PreCursive
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Chapter 239 - Flaming Parley
🕑 Added 2024-10-02 17:00:10 +0000 UTC“The hell are they doin’ here?” Azarus asked aloud.
I shared a look with the rest of my companions before shaking my head and raising the far-eye again. After a moment of study, I frowned in confusion. “It…looks like they built a base?”
And they had.
The ‘island’ itself wasn’t as small as I had been expecting it to be. In my mind, on the way here, I had thought that it was just some small spit of land with an equally small mountain and some sparse jungle surrounding it, absolutely packed with Oni.
That wasn’t the case.
Goryuen might as well be another continent, from what I could see.
The horizon was dominated by dense, tall trees from which I could only see darkness within. The island itself was bearded by an endless stretch of the purest, whitest sandy beach that I had ever seen, on either Earth or Vereden. Just barely visible over the gargantuan treetops of the jungle that covered the island might have been the peaks of distant mountains. However, they were so far away, even through the far eye, that I could only make out a sliver of their pointed tips over the foliage. But in addition to all of that, was the feeling of Goryuen. The alien, sinister aura of the island itself…
Felt like it was watching us. I shivered at the near awareness I could sense in the Aether of Goryuen, even as far from the island as we were. It was like there were invisible eyes watching from somewhere just out of phase with reality, and they were not friendly. There was an indescribable feeling of disdain and hatred in that unseen gaze.
Whatever it was, it didn’t want us here.
That wasn’t even considering what the Solstice’s Flame guys were doing. Through the far eye that Bella had given me, I could see hundreds and hundreds of them scurrying about on the white sands of the beach. Dozens and dozens of orange and grey tents bearing their flaming spear and shield logo crouched upon the ivory banks like the shells of enormous crabs. Floating just offshore from the island were well over a dozen ships of all shapes and sizes, proudly flying the banner of their Order.
Some of those ships were much, much bigger than the Kaminari Maru. Hell, some of them were the largest ships I had ever seen period. These weren’t merchant vessels like what we were on.
These were warships.
I lowered the far-eye to shift my gaze over to Captain Satoru. I found the man looking as alarmed as I felt.
That is, nearly panicking.
I took a breath to calm myself and then spoke. “Can we run?” I asked him.
Bella answered for him. “Ain’t no use,” She said bluntly, shaking her head. “If we’ve seen them, they’ve seen us. Probably hours before we did anyway. And we wouldn’t be able ta run far in the first place. Those are some nasty lookin’ girls out there,” She said, in a half-admiring tone. “If I know my Herztalian naval doctrine right…”
The pirate captain didn’t get the chance to elaborate. The lookout up in the crow’s suddenly began to shout again, drawing everyone’s attention. The man was frantic, nearly screaming as he pointed off to the side.
Everyone followed his gesticulating, and when we did, moans of despair went up among the crew. I myself felt the bottom of my stomach drop out.
Not far from our position had been some jutting spires of rock off the shore of Goryuen. Initially, I had paid them no mind. You saw things like that all the time out on the seas of Vereden.
I wish I had paid them more attention, because two ships had appeared out from behind a collection of them. They had obviously been hiding behind those spits, predators lying in wait for their prey.
And these ships were on a direct intercept course with the Kaminari Maru, flying the colors of the Order of Solstice’s Flame.
“And there they are,” Bella said, waving a hand out at the approaching ships. “Two interceptor frigates, about the same size as me own ship.” She shook her head. “No way this tub is gonna outrun one o’ them.”
Captain Satoru shot Bella a dirty look, but still nodded. “The woman is unfortunately right,” Suddenly, the merchant Captain turned away from us to address his crew. “Men! Gather on deck and prepare to-!”
Venix reached out and clasped one enormous hand on the Captain's shoulder, cutting his words short. “No,” He said with finality, his eyes tracking the approaching ships. I was surprised at the calculating look I saw in those chitinous orbs.
“Venix?” I asked cautiously.
