Elva followed Cephilia's directions because the red-robed weirdo looked like she meant business. Captain Blast obviously couldn't cover his eyes with his hands shackled so she pulled her headscarf down over half her face and covered Blast's eyes with her hands. Cephilia did some fancy talk and then there was a blinding flash. Even though her eyes were shut, when Elva pulled up her headscarf she still saw stars swimming in her vision. "Now that's something," Elva mumbled in awe. While she was blinking rapidly, Red Eye showed up and freed Captain Blast from his shackles and Cephilia was supporting Asara. “Where’s your ship?” Cephilia said to Blast. “Your crew hasn’t come to your rescue?” "That's a good question," Elva added, turning to the pirate. "We definitely can't stay in Stonehaven."
Elva's spirit-guided axe bashed straight through three soldier's heads, sticking half-way in the third soldier's skull. Their dead bodies dropped to the floor, leaving five more soldiers standing. Cephilia's flashbang blinded the remaining soldiers, but they started shooting in random directions. One of the bullets bounced off the wall and skimmed Elva's shoulder. She suffered a small cut. Captain Blast rubbed his wrists when Red Eye broke the shackles. "Ahhhh!" he exclaimed. "Right! This is more like it!" When Red Eye charged into the group of soldiers, one of them fired his musket in his direction. Fortunately, the bullet missed Red Eye's face, but when it flies by his ear it damages his eardrum, giving him a sharp pain and a high-pitched sound in his ear. "My crew? The bastards," Captain Blast scoffed when Cephilia questioned him. "They all scattered when I was arrested last night at the pub. My ship is still docked, though. If we can get to it, then we can escape." Blast stopped talking and rubbed his hands together. "Now! Everyone step back and I'll show you why they call me Captain Blast!" He clapped his hands and there was a sudden explosion in the middle of the group of soldiers. They screamed and flew straight into the air, like flimsy dolls, and fell back to the ground, knocked unconscious. "I still got it!" Captain Blast cried, patting himself on the back. "Follow me!" Without waiting to see if they obeyed, Blast took off running down the alley onto the main street. He looked both ways and ran to the right toward the docks. "Halt! Halt!" ten soldiers pursued them closely behind, swords raised.
"My crew? The bastards. They all scattered when I was arrested last night at the pub. My ship is still docked, though. If we can get to it, then we can escape," Blast explained. “Right... pirates,” Cephilia murmured to herself. Were the words ‘pirate’ and ‘coward’ always so closely related? Blast was legendary; she thought his crew would have a backbone. Apparently not. He then proceeded to demonstrate why he was known as Captain Blast. With a clap of his hands, he summoned a sudden explosion in the midst of the soldiers. The fact that the blow sent them airborne, yet didn’t tear them limb from limb, came as a relief to Cephilia who had seen enough blood and gore for one day. It’s not that she hadn’t the stomach for such things, she just didn’t like brutalizing these men, who were merely doing their jobs. Those faceless soldiers lying face-down in pools of their own blood had wives and children, brothers and sisters. What kind of person would she be if she gave money to orphanages filled with the sons and daughters of slain guardsmen? What kind of mad, mad world is this? Oops, she was pondering moral dilemmas when she should be running. Captain Blast sprinted off and ten more expendable meatbags invaluable, honorable men poured into the alley, shouting “Halt! Halt!” as they wagged their shitty, mass-produced people-pokers at the fleeing pirates. “A little help would be nice,” Cephilia said. It didn’t take long for her to begin to fall behind, on account of the woman she was supporting. She felt like a three-legged horse being chased by thoroughbreds. “Look, I’m sorry about almost blinding you. Truly, I am. But, I swear, it feels like you’re trying to get us caught!”
"I was trying to kill them. If you hadn't blinded me there'd be three more dead soldiers at least." She replied, having managed to grab her rapier as she was being picked up and currently holding it in her hand. This was not the time for lectures, it wasn't her who decided to use a flash bang. It wasn't her who hadn't seen someone leap into the air, blade extended. She might have wished to not be seen, but not like that. "Would you like me to grow wings? Or perhaps summon a carrige?"
