The Spinner, perhaps overtaken by a desire to bestow upon some poor souls Her largesse, soon brought the adventurers face to face with Captain Madison. He lay in wait within another tunnel locked behind yet another door. A veritable maze was this grotto, Ever bitterly observed. Naturally, the Yellow Jackets would find nothing of suspicion during their various expeditions. There were too many places to hide, and so many men dedicated to the hiding.
Though it was dimly lit, she could clearly make out the shape of the Captain in the dark chamber. He was hunched over a pair of dogs eagerly feeding on scraps. One of them sported a red bandana around its neck: presumably, the favorite. The creak of the opening gate did not alert Captain Maidson, to Ever's surprise. Something was wrong. He was not so afraid of the adventurers who had come to pursue him as he had previously seemed.
"Ye've got some blood on yer hands tae make it this far," said the pirate, grinning but otherwise not acknowledging them. "Ye think I'd let ye get away with slaughterin' half me crew?"
"Fuck you," said the archer, drawing his bow.
"Aye," said Eyrisunn, drawing his sword. "That was on you, O Captain. Had you turned yourself in, we needn't have slaughtered half your crew."
The Captain let out a low laugh. "Look at the Sea Wolf playin' at hero. We all know what you really want. It's what we all want."
With this, he slammed his hand down on a lever. Cages opened to his left and right, from which ravenous dogs came bolting out. Eyrisunn drew forth his shield, waving off the majority of them. Yet they barked at the archer's heels, who urged Pudada stand behind him. A vicious cacophony of barking filled the chamber, then was joined by the Captain's mad laughter. From beyond Eyrisunn's shield, Ever could spy the gleeful, contemptible Madison kicking open the doors behind him.
"Guts an' glory!" cried the captain. "Glory an' guts! What wealth we make is all by blood! Don't think yer any different, 'adventurers'!"
"Bastard." Ever raised her scepter. At her silent command, electricity crackled from the ruby at its head. "You dare run away from a fight?"
The captain sneered. "I'd love tae see ye fall tae yer demise, lovely, but it'll content me tae see yer mangled corpses upon my return."
"Get back here!" Erysiunn hacked at a dog, plunging forward. The barking grew louder still. Madison disappeared behind the doors. "Get back here, coward!"
"These bleedin' mutts!" Ser Archer bellowed, shaking his leg wildly. A dog had caught hold of his ankle, biting into it ferociously. It did not know, however, that the ensuing punch would break its jaw; and with a smash and a crack, the dog was writhing on the ground, and Ser Archer was returned to releasing arrows by the thirds.
"They're everywhere! We must put them down at once!" Pudada waved her cane. A breath of white magick blew from its branches to her comrades. "You don't think Lumpy was eaten by one of these, do you!?"
"I saw him run off," called Ever. She was making to offer words of consolation, but a faraway voice pierced her thoughts.
Ashes unto ashes. The voice did not belong to her. It was a hungry crackle, low and arhythmic, like the rumble in a man's throat. Aether tingled in her fingertips, restless and urging.
"If they indeed devoured him, we can yet afford him one mercy," growled Ever, lifting her scepter. Flames encircled its head, then erupted into a current of heat and light, catching onto the ragged body of one beast, then a second, then a third. Soon, the howling was turned to whimpering; the hounds were kneeling, writhing under the melting of their flesh, waiting for the sweet release of death.
Eyrisunn looked around, a shock glistening in his widened eyes; but a smile played at his lips, and Ever could see the glistening belonged to the fire. He was hungry for more.
Clearing his throat, the paladin approached the doors and, forcefully, kicked them open. "Onward, my friends. He can't be so far ahead."
He took longer strides, not looking back. Pudada, perhaps recalling their first obstacle of the grotto, hurried to keep pace with him. The poor lass; did she yet believe the fault lay with her? Or was she simply too gentle to cool Eyrisunn's passion, to tell him to slow down? Ever would have to—
"Oye," said the archer, joining them, and a baffled Ever followed. "If ye run too fast, ye'll run out o' range. Then don't come cryin' to us that ye'll never see yer wife's face again."
"We have no time to waste," said Eyrisunn, already several yalms away.
His voice echoed in the cavern, audible over the echo of a crashing tide. Deep in the chamber, pirates laboured over barrels and stacks of heavy sacks. There could be no doubt; this was their storage pit, where they hauled ill begotten goods on and off their ships. Primitive structures, perhaps in preparation for shelving and further storage, reached for the ceiling of the grotto, half built. Torches partly illuminated the chamber, but some of the light was cool, as though touched by the breath of water. A secret entrance, an emergency escape: the Yellow Jackets would have the answers to their many failures.
Pirates and their hounds, immediately alerted to the presence of the adventurers, rushed to meet Eyrisunn with swords, lances and arrows alike. The paladin, with a mighty roar, raised his shield. Magic rose up to protect him, white and warm, but it could only protect him for so long. Ever raised her scepter, crafting a net of lightning over the ravenous mob; Ser Archer opened fire on the crowd of eight, perhaps nine; and Pudada, stumbling, reached the side of her meaty companion, having mustered all the fortitude of desperation that could spring from her tiny body.
Even should Ser Eyrisunn have believed in the determination of his healer, what he failed to account for was the limitations of her body. Having chased him and kept pace with his large, Roegadyn steps, she was out of breath. Her spells were weak, and Ser Eyrisunn's barrier, growing weaker by the second. A sword clamoured against the paladin's silver pauldron, but gratefully, did not pierce to the flesh. Arrows soared past the Roegadyn, cutting cloth and flesh over his shoulder. Ever condemned the paladin's continuous lack of judgment. So much for his experience, let alone his aptitude for leadership.
