Silence - Chapter 06

The pirates screamed as they charged him, and both Felix and Pit ran.

Pit! Circle wide! They split as they ran, each of them running in a different direction around the floating rock motes. We're fast, we can outrun—

One of the pirates, a burly bastard with tusks, landed in front of him.

Did he jump over me?

Corrosive Strike!

Felix didn't have time to worry about it, so he lashed out with a straight jab. His fist zipped forward, wreathed in Mana vapor that bubbled out of his Mana Gate. The Orc pirate blocked with his left forearm and was promptly knocked flat on his ass. He wailed, but Felix kept running, only managing to glance at the bloody hole being eaten into the pirate's flesh.

Felix heard a squawk from the other side of a rock mote and felt a bolt of terror through their bond. A wave of jagged icicles shot up into the air.

Shadow Whip!

Using the shadowy tether, he grasped the top of the  intervening and pulled. Felix rocketed up and over in an arc, rising above the stone impediment in time to see an absolute beast attacking his Companion. Pit dodged aside, fast enough evade, but the pirate was huge.

Voracious Eye...

There was a brief moment of resistance, as if something blocked him, but Felix focused.

Name: Stiilgar "The Ram" Raamstell (Hidden)
Race: Ogre
Level: 28 (Hidden)
HP: 1242/1242 (Hidden)
SP: 644/851 (Hidden)
MP: 75/118 (Hidden)
Lore: Ogres are generally known for their large reserves of Endurance and Strength, as well as their prodigious appetites. They are often predisposed for melee combat and are considered half-feral by many Races.
Strength: More Data Required
Weakness: More Data Required

Voracious Eye is level 27!

Wrack and Ruin!

Felix got off the shot just as he landed, but his aim was fouled by a second pirate coming from nowhere. It was a Dwarf, covered in faded tattoos and hair. Felix danced backward, just out of range of a horizontal swipe from a cutlass.

You're too scattered! the Maw said, floating somewhere below their fight. I did you a favor breaking your Skills. If you—we—are to survive, then you must be more than this. You must let me refine you. Turn you into something greater.

Screw off! Felix fumed. Wrack and Ruin!

This time the dark orb of acid took the Dwarf right in the chest, melting through his thin armor and putting him down, hard.

You Have Killed An Unknown Dwarf!
XP Earned!

Wrack and Ruin is level 28!

Felix turned back to the Ogre, finding Pit circling him cautiously. He was seven foot tall with pale green skin and yellow eyes. His head was big, but his shoulders and paunch dwarfed it considerably, leaving his thick, muscle-bound arms to hang low like a gorilla. He wore a pair of leather trousers and a linen vest that strained to contain his bulk. Blunt, yellowed tusks extended from his lower jaw, and he thrust his chin out at them both in challenge.

"You gonna fight the Ram?" he raised his huge fists, miming fisticuffs. "Or you gonna run, Keelhaul?"

"I'm not a pirate!" Felix shouted, and activated Relentless Charge.

"Hurk!" the Ram choked. Felix all but vanished and reappeared inches from the Ogre, close enough that his two-fisted Corrosive Strike was impossible to dodge.

Corrosive Strike is level 26!

The Ram stumbled backward, but recovered enough to take a downward swipe at Felix. He dove out of the way, but the Ogre's reach was greater than Felix anticipated. The blow clipped his shoulder—it didn't hurt, but it threw Felix off-balance; a prime target for the Ram's follow up haymaker.

"Hah!" the Ram crowed.

Tsk tsk, I thought you were faster than that, the Maw chided.

Felix bounced off the not-ground of the Void, which was still disconcerting. Again, his Pain Resistance kept the blow from hurting, but he saw his Health take a ten percent dip. Stiilgar bleated out a guffaw that was echoed back by a number of rogues around him. Felix's face heated up and his heart races; he hadn't noticed the rest of the crew catch up.

Armored Skin is level 39!

Damn it.

Felix rolled clear and stood back up, wiping the blood that dribbled from his nose. A slender female, a Goblin, came at him screaming. Felix threw himself aside, easily dodging the slash of her crooked blades. Less than easy was avoiding the discharge of some sort of Skill, one that sent a wash of pale blue up and over his arms. Something latched onto his arms and yanked them aside, opening his chest for a second Goblin's flaming cutlass.

Mantle of the Long Night!

Purple-white ice Mana surged out of his Gates, snuffing the dim orange flames on the cutlass and pushing back at the slighter Goblin. He kicked out, hitting his attacker's hand, before snapping his head backward. His skull hit the first pirate in the face, spraying his hair with warm liquid. The binding Skill failed.

However, over a dozen more pirates closed in, weapons leveled and a few with the Mana-filled hands of mages. Pit squawked in fear, unleashing a blast of Wingblades that brought several to the ground, but the rest charged forward with reckless abandon.

Reign of Vellus!

