Internal chaos ensued on the Viraaz ship as the crew members and soldiers worried about their next steps. Everyone was on deck, staring at Vos for some sort of solution.

Tryde had an arm wrapped around Aleiza, using her for support. His fever had gone down but he was still weak. Jinya sucked on her lips as she rubbed Aleiza’s arm, trying to comfort the poor girl who was practically shaking like a leaf.

Vos paced back and forth, rubbing his chin and scratching the back of his head. Crew members sat on the floor, their heads in their hands as they let out frustrated huffs and whispered prayers.

The Captain of the ship crew leaned against the side of the boat and stared out into the unforgiving ocean as the sun began to set.

"Death is upon us." The Captain said grimly as he squinted his eyes against the horizon.

A unified sigh filled the air at his words as everyone’s shoulders slumped.

"No. NO!" Vos shouted as he turned to the Captain, shaking his finger, "We aren’t going to talk like that! There has to be a solution."

The Captain didn’t turn to look at him, nor did he turn to look at anyone for that matter, his eyes were glued to the setting sun.

"They’ve stolen some of our supplies, which was already low to begin with. What do you suggest the solution is, then?" His voice didn’t waver, but rather spoke matter-of-factly.

"Then let’s go after the pirates and take back our supplies! They can’t take on the Viraaz army!"

The soldiers yelled with agreement shouting things like "Yeah!", "That’s right!" and "We can take ’em!"

Vos turned to face them and held out his arms, "Those pirates more than likely have more supplies at their hide out as well! We can stock up while we get the General and Miss Eilownia back!"

Morale seemed to boost as the soldiers cheered at the plan.

The ship Captain let out a quiet laugh that got louder and louder by the second before he turned to face Vos and the rest of the army.

His crew remained seated, not at all looking as chipper as the army was.

"Izka is full of coral reefs and man-eating sharks. This ship will be shredded to pieces if we get anywhere near that island. And, if you manage to survive the shipwreck and don’t manage to drown, the sharks will tear you piece by piece, gobbling you up and leaving nothing to remain."

Silence filled the air as the Viraaz army’s morale slowly fell, their eyes glued to the ship Captain.

"Only those pirates know the proper way to get in and out without a problem and even if we did somehow get in without meeting our end by the hands of the coral reefs....they have cannons set up in the rocks to sink any intruders."

Vos crossed his arms and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"How exactly do you know all of this?"

The Captain walked up to him and looked out at the rest of the soldiers.

"When I was young, my brother was kidnapped by the Izka Pirates. My father’s ship tried to retrieve him, but it was wrecked by those reefs. I was so small, I managed to survive on a large piece of debris from the ship."

He walked back and forth, making eye contact with everyone he could as he continued the tale.

"All of the flailing of my father’s crewmates distracted the sharks from me and I was eventually picked up by a Vasis fisherman and nursed back to health. I started working the seas myself and eventually moved to Azuka for better opportunities. Opportunities that don’t include a suicide mission to Izka."

Vos shifted his weight yet again as he watched the Captain pace back and forth.

"And how did you know about the cannons if you didn’t make it past the reefs?"

The Captain turned, his back facing the group as he waved his arms in the air, trying to paint a picture of the scene.

"The island is all rocks. There were huge rocks that looked like an archway with a fortress. You wouldn’t notice them coming in, everyone is too busy looking ahead at the town and the ships docked ahead, but as I was floating away, I had nothing better to do than to look up and pray for my survival."

He turned back to the group, "And that’s when I saw them. Hidden in that archway. At first they looked like darker stones but when the sun hit them at a certain angle, I could see they were metal and in the shape of a cannon barrel. There was no mistaking it."

The soldiers looked around at each other nervously, definitely less enthused about pursuing the pirates now that they’d heard what the Captain had to say.

Vos threw his hands up in frustration.

"If we can’t go after them then what are we supposed to do? Going to Norain on our own is out of the question, they dislike foreigners and we have no money to spend there anyways. We can’t go to Vasis because of the Solan Army. Returning to Azuka is impossible, there’s more than likely a bounty on us now. There’s got to be SOMETHING!"

Everyone hung their heads in defeat. The Captain scratched the back of his head.

"Captain....there’s no bounty on our heads....we can just get in the dinghy and go. We don’t have to die with them. We already received half our pay, let’s just cut out losses and get out of here."

One of the crewmates whispered quietly. Nascor and Etil withdrew their swords and pointed them at the crewmates.

"No one leaves this ship!"

The Captain nodded his head in agreement, "No, no. We have integrity. We accepted this job. There is always risks when we come out to this beautiful ocean. She may swallow us whole any second. We stay true to our word and stick to our agreement."

The crewmates hung their heads, their hope visibly draining.

The captain pressed his index finger to his lips before shaking it towards his crew.

"You may be onto something. It’s true, there is no bounty on our heads. We can take the dinghy, go ashore to Vasis, get some more supplies and bring it on board. It won’t be much, but it could last us until we figure out our next steps."

Vos glared at the Captain, his eyebrows furrowed, "And why should we trust you after your crew just gave you a clear out for survival? Now you DO want to take the dinghy and leave us?"

The Captain shrugged, "Do you have a choice? I’ll leave some of our crew here. How about that? Your General is gone and won’t be coming back. So right now we need to figure out how to survive until we can figure out what to do next."

Back at Captain Deka’s manor, Marix and Eilownia were still tied up to the chairs and shifted uncomfortably after having been in them so long.

"Now, let us share a meal and enjoy each other’s company. It’s good to get to know each other. What is your name dear?" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

He asked, turning to Eilownia as his servants brought in bowls of a thick, steaming, beef stew.

She licked her lips at the sight and scent of it, gulping hard as she salivated.

"Ei-Eilownia." She answered as she took a deep whiff of the meal before her.

"Eilownia. What an interesting name. I feel I’ve heard it somewhere before. Anyways, I hope you understand why I didn’t serve you the same meal as myself, I can’t allow a knife to be thrown at me."

In front of him sat a plate of steak and vegetables, which he promptly began to cut with his steak knife.

Marix’s eyes darted around the room, looking for opportunities. He picked up his spoon and spun it in his hand before throwing it at the candelabra that sat in the middle of the table, knocking it over.

Captain Deka grabbed it just before it fell over and put it back upright. He let out a loud laugh as he picked up Marix’s spoon.

"You’re going to be wonderful on my crew! Smart man. Although it IS rather unfortunate, now you have no utensils. I suppose you’ll have to eat your stew like a wild beast rather than a man."

He laughed as he waved Marix’s spoon in the air mockingly.

Eilownia’s lips parted as she let out a sigh and stared down at her stew while Marix let out a grunt.

She picked up her spoon and dipped it into the bowl, pulling up a portion of meat, vegetables and the thick broth.

"Don’t eat, Whin" Marix said as he continued to fight against his restraints, "We don’t know if it’s been poisoned at all."

She pursed her lips and slowly put her spoon down, allowing it to sink back into the bowl as she let her hand rest on her lap.

"Do you really think I’d do such a thing?"

"Yes." Marix snarled.