Sarvis limped past a line of bloody and broken men as they kneeled on the deck. He didn’t follow the policy not to show weakness to subordinates. For him, it was more important to show that he would push through the pain.

He growled deeply as he walked, making those closest to him flinch, but otherwise remain kneeling.

Good, if they had moved he would have cut them down for he needed no cowards on his ships. This little display was as much a test as it was a recruitment. The people before him were a mix of the captured crews and the survivors of his main ship. Already he had killed his second in command for incompetence, his cold dead body now more useful feeding the denizens of the ocean than being a pirate.

His flagship was a mess. Half of the enchantments no longer functioned. The ones that did were having issues keeping them aloft and moving forward. He would sooner give his own life than abandon one of his fleet of ships so he limped it along and they joined in the bombardment of the empty island his quarry hid on.

He had had not truly believed the reports from their spies, hidden amongst the crews in the failed attempt to capture that strange ship. That failed debacle was led by that incompetent captain Tu’Cath. But the information was still valuable and Sarvis had prepared countermeasures to protect his ships.

This is why his ship still remained flying instead of on the ocean floor. The slave mages hidden below deck were used as nothing more than mana batteries to power the enchantments. At least the blast of destructive mana hadn’t taken out the main enchantment array. If that had fallen, it wouldn’t have made any difference how many mages he had aboard.

When his crew first spotted the strange trail and cloaked ship it didn’t take him long to decide on a course of action. The boss wanted that new weapon. Unfortunately, the enemy proved more resilient than he had anticipated. It galled him to lose to some unknown captain. And the man still eluded him so all Sarvis could do was vent his rage on this island in hopes of flushing his prey out. He didn’t put much stock on it working but it helped vent his crew's anger.

For eight hours his fleet reduced the island to bare stone, not a single tree or spot large enough to fit a ship remained but their quarry hadn’t been uncovered. Somehow, they had slipped away. It was as he expected, his quarry was wily.

It was a failure on his part, one that made some of his crew eye him with disdain. He couldn’t let the slight stand so he sent his scout ships out to search for any anomalies. No ship could disappear without a trace. They would find them and when they did, there would be a reckoning. But for now, Sarvis had to judge whether or not to keep these former slaves as crew.

When he looked at them, he saw anger. It was bottled but he could still see it in their eyes. When he came to the end of the line he turned and faced the leader of these slaves. A man by the name of Lichen.

This man didn’t hold anger in his eyes, only cold calculation. And going by the fact that he slew his former captain for angering the pirate kings he was probably smarter than most of the survivors.

“Why should I let you live?”

Lichen didn’t flinch at the question, he only raised his head and met Sarvis’s eyes. “If you meant to kill me you would have done it already. I figure you want my help.”

Sarvis roared in laughter, making some of the kneeling people jump in fright. His blade lashed out and four crescents of red energy tore those weak-willed men apart. “Perhaps,” he replied, watching Lichen’s eyes for any fear as he was forced to watch his former crewmates die. The man didn’t seem to care. Good. “Then again, perhaps not. You know who I am, Yes?”

Lichen turned his gaze back to Sarvis, “Yes, you are the Enforcer.”

“Good. Do you know why I was sent out to this shithole?” The man shook his head. “I was sent out here to deal with you and your people. But my boss saw an opportunity as well. Where there is upheaval, there is a chance to benefit. You are from around this area?” Again Lichen nodded. Sarvis didn’t mention the strange ship and the new weapon. The man didn’t need to know.

“Good.” Sarvis snapped his fingers and two crew lifted Lichen to his feet. “You will provide my cartographer with the locations of every pirate hideout and port around here. If I believe your information is valuable enough, I may take you on as crew. If not, well, your fate will be the same as them,” Sarvis gestured to the fresh corpses. “As for the rest of you!” Sarvis waited until all eyes were on him. “If I see anyone slacking off, you are going overboard. Now, get to work!”

Sarvis watched in glee as the former pirates scrambled to their feet and ran about like chickens with their heads cut off. The smart ones would figure out what to do quickly, the rest weren’t worth keeping. Sarvis didn’t have time to babysit his crew, the rest of the crew would police them for him.

***

The hidden port wasn’t much to look at, even more so now that the lone docked ship lay in tatters and the defenses had been picked apart by Sarvis and his fleet. But it would suffice for his needs.

He had already pressed the survivors, mostly slaves, into making repairs to his ship. He had to wait for a damn Guild representative from the Shipbuilders to arrive to fix the broken enchantments anyway. While this happened, Sarvis lounged in his cabin and examined the innocuous piece of leather that the former pirate slaves had turned over to him.

He had killed the first former slave, thinking him a liar but when the second and third corroborated the tale, he held off on killing them. It was only when he arrived at this festering shithole of a hideout that he was able to verify their claims. Of course, the slave he used to test it on was tossed into the ocean afterward.

Sarvis knew slaves had their place. They were perfect for menial labor and as objects of release, either sexual or otherwise but never on a ship. How could you trust someone with your life when they were forced to be there. He had overpowered larger fleets due to their sheer arrogance at thinking their massive numbers of slaves could somehow overwhelm his smaller but hardened crew of cutthroats.

But this little slip of leather was a game-changer. Offer a man his freedom and they would be almost as loyal as the crew he spent years with. You could never fully trust another pirate but if you all had a similar goal everything worked out. “Chas,” Sarvis called, his bodyguard opening the door a moment later.

“What’s up, boss?” like Sarvis, Chas was another Lionoide, although of a different clan.

