Nightsea Outlaw

Prince Artur Lopold, next in line to the throne of Grim Aegis and his father's only son, knelt low in the sparse, stubby grass, his hand on the hilt of his sword. He placed one leather-gloved hand against the ground and felt the impressions of the track in the soft dirt.

He wiped one of his long, white, sweaty locks of hair out of his face as he peered closer.

It was a bootprint roughly twice the size of Artur's own shoes, and it matched several others around it that marred the short grass between the wide trees around him. More obviously, the trail in front of him was marked by cut branches and shrubs and long lines of wagon wheels, but he hadn't spent years with the master tracker of Grim Aegis to ignore the bootprints on the ground.

"It is a matter of pride. I have nothing at all to hide," he said. "I will take these ruffians in stride. Father has no reason to chide."

The slavers he was searching for were nearby. He just needed to follow their trail.

He stood, taking one last chance to look across the clearing before starting down the trail and deeper into the forest. His doublet was hot and sweaty against his skin, and his chest wrap bound his breathing tight as the humid stink of the jungle weighed down on him.

"If only it didn't smell like a foul beast," he said, starting off on the trail again. "Then I would be able to feast."

The path became easier to follow as he walked. The slavers appeared to have given up on any subtlety and had hacked away at a wide swath of the brush as it grew thicker and thicker. Artur had to wonder what they were running from.

Boom. Thump.

In the distance, a mighty creature stepped down, shaking the ground around Artur and answering his question. There were mighty dragons on this particular island that he had crashed upon. Creatures as tall as the giant trees ate from the high branches, and they barely noticed such low creatures as those that walked close to the ground. Perhaps those dragons were what pursued the slavers to ground.

"More importantly to my plight," Artur said in the wake of the dragon's footsteps. "The disloyal butler created this blight."

Wherever Jeeves was, that was where Artur needed to be. To sell out his master to the slavers and to have him caged were Jeeves's crimes. Artur did not know if his father knew Jeeves's plans, but he would wring the truth out of the bulter when he caught up to the slavers.

In the distance, Artur spotted an orange flickering light.

"A fire, burning bright," he said. "It calls to me on this dark night."

Artur hurried his steps, keeping his body low by bending forward as he hurried through the brush. When he felt he was close enough, he stepped away from the cleared path. Artur knew better than to approach the camp brazenly, especially if it was the camp of the slavers he chased. Instead, he stuck to the shadows as he slowly circled his way to the camp, taking care to hide behind a large bush that he could peer around when he was within sight of the occupants.

Two large men sat around a large bonfire, a long wagon to their side best described as a metal box on wheels with black iron bars. Several figures were in the box, lying down or sitting against the bars with their dark flesh pressing through. All around the bonfire were the remains of several broken and ripped tents that looked like they were made of dried animal hides.

The two men were like giants, easily standing double the height of Artur. They were primarily cast in shadows, so their features weren't visible to Artur, but Artur knew them from their encounter on the beach. The larger of the two was Father William Harper, a giant man with a whip at his side who always carried a large black book. The book lay in his lap now, even if its features were covered in darkness. Beside him, only slightly smaller, was his brother, Roy Harper, who stood bare-chested and empty-handed. The brothers looked like twins, their long blonde hair glowing in the firelight and their faces clean-shaven.

"A twist to this long and sordid tale," Artur whispered. "The butler disappears while the brothers drink ale."

"This entire plan has been for nothing," William Harper said, letting out a long breath. "We lost the prince. All we have left are these few natives."

"Cheer up, brother," Roy said, slapping his knee. "We got the butler out of it, didn't we? He's got to be worth something."

"That ransom would have set us for a while. We'll have to double our efforts to gain flesh to sell."

Artur reached behind his back, pulling his heater shield away from its straps, sliding his arm through the strap, and grasping its handle. He placed his right hand on the hilt of his longsword as he watched the two brothers. By the brother's very words, Jeeves was in the cage. That was all he needed to know. He would get answers from the old man after he took out the brothers.

Artur opened his gate, calling the power of his family into his body as he stepped out from the bushes. Power worked through his body in interconnecting lines, flowing from joint to joint, filling his muscles with a burning bright light. Light shimmered around his shield as he stepped into the firelight, and he knew that the symbol of his house, a mighty golden dragon's head on a red diamond, glowed as the web of blue light stretched around his shield.

"Foul villains, know that without delay," Artur said, drawing his blade as he stepped into the clearing. "Your path of evil will end today."

Both brothers stood, smiling as they stepped away from the fire. Their confidence would not cow Artur. He was trained to fight by the best warriors of Grim Aegis, and with the power of his family at his side, he would not be beaten.

With a yell, he charged in, ready to take both brothers down.

