Goer kept a firm grip on Rhys as he hurried them away from the pirates, no longer moving with the same stealth as before. Lucy and the others kept their grip on each other and followed along at the pace, stumbling here and there on rocks but managing to stay together.

Behind them, Rhys heard the periodic retorts of pistols firing as the dynak descended on the pirates. There must have been at least four or five people chasing them from how often the pistols were firing. The original group must have been bigger than Rhys thought. That or the pirates had managed to gather reinforcements from somewhere.

The first cries of pain started as Goer urged them out of the cavern and into a new tunnel, turning on his torch to light the way for them. Following suit, Rhys activated his torch and set off at a run, not wanting to be here when the dynak finished fighting the pirates.

The sounds of battle followed them down the tunnel for a distance, the pistol fire becoming more frenzied before being silenced permanently.

‘Don’t stop. We need to get out of dynak territory while they’re still occupied,’ Goer told them, keeping his pistol at the ready as he ran down the tunnel.

All the running, stress and physical exertion was catching up with Rhys now; he was struggling to catch his breath, and his heart was pounding.

‘Goer, we need to slow down,’ Rhys gasped, wiping the sweat from his brow with one arm as he kept the torch on the path ahead of them.

‘Slow, but don’t stop,’ Goer said, casting a worried look behind them as he matched Rhys’s pace and settled down to a walk.

‘Just give me a minute, and I’ll be okay,’ Rhys said between heavy breaths.

‘We should be close, but I wasn’t expecting to find the dynak so near to Kolis. I may have taken a wrong turn. If I have, we’ll need to move quickly.’ Goer explained, his face impassive as he regarded Rhys. Goer looked just as composed now as he had done rescuing Rhys, clearly unphased by running away as those pirates died.

Goer gave Rhys a minute to catch his breath, but, thankfully, a second bout of running wasn’t needed. Their tunnel was climbing steadily up, and Goer said they were on the last stretch to the guard post. It was on the other side of Kolis from the one they’d used to escape, but that meant it was likely being guarded.

‘I’ll go ahead and deal with the guards, give me a few minutes, then follow. If you hear gunfire, come quickly,’ Goer instructed as they drew close to where the guards would be. Rhys nodded his understanding and clutched his pistol tightly. This was it; everything was riding on how things went from this point.

Oliver paid little attention to Goer heading ahead; his focus was instead on the tunnel behind them. Tom was pacing back and forth, a grim expression on his face, and Lucy was watching Goer leave with narrow eyes.

‘We don’t have much choice but to trust him,’ Rhys said as quietly as he could to Lucy.

‘I know, and he helped a lot with those dynak things, but there’s something off about him,’ Lucy said, shaking her head with a frown.

There wasn’t anything Rhys could say to that; it wasn’t like he fully trusted Goer either, after all. Leaning against the tunnel wall and taking a few steadying breaths, Rhys tapped a finger against his thigh as he gave Goer the time he needed to do his thing.

A few minutes dragged tortuously by as they waited, but there was no sign of gunfire from up the tunnel. Rhys’s fingers beat a fast rhythm on his leg as he met Lucy’s eyes, and she motioned the way Goer had gone with a single raised brow.

Rhys rubbed his face and tried to think how long it had actually been since Goer left. It felt like a small eternity, but he was sure it had actually only been a few minutes. Still, that was all that Goer had asked for.

Raising a hand to get everyone’s attention, Rhys dimmed his torch and motioned for them to follow. He’d work on the assumption that Goer had failed and they were going to have to fight their way to the ship.

Creeping slowly along the tunnel, Rhys swallowed nervously as it continued up and curved to the right, eventually taking on a red glow as they neared the guard post.

Peeking around the final bend, Rhys felt the tension in his body fade as he saw Goer was in the process of dragging a body out of sight. There was no one else that Rhys could see, so he hurried forward, nodding to Goer when the pirate looked up from dragging the body.

