A good day had passed out at sea. The ship had put on a course along the coastline, though still far out, the tall fjord sides rose sharply out of the sea to form an impressive sight, towering over the water. The wind had picked up into an easterly fresh breeze, and the ship’s sails were in full swing driving them ahead at good speed. Casindire, whom had been content with remaining inside her cage for a whole day, had finally thrown in the towel and begged Mariel to help her up on deck, before they had left, Saya had joined them as well. At current, both Saya and Casindire were hanging over the railing, having an unpleasant re-acquaintance with the morning’s breakfast.

“… Ugh… What colour is that even… Is it… Alive?” She coughed.

“Please… Urp! Saya don’t describe this to me… Ugh, I regret this…”

“Oh? You’re dealing surprisingly well with the sea.” Siravin walked by carrying a crate of bottles that clinked away inside.

“I’ve been on a boat before; I’ve even fished before.” Mariel smiled while reminiscing the day her father rented a boat and they rowed out to catch some fresh dinner. In the end, they had returned empty-handed and was forced to buy fish from the market, but despite the outcome, it had been a pleasant experience for her.

“Same here… Though under different circumstances… That one named Saya seems to hold her food better than your other friend?”

“Mm… Casindire had never been on a ship before, so this is her first time…”

“I heard the captain talk about that she’s being kept securely in a cage?” He raised a brow, as if judging her.

“Her own idea, it makes her feel safe, after Tizare filled her mind with dreadful images of abuse and catastrophe…” She related to him how he had exaggerated his own experiences to the point of Casindire nearly suffering a mental breakdown.

“I’m surprised she came out of the cage then… Good for her.”

“Because she didn’t want the room to smell like puke… And only if I went along with her.”

Siravin, deciding on his own to stay, put the crate down on the deck and secured it between his feet.

“You befriended humans on the demon continent… Just how did you get this far without trouble?”

She shook her head. She had no idea herself how they had even managed to board without mentionable issues. As far as she could tell, it had all just been a result of circumstance and blind luck. She freely admitted that the road ahead would likely not be as straight forward, and Siravin agreed.

While they had been talking, Casindire had left, leaving Saya hung over the railing, intermittently gulping and groaning.

Tizare arrived on deck, and immediately the somewhat sympathetic and friendly feeling was replaced by animosity as thick as a block of butter.

“Don’t you have better things to do?” Tizare gestured towards the crate.

“Shouldn’t you be helping your companion hold onto her breakfast?” Siravin immediately retorted.

“Great idea, the air has become strangely stale…” Tizare scoffed and headed over to Saya, but was immediately told that nothing he could do would help her and that he should leave her alone. Despondent, Tizare headed down the steps towards the cabin.

“By the way, your armour looks pretty good, did you get that too on the way?” Siravin changed the subject and appraised her from head to toe.

“I did… But what about you? You stand out like a sore thumb with that suit... Have you been wearing that since we fell from the sky?”

“I have.” He shrugged.

“We’ll find you something better when we arrive.”

They split up, Siravin continuing his task of moving the crate, while Mariel headed over to Saya who appeared to be done, and very gently moved her back to the cabin with great effort, twice turning around in case of any late fallout. Casindire had locked herself inside her cage, hugging her knees while repeating a verse whose content would be perfect for small children’s good night sessions.

Mariel put Saya back down on the bunk and put the wooden bucket next to her.

“Cassy… Please be quiet… your chant is unnerving…” Saya groaned.

“Ahah… Okay, I’ll be quiet because this is all a bad idea but this space is safe, this is my safe space and nothing can get to me here…” She continued to reassure herself. Mariel knelt next to the cage and tried to reassure her with a smile, momentarily forgetting her blindness.

“You’ll be fine okay?”

“I fell from the sky to an unknown place… Where everyone will abuse, rob or mistreat me… And now I’m on a boat… And it’s the worst…” She continued rocking gently back and forth while lamenting her fate.

“Pff… Safe space. If someone want to get you, they’ll get you…” Saya grumbled.

“Ahaha, no, no, no. Not going along with that discussion.”

Mariel sighed and quickly left the cabin, leaving the two to continue their intermittent bickering. On her way, back up on deck she encountered a couple, apparently also passengers. They exchanged some simple greetings and parted ways. Back up on deck, a break had been called, and several of the crew were throwing lines overboard to fish.

