Kain watched Loma's attack pattern, recognizing the chaos for what it was—desperate aggression masking limited technique. Her wild swings with the twin cleavers left increasingly obvious openings as she tired. Two years of pit fighting and six months of civil war had taught him patience. Every fighter revealed themselves eventually.
The opening came when she overextended on a diagonal slash, putting too much weight behind the blow. Kain sidestepped with practiced efficiency, his gauntleted hand clamping around her wrist with crushing force. Bone cracked beneath his grip. The cleaver tumbled to the sand as she howled.
Before she could recover, Kain drove his reinforced knuckles into her solar plexus, collapsing her diaphragm. As she doubled over, gasping for air that wouldn't come, he delivered a precise uppercut that shattered her jaw. The impact lifted her off her feet.
She crumpled to the sand, blood pooling beneath her ruined face. Her eyes stared sightlessly at the night sky.
Kain turned to assess the battlefield, his breathing controlled despite the exertion. Talon had the navigator pinned face-down, one gauntleted hand pressing the man's head into the sand. With a sharp, practiced motion, Talon twisted, snapping the pirate's neck with an audible crack.
Nearby, Redd had already dispatched the mechanic, whose chest bore twin puncture wounds from Redd's short swords. The feral cabin boy lay motionless at Redd's feet, his throat slashed open.
Only Ash and Rhodes remained engaged, though the fight had clearly reached its conclusion. Rhodes stumbled backward, desperately parrying Ash's relentless staff strikes. With a final sweeping blow to the legs, Ash sent the captain sprawling onto his back.
"Please," Rhodes gasped, raising his hands in surrender. "Mercy!"
Ash planted his boot on the captain's chest, pressing down until the man wheezed. "The ship. It's ours now."
"Yes! Take it! Just let me live!"
Ash glanced at Kain, a silent question passing between them.
Kain approached, kneeling beside the fallen captain. "Where's your next target? Any other crew members we should know about?"
"No one else," Rhodes babbled, eyes wild with fear. "Just us five. We were heading to Thornport next. Small fishing village. Easy pickings."
Kain nodded, then stood. "Easy picking..." Kain spit at Rhodes's feet, "You disgust me."
Ash brought his staff down with crushing force, ending Rhodes's pleas permanently.
The four brothers surveyed the beach, now silent except for the lapping waves and crackling fire.
"Check the ship," Kain ordered. "Make sure it's seaworthy, and take down the pirate flag… we can't have people thinking were pirates. I'll signal the rebel vessel."
The Soggy Weasel was exactly as reported—small and patched together, but functional. Its hull showed signs of hasty repairs and its sails were mismatched, but it would serve their purpose.
As dawn approached, Kain fired a flare into the sky, watching as it arced high above the bay, burning bright red against the fading stars. The rebel ship would now return to Krevane, believing their mission complete.
"Ready?" Talon asked, joining him at the wheel.
Kain nodded, his expression set. "Ironhearth Port. Our journey truly starts now."
****
Kain stood at the wheel of the Soggy Weasel, feeling the unfamiliar rhythm of the vessel beneath his feet. The small sloop pitched and rolled with each wave, nothing like the steady rebel ships they'd traveled on before. Behind them, Ember Island diminished on the horizon, its shoreline already blurring into a smudge of green against the brightening sky.
"Think she'll hold together?" Redd called from the bow, where he'd been inspecting the patchwork sail. His dual short swords caught the morning light as he adjusted them on his back.
"She'd better," Kain replied, adjusting their course slightly. "At least until we reach Ironhearth."
Talon emerged from below deck, his face scrunched in disgust. "Found their food stores. Half of it's moldy, the other half smells like it should be."
Ash laughed from where he sat cross-legged on a barrel, polishing his staff with a rag stained red from the night's work. "What'd you expect from the 'Mudflap Pirates'? Gourmet cuisine?"
"I expected better from pirates who've been raiding coastal villages," Talon said, tossing a withered apple overboard. "No wonder they were heading to Thornport. They were probably starving."
Kain felt the wind shift and adjusted the sail, his gauntlets now stored safely in his pack. "We've got enough supplies to last us to Ironhearth if we're careful. After that..."
"After that, we split," Redd finished, his expression turning solemn as he joined Kain at the wheel. "Hard to believe, isn't it? We've been together for how long? And now..."
"Don't get sentimental on us," Ash called, but his usual edge was missing.
Kain gazed at the open water ahead, feeling a strange mixture of anticipation and unease. The small vessel creaked beneath them as it cut through a larger wave, sending spray across the deck.
"This thing's a death trap," Talon muttered, steadying himself against the railing.
"It's freedom," Kain corrected, feeling the salt air fill his lungs. After years of bloodshed in Krevane's endless war, even this rickety ship felt like a new beginning. "Our first real ship."
The four brothers fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts as the Soggy Weasel carried them away from the past and toward whatever awaited them beyond the horizon.