Emerging into the red-lit mist that suffused Kolis, Rhys strained his eyes to make out where he was in relation to everything. He could make out the distant shapes of the ships and the settlement itself, but the mist obscured the fine details.

‘So far, so good,’ Tom muttered as Goer came over to them, wiping his hands on something before tossing it into the tunnel.

‘We were lucky, there was only one guard, and he didn’t alarm anyone,’ Goer told them with a slight smile. ‘Now, all we need to do is break into the administration building where Kassandra is based. I’ve scouted it previously, and I have a good idea where the medallion will be kept, but it’s going to be a risky break-in.’ Goer started to explain his plan but paused when Rhys held a hand up.

‘Actually, Goer, I can get us inside the Endeavour. We just need to get there,’ Rhys said, wincing internally as they all gave him a surprised look.

‘Without the medallion?’ Tom asked, cocking his head to one side as he spoke.

‘Yes,’ Rhys said, not giving any more of an explanation. Any attempt he made now to justify it might very well come back to bite him later, so it was best to keep quiet.

‘That changes things,’ Goer said, looking away for a moment as he frowned in thought. ‘Let’s head straight for the ship. I’ll get my associate once you’re onboard. Walk steadily and try to act normal. From a distance, no one will be able to recognise us.’

‘Sounds good, let’s go,’ Rhys said, eager to move the focus away from him.

Goer gave Rhys a measuring look before nodding and heading off into the mist, leading them out of the illuminated area.

Rhys could hear voices, movement and the general sound of the pirates organising searching parties as they followed Goer, accompanied by signs of movement around the settlement and some nearby pirates that were mostly obscured. The thick mist was working in their favour now, preventing anyone from seeing them clearly unless they were nearby.

They made it to where the ships were docked without issue, Goer leading them to take cover behind a small building. The Endeavour was sat maybe thirty or forty feet from them, but there was a problem.

‘I wasn’t expecting this many guards,’ Goer said, a hint of frustration and concern in his voice as he looked at the dozen pirates guarding the ship.

‘We can’t take that many,’ Tom stated flatly, rubbing his left arm absently as he gave Rhys a worried look.

‘No, we can’t,’ Goer said absently, staring at the guards with a frown.

‘We need some sort of distraction; if some of them leave, we could rush the rest and get on the ship,’ Lucy said, giving Goer a meaningful look.

‘I doubt I can create a big enough distraction for all those guards to chase me,’ Goer said in a dry tone as he all but rolled his eyes.

‘What about the skitterers, the dynak. We’re close enough to that cavern for them to be a concern. If you cause an alarm or something, the guards could be drawn away,’ Oliver said in a strained whisper, his eyes darting around them to look for threats.

‘No, they’d just group up for a sighting. The only way they’d group up is if……’ Goer said, trailing off as a slow smile spread across his face. ‘Actually, I have an idea. Stay here and wait for the guards to leave, then take the ship. I’ll send the other prisoner over to you while I deal with the distraction. Once he’s onboard, just go. I have to stay behind to deal with things, understood?’

‘Understood,’ Rhys said, a little unsure of what Goer was going to do but willing to go along with the plan. ‘Good luck.’

‘Only idiots believe in luck,’ Goer said, turning and starting to walk away before pausing. ‘Still, thanks.’

Rhys watched Goer leave with mixed feelings. Goer was entirely responsible for their current situation, but there was still something off about him. Not to mention all his initial talk of debts and things being owed, Rhys still had no idea what that had been about, and Goer hadn’t brought it back up.

They settled in behind the building Goer had led them to, waiting out each minute anxiously as they watched for any sign of Goer or the distraction he’d promised.

This pattern of waiting and then quick bursts of action was starting to wear on Rhys’s nerves. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take. The knowledge that a pirate could just wander past and spot them at any given moment was enough to make him break out into a cold sweat.

A shout of alarm broke through Rhys’s worries. The shout was swiftly followed by furious pistol fire and two screams of pain.

