Salveran Tides Ch. 04

"Who's Leona?" Lexaeus asked.

"Probably underground, happy as a fish," Scarlet huffed. "More important question: what boat are we taking?"

"How many are we now?" Lexaeus asked.

"Just four."

The Wolf pointed to a small single-masted sloop flying Royal Navy colors. "That one."

"You read my mind, Lex," Scarlet said with a grin.

The three rogues pounded onto the docks, cutting left and then making a mad dash for the sloop sitting at anchor. "Out of the way, move, move!" Scarlet yelled at all the sailors millin around on the jetty watching the mayhem unfold in town. Lexaeus was far more direct in his desire to get the bystanders out of the way, shoving and elbowing men off the dock into the water.

The scuzzy harbormaster ran at the, all a-fluster. "Just where do you think you're-"

Yesseil shot him right between the eyes with no hesitation. She spat on his body as they ran past.

Lexaeus was the first to make it to the sloop. He shouted something in his native tongue before rushing the small crew that was aboard. He picked the first man up as if he weighed nothing and hurled him over the side into the sea. One of the other guards whacked him across the back with a belaying pin. Lexaeus whipped his head around gave the man the most menacing glare Scarlet had seen in a long time. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, the remaining guard threw himself over the side into the harbor.

Scarlet tossed her knife to Yesseil and drew the saber she'd stolen, and the two women went along the deck railing cutting the mooring lines free. Lexaeus scrambled up into the rigging, grabbing the bottom edge of the furled sail and jumping down off the cross spar. Winches in the rigging squealed in protest, but the move made the sail open all the way up in a matter of a second, where it promptly caught the wind and snapped taut. "We're moving!" the Wolf yelled.

The boat lurched free and began to pick up speed faster than it should have. A moment later, Leona burst from the water like a breaching dolphin, landing in a heap on the deck. She was breathing heavily, her chest-gills flaring wide with each inhale. Her eyes were wide and unfocused. "I'm... exhausted..." she panted. "Tidecaller... saps my strength..." She made a wheezing noise and went limp.

"Ah, shit, Yesseil!" Scarlet pointed at the prone mermaid on the deck as Lexaeus stared at the mermaid that had just flopped onto the deck. "Make sure she doesn't die on us!"

"How am I supposed to do that?" the elf asked.

"I don't know, figure it out! You're good at that!"

Yesseil hurried to tend to Leona as Scarlet glanced over her shoulder. They were already almost out of the harbor, thanks to Leona's last boost before she passed out. No ships had left in pursuit of them yet, but it was only a matter of time. They had the size advantage, however, and could move a lot faster than the heavy galleons the Navy favored. Provided they kept a good headwind, Scarlet knew she could outrun them.

Using his bulk to keep the sail down, Lexaeus tiptoed across the mast spar and tied the sails down at full canvas, allowing them to better catch the wind. The Otter dropped down to the deck below, eyeing the prone Leona as Yesseil tended to her. "And where did you find this creature?" he asked.

"On a deserted bloody island," Scarlet said, finally forcing herself to relax now that they weren't in immediate danger. "Quite the catch if I do say so myself."

"Well, she won't die on us just yet," Yesseil said, looking up at Scarlet. "She's just exhausted herself. If I had to guess, that lance draws on the strength of its holder to use its power. Must've taken everything she had to flood the sewers like she did, so I wouldn't expect her to be up and about anytime soon. She needs to rest."

"Put her in the cabin then," Scarlet said. "But if the Navy's breathing down our necks, we'll need her again, whether she's rested or not."

"Pushing her too hard will kill her, Scarlet."

"Aye, and getting caught up to by the Royals with kill us all."

Yesseil looked a little unhappy, but nonetheless hooked her arms around Leona, picked her up, and carried her into the back cabin. Lexaeus looked on at the strange scene, before visibly relaxing a tension that Scarlet hadn't even realized he'd been carrying. Anthra body language was much different than human or elf, and Lexaeus carried himself in a much different way than even his kin did.

He moved up to the rear deck, joining her by the helm. "I was beginning to think you'd given up on me," he said in a low voice. "I was expecting a jailbreak, not a last-minute breakneck race to freedom."

"Clearly you don't know me that well at all, then," Scarlet said. "That's kind of my thing."

"I shant lie, a part of me was looking forward to it. To be able to see Khaal and Toria again."

Scarlet rubbed her thumb against the carved wood. "Not gonna happen, mate. Long as I still need you. Besides, what do you think they're going to say if they find out you just let your noggin get hewn off instead of going out in a blaze of glory like you deserve?"

The Wolf grunted. He closed his eyes, letting the sea breeze ruffle the fur on his face. "Perhaps," he said.

Scarlet sniffed. "You stink."

"It's not like I was at some luxurious bordello for the past month."

"Took that bint long enough to try to execute your furry arse. Why in the hells did she wait so long? If she'd put you to the sword the day she got ahold of you, her lovely little port city wouldn't be several inches deep in seawater and refuse right now."

