The scent of copper and entrails permeated the air. On the other side of the room, Silver had proven to be more than the bandit’s match. He’d carved a path of blood through their ranks, although he was somehow completely untouched by it.

Silver’s blade had an almost surgical precision. Not a single person in his wake was moving. He’d killed them all, many with just a single strike. The tide of the battle shifted more and more in their favor, and the remaining bandits didn’t last long against their combined assault.

“Well, they certainly know we’re here now,” Angel said, breathing heavily. He’d earned more than a few cuts, but none of them were too serious.

“Good,” Silver said, stepping over the bodies as he walked to a table in the far corner of the room. A deck of cards was scattered over the top, and there was a large chest beneath it. It was made of thick metal and had a large lock holding it shut. Silver tossed the table out of the way and tapped the chest with his foot. “What do you want to bet our stuff is in here?”

“Not taking you up on that,” Angel said, jogging over to join him and squatting down, taking care not to get the blood surrounding them on his clothes. They were already dirty enough. “Do you see any canisters anywhere? I’m going to need them.”

“Work on the chest,” Silver said, walking away at a brisk pace. “Lilian, help the Seeker find his magic cans. I’ll hold off the bandits at the stairwell, so keep things quick.”

Angel didn’t need to be told twice. The bandits had taken his lockpicks, but he still had his hand. Points emerged from his fingertips and he pressed them into the lock, carefully feeling out the mechanism.

Lilian dashed from hammock to hammock, digging through the dead bandits’ belongings. Battle cries and the clash of metal rose up from the stairwell behind them, adding a new sense of urgency to Angel’s work.

He flicked a finger up. The lock popped open and Angel swung the top of the chest out of the way. Silver’s hat expanded, nearly smacking him in the face. Angel irritably grabbed it and tossed it over his shoulder. Cowl’s metal mask rested on top of a pile of coins. Angel stared down at it.

Lilian grabbed his shoulder. “We need to help Silver!”

“Right,” Angel said, shaking his head. He grabbed the mask and tucked it into his waistband. “Did you find any canisters? I had a travel pack that should have been full of them.”

“It wasn’t here,” Lilian said. “There were a few in one of the bandit’s belongings, though.”

She thrust five canisters into Angel’s hands. He examined them and grimaced. “Fire. Low quality, but I guess it’ll work.”

He clicked four of them onto the holder on the top of his arm and put the rest into the slot. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

Lilian grabbed Silver’s hat off the ground and dashed up the stairs with Angel close behind her. They had to slow down almost immediately. A thick sheen of blood had covered the steps.

“How many people has he killed?” Angel cursed, holding onto the guardrails as he climbed as quickly as he could.

“Not enough,” Lilian spat.

The sounds of battle grew closer as they passed their holding cells and started towards the top of the ship. They reached the top of the stairs. A ladder before them led up through a heavy trapdoor and, judging by the light streaming through it, the top of the ship.

Angel and Lilian nodded at each other. He clambered up the ladder and threw it open, leaping out. He nearly tripped over the pile of bodies surrounding the hatch and squinted against the bright light.

Silver stood at the far end of the ship, surrounded by a teeming mass of bandits. He had his back to the open air, but his flashing sword was keeping the men at bay. On the other end of the ship, at the top deck, a tall woman stood with her arm pointed at Silver. She wore a heavy metal gauntlet, and Angel spotted his travel pack at her side.

“Go help Silver,” Angel ordered. “I’ll take care of the scary woman.”

“Be careful,” Lilian warned him before dashing towards the crowd. Angel raised his hand and aimed it at the woman. A rolling ball of fire erupted from his palm, roaring across the deck. The woman threw herself out of the way as the spot where she’d been standing was engulfed in fire.

She rolled to her feet and spun to face Angel. It was his turn to desperately dodge as a bolt of lighting carved through the air and slammed into the deck.

“That’s my spell!” Angel complained. “You can’t use it against me!”

The woman didn’t respond. She grabbed another canister from his pack and put it into the holder on her gauntlet. Angel did the same, ducking to the side as another bolt of lighting sailed through the air above him.

His hair stood on end as he dashed towards the stairwell leading to the second deck. He leaned back, avoiding another strike of lightning that sailed past his nose and disappeared into the desert sand.

“You really need to take some lessons on that,” Angel said, firing another ball of fire at her. She dodged to the side, but the large blast still heavily singed her back and hair. The Seeker fitted one of the four remaining canisters into his arm.

“The captain never should have kept you alive,” the bandit swore at him. “I’m going to enjoy desecrating your body.”

“That’s messed up.” Angel ducked behind a mast as an earthen pillar erupted from the ground and narrowly missed him. “You’ve got anger issues, lady.”

He stepped out from behind his cover and sent another ball of fire rolling at her. She retaliated with a blast of ice and the two spells met midair, sending up a huge cloud of steam that filled the deck within moments.

Angel paced through it as silently as he could. His skin prickled and he dropped to the deck as a bolt of lightning screamed overhead.

“No fair!” Angel called. “How can you see me? You’ve got my artifact, don’t you?”

He heard her let out a short bark of laughter. Angel fitted another canister into his arm and aimed in the direction of her voice. The fireball soared through the air and he heard a yelp of pain.

Angel’s victory was short lived. A spike shot out of the ground, punching into his lower stomach. His eyes widened and he pulled himself off it, staggering back and pressing his left hand over the wound. It was bleeding heavily, but it wasn’t fatal. Probably.

“Scared?” The woman asked. “You should be. I think I’ll make you suffer. You and your friends killed over half of our crew. More loot for the rest of us, I suppose. No matter. Beg, boy. See if it helps.”

Angel fitted another canister into his arm with shaking fingers.

She laughed again. “Squeal for me.”

A spike erupted from the ground. It pierced up through Angel’s left foot and he let out a cry of pain.

“Yes, that’s right. That’s what I want to hear!”

Angel raised his right arm, shaking with the effort. “You are possibly the most comically evil person I’ve ever met. Do you kick children when you walk past them too?”

“Bold words from a dying dog,” the woman spat from somewhere to his side.

Angel moved his arm towards her and fired his grappling hook. It sailed through the air and he felt it smack into something meaty. The woman yelped in pain and a grim smile crossed the Seeker’s face.

He yanked his arm back. With the spike pinning his foot to the ground, he had more leverage than the woman and she was pulled across the deck and straight into his hand. Angel grabbed her head.

Her eyes widened in shock, but any response she might have had was swallowed up by the roar of a fireball as it engulphed her. She burned away and her remains crumpled to the ground.

Angel hissed in pain as he pulled his foot free of the spike. Keeping his other hand pressed against the wound in his stomach, he grabbed his charred travel pack and swung it over his shoulder. He hunched over, grabbing his artifact from the woman’s face and putting it back onto his face. With a grunt, Angel stepped over the woman’s smoldering body and limped across the deck, stepping out from the mist to look over the rest of the battle.