****
A day and a half later.
Kain squinted against the harsh glare of midday sun reflecting off the water. His fingers tightened around the weathered wheel of the Soggy Weasel as he steered their newly acquired vessel through the gentle swells. The ocean stretched endlessly before them, a vast blue expanse that promised both freedom and uncertainty.
"Ship spotted!" Talon called from his position at the bow, pointing toward the northeast.
Kain shaded his eyes with one hand. Sure enough, a vessel appeared on the horizon, its sails unfurled and catching the wind. As it drew closer, Kain made out distinctive crimson and black markings on the sail.
"Pirates," he muttered, recognizing the colors.
Redd climbed up beside him, his expression grim. "That's the Crimson Serpent. Blacktooth's crew."
"How can you tell?" Kain asked.
"The serpent emblem on their mainsail," Redd replied, pointing. "I memorized the major bounties in this region before we left Krevane."
Kain nodded, impressed by his brother's thoroughness. "What do we know about them?"
"Captain Darius 'Blacktooth' Reeve. Eight million berry bounty. Nothing special—just your typical bully with a ship. His crew's mostly small-timers."
As the Crimson Serpent drew closer, Kain noticed it was pursuing a smaller merchant vessel. The merchant ship flew distress flags, smoke rising from what appeared to be cannon damage to its stern.
"They're attacking that trader," Talon observed, joining them at the wheel.
Ash vaulted up from below deck, his eyes wide with excitement as he took in the scene. "Pirates attacking merchants? Perfect!" He grabbed his staff, spinning it once before securing it across his back. "Let's go! What are we waiting for?"
Kain studied the situation, calculating distances and angles. "Ash, we should—"
But Ash was already moving, checking his weapons and gear. "This is it! Our first real hunt!" His eyes gleamed with a fervor Kain recognized—the same look he'd worn before every fight in Krevane. "We take down Blacktooth's crew, we make a name for ourselves right from the start."
Kain exchanged glances with Redd and Talon. There was no stopping Ash when he got like this.
"They outnumber us," Redd cautioned.
"Outmanned doesn't mean outmatched," Talon replied with a half-smile. "Not after Krevane."
Kain made his decision. "We'll approach from their stern while they're focused on the merchant vessel. Board quietly, take out the rear guard first."
They adjusted course, the small sloop cutting through the water with surprising speed. The Crimson Serpent loomed larger now, its weathered hull and reinforced boarding planks visible. Cannon fire erupted from its side, pounding the merchant vessel.
"They haven't spotted us yet," Kain observed as they maneuvered into the pirate ship's blind spot. "Perfect."
When they drew alongside, Kain could hear shouts and the clash of steel—the pirates had already boarded the merchant ship. The Crimson Serpent's stern was left relatively unguarded, with only two lookouts visible.
"Ready?" Kain asked, slipping his reinforced gauntlets onto his hands.
His brothers nodded, faces set with determination born from years of combat.
They secured the Soggy Weasel with grappling hooks, then climbed silently aboard the larger vessel. Kain moved first, dispatching one lookout with a swift strike to the neck before he could raise an alarm. Talon took care of the second with equal efficiency.
"Move forward," Kain whispered. "Quietly."
They advanced across the deck, encountering three more pirates who fell before they could shout warnings. Kain's gauntlets connected with flesh and bone, each strike precise and devastating—the product of countless fights in Krevane's pits.
Their element of surprise didn't last long. A pirate stumbled upon Redd finishing off one of his comrades and screamed before Redd silenced him.
"Boarders! We've got boarders at the stern!" came the cry from somewhere ahead.
Suddenly, the deck erupted into chaos. Pirates abandoned their assault on the merchant vessel, turning to face this new threat. Kain counted at least fifteen rushing toward them, weapons drawn.
From the center of the melee emerged a burly figure with an unkempt black beard. His missing teeth had been replaced with crude iron ones that glinted in the sunlight as he roared orders at his crew. Captain Darius 'Blacktooth' Reeve.
"Who dares?" the captain bellowed, drawing a weathered cutlass.
Ash stepped forward without hesitation, twirling his staff. "Pirate hunters," he announced with fierce pride, as if he'd been waiting his entire life to speak those words. "Your bounty's ours, Blacktooth."
Before Kain could formulate a plan, Ash charged forward, his staff a blur as he engaged the first wave of pirates. Three went down in rapid succession, but more closed in.
"Ash, wait!" Kain called, but his brother was already cutting a path straight toward Blacktooth.
The pirate captain's eyes narrowed with rage as he raised his cutlass and rushed to meet Ash's challenge.
Kain cursed under his breath and sprinted after his brother, uncertain if Ash could handle the captain alone. The gap between them filled with pirates, forcing Kain to fight his way through, his gauntlets connecting with jaws and ribcages as he pushed forward.
****
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