“Why did you even take the gem? It’s not much use to Pirata, is it?” Lynn asked. Wangi sighed, Lynn had asked several questions by this point, she was very eager to learn, and she was a good worker, but Wangi didn’t like talking to her. Lynn got the impression Wangi didn’t like talking to anybody.

“Kumandra be the only land with dragons. Dragons with magic. Magic you keep in that there rock.” Wangi gestured to the Dragon Gem, which was situated on a pedestal in the center of the deck.

“Magic you intend to exploit.” Lynn finished.

“If it be for jade, there’s nothing we won’t exploit.” Wangi sneered, her one eye narrowed in greed. Lynn gave Wangi a look of disgust. She still couldn’t believe these people. So vile and cruel. They made the princess of Fang look pleasant by comparison. Despite it, she found herself beginning to get along with Wangi.

Despite her eye, she wasn’t so bad to look at, brown hair down to just above her shoulders that, although unkempt, was quite pretty when the sun hit it, and her one remaining eye was a pretty green. She was around the same height as Lynn, but she was a lot thinner, her body resembled that of an acrobat.

This fact didn’t seem to stop Wangi from wanting to throw Lynn overboard. Maybe it was because Lynn smelled odd, or maybe because Lynn had cut her stomach open with a kitchen knife.

“SHIP TO PORT STERN! MERCHANT SHIP WITH NAVAL ESCORT! FROM THE NORTH!” Came the cry from the highest mast, where a sailor Lynn had learned was called Enoch was clung to so to keep a lookout.

“RAISE SAILS! MAN YOUR CANNONS ANJING! WE’RE TAKING HER DOWN!” Now it was the voice of the quartermaster, a man called Saharjo, who bellowed commands.

The ship came to life, pirates running back and forth, readying deck canons, loading them with powder, and stockpiling cannonballs. In the commotion, Wangi had left Lynn’s side. Lynn was sure Wangi had been waiting for that chance, but now she was left alone with no idea what she was meant to do.

She felt a grimey hand on her shoulder and turned to see Saharjo there. “Time for action, koki, you’ll need these.” From the inside of his coat, he produced two kitchen knives. Her kitchen knives. Lynn took them, a little offended she wasn’t being given a sword. “We’ll engage in cannon fire until we can board, then you’ll go to the other ship, Darah baru.”

“How do you know I won’t run away with them?” Lynn asked, not really intending to go through with that.

“Because when this is over that ship is going to be at the bottom of the ocean.” Saharjo said tartly. Lynn paled, they were going to kill these people.

She felt a need to do something, to stop these pirates, to save these people. Although, the pirates would only turn on her, she wouldn’t be able to fend off all of them. She took a deep breath, surely she couldn’t actually...kill someone?

With ringing booms, the cannons began to fire. Each explosion rang in Lynn’s ears as if she were standing next to a massive bell. The ship was rocked with the cannons, not enough for the crew to notice, but Lynn certainly did. She had been nauseous all day, and now it was only worse.

The noise stopped for a moment as the cannons were reloaded. “RETURNING FIRE!” Enoch yelled in warning. The escort ship had realized the situation and was returning fire.

The cannonballs hit the hull of the Crimson Songbird. Wood splintered and flew through the air, which was already thick with sulfur. Lynn covered her mouth and nose. She missed the sweet smells of her kitchen. She missed the sweet smell of Somwang. Her mind drifted to Somwang. To that wonderful time when they had met. Somwang injured, forced to stay at the palace, forced to stay in Lynn’s room. She grabbed a memory, a memory of sharing her bed with Somwang. The two had always been nothing more than friends, that much Lynn was painfully aware of, but that week, that night...Lynn had felt something more.

Suddenly the wood of the mast next to her splintered, rocking her back to reality. She looked around again, feeling as if her mind was flying back into her body, the situation presenting itself. The military ship was beginning to catch flame, their cannons out of commission and most of their men down, likewise the merchant ship was losing traction in its attempt to escape, its sails on fire. By now most of the Songbird’s crew were gathering their swords. Lynn looked around, confused that they were much too far from the ship to be boarding, and there were no hooks or ropes to close the distance.

“How are we going to get to them?” Lynn asked a pirate that was rushing past her, he looked like he was going below decks.

He stopped for a moment to answer, Lynn recognized him from the Dragon Gem Temple, it was the man who had one arm. He sneered, “The dogs.” Then he hurried off without saying anything else.

“The dogs?” Lynn tried to ask him, “What dogs?”

“SUMMON THE HOUNDS! WE BOARD EM!” The call came from high above, but it didn’t sound like Enoch. Lynn looked up and saw a sight that, admittedly, was sort of majestic.

Captain Tai Hoa was stood atop one of the battens, hanging from the sail with his sword pointed forward. The wind whipped through his sand blonde hair and Lynn couldn’t help but feel a sense of courage.