A storm of electricity burst outward in all directions, an orb of lightning and kinetic force that threw every single pirate back at least fifteen feet. Even the Ram foundered, screaming against the crackling blast of blue-white lightning.

*KRAKOOM!*

Without warning, the rock island Felix had leaped exploded in a shower of dust and brilliant emerald flames. Felix threw his arms up against the blooming heat, and spun toward the source. The ship, the Night's Wake had crept up on them while they fought, and at the prow was their Dwarven leader. She smiled at him over the edge of a massive ballista, lit up with green Mana vapor that matched the detonated island.

"You're not a Keelhauler," she said, her tattoos wrinkling with her raised brow. "Why're you in our territory, mage?"

Territory? Felix shared a glance with Pit. "I'm sorry. I've only just got here and I don't really know where I am."

The Dwarven woman—the captain, he assumed—looked him over. It was just at look at first, but then it got weird. Felix felt something scrape along his senses, though he was hard pressed to tell if it was touch or sight or taste. It felt as if someone had just seen him naked. He felt exposed and in danger.

Now that is interesting, the Maw said. To Felix's surprise her tone was a mix of cautious and curiosity. Very interesting, indeed.

The captain grunted in surprise before letting out a wry chuckle. "A new arrival? And an interesting one to boot. The Captain will certainly want to meet you." She gestured and a gangplank extended from the side of the ship. "Get aboard. Your comin' with us, pretty boy."

Pretty boy? That was new. This time he didn't need to look at PIt to sense the wary confusion they both shared. "Coming with you where?"

"To the Keep of the Ten Hands. Greatest pirates in all the Void!" she shouted the last to a cheer from her crew. Felix's hesitation must have been obvious, or the Dwarf was used to coercion because her light tone dropped immediately. "Or ye can refuse. I always wondered what my girl would do to a body this close."

The Dwarf lifted her ballista to her shoulder and light bloomed along the shaft of a massive arrow.

Felix licked his lips and offered a half-hearted smile. "Always wanted to see a castle."

The Dwarf grinned. "Wise decision, pretty boy."


* * *


Soon after, Felix was shuffled aboard the Night's Wake at sword-point. But after a vague warning not to touch anything or get in their way, the captain—named Veris Shirtwaist—had left him to his own devices. He was allowed to roam about the deck, completely free from manacles or chains. Pit was free as well, thankfully, and the two of them were huddled along the prow of the ship while pirates bustled all around them.

Felix could somehow sense the murderous gazes directed his way, though he never actually saw them. Whenever he panned around, all the crew were busy hauling on lines and sails—or whatever sailors did. Their apparent lack of concern for him was not a balm. He was a prisoner, and Felix felt a knot of tension between his shoulders that refused to ease.

They're afraid of you, the Maw said. She floated above him, hanging onto a braided line and staring into the dark distance. The ship rose into the Void and slowly banked, turning back the way they had come.

Felix snorted and scratched Pit's silky head. "Why? They captured me."

Because you killed two of them, and you fought off the rest. The Maw looked down at him and her blue-green eyes were intense. You've the scent of a predator, Felix Nevarre, and you've shown them your teeth. They will not trust you, for they too are predators. Behold.

The ship moved surprisingly quickly, and it had crossed over the rocky ridge. Below, Felix could spy a burning island. It was far larger than most and a sort of structure was built on top of it, maybe a house or fort. Now it resembled nothing so much as a bundle of burnt matchsticks, while the rock around it crackled with emerald flame.

Prey, it said with a flash of teeth.

Felix's Perception was far better than it had ever been at home, but even pre-System he would have recognized the shape of corpses. He felt his gut drop and his throat tighten. There were ten, twenty—Felix counted thirty-two bodies before the Night's Wake was too far away to make them out. Thirty-two victims. Felix looked at the pirates, and this time caught a few grinning at him before they returned to their work.

"Bastards," Felix muttered. From what he'd gathered this was the base of the Keelhaul Krew, and they sounded like pirates themselves. But to kill everyone? And some of those shapes were awfully small. Were they Goblins or children? Would it have mattered to them?

A pain lanced through his gut—his core, he supposed. Felix gasped and leaned on the railing while Pit cooed in concern. It felt like a cramp, or like when you ate too much.

I still haven't digested that Harrowing, he realized. Typically his old Title let him drink down blood or Mana and gain a memory and/or Skill in quick succession. This had been the first time he'd used Ravenous Tithe, and he'd eaten the whole damn voidbeast. "That's probably not good."

You'll be fine, the Maw assured him. She had changed to hovering upside down, inspecting the sailcloth. The first meal is always the roughest. Though I'd prefer if you hurried up your digestion. You'll need the room.

Felix frowned at the Primordial. "What are you talking about?"

It smiled at him, a cadaverous grin on its wasted face. You're headed to their lair, no? First rule of all predators: never show weakness. But, if you do, then you eat them before they can eat you.

Felix blanched, and the Maw's cackled faded as she swept away along the deck.