Adventures of the Cohort Ch. 02

"That was until she drove a dagger through the hand on one who would not keep his hands to himself," Lucinda added with a tight smile.

"I thought you left in a hurry!" Kristine laughed. "I saw the man cursing after you had gone. He was fine, if a little more prone to caution when approaching a woman."

"I'm glad." Ria'torr did seem to visibly relax at that.

But then why not? Mikael thought. We are forced to kill sometimes in defence of the Gods and our lives, but that does not mean we do it easily.

"Well, we ought to discuss our findings," Lucinda said, before turning to Quintia and Mikael. "I hope waiting here for us was not too boring, my companions."

Kristine smiled then. "Oh, I'm quite sure they will have found a way to... pass the time."

Quintia's gem took on a faint pink hue that signalled her slight embarrassment, and Mikael tried to put on an innocent face.

Kristine laughed, then carried on. "In any case, we need to compile the information we have gathered to see if we can get some idea of what's behind these pirate attacks. If we can't work out what's causing them we at least must ascertain where they're coming from. That's the first step to stopping them."

After a few minutes of relaying their various discoveries, it became apparent to the Cohort that it was not good news. The merfolk attack was not, as they had hoped, an unrelated occurrence, but appeared to be very much involved in the larger picture of what was going on.

Numerous sailors had complained of being boarded by merfolk as they approached the harbour. Early on some had considered taking a fleet to destroy them, but the merfolk were in their element and would never be caught. Their attacks were a nuisance to the pirates, but they could be dealt with.

Of considerably more concern were the rumours of attacks on merchant vessels. Rarely as well-protected as pirate ships, and generally with common folk aboard, merchant vessels would make easy prey for raiding parties. And with the heightened pirate attacks on towns, people would not necessarily notice a single ship missing; they may merely assume it had never set out.

"And what about the pirate attacks themselves?" Mikael asked. "This explains perhaps some missing ships, and why we were struck as we approached, but it does not explain our main purpose here."

Kristine turned to him, ashen-faced. "I'm afraid that bodes even less well. It does indeed appear that someone powerful is controlling events. These attacks are too well-organised to be the work of disparate groups of pirates; they are well-led and carefully planned. What's more, whoever it is has been able to drive the merfolk from their ancestral grounds, leading to raids such as the one that attacked us. Only a powerful individual indeed can force merfolk away from their territory."

"Do we know who this person is?" Mikael enquired, worried at the news.

"No," the paladin responded, shaking her head. "None of the sailors I spoke to knew who was pulling the strings, and I'm sure none of my Sisters were successful in finding out, either."

They shook their heads grimly.

Melissa spoke then. "But surely some of these pirates know who has been pressing them to attack?"

Lucinda sighed sadly, looking at the medic with heavy eyes. "That is just the thing, Sister, it is not these pirates who have been conducting the attacks. I'm sure you have noticed that this town is particularly full."

Melissa nodded, listening intently.

"They're too scared to leave. Something is preying on ships as they depart, and it's not merfolk. Whole vessels have disappeared on leaving port, and no one is willing to be the next to vanish. Every time a new ship arrives more people are stuck here, and the situation is becoming more and more desperate."

"And yet none of these pirates are conducting the raids?" Mikael posed, still shocked.

"None," came the blonde's reply. "These attacks are coming from someone else. The same person who is behind the pirate attacks, the coastal raids and the driving of the merfolk from their territory, most certainly."

"Then we must find out who this person is," Mikael said matter-of-factly. "So that they can be dealt with."

Lucinda nodded. "That is certainly the case, but how are we to do that? We don't know where to go, or who these people are."

"There is one way we could find out who they are," Melissa ventured gingerly. "Since you say they attack every vessel that leaves Bloodcove, well..."

"You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Lucinda asked, turning to Melissa. "It's not like you to come up with bold and daring plans."

She smiled sheepishly. "Maybe not, but it appears to be our only option."

"I suppose it does," Kristine nodded. "Then that's what we'll do, if everyone else agrees."

The Cohort consented. It was time to set sail.

*****************************

Bloodcove was just as nasty at night as it was in daylight, Mikael realised as they walked back onto the main street. In fact, it was worse. The cloying smoke hung thicker as more fires burned, and the drunks were drunker. Fights and scuffles started everywhere, and Mikael now sensed the desperation that hung in the air. These people were stuck.

