Rekka no Ken: The Tactician and the Black Fang: The Pirate Ship

Chapter 6: Whereabouts Unknown      Chapter 8: The Dread Isle

 

Blahhhhh this chapter also took a long time to write. Partly because I was actually busy with work stuff and partly because I’m trying still again to fix my sleep schedule and it’s tiring (ha). I did rearrange my room so my bed’s under the window. Now it feels like a whole new room, somehow. XD Also my computer is now stationed at my armchair so hopefully it’ll be a tiny bit better for my musculoskeletal health than before.

 

Chapter 7: The Pirate Ship

“The whoziwhat?” Hector asked. “Lyn, you have a legion?”

Lyn shook her head even as she chased Kent and Sain. “Just a silly thing from last year.”

Ceniro ran beside her, and glanced back at his resources. “Florina, give Lyn a lift. Lowen, get Erk up there. Priscilla, you too. There’s a lot of armour knights up there and Sain’s going to be pummelled without you two.”

Sure enough, Sain’s wild charge had been halted at a line of heavily armoured footsoldiers. His horse pranced, reflecting the agitation of its rider. Sain screamed in frustration and flung his lance at a soldier, disturbingly accurately, and drew his sword – a tactically suicidal move. Florina swished past, and Lyn leapt from the pegasus’s back and rolled, coming up in a crouch with her sword gripped ready behind her. Ceniro placed himself at the entrance to the throne room and began barking orders.

“Erk, Kent, Sain needs support now. Florina, distract them. Lucius… can you fight today?”

“I can…” Lucius glanced doubtfully at the light tome clutched in his hand, but Ceniro knew Light magic would devastate the armour knights and if Lucius was willing, that was all he needed.

“Marcus! Take this man to the front now. Hector, Dorcas, Bartre, could use you, too.”

Erk, Kent, and Florina’s attacks had distracted the enemy enough that Sain had thrown himself off his horse and was bodily battering his way through them with only his sword, his destination a hall-way leading off the back of the throne room. He was stabbed in the leg by a lance, sending blood pouring over his tan pants, but Priscilla, greatly daring, rode past and healed it on the fly with a precisely-targeted spell. Before she could become a target, Kent was between her and the enemy, knocking away their lance-points with his own.

Salir had stopped screaming. Ceniro didn’t even waste time wondering why.

Sain was doing a very good job of trying to get himself killed. The Laus soldiers were now dogpiling him, unable to actually stab him, but he certainly wasn’t going anywhere. “Lucius, weaken them; axe users, get them off him and form a cordon. Sain, you’re going to have to slow down a bit. Let us help you.”

Sain didn’t answer, just breathing heavily as he scrambled to his feet. He made to run off again, but Dorcas caught him around the waist and lifted him in the air. “Stay. Use your head.”

“There’s no time!” Sain yelled hysterically. “Gods, the things he might-!”

“Hector, Marcus, Oswin, clear a path. Get him to that hallway.” Ceniro pointed, and off they went.

Seconds were passing. Ceniro could feel Sain, now next to him, losing his mind with every minute that passed. The moment the door was clear, Sain bolted for it. Ceniro left Eliwood and Hector to clean up the Laus general as he followed Sain, Kent, and Lyn down the hall.

The door at the end was locked, but Sain’s sword and body weight soon had it open and they burst into a small room lined with books. On the floor was a black magic-circle filled with runes, slowly fading.

Sain fell to his knees and slammed his fists into the empty stone floor in rage and grief. “She’s- I-”

“Sain,” Kent said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “There was obviously magic afoot. It’s not your fault.”

Sain yanked free of his grasp, baring his teeth. “If I’d been even the slightest bit faster, I could have saved her. What does he want with her, anyway? To ensure that I’ll hunt him down and grind his bones into dust?”

“Calm down before I knock you down so you don’t hurt yourself or anyone else,” Kent said, his voice controlled and emotionless. “It’s not our failing. The enemy was too tricky this time. But we’ll get them next time.”

Sain glanced around, and his eyes fell on Ceniro. The tactician tensed, seeing a tacit accusation in the gaze, but Sain withdrew his gaze, getting himself under control.

‘My fault,’ ran through Ceniro’s head anyway. ‘They were too strong; too tricky. I’m supposed to be the best, better than anything our enemies can muster; they trusted me to deal with things like this, and I failed them.’

“Hey,” Lyn said. “You gonna be okay?”

“I don’t know,” Sain said. “I’m sorry, Ceniro. I should have waited for your commands.”

