It took a short time for the pirates to grapple our ship and reel it in. When they were in position, a barrel-chested man with a wild beard sauntered up to the edge of the pirate ship. He leaned over the edge of his ship looking down at our crowded deck. He wore a bandanna under a ratty but once extravagant hat. His chest was hidden under layers of jewelry and his beard split to reveal a predatory grin. The deference showed by his mates marked him out as the captain.

Our ship looked tiny next to the hundred and twenty foot long, thirty foot tall monstrosity. Around fifty men crowded it’s rail. They brandished an odd assortment of weapons. Crossbows, long-bows, short-bows, daggers, maces, hooks, and a good number of curved short swords. It was easy to play the part of the scared captees.

“Round ‘em up!” Shouted the captain to the glee of his crew. They swarmed over the edge. Some jumped straight down to land with deck shaking thuds. Others rappelled down the side of their boat with fluid grace or used grappling hooks in our rigging to swing across to the other side of our little boat. They were stronger and better organized than I had hoped.

We kept our mouths shut. They never asked us a question which made it easier. It was just another day for them. I watched in fascination as they quickly tied up the crew and pilfered the hold. Before I knew it they had hoisted us up onto their ship and had a few of their men take command of Gromms ship and the two ships were underway again.

Once the few valuable goods they managed to find were split up amongst the many raiders they turned their attention back to us. I got ready to answer questions but they just didn’t care who we were, where we came from, or anything else besides whether or not we had arms and could row. We were herded down a staircase, a luxury I hadn’t seen on a ship before, and into a hold that smelled of death and piss. Bench after bench of ragged slaves leaned on their oars, retracted for the moment. Many were still breathing heavily from their part in chasing us down. We were led to different parts of the hold where there was an empty space on a bench. Manacles bolted to the floor were fitted around each of our ankles. We weren’t even given any instructions but were just left there as the pirates joked among themselves at how cowardly and poor we were.

Some of us were led deeper into the ship but most of us ended up scattered through this low-ceilinged room. We only had a couple of entrances. The stairs gave access to the deck and the lower rooms while a door behind the stairs led to storage. At least I guessed it was storage when a pirate got a bucket of water from the room and distributed it to the galley-slaves.

The dim lighting was a blessing in more ways than one. I had no desire to see anything in here too clearly and it meant that there were only a few wooden grates set in the ceiling. If it wasn't for those, we’d have a pretty defensible location but I could imagine pirates sending arrows down through those slats. That would put an end to any uprising pretty quickly unless we could deal with that. My musings were interrupted by a drumbeat that throbbed through the enclosed space. The other slaves on my bench stirred and began to push our oar back out of the porthole. I got the idea and began helping.

I have no idea how long we rowed for. I did my best to conserve my energy and keep my wits about me but the pirates didn’t like it when I slacked off and they liked it even less when I watched them come and go. By the time we stopped, I was sporting a bloody lip and my broken fingers were screaming but something told me that complaining wouldn’t get me more than a watery grave.

The security down in the hold was pretty lax. They had a fat drummer behind us keeping the beat and a greasy-haired sadist who patrolled up and down the central aisle whipping anyone he thought wasn’t pulling hard enough. That didn’t mean the break out was going to be easy. Boots ran across the deck above us constantly and it wouldn’t take long for their owners to arrive in force if an alarm went up. While I might be able to handle the sadist with the whip, I had no idea how to handle the drummer. We should have a better chance at night but we’d also be more tired the longer we waited.

As the light coming in through the grates in the ceiling climbed up the walls, the tone of sounds from above changed. The bastards were throwing a party. I guess even if the hold was mostly empty, taking Gromm’s ship was a victory in and of itself. The worksongs got louder and further out of tune until work stopped almost entirely. From the sounds a couple of brawls broke out to overwhelming approval. When the light had almost faded entirely a few women were led up the stairs. My ears burned as I listened to the pirates indulge in the worst kind of entertainment. That steeled me more than anything else. No matter the cost, fighting these pirates was the right call. Even if we all died, that would be better than helping these pirates catch any more victims.

Eventually we were allowed to stop rowing for the night. Each bench was given a heel of stale bread to fight over. My three benchmates looked at me suspiciously when I didn’t move to take the food from them. I’d been sneaking food from my inventory as needed. The sadist and drummer went up to join the festivities and another pirate took their place.

He sat at the base of the stairs with a lamp. He hummed to himself contentedly, a bleary look on his face and a tin cup in his hand. Cutter caught my eye. We weren’t going to get a better chance. It felt a little too easy though. This had to be some sort of trap meant to draw out troublemakers. If I was wrong though, I’d let our only chance slip through our fingers. It was now or never.