"How do we propose to steal a ship?" Mikael whispered to his Sisters as they walked down the hill, careful not to draw too much attention. Doing so could prove fatal.

"Easily. We get on board, and then we sail away," Lucinda replied. Mikael could sense the grin she wore beneath her cloak.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, Mikael meeting the stare of a few particularly insistent drunks. They soon shrunk away, and the Cohort managed to reach the docks with little incident.

He followed his Sisters as they casually strolled along the waterfront, looking to others as though they were merely finding their ship. As it was, they were trying to find a ship, just not one that belonged to them.

At length they came across a small vessel, large enough for them but not so large as to be impossible to man. They approached the side carefully, making sure no one was onboard. When they were quite satisfied it was empty, and that the dock master was paying no attention, they clambered stealthily onto the deck.

"And quite how do we sail this thing?" Mikael hissed, realising that as far as he was aware none of his Sisters had seafaring expertise.

"Just get below decks," Lucinda laughed. "The fewer of us up here the better, since it'll make it less obvious we're stealing it. We have more talents than perhaps you realise, Mikael."

He smiled and hurriedly descended, carefully scouting out the lower decks to make sure there truly was no one on board. There wasn't, and he sheathed his sword, turning to find Melissa with him.

"I don't know how to sail a ship either," she giggled.

The ship lurched as his Sisters freed it, and began to pull away from the docks with some speed. Mikael felt a faint magical discharge, and realised again that Quintia must be controlling the sails. He could hear raucous noise from the docks, people no doubt disturbed by the supposedly moored ship suddenly sailing away.

"I'm not entirely sure about this stealing business," Mikael said seriously, leaning against the wall.

"They're pirates, Mikael," Melissa responded soothingly. "Stealing is what they do. What goes around comes around. And besides, I think the Gods would allow us this given that we're trying to save their own creation from evil."

"True. I suppose there are worse people it could have happened to."

"Precisely."

Mikael took the time to get some water from the ship's meagre supplies. It had no food, unsurprisingly, considering the overpopulation of Bloodcove. Mikael suspected food was at a premium on the island right now.

The journey was entirely uneventful for the most part. After a while he climbed back onto the deck to join his Sisters, and prepared though they were for another merfolk attack, none came. They kept a careful watch on the horizon as Quintia piloted the ship out to sea.

It did not take long, however, for danger to make itself known. It was Ria'torr who spotted it first, a tiny dot of light rushing towards them. They soon realised in the darkness that it was a window, and that the ship was much closer than they had thought. It had taken them by surprise.

"Shit!" Mikael exclaimed. "It's right on our bow!"

"Get in the captain's cabin," Kristine said hurriedly, motioning towards the captain's cabin. "Everyone get in there. Now."

They obeyed, rushing over and wrenching open the door. The six members of the Cohort clambered in, slamming the entrance shut behind them and staring out.

"What now?" Mikael asked. "We're trapped in here."

Kristine grinned, unsheathing her broadsword. Mikael noticed all around that his Sisters were readying their weapons. "We're not trapped, Brother. Merely ready to gain the element of surprise."

Mikael smiled at her tactical nous, withdrawing his own twin longswords and waiting for them to be boarded.

It took a few moments for the first rope to be flung onto deck, but soon after many more followed. Pirates swooped aboard, a multitude of them. Mikael counted at least twenty landing solidly on the deck, and they scoured the level, snarling.

They appeared somewhat confused by the lack of activity on the ship, however, and began to search more vigorously. A few wrenched open the galley doors and descended below decks. Others began to kick over the piles of netting and rope that lay scattered about as if they thought to find terrified sailors hiding beneath.

But it was a sole pirate who slowly approached the cabin that gained Mikael's attention. The corsair grasped the handle and pulled, but the door held firm. She turned and called out to the other pirates on deck, who sauntered over, weapons held limply by their sides. They looked at one another, grinning, no doubt expecting this to be another simple raid on a harmless crew who had locked themselves away in fear.

Kristine reached out and wrapped her hand around the door handle. She looked at Mikael and he grinned back, his hands tight on his longswords, ready to leap out.

