Song of Zariel

The ships’ tremor almost knocked the spyglass out of Mera’s hands, her feet struggling to find just enough grip in the crow’s nest to not be thrown in the glimmering blue expanse beneath.

“Crone’s tits!” she hissed loud enough for the sound to carry down as she bent over to glare at the slender pirate holding the ship wheel. His shaved head started sweating even more and with a pained expression he pointed toward Zariel’s left hull. “Sssand banks” he uttered, his breath hitched in fear.

“There are sandbanks everywhere here you moron” Mera mumbled to herself, noting the big shadow that moved towards the helm like a night fury. With one sticky slap on the sailors head and a quick shove, Mera’s fearsome second grabbed the wheel with hands of steel, the ship sailing smoothly again.

Orya turned her striking features towards him and her dark eyes glinted with the promise of violence “Get lost before I gut you for incompetence, sea rat”. The man almost lost his grip trying to jump over the railing straight to the deck, just to escape faster.

Already on her way down, hands tangled in the thick ropes snaking around the mast Mera let a chuckle under her breath at the sound of her second’s threat. Her boots made a muffled thud when she landed just a few feet next to the dark haired brooding female, a smile still tugging at her lips. “I don’t think he knows what ‘incompetence’ means”.

Orya’s lips pressed thin and her tall frame remained unmoved, even under the constant hobble of the Shimmering sea. A habit she picked up in her years of service on the Empyre crown vessels, stirring fear and respect in every sailor that knew her, the ones under her direct command whispering stories of her.

Stories of violence, viciousness and steel that kept order and an impeccable track record on every ship she stepped on. A record of catching and disposing of pirates.

“He doesn’t need to. He’s the embodiment of it” her voice sharp just like the curved slim sword she favoured. The golden weapon at her hip was the only colour on her, the black of her clothes so dark, light seemed to disappear into them.

Mera smiled again, the only response from her second, a quick flick of her dark eyes.

She looked through the spyglass again, squinting as she played with the collapsing rings. Two of her slender fingers went up and the boom of rest of the mast unfolding sent a trickle of pleasure through her.

Zariel groaned in response, the spray of the salty water getting higher with her adjusted speed and course. Mera leaned on the railing to her left, wind gripping at her hair and caressed the carved wood of the boat lovingly. As in response the boat bobbed up and down immediately, like a cat arching into a good head scratching.

Mera’s smile beamed, ignoring the side eye she got from Orya and whispered, for Zariel’s ears only “It’s a lovely day to plunder, isn’t it?”.

A leathery snap threw a quick shadow on Mera’s face and her smile turned feral.

Zariel bobbed again in agreement, full speed towards the perviously unsuspecting, gleaming merchant vessel, hull deep in the sea under the weight of its cargo.

Merchant vessel that was now making a desperate attempt to put distance between them and the menacing brigantine heading towards them. The black flag now in full sight, the stark white skull with sharp teeth on it promising fire and mayhem.

——

The smell of singed wood filled filled the ship’s captain lungs as a young woman stepped on the deck of the merchant ship, the pirate crew already bustling and running around.

Crates and bundles were quickly hauled on their ship using a curious system of ropes that was unfurled and secured by two identical looking pirates. One of them even gave him a quick wink when he caught him looking, his rusty hair and short beard looking bloody, contrasting with the turquoise waters behind.

The captain winced and spit on the deck, quickly changing his look from awe to disgust. Fucking shameless vagrants.

He sat down on his sore haunches, his small crew huddled around all tied and battered, but still alive thank the Old gods. For how long he didn’t know, but he’d taken hope that they would be at least given a chance to plead for their lives should the pirate captain appear.

This was supposed to be an easy trek to Xaratoga and back, his contacts at the Empyre’s biggest port, Eleus, assuring him these were “safe waters”.

”Just three days of smooth sailing through the beauty that the Shimmering sea is” that snotty bureaucrat told him.

“The Empyre highly values the safety of their waters, and so does the Consortium”. If I ever get out alive I’ll have sharks eat that idiot’ sagging balls.

Then early on the second day this ship appeared, royal silhouette and the harmless blue flag of the Emerald Isles. Just another merchant or some rich princeling heading towards Nedera to sample the isle’s spices and women. Just when it seemed the ship would give them a wide berth and go over the horizon, it turned. Too quickly, and too agile, snapping on their direction unnaturally fast.