I turned to my bench-mates and those directly behind me with a finger on my lips. Then I made some fresh-grilled eel appear. They made a small commotion despite my warning. They ate quickly but their eager chewing and the rich smells drew the attention of those around us. The unease was noticed by our guard who ordered us to be “Quiet!”. He glared at us for interrupting him and then he recognised our behavior for what it was: One of us had something valuable. Well he couldn’t have that.

The scruffy pirate turned his sunken eyes on the center of the commotion and staggered to his feet.

“What ‘cha got there?” he asked, punctuating his question with a hiccup. Everyone near me was smart enough to pretend ignorance but it wasn’t very effective. He drew a wickedly curved knife and made his way closer. He took his time getting to my bench, savoring the feeling of power and intimidation visibly.

“I asked you a question, you filthy animals. What was all that excitement about?”

He put the hooked end of his knife under the chin of my benchmate closest to the aisle and lifted until their eyes met. Unable to ignore the pointed question he tried to lie.

“Nothing.”

“Bah!” The pirate barked in his face before slugging him. “I can smell the lie on your breath. You’ve got food don’t you. Well go ahead, share it with your friend Wallace why don’t you?” He leered at the man and brought his knife back to his face.

“He had it! He gave it to me!” My benchmate ratted me out desperately. I let the fear I was feeling show on my face and edged away as far as I could. That was as sweet as a chocolate cake to the pirate. He felt strong, he was in command, he stepped forward to take what was his. I obligingly held out a piece of grilled eel in a quaking hand. After he took the morsel he punched me in the face, knocking me clear off of the bench.

“Let that be a lesson to you. You don’t own anything anymore. I own you. Everything you have belongs to me now. You aren’t hiding anything else are you?” he asked hopefully.

I hesitated, then held out my left hand and opened the still working fingers to reveal a silver ring. The pirate’s eyes greedily locked onto the ring and he didn’t even see the crossbow materialize in my other hand.

At this range, I couldn’t miss. After I shot the first bolt into his chest I unsummoned the bow, replacing it a moment later with another fresh crossbow pumping another bolt into his chest. He fell back, clutching at his ruined chest and gasping for the breath to curse me. I took my time with the last crossbow, giving the pirate a coup-de-grace that he probably didn’t deserve. Shock and confusion thankfully held sway for a moment and I used the attention to repeat my signal to be quiet, putting a finger to my lips.

“Are you crazy?” whimpered one of my bench-mates “They’ll kill us for letting you do that!”

“Only if we don’t kill them first.” I shot back before I ducked down and began trying skeleton keys on my shackles. When they fell away from my legs the commotion grew a bit but others from the tower scattered among them did their part and kept the slaves mostly quiet. It wasn’t enough and someone shouted down.

“Wallace! What the hell are you doing?”

“Jus’ havin’ a bit of fun.” I slurred up at the ceiling.

“Well git back to work. If you break my oarsmen you can take their place.”

I started by running to our best sharpshooter and handing off the crossbows.

“Shoot anyone who comes down those stairs.” I ordered him before setting off again. I rushed to free and arm our best shield bearers on this level but some of the galley slaves resented being passed up by the guy with the keys.

“Let me out!” One shouted “I can fight!”

That was as good as an alarm bell. One short pirate stomped down the stairs.

“Who said that! I’ll make you swallow your own teeth!”

He got a crossbow bolt in his thigh instead.

“Escape! Alarm! The slaves are-” one of the shieldmen rushed to silence him but the damage was done.

“Use your benches! Block the stairs and vents!” I shouted. Most of the slaves were stunned and too scared to act but enough moved so that a passable barricade grew in front of the stairs. Pirates began to come down the stairs in force. One of them started using an axe on the barricade but replacement benches arrived as soon as others were chopped apart. The shield bearers were barely able to keep the pirates back until arrows began raining down from above. The hold was filled with screaming until the frightened slaves blocked off the openings above them too. I rushed to unlock more people now and they rushed to reinforce the barricade. We had a slight advantage because we had an open hold to spread out in while they had to fight through the choked staircase. That didn’t mean much when it was cudgels against axes and swords though. Still, a handful of slaves picked up splintered bench pieces and rushed at the guard coming up from the lower level, overwhelming him more through numbers than anything else. The pirate stabbed one of the slaves but after his blade was stuck he was quickly pushed back down the stairs and presumably beaten to a bloody pulp. I finally got to where bodrin was chained.

“Get everyone else out of their chains. I need to help hold the stairs.” I said as I pressed the keys into his hands.

When I got to the stairs I could see that even the barricade hadn’t done much. There were eight bodies strewn around the floor. Our sniper sent another bolt through a gap in the barricade but more axes were being brought to bear on the old benches.

There wasn’t much time to waste but I wasn’t nearly as rushed as I was when the guard captain charged me. I put on my damaged lapis circlet and began channeling mana into an arcane cannon. More and more mana flowed into the ball between my palms. When I saw that the barricade was about to give way I took a knee and shouted.

