Devrim and his band of servants, noblemen and soldiers pushed through the wall to escape the gnomic and dragon invasion. The grey-eyed man was second-guessing his decision to leave his son and the elven spymaster behind, but there was little time to lose. If Brinn and Alaron were unsuccessful at stalling the enemy, the gnomes would catch them very soon.

Ahead of the humans was the Great River. It ran from the north, wound through the city of Valiant, and continued southward. Much of the world's trade came along that river, and so ships were often spotted in the current. But the ships that Devrim saw just now were not trade ships.

"Pirates!" Junayd screamed.

"Do not look at their leader!" Devrim ordered. He turned to Mairwen and Eira. "Do you both have your glasses?" he asked as he pulled out his own pair of orange-tinted lenses.

Eira slipped on her pair while Mairwen groped for the pocket in her dress. She pulled out the frames and another wave of grief washed over her. Renat had made these specifically for her, and she had watched him die in a fiery explosion. But she could not give into the feeling. Despair would not win.

Slipping on the glasses, the princess forced herself to focus as the world around her became orange. From the first ship in the line, something was glowing in a man's hand. She recognized the man as Pirate Captain Xander and the object as the Merpearl. The powerful weapon would have mesmerized her if not for the ingenious invention by Renat.

Junayd and a couple of the other soldiers also had a pair as part of their uniform, but the majority of the people had no defense against the merpearl's charm. The general moved backward toward the Emperor. "Why aren't they attacking?" the burly solider asked. The pirates were mostly in their ships with some lining the shore at the moorings, but none of them had made a move toward the fugitives.

"I think they are waiting to see if the Merpearl will stop us. If not, perhaps they are hoping that the gnomes will do the dirty work for them. Either way, we have to come up with a plan." Devrim tried to think quickly.

Junayd gave a cunning smile, "I have an idea."

-----------------

Xander watched with great pleasure as each of the enemy from the palace slowly froze in place with their bodies facing him. He gave the Merpearl a kiss. "You save me all sorts of trouble," he said.

To the men on his ship, the Captain gave his orders. "Get down you lazy bones and secure the prisoners! If anyone gives you trouble, kill them."

The men from his boat leapt over the bulwarks and rushed a short distance across the grass to the knot of people. Xander lowered himself to the ground behind his men and casually approached the group while holding his precious pearl. No one was able to react. It almost felt like cheating.

Xander regarded the pretty women among the group and his gaze stopped on a dirty girl with charred clothing and burned hands. Something about her seemed familiar. Just as he was about to investigate, he noticed one of the servant girls flinch as a pirate came near.

Under the Merpearl's spell, a person could not move, no less flinch. It was then he realized that only those with the strange orange glasses were looking his way. The rest were facing him, but their gaze was firmly planted elsewhere.

Xander cursed. "It's a trick!"

"Now!" Junayd yelled. Those soldiers with weapons struck out at the nearest opponents archers took aim and stopped as many of the pirates as the could cleanly hit.

"Lay down some cover!" Mairwen ordered the bowmen closest to her. With the girl's help and expert aim, they were able to shield the defenseless servants and noblemen, allowing them to pass behind the pirates. The group rushed at the couple of pirates guarding the mooring and overwhelmed them easily.

The buccaneers were used to raiding defenseless towns or attacking people from behind, so a straight on assault was new to them. Their wide curved swords were usually used for quick strikes and not long term hand-to-hand combat. So even though the pirates had the soldiers grossly outnumbered, the disciplined imperial troops were making a large dent in the enemy ranks.

Devrim had his eye on Xander. If he could take out one of the leaders of the coup, it would be helpful in the long run. Plus without the Captain to guide the pirates, they would have no one to organize them in pursuit.

The pirate leader discovered that those without glasses could still be swayed by his pearl and he worked to ensnare as many of the soldiers as he could. Seeing his troops being so mercilessly taken captive, the Emperor charged at Xander full force. He held up the sword, which he had received from Brinn as a parting gift, in his strong hands.

Xander had pegged Junayd as the leader of the pack and wholly dismissed anyone not in a uniform as useless. It was a grave miscalculation.

Devrim swung at the pirate's chest, and Xander was only a hair quick enough escape the deadly blow by ducking. His free hand flew to the curved sword at his side, but Devrim rammed him with the full force of his shoulder before he could draw the weapon.

The pair sprawled out on the ground, and the pearl flew from Xander's hand. Without hesitation, the Emperor leapt on the pirate and punched him squarely across the jaw. In return, Xander pulled up his knees suddenly and kicked his enemy in the chest. Both men looked to where the Merpearl had fallen.

Palming his sword back into his dominate hand, Devrim pointed the tip at Xander's neck. "Call off your men," the grey-eyed man ordered.

"Stop!" Xander yelled to his men. Those who saw what was happening hesitated and eventually stopped fighting.

Devrim stood and pushed the pearl with his foot until he could pick it up without taking his sword away from the pirate. "So this is the Merpearl? Tiny little thing," the Emperor mocked. He gave an almost imperceptible nod to Junayd.