"Here we go," she smiled, unclicking the lock and pushing the door open in one fluid movement.

The pirates jumped back in surprise as the door flew open in front of them and before they could react Mikael had sprung, cutting down two with the first movement of his blades. The rest swiftly raised their own weapons, laughing as they closed around him, totally oblivious to the five other people still in the cabin.

They weren't oblivious for long, another pirate screaming as Kristine cleaved him in two, her broadsword arcing back up and decapitating one more. They spun as a group, and Mikael's Sisters burst forth, a trail of destruction in their wake. His swords danced, slicing through pirate flesh, deflecting blow after blow of corsair steel.

The intensity of their attack seemed to take the pirates by surprise, and their superior numbers and eagerness to fight were blunted by the shock. Soon enough they recovered, however, and Mikael was stunned by the ferocity of his opponents, seemingly having no regard for their own safety and positively throwing themselves into the melee.

Mikael did not mind, his weapons glittering in the moonlight as they carved through the mass of pirates. He soon found himself back to back with Lucinda, and they stood together, a whirling circle of death.

He heard the dull thunk of Ria'torr's arrows as they struck true time and time again. The corner of his eye, too, caught bright magical sparks as both Quintia and Melissa used their powers to excellent effect.

Mikael heard a cry, and turned to see a decidedly better-dressed pirate boarding the ship. His eyes glinted ferociously, and they set upon Mikael, his teeth exposed in a vicious snarl as he charged forwards. A pendant glowed menacingly around his neck, but Mikael could not stare at it for long, his mind soon occupied deflecting this warrior's wicked blows.

Mikael's swords rang with the strength of his parries, his feints and dodges keeping him alive but no more, and despite his best efforts he was driven slowly backwards by the powerful onslaught of his assailant. He was being buffeted by his opponent's raw power, forced back by the relentless strikes of the pirate. This man was unstoppable.

Mikael gritted his teeth, realising that if he did not do something quickly he would soon find himself overwhelmed. With a silent prayer to the Gods, he lunged forwards, his blade piercing flesh as he slashed a wound a few inches deep into the pirate's side. The man screamed, hacking downwards in response and slicing a large cut into Mikael's arm.

Mikael cried out, forced to his knees, using his other sword to frantically deflect the blows that rained down upon him. His opponent struck harder and harder, growing ever more ferocious as he realised Mikael's weakened state, and it was all Mikael could do to deflect each attack as the pirate's swords arced down towards his head.

A mithril-clad hand appeared around the neck of his assailant, taking hold of the pendant and wrenching it free. The man turned to Kristine, frothing at the mouth, and her heavy boot slammed down onto the necklace. It disintegrated with a bang, a flare of light momentarily brightening the deck, before the scene was plunged once again into near-darkness.

Immediately, the man collapsed to his knees, the colour draining rapidly from his face. All around them the surviving pirates dropped, instantaneously rendered unconscious by the destruction of the pendant. The man feebly raised his eyes to Kristine, their ferocity gone, and his weapons fell from his grasp.

The paladin reached down, wrapping her hand around his neck, and lifted him. Pacing forwards, the man hanging limply in her grasp, she threw him up against the cabin wall.

"What the hell are you?" she hissed at him, the Cohort gathering round. Mikael clutched his arm, a grimace on his face as blood poured from the wound. He stared daggers at the pirate who was now weakened so considerably and it took all his mental strength not to step in and slay him right there.

"I'm... I'm a pirate," the man stuttered, fear in his eyes. "Just a normal pirate."

Mikael glared back at him. "That was no normal man fighting. You were empowered by that necklace, weren't you?"

"Yes... I was," he replied timidly, fear overwhelming his power to lie. His eyes darted around. "It gives us great power..."

"And what else does it do?" Kristine asked, tightening her grip. "Why have these pirates just collapsed? What were you doing to them?"

"I... I don't know..." he stammered back. "Please just let me go!"

She tightened her grip again. "You do know, and you're going to tell me."

"I don't..."

"WHY?" Kristine shouted, her face inches from his. He shrank backwards, and Mikael was shocked to see her beautiful features twisted with such powerful rage and disgust.

"It controls them," he sobbed. "The pendant controls them. They do my bidding when I wear it."