“Make a path!” A few shieldmen stopped pressing against the barricade long enough for me to fire my cannon. The condensed ball of mana plowed straight through the weakened barricade and up the stairs at an angle for a bit before crunching through the stairs as well. The pirates crowded in the stairwell were showered with shrapenel but the worst damage was caused by the Arcane Cannon bowling them over like so many pins.

“Forward!” I screamed and we spent ten bloody seconds delivering finishing blows to the downed pirates. A lot of them were tougher than I gave them credit for and counterattacked.

“Back!” I shouted and we fell back down the stairs leaving a tangle of bodies and broken stairs behind us. A few of the bodies were slaves but by the time more pirates flooded down the stairs we had the barricade reinforced. The attack continued but we held much better. Their footing was compromised and after five or six more poisoned bolts from our sharpshooter and one more arcane cannon from me, they reconsidered that avenue of attack. The entire hold was freed by this point. Maybe twenty slaves refused to take part but seventy were fighting or holding the barricades. Eight were already dead but there wasn’t time to worry about that now. Slaves began to arrive from the lower deck as well. A dismayed cry from the other side of the hold caught my attention. The pirates were starting to cut through the roof!

Galley-slaves near the area fled. Some of them were holding benches against the grates and when they left arrows began falling again. Moments later I was caught in a flood heading back down to the lower hold. We stumbled down the stairs, trampling a few unfortunate people who didn’t keep their feet. The lower deck was much like the first, but blood dripped down from the decks above in a steadily worsening rain. Bodrin used the time I gave him well though. He had a few carpenters making a funnel instead of a simple plug from the benches. That way we’d be able to use our numbers to better advantage. He was also arming people with sharpened oars to use like spears from behind our shieldwall. What caught my attention though was the giant. Sitting near the far end of the hold was a hulking shadow that had to hunch to keep from knocking it’s head on the ceiling. It was sitting behind an odd contraption that would let it row with ten oars at once. This one person could easily turn the tide.

Bodrin was working with a few other people to try and release the chains around it but it was no use. The giant wasn’t simply locked in place, it was welded. A thick iron collar studded with nasty protrusions encircled its neck and an anchor chain led from it into a slab of concrete. When I got close I could see that it was actually a she. Her hair was pulled back in a pair of huge orange braids. Her arms were wider around than my chest and her chest was big enough to put a cow to shame. I looked away quickly, not wanting to offend someone who could pull my head from my shoulders like she was picking a strawberry.

“What’s the hold up Bodrin?” I asked from out of reach. He stopped hacking at the concrete holding the giant in place.

“Berta here wants to fight but I can’t get her out!”

I was distracted momentarily when the pirates made it to our last line of defence. Crouching shield men did their best to survive the onslaught while galley slaves stabbed over their heads with wooden sticks. It didn’t take a tactical genius to recognise that the battered shields and splintering spears wouldn’t hold out for long.

“Berta is it? I’m going to try and free you. Promise you won’t eat me?” She grinned back with yellowed teeth the size of dominoes.

“If you get me out of these chains I’ll fight for you.”

Another shieldman was overwhelmed by a much stronger pirate as we spoke. He went down with a gurgle. Others pulled him back to a corner where Liam was frantically tending the wounded with a few helpers.

“Good enough for me.” I said before pulling a rectangular copper plate from my inventory. I bent it around the anchor chain and as soon as I lined up the silver inscription it began to glow with arcane energy. Red light flared across the silvery script and grew in intensity.

“Are you going to free me or not?” rumbled Berta.

“Give it a second, I’ve never tried this before. Just… don’t touch it.” I warned as she began to reach for the bit of metal. It must have looked inert to anyone with low attunement. As I watched, frost began to form over the enchantment and spread across the anchor chain as all its heat was greedily consumed. I tore my eyes away and began lobbing mana bolts into the crowd of pirates. None of my attacks were lethal but they were often distracting enough to let one of the other fighters survive a poorly aimed attack or land one of their own.

My attention was brought back to the chain when I heard a snap. I excitedly thought the chain had parted only to see that the enchantment broke instead. My heart didn’t even have time to sink though. All of the captured heat began flowing back out of the enchanted copper.

It started as a high-pitched squeak, then it escalated to rapid pinging noises and ended in a sharp crack as the rapid change in temperature proved too much for the iron chains. Berta gave a triumphant roar and charged forward. Galley slaves and shield bearers dove aside. She snatched up a shield, slipped a couple fingers through the strap meant for an entire arm and used it to punch the pirates into a full retreat back up the stairs.

“Go now!” I shouted “All the way to the top! This ship is ours for the taking!”

Blood covered slaves roared in a mindless frenzy and rushed after the giant, only stopping long enough to thoroughly finish off any injured pirates. I tried to get a count on the way up. We’d taken down maybe twenty pirates and lost three times as many people on our side. I prepared my stunning wand and resolved that none of the pirates would survive the night.