Aching like a pulled muscle, the former captain of the Tourniquet regarded his first mate with bleary eyes. Years hidden in shadows had been unkind, reflected by the glare of lantern light swept across the deck. Black hair hung in knotted clumps over a face etched with more contours then the crew remembered. A trickle of blood, startlingly bright against the pallor of his face, trailed from his lip. Between rain drops and flickers the captain’s dark eyes seemed blacker, as though he’d carried a bit of prison with him…and perhaps he had. No one spoke after Kargon as the men were half afraid to let their eyes drift from the rigging, even to witness the confrontation few had believed would happen. Held between scarred fingers Ku-jon grimaced and spat a mixture of phlegm and blood onto the deck.
“Kargon,” he wheezed “Haven’t lost your humor in all these years?”
The pirate’s lip curled downward and with a grunt he hoisted Ku-Jon farther up the mast, his hand pressing tightly. Delivering another blow to the captain’s stomach, Kargon let the man tumble to the deck in a coughing heap.
“Good men died,” he stated solemnly “I’ll throw you to the winds if you can’t tell me why.” Murmurs of ascent ran through the motley men around the captain. Several years absence had distanced The Tourniquet from her master and Kargon had managed to keep her running. Clawing the cold deck with pain, Ku-Jon recognized he should tread carefully. Pirates concerned themselves with survival and gratification. Most hadn’t a home and more had a list longer then an anchor chain of crimes. Backs to the black these men chose to leap backwards and take the world with them. Ku-Jon had failed before and that made him weak, untrustworthy. Kargon had led his crew into the maw of the Abyss for a former captain and his pretty words of treasure.
Times must be tougher in the Lower Realms for Kargon to have even considered the rescue.
“The Tourniquet is in a right state isn’t she?” Ku-Jon muttered from the ground “Took her through a gauntlet you did and you’re lucky she’s still flying.” Rising to his feet, the captain glanced at the crew around him. Old faces and new, too few for a true crew, but each set of eyes were hard and defiant. Grinning through blood stenciled teeth, Ku-Jon threw out his arms as if presenting the storm behind him. “How do you think I came to be here? What kind of ship can navigate these currents safely without sight to guide them?” Kargon’s expression didn’t change but he took a step towards Ku-Jon in a wordless warning. “Eye of Tempest,” the captain explained, flinging the scraggly locks from his eyes “A gem to quell the bitterest storms and cut smooth sailing to any realm.”
Kargon raised an eyebrow, the only outward sign that Ku-Jon had caught his attention. For a pirate, sailing between realms was staring death down the throat. The storms between the different levels roared strong and fast. None could claim an airship had emerged unscathed from the between-realm Maelstroms and mitigation was more valuable then gold.
“Where?”
“Back into the line of fire, mate,” Ku-Jon answered with a sideways glance at the prison fading into shadow behind them “We set course for the Mid Realm castle and their docked pride, The Castigation.”
Kargon moved to intercept the captain as he backed from the circle, backed by the glittering eyes of the crew. The offer had been made and the stakes presented. The Castigation was one of the most feared airships in the King’s Navy. Captained by the only female to hold such a position in any realm, the Castigation still bragged a count of destroyed ships numbering in the hundreds. Now almost permanently docked outside the castle as both a symbol of justice and a heavy deterrent to attack, no pirate could claim ignorance from the unique sound of their guns. The sound of thunder and the sizzling of flesh.
“You would have us sail through Torsa Prime, pull you from the lowest hole the King could find, raid a ship no pirate has business seeking, and all upon the day Alberdan’s brat is celebrated throughout the kingdom?”
“I didn't ask you to join my crew for being a fishwife.” Ku-Jon shrunk back from Kargon for an instant before throwing his body into a blow at the first mate’s jaw. The big man stumbled backwards as Ku-Jon slumped to the deck. Three men roared outrage and drew their blades but Kargon thrust out an arm. Obedient, the men advanced no farther.
“You're a fool” Kargon asked, remembering the docks of the mining towns and the starving workers begging to be fed…housed. The barren year leaving more than a few of the crew to die of sickness or hunger.
“Not a fool, nor a dogs to be kicked and beaten,” Ku-Jon grinned, staring up from his own shaking body “A wolf. I can put my teeth in the King because I am a wolf. What does that make you?”
With a sneer, Kargon brought his leg up into Ku-Jon’s jaw and laid the captain flat on his back. Nodding at the cabin boy, the Cast Soul Kargon returned to the prow of the ship. The gaunt youth scuttled to the unconscious captain and pulled him from above deck. Ku-Jon would recuperate out of the elements as he was still needed for the exact location of their quarry. Dying now would make the venture useless and Kargon had no patience for fruitless gains.
“Eight Abeam and we set course for Colossi Palace.”
In comparison to the cells, the quarters of the guards were luxurious. Oil lanterns threw shadow dancing around a sparsely furnished room. What they lacked in decoration was compensated with heat and security. Even the Soulless avoided this place. From these doors came the noise and all scattered from the clatter of the warden. None stood before the Cling Clang Man. Now his quarters were in ruins. Rain pelted the soft fur blankets on the narrow bed and damp pages snapped in the moaning clutches of wind. A single lantern flickered from its slot in the wall, the only indication there was a room at all. Two shadows stood before the crumbling rift where wall once stood and gazed into the slanted rain.
They were content to watch in silence before a third joined them. Smaller then both, the short figure held glints of steel brandished.
“You let him escape!” It was an accusation and a warning. “Why?”
“And what, might I ask, has spurred these outrageous accusations?” the voice was soft and melodic, almost lost by the clangs of shifting metal as the threatened turned to regard its accuser.
“You were in the cell hallway when the prisoner ran, I may not have seen you but it was hard not to hear you. I want to know why!”
“Well done captain,” the Cling Clang Man chuckled “How unfortunate for me to think you so dull. Unfortunate indeed.” The faintest chord of metal whispered between the shadows before the captain fell sideways, sword sliding out of his twitching hand. “Ah well, more to replace that one I’m sure.”
Raising his right arm, the Cling Clang Man pulled hard, the second shadow tugged off its lithe feet to crawl behind the warden. “Come,” the Cling Clang Man commanded as he exited the ruined room. “It seems we will need to pursue them ourselves.”
He chuckled. It sounded like metal dishes clashing together. “It’s been too long since we last saw the sun.”
Summary: Ku-Jon is after the Eye of the Tempest, a gem he alludes is kept within a feared warship outside Colossi Palace. Kargon gets some hits in and knocks the cap out...he'll be on the mend till they get to the castle. Meanwhile, the Cling Clang Man has let a prisoner escape...it seems he's eager to leave Nocta Syr as well.