"I still got it!" Captain Blast cried, patting himself on the back. "Follow me!" "WHAT?" Red Eye rubbed his ear with his palm as he raced along a few paces behind the captain. Was that blood? Was he bleeding? Or was his brain just melting? After that soldier's shot, it was a little hard to tell. Though his head rang painfully, his remaining good ear was still able to pick up the argument taking place behind him. Glancing back, Red Eye noted the red cloaked woman straggling a short way behind, slowed by the other woman she was supporting as they ran. He briefly considered tripping the stumbling pair into the path of the pursuing soldiers just to see what would happen, but he supposed it made sense to have as many people around who wanted Blast alive as possible. At least, for the time being. He sighed. Trying to keep someone alive was always so much more tedious. "Would you like me to grow wings? Or perhaps summon a carriage?" he heard the woman with the rapier say. He laughed. "Is that an option?" It probably wasn't, or she'd have done so already. But he chose to remain optimistic. Not waiting for a proper reply, he put on speed, catching up to Blast. Up ahead, the alley hit a fork: Part of it continued straight ahead down a short but steep flight of steps, the other turned sharply to the left and continued on towards the docks. Perfect. With a quick call to Blast and a jerk of his head, Red Eye indicated the left turn. As soon both of them had darted around the corner, he relievedly screeched to a halt. Keeping pace with Blast was no mean feat, even to someone as accustomed to mad chases as Red Eye was. He had to admire the captain's agility. Taking a quick peek back around the corner, he saw the guards continuing to gain on the red cloaked one and the woman with her. He placed one palm on the road between the alley and the stairs. The cobblestones here were as wet as the rest of the town, and would make a fine ice slick. The key would be letting loose after the passage of the two women, and before that of the pursuing guards...but the gap between the groups was shrinking fast. This was going to be close.
"I was trying to kill them. If you hadn't blinded me there'd be three more dead soldiers at least," the woman said. In that case, I am glad I blinded you, Cephilia thought, but she was too busy running to keep fussing with the woman. "Would you like me to grow wings? Or perhaps summon a carriage?" “I would like you to shut up,” Cephilia said, a little more heatedly than intended. “Any lesser person would have left you behind.” Mr. Eye Patch seemed to find this all rather amusing. After a quick verbal jab and a laugh, he ran ahead, leaving the two women behind. Such a gallant fellow, Cephilia thought. Oh, I fear I may swoon. Well, she might… due to exhaustion, not his ‘charm.’ He disappeared around a corner. The billowing tails of his fine coat were the last thing she saw and Cephilia feared that would be the last she saw of any of them. She and the woman had been left behind, discarded as dead weight. But, to her surprise, she spied Mr. Eye Patch’s head peeking around the corner; he was lying in wait, preparing an ambush of some sort. She truly hoped he didn’t plan on recklessly charging into the mob of soldiers. There was nothing romantic about a suicidal fool. Cephilia and her ‘friend’ whipped around the corner, narrowly avoiding a rather treacherous-looking flight of stairs, and ran past Patchy. An instant later, she could feel magic, the familiar tingling in her right arm which signaled that he was using his talent. She didn’t look back. The sound of a dozen or so men slipping across the icy cobblestones and tumbling down a flight of stairs was enough to know what he’d done.
"And any greater person would have paid attention and not blinded me in the first place." She bit back, her vision slowly returning and her train of thought creating two paths. The first was to ride it out, keep going till they were on the ship, either killing them all in their sleep or taking the ship when they next docked. Both were possibilities, though she's have to give them an alias for the second Any smuggler who could be tracked down clearly wasn't doing their job properly. She'd probably do that anyway, being a firm believer in keeping her options open. The second, and much more immediately satisfying idea involved hamstringing her 'saviour', and then shouting for the guards. She could tell them where they were going and get a tidy reward. Everything would be all right and he could skip off into the sunset. Her decision was made when they rounded the corner and the sound of soldiers slipping followed. It appeared there was at least one competent member of the group, apparently signifcatly more than that of the soldiers and managing to balance out the idiot that was carrying her. No, no sighing. Pointless waste of air. Just put it out of your mind for now. All she had do was follow them, a simple enough task.