The general along with the other soldiers and those freed from the Merpearl began to move quietly out of the way.

"You do not know how to wield it." Xander looked at the man with disdain. He was far too cocky for someone who was about to be recaptured by the gnomes. The pirate only needed to stall.

"I have no intention of wielding it. No one should, actually. That's why…" Devrim hazarded a glance behind the Captain. His moment of inattention gave the pirate nearest to him the courage to attack.

"Watch out," Junayd warned.

Devrim turned on his heels and blocked the blow just in time. With his left hand he threw the pearl northward, causing it to skid dangerously close to the riverbank.

"No," Xander cried, racing after his treasure. He caught it just as it reached the water's edge. Cradling the pearl lovingly in his hands, the Captain barely heard his first mate's words.

"Uh Captain?" The slight man with striped shirt scratched his head. "They've stolen your ship."

Xander snapped back into the present and hurried to his feet. "Don't just stand there you fools!" he yelled at his crew. "After them!"

Devrim slipped the last rope off of its peg on the shore and grabbed hold as it was pulled onto deck. The ship lurched to free itself from the sloped shore to begin a trek southward downstream. "Thanks for the ride!" the Emperor called.

The few men who tried to approach the vessel as it departed were met with swarms of arrows from the archers on deck. Finally with one last push against the shore from an oar, the overcrowded vessel was able to move. Devrim smiled for the first time as they began to pick up speed. He hurried over to Junayd, who was behind the captain's wheel and slapped him on his good shoulder.

"It was a good plan. I am very glad you did a small stint in the Navy. Your ability to navigate is invaluable." The Emperor could not give the general enough praise. Because of their sneaky maneuvers, the princess and her group were able to get on board the mostly empty ship--those standing guard on deck were not vigilant--and the rest managed to board while all eyes were on the pearl.

"Don't mention it, Your Majesty," Junayd responded, pleased that it seemed to have worked.

"They are following us!" Eira announced from the stern.

Sure enough, three of the other ships in the pirate fleet were in hot pursuit. Xander stood at the bow of one of the ships screaming orders angrily. Out of the sides of the vessel, a dozen oars on either side poked out and began to row. The ship began to gain on Junayd.

"Should we row too?" Devrim asked as he could see others panicking.

"It would be no use. We would have to row in unison for it to be effective and none of these good people are trained." Junayd sighed. "Get starboard and secure that rigging," he called to one of the soldiers. When they gave him a blank look, he restated, "Go to your left and tie down the loose rope!" Devrim now understood what the General meant.

They went down stream in a game of cat and mouse with the pirates. Each time a boat came in range, arrows would fly to the enemy ship, and the buccaneers would back off for a while.

"They are toying with us," Devrim noted. "We will be out of arrows soon and then they can make their move."

Junayd's face was hard. "And we cannot use the sails. The wind would only hinder us in this tight space. There is only one thing to do." He paused and looked at the Emperor meaningfully. "Abandon ship."

"You have got to be joking!" Devrim choked. "I bet half of these people cannot swim."

"Get them to the few life boats and have the rest find something that will float. I have a plan, but I will need to do it soon if it is going to work." Junayd was sweating profusely. It was hard to steer the ship and even harder since he had damaged his shoulder while falling from a building just a little while before. The general only had a little strength left, and he would use it to save these people.

Everyone on board scrambled to find something to get them safely to shore. Bella and Candela were ferried into one of the life boats and jettisoned with a few servants to help row. One by one the fugitives abandoned ship until just Mairwen, Eira and Devrim remained with the general. The Princess insisted that she provide cover for her escaping subjects, and Devrim did not want to let her out of his sight. Fortunately the three ships chasing them did not seem interested in the people bobbing in the river.

"Out you go," Junayd coaxed the trio. Together the three climbed into the last small rowboat, released it, and began their trek to shore. The general gulped as he watched the large rock--more of a small island-- come up on the darkening horizon.

"Here goes nothing!" he cried as he turned the wheel as hard as he could to bring the ship broadside. Then he leapt from the deck, leaving the ship to run its course.

--------

Xander was in a rage as he chased after the ship. His ship! He would catch that imperial scum and grind them into the dust.

When people started to abandon the watercraft, he got a vicious gleam in his eye.

"Shall we catch them?" the first mate asked.

"No, let them drown. We will pick up the survivors on our way back. They will be too tired to go far." Xander wanted them to suffer for his indignation.

The current sped up and the river narrowed slightly as rocks began to peek out from beneath the surface. The choppy water tossed the boat in front of them. It was clear the one steering was not highly skilled.

"Close in!" Xander called, and the crew complied. Just when they were about to reach the unwieldy vessel in front of them, the ship turned broadside and blocked their path. It crashed upon an island in the middle of the current and cracked its keel.

Water rushed over the bulwarks as the ship sunk deeper into the water. By the time Xander realized the enormity of the disaster, it was too late. The bow of the ship was aimed to hit the wreckage in the dead center.

Two words escaped the pirate captain's lips, "Not again…"