An angel’s road to hell

49. Of revenge, armour and a little bit of freedom

Cassandra Pendragon

“Huh, I see. Doesn’t change much for now though, does it? Just something to keep in the back of our minds before we do anything rash.” Xorlosh scratched his beard. “If they sail past Free Land we’ll know for sure anyways and still can decide what to do about it, can’t we?”

I shrugged and Ahri nodded, we couldn’t think of anything we might be able to do as well and we had already talked his morning. I had hoped Xorlosh would have an idea, though.

“Did you see their flag back then by any chance,” he asked. Hesitantly Ahri replied:

“Yeah… it was black with a large white skull and crossed bones below. And the sails were dark red, all of them.” Xorlosh’s brow furrowed and a furious fire ignited in the depth of his eyes.

“Really now, that changes things. First of all, well done, you did the world a favour with every single one you killed. Would you kindly tell me exactly what happened?”

“You know them?” I blurted out.

“Not me, nah, but me little brother here had a run in with ‘em, couple of years back. Etosh, tell ‘em about your fiancée.” My focus switched back to Etosh, who had grabbed his drum with white knuckles, his body was trembling slightly and the anger on Xorlosh’s face was but a pale shadow of what I saw on his face. In his deep, gravelly voice he started taking but I could hear an ever so faint tremor as if the memories alone could shake him to the bone.

“‘T was 5 years ago, shortly before I came to the five kingdoms. Me ‘n me fiancée, Dorothea, were  on a trip to acquire some rare goods, golems for the most part and wanted to visit her home town, a small dwarven colony some island to the south from the capital, on the way back. Should have been smooth sailing for a couple o’ days and lots of drinks and fresh boar meat once we arrived. But alas, the Nornir had different plans. Strong winds an’ lil’ bit o’ bad luck had us land for repairs an’ supplies, maybe a week away from our destination. We came down in a well known merchants port, a small island with nothing more than a huge dock for air ships, a large market, entertainment and some streets for the permanent residents. ‘T was fun at first, solid ground under our feet and an unending supply of dwarven beer, courtesy of some ambitious merchants.” A deathly cold entered his voice when he continued.

“I quickly found new friends in our tavern, or so I thought, drinking the night away until the repairs were done. I had me lads with me, the girls, the golems I had bought a month before and a few guards remained behind on board, cherishing the first opportunity for a good night’s sleep without the wind knocking us about. Should have taken ‘em with me, but I didn’t. Anyway, we made merry with a bunch of new arrivals, they claimed to have suffered a similar fate to our own, blown off course and with heavy damage to their ship they had to make repairs before they could fly on. The beer flowed freely and we got along splendidly, bonding over our shared misfortune. ‘T wasn’t until I saw the first of me lads keel over that I knew something was off. I struggled to get back on me feet but I felt weak like a newborn kitten and me limps wouldn’t move when I told ‘em to.” He became nearly inaudibly quiet.

“Long story short, we had been poisoned by our new found friends. I tried to get up, to call for help but all I received were laughs, apparently the whole establishment was in cahoots with the bunch of assholes I had called brothers not 5 minutes prior. I thought I was as good as dead and all I wanted to do was take as many of these traitors with me as I possibly could so I activated the golems I had stored on board of me ship and told ‘em to lay waste to the whole damned tavern, another stupid mistake, should have told ‘em to guard the ship instead. I passed out when the first steel fist smashed through the door and not a second too soon. I had been hardly pressed in me weakened state to keep these bastards off of me.” He sighed and brushed his beard absentmindedly.

“Dunno why ‘em cowards didn’t finish me off but I came to not much later, killing a dwarf with poison isn’t as easy as you might think. The tavern was reduced to rubble, half of me lads were dead and the local militia had finally arrived, putting an end to the rampage of me golems. Of me ship there was no trace. I was detained until Xorlosh here came to pay for the damage me golems had done and smooth things over with the locals. It was then when we found out what had happened. When the ruckus me golems had caused had called the militia on the scene these cowards had panicked. They had fled but not without storming our nearly unguarded ship and taking it with ‘em. One of the officials told me that the sails of their ship had been a dark red when they had scampered and as soon as they had cleared the harbour they had hoisted a black flag with a skull and crossed bones.” Etosh was breathing heavily when he finished, as if he had relived the fight just now. I had been force to get used to violence rather quickly and I suspected that my past allowed me to deal with the brutalities of our life much more easily than was normal but I was still shaken from his story. I couldn’t even imagine how I’d feel if someone was to take Ahri from me while I was unconscious only a short distance away.