“Get word to our spies, I want more of these items found. Also, see if they can figure out who is making them.” Chas caught the leather strap as Sarvis tossed it over. “One last thing, let the big man know we secured the first objective but we ran into a slight snag that may delay the second.” The failure would reduce his standing with the big boss but Sarvis had learned long ago not to try and hide failures from that man.

“I’ll send out the messages right away.” The man closed the door and Sarvis heard him stomping down the hall toward the communication room.

***

Jard sedately walked down the hall of the palace. He nodded politely to everyone he passed even though his news was of critical importance to Prince Lameen, but decorum must be maintained. While Jard didn’t see the point, he was at least skilled enough at pretending.

Eventually, he reached the end of the hall and a large ornately carved door with a guard to either side. The guards eyed him and Jard tensed as the soldiers gripped their long spears tighter in case he might be trouble. Even though they knew him and he had been here only yesterday. He didn’t know whether he should feel glad that they took their jobs so seriously or offended. Instead, he did neither as he cleared his throat and knocked lightly on the door.

“Enter,” came the reply a few minutes later.

Jard pushed the double doors open and closed them quietly behind him before turning to meet his Prince with a deep bow.

“What is it today, Jard? I don’t have much time.”

“Apologies, my Liege. This information pertains to your… brother.”

“Out with it then, what has that man gone and done now?”

“Our spies are still gathering information but evidence suggests Barcos may have been responsible for these slave uprisings.”

“As much as I want my brother to be so foolish, what brings them to this conclusion?”

“The ship your brother is currently crewing aboard was spotted at a number of the islands now seeing issues. One might be a coincidence but he was spotted at three before the slaves started revolting in the streets. Also one was where that city guard was strung up. As you know that entire city had to be put to the sword after they gathered up the remaining guards and hanged them for all to see.”

***

Prince Lameen sat back in his chair with a thoughtful look on his face. Yes, he could use this information to finally get those geriatric generals into motion and deal with this unrest. So far they had been unwilling to come down too hard on the citizens for fear of causing more unrest but if a disgraced prince was behind the animosity it could fracture the entire protectorate if left unchecked.

“Do we know where he is now?”

After some hand wringing, Jard finally replied, “no, my Liege. We do have rumors that the ship he was on engaged with the Enforcer’s fleet though. But they fled from the fight if the rumors are to be believed.

Lameen frowned, more bad news but if his brother's actions didn’t get the generals moving, then the pirate kings’ lackeys in the area would.

“Send invitations to the generals and the leaders from the other houses. I believe it is time for a war council.”

Jard bowed one more time before scurrying out of the room like a rat. Lameen couldn’t stand the weasel of a man but he was useful. After the door shut, Lameen activated the enchantments that prevented sound from escaping or anyone from scrying on him.

Then he lifted the small box from a hidden cubby within his desk and set it down before lifting the lid. Inside was a small piece of mirror. Lameen didn’t have to wait long for someone to appear on the other end.

“Prince Lameen, to what do I owe the pleasure of your communication?” the pirate known as Black Gar said sweetly.

The delicate waif of a man on the other side of the mirror could easily be overlooked as a pirate. His delicate half-elven features and expensive, yet tasteful, attire would have many mistake him as a prince himself.

“I hear your hunting dog had a run-in with my brother.”

“Oh, that little fight, I almost forgot about it,” the man smiled kindly but Lameen could see the humor never reached his eyes. “It seems your brother and his captain wounded my man’s pride more than anything. You wouldn’t happen to know where the craven rat is hiding so he could rectify this issue?”

“If I knew where my brother was, I would go there and deal with him myself.” Black Gar tittered at Lameen’s proclamation, making him fume.

“Oh sweet, Prince. Let us leave the unsavory work to our lessers. Now, it is such a joy speaking with you but is that the only reason you called your dear friend?”

Prince Lameen ground his teeth in frustration but kept his face neutral. “No, I wanted to inform you, that we are mobilizing a war council.”

“Oh…and what pray tell do you need a war council for? Certainly not a few unruly slaves?”

“Not just a few slaves. Evidence points to my brother’s involvement with freeing them.” Prince Lameen might have been mistaken but he thought he saw Black Gar raise one of his eyebrows slightly in curiosity.

“I wasn’t aware your brother was an enchanter. My what a talented man.” Lameen bristled at the barbed comment. It also seemed like Black Gar already knew how the slaves were getting free. Lameen had only learned about it a week ago himself.

His first thought was the Guild trying to cause trouble but the Director assured him, no Guild representative was responsible for the current troubles in the Protectorate. An oath of truth confirmed he was not lying. But if not the Guild then who. It didn’t take long to whittle down the possibilities to one ship. Nobody had seen the Captain so much as approach any of the hot spots. An oversight as Lameen’s agents were more focused on keeping an eye on his troublesome brother. But if his brother had been at those ports, then so had the captain.

A rogue enchanter would explain many things. The strange ship, the way he talked three experts into joining his crew, despite the risky endeavor to hunt down pirates. The fact that the ship seemed to disappear and reappear at random spots and there was always trouble afterward.

If that was the case, then the Guild must already be aware of the man as well. A man like that was too dangerous to let roam freely for long. Capturing him for Lameen’s own ends would not end well. Lameen wasn’t stupid enough to go against the Guild, but killing the man would work just as well.

Lameen closed the box, ending his conversation with the annoying pirate. The two weren’t friends or even very friendly. It was an alliance born of mutual need and nothing else, one that he was beginning to regret making. Lameen looked at the time. He had twenty minutes before the council meeting so he spent it going over what to bring up and what to hold back.