“No, no-”

“Lady Lyndis, permission to… be excused?” Sain asked, coming to a painfully straight attention.

“Granted… Sain.” He stopped halfway out the door and waiting without turning around. “I trust you. We will get her back, and we will have our revenge.” He nodded and disappeared.

“Lady Lyndis, if the castle is secured, we can now search for Lord Hausen,” Kent spoke up gently in the wake of Sain’s departure.

Lyn gasped at the reminder, and flew through the castle, calling for her own lost relative. “Grandfather! Grandfather?”

“Lord Hausen?” Eliwood joined in.

Hector was looking at the throne. “Eliwood…” He pointed to a splash of drying crimson.

“Lyndis!” Eliwood called her, and she ran to their side.

“No, it can’t be!” she said when she saw it. “That’s- that’s not his…”

“Perhaps he’s only injured,” Eliwood said. “Come, let us keep looking.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Lyn said. “I must be calm.” She reached out, almost unconsciously, and touched Ceniro’s shoulder.

Her ears pricked, and she turned to a dark corridor. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”

A young woman with magenta hair stepped through cautiously, and bowed to Hector.

“Leila!” Hector said. “What on earth are you doing here?”

“I’m… investigating the disappearance of Marquess Pherae,” the woman said with a glance at Eliwood. “We should talk in private.”

“No, you come too, Ceniro,” Eliwood said, as Ceniro made as if to leave. So the tactician followed the four others down the dark corridor to a small, brightly lit room.

“So you know this person, Hector?” Lyn asked.

“Yes, her name is Leila, and she works for House Ostia as… well, all right, she’s a spy.”

“Like Matthew?” Lyn asked.

Hector winced, but nodded. “Like Matthew. Hey, don’t hold it against him. He was genuinely rooting for you the whole time.”

“I’m not going to hold it against him,” she said.

“So you’re going to hold it against me,” Hector grumbled. Lyn opened her mouth to retort, but Leila interrupted them with a cough.

“So, you are Lord Eliwood, and Lady Lyndis, yes? Lord Hausen is in a safe-room beneath the castle.”

“He’s alive?” Lyn cried, her newest argument with Hector forgotten in relief.

“His life is yet his own. He was gravely injured, yes, but I managed to find his personal physician, who is currently with him. I would suggest it prudent to let the world think he is dead; there will be fewer attempts on his life the fewer people know about his survival.”

“I understand,” Lyn said, after a short prayer of thanks. “I will do as you suggest.”

“Equally relieving, I would assume, is the news that Marquess Pherae is still alive,” Leila said, turning to Eliwood.

Hector pumped his fist in the air. “Whooooooo, Eliwood!”

“You’re certain?” Eliwood asked, eyes wide.

“I have been posing as a member of the Black Fang for several months. I believe the information I discovered there is reliable.”

“Black Fang’s name keeps coming up,” Eliwood said. “But I still know next to nothing about them. What can you tell us… that we need to know?”

“The Ostian Espionage Division has known of their existence for some time,” Leila said. “The Black Fang is a guild of assassins founded about ten years ago by Brendan Reed. They’re based in Bern. Their arms reached quickly in several other countries. Originally, they targeted only nobles who abused their positions. The masses saw them as chivalrous, defenders of the common man. Their activities found wide support.”

“Wait, so if the OED knew about them, how come I didn’t?” Hector demanded.

Leila gave him a carefully amused glance. “The OED does not trust your large, loud mouth, Lord Hector. Sometimes we wonder why Matthew hangs around you so much.”

“He doesn’t that much… does he? I’m always threatening to bash his skull in when he’s being annoying.”

“But you threaten everyone like that. I’m sure Lady Serra would appreciate it if you stopped saying that to her at the very least.”

“Point,” Hector mumbled.

“To continue, about a year ago, Brendan got married again. Black Fang’s operations have slowly changed since then. Now, they’ll take on any target, no matter how difficult, as long as they’re paid. And they’re no longer killing only criminals; anyone is a fair target.”

“So they targeted my grandfather?” Lyn demanded. “Why would they do that?”

“Yes, but I do not know why for certain. To help Marquess Laus, it would seem. We’ve learned of a mystery man named Nergal, behind Reed’s wife. It seems the Black Fang is performing secret tasks across Lycia for Nergal. Nergal’s trusted retainer Ephidel is with Marquess Laus. He manipulated Laus into hatching the rebellion plot against Ostia. The first to answer Laus’s call for rebellion was… Marquess Santaruz.”