Well that was unexpected. All Ace remembered was running up the wooden platform with an erratic mob, Captain Blast within grasping distance and smiling wryly back at him and then there was a snap, a shudder and suddenly the world turned sideways. His feet disappeared from underneath him, the square falling away and the sky spinning into view, Ace landed with one foul crack to the side of his head and - BAM! - lights out. Stranger still when he had woken up, groggy and face down in the muddied cobblestone, the square was barely occupied. A small rabble of peasants still littered the ground here and there, scouring the square in the pouring rain in the hope of forgotten coin, merchants beginning to close down their stores knowingly accepting that today's business opportunities were forlorn, and a flurry of guards and mob taking chase down the street towards the dock, no doubt searching for Blast. But what luck, Ace thought as he screwed his face in pain, pushing a pair of fingers to his forehead for a moment and revealing a wet crimson, at least there was no sign of Mayweather, The Countess, Wrex or the Rat. Clearly things has escalated quickly judging by the other injures in the cobbled stone battleground, where trampled citizens lay broken and soldiers tended to the wounds of their fallen comrades. No one had thought to check if I was okay, Ace noted dryly, and still a little woozy he lost his balance heading to the nearest wall and stumbled. There's not even a Captain Blast in my clutches to show for my efforts! Well I suppose the good thing is, uh... hmm... I am still alive. He was slightly relieved at the thought, but not completely sure it counted as a "good thing" at this point. The idea of chasing down Captain Blast was futile, especially with a King who would stop at nothing to get the pirate back and the entire Stonehaven Battalion out for blood. Ace scratched his stubble for a moment. There was no doubt that King Roger would send every living soul at his disposal to catch the bastard, for he was a man of pride and impulse. But with almost every soldier out to get Blast, there would be some empty stations to say the least and in that moment Ace glanced up to the sky and grinned, spying the oh so vacant wall fortifications that patrolled the city. That's how I'll find Blast. Slinking up some unknown staircase, Ace walked calmly along the fortifications high above the city, the rain providing the perfect cover. There were one or two guards on the ramparts but Ace walked with conviction, chest out and shoulders back, and even managed to fluke a salute from a fresh faced soldier, for which he gladly returned. "Fine job son, now back to your station." And the lad quickly obliged. When these sort of moments come along, you might as well milk the most out of them, right? Ace continued on, arms behind his back, watching the skittering of soldiers down below like mice looking for a tasty cheese. And my, what a tasty cheese it was. Captain Blast rallied with his newly acquired team, the whole group frantic and eager to escape, descending the stairs towards the dock and Ace watched on, walking calmly along the ramparts and grinning like an idiot.
Elva clutched her shoulder, thinking that the bullet had torn through her flesh, but when she inspected it closer she saw that it was just a shallow cut. She thanked her ancestors and tried to keep up with Captain Blast and the others. When the group of soldiers slipped over the ice-covered floor and went tumbling down the stairs, she cackled madly. "That's a neat Talent, Ice Man!" Elva cried, giving him her widest grin. Then she sheathed her cutlass and jumped forward into a roll, kicked off the ground, flew high into the air, flipped forward onto her hands, walked on her hands for six paces, then jumped back onto her feet and continued running. All that had helped her catch up with Captain Blast and she ran alongside him once again. There was a whistling sound by her ear and, when she looked, her throwing axe was floating next to her head in a sparkling grey cloud. "Many thanks!" Elva chirped, plucking the axe out of the air. The cloud bobbed up and down and then disappeared in a puff.
"We're almost there!" Captain Blast called over his shoulder. His stride increased as they heard the sound of more horns blowing and soldiers calling to one another. He had a funny gait, kicking his knees up high and swinging his arms vigorously, but it worked because he easily kept ahead of the pack. Finally, they were just ten paces from the docks. They could see many ships moored along the edge of the rippling Emerald Sea. The most worn-down ship, the one with the figurehead of a mermaid wearing an eye-patch and a pirate hat, stood out starkly next to the cleaner, newer ships. "The Vengeful Maiden!" Blast exclaimed joyfully. Luckily, there were only two soldiers guarding his ship: they were standing on the deck sharing a flask and facing in the opposite direction, staring at the ocean. "Off me boat, you bum-swaddling pigs!" Captain Blast roared as he ran up the gangway. The soldiers whipped around in surprise and fumbled to take out their swords, but Captain Blast clapped his hands and (boom!) they flew off the ship and splashed into the deep green water. "Get on, get on!" Blast instructed everyone. "Cut the ropes and I'll hoist the sails!" He pointed to the thick ropes that secured the Vengeful Maiden to the dock. There were three of them and they were made of a strange, bright material; it looked like it was made of silver and gold. Silvergold was extremely rare and renowned for being resistant to magic. To cut the ropes, they would have to use every trick they could think of. Blast yelled for them to hurry as he scurried to let down the dirty brown sails.
