Maya turned her head to look back at the two galleons. The second one had failed to raise it’s anchor in time, and the one she had boarded had no way to change its course in time.

For the umpteenth time that day, the sound of splintering wood filled the air. Both ships shuddered violently from the collision, throwing men off their feet. A moment later, they shuddered once more. There was a series of small explosions in rapid succession.

A ball of fire rose into the air as the first ship detonated with a thunderous blast. Fragments of wood and metal flew across the sea and both ships started to rapidly take water. It quickly became difficult to make out details as Humbol flew them away from Katrina’s crew.

The landed unceremoniously upon Wavedance’s deck a short while later. Humbol dropped the two of them before crumpling to the ground, drawing in ragged gasps of air. Cyll dashed over beside them, his eyes wide.

“Holy shit. I can’t believe my eyes!” Cyll exclaimed, gesturing excitedly to the fleet shrinking behind them. “You actually sank two of Katrina’s ships.”

A disbelieving laugh burst out of his mouth.

“She didn’t have very strong sailors,” Patty explained, rising to her feet and straightening out what remained of her clothes.

“The gods smiled on us,” Cyll said. He peered at Maya’s wounds, wincing slightly at the large cut on her face. “But not your face, Cap. That’s gonna scar.”

“I figured,” Maya muttered. “A small price to pay, assuming we escape.”

“We will,” Cyll promised. “We’ve got the lead on her now, and no ship in these waters can keep up with Wavedance. Akrun promised that much.”

“He’s right,” Patty put in. “She’s chasing us, but her ships keep getting smaller. We’re out.”

“Good,” Maya breathed, the tension emptying out of her. The adrenaline went with it, leaving only the rapidly growing thrum of pain. The captain winced, clenching her teeth. “How bad are the wounds? I’m pretty sure I’m going to bleed out at this rate.”

“Patty, could you get some bandages from below deck?” Cyll asked. “And don’t be a drama queen. You’ll live, and the scar adds character. It doesn’t look like you got hit anywhere vital, and head wounds just bleed a lot.”

Patty nodded and descended the stairs below deck. The crack of cannon fire filled the air again. Cyll jerked his head up, but the cannonballs fell short. Katrina’s fleet was shrinking in the distance.

The puppet reemerged from below deck carrying a small crate. She set it on the ground beside Cyll, who pulled the top off. He applied a cream to Maya’s wounds that made her wince in pain, but the immortal pirate ignored her. He wrapped the captain’s wounds, finishing with the cut along her eye, and rose back to his feet with a grunt.

“I didn’t know you could dress wounds, Cyll,” Maya said.

“It’s been a long time, but it’s not exactly hard to wrap a cloth around somebody. If anything goes south, you’re going to need a real doctor. Frankly, I have no idea how any of us survived that, much less all of us.”

Beside them, Humbol let out something between a cough and a laugh. He rose into a seated position, propping himself up against the railing.

“But it was a damn good show, wasn’t it?” He rasped. “By the four seas, we really made them sing. And the finish! What a marvelous explosion.”

“No need to pat yourself on the back so much,” Cyll grumbled, returning to the wheel. He glanced over his shoulder, but all he could make out of Katrina’s fleet was a thick pillar of smoke rising into the sky. There were no signs of pursuit.

Patty gently picked Maya up and carried her captain down to her quarters. Cyll watched them go before turning the wheel to steer Wavedance away from the shore.

“Go check the map and find out where Dredd’s Tomb is,” Cyll told Humbol.

The other man raised an eyebrow, pulling himself to his feet with the railing.

“You’re actually asking me to do something? I thought you didn’t trust me,” Humbol said.

“I don’t, but you’re part of this crew. For now. Am I correct?” Cyll asked, a dangerous glint in his eye.

“Right you are,” Humbol said. He tipped an imaginary hat to Cyll before heading below deck to check the map.

Patty emerged before Humbol and set about inspecting the damage to the ship. The other pirate came back a few minutes later.

“We’re probably headed in the general direction of Dredd’s Tomb,” Humbol said. “It’s hard to tell without the stars. Just keep going in this direction and we can readjust tonight.”

Cyll grunted in response, offering no further response to their newest crewmate. Patty finished her inspection of the upper deck started down below deck to see if the ship was taking on any water.

“So, is there any reason why we’re going to Dredd’s Tomb?” Humbol asked.

“Before I answer that, I need to know how long you’re planning on hanging around,” Cyll replied.

“As long as Patty is on the crew.”

“You’d spend so much time following someone you’ve only just met around?” Cyll asked.

“It was the deal I made with the Master,” Humbol replied, shrugging. His tone lost its usual cheer for a moment. “I am many things, but I do not break my promises. Not to mention that breaking a promise with the Master would be a very, very bad idea.”

“So you’re joining the crew just to avoid making this person angry?” Cyll questioned.

“Originally, yes. That was the plan,” Humbol said. He fiddled with a ring on one of his fingers. “But…I believe my motivations might have changed slightly.”

Cyll raised an eyebrow and waited for Humbol to continue.

“Your captain is something else. She only hesitated for an instant in the face of certain death. For men like us, that’s nothing special. But she’s not immortal. She can die. So why is she bolder than both of us?”

The immortal pirate was silent for a long time. Then he sighed, shaking his head helplessly.

“Damn if I know. That’s just our captain. Maybe we’ll find out some day. Until then…” Cyll nodded towards the debris covering the deck of Wavedance. “Make yourself useful and clean some of this trash up.”