“I don’t understand that,” Eliwood said. “And my father was next, right? Erik said he was first.”

“I do not know if Marquess Pherae endorsed the plan; however, it’s certain that he knew of it and had some contact with both Marquess Laus and Marquess Santaruz over it. What I do know is that both Marquesses Laus and Pherae are in a place called the Dragon’s Gate.”

“But he was just here,” Hector objected. “Marquess Laus, I mean. He was just here. We heard him.”

“He’s not,” Lyn began.

Leila winced. “I heard that too. But Ephidel can teleport across vast distances. He is very dangerous; when you meet him, do not underestimate him. He prefers to stab people in the back, but his magic is terrifying.”

“Got it,” Hector said. “Where in Elibe is the Dragon’s Gate?”

Leila actually shivered. “It is on Valor, the Dread Isle as some call it. I have not yet been there; I am not trusted enough in the Black Fang to be sent there. Or untrusted.”

“Why is it called the Dread Isle?” Lyn asked.

“It’s said that the people who go there never return,” Ceniro finally spoke up. “It’s the one place in Elibe that wasn’t exactly on my destination list.”

“But why don’t they return?”

Ceniro shrugged. “Adverse sailing weather? Horribly dangerous terrain? Terrible monsters? It’s had that reputation for hundreds of years, so it’s probably not the doing of this Nergal…”

“If that’s where my father is, however, I will go and find him. And this ‘Dragon’s Gate,’ too!” Eliwood cried.

“I’m coming with you. I’m telling you right now, don’t even try to stop me,” Hector said.

“I’m coming as well,” Lyn said. “Sounds like you’ll need all the help you can get.”

“Lyndis, I appreciate the offer, but… Shouldn’t you stay with Marquess Caelin?” Eliwood said. “He needs you, too.”

Lyn shook her head. “Laus must be stopped. Otherwise, they might target my grandfather again. I almost lost him a second time, and that’s two times too many. And what good did my presence do him? All my strength was not enough to keep Laus at bay… And I owe Sain to rescue his wife.”

“That’s not your fault… none of those things…”

“I also wish to help Eliwood’s father. Losing a parent… It’s an unbearable pain. It’s something I’d rather you didn’t have to feel yet.” She gave him a sympathetic look. “My grandfather will live until our return. Your father is in far more danger right now.”

Eliwood bowed his head and stretched out his hands to them. “I thank you so much. Lyndis, Hector, you give me strength.”

“It’s the least we could do,” Hector said. “Seriously.”

“And you, Ceniro?” Eliwood asked, turning to the man in the corner. “You said you did not want to visit the Dread Isle…”

“Well, not alone, I didn’t,” Ceniro said, and smiled easily. “I feel it would be an excellent opportunity for me, and you’ll definitely need my skills. We’ll all support each other, won’t we?”

Lyn touched his arm. “I’ll be right with you, don’t worry. You just tell us how to wipe the floor with the Black Fang.”

“I can do that.”

“One more thing,” Hector said. “And then we’ll let you get back to pretending to be an evil assassin. What are these… this Nergal and Ephidel like?”

“I’ve yet to lay eyes on Nergal,” Leila said. “But Ephidel… he’s always wearing a black hood that shadows his face, yet his eyes… They’re eerie. They glow golden. You can’t miss them, they’re… inhuman.”

Hector nodded, stroking his chin, and took a step back, letting her pass out of the room. “Well, that’s an interesting turn of events. Eliwood?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m guessing your dad – heck, Marquess Laus – had no idea what they were getting into. I’d wager the Black Fang is even more important and devious than we’ve heard so far.”

“Hm. True.”

“You okay?”

“Just… trying to process everything.”

“You know what makes that easier?”

“Music?”

“What?” Hector shook his head. “No, dummy. Beer. Come on. Lyndis, where’s your ale cellars?”

“I… don’t actually know,” Lyn said, blinking. “But I guess it is time for a meal. My stomach is complaining. Let’s call the steward. And… we should see what we can do for Sain. I shudder to think what Salir must be going through this moment…”

“That his wife?” Hector asked. “The girl who screamed?”

“Yes,” Lyn said. “He’s heartbroken…”

Hector nodded, obviously at a loss for words.

 

Supper was quiet. Most of the group thought Lord Hausen was dead, and Ceniro knew they had to be feeling that they had failed.

The worst part was seeing Sain, normally unstoppably cheerful, sitting hunched against the wall with his face in his hands. Kent knelt beside him, trying to convince him to come eat something, but Sain pushed him away and got up and left again. Kent, even more serious than usual, did not follow him.

