Zhen was the first to charge forward, lobbing three firebombs at Graymarrow. The skeleton lord fired his blunderbuss at the mid-air bombs, causing them to explode. From the smoke, Koa lunged towards Graymarrow, sword drawn. Just as he went to strike, Graymarrow grabbed his blade, seemingly unfazed by the ex-reaper's attempt, before lifting him up by the sword and tossing him to the side. "Ha! Is that all you got?" Graymarrow laughed before flinching slightly as a dagger lodged itself into his shoulder. "Hardly." Ali replied with a glare before tossing another dagger. Graymarrow caught it mid-air, just inches from his face, before tossing it over his shoulder, "Pathetic." Graymarrow tossed a lantern behind him, which seemed to open a portal in the ground which he disappeared through. "W-what the-?" Before Ali could finish her sentence, Graymarrow reappeared from behind her, blunderbuss raised at point blank.

"Oh no you don't!" Stella yelled as she caused a column of ice to shoot up from beneath Graymarrow, sending him flying and away from Ali. "Thanks, Stella!" Ali sighed in relief. "Thank me later! This isn't over!" Stella warned as Graymarrow got to his feet. "I recognise those powers…" Graymarrow chuckled, "Looks like those rumours of you being the real deal were true, eh? Good! I was worried this would be too easy!" Graymarrow hoisted a chest from the ground onto his shoulder and grabbed what looked like gold powder from it, throwing it onto the ground, "Come out and play, boys! Show no quarter!" Where the powder fell, skeletons emerged from the ground. "Zhen, Ali, you guys take care of the skellies!" Stella called out, "Koa, you okay?"

"Never better." Koa groaned, getting to his feet, sword in hand, "Let's do this."

Ali darted from skeleton-to-skeleton, taking them out with her daggers, while Zhen lobbed bombs at the larger groups for crowd control. Koa dashed at Graymarrow, managing to get a few hits in with his sword, while Stella hurled ice spikes at Graymarrow. Graymarrow growled, annoyed with the two pests buzzing around him as he hoisted up two chests from the ground and slammed them together, sending both Stella and Koa flying backwards, with Koa being thrown into Zhen. "Koa! Zhen!" Ali cried out. "Wǒmen méishì. We're ok." Zhen groaned as he was helped up by Koa. "WATCH OUT-!" Stella couldn't get her warning out quick enough as Graymarrow teleported behind the two and backhanded them with one of the chests, sending them flying into a nearby rock. "Y-you bully!" Ali yelled as she dashed towards Graymarrow. "Ali, don't-!" Stella tried to warn the navigator, but it was too late. Graymarrow spun on his heel and fired a well-aimed shot from his pistol into Ali's shoulder, causing her to instinctually drop her daggers as she gripped it in pain.

Graymarrow went to fire again at her but grunted as several ice spikes went crashing into his back. He glanced over his shoulder to see Stella standing defensively in front of Koa and Zhen in hybrid form, several ice spikes hovering around her as she glared fiercely at Graymarrow. Graymarrow just laughed, "I can smell your fear, ice dragon. You know you and your, heh, 'crew' stand no chance here! So how 'bout this then? Either you and your little friends here retreat and I may or may not hunt you down for all eternity. Or, you stay, fight, lose, and have your souls trapped for all eternity instead? I usually don't give pitiful crews like yours this choice, but I have a certain…respect for beasts like you. So, what's your choice, 'oh great and powerful dragon'?"

Stella's brows furrowed. She didn't want to admit it, but Graymarrow was right. The battle had only just begun, half the crew were already unable to fight, Ali didn't look like she could take much more, and even with her powers, Stella's chances of taking Graymarrow on solo were slim. Stella clenched her fists tightly as her hybrid form dropped.

"Retreat to the ship!"

Koa struggled to his feet, letting Zhen hang onto his shoulder as they tried to move as fast as they could towards the Icebreaker, with Ali and Stella helping them there. Graymarrow laughed as he watched the crew flee towards the shore. The crew quickly clambered onto the ship. Zhen slumped down against the mast, unable to stand and barely conscious as Koa, despite the pain he was in, raised the anchor. Ali went to lower one of the sails when she noticed something. "Stella?"

Stella was still stood on the shore with a sad smile. "W…what are you-?" Ali began but was cut off by Stella, "I'm sorry. But this is one fight I can't retreat from. I'll hold out for as long as I can. Just get to safety and get help. I'll find a way back if I can."

"Stella no!"

Stella conjured a gust of icy wind and pushed the Icebreaker out to sea. She watched painfully as Ali desperately cried out for her to stop as Koa had to hold the young navigator back from jumping overboard. "I'm sorry…" Stella muttered, trying to keep a brave face.

"I can't tell if you're brave or downright stupid."

Stella glared behind her as Graymarrow slowly made his way towards her. "They're safe. That's all that matters to me. If it means that my crew can live on," Stella reactivated her hybrid form as more spears of ice appeared in the air around her, "I'll take on your whole crew by myself, if I have to!"

"Ha! D'you wanna bet?" Graymarrow let out a wicked laugh as he summoned more skeletons, "Then let me see what you're really made of!"

