Full dawn had arrived by the time the airship landed, Major Blazer bringing it into a cove on the largest of more than twenty islands in the chain, all within sight of all the others. Trip was surprised when she slid into dock in a lagoon packed with other ships, a mix of sailing vessels and airships. At least fifty buildings lined the waterfront, all promising women, food, and drink. This place had a larger population and clientele than Trip had imagined. He wondered why his superiors had never organized a raid to try and take out all the pirates at once, or at least destroy this particular base of operations.
Maybe they know about the magical protection, Jaxi spoke into his head.
“Magical protection?” Trip blurted aloud before he considered his surroundings or if anyone would overhear.
He’d changed into nondescript men’s civilian clothing he’d found below and stood on the starboard side of the deck, ready to throw ropes to the dock to tie down the craft.
“What are you talking about, Trip?” Duck asked, coming up behind him, then moving to another set of docking ropes. “I heard the word magic. That gets my hackles astir.”
“Sorry, talking to Jaxi.”
Trip glanced over his shoulder to make sure Leftie wasn’t behind him, too, since his hackles did more than stir at the mention of magic. But Leftie must still have been below, picking out his pirate garb. Only Dreyak stood behind them. He’d decided on a bare chest for his costume, and he stood, his muscles on display and his meaty arms folded over his chest. A red sash around the waist of his black trousers held all manner of slits for daggers, and he also wore his weapons belt with his scimitar and a pistol.
“What’s she have to say?” Duck asked.
If you would stop with the interruptions, I’d tell you, Jaxi said.
Duck snorted. Maybe she’d spoken the words into his head too.
There’s a crystal mounted behind the wheel in the wheelhouse of your newly acquired airship, Jaxi informed them. Until we drew near to the islands, I had no idea what it did, only that it had been made using magic. Then, when we got closer, I sensed magic about them too. An invisible dome-shaped field of energy.
Like a dragon barrier or the shield you put around me when we fought? Trip asked.
Nothing that powerful. It’s barely even noticeable. If you wanted to lob cannonballs at the islands from afar, you could. If you could find them. We might not have if we’d been in our fliers, not unless we were almost on top of them. And even then, it would have been dicey. That dome-shaped field is for camouflage. And it probably explains why the islands haven’t been targeted by Iskandians or other militaries tired of pirate attacks.
But we know about the islands, Trip replied. They’re on Iskandian maps, and we knew where to fly.
Yes, I saw that. Perhaps some cartographer found a way to visit once. It’s also possible the camouflage is a recent addition. I wouldn’t be surprised if people looking for the islands have cursed those maps when they weren’t able to find them. Pirates, it seems, are given those little crystals to allow them, or those on their ships, to see through the dome. You were wise to detour to retrieve this vessel.
Actually, that was Rys—Lieutenant Ravenwood’s plan.
You don’t need to be formal and use her last name with me, Jaxi said dryly. I can tell you’ve been having lustful fantasies when it comes to her.
I have not.
Have too. Until you get much better at hiding your thoughts, you might as well assume you can’t lie to me.
I’m not lying. I mean, maybe I considered that a romantic evening with her, such as a dinner date, would be pleasant, but I’m certainly not lusting after her or anyone else.
You can tell yourself that all you like, but I can see the truth.
Trip digested that. His thoughts hadn’t been that lurid, but it disturbed him that Jaxi might be a witness to them.
Well, if he couldn’t lie, he could at least shift the conversation away from Rysha. You think I could learn to hide my thoughts from swords, dragons, and sorcerers?
Oh yes, certainly. You’re not even trying now. You could be like bronze and muscled over there. I can’t read him at all.
So, I should get him to teach me how to hide my thoughts? Trip asked it as a joke. His one and only overture of friendship toward the Cofah warrior had turned into a handshake that had left a few of his bones lightly crushed.
Don’t be melodramatic. Your bones are fine. For now.
“How did the magical defenses get here?” Duck asked.
Trip flushed, wondering how much of the conversation he’d heard. Had Jaxi shared her comments about Trip’s… fantasies?
I have more tact than that, Jaxi told him with a sniff. Then, apparently talking to both of them, she said, As you’re starting to suspect, the magical defenses around this outpost mean a sorcerer has been here in the past to build an artifact capable of projecting the dome, or a sorcerer is somewhere inside right now, keeping the defenses erected. It could be a sorceress too. Either way, you’ll have to be careful that you don’t run into the person. As soon as I realized what was going on, I ratcheted down my aura, so nobody out there should sense me, and I’ll try to do the same for you, too, Trip.
Duck looked at him and scratched his head.
Trip shrugged, as if he had no idea what Jaxi meant.
He did, but he couldn’t imagine his aura being significant enough to attract anyone’s attention.
“Guess I’m used to dealing with sorcerers at this point,” Duck said. “But they’re peskier than raccoons rooting through your camp belongings.”
