man said.
Sam stood and walked next to Patrick. "There's more to being a magistrate than just silencing magicians. There's a resistance to dark magic, and access to otherwise classified information and equipment." She said.
Jeremie's eyes flashed briefly to Aelita, and then to Odd, who stood closest to the pair. The Scout nodded, as if he approved. "Very well, but you follow my lead, do you understand? I'm in charge here." He warned.
Patrick smiled, and he grabbed his rapier. Sam attached her own weapons to her belt, and the two non-Heroes followed the other teenagers out of the door.
Emily tossed a copper piece up into the air, catching it again. She'd been waiting for hours, and she was beginning to wonder if the others had abandoned her. She spotted a group of people standing in the shadows, and she jumped behind some boxes. Soon, she spotted the brown-haired human boy that had accompanied Aelita into the tavern. She smiled slightly, and Emily jumped over the crates.
She waved at them, surprised to see so many had joined the young elvhen girl. She spotted four new members of the party—an unhappy-looking blond human, another human who looked similar to the stern one despite being more handsome and happier, an elf with vallaslin despite not appearing to be a wilder, and a Halfling.
Emily approached them, and the blond stepped between her and the others. She stopped in her tracks, confused. "You're Emily 'the Duchess' then?" He asked.
"Yep, that's me! Captain of the Skidbladnir!" She smiled. "And I don't believe we've met. You are…?"
He introduced himself as Jeremie, and the others did as well. "Now, I want to know what we'll be doing for you. Ae… Tathas said that you were a pirate?"
Emily seemed confused for a moment. "Oh, right! 'Tathas'!" She laughed. "If everything goes according to plan, you won't have to do anything."
They seemed surprised to hear this. "You would give us safe passage to Carthage in exchange for nothing?" Sam asked. "That… can't be! There's always a catch to things like that!"
Emily smiled at Laura. "I suppose you already know what I say to people who talk about catches, no?" She looked back to the other elf. "The catch to this is I don't trust Laugri to play fair. If he doesn't, then he'll bring reinforcements. Or, if his skills outmatch mine, I want you to help me cheat."
"You're going to cheat in a duel?" Ulrich asked, surprised.
"Oh, sweetie. I'm a pirate. That's just what I do." She cooed, touching his shoulder gently. She could've sworn that she saw Yumi's eyes glow red when she did.
Jeremie considered this. "Is the duel set to take place in the warehouse?" Emily nodded. He looked to Odd and Yumi. "How many people do you hear within?"
Both closed their eyes. After looking at each other, Yumi replied, "Just the one."
Jeremie looked to Laura. "How quietly can you cast spells?"
She folded her arms. 'What do I look like to you, a spy? I don't do stealth, Jeremie. My spells are loud and proud. They have to be, or they don't work as well."
He turned to Aelita. "What about you?"
"I've learned to hide my magic well, remember? I can cast spells without people even noticing." She smiled.
Jeremie took in this information. "Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, I want the three of you to join Emily inside of the warehouse. Tathas, wait for Yumi's signal and then transform into a small animal so you can watch the fight. Rig it if you have to. Laura, Patrick, Sam—you three will stay with me. Yumi will tell us if we're needed."
Ulrich approached his friend. "Are you sure it's safe for you to be out here? No one is supposed to be on the streets after curfew, so if the guards see you, they'll attack."
Jeremie nodded. "And we'll fight back. We may not be as skilled in battle as you, Ulrich, but we're not helpless."
Emily nodded. "Okay then. We're going inside."
Emily pushed open the door to the warehouse, and she looked around before waving the three Heroes in. Aelita rushed to stand close to the door, remaining within sight of Yumi. Jeremie and the others joined her, doing their best to remain in the shadows.
The pirate queen disarmed several traps, and she smiled as she looked around. "Laugri! Where are you, you filthy swab?" She called out.
A tall man with fair skin and hair appeared out of the shadows. "Emily. I was beginning to wonder when you'd show up." Ulrich studied his armor and his war paint—his armor was adorned with furs and feathers, and his war paint made him resemble an artic troll-bear. He realized that this man was a Tundrastrider—one of the few who didn't leave the original homeland of the humans after the Ice Age, which preceded the Origin Age. The land was considered virtually uninhabitable for almost one hundred years, which is why the humans left to conquer Elvhenan. They called the old country 'the Tundrastride', and it was believed that none of the Remnants, another name for Tundrastriders, had survived. Obviously, this presumption was wrong and provided new opportunities for colonization. "In fact, I'm surprised you knew where to find me."