Cephilia struggled up the gangplank, huffing and puffing as if she’d run a marathon. She had trained and conditioned her body to be strong enough to carry the sword and wear the armor, but clearly her stamina needed some work. I suppose this is what happens when a highborn lady dabbles in the affairs of the hardier classes, she thought. She felt as if they were an entirely different species. “S-stay here,” she wheezed as she guided her limping comrade to a stack of crates where the woman could have a seat. “I’ll look after you later. I promise.” If the woman’s spiteful glare was any indicator, Cephilia suspected she wouldn’t like being ‘looked after’ by the moron who’d nearly blinded and crippled her. But it is my duty, Cephilia thought, and I will not abandon it. Captain Blast lived up to his name, barking out orders to his newfound crew. They weren’t going anywhere until those ropes were done away with. Cephilia calmly inspected one and hoped her eyes were deceiving her. Silvergold… it brought back fond memories of the heist at Killbjorn Estate. She was forced to abandon that mission; the locking mechanism of Lord Killbjorn’s vault was made of solid silvergold. It probably cost more than the vault’s contents. But that was fine. She had come back with a solution to that problem, the same way she planned to solve this one. “Captain,” she said. “Permission to access the ship’s stores, sir. I require gunpowder and lamp oil, in equal measure." She looked to the eyepatched fellow who had saved her earlier, "And a bucket of water, as cold as you can, without freezing it," Cephilia said. "And you there,” she looked to the girl who'd summoned the spirit earlier. "I may require use of your axe as well. It is sharp, yes?" I'm not an idiot, Cephilia thought, picturing the woman she'd carried. I'm not, I'm not, I'm not. And I'm going to prove it to you.
"I don't need anyone to look after me." She hissed, before taking a deep breath. Oh please tell me this woman knows what happens when you use water with an oil fire. She began to doubt if the woman's plan would work and began to formulate her own. After a brief wander along the deck, holding onto one side as she went up the stairs to the helm. She started to slice away some of the wheels innermost spokes, hacking away with her knife till she had three wooden rods, before quartering those, giving her a total of twelve. "Patches," she announced, looking towards Red Eye, "might need your help with this one, both physically and magically." She remember when she was younger, walking past a quarry and seeing the men split the stone with pieces of wood and water, and it was a trick she'd often used for opening chests or anything with a lock she couldn't pick. There was plenty of water around, and she had the wood. All they had to do was embed them slightly in the dock, water them, and then have Patches, her nickname for him till she learnt otherwise, freeze them. Water expanded when turning into ice, giving extra force to the expansion. Everything would work out perfectly, hopefully, assuming they weren't shot full of led first. There was also the option of shooting the ropes, or just using what little gunpowder she had.
Elva smirked at Cephilia and pulled out her throwing axe. "It's sharp enough to cut through a skull," she said in an ironic tone. "So I think it's sharp enough for whatever you have planned." She tossed the axe straight into the air and flicked her fingers. A spirit cloud appeared next to the axe and wrapped around the handle. With an upbeat whistling sound, the spirit carried the axe over to Cephila and hovered in front of her face for her to take it. "I'll see what my cutlass can do," Elva announced as she ran over to the middle rope. "Silvergold," she whispered reverently. If she could save some of this stuff, maybe she could trade it for a small fortune later on. She took out her cutlass and aimed, then swung with all her might. The cutlass bounced off the silvergold rope, but she did not give up. She swung again and again, aiming precisely for the same exact spot, hoping it would do some kind of damage.