It would be disappointing if, after all their training, sorcerers couldn’t do more to irk you than raccoons can, Jaxi said.
“I don’t know. I’ve met some powerful irksome ’coons.”
At an impatient shout from the wheelhouse, Trip hopped down to the dock to tie the rope to the cleat. He could see pale blue lagoon water between the boards twenty feet below. The elevated airship docks were at one end of the harbor, while a couple of normal piers for ships stretched out into it on the other side, one reaching all the way out into deeper water for ships with a deeper draw.
Do you sense any sorcerers out there now, Jaxi? Trip asked.
If she worried that others might sense her, wasn’t it likely that she could sense others?
No, but that doesn’t mean they’re not here. Most sorcerers learn to ratchet down their auras so they don’t announce themselves prematurely. Some don’t care if they attract attention or not and don’t bother, but I imagine these pirates aren’t all buddies and have reason to be wary of each other.
Ah.
I’ll tell you what I do sense, though, Jaxi added.
A dragon-slaying sword? His guess was more hopeful than practical, and he didn’t think it would be that easy to find the ancient weapon.
A dragon-slaying sword, Jaxi confirmed.
Trip dropped the rope. Really?
Really. I didn’t expect to sense it right away, either. I assumed it would be in a box, similar to the one Kasandral is stored in when not in use. The box insulates its aura and also dampens its ability to control people around it.
Control? Trip remembered Rysha saying something about those swords influencing their wielders, but “control” was an alarmingly strong word to use.
Control. Hence the boxes. This one isn’t in one.
That could be convenient then. He imagined waiting until the next night and simply sneaking into the bedroom of whoever had it and grabbing it. If it was stored in some locked vault at night, maybe Jaxi could melt the lock.
As far as locating it, yes, I can do that. But I’m not sure acquiring it will be easy. I think it’s in a fortress on the other side of the island. And I believe someone is wearing it on his back.
That negates the need for lock-melting.
You’re optimistic, I see.
A good quality in a handler?
Not really, Jaxi said. Optimists are good at underestimating enemies and getting themselves killed.
A door banged open. Leftie came up the stairs and onto the deck, wearing a pink shirt and dark blue pantaloons tied with a red sash similar to Dreyak’s, though that was their only similarity.
Trip rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe Major Blazer had been right when she’d said the women would make better spies.
Dreyak turned to face Leftie and eyed him from head to toe. “You look like a court jester. Did that costume come with balls for you to juggle?”
“I had trouble finding something in my size. A problem you found a way to sidestep, I see.” Leftie waved at his bare chest. “Should we be relieved that you’re wearing pants?”
“You should be relieved I allow you to stand this close to me.” Dreyak strode away from him to look over the railing and into the town, a town that hadn’t yet come to life. Maybe pirates stayed up late carousing and then slept in. “I yearn to slay the vile criminals that hide in this den of villainy.” His voice wasn’t particularly low when he spoke.
Trip rubbed his neck again. “Blazer was definitely right.”
He’d objected, at first, to the notion of the women going out there alone, but upon reconsidering, he suspected they would be a lot less likely to get into fights than the men.
Cheerful whistling heralded the next two people to come up on deck, Kaika and Rysha.
Trip had glimpsed Kaika’s costume earlier, so he wasn’t surprised to see their demolitions captain showing off her chest, but his eyes bugged out when Rysha came into view. He’d never seen her in anything except sweaters and army fatigues, both of which hid a lot, so he was surprised not only by the clothing but by what it revealed.
Her leather bustier thrust her breasts up and showed a lot of their skin on the top. It also left several inches of her flat stomach on display. Her arms were bare, as well, aside from loose gold and silver bracelets jangling from her wrists. A knee-length skirt made from a shimmery material closer to scales than leather hugged her hips and left her calves bare. The leather boots were the only practical item she wore. The rest looked like it would be hard to fight in, though she did have a slender belt at her waist, with the typical pirate pistol and ammo pouch there. She had a knife instead of a sword, though she was certainly tall enough to wear a cutlass. She had those long lovely legs… All of her was lovely. Lush, sleek.
See? Jaxi said. Lustful fantasies.
Flustered, Trip jerked his gaze away. I wasn’t until she came out in that getup.
He spotted Leftie staring at Rysha, too, and the sudden urge to go over and punch him entered his mind.
I believe Captain Kaika was responsible for costumes and makeup, Jaxi said.
Trip looked back at Rysha, careful to keep his focus above her collarbone, and noticed she kept tugging her skirt down. She kept pushing her hair back from her shoulders, too. It was down instead of back in its usual bun, and she seemed irked by the breeze blowing it around. Only her spectacles were the same as always.
Does that explain Leftie’s outfit too? Trip asked Jaxi.