"And who gave you this pendant?" she growled, the man retching from her tight grip.

"One... of the black priests," he whispered, choking. "They passed it... to me. In return... for my... service."

"And where can we find these 'black priests'?" Kristine demanded.

"Take... my map..." he gasped. "Please... let me go..."

Kristine dropped him with a loud thud, and he curled into a sobbing ball, crying out in anguish. He grasped feebly around his neck, and Mikael was unsure whether he was feeling for the pendant, or in pain from Kristine's grasp.

The blonde marched towards the other ship, a determined ferocity burning in her sapphire eyes. She strode across the planks laid down for the boarding party, and wrenched open the captain's cabin. Lucinda hurried after her.

Mikael winced as his mind returned to the cut on his arm, blood slowly dripping onto the deck. He clutched at it tighter, gritting his teeth and sucking in air. A soothing hand fell on his shoulder.

"Give me your arm," Melissa said soothingly, extending her palms.

He did so, and the medic took hold of it delicately. A quiet chant left her lips, and instantly her hands glowed with white light, Mikael feeling comforting warmth spread through his body as the pain in his arm immediately ceased. He sighed, closing his eyes as the wound sealed itself; his arm healing quickly as it was bathed in the pale glow.

"There," she smiled, withdrawing her hands. Mikael ran his fingers over his forearm, and the skin was once more intact, as if he had never been hurt. It was the first time he had needed healing from his medic, and he beamed at her.

"Thank you," he bowed. "I am in your debt."

"No you're not," she giggled. "This is my job. And you couldn't go forever without needing my healing."

He laughed back, but was soon silenced as Kristine stormed out of the cabin on the other ship. Lucinda followed her, and the two beautiful women marched steadily back towards the rest of the group.

"What did you find?" Ria'torr asked. "Was there a map?"

Lucinda nodded. "Yes, there was. Among other things."

"Other things?"

"He's a Lich," came the rogue's reply. "Black Theodore is a Lich, and he has returned."

Mikael was shocked. Liches were rare, incredibly rare. There had not been any incidents of a Lich in the world for over two hundred years.

"How can you be sure?" Mikael asked.

"That pendant," Kristine replied. "I suspected as much when I first saw it; that's why I destroyed it. But there was proof in that cabin."

"Ashes?" Ria'torr ventured, her voice clearly filled with trepidation.

"Yes," Kristine said solemnly. "More than a handful of them."

This was bad news; that much even Mikael knew. Liches measured their power in the ash that they generated. The raw evil that coursed out of a Lich's being attacked the world around them, and living creatures would die through nothing but sheer proximity. Sentient beings would suddenly disintegrate, only to reform into mirror images of what they had been, newly loyal to the Lich that created them -- ash slaves.

"So that is how he has so many pirates," Mikael said, shocked. "They're the same people he is killing."

"Indeed," Lucinda said. "And these pendants allow his lieutenants to create ash slaves, too. Every time someone is struck down in the presence of one of these necklaces, they reanimate as a mindless soldier of the Lich."

"They didn't appear mindless to me," Mikael said.

"Perhaps mindless is the wrong word, then," Lucinda offered. "They are not completely without thought, for they are not undead. They are mirrors, tainted reflections of what they once were, their souls trapped in torment as they become everything that they wished not to be. Enslaved, yes, but mindless, no. They serve, but they also think."

"Is there a way to stop this?" Mikael said, his hands tightening into fists.

"We must kill Black Theodore," Kristine said. "We must slay him, and we must burn his corpse."

And we must destroy his Reliquary, Quintia's words flared. Otherwise he will be reborn again. The Gods said they felt something unnatural was afoot, and I fear that we may now know why.

"But what of the merfolk?" Mikael asked, his mind returning to their assailants from under the waves. "How does this explain their attacks? Surely they are not ash slaves, too?"

"No, they are not," Kristine responded, unravelling the map she had taken once more. "A Lich would likely not interest himself with a race such as the merfolk. They offer him no advantage through conversion."

"So why would he concern himself with their eradication? Why drive them away from their ancestral grounds, and make them so desperate they raid pirate ships to survive?" Mikael posed, his mind disbelieving that Black Theodore would trouble himself with the minor races living under the ocean.