Ceniro remembered something. “Hello, Florina.”

She looked up and gave a tiny, tremulous smile. “You remember me.”

“Sure I do. You’re hard to forget, actually. But I had some… pretty old news, but it might cheer you a bit.” She nodded for him to go on, focusing on her plate. “I was in Etruria last fall, and I got a job working for Lord Pent of Reglay. Well, unbeknownst to me, he had hired a whole wing of pegasus knights for the occasion, although for the most part only their captain travelled with us. Can you guess who was the captain?”

She looked up, and her big blue eyes got even wider. “Not… the 5th wing?”

“The very same.”

“Fiora! How was she?”

“She was well. She is like Kent, like you said once. She fought amazingly, and was a great tactical asset, as well as being a very kind person. Oh, you could ask Priscilla about her. The red-headed girl over there? She was with us, too. Anyway, Fiora was happy to know that you were here, safe, with Lyn. And she asked me to say hi to you if we ever met again.”

“Thanks so much for telling me! That… that makes me really happy. I haven’t seen her since I set out to follow Lyn more than a year ago. Is she still working for Lord Pent now?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen either of them since then. But Erk tells me Lord Pent is on sabbatical, so I would guess not.”

Florina suddenly flinched, and Ceniro looked around to see the new swordsman coming to introduce himself, with Lucius hovering anxiously in the background. Ceniro stood to greet him.

“So you’re the tactician, huh? I’m Raven. I’m just a mercenary. I work for these guys now, so it looks like I’ll take your orders. If there’s anything you need me to do, anyone you need chopped up… I’ll do it.”

He was a lot taller than Ceniro, his face was smileless, and while he didn’t have the same bulk of muscle that Hector or Dorcas had, his arms looked like they could break the tactician in half if he felt like it, so Ceniro smiled nervously and said “Thank you,” and shuffled surreptitiously over to Dorcas.

 

The first plan of action, Eliwood and Hector decided, was to find a ship to take them to Valor. The next day and a half was spent in travelling to Badon, which was part of a narrow strip of land stretching between Laus and Santaruz to the sea, belonging to Caelin.

An hour’s search soon revealed that every honest sailor feared Valor and some made signs to ward off evil’s gaze when one of the group asked them for passage.

The easiest way out, it seemed, was to find a pirate crew and then convince them to take them. “Pirates are fearless, or as close as makes no difference, and they’ll go anywhere for a fee. Who knows? They might decide to accept your mad offer.”

Lyn’s face darkened. “I will never treat with pirates. Never!”

“If it’s the only way…” Eliwood began.

She spat in the dust. “I’ve misjudged both of you. To trust them is foolishness. I’ll find another way! I’ll return when I’ve succeeded.”

She turned to go, Kent, Sain, Wil, and Florina following her faithfully. But she paused momentarily and glanced at Ceniro. “You’re not coming?”

He bit his lip nervously and shrugged helplessly. “Eliwood hired me…” Actually, they still hadn’t discussed payment. Eliwood had said at some point that he was not expecting Ceniro to come out of the goodness of his heart, and he was going to pay him, but they had been busy and the topic had been forgotten.

“Bullshit,” she snapped. “You could come help me look in sane places if you really wanted to. Goodbye, Ceniro.”

He wilted under her glare.

“Look here, don’t bully the tactician,” Hector said. “You let him do what he wants to do. What’s your problem, anyway?”

She stalked away without a word, her band following behind.

“Her parents were murdered by the Taliver bandits just before I met her,” Ceniro said quietly. “She probably feels pirates and bandits are all one and the same.”

“Oh, all right,” Hector said. “I can understand that. Perhaps this isn’t a good idea, but we probably should talk to the pirates first. If we can find them.”

“So, why… didn’t… you go with her?” Eliwood asked curiously. “You… like her, don’t you?”

Ceniro blushed miserably. “Yes, but… I think she might be mistaken about this.”

“Fair,” Hector said. “We all make mistakes.” He prodded the tactician in the chest with a gloved finger. “That goes for you too, okay? Someday, you’re actually going to make a mistake, and you better be able to forgive yourself for it.”

“O-okay.”

“Good man. Now, wait, you like her? So I should be teasing you instead of Eliwood!”

Eliwood chuckled. “That was getting a bit odd. But you can’t deny I was correct.”

“Damn straight you were correct. Striking, both in looks and with her sword. And what strength of will! Nice going, Ceniro.”