Alex had four cards in his hands. They were hastily made, scrounged together from various pieces of paper the crew could find across the ship. His were marked easily enough to understand: 'G' for green, 'R' for red, and 'B' for blue. One, two, five, and a second blue five, respectively.

"We could have played Truco," Alex whispered under his breath as he eyed everyone else's hands.

Li Wen sat directly across from him at the table, her hands holding three remaining cards high enough up that he couldn't try to peek over. Jean held two between his bony fingers, a white smile illuminating his dark face. Erin held two as well, her ordinarily pale freckled face going even paler as her eyes darted between the remaining cards. It was her turn next.

"You couldn't explain the rules well enough," Li Wen said, her dark eyes darting up once before returning to her cards.

Alex sighed, looking at the singular yellow four on the table on a large pile of paper. None of their cards looked decent, but a break was a break, and playing a simple game together was enough to help them all recover from the tedium of sailing the nightsea.

"Enough delay, play or draw," Jean said. "I really like this game. It's full of the winds of fate."

He drew a card.

'+4' was written across the card, but Alex kept his expression neutral. That was a good option, but he would hold it for later. He put it with the rest of his cards and nodded to Erin next to him. She looked at him with wide eyes.

"Your go."

Slap.

Erin slapped down a 'B4' without a moment's hesitation, taking her hand off the card with confidence. Alex almost hated seeing the smile on her face because she had forgotten one of the game's most important rules.

"Draw, you forgot," Jean said, pointing down at the deck.

Shock hit her eyes first, followed by a rising red color on her face. Erin looked between her final card and the draw pile before closing her eyes and sighing. Alex smiled. All of that buildup, only to mess up at the end. He had to be ready for when his turn came.

Flick.

"Shades," Erin whispered, picking up two cards from the deck and depositing them in her hand.

Erin nodded to Li Wen, and Li Wen sat down two cards marked with 'B5.' Stacking. As Li Wen was the only other person from Earth at the table, Alex wasn't surprised that she remembered to do it; however, it made her win all the more likely.

"Uno," she said before nodding over to Jean.

"My friend, I am sorry," Jean whispered, rubbing his bald head before locking eyes with Alex. "This may cause her to win, but I feel the tides of fate changing."

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked, reaching up and rubbing at his growing stubble.

"This." Jean laid a card labeled '+4' on the table. "Uno."

"Oh no." Alex sighed, letting his shoulders fall in false exasperation.

As he tilted his head down, it did hide his smile. While he might not win the game, he wouldn't be hit with a '+4' without some kind of response. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be directed at Jean. Alex looked up to meet Erin's green eyes.

"Why would you do that to Erin?" he said as he stacked his own '+4' on top of Jean's card.

"Wait," Erin said, looking at the card. "Does that mean I have to draw eight?"

"Unless you have another." Jean smiled, looking her directly in the eyes. "Then she has to draw twelve."

Erin looked down at her cards for a moment before looking back up. Finally, she locked eyes with Li Wen, and she smirked. Alex started laughing. Jean joined in. Li Wen narrowed her eyes.

"Sorry," Erin said, setting down a final '+4' on the last.

"That's the way things are, I see," Li Wen whispered, shaking her hand and drawing twelve cards from the deck to add to her hand. "While you're all busy celebrating, she needs to declare a color."

"Green," Erin said immediately before checking her cards.

Thump.

"Hah!" Jean yelled, slamming down one final green card on the table. "Out and won!"

Alex sat down his cards, leaning back as his laughter from the last few minutes rattled through his body. For the last two months, his life had seemed like a never-ending stream of fast-paced events. He had beat an outlaw sheriff on Tombstone, faced off with an ex-apostle on Glory Plateau, fought off crab monsters on Cragg Hollow, found a mechanical girl in Death's Yard, and finally procured a ship and sent out a message to all of the Erth that times were changing on Diamond Peak.

All in all, it had been an exciting time.

However, all that excitement left out the small moments, like this card game on their ship where he could take a breather and relax for a time with his newly minted crew. Alex took a deep breath as he leaned back in his chair and looked down the long hallway of the Nighthawk.

The Nighthawk was a ship unlike any he had ever seen, and his experience with ships spanned both the Earth and the Erth. It was built in a way that reminded him of nuclear submarines. On the front of the vessel was a raised armored cockpit, with two long tubes running down the side and a long flat metal deck on top that served as an open space to walk around.

It was a ship built to sail the nightsea, a vast expanse of open space that stretched between giant balls of glowing light that were the worlds of the Erth. They were called islands, and Alex and his crew were currently headed to Dry Turtle.