Captain Blast waved at Cephilia. "Yeah yeah, take whatever you need, there's plenty below deck. I don't know where you're gonna get a bucket of water, though. There's just some barrels of ale." Then he continued untying ropes. The main sail was halfway down, its dirty brown length billowing out as it caught the wind. Blast immediately ran to another rope and started working on it. Elva's cutlass made a tiny cut in the middle rope, but there was still ninety percent more to cut through. In the distance they could hear soldiers getting closer: they had figured out where Captain Blast and his co-conspirators had gone to. But there was also a dwarf clad in raggedy clothes running up the gangplank. He had a large, crooked jaw, beady black eyes, and hard muscles. The two pistols he carried looked too big for his little hands and his clunky boots were too big for his feet. When he reached the deck, he bent over and started huffing, clearly out of breath. "Billy Bones!" Captain Blast yelled at the dwarf. "Where have you been?" "Lookin' fer you, sir!" Billy Bones retorted. "I went ter save your sorry arse, but a silly wench informed me that these scalliwags beat me to it!" He gestured to Ace, Elva, Red Eye, and Cephilia, giving them each the stink eye. He was obviously annoyed that they had stolen his thunder. "A likely story!" Blast barked. "Where were you when I was arrested, eh? Did you scatter with the rest of the crew?" "No, I was passed out in the stables!" Captain Blast paused and gave him a confused look. "Why were you in the stables?" "It weren't exactly on purpose." Billy Bones scratched the side of his head with one of his pistols. "I was drunk out of me mind, you see..." "Arrr, say no more. The drink can make a man do silly things. Now, guard us while we try to get the Vengeful Maiden going!" Billy Bones nodded and turned to face the docks, his pistols held at the ready.
Red Eye let his gaze linger on the shining ropes. He let out a low whistle. That much silvergold would be worth quite a pretty penny...assuming he could contrive to get it loose. The bollards bound by it were old wood, thick and sturdy. They'd be almost as tough to break as the cables themselves. "And a bucket of water, as cold as you can, without freezing it," spoke Red Cloak to him suddenly. With a flourishing salute, he cast his eyes about the ship and the surrounding docks. No sign of a bucket... Ah, but perhaps that would work. Near the gangplank lay the helmet of one of the guards blown into the water by Blast. Not ideal, but perhaps it would do. With a leap Red Eye was beside it. Snatching it up with one hand, he took hold of one of the silvergold ropes with the other. He lowered himself briskly down towards the water, noting with mild interest the distant splasing of the helm's previous owner. Once the helmet was filled, he quickly raised it and himself back up and dashed back onto the deck of the ship. The whole procedure had probably taken about eleven seconds. He really had to work on his speed. As he approached Red Cloak with the helmet, he ran his his fingertips around the rim. Ice coated the interior, but the seawater within remained liquid. He could have been more thorough, he supposed, but playing with temperature that subtly took concentration, and it would have eaten up seconds they probably did not have. With a bow, he handed it off to Red Cloak for use in whatever her plan was. Fire and oil, hmm? He couldn't wait to see where that would lead. Though his ear still rang, the sound of chopping wood was obvious enough to make him glance up. The woman with the rough braid, the one Red Cloak had been carrying, was up by the helm, cutting the spokes out of the wheel. Red Eye raised an eyebrow. Oil fires, and now vandalism. He was rather enjoying these people. He was about to make a remark among the lines of "Don't we rather need that?" when she stopped, and began quartering the three spokes she'd cut loose. It was then she caught sight of him watching her. "Patches," she announced, looking towards him, "might need your help with this one, both physically and magically." Well, wasn't he popular today. "At your service." He followed her back towards the gangplank, past the dwarf who'd shown up, yelled a bit, and was now giving the evil eye to everybody. He gave Billy Bones the once over. Disgusting clothing, disgusting smell. Not to mention reeking of alcohol. And given the ill will emanating from those beady eyes, he was either arrogant or insecure. Possibly both. Red Eye sighed inwardly. It was a fairly predictable personality, typical of a pirate, but perhaps the chap could be encouraged to do something interesting later. He'd have to see, once they were out of here. As he was about to follow the Angry Braid woman off the deck, a thought occurred. No, two. But he would work on the second one in a minute. He turned back to face Captain Blast. "Two questions for you, Master Blaster! The first: What, may I ask, is the range on that remarkable clap of yours? And the second: Could this ship's cannons be made ready to fire?" He grinned in a way that was positively sharklike. "It might be easier to pull away from the docks if there were less dock to pull away from."
Captain Blast gave Red Eye a slow smile. "My range is roughly twenty paces, twenty-five if I exert myself. I'm not nearly powerful enough to blow up the docks alone, especially since I just used my Talent twice and it gets weaker each time, but using the cannons is a good idea. I like the way you think." "We got company!" Billy Bones yelled. Eight soldiers were running down the docks toward them. Six of them were running ahead with muskets at the ready and two were pulling a wheeled cannon. Billy Bones shot at them, but missed both times. They returned shots and also missed, their bullets whizzing over everyone's heads. Billy Bones hurried to reload his pistols, sticking out his tongue as he concentrated intensely. The soldiers did the same with their muskets and also started readying their cannon. "If you're gonna load the cannons, you better put some pepper in your stepper!" Captain Blast hollered. He returned to untying the ropes and the main sail was finally free. Then he ran to the anchor and started working on pulling it up, grunting with effort.
