Two boatswain's mates on the main deck moved toward the main
mast. A charau-ka, an ape-like humanoid,
readied a bomb while the more ordinary sailors cleared the deck, wanting to be
as far away from the fighting as possible.
The sniper in front of Chopper dropped her rifle. "I'm no match for you," she
said. "I serve the Gunworks of the
Grand Duchy of Alkenstar, and I offer you the secrets of my trade in exchange for
my life."
Arrows peppered the other sniper atop the second mast, most
striking the wood but one eliciting a cry of pain. Feruzi yelled as the bomb hit her, enveloping
her in flames. The air went cold and a
pair of unearthly monstrosities appeared beside Reiko. Chopper jumped from the tower to assist Reiko
in fighting off the daemons.
Ezikial blasted the charau-ka alchemist to gibbly little
bits, then finished off the boatswain's mates that were now menacing
Feruzi. One piscodaemon expired noisily
under Reiko's sword, and the other wasn't looking so hot. Then a spell hit Leila and she fell to the
deck, stone dead.
Chopper screamed, charging toward the poop deck. "There!" Ezikial yelled as
something hissed angrily and the door to the captain's cabin flew open,
revealing Bonefist in all his glory. Or
lack thereof. Sandara threw a spell across
the deck that purged the invisibility, revealing a tall woman with the lower
body of a snake. She whirled her
scimitars and attacked. Chopper was more
than happy to return the favor, hacking wildly with his axes while Feruzi lined
up a shot, piercing lamia through the chest.
"Your witch is dead and your crew has abandoned you,
Bonefist!" Reiko shouted. "You
have no one left to fight for you. Give
up now and step down."
"I ain't forsakin' my throne fer the likes o YE."
"That's a shame," Reiko said, attacking with her
katana. Bonefist was blindingly fast
with his rapier, fending her off despite his wounds. He backed away, almost running into Chopper,
who had jumped down the stairs behind him.
"Stand down, Reiko," Chopper said. "This one . . . er, the REST of this one
is mine."
"You still have the opportunity to surrender,"
Reiko said.
"NEVER!" A
bullet tore Bonefist's ear off. Chopper
shrugged, and buried his axe in the former Pirate King's skull. He then turned away, looking sadly at Leila's
body.
"I'll, uh, start prayin' for her," Sandara said. "Once ye make sure this area is
secure. And find that treasure vault . .
. you need that to impress the other pirate captains, an' all."
"There will be time for that. We see to Leila first."
A full exploration of the sea caves revealed no more
opposition and, yes, quite an impressive treasure room. After a night's rest, Sandara was able to
raise Leila from the dead. The delighted
Chopper hugged Sandara, with instructions to transfer it to Leila.
"You big soppy," Feruzi said fondly.
"Summon tell Fishguts to quit choppin' onions,"
Chopper blubbered.
"So, your Majesty, what's your plan?" Feruzi
asked.
"Guess I should get coronated. Something, something, drink heavily,
something, something, see about easing up on Sargavan tarriffs."
"I'm sure your mother will be thrilled. You going to invite her to the
coronation?"
Chopper suddenly looked pensive. "I guess I might as well."
"I could handle that for you . . . I'm sure Merrill
would like a nice, long, relaxing, UNEVENTFUL trip."
"Aye, fer once," Sandara said.
"And then we can see about getting you a PERMANENT
wife."
Chopper raised an eyebrow at that. "Let's go provide the Council with the
proof of our deeds and leave nonsense topics tabled forever."
"He's still got the better part of a year to go with
his current Missus, anyway," Reiko chimed in.
"Bah, with him it'll take months even if I start
looking now," Feruzi said.
"Picky, picky, picky. I'll
have to get his mother to help. She
doesn't put up with him."
"Look here, you lot, I'm the bleedin' Hurricane
King. I'll not be henpecked by ye."
Feruzi snorted.
"Keep dreaming."
Sandara and Leila giggled.
"And after that, Reiko," Feruzi continued in a
burst of extravagance.
"No," Reiko said.
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