He looked away from the ships and down at the Captain, ignoring me. “You will all die if you try and fight,” He said, meeting Satoru’s eyes. “These people are known to us. They are a powerful renegade Sect. You must let us handle this matter.”
Sect? I’d never heard that term before.
Those words must have meant something to the Captain, because he slumped in Venix’s grasp. “I see,” He said quietly. Seeing that his words had been received, Venix withdrew his hand. I don’t think the Captain even noticed, as he turned to address his men again. “Men, gather upon the deck to…greet our oncoming guests. Perhaps…perhaps it will help to have tribute prepared?” He shook his head. “Furl the sails. They’ll do us no good.”
I blinked at near defeated tone in Satoru’s voice, as well as the morose air that came over the crew of the Kaminari Maru. Most of the seamen, Captain included, got to work bringing the ship to a halt.
Leaving me and my companions alone at the bow. I turned my gaze to Venix, tilting my head in thought. “What’s the play?” I said, after a moment.
Venix subtly shook his massive head, looking back at the Solstice ships. They weren’t far from us by now. More than in range for the bowmen I could see on their decks to pick us off one by one. Their weapons were drawn, but not raised. For now. “I ask that you extend your trust,” The Antium man said simply.
I gazed at him pensively for a moment, before cutting my eyes over to look at Azarus standing to my right. It was a bit embarrassing to admit, but I tended to trust my dwarven friend’s intuition about these matters more than I did my own. He…didn’t seem to be alarmed by Venix’s request. The former noble just had his arms crossed over his broad chest and was watching the oncoming ships with a steady gaze.
I looked back at Venix and nodded. “Alright,” I said finally. “We’ll do this your way.”
Something in Venix’s eyes glinted and he nodded at me. He stepped past us and over to the railing, where one of the Solstice ships was angling their broadside up to the Maru. The rest of our party followed in his wake, while the crew of the ship gathered upon the deck. I noticed that some of them were carrying either jingling sacks or even various trinkets. Captain Satoru was even among them, and oddly seemed content to stand back and let others dictate the fate of his ship. Strange behavior from a Captain, in my experience.
I crossed my arms as grappling hooks sailed over the space between the Maru and the lead Solstice ship. Across the gap I could see a number of what looked to be Solstice officers, clad in the same orange and grey armor that I had seen on the classers Nerexxa had ensorcelled. Even from a considerable distance away, I could tell these were guys you didn’t want to mess with. Once upon a time, I think I would have even been intimidated by their tall, well-armed figures.
Not anymore, though. I’d grown to the extent that I honestly thought I could take them, even without the backup of my friends.
Well.
If they weren’t outranging me on a ship, that is.
When the lead ship was close enough, two of the Solstice crewmen leveraged a long plank across the gap and dropped it. The sound of the wood clattering down onto the deck of the Kaminari Maru echoed out across the waters around us like a ringing gong.
Silence filled the air for a moment before the lead figure among the Solstice members pierced it.
“Ho there!” He called, his voice echoing out of the helmet he wore. I noticed that this man was wearing some officer's pips on the leather strap of his breastplate. He had to be an officer, but from the looks of it, not a very high one. “What brings you to these waters, friends?”
Oddly friendly greeting there, for a man who had just waylaid us.
I heard Captain Satoru splutter in indignation from behind us, but he didn’t speak up. I didn’t blame him.
Venix was unphased. “I must ask you the same question, Lieutenant,” He called back. “We have come to these waters by right of the River Throne. We bring with us a permit to step foot upon this isle. Can you and yours say the same?”
His words caused a stir among the Solstice members and a visible change in their demeanor. Resignation filled some of the bare faces I could see, but not the hopeless kind. There was a firmness to the set of their shoulders that spoke of their resilience. The lead officer, a Lieutenant apparently, was unmoved.
“I wouldn’t know, my good man!” He returned cheerfully. “That sounds like something most definitely above my pay grade! Do I have your permission to come aboard, so we can discuss this matter like the gentlemen we so clearly are?”
“You do not,” Venix replied immediately.