“Much obliged,” Cephilia remarked as she plucked the axe out of midair and tucked it into her belt. Ghosts… hmm, that was new. If they weren’t in imminent danger, she might have a few questions about where the girl got these ghoulies. Some other time, perhaps. The ice man delivered one helm of very cold water and Cephilia gave him a quick smile of appreciation before dashing below decks. She gave no heed to anything she saw down there and followed her nose straight to the gunpowder stores. For someone who preferred peace over violence, she was quite well-versed in explosives and incendiaries. She was an amateur chemist and tinkerer at heart. And, despite her skills with a lockpick, a good safecracker always has a Plan B. ‘B’ as in ‘boom.’ With her sword, Cephilia pried the lid off of a barrel of gunpowder. Rather than hunt for the lamp oil, she just snatched an unlit lantern hanging near the door, uncapped it, dumped a fistful of gunpowder inside, and kneaded until it thickened the oil to a heavy black paste. Seconds later, she was back on deck. Cephilia slathered a handful of the concoction onto a foot-long section of the ropes. It would burn faster and hotter than lamp oil alone, but slower than gunpowder. The silvergold ropes were actually cables of finely spun metal -- expensive wondermetal, but still metal. If superheated and rapidly cooled, it should become brittle. Or she might accidentally temper it, making it even stronger. Isn’t science fun? In three strikes of flint, she had the mixture lit. It hissed like a hell-spawned serpent, giving off orange flames and intermittent flashes of sparks. Too much oil, she thought. The flames should be white-hot, not orange. Cephilia quickly dug into her pockets for a round of ammunition for her gauntlet, Vengeance. Its ammunition came in the form of small pouches of gunpowder and shotgun pellets wrapped in paper. She unwrapped it and sprinked the contents onto the burning cable, like seasoning. The fire flared up white-hot for a moment, before settling down. Within seconds, the black paste was consumed and the fire exhausted itself, leaving the cable glowing hot and sizzling in the damp seaside air. Soldiers were already on the docks, some taking aim with their muskets. Either this would work or she had just wasted a lot of time and made a fool of herself. Well, here goes nothing, Cephilia thought as she dumped the cold water on the glowing cable, sending up a cloud of steam. She gripped the girl’s axe in both hands, and brought it down with all her strength.
"It might be easier to pull away from the docks if there were less dock to pull away from." "Exactly!" She announced, her sight having returned to her and a spring crept into her step. She crouched at the side of the ship, huddling behind the wall of wood at the front. This was not for the purpose of cover, the bullets easily penetrating the old lumber and showering the deck with splinters. Instead, it was to allow movement without being seen. Asara had a simple method of dealing with people who had guns. Don't get shot, shoot them back. Truly a revolutionary concept. After the next barrage came she popped up, rifle held level as she gave a quick glance of the area before ducking down again, another barrage following shortly after. Once that was done she went back up, firing a shot and managing to hit one of the soldiers just below the collar bone. His arm would be useless for some time. She ducked down again and moved, making sure to never stay in the same spot. This being imperative to her 'not getting shot' strategy. Her eyes fell to Elva, and the floating axe. This could work. "Hey, stop trying to cut the rope. It's pointless." She declared, instead sliding the pieces of wood along the deck to the woman's feet. "Use your powers, have those embedded into posts we're tied to, four in each." She began to think up a nickname for her as well. She looked young, making her inexperience slightly more forgiveable. Pointless? She'd been trying to cut the rope, so it fit. Pre-teen because of her youth? Less offensive perhaps, she'd have to wait and see. Afterwards, she popped up, taking another shot and managing to wound another soldier, this time in the leg.
Cephilia managed to mostly cut through the silvergold rope. It was still connected by one single strand. All she had to do was hack that one piece and it would fall away. Two soldiers were disabled by Asara. The others reloaded their guns with a vengeance. They had managed to get the cannon ready and now they were lighting the fuse and aiming it at the side of the Vengeful Maid. If the cannonball hit, it could possibly render the ship useless and strand them all at the docks. They could hear more soldiers getting closer and closer, attracted by all the noise. Billy Bones shot twice and one of his bullets hit a soldier in the neck. One more down. Then he ducked when they shot back at him. Captain Blast had the anchor pulled up three-quarters of the way. If they didn't leave soon, it would all be over.