It was too late when they saw the black flag, their ship too heavy and slow to turn and run. They ran to load the cannons too late, their hull shredded with bullets as the pirates took a close turn revealing a row of small mounted swivel guns, biting into the merchant ship like a searing knife through butter.

It didn’t take long after that for the first pirates to board and descend upon the crew, which was armed with a few feeble guns and the young guards the Empyre office has supplied. For a hefty sum additional to the passage documents, of course.

To their credit, one of them swung bravely for one of the twins and missed, only to find himself face to face with that fiend of a woman. A few slices of her golden sword later and weapons clanged on the wet deck at her feet. The ship no longer his, in just a few minutes.

He swore under his breath wishing he’d paid more attention to the prayers his old mother made him read every night. “Mighty sea, hear my plea” he intoned so low his voice was just a whisper, bringing the palms of his shaking hands together between his knees.

“Mighty sea, hear my plea, bring my Brigit back to me”. Wait, no what, that was not a prayer. You fucking idiot.

A pair of boots stopped in front of him, salt marbling the soft suede leather.

He lifted his eyes to meet the amused stare of the strikingly beautiful woman that he saw swaying her way on the deck just a few minutes before. Her olive green eyes scanned him and his crew and then turned to the pale fiend “Is this everybody, Orya?”.

The witch nodded and held her stare for a few moments longer, like they were having a silent conversation before she turned to face him again, small metal beads in her long golden brown hair catching the afternoon sunlight.

The captain’s brow scrunched at the name and then gaped at the dark haired woman. THE Orya Thetos? He gulped and quickly lowered his eyes when the woman’s gaze bore into him, like a beam of energy. The Sea Fury was on his ship, which meant…he met the eyes of the woman in front of him recognition flaring on his face.

She smiled like a shark, all gleaming white teeth.

“I’ll assume you heard of me” her voice much pleasant and feminine than he’d imagined.

“You’re…Mera Hawke” he replied hoarsely.

Her eyes shone with a dangerous edge.

He raised his bound hands in a silent plea. “Please, captain, spare me. Find it in your heart to let me see my family again”, His second next to him threw him an incredulous look, whispers raising behind him from the bound crew.

Her smile remained, beautiful lips pressed together now. One of her elegant eyebrows twitched up, taking him in with eyes a shade darker now.

“Spare…you” she left the last word linger on her lips, her eyes scanning the rest of the crew now shifting nervously, a few whimpers of mercy echoing from the back. “What do I get if I spare you, captain?”. She leaned over him her hair cascading over her shoulders, beads clinking softly, his flared nostrils picking up her smell of sea, whiskey and sage.

“I will open the hidden safe in the captain’s quarters for you” he licked his lips eating the bitter salt on them. “There’s loot in there that I think…I think you’d like”.

“The hidden cacheeee” Mera repeated widening her eyes and drawling the words out in fake awe.

She eyed something on her left and the twin bearded pirates appeared in the captain’s view: one carrying a small gold bejewelled chest, the other one on his heels, decked head to toe in pearl and gold necklaces thrown over his soiled clothes, a small tiara sitting crooked in his coppery hair.

He winked, threw a kiss in the air and waved coyly at the captain, ruby rings and gold bracelets stacked on his arm clanking into one another with the movement.

Mera waved back wiggling her fingers and then stared back at the captain’s drawn face.

“What else you’ve got?”

—-

Mera crossed her legs on the small coffee table in the captain’s quarters, eyeing the shaking captain. Once he left the deck he would not stop talking, to Orya’s despair. Mera had shut of his droning about how valuable the papers only he knew about were and how happy he is to help, provided his life, that worthless bastard, and his only is spared.

Silence followed as soon as, after pulling the papers out with a victorious gesture, Mera started cackling like a sea witch and the Sea Fury rolled her eyes exasperated. She took out a gold mark from her pocket and threw it to Mera, deft fingers prying the gold from the air.

“I told you they would be in the desk this time. They always think the desks are indestructible for some reason.” Orya snatched the papers from the captains shivering hands and went thorough them with a frown on her pale face.

“Anything good?” Mera asked playing with a gold sextant she found lying around.