The subtle tension that had filled the air since the dropping of the plank ratcheted up a notch. I saw smirks and smiles vanish from the faces of number of opposing crewmen.
If I didn’t have a hold of my expression, I probably would have echoed that.
What were you playing at, Venix?
The Lieutenant was silent for a moment. “May I ask why?”
Venix stepped forward and onto the plank himself, causing Solstice hands to fly to weapons. He didn’t react at all, though. He merely stood upon the plank and did not proceed further. Somehow, I got the impression that he had met the Lieutenant’s eyes across the shortened distance. “Because you are exiles,” He said patiently. “The Order of Solstice’s Flame was stripped of their charter, in the aftermath of the Construct War. What guarantee do we have that a disgraced Martial Order shall adhere to the rules of parley?”
Huh.
That was news to me. I actually hadn’t heard anything about the fate of the Order of Solstices’s Flame. To be fair, it hadn’t been news I’d ever gone looking for. There was a ton of little details that had been coming out of Herztal about the aftermath of the war, and I didn’t really…care about all of them. What had happened to an opposing Order that I’d had a handful of encounters with hadn’t exactly topped my list.
Outright scowls crept onto lips across from us now, and I saw one Solstice member spit off to his side.
The Lieutenant put his hands on his hips then. “Well, then we appear to be at an impasse, my friend,” He said in an exasperated tone. “We can’t keep shouting across the drink at each other all day, now can we?”
“This is true,” Venix said, nodding. “In which case, I have a proposal.”
The Solstice Lieutenant looked around in a showy manner, before looking back at Venix. “Well? I’m all ears.”
“If you are here,” Venix said, ignoring the theatrics of the officer. “Then Grandmaster Shacklock must be on that beach. Escort us to the island so that we may treat with the man.”
Across the gap, the Lieutenant crossed his arms in thought, visibly eyeing Venix. “That sure is an idea,” He said doubtfully. “But there’s a problem with that, my friend. See, my orders are to politely discourage any ships from making berth at the island, other than our own. And you don’t look to be flying a flaming spear.”
Venix tilted his head at the officer. “This is true,” He said mildly. “But there are two things you are not considering. The first is that this is an officially chartered vessel of the Empire of Kawamara, carrying an imperially recognized scouting team. We are bound for that isle, and have full authority to step foot on it. I somehow doubt you have the same. It would be…unwise, to make further enemies of those whose land you squat upon.”
The Lieutenant was silent for a moment. “Not a bad argument,” He said eventually. “I’ll grant you that. But you said you had two reasons. What’s the second, my good man?”
Venix crossed all four of his arms, copying the officer. “Because the Grandmaster and I are acquainted,” He said. “He will want to see me.”
Abruptly, the Lieutenant sighed heavily. “Oh, this is too much of a headache,” He groaned, before waving a hand irritably. “The old man can handle this. You can have your audience, my friend. Just…just get off my plank, would you? We’ll escort you to shore.”
Venix inclined his head and stepped backward onto the deck of the Maru. Moments later, the plank was retracted.
I eyed Venix, as he turned to look at the gathered occupants of the ship. “Not…how I would have done things,” I said diplomatically. “A bit antagonistic.”
Azarus rubbed his chin next to me. “Ain’t ever met this Grandmaster,” He mused. “He a reasonable man?”
Strangely, Venix barked out a short laugh. “No,” He said, his amusement obvious in his voice. “He is not. But he will listen to me. You shall see. Captain Satoru, I suggest you remain on the ship while we negotiate with the Grandmaster.”
The Captain eyed Venix with irritation but nodded nonetheless. “As you say,” He said, before turning to his crew. In moments, he had them scurrying about to get the ship underway. As they were leaving, I caught sight of the Captain whispering with his first mate. He noticed my spying and shot me a narrowed glance, and hurried away himself.
I crossed my arms, standing with my companions as the sails unfurled once more only moments later, and the Kaminari Maru glided through the water once more, following the Solstice ships.
I guess I was about to meet Grandmaster Shacklock. Didn’t Grey hate him or something?
Seems I was going to find out why, soon.
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