Leftie had shifted his ogling to Kaika. He was an equal opportunity voyeur.
No, he picked that out himself.
Blazer clomped up the stairs in a significantly less revealing outfit. In truth, she looked very similar to her usual self in mismatched military fatigues, a white Cofah winter jacket with green Droatian trousers. Only the snake-hide boots looked to be of a civilian cut, though they could be from a military uniform Trip wasn’t familiar with. One of Blazer’s cigars was clamped in the corner of her mouth, though it wasn’t lit at the moment.
With the airship securely docked now, Trip headed over to warn her, to warn all of them, about the potential sorceress and the dragon-slaying blade. And to direct them to the fortress Jaxi had mentioned.
“Can you see without your spectacles?” Blazer asked after inspecting Rysha’s costume.
That’s not all she’s inspecting, Jaxi said into his mind, giggling. Our young professor is stirring numerous people’s fantasies.
Trip caught Duck gawking over at the women too. Only Dreyak, who was glaring fiercely out at the pirate town, appeared oblivious. Kaika, with her hand on her hip and her breasts thrust outward, appeared perfectly comfortable in the ensemble and with the gawking. Rysha, her cheeks red, looked like she wanted to hide in the wheelhouse.
A surge of protectiveness welled in Trip’s chest, and he stepped up to her side, wondering if he could employ a fierce glare of his own to get everyone to look away.
Your glare isn’t very fierce. Maybe Dreyak could give you lessons on that matter.
Maybe if he stood in front of Rysha and blocked people’s views, that would do.
“Anything more than a few feet away gets blurry,” Rysha answered Blazer.
“Is this going to work?” Blazer asked Kaika, nodding at Rysha’s spectacles. “Who ever heard of blind pirates?”
“I’m not blind, ma’am.” Rysha’s cheeks had already been pink, but they grew pinker.
“Works fine,” Kaika drawled. “She’s The Professor. In charge of researching worthwhile targets for us to pirate. You, Major, are The Enforcer, in charge of pulping those who get in the way of our plundering. If someone wants to test you, you can find out if all that boxing you do for sport translates into pirate-pulping abilities.”
Blazer’s eyebrows rose. “And what is your illustrious job among our trio?”
“I’m the captain, of course. Leader of the Black Rose, the outfit we’ve recently started and are interested in expanding. Thus, our reason for coming here to recruit.”
“You’re the leader,” Blazer said.
“Naturally.”
“Uhm, ma’ams,” Duck said, scratching his head. “How will you starting a pirate organization get us the sword we’re looking for? Aren’t we on a deadline? I figured we’d just come in, get it, and leave, quicker than a fox stealing eggs from a henhouse.”
“Do you know where the henhouse is?” Kaika asked him.
“No.”
“That’s why we’re going out like this, to gather information.”
“Actually,” Trip said, “Jaxi knows where the sword is located.”
“So, we don’t have to go out like this?” Rysha looked at him, her expression vacillating between disappointed and relieved.
A more obviously disappointed expression marked Kaika’s face. Blazer merely chewed on her cigar and waited for Trip to explain further.
“There’s a fortress on the other side of the island. Someone in there is wearing it.”
“Interesting,” Rysha said. “I imagined it in a weapons vault or on display in a collection, but with dragons in the world again, it makes sense that the owner would carry it around. Did we see any burned trees that would indicate a dragon’s destruction?” She grimaced and looked out to sea.
Trip wondered if the words had brought thoughts of her grandmother to mind.
“I didn’t see any burned trees on the way in,” Blazer said. “But I did see a bunch of destruction to buildings on that outer island over there. I thought a hurricane might have struck, but a dragon is as good of an explanation as any.”
“A silver or bronze dragon could have been through then,” Rysha said. “That’s a little unfortunate. I’d been hoping that the pirate king would have the sword stored away somewhere, in a room without guards. If he’s wearing it, acquiring it won’t be easy. He’s reputed to be quite the warrior, and he has legions of people who work for him.”
“I knew nothing about this mission would be easy as soon as Zirkander told me about it,” Blazer said.
“Oh, did he say that?”
“No, but he looked real jealous that he couldn’t go. That was a sure sign.”
“How many other people are in the fortress besides the one carrying the sword, Captain Trip?” Rysha asked. “That should determine if we can force our way in and take it or if guile will be required.”
“Guile?” Leftie looked at her chest and then at Kaika’s. “Is that the tactic you were preparing to employ?”
Kaika smiled. “Something of the sort.”
More than one hundred people, Jaxi told Trip. And then another hundred on the three well-armed sailing ships that are anchored in the protected bay the fortress is perched over. Another fifty in the airship above the bay.
Trip relayed the information and added, “Some guile may be required.”
“Excellent,” Kaika said.
“I don’t suppose the person carrying the sword is a woman?” Kaika said. “We’re assuming the pirate king, but if it’s a woman, she could be a possible recruit for the Black Rose.”