The first was human and filled with agony and horror, while the second sent ice water through Rhys’s veins. That was the sound of a dynak being wounded.

For a moment, absolute silence descended on the cavern as everyone within earshot froze at the sound.

‘SWARM!’ Someone shouted from the direction of the settlement, gunfire breaking out in several places as multiple pirates engaged the dynak.

‘The crazy bastard,’ Oliver breathed, face pale as he gripped his pistol tight.

‘Crazy or not, it’s worked,’ Rhys muttered as ten of the pirates on guard went racing toward Kolis with weapons at the ready.

Peeking around the corner, Rhys spotted the two remaining pirate guards standing at the base of the boarding ramp that led up to the Endeavour. Breathing deep, Rhys steadied his nerves, ready for the firefight to take them out.

The memory of the pirate he’d killed earlier made Rhys feel nauseous, but he had no choice here. It was kill or be killed.

Before Rhys could act, Lucy edged past him, both hands on the pistol she had as she crouched and smoothly aimed at the first guard. Two cracks of her pistol sent pale blue energy blasts at the first guard, while a second pair from behind Rhys went over his head and slammed into the second. A shocked glance back showed a grim-faced Tom looming over Rhys with his own pistol raised.

Lucy’s shots had taken her guard in the chest, punching straight through his clothing and deep into his flesh. Tom’s shots had been less tightly grouped, but both had hit the pirate, sending him to the ground with a heavy impact.

Rhys barely had time to think as Tom and Lucy advanced on the Endeavour, sweeping the area with their pistols in a professional manner that reminded him just how inexperienced he was at this.

‘Rhys, come on, we have to move,’ Oliver hissed, dragging Rhys out from their hiding spot as he spoke.

‘Right, yes, I’m on it,’ Rhys said, getting himself under control and heading for the boarding ramp at a run. They needed to get on the ship as fast as possible.

‘Zaxx, open the boarding hatch a moment after I get there,’ Rhys sub-vocalised, knowing that Zaxx would be able to hear him.

‘Of course, Rhys. I’m glad you are back.’ Zaxx answered, his whispers back to their normal strength now.

Rhys paused at the boarding hatch and touched where the medallion would go with his right hand, knowing that he needed to do something to demonstrate how he opened it.

Purple energy sparked beneath his fingers as Rhys touched the hatch, the lock audibly disengaging a moment later.

‘Everyone, inside,’ Rhys said, opening the hatch and urging the others through.

‘Wait for me, Captain!’ A voice rang out as Rhys began to shut the hatch, making Rhys pause and look outside.

A man was running for the ramp, firing blindly over his shoulder at a pair of dynak that were scurrying after him and closing the distance rapidly.

‘Damn it,’ Rhys cursed, opening the door and stepping out onto the ramp once more. He assumed this was the other prisoner that Goer had told them about. Levelling his pistol, Rhys squeezed off a shot at one of the dynak and missed completely as it leapt to one side.

Realising he was outmatched, Rhys started to fire as quickly as he could, making the dynak dodge and weave around his shots and slowing them down. The fleeing prisoner was just at the ramp’s base when Rhys’s pistol ran out of charge.

‘Damn it, Zaxx, pistol me,’ Rhys growled, throwing the spent weapon inside the Endeavour and holding his hand out expectantly. Rhys wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but a pistol falling from the ceiling and into his waiting hand was definitely not it.

Too focused to question anything right now, Rhys grabbed the weapon and turned back to the approaching dynak, resuming his suppressing fire.

The man was halfway up the ramp when the first dynak reached it, but needing to stay on the ramp left it vulnerable to Rhys, and he blasted it clear with a solid hit to the upper body.

‘Inside, go, go, go,’ Rhys shouted, hitting the other dynak with a shot as it tried to follow the man up the ramp. While both of these were now wounded, Rhys didn’t doubt there would be more coming.

The man raced through the open hatch, Rhys mere moments behind him as he slammed the hatch shut and locked it once more. It was time to leave.