To Cephilia’s surprise, the axe nearly cleaved the thick cable in one stroke. For a moment, she thought she had cut right through it, but the blade jerked to a sudden halt, leaving only a tiny strand standing between her and a flawless victory. She grunted in disappointment and yanked it back out, ignoring the sharp pain in her wrist. A final swing of the axe severed the defiant strand and the first cable popped, slithered across the deck, and vanished into the sea. One down, two to go, Cephilia thought as she slipped the axe into her belt, picked up the lantern, and prepared to move on to the next. A musket ball whizzing by her head made her hit the deck. Apparently, those fine fellows on the dock had noticed her. Cephilia crawled to the railing and peeked over. Cannon. Not good. Her allies were returning fire, but even a wounded soldier could still light that damned fuse and blow a hole in the Vengeful Maiden. Definitely not good. Cephilia glanced at the other cable. So close. She glanced at her lantern of flammable oil, then at the cannon, then at the cable again, then at the cannon… “Shit,” she muttered with a slow shake of her head as she took out her flint and struck up a spark. She would have to let the others deal with the other cables. The cannon was a priority. Cephilia lit the lantern and flung this improvised firebomb over the railing, toward the cannon and the poor souls manning it. So much for not killing anyone today.
Elva nodded to Asara and did as she said, conjuring another spirit and instructing it to embed the wooden pieces into the posts the ship was tied to. When that was done, she saw Cephilia toss a lantern at the wheeled cannon that the soldiers were readying to shoot. If they succeeded, then all of this would have been for naught. Elva flung out one of her hands and a spirit flew through the air with a high keening whistle. It guided the lantern exact over the cannon and let it go at the perfect time. "That should do it," Elva huffed. Then she ducked back down before she got shot again.
Red Eye slammed himself down to the deck as the first shots rang out. He hazarded a glance; sure enough, the dock was crowded with soldiers, with more doubtless on the way. Angry Braid's plan, whatever the specifics, had just become a lot more difficult to accomplish. Well, that left plan B, didn't it. Not that he was disappointed. Staying low, he slipped over to the nearest cannon. There was hardly time or opportunity to load and prepare one with all this gunfire, but if the ship had been in combat when it was captured, then perhaps... But the barrel was empty. So much for that. A musket ball whined just over his head, embedding itself in a mast. This was fun. But it would be a bit pedestrian to die now. No one would tell stories about a pirate killed by some nameless soldier during a failed rescue attempt. He had some pride in his reputation, after all. He slipped along to the next cannon in line, passing withing a few paces of the rancid Billy Bones as he did. The chap was haphazardly letting loose at the soldiers. He made for a fine distraction, but would probably be a short lived one if this went on much longer. "Hey Bones! How's about moving up to something with a higher caliber?" With a grin, Red Eye jerked his head at the line of cannons. "Unless you'd rather keep having pecking at them with those peashooters of yours!" Even as he said it, he was checking the barrel of the cannon. Luck was with him on this one. A cannonball sat inside, waiting only for the fuse to be lit. With some careful shoving, he got it facing one of the bollards still bound to the ship by silvergold. He'd have to make this shot count. There would be no opportunity to reload, at least not without some kind of distraction... That's when he saw Red Cloak making ready to throw the oil lamp. He grinned. Well, that would probably do it. Pulling his hat down to shield his face from the docks, he lit the fuse and dashed for the next cannon in line.