“Hey Mariel, have you decided yet? Will you do what it takes?” Tizare approached her carrying two slapped-together heavy wooden boards with slightly pointy ends and a set of hard leather vambraces.

“I will… It’ll be difficult the first time, but I’m determined to manage… Eventually.”

“Good enough for me, here… Let’s begin the practice…

After a good hour of practicing swings and basic parries, Mariel had accrued twelve stumbles, dropped her weapon five times, been disarmed eight and hit Tizare not a single time. At first, the onlookers had roared maliciously whenever she would fail but the piling up of failures had eventually caused most to lose interest. By the time they wrapped up, most of the sailors had gone back to work, or were busy cheering as one of the sailors pulled a huge cod up on deck.

“So… Well you can do this eventually. Let’s just try to sneak in some practice whenever we can okay?” Tizare tried his best to hide his exasperation.

“I’m terrible, let’s not mince words here.” Mariel sighed, feeling dejected and no small amount of sadness over her martial worthlessness.

“No, not terrible, just bad… Sorry, but! Unlike terrible, bad can be remedied a lot faster, so continue to work hard and we’ll get there.”

“Rest assured Mariel, I’ll keep you safe.” Siravin, whom had been watching for some time stepped forward.

“Really? That’s not very nice of you… Your friend is giving her all in ensuring our return is a success, and you would belittle her dedication?” Tizare raised a brow and shook his head in disappointment.

“No, but I intend to return her home safe and sound, no matter the cost.”

“Admirable, but I think it’s her right to decide for herself, and not rely on you for everything… She’s done quite well without you so far… But, if you’re that strong, duel me.”

“Fine.”

“You two, this doesn’t help… Look I appreciate your help Siravin, and you too Tizare… You shouldn’t have to fight over this matter…” Mariel tried to feebly call off the belligerents, without success.

The two took their spot opposite each other, separated by a few meters of wooden deck. Tizare threw away the wooden practice weapons and declared for the use of real weapons. Without blinking, Siravin agreed, and another sailor rushed to his cabin to retrieve his weapons. The sailor soon returned and handed him two boot knives, while Tizare made practice swings with his pair of daggers.

“You’ll take me on with a disadvantage… Fine. If you can draw blood, you win. If I can hit your body, or I manage to strike Mariel, you lose.”

“Will you stop talking?”

“W-when did I get involved in this!?” Mariel tried to launch a complaint, but the boat master would hear none of it.

Around them, the crew began to gather. Wages were being passed around and collected in silence, while the boat master whom had stepped into the ring, agreed to act as mediator and judge, on the condition that nobody would die.

“Begin!” He announced, and loud cheering erupted immediately. Immediately, both combatants rushed one another. The sound of metal against metal resounded as a flurry of blows were being exchanged. Tizare made a wide swing with his foot, trying to stumble Siravin, but failed to knock him over, instead, Siravin stomped his foot while sending a swing at his Tizare’s face. Jumping clear, and barely dodging the attack, he went back on the offensive, sending a flurry of blows against Siravin, hoping to overwhelm him with his heavier and sturdier daggers, all of which were expertly parried or avoided with smooth, effortless motion.

Getting some distance, the two regained their breath for a second.

“You’re pretty good after all…” Tizare grinned.

“You know it. I’m impressed you can swing those daggers of yours as well as you do… You still won’t win though.”

Tizare rushed Siravin once more, attempting to catch him off-balance, but Siravin’s defenses was immediately raised and his attack bore no fruits. In a blink, he noticed Tizare’s grip on his right dagger was lighter and seized upon it. With a strong blow from the reinforced pommel of his knife, he sent Tizare’s dagger flying, embedding itself in the main mast.

“You los…” Siravin did not manage to finish his sentence, when a savage blow to his face caused him to stagger, momentarily losing balance. Tizare, immediately caught and threw away the knife in his left hand, and pinned the other to the ground with his remaining dagger.

In the blink of an eye, Tizare rushed Mariel, drawing a hidden knife from a barely visible scabbard in his sleeve, and prepared a savage downward strike aimed at her head.

A short silence followed as the crowd took in what had just happened.