I’d have liked to hug him, but I didn’t know if the gesture would be appreciated so I put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. When he looked a me I could see a film of moisture on his eyes but the tremulous smile he gave me was real. Xorlosh cleared his throat.

“We of course tried to go after ‘em but everyone they left behind was dead so we couldn’t make ‘em talk and we were far too late to catch ‘em in the air. Me lads collected as much information as they could about the pirates, that’s the reason why I have those maps you’ve seen yesterday and why I know a thing or two about the South, but all we found out is that the pirates have been venturing further and further north over the last years. The red-sailed ship appears from time, even close to the centre islands but until now, we weren’t even close to a serious lead.”

“Does that mean you’re going to chase after them, now?” Ahri asked, a tremor of fear in her silky voice but Xorlosh was seriously annoyed at the question.

“Lass, what do you take us for? I already said we’d stick to you until you got your kids back. That’s set in stone, we won’t chase after revenge as long as living, breathing people need our help. Also, I don’t think there’s much of a difference. From what you told us I think it more than likely that they’re headed for the Pirate Islands. If the whole region is under the emperor’s control I can’t say but at least some of the captains are under his spell. It’ll be quite the piece of work to get the children back and I think we’ll have plenty of opportunities along the way to vent a little aggression on uncooperative locals. The real question is, now that we know their destination with some certainty, do we head straight for the Pirate Islands or do we contact Free Land? I’m sure they’ll be more than delighted to lend a hand with everything that spells trouble for the pirates.”

“I don’t know”, I answered. “Honestly my skin crawls even at the idea of joining forces with people the like of which you described yesterday. I mean, seriously, slavery? But depending on how much support the emperor or in this case his slave traders have among the pirates, we might not have much of a choice. Maybe we should talk to the others after Astra and Aspera are done? Who knows, they might have already found out something interesting by then.”

“We also have to hunt for supplies before we reach Free Land, don’t we?” Ahri interjected. “Depending on how much time that’ll take, we could very well be forced to fly towards the Pirate Island as fast as possible if we don’t want to risk the children being sold or serious harm coming to them before we reach the place.”

“We could possibly split up, leave some people on Free Land while the rest hurry on.” I said. “But that entirely depends on when and where we can restock. Let’s wait for tonight before speculating any further.” Xorlosh nodded, “I’ll get something for us to chew on and we can meet at sundown in me cabin again. I’ll send one of the lads to inform your mother and brother, he’s still asleep by the way and talk to the elves as soon as they are finished. Now, you ladies said you also wanted me help with equipment?”

“You see, after my changes I think I can become strong enough to easily carry heavy armour now,” I moved my hands down the side of my new body, “and I was wondering if there is a chance you might have some spares lying around that I could use.” Both dwarfs looked at me, stunned into silence for a moment before they snorted uncontrollably and sent spit flying across the deck. I looked at Ahri but she only shrugged, just as confused as I was. Xorlosh regained his composure a little more quickly.

“Sorry lass, but that shows how little experience you have with armour or do I dare say fighting in general. Look here, we do have some spares lying around but they wouldn’t fit you, not even close. We’d have to change ‘em fundamentally and I can’t promise that the result would be usable. We don’t have the forges here to easily modify enchanted materials. Furthermore, do you even want to wear a plate?”

“Why not? Like I said it won’t bother me, I think, and I’d prefer some metal around me the next time I have to fight. What’s so funny about it?”

“First of, weight isn’t really the problem with plate armour, it’s tightly bound to your limbs and nicely balanced, the problems only start when your joints get hit and the armour deforms. Until then the armour shouldn’t hinder the movements it was designed for in any way. But that’s were it gets tricky. Our armour is made for walking and running, maybe climbing a ladder from time to time but mainly it’s for standing in line and swinging an axe. If you intend to fly, we’ll have to add more joints to ensure your flexibility. Do you know what kind of weapon you want to use with it?”

“Umm… probably a spear?” I said much more questioningly than I would have liked. The dwarfs were on the verge of laughter again but they managed to keep it down this time.