Stella charged at Graymarrow as the ice spears took out any skeletons that got too close as she slashed at the skeleton lord again and again with her cutlass. To her surprise, instead of catching it like he did with Koa, he parried it with his enormous cleaver of a sword. Stella struggled against its weight as Graymarrow pushed against her sword with his own. He laughed seeing Stella's struggling yet determined expression, "Y'know what this reminds me of? The fight I had with that worm Slate! And I bet it'll end the same way too!" Graymarrow shoved his sword forward, sending Stella stumbling backwards, just managing to stay on her feet as she glared at him, "Don't count on it!" Stella and Graymarrow continued their swordfight up the slopes of Old Faithful until they were near the island's cliff edges. Their swords clashed again and again, neither soul wanting to let up with Stella throwing in the odd ice attack when she wasn't being swarmed by Graymarrow's crew. Stella diverted her attention for a split second to deal with an incoming keg skeleton. That's when Graymarrow saw his chance and with one well-aimed strike, he knocked the cutlass from Stella's hand, sending it toppling down the cliff. Stella glanced back in surprised.

Wrong move.

Graymarrow grabbed Stella by the throat and held her off the ground walking forward slowly. Stella desperately clawed at Graymarrow's arm, trying to get him to let go. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Graymarrow warned. Stella looked down and gasped. Graymarrow was holding her over the cliff's edge. She could see the sharp rocks and stormy waves below. "You should've fled with your crew, mate." Graymarrow laughed, "You should've just given up when you had the chance."

"I won't!"

Graymarrow seemed surprised as the determined expression never left Stella's face, "I won't give up, not even now! Because if I've learned anything since becoming a pirate, it's that things only become impossible if you give up hope. So, I won't! And if someone tells me it's wrong to have hope, I'll prove them wrong every time!"

Graymarrow was silent before slowly breaking out into a hysterical laugh, "Now I know why you look so familiar!" Graymarrow ceased laughing as he held Stella up higher, "Your mother said those exact same words to me."

"My…mom…?" Stella's eyes went wide as her determined expression finally dropped, replaced with one of fear as Graymarrow's voice became deathly serious.

"She was wrong too."

With that, Stella began to fall.


The Icebreaker slowly pulled alongside the docks of Dagger Tooth Outpost as the evening drew near. Sandra looked up and quickly ran out from behind her workbench as the crew disembarked the ship, "Did you do it? Did you really destroy Graymarrow? Did…did…" Sandra trailed off upon noticing the solemn expressions of the crew and realising there were only three, "Where's…where's Stella…?"

Ali looked like she was trying desperately to hold back tears as Zhen hugged her shoulders. "Stella…stayed behind to fight Graymarrow." Koa replied, "She didn't want us to die there…so she sent the ship away from the island and stayed behind."

"No…" Sandra's face became one of horror, "This…this is a joke, right? Some sick joke…please…"

Koa shook his head. Sandra sighed, "…if you're telling the truth, then…I don't think your friend is coming back. Even with that magic of hers…I don't think it'll be enough to defeat him." As soon as those words left Sandra's mouth, Ali gasped and went to dart back to the ship but was stopped by Zhen grabbing her arm. "Let me go!" Ali cried, the tears finally flowing, "We have to go back!"

"Ali, we wouldn't be able to change anything! Not like this!" Zhen argued, trying desperately to hold her back. "Zhen's right." Koa agreed, albeit sadly, "The way we are now, we won't be much help. The best thing we can do right now is heal, rest, and hope Stella can hold out until we get there." Ali stopped struggling for a moment before shrugging off Zhen and running off to the Tavern, tears still streaming down her face as she pushed pass Sandra who sighed and went back to her post. Zhen went to go after her, but Koa put a hand out to stop him, "Give her a moment. She might need some time to calm down."

"I feel so bad for leaving Stella like that…What if she doesn't…What if Graymarrow…?" Zhen couldn't get the words out without feeling like his throat was closing up. Koa hugged Zhen, "We have to have faith in her. That's all we can do." Zhen noticed though the hug that Koa was shaking. Koa would never show it or say it openly, but he was scared too. Zhen hugged him back tightly.


Ali wiped the tear stains from her face before taking a sip from her tankard. She looked out at the open sea, lost in her thoughts and worries.

"In my experience, drinking doesn't help with sadness." Ali heard Larinna approach from behind as she stood beside her, "Then again, I guess it differs from pirate-to-pirate, eh?"

"I know." Ali replied, "I just…feel so helpless. I haven't felt this useless since before I met Stella. Even then I don't think I was this bad."

"You're not useless." Larinna replied, "Stella made a call to keep you safe. Whether it was the right or wrong one, time will tell. But I don't think she'd regret keeping you safe."

Ali sighed and went to take another drink from her tankard when she suddenly stopped, eyes going wide. "Eh? What's wrong?" Larinna asked, concerned. "Is that…the Nightstalker?" Ali scrambled for her spyglass and aimed it at the ship that had appeared in the distance. Sure enough, she could see the wolf brand of the Nightstalker crew.

Ais's crew.

Ali ran down to the docks, Zhen and Koa not far behind, wanting to see what had gotten Ali riled up before they also noticed the Nightstalker pulling into port. "How are we going to tell Ais about this?" Zhen whispered to Koa. "I don't know. But maybe Ais can…can…" Koa trailed off as Ais left her captain's quarters and made her way to the gangplank. A figure had their arm draped over her shoulders for support, the figure looking battered and bruised. The crew gasped as the figure looked up and a familiar face smiled at them as she held up an equally familiar red jewel.

"Got it…"

To Be Continued…