His cry was followed by the frantic ringing of a bell. Lynn turned to see the bell, it was stationed at the ship’s bow, right at the end of the deck. The ringing echoed for a moment before it was answered by a chorus of howls. Suddenly the ocean around the ship erupted and a dozen of the most bizarre creatures Lynn had ever seen landed on the ship’s deck.

In many ways, the creatures reminded Lynn of Sisu and the other draa, but as well as they were similar, they were so very different. Their head appeared to be that of some kind of a mix between a dog and a dragon, with soft features as well as vicious predatorial teeth, adorned with a mane of feathers that flowed into smooth fur. Its body was long like the dragons, but not quite as long, and their bipedal legs were taller, with pawed forefeet and clawed reptilian aft, their legs were adorned with fins and their tail was the strangest thing, it looked to be ripped from some demonic dolphin, with a powerful fin at the end.

“MOUNT, ME BOYS!” The captain yelled, leaping from his perch and landing on the back of one of the beasts. Lynn now noticed each one had a leather-crafted saddle situated on its back. She saw Wangi mount one as well as One-arm. Saharjo grabbed Lynn from behind and mounted her onto the nearest beast.

“You’ll ride Darah baru!” He yelled as he mounted one as well.

“But I don’t know how!” Lynn protested.

“It’s just like a horse, butterfly. Trust him to swim and he will!” Called the captain from her right. He gave a sharp whistle and all twelve of the beasts dove forward into the sea. Lynn screamed and clung tight to the feathery mane. Suddenly her scream was cut as her mouth filled with salty water. Just as quickly she was brought into the air, sputtering trying to get the salt out of her mouth.

The beasts swam incredibly fast, closing the already short distance between the ships as quickly as it would’ve taken Lynn to take a single step. With a powerful slap of its tail, the beast leapt from the water and landed on the military ship’s deck. Lynn slid off the back of the beast and was met with the blade of one of the soldiers. Lynn thanked her strange luck as the blade missed, it wasn’t a high-quality blade, clearly, these merchants weren’t equipped for such a siege.

“Please, I don’t want to hurt you.” Lynn protested.

“Āng zāng dì hǎidào!” The soldier spat in a language Lynn had never before heard. He pulled back his blade and swung again. This time Lynn drew her knives and redirected the strike. She kicked the merchant in the stomach, throwing him backward, where he landed on Wangi’s blade. Lynn covered her mouth in shock as the wicked metal blade pierced the soldier’s chest.

“No…” She breathed. Wangi sneered, enjoying Lynn’s pain. The snake slipped down her arm and sprung past Lynn’s head, latching its fangs onto another soldier. Lynn backed to the ship’s rail.

Another pirate came to her side, “Don’t want to get blood on yer hands? Take a rope!” He gave her a rope and began tying off one he was holding. Lynn hadn’t noticed, but ropes had been attached to the beasts and were now being used to tether the two ships. Already more pirates were coming across, treating the tether ropes as a balancing act.

Lynn gave a nod, hurrying to tie off the ropes, anything so that she didn’t have to watch soldiers being slaughtered.

When she finished tying the last of the ropes, Lynn chanced a glance behind her. She saw the captain, Tai Hoa. He was cutting down the last of the soldiers, but Lynn noticed he wasn’t killing them. Though his razor-sharp blade moved like it was propelled by the wind itself, the sharp edge never touched flesh. Only his fists or legs would make contact, sometimes even the butt of his sword, but the blade was strictly used defensively. He fought dirty, ducking swipes and kicking low to cause the sailors to incapacitate themselves. He didn’t kill a single one, and no one touched the ones he spared.

Finally, the last two men fell. The pirates began making their way back across the ropes to the Songbird, meanwhile, Lynn was lifted into the air by Saharjo, put back onto the back of the beast she rode in on. The beast gave a coo and ruffled its feathers when it felt Lynn on its back. The other eleven beasts had been mounted and with a whistle from the captain, they leapt from the deck of the ship.

Lynn tried her hardest not to scream this time, instead taking a breath of the rushing air before being plunged into the water. When she surfaced, she saw they weren’t headed for the Songbird, but for the fleeing merchant ship. She got to see for real just how fast the animal she was riding could move. It dove in and out of the waves, zipping through the salty spray. It felt as if she were riding a giant dolphin. What were these creatures?

It had barely been a minute before the beasts gave a powerful leap from the sea and landed on the merchant’s deck. The merchants knew they weren’t fighters, and immediately surrendered, and the pirates gave a cheer.

Lynn stayed back as the pirates began to herd the merchants together, she hid her face, instead choosing to stroke the fur of the creature she had been riding. The creature leaned its head down and bumped her nose with its own. Lynn had a feeling the animal liked her, but she had no clue. There was no intelligence in its eyes, just an animal.

Suddenly there was a massive blast from behind. She ran to the side of the ship in time to see the military vessel engulfed in flame and sinking under the waves. The Songbird pulled up alongside the merchant vessel, and the other pirates boarded the merchant vessel, looting it for all its worth.