“Trade routes, passage, warehouse paperwork, authentication papers for a few..” Orya stopped and eyed a pair of marble busts secured in an alcove “ugly statues and a signed docking permit with the new Empyrean seal”. She waved the paper at Mera, the gold seal revealing an emerald sheen that waved across it in the light.

Mera’s brows shot up “That’s new.” Orya double checked the papers to make sure they didn’t miss anything and tucked the permit in her dark jacket. “Other than that, junk.” she said turning around without looking at the captain and walking back to the deck.

“You said I’d be spared” he whined to Mera as soon as Orya’s disappeared. He held up the crumpled papers “These are valuable documents, that you can use…” Mera’s hand shot up, throwing the golden sextant on the floor.

“You will be spared. I gave my word”

---

After securing all the cargo her ship could carry and making sure the merchant crew had enough food and water to get to Xaratoga, Zariel was unlatched and Mera waved at the new captain she’d anointed, the lanky tanned man nodding back, before heading for the helm, shouting orders.

Zariel groaned under her new load, but turned with the same grace as always under Orya’s steady hands. Dusk was colouring the ships in gold, as they headed for different directions, both avoiding a narrow strip of sand laid out in the middle of the, now darkening sea.

Mera knew she didn’t have to tell her second where they were going next, the ship’s elegant bow already pointed towards the twin isles: Redera and Nedera.

The wind carried just a few words as the ship was catching it, speeding away from the shiny sliver of sand.

“You bitch! You fucking bitch you promised!” she turned around to see the occupant of the lonely sand dune in the ocean flailing his arms in anger and terror and screaming his curses at Zariel’s back.

“I’ll kill you and that fiendish cunt! I’ll kill you both!”. His shouts melted into the sound of the waves and Mera smiled at the sight of the first star on the sky as her ship cut the waves swift as a shadow.

—-

Orya glared at the pirate in front of her, his features only visible in slithers of gold from the small lantern he was holding up. The sound of waves was almost deafening tonight, the sea a turmoiled expanse of velvet under the full moon.

“Speak” she hissed through her teeth.

She pulled her dark robes tighter over her body, using the long strips of fabric bordering both sides to secure it. She didn’t get to put on shoes or her boots when the fast raps at her cabin door echoed and the startled crewmate behind the door informed her there was something she needed to see.

The tall broad pirate in front of her didn’t flinch but the one on his right nervously pointed out in the darkness beyond the deck. “We found something” his voice low, eyes darting from what he was pointing at to Orya and back.

The big one scoffed at him and turned to Orya “ I thought Morrick was mumbling about his usual magic shit” his booming voice raised to cover the sound of the waves. “But there’s something out there, some sort of flotsam or debris.”

He cut a scathing look at Morrick who was preparing to counter. The old small pirate clamped his mouth shut, his hands going to the amulet he never took off, the bone polished to a mirror by the rub of his fingers over the years. He muttered a quick prayer to the sea gods.

“We should leave it and sail out of these waters while we still can”. Orya ignored him and leaned over the gunwale to peek into the dark.

And there it was.

A small floating object, bobbing on the dark waters, gold paint catching the moonlight before disappearing behind the crest of another wave. She couldn’t tell more than that in the dim light, her hand outstretched to the tall pirate.

She pointed the small spyglass at it, the frame of a small gilded boat forming. The next wave lifted the small boat on it’s peak, and the descent turned it towards Zariel, revealing the limp body sprawled at the bottom.

Orya snapped the spyglass off and called without taking her eyes off the golden dot.

“Get Zariel close and drop the boats”. She sighed and pinned the big pirate with her eyes. “Wake the captain and the Quartermaster”.

—

Mera swore at the lantern shoved in her face and smacked Tossi’s wrist, the mountain of a man stepping back, the gleam of his dark skin the only thing visible under the now cloudy nights sky.

“You think if I take a bite out of that lantern it’s gonna make me see better, Tossi?” Mera rasped at him rubbing at her eyes, trying to chase away the sleep and nausea. She vaguely remembered dragging herself back to her cabin, head spinning from the rich, spicy wine they’d swiped off the merchant ship.

Orya had sipped her tea, watching her and Relys, quartermaster of Zariel and snob extraordinaire, laugh themselves stupid, giving increasingly ridiculous toasts to each other.