Cephilia's firebomb, partly due to Elva's magical help, was a success. The two soldiers manning the wheeled cannon were instantly set on fire...but so was the fuse to the cannon. It boomed and reeled back, but its aim was off. The heavy black ball went high into the air and came down on one of the silvergold ropes, snapping it neatly in half. Cephilia had also managed to break the silvergold rope she was working on. Red Eye destroyed the last one with a cannonball. At the same time, Captain Blast pulled the anchor all the way back onto the ship. Now the Vengeful Maiden was free. "Lets be off, before the Navy arrives!" Blast shouted as he pranced gleefully to the steering wheel. He spun it and the ship reared violently to the side, turning ever so slowly toward the open sea. The wind was really catching now and the main sail snapped as it was filled with a strong gust. There was an iron lever next to the wheel with the words FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY carved on the side. Captain Blast licked his hands, wiggled his fingers with delight, and grabbed the lever, yanking it all the way back. There was a deep rumble from the bowels of the ship that got stronger and stronger, until the whole vessel was trembling violently. "Hold on to something!" Blast yelled as he slipped his hands into leather straps on the wheel. A split second later, the ship jumped and lurched forward at a startling velocity. Two huge fans in the back of the ship were churning the water, spraying the whole docks as the Vengeful Maiden made a speedy escape. Fifty soldiers had just arrived, only to be knocked off their feet by the torrent of sea water. In just a few minutes, Stonehaven was a distant blur on the horizon. But there was a loud coughing sound from below decks as the engines failed. The fans ceased spinning and the Vengeful Maiden jerked to a stop, moving at a regular, wind-powered pace. "Whew, that was a close one," Captain Blast remarked, untying his hands. He straightened his wide black hat and smoothed the sleeves of his long black coat. "Billy Bones, would you mind going below deck and winding up the turbine engines, in case we have to make another escape soon?" "I got it, I got it," Billy Bones groaned. He was holding the guardrails so tightly that he had to pry his fingers off them. He took a swig from a heavy silver flask before stomping down some rickety stairs into the belly of the ship. "So..." Captain Blast sat on a barrel and eyed his new crew. "You know I'm Captain Blast. But who are you lot?"
There was fire and shouting and cannons and muskets and chaos. Cephilia crouched by the railing, all the while thinking, is it over yet? How about now? She didn’t even care if the lantern hit its mark. If it didn’t work, she would roll a keg of gunpowder overboard and light that instead. Blow the whole damn dock away. More explosions! Yes! She was taking to this whole ‘pirate’ thing a little too well. Next thing she knew, the ship was beginning to rotate beneath her feet as it turned and pulled away from the dock. Blast ordered them all to hold onto something. Well, Cephilia was already gripping the railing, but his tone gave her a feeling she’d need more than that. She unfurled her chain sword and used it to tie herself off. A mechanical beast roared to life beneath the floorboards, lifting the Vengeful Maiden’s bow skyward as some unseen force violently propelled it away from Stonehaven, toward open water. Cephilia had no idea what it was, but she was definitely going to find out. Maybe she could reverse engineer it or improve upon it. Now that they had successfully rescued Captain Blast, she needed to start thinking about how to make herself useful aboard this ship. When the Maiden slowed once more, the shoreline was barely visible. Blast descended from the helm and sent Billy Bones below decks to service the ‘turbines’… whatever that was. Captain Blast took a seat on a barrel and addressed the rest of them. "So... You know I'm Captain Blast. But who are you lot?" Cephilia untied herself from the railing and approached him, dragging her chain sword behind her. She unfolded a small hand crank from its crossguard and reeled it in, like reeling in the line on a fishing rod, until it was a proper sword once more. Her longsword and sleeve of plate armor looked out of place in this world of cutlasses, rapiers, and pistols. When she arrived before Captain Blast, she lowered herself to one knee and upended her sword, its tip resting on the ground, in the fashion of a medieval knight taking a knee before his lord. “Lady Cephilia Lovelace, only daughter of Lord Thomas and Lady Martha Lovelace. Third heir to the Lovelace estate,” she said proudly. There was a thin gold chain around her neck. It hung low, disappearing into the shadowy crevasse of her cleavage. As proof of her legitimacy, Cephilia lifted it out, revealing a signet ring with a fat ruby in the shape of a red dragon, the symbol of the Lovelace family. She held it up for Captain Blast to see, then tucked it away once more. “I am also known as ‘The Red Widow,’” she added, as if this were only an insignificant detail, “and I am here for the Lost Treasure. There’s an orphanage of starving children depending on me. Even a small fraction of that fortune could change their lives.”
Captain Blast raised his eyebrows at Lady Cephilia. "A noble? A noble pirate?" Then he leaned back and laughed, holding his sides. "A bloody noble pirate! Now that is something you don't see every day!" He wiped his eyes and sighed. "Sorry, I don't mean to offend. This is just a little out of the ordinary, you see. But I wouldn't go around lording that you're of noble lineage. There be many a pirate that would love to take you captive for a ransom..." He examined Cephilia closely, from her clothes to her weapons. She was definitely a nice addition to their crew, even if she was a noble. He was more than eager to see how much carnage her sword-thingy could cause in an all-out brawl.