In the rush of the moment, Mariel had on reflex parried Tizare’s strike using the leather vambrace on her left arm. Her right arm had instinctively moved to cover her face and this had caused Tizare to impact with her, taking her elbow on his forehead.

“It’s done! The lady wins!” Immediately, the crowd groaned in unison.

“So, nobody wins eh? Fine by me!” One sailor shouted.

“Hold on just a moment, I bet on the lady, fork over your cash!” The voice who turned out to belong to Saya emerged. The captain’s assistant, whom took charge of the bets nodded and grudgingly, all the other competitors handed or threw their coins to Saya which accepted them with a wide, if slightly seasick grin.

“Good job Mariel, you can relax now, and congratulations, you protected yourself on your own.” Tizare sheathed his knife and rubbed his forehead.

“… I don’t even know how I did that to be honest.” Mariel lowered her arms and immediately turned to check on Siravin whom was just about to get back on his feet.

“I guess we both lost…” Tizare held out his hand, but Siravin merely threw him a sour glance and refused to even look at him.

“Captain! Smoke and fire along the coastline!” The lookout high above shouted down to the deck. Immediately, the whole crew’s facial features hardened, and they all dropped what they held and went to their stations.

The boat master went to the railings and began looking ahead. Some of the other passengers along with Mariel, Tizare and Saya went to see as well.

Coming just over the horizon, a dark pillar of black smoke rose high into the air. The source of the smoke appeared to be coming from the coastline. The boat master immediately ordered the sails to be brought down and the ship to be steered closer along the coast.

Soon the source of the smoke came into view.

Along the coastline they could see a small fishing village ablaze. The two dozen houses still standing were all completely enveloped in flames and several other buildings had already crumbled as its mainly wooden supports had given in. As the ship came closer and the smoke began to sting, the full scope of the disaster came into view.

Placed along a road leading eastwards like a barebone fence work, stood wooden poles to which had been fastened what amounted to all the children and adolescents of the village. A few scattered survivors were picking through the crumbling wreckage or crying next to their loved one’s corpses.

The order was given to drop anchor, and a small life boat was lowered into the sea. A group of volunteer sailors then made for the shore to scout the area and contact the survivors. A short while after, one of the sailors returned with the boat to make his report.

“Captain! We’ve secured the area, and the survivors tell us that the group attacking the village left to the east. We need more hands to secure belongings and take care of the dead and the living.”

“We’re on a tight schedule, are there enough people left to take care of it?” The boat master groaned while consulting the map he had placed on the railing.

“No sir, we need extra hands.”

“Sroki be twice damned… Fine, but I need my crew awake and ready for the rest of the journey… Are there any volunteers aboard that would consider doing a bit of a favour? I’ll even…” He paused and bit his lip. “I’ll even return a bit of your fare…”

“I’ll go!” Mariel raised her hand, finding the opportunity of reclaiming coins from the boat master a chance too good to pass up.

“I’ll go with her as well.” Tizare raised his hand. A few other fellow passengers also raised their hands.

“Good… Siravin, you’ll go too, your skill at organization will be invaluable… Get this mess sorted out as quickly and as efficiently as possible… Any survivors that wants to go with us can do so, recover any valuables and gather information… Got it?”

“Yes captain… I’ll get it done.”

A ladder was thrown over the side, and the group began to climb down to the boat. Soon, the group stood on the shore, taking in the full scope of the situation. Immediately, Siravin divided everyone into smaller groups. A few were told to gather the names of the dead and disposing of the corpses, while saving their crystals. Mariel and Tizare was told to go look through the ruins for valuables while Siravin began interviewing the battered survivors.

Mariel went on her own, walking through the burnt-out main road of the little village. She went into a crumbled house, moving about carefully to avoid bringing down the remainder of the house. She immediately came across a small metal lockbox and a small handheld mirror. She brought the items outside of the ruin and a sailor picked them up to bring them to the shore.

In the next house, she found, buried beneath a heap of burnt wood and ash a pair of charred corpses. All that was left in the burnt-out husks was the crystals. She picked them up and put them in a box each.

“Found anything?” Tizare appeared in the broken doorway.

“These two, and their crystals.”

“I see… I’ve found nothing. Any food, tools and supplies have been taken, even the nails from the boats have been removed, the rest is all crispy… I think we both know who’s been here.”

“Your former compatriots?”