“To the bitch-queen of the sheas” Relys raised his glass, swaying on his feet, his thin moustache shinning with the glaze of the deep reed wine “terror of Nedera’s taverns, ball crusher of the Brine. Legend says she sways on a dock and masts are raised at her behest. Or was it cocks?” he slurred encouraged by Mera’s silent shuddering cackle “I have it on good authority noh cockkk cahn resist the call of Mera Hawke, the blue bahlls she leaves in her wake ahn ocean of their own!”.

He raised his glass and swallowed the rest of his wine, head tilted to drain the last drops of the ruby colored liquid in his mouth. A thud and Orya’s brow raised at Mera now on the floor, her breathless drunk laugh making Relys snort and giggle.

She tried to get back on the chair holding the bottle close to her chest and when she failed, let herself collapse next to the small couch in the captain quarters, leg up in the air and shaking. Laughter erupted when she made eye contact with Relys, his legs also turned to jelly, landing close to Mera.

Orya shook her head, fighting the upward tug of her lips.

“Children. Idiotic children.” She muttered slowly.

Relys raised his head, empty glass pointing at her.

“I whill make a toast for you too Orya, the Shea Fury, the dark mistress of they waves…” his voice cut off when he was hit by the full power of her glare. “Or mahybe not” he tilted his head cringing at the impassive look on the First Mate’s face, the only evidence she wasn’t a statue, her dark shiny eyes.

“Maybe I’ll work ohn something special for you, fohr another time” he pumped the empty glass in the air to punctuate each word before reaching for Mera’s bottle as she was shook by another fitch of laughter at Orya’s murderous look to Relys.

Relys stepped out on the deck looking just as miserable as her, rubbing at his face, the dark strip of hair between his shaved sides disheveled. He saw Mera and carefully walked towards her, his face paling at Zariel’s sudden leap over a wave.

She smiled, happy to see she wasn’t the only one suffering after that gods damned wine. He slapped his face a few times, narrowing his eyes at Tossi’s questioning look, pushing his chest out in an attempt to regain some authority. He leaned on the bannister closest to him, hand in hip.

“So, uhm, what are we looking at here?” he asked hoarsely, keeping his voice deep. Tossi smiled sweetly at him, a mouth full of white teeth and gleaming eyes above his chest, eyeing the Quartermaster with visible amusement. Relys somehow managed to look down on him, despite the man towering a full feet and a half over, making his smile falter as he cleared his throat.

“I swear on the Old gods, if you woke me up for fucking flotsam…” Mera gingerly started climbing the stairs toward the stern when Orya, signaled her and then pointed her sleek spyglass at something in the water.

Mera let the wooden bannister support her full weight as she took in their two boats, rowing back, dragging what looked like a golden wooden circle with them. And in it, on the clean gleaming floor of what seemed to be an oddly shaped boat, a man was laying, his head bobbing from side to side with the movement of the towing.

“Fucking Crone’s hell” the breathless whisper left her lips, her hangover gone in an instant, taking the steps down to the deck with steady feet.

—

Tossi grunted and reeled his big hands grabbing at the thick ropes, the weight of the stranger on his shoulder and additional strain to his balance. The sea was getting restless and a sharp cold wind caught at his linen pants, an omen almost. A soft patter of rain hit his face, mixing with his sweat into an oily sheen.

Maybe that fool of a Morrick was onto something with all his magic and sea folk babble that he liked to torture the crew with every time a storm, gale or fucking wave hit the ship harder. Or maybe he was just an old scared fool, and had a kelp bundle for brain. He hoisted himself up on the slippery deck, hands at ready to catch his loot, the man slowly laid on the wooden planks, still unconscious.

Tossi swung his shoulder, now free from the man’s considerable weight. Although looking smaller than him, he was solid and hard muscled and no easy feat to get up on the ship even for him. Mera and Relys were next to him in an instant, kneeling next to the man feeling for a pulse or breath. Orya swiped the small lantern from a pair of hands and got closer, her nose scrunching almost sniffing the air.

Tossi thought she looked like death smelling the demise of the poor bastard at their feet and absently scratched at his shoulder again. This time his hand removed from sticky liquid coating his shoulder. He gaped at his hand and showed it to Orya wordlessly, her eyes already knowing.