“Ah… can we just find the pirates, please?”

Finding the pirates was easier than Ceniro had thought it would be, and half the port seemed to be on friendly terms with them, but their hefty fee – 100,000 gold – would take some gathering.

“Oh, no,” Hector said. “Money’s fine. Leave that to me.”

“What plan are you up to now?” Eliwood asked suspiciously. “Surely your brother won’t lend you that sort of capital for pirates…”

“No, no, no. I’m not involving my brother in this unless absolutely necessary. No, see, I have ceremonial armour, weapons, clothes, rare books and the like… I’ll sell it, bring back the cash, and wager it in the local arena. And with Ceniro on our side to pick the odds, we’re sure to have that money in no time!”

“No time being the five days for travel, and then however many days required to build up about 10,000 gold into ten times that amount,” Oswin pointed out disapprovingly.

Hector glared. “You got a better idea?”

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” Eliwood said. “It’s true we don’t have a lot of time, but how else are we supposed to…”

“Ahoy!” A cheerful face topped with a dirty white head-scarf broke into their circle. “You the toffs what want passage with Captain Fargus?”

“Yeah?” Hector said. “We don’t have the money yet.”

“Fool, I know that. Th’ captain says if you can defeat his crew in friendly combat, you’ll earn yourselves passage to the Dread Isle. He’s waiting at the docks by our ship, the Davros.”

“But… why?” Eliwood asked.

The pirate grinned. “Th’ captain’s a tad off-kilter. Rather have a bit o’ fun with ye than take your gold. You caught his eye with your hare-brained scheme. He likes fellow madmen. What do you say?”

“We’ll do that,” Eliwood said. “Be warned, we’re very good.”

“Try not to kill any of us, and we’ll do the same for ye.”

“Understood.”

Lyn arrived about ten minutes later, to inform them that there were Black Fang members in the south of town and they had attacked her.

“We know,” Eliwood said. “Ceniro’s already sent Marcus and some other people to deal with it. What have you found out?”

“No luck yet,” she said, and sighed. “You? You seem to be up to something.”

“Actually, we’re duelling the pirates. If we can make it to the pirate ship – without killing any of them – the captain will give us free passage.”

“I see,” Lyn said noncommittally.

“I don’t think these ones are bad people,” Eliwood said earnestly. “I know some pirates are wicked, lawless men who want nothing more than to murder and pillage. But these ones… barely seem like pirates. More like ocean-faring mercenaries. Won’t you give them a chance?”

She stared at him with an unimpressed look for about a minute. Ceniro didn’t even dare to breathe.

“Fine. Since you seem to love them so much…”

“All right,” Eliwood said, perfectly cheerful. “Let’s go, then. We’ve a ship to catch.”

 

The fight lasted a bit longer than it might normally have, since both sides were being more careful than usual, trying not to cause permanent damage on each other. The Black Fang menace was more worrysome, but the pirates joined in that fight as well, and Ceniro had the odd duty of explaining to Marcus that yes, he expected him to team up with the young head-scarf-wearing pirate in order to drive the Black Fang out. Marcus was not impressed with fighting alongside “Dart, leader of Fargus’s suicide squad!” but he really had no choice. A more welcome recruit to the knight was a scholar of dark magic, who introduced himself as Canas, and who had a desire to go to Valor as well.

Lyn, Eliwood, Hector, and Ceniro approached Fargus the pirate captain at the same time. The old sailor grinned. “Do my eyes deceive me, or is this beauty travelling with you?”

Lyn’s brows furrowed, but she said nothing as she walked proudly up the ramp onto the ship.

“Lyndis, I understand your feelings, but we don’t have a choice-” Hector started as he followed her.

“I didn’t say anything!” she snapped.

Ceniro was only half-listening, instead searching the boarding soldiers for one friend in particular. He stopped Sain as he was about to lead his horse onto the ship.

“Sain… how are you doing?”

The knight glanced at him with red-rimmed eyes in a ghastly pale face, and then draped himself over Ceniro. “Ah! S-Sain, you’re really heavy!”

Sain didn’t move. “I’m a failure as a knight… The one maiden I’ve sworn to love and honour and cherish above all others, and she was taken by villains… Right from my side, almost.”

“Easy, there,” Kent murmured, helping lift Sain’s heavy, man-of-action-and-muscle deadweight from Ceniro’s thinner frame. “Come along, sub-commander. We have work to do.”

 

Chapter 6: Whereabouts Unknown      Chapter 8: The Dread Isle

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