Emily folded her arms. "Tell your men to burn the letters next time." Her fingers twitched, and the Heroes knew she was preparing to strike.
Laugri laughed. "Where's Duncan's money?" He said, his smile vanishing and replaced with cold eyes.
Emily furrowed her brows. "Peter Duncan's not getting a soapy copper off of me, so why don't you tell him that?"
"Those slaves were worth a hundred gold a head, and you let them go! Do you expect him to forget a debt like that?" Laugri shouted.
"It's not like they were cargo, Laugri, they were people!" Emily pointed out.
He shook his head, and he drew his ax—a massive thing that required two hands to carry. "There's only one way to settle this." Odd noticed that the ax was made of a special type of metal only found in the Tundrastride, and it was shaped to resemble a type of wolf that lived there. He strangely felt offended that such a lowlife would carry the blade of such a noble animal. "To the death, Emily!"
Emily stood motionless as he charged her, and when he was just close enough, she jumped up into the air, using his shoulder to propel herself away. He slammed his blade onto the stone floor, kicking up dust. Emily drew her daggers, the same ones Aelita had described when she spoke of her escape. "To the death, Laugri." She said, turning on her heel.
He stood shakily, and giving out a battle cry, he charged her again. She rushed towards him as well, and she slid under him, slicing at his ankle. It knocked him off-balance though it didn't quite touch skin. Laugri caught himself by pushing his weight against his blade, and he stood. "That was a dirty trick!"
"I'm a pirate, you bilge rat!" Emily laughed. She rubbed her daggers together, creating a slight spark. "I don't play fair."
Laugri lunged forward and he slashed at her with his ax. She dodged it, but he kicked her, sending her to the ground. She held her stomach, and when she spotted his ax about to crash down on her, she rolled out of the way. Yumi signaled Aelita, who transformed into a fox and rushed inside. Then, she returned her attention to the fight.
Emily jumped to her feet, and she reached for her explosives. She slammed it on the ground, and it exploded in a puff of smoke. Aelita transformed back into an elf, removed her shoes and began changing the ground slightly to shift the battle in Emily's favor. She also put a weak enchantment on her daggers, giving them a slight electric charge.
The smoke cleared, and Laugri had appeared to have lost his balance. Emily jumped as high as she could, spun around and landed on his shoulders. She began to rip at his chest, and he screamed as the electricity slightly burned his skin. Emily gave out a battle cry as she raised her daggers high above her head. The pirate drove them into Laugri's skull with every fiber of her being.
The Tundrastrider fell, and Emily yelped as she was trapped under him. "Uh, guys? A little help!" She called out. Yumi ran to her side and lifted him easily off of her. "Well, that was exciting." Emily said, mourning her shirt as she realized the blood stains would likely never come out.
"That was it? I was hoping that we could do some fighting!" Odd complained.
Yumi folded her arms. "Only a fool goes looking for a fight, Odd."
"I know, Yumes, but we never get to do any real fighting anymore!" He said.
Yumi hid a smile. "I'd thank the gods, were I you."
Ulrich looked to Emily as Aelita joined them. "What's this about you freeing slaves?" He asked.
Emily sighed. "Have you heard of Peter Duncan? He's a really powerful pirate. He runs a raiding operation called the Deathdogs. I had hoped to join them a few years ago, thinking that I'd make my name as a pirate faster by making friends." She shifted uncomfortably. "He'd hired me to take some cargo to a port that connected to the Tundrastride. I got a bad feeling about the job halfway through. I knew I shouldn't have since I was so close, but I checked to see the cargo—I didn't know what it was before; his men had loaded the ship, not my boys.
"It turns out I was carrying about a hundred slaves. They were sick, all of them hungry, most of them children. I saw their faces, and I couldn't…" Emily rubbed her face with her hands, as if she were trying to hide tears. "Anyway, thanks. For all your help." Her smile was directed at Aelita.
The elvhen girl smiled weakly. "We didn't do much, Emily."
"You did more than you realize."
"But you're doing more. This is the second time, possibly the third, that I owe you my life." Aelita said, taking Emily's hand.
She smiled happily. "We'll discuss payment later, okay?" She said sarcastically, and they both giggled.
Emily left the warehouse, telling Jeremie to prepare his group, for the ship was to sail out in only a few days' time. He watched her leave, and Ulrich and Aelita walked out of the warehouse. "She was covered in blood! What happened to the body?" The Wise Man asked.
"Don't worry, ma vhenan. Yumi and Odd are… taking care of it." Aelita said.
He sighed, and he looked to the others. "We should get some sleep, at least. We'll get ready tomorrow morning and meet at the docks in the afternoon."