“Then there is another problem, lass. To effectively wield a spear you need to maximise your freedom of movement. You need to be able to lean back completely or jump from the left to the right and that’s not even considering how you need to move in the air with a spear in your hand. Long story short, while I do agree that nothing beats a well designed plate armour, we’d need a new blueprint, designed for your fighting style. Brombolosh, I think you met him? Anyway he’s good at the whole construction part and if he can watch you during a training bout I’m sure he’ll be able to come up with something. But we still don’t have the forges to use any worthwhile materials. All I can offer is something made of steel until we get somewhere with a decent magical forge. You two intended to train today, didn’t you?” We nodded, I was slightly embarrassed, having proven my lack of experience and practical knowledge again.

“Then how about this, you two soar into the sky and I’ll call for me cousin and he can watch you a little. I’m sure he’ll have something to say afterwards. Just gimme a minute and I’ll be right back with the scoundrel.” He stomped off and I called after him: “could you by any chance bring a spear along? I don’t have anything with me.” He waved but didn’t turn around and vanished through the door into the ship. I turned to Ahri and asked:

“What about you? You still have some of your blades left? I didn’t see any lying around in your cabin.”

“No need to worry. I already went to the smithy this morning. I destroyed the ones I took from my room but the dwarfs promised me to have a rapier ready by midday.” With a glance to the sky she continued: “I think I can pick it up now. Can I leave you for a minute?” At first I wanted to laugh her question off but when I thought about it I realised I really didn’t want to leave her side, even for a minute. I could hardly say that out loud though so I waved her off. “Sure, but hurry.” A smile flickered over her face and she gently kissed me before she followed after Xorlosh with hurried steps. After I had ogled her retreating backside for a moment I turned around to find the closer dwarfs watching me and as my eyes met theirs some even wolf whistled before they went back to their duties.

A couple of minutes later Ahri stood beside me close to the stern, a good 10 meters of cleared space around us. She had two wooden sticks in her hands, approximately as long as a short sword and roughly carved like one with steel bands around the middle for additional weight. I had a wooden spear, the tip reinforced with blunt metal for balance and some additional heft. I still wasn’t sure how I had gotten here, the plan had been to fly together, try out what I could do with my energy now and maybe have a look at the sea but somehow the dwarfs had quickly turned the whole thing into a training match under the pretence that Brombolosh would need to see me fight if he was to design any form of functional armour. The rules were simple: don’t leave the area of cleared space on deck and don’t fly higher than the masts. We looked at each other and with the sound of silk whips our wings pierced the air.

Blue and red mixed for a fraction of a second before I shot off into the sky, cold wind caressed my face invigoratingly. It was exhilarating. I could feel my core supplying a steady stream of energy, my movements were fast and effortless. Without thinking about it I infused my lungs with a little bit of energy, counteracting the low supply of oxygen. I somersaulted easily around one of the crossbars supporting the rigging and searched for Ahri. To my surprise she was far below me, barely a meter above the ground, her back still arched from her initial jump. Her wings burned fiercely and while their fire crackled and danced like I was used to, her movements appeared slower than they should be. But that was nothing compared to the dwarfs. Most of them were clattered around us, enjoying the unexpected entertainment. But even though I could hear and see them move around it was like watching a video at 3/4 speed. The sounds were distorted and they appeared clumsy, like ants stuck in tree sap. I had to smile and tightened my grip on the spear in my hand. This was going to be fun.

I fanned my wings out behind me and like a burning star I rushed towards my love. The air around my wings sizzled and sparked like it was about to be torn apart and I could feel my energy intuitively gathering around my organs. It infused my eyes to allow me to see despite my speed, I could feel it in my wings, strengthening them and pushing me along faster than I had thought possible, it slithered through my mind, accelerating my perception and thoughts and it slowly crept into the muscles of my right arm. The spear that had felt heavy and unnatural in my hand until now suddenly became an extension of my will. I knew how to move it through the air as to not hinder my flight, I felt the perfect trajectory to skewer my target and I knew how to position my body to concentrate my speed into a deadly strike. The howling wind in my ears, the sun above and the force of my wings behind me made me forget my worries for a moment.

The sensations were overwhelming. I was powerful, unstoppable and above all, as I shot through the sky towards the person who meant the most to me, I was truly free. Hopefully I’d be able to brake in time.