Meanwhile, Wangi and the captain paced in front of the merchants. “Simple choice, boys. Join the crew, or go down with your ship. There aren’t any other options.” Lynn was mollified, but at the same time the captain was right, there weren’t many options for the sailors.

A few men agreed and were put straight to work by the crew, the others defied. “I won’t be a hǎidào, not as long as I live,” one of them spat.

Wangi laughed, “Then that won’t be very long.” She bound the sailors’ hands and stepped back to the Crimson Songbird. The captain gave a whistle and the beasts dove off the deck of the ship into the ocean. Lynn didn’t see them resurface.

“What were those things?” Lynn breathed, mostly to herself.

“Porpoise hounds.” It was Enoch. Lynn hadn’t seen him come down from the topsail but, she hadn’t really seen much. The whole battle had been a blur. “Captain found them a year or so back, while sailing the uncharted regions. Truth be told, we don't know much about them ourselves, and most of us have only seen the fifteen in our employ.”

“So, what are they?” Lynn asked. Lynn had begun to notice little things about the crew that separated them from each other. From Enoch, she had noticed he was smarter than the rest. What could be called a scholar, at least in comparison to his crewmates. She appreciated him being around.

“Saharjo thinks they’re descended from your dragons, and something the captain calls a wolf, but I’ve never heard of such an animal. Most of the crew just compare them to dolphins though. Whatever they are, they’re incredible.”

Enoch stepped to the merchant ship and began to help with the loading. Lynn checked some of the crates that had already been loaded, it was mostly fruits and salted meats, simple trading and sailing supplies, but most of the stock was foreign to Lynn, she was only really guessing that what she was looking at was fruit.

“Saharjo, they’ve got unsold spices here!” Called a pirate.

“Take one crate of it and leave the rest. They’re worthless in these parts.” Saharjo called back.

“Then that’s all of it!” Called the pirate.

“LOAD THE CRATES! SEND HER TO THE DEPTHS!” Cried Wangi.

A few of the pirates began carrying crates from below the decks of the Crimson Songbird and taking them over to the other ship. Meanwhile, any pirates left on the other ship were crossing back over. All except the sailors who had refused to join the pirates. One of their companions gave his friend one final look, silently pleading he change his mind, but his friend simply spat at him.

As the pirates who had been bringing crates over came back to the Songbird, Wangi took a small metal ball in her hand. It was jet black and from the top there came a very long rope, almost as long as Wangi’s arm. She lit a match and held it to the end of the rope, catching it on fire. The rope began to spark and Wangi hurled it to the other ship, it rolled across the deck right to the feet of the sailors who refused to join the pirates.

In a way, Lynn admired those men. They knew they were going to die, and yet they still refused to join these animals. Lynn wished she could make the same choice, but something inside her told her she had to stay alive. “UNFURL SAILS!” Yelled Saharjo. Immediately the crew got to work lowering the sails of the ship and pushing away from the doomed merchant vessel.

It wasn’t long before they picked up the wind and took on their way. Lynn ran to the back of the ship, watching the doomed vessel as they sailed away. She yelped and stepped back as suddenly the small ship burst into a fiery inferno of explosions. Every inch of the ship covered by consuming hellfire. She shielded her eyes.

She felt the presence of someone at her side. She didn’t look. “I hoped you would show more tenacity on that ship, butterfly. Something similar to what we saw in the temple.”

Lynn glowered, narrowing her eyes. “I see a difference between thieves and innocent merchants.”

The captain nodded, “Ah, so that’s what it is. So that’s why none of my crew were killed by your blade, only injured.”

“I learned to fight to defend myself and the defenseless. Not to kill.” The same words Inag had said to her when they first started sparring together. “Those men were defenseless.”

“Not technically true. They had weapons.” The captain countered.

“Against piratas? They may as well have been children with big sticks. Buang sa utok...”

“Don’t use that language with me.” The captain responded sarcastically.

Lynn rolled her eyes, continuing to stare at the flaming wreckage, which was now getting smaller as the Crimson Songbird sailed away. “There was no reason to take that ship.”

“Not true, there were lots of reasons. For starters, food supplies. Most folks don’t like to sell to bajak laut. Other supplies as well, we got you a cooking pot.” Lynn frowned, unimpressed. “Also I don’t know if you noticed, but you’re on a ship filled with ruffians and scoundrels who care only about two things; treasure, and blood. Save for you, and maybe Enoch, everyone aboard this ship is a bloodthirsty pirate. If I don’t want them to turn on each other, I need to give them something else to focus on, so we take gold and jade.”

“And lives.” Lynn spat.

“That much is out of my control.” He hadn’t raised a temper at all, staying completely calm and casual as he spoke. “Perhaps you would like to tell them not to tear a sailor’s stomach out.”

Lynn huffed, defeated.