"There's too many," shouted Ever, spinning lightning into fire. The screams of men and the smell of their burning flesh broke into the air. "You should have heeded Ser Archer's warning!"
"Ser Archer?" The archer glanced at her, clearly confused. "Who in the hells is 'Ser Archer'?"
Fury, give me strength. Ever gritted her teeth. There was no time to address that.
"Less talk, more action!" shouted Eyrisunn, slicing open the throat of a pirate. This made him vulnerable to the swing of a lance, which struck him in the head. The blade had nearly broken his head piece, but he recovered, and a spell came from Pudada, helping him off his feet.
"We'll have slayed the whole crew before long!" continued Ever, furiously freezing the feet of three pirates before her. The archer flung his arrows at them, which kept their attention.
"Miss Starfall!" His blade swept across a pirate's neck, cleaving the head from it. His face was splattered with blood; his brown eyes shone red with rage. "You will fight, or you will die!"
"Ser Eyrisunn!" gasped Pudada, nearly dropping her cane.
He made no reply. There were men yet lunging axes, swords and spears, which were deflected by his dauntless shield. His sword flashed, then sank into the belly of still another foe. Ever could not stand to watch—but she could not withdraw from the battle. And she would not freeze when her companions needed her most! For she spied an errant marauder ready to bring his axe down upon Pudada's head; and before Ser Archer could intervene, and before Ser Eyrisunn could take notice, Ever swung her scepter and struck the damn pirate in his gourd of a head. The assailant fell with a pathetic thud.
Pudada shot a tearful glance toward Ever, but her eyes bespoke a deep gratitude. Ever merely nodded, then moved to stand to the right of the conjurer, lest their enemies seized another chance to take their healer down.
It did not take long to slay the rest of the men, much to Ever's surprise. Many of them had been drunk; some of them tired; the rest, unskilled at best. Between her thaumaturgy and Pudada's conjury, their foes were rendered helpless to the sting of magic, though they were better able to block arrows and Eyrisunn's sword. However, the Roegadyn did not stop to acknowledge this; he merely stepped over the bodies and continued further into the grotto.
"Would you slow down?" barked Ever. "This is ridiculous! Look ahead. There is no ship."
"There may yet be a ship, should the grotto go deeper," said Eyrisunn, unperturbed.
"That is ridiculous," spat Ever. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
Eyrisunn ignored her. Ser Archer spoke up in his stead.
"Adventurin' is like that, Star," said the archer. "Sometimes, all they tell ye is tae go by yer gut an' find the fiend they're wantin' ye tae kill. They didn't give us much t' go by here, neither. We've gotta give chase… but we've gotta be careful, too."
So saying, he extended his hand to Pudada, who was still catching her breath.
"Thank you, my dear," she said.
"And you're fine with that?" Ever demanded. "You're fine with throwing your life away for the hope of earning a bag of gil?"
"You are free to go, Miss Starfall," said Eyrisunn, casting her a glance, "if you are above us."
Disgust twisted Ever's features, then irritation, then anger. She sheathed her scepter, but followed them behind nonetheless.
"I have my own reasons for coming along," she said, "but that doesn't mean I'm willing to let you have the bounty all to yourself."
"Your own reasons?" Pudada looked up, clutching her cane to her chest. "What would those be?"
Colour rushed to Ever's face. Despite willing with every bone in her body against it, she glanced toward the archer, who peered at her curiously. Damn.
The Elezen pointed at her Hyuran companion. "It's this one here. He launched a fully grown Gigantoad into the sky with a single punch. It didn't fall back to the earth!"
Eyrisunn stopped in his tracks and laughed. "What? What are you saying?"
"Into the sky?" Pudada turned her gaze to the archer, who scratched his head and chuckled weakly, as though he were acting humble about the whole affair. "It disappeared into the sky?"
Ever abruptly pointed at the archer. "That's precisely what I'm saying! There's something wrong with this man! No man can launch a creature of that size into the sky! With! A single! Punch!"
Eyrisunn patted the archer's head. "That would be why they call you Biff, eh?"
The archer blinked. "Oh? How comes that?"
Ever squinted at Eyrisunn. "What did you say?"
Eyrisunn chuckled. "The lad's name. It's Biff Guy. Don't you think that's fitting?"
"It is, I think," agreed Pudada.
Biff looked between Eyrisunn, Pudada and Ever. "It's fittin'?"
Ever waved her hands and shook her head, utterly disbelieving. "You're telling me… this man… is literally named 'Punch Man'?"
"It's a family name," insisted Biff, shaking his fist. "What's wrong with it?"
"Biff is a family name?" Ever raised her eyebrows.
"No, no! Guy. Guy's a family name." Biff sighed and shook his head. "What're ye stuck on this for?"
"A biff is a punch," said Ever. "How are you not getting this?"
"No, it's not. A Biff is a me."
"By all the gods in all their heavens!" Ever rubbed fingers in her tired eyes. "He doesn't hear it!"
"He's a bit simple," Eyrisunn offered, "but he's a good one."
"Simple!" huffed Biff, pushing an accusing finger into Eyrisunn's chest. "Yer the one what's simple, eager beaver! Pullin' all the way through without a care fer yer healer!"
"We're getting distracted," Eyrisunn sniffed. "Come along. The Captain can't be far."