No matter how powerful their Grand Admiral, The Kraken had unbreakable rules of conduct no one could break. If any member committed an offence, only the respective captain handled the sentence. The punishment depended on the severity of the action: Cutting, flogging, marooning, shooting or even keelhauling for the most severe cases. But never hanging. No other death could have been worse for a squid. The noose was the punishment for piracy. And the Kraken brothers were not pirates.

They never wished ropes to each other except for one, and only one reason: treason. Traitors deserved the worst. All the brothers knew it, so did Riko. The same way he realised there was no way to escape such accusations. In doing so, it was a significant chance to be taken to the Atoll city, where half his crew had hidden to rescue his companions.

As the rules dictated, mates would hang from the highest mast if found guilty of such betrayal. But when the entire ship committed the wrongdoing, they had to be taken to neutral soil and judged by a team of assigned officers. Vega, who was a man of little patience, would not want to break such sacred rules and he’d order Riko and his men to be sent to the closest neutral area possible and put an end to the dissidents as quickly as possible. Or so Riko believed.

All his contingency plans burned when Em’s stupid girl appeared from nowhere and attacked the man. At that moment, he’d hoped she could finish the job and kill him, but she failed. So, rabid for retaliation, the Grand Admiral had broken all rules and ordered the Luxury to be burned down as soon as men adorned the masts. They chained and blinded Riko on his way to the Fearful Thunder, not to be judged, but to be sent to the dungeons of Tampra and be tortured in the most horrendous ways.

It didn’t matter, though. Riko would not reach. His desire and determination, dormant for so long, forgot his chance to mentor Ivy and now, the inner fire that once devastated the battlefields of the Colonies had a very different aim: He’d escape and kill Vega or die trying. No more time for the revolution of the Squids. No more changes for the better. No more salvation, no more redemption. Only vengeance.

Impatience overwhelmed him, and he tensed his arms and pulled. Fetters creaked a bit, but held. He was strong, but not that much. Frustrated, Riko allowed resignation to carry him away.

When the oars stopped, restlessness found relief. Senses sharpened. Even with a nasty ragbag over his head, he didn’t need sight to know something was happening. The boat rocked. Grunts and gasps followed. No shouts or roars from a fight, but little grunts and gasps from the struggle of a cunning assault. The boat, capable of holding four rowers and the same number of armed soldiers, drifted for a while after the last step squeezed the wet wood. When the fabric freed his eyes, only one man was left standing. He was a young boy with a broad, warming smile under a gaze lacking any trace of humanity.

With a cheerful voice, he spoke. “I am Timo, the brother of Aslar’s wife, who is the brother-in-law of Adan’s cousin, Grunar.”

Before reaching his pocket, Timo stabbed the wooden plank with his bloodied dagger and reached for his pocket. He pulled off a little box filled with lock picks and crouched to work on Riko’s chains while chanting softly a merry tune with sad lyrics.

Riko scouted around. Scattered bodies were filling the bottom of the hull with blood, but no major wounds could be clearly seen. “Impressive knife-work, Timo.”

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Concentrated on the handles, Timo broke his singing just enough to let out a short hum as an answer. Shackles fell first, and before Riko reached to rub his wrists, Timo was already on another padlock, tongue slightly sticking out from the mouth and eyes narrowing to a close. “Grunar told me to let you knock me unconscious, but with all due respect, I trust my dagger more than your fists, so. I’ll handle that, yep?”

A last twist from Timo’s hand and the long heavy chain splashed over a pool already reaching their ankles.

“It’s going to be a pain to row this mess of a boat,” Timo said. “Grunar said you’d swim to meet everyone else, but Adan believed you’d want the boat to go find the girl. What’s that going to be?”

Riko’s body tensed much more than when he was chained. “Adan’s alive?”

Timo’s smile broadened towards the ears. “Of course! The Baby was out of his mind, shouting orders to murder you all without trials. Orders had to be given, of course, but luckily for us, the one who took charge was Cap’n Isidor. He is a little ‘coin’ but definitely not a ‘boor’. Rules are rules!”

Riko gave a sigh and searched for his ship over a flattened sea painted with the last lights of dusk. The circle of vessels besieging them for days was gone, and apart from a few ships in the port of Male, the Kraken fleet was already a set of little dots on the western horizon. His Luxury was surprisingly not in flames and instead, she was hurting sails to follow the others. “Where are my men?”

“In the Atoll, all of them. Adan will carry on as planed if you are not joining. As for the ship, I’m sorry to say your nut is under a new cap, Mister Angus Horndiggle.; A monkey with a worm-sized brain. Anyway, who jumps?”

“I don’t like cold water.” Riko forgot about the immediate gratification of killing Vega and his thoughts switched towards Ivy. “And I need the boat to search for the girl. Inform Adan he is in charge.”

Timo rolled his eyes, shrugged and stood without further words. Then, he held the knife with his teeth, saluted with a forehead tap, and jumped.

“Thank you, kid,” Riko said. Timo, true to his oddness, replied only with a slight shake of the hand before venturing on a long swim to Male.

Protected by the darkness of a moonless night, Riko diligently threw all the bodies off board and used his hands to empty a red puddle threatening the floatability of the boat. Tedium put fleeting ideas in place. With the relief of knowing his men were alive, personal revenge faded and his original plan gained strength. His desire to return the brotherhood to its former glory. His wish to mentor that special girl in the ways he had never learned.

Leaving his men in a complicated moment turned into a deep struggle, but it was a possibility they had contemplated. He and Adan believed Vega would put Riko aside from his men, and the quartermaster was ready to take over if such a development happened. He was the best to do it, and Riko trusted him with his life. Besides, Ivy had flown to the Maze, and the tiny chance of finding her would become even smaller if he delayed much longer. He was doing the best option for sure, yet his decision wouldn’t ease a painful discomfort in his huts.

Riko glanced towards the port. Maybe Timo had not arrived at the Fearful, but surely his captain was already wondering why it was taking so long. Before boats began to survey or lights scouted around, Riko gave up on the stubborn puddle. He tore off his bloody sleeves and began rowing north to a fate he had put all his dreams on.