Mera let a deep breath out at Relys’s dark faced nod “He’s still alive” turning the stranger’s head to her to get a glimpse of his face.

“Not for long” Orya pointed the light at the spot where his abdomen and hip joined, to a darker stain on his simple navy shirt. “He’s hurt and bleeding out fast”. Relys’s hands lifted the cloth of the shirt, gently tugging at it where it was stuck to his skin and a small hiss left Tossi’s lips at the sight of the gnarly gash marring his side.

“Fuck, that’s…bad” Relys shook his head and shot to his feet, no trace of the easy going Quartermaster left on his beautiful face. “Get him to my quarters, right now and bring me the good spirits and a scoop of coals from the kitchens”. The stranger was hastily moved on a small gurney the two crews moving fast to get him off the wet deck. Relys growled at their backs “Do not fucking shake him or I’ll have your balls nailed to the main mast!”.

He looked back at where Mera was, but only saw Orya throwing daggers from her eyes, shoving the poor flickering lantern into Tossi’s big hands. She was cursing under her breath and gathered her long robes, disappearing into the night below with a graceful jump.

Mera kneeled and touched the bottom of the round boat, her splayed hand feeling the anger in Orya’s landing. “I told you to wait until I clear out the boat. We don’t know where this came from or what it is” her low voice vexed, eyes flaring but not with anger. Worry bloomed in her steely gaze, scanning the boat and then the pitch black sea around, to make sure they were truly alone. “We can’t stay here. If any of his blood seeped in the water, you know what can rise from the depths.”

Mera frowned but didn’t dismiss her first mate’s worry, taking in the round boat, the wood of it so strange and polished…because it wasn’t wood she realised. She closed in to the gilded edge of the boat, where beautifully carved shapes were swirling from end to end, small figures etched in between them. Sea life, detailed and vibrant she noted, scratching the walls of the boat with her nails, rubbing the powdery glittery residue on her fingers. Nacre, maybe?

“Mera” the woman’s voice became urgent, as much as Orya’s polished and controlled exterior allowed it. “We must go.”

“Have you ever seen anything like this? While you were in the navy perhaps?” She carefully stepped around the dark blood stains and tapped the nacre floor with her foot. Her eye got caught by the ivory satchel laying on the other side, its color so similar to it’s surroundings it was only luck she spotted it. Orya shook her head.

“Never, but who knows what the Empyre is up to these days. Or he could be some rich fool that got robbed in the isles and sent at sea to die in this gaudy sconce. It’s not our business. We’ll drop him off on Nedera, if he survives and move on.” She was already grabbing the ropes signaling Mera to climb.

Mera sighed. She’d hoped would have more time to examine the boat but an idea crossed her mind. “ I’ll ask the crew to find a way to tie the boat to Zariel and look at it tomorrow during light.”

“No.” Her second voice turned to sharp ice. Mera turned, schooling her features into a mask of calm. Her jaw twitched slightly as she looked Orya straight into her eyes, unflinching under her dark stare. “I am the captain and I want this boat. Make sure it’s here tomorrow morning or we’ll have words.” She signaled Tossi and started climbing the hull snaking ropes.

“Really, Mera?” Orya’s voice had gone dangerously low, but without any trace of malice or anger. “Trying to pull rank, just to snoop on something that could put your crew in danger?”. Mera’s mouth opened in shock. Her anger flared instantly.

“My only concern is…”

“So is mine” she cut her off with a hiss. “As first mate, my job is to keep you and the crew safe.” She took a step towards her “As I’ve always done.” Her eyes now looked like lit from within, a look on her tilted face that said Remember?, the word hanging between them, making the air thicker.

Mera’s features softened and took in her friend’s face with something akin to understanding and maybe just a little shame. She nodded to her and disappeared over the edge of the deck.

Orya stepped back on the deck and retied her robes against her lean body speking without looking at Tossi. Her tone alone let him know that if he didn’t carry out the order, there will be hell.

“Sink the boat” he could almost swear she was even paler than usual. “Silently” she rasped. He nodded, his throat bobbing. She pinned him with those impossibly dark eyes, the almost lack of pupils always making him squirm a little. “Make sure it hits the bottom of the sea. I don’t know where that came from, and I don’t want to find out if there’s something out there looking for it.”