"I'm going to go relieve Sayed on the helm." Alex stood up, stretching and pushing his chair back. "Seeing as we don't have any food, I don't want to stay in mess hall longer than I have to."

"But you will send Sayed back here to suffer while we limp the remainder of the way there." Jean laughed as Alex walked down the hallway. "Unless you intend to replace company with more company."

He wasn't wrong, but Alex had limits on how long he could be around people. Even immediate family could get taxing at times. Alex shook his head as he stopped three doors down the hall, leaning forward to peek into one of the forward cabins.

There were seven cabins in all for the entire ship, along with the mess hall, storage, and a mix of lab and engine room in the back. For something as small as the Nighthawk, the ship spared more space for people to live in than it should have. In the last two days, he had time to get familiar with the ship. If it were fixable, it would be one of the best ships to ride he had ever been on since coming to the nightsea.

One of their crew's guests, a dark woman with curly brown hair frazzled around her head, sat in the cabin on her bed, leaning over a small journal as she took notes on one thing or another. She was a reporter for the World Daily Press, and their trip to Dry Turtle was partly to get her back to civilization.

Alex nodded, leaving her alone as he continued his trip to the bridge.

The interior of the Nighthawk was white, and the walls practically shone in the floor lights as he walked up the ramp and into the bridge. The bridge was straightforward. There was a central chair with two long arms that ended in orbs as the main seat. Along the sides, with two per side, were secondary chairs, each with clear glass pane control panels that could bring up all matter of ship schematics, charts, and maps to pilot the ship. Sayed sat in one of these chairs, leaning forward and pecking at the green glass pane with one finger as he navigated through menus.

"Hello, brother." Sayed smiled as Alex stepped beside him. "I am trying to change the front screen."

Sayed was a tall and broad man, his skin as dark as Alex's. However, they weren't actually brothers. 'Brother' was a moniker that could be earned by anyone, even women, in Sayed's eyes. Sayed rubbed his long, oily beard and tilted his head at the screen.

Alex looked up to the long screen that ran the curve of the ship's nose. At the moment, it displayed the nightsea in front of the ship, and several glowing white orbs in the distance marked islands they were approaching.

"What are you trying to get it to show?" Alex asked.

"I am trying to get it to cycle between front, back, and side." Sayed shook his head. "I will need much time to master this system."

"Worry about it later." Alex sighed, patting Sayed on the shoulder. "Take a break now. Once we get this thing fixed, we've got time to figure it all out."

Sayed looked between the screen and Alex a few times before nodding and standing. He pulled his white shirt away from his body to fan away some sweat before starting down the hallway.

"I take no pleasure in breaks without food, but I will do as you ask," Sayed said.

"I think that goes for all of us," Alex whispered as he sat in the central seat and leaned back. "Tell me we have some good news, Mari."

"Engine four is at twenty-five percent capacity," Mari's mechanical voice chimed from the speakers around the bridge. "At the current rate of acceleration, we will arrive in Dry Turtle in one day."

It was just a day short of three days' travel. Alex didn't say it, but it was incredibly slow. When they had escaped Diamond Peak in a ship that hadn't moved in over two decades, how could he have known that the engines would break down? He couldn't have, but he should have guessed. Even magical technology on another world had to have certain limits.

"Are you sure you don't want a break?" Alex looked up at the ceiling. "You've been in there for all three days."

"Alex, I am not a child," Mari told him. "I am the Magical Artificial Recombinant Intelligence for this ship. My stay in the system will be satisfactory until the trip is over."

Alex didn't believe her for a second. Ever since they had recovered Mari from Nowhere in Death's Yard, she had acted like a little kid time and time again. When they met, everyone on Nowhere thought of her like a little sister. Now, she was trapped beneath the hatch behind his seat, unable to leave while the ship was in motion.

There was no way that was good for anyone's mind, let alone hers.

"Yeah, I still want you to take a break," Alex said.

She also hadn't found the man she considered her father on Diamond Peak when they found the Nighthawk. Roald was the reason they were all out here at this point, and his message to the world that it was a cage and there was an escape in the New World had overshadowed the fact that he hadn't actually been at the ship. The message was just his ghost.

"You don't just recover that easy," Alex whispered. "Simple as that."

"Please repeat," Mari's voice came over the speakers again.

"I said I'm going to keep you company for a while, and I won't take no for an answer," Alex said, tapping a few buttons on his chair and adjusting the screen.

He pulled up a map of their current location. They were on the northwest side, the First Quadrant, heading south toward a blinking dot. The map provided little, but it was enough. At the center, to his southeast, was the core, where the Twelve Kingdoms lay and, after a visit to Dry Turtle, their true destination.

"Show me the islands closest to the outermost kingdoms," Alex said. "We have some planning to do."