“Yeah, all I can say is that I sort of admire how thorough they have been… They even took the things that were nailed down, and the nails too.” He laughed dryly while wiping some ash off the remains of a burnt-out painting.

“So what did they get out of it?”

“Well… Early harvest produce, enough metal and supplies to conduct repairs, warm clothes and necessities… Livegnar…” The last word made him kick the remains out of the way.

“What?”

“Livegnar, the thrall bound, I told you about them, didn’t I? Those of our kin that have their crystals carved out them and survive?” Siravin appeared in the ruined doorway.

“Hoh? You know?”

Because I saw them do it to my family once. Mind you demon hunter… I’m watching you. One wrong step and I will kill you.” Siravin made the gesture of having one’s throat cut, to which Tizare merely grinned.

“I’m not a demon hunter anymore… But what’s keeping you, huh? I’d sure like to know that.”

“Her. She seems to trust you, but if you threaten her or attempt to take her life, I will mutilate you, kill you, revive you and kill you a second time.”

“Oohhh… So, vindictive! It appears I’d better remain on your good side Mariel, but tell me, Siravin was it? What’s she to you? Girlfriend? Spouse? Best friend forever?”

“Neither of those, and I have no intention of telling you.”

“Awh, suit yourself then.”

“Will you two cut it out? Let’s just do what we came here for and leave.” Mariel sighed. “Let’s just finish up and get back to the ship.”

The sun was setting by the time the volunteers had doused the remaining cinders and salvaged what remained in the village. The few scattered survivors who had been out in the fields and subsequently hidden themselves as the village burned, were brought aboard the ship. In total, two crates worth of items was all that had been salvaged, mostly valuable trinkets and some furnishings of sentimental value to the survivors.

The boat master had gathered the crew, survivors and the volunteers on the main deck. Some were in various states of shock, others wept bitter tears over the incredible suffering and the ending of so many young lives.

“Unfortunately.” The boat master began. “We have no facilities here for a proper funeral, therefore I propose that we make all due haste to our destination. The wind is picking up and will make for a quick journey.”

“But who’s responsible for this atrocity!?” One of the other passengers shouted.

“Per our findings…” Siravin stepped forward and addressed the gathering. “Likely a big band of brigands… Though unusually heavily armed and armoured. They took the adult population of the village as prisoners and likely forced labour, while the children and the elderly were all killed.”

“Let’s pursue them!”

“Yeah! Let’s find and kill them all! And free the prisoners!” The gathering grew increasingly agitated.

“That would be unwise for several reasons: First this ship is not fitted for battle, secondly the bodies will not last too long, and it would be dishonourable to bury them at sea and third, we’re on a schedule.” The boat master shouted, trying to reign in the gathering with cold, calculating logic. He then shouted a couple of orders and the crew began recovering the anchor and preparing for departure. Soon the ship was underway. The wind had picked up, turning the sea white and frothy. As the sky darkened and the evening crept over the sea, the boat began rocking harder on the rough seas.

In the cabin belonging to Mariel and her group, the stench of vomit hung in the air. Even Mariel had eventually been laid low by the weather but had managed to fall asleep before the worst of the sickness had got to her. Casindire and Saya were huddled together in the corner of the cabin. Both had fared very badly during the trip and the lack of nutrition had become apparent on their pale faces.

“Will you be alright on your own?” Tizare asked Saya whom weakly nodded. He picked up the bucket with vomit and made for the upper deck to empty it.

“By the gods this stinks…” He grumbled, keeping the bucket of liquid disgust at an arm’s length. Somehow he managed to reach the upper deck without spilling any of the content and very happily emptied the bucket in the sea.

“I can tell you’re there Siravin… Let’s not fight right now, we’d both just slip and fall overboard.” Despite the wind, he could hear two sharp items slide back into their scabbards.

“Listen…” Tizare continued. “I know you don’t like me, and you probably hate everything I used to be…” He leaned against the railing, watching the sea beneath spray along the sides of the ship

“But really… We both want the same things here, and besides, I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t remind everyone of our heritage…”

“I need your skills, that’s all.” Siravin appeared next to him, he too looking out at sea, not bothering to turn his head.

“So you are capable of weighing the pros and cons…”

“Don’t push your luck… I’ll kill any demon hunter that appears before me.”

“You and me both then… Finally, something we can both agree on.”