It’s a man, Jaxi said. But I believe I’ve located the sorceress, someone also living in that fortress. She’s definitely a woman. And this is interesting. I believe she has a soulblade.
I thought soulblades were only given to the extremely deserving, Trip replied, not liking the way their enemies, and the likely power of their enemies, kept increasing.
That’s how it worked centuries ago and among the Iskandians. The Cofah also knew how to make soulblades, and I’ve met Cofah wielders of them that I would definitely not consider deserving. As far as Sardelle and I have been able to learn, the ceremonies for creating and distributing soulblades died out three centuries ago, with the purging of the Referatu in Iskandia and the similar purge in Cofahre. Sardelle’s situation where she was caught in a stasis chamber for three hundred years seems to have been fairly unique. It’s likely that a sorceress carrying a soulblade today received it from an ancestor, rather than through an official ceremony.
Or found it or stole it?
Unlikely. Soulblades usually go dead, their souls being drawn off to the afterlife, if their handlers die and there’s no successor around for them to link with. Stealing a soulblade is very difficult since we are quite capable of protecting ourselves. Sardelle certainly could not carry me against my wishes. If one were stolen, it would likely be one of the dead ones I mentioned. This one is not dead. I can sense its aura.
Realizing the others were staring at him and waiting for an answer, Trip passed along the information.
“Just so you know,” Leftie said, “I find it very creepy that a sword is talking to you. And that you’re listening.”
“I find it creepy that out of all the shirts down there, you chose a pink one,” Trip said. When in doubt, deflect the conversation to a different topic…
“I told you, I couldn’t find any others that fit. I have broad shoulders. The pirates were all scrawny.”
“All right, troops,” Blazer said. “We don’t have all day. I’m open to an attempt to sneak into the fortress and get the dragon-slaying sword tonight, but the sun just came up, so we have a long time before we can attempt that. We might as well gather information in the meantime so we have more of an idea about what we’ll be walking into tonight. Kaika, Ravenwood, and I will go out, as planned. Recruiting.” Her mouth twisted.
“And the rest of us?” Duck asked. “We don’t all need to stay here and guard the ship, do we?”
“You have grander plans?”
“No, but I’m like a horse eager for a rider. I like to be useful.”
Leftie whispered to Trip, “Did he just say he likes to be ridden?”
Trip waved away the joke, mostly because he felt similarly to Duck. He didn’t want to twiddle his thumbs all day.
“Maybe a couple of us could cross the island while you all are in the city,” he said, “and take a look at that fortress. When we were coming in, the island looked jungly and overgrown in the middle, so we might be able to get close without anyone noticing.”
“I don’t think that’s true for you.” Rysha pointed a finger at his chest. “Not if you’re carrying Jaxi around. A chapaharii sword is going to sense anyone with dragon blood and magic, so I think it’ll know if you get close.”
Trip’s shoulders slumped. “So, the others can spy, but I have to stay here?”
He almost mentioned that he could leave Jaxi behind, but he might have enough dragon blood in his veins for the sword to sense, even without her. It wasn’t as if he knew how to hide his aura.
“You and at least one other person should stay aboard the ship to guard it,” Blazer said. “Two others can go spy, if they’re careful. It will be easier to steal something if the owners aren’t anticipating it.”
“Technically,” Rysha said, “we’re not stealing anything. The chapaharii sword—the name of the one I believe the pirate king stole is Brysdral, by the way—was stolen from an aristocratic Iskandian family. We’re retrieving it and can return it once the dragon threat is over.”
“How noble of us.” Blazer headed for the docks. “Let’s go, Black Rose.”
“I think she’s taken a liking to that name,” Kaika murmured, ambling after her.
Rysha laid a hand on Trip’s arm before following them, and even though the sleeve of the pirate jacket he’d found covered his skin, he grew extremely aware of the touch—and how close beside him she stood.
“If I die,” she told him, “do me a favor and don’t let them bury me like this.”
“You’re not going to die,” he blurted, then noticed her smile, a somewhat worried one but a smile, nonetheless, and realized it had been joke. “I mean, nobody’s going to shoot you in that costume.”
She snorted, her hand still resting on his arm. That was nice.
“But since I know where you live now, I can certainly stop by and let your wishes be known.”
“Good.” She squeezed his arm and walked off after the other women.
Rysha didn’t sashay the way Kaika was doing, but Trip had a hard time tearing his gaze from her departure. Her hips weren’t the only thing the skirt hugged.
Lustful imaginings, Jaxi observed.
Grimacing, Trip turned to look out to sea. Do you comment on these kinds of things with Sardelle? And General Zirkander? He felt certain the soulblade gave them more respect.
Jaxi’s answer was a long, ringing laugh. Or maybe that was a cackle.