The Wolf's ear flicked. "I cannot pretend to understand her. Perhaps she kept me alive for her own amusement, to let me go more mad day by day until she felt I'd had enough."

Scarlet smirked. "Well, you did kill her fucktoy."

Lexaeus snorted. "He was her son, Scarlet."

"Oh, I realize that, but don't think these nobles don't get handsy with their own kin."

"I don't know why you continue to stick to that story."

"Because it's true, obviously!"

The Wolf snorted again. "I'm going to go cleanse myself. I'll be back up here in a little while."

Lexaeus ventured belowdecks, leaving Scarlet at the helm alone with her thoughts in that unique giddy euphoria that always came with a harrowing escape. Having the Wolf around again gave her a feeling of balance and control that she hadn't realized she'd been missing. Many men and women had come and gone from under her command, most leaving in sailcloth weighed down with stones and dumped into the ocean. Lexaeus had outlived them all, taken more punishment than an entire crew twice over for her. She knew it was selfish, but her need of his strength and smithing skills outweighed his desire to be reunited with both his paramours on the other side. At least, that's what he believed would happen after he closed his eyes forever.

Now that he was in her stable again, Scarlet's thoughts shifted to her next goal: the recovery of the Lady Sanguine and a little personal revenge. First step was finding the thing - no doubt Nashor had taken pains to disguise just who's ship he had under his command now. Scarlet had no shortage of friends on the Main, people who would divulge where the ship had been for nothing more than a bar tab. Or maybe Nashor was boldly using the original colors, just to flaunt who he'd gotten one over on. Either scenario seemed likely, but it didn't matter. The Lady Sanguine had only one master, and she would be back at its helm soon enough.

The afternoon passed by with little incident as Scarlet angled their small craft further and further into open water, plans coming together and falling apart in her mind as she went. She knew she had all the pieces, she just had to put them together in the right order.

Yesseil emerged from the lower cabin, looking a bit more upbeat than before. "I got our friend feeling better," she said, climbing up to the helm. "She came to and ate some of the dried fish in the hold, then went back to sleep."

"Well, what a precious little so and so," Scarlet said, leaning on the helm. "Any chance you took stock of what else we have in stock while you were down there?"

"We have a little," the elf said. "A barrel of dried fish, some fruit, plenty of fresh water at least. With only four of us on board we should be able to make it last, depending on where we're headed next, plus we can fish if we have to." She pointed to the deck, where three cannons were locked in place on each side, port and starboard. "Unfortunately, no powder or shot for the big irons. We must've eloped with the ship before it was all loaded. We'll have to rely on small arms and blades, unless we pick up more supplies somewhere."

"We'll make due," Scarlet said. "We're chasing prey, anyway."

"Really? Just the four of us to take on Nashor and his, presumably, two full crews? At least? What makes you think we can take on those odds?"

Scarlet pointed down at the deck timbers. "Our mermaid friend there proved quite capable of working water like no other. I've a feeling that she could sink the ships without us even needing to put a hole in them. Drown the crews out, then lift them back up with that magic stick of hers. Clean, efficient-"

"Ruthless?"

Scarlet's fingers tightened on the helm. "Efficiency usually is."

Yesseil made a face, but didn't argue the point further. "Before any of that can happen," she said, "we need to find them first."

"Aye, which is why I've put us on a general course of Braxallion. We'll skirt the Pentacle and hit the southeastern seaway, be there in three days."

"Do you still have enough friends there?"

"I bloody well better, otherwise my list of people I'm going to gut is about to get a whole lot longer."

Yesseil sighed and put a hand on the wheel. "Alright, let me take this for a while. You're obviously cranky and need rest."

"I am not cranky," Scarlet grunted. She let the elf take over regardless, walking down the steps to the lower deck and ducking into the rear cabin.

She first went to the stateroom at the back, where the ship's commanding officer was supposed to sleep, but was currently occupied by their royal passenger. Leona was splayed out on the small bed in a very undignified manner, her limbs all askew and her lance on the floor beside her. Her gills flared and contracted with each breath, and Scarlet had to stifle a snort when she realized that Leona was snoring a little.

Keeping her steps as quiet as she could, Scarlet bent down and picked up the Tidecaller off the floor. To her surprise, the weapon didn't retract to its collapsed form or zap her with some kind of magical trap when she touched it. The thing was incredibly light, weighing no more than a fencing saber. Scarlet took a few steps back, then took the lance in both hands, holding it in a loose fighting stance. The blue metal winked in the light filtering through the windows as she jabbed at an invisible foe, then swept the thing in a wide arc, a low hum vibrating off the blade. Probably even lighter when she's using it proper underwater, she thought.

Leona made a noise and shifted in her sleep, rolling over so that her back was to Scarlet. The pirate blinked. For royalty, there were quite a few hard lines to the mermaid's back muscles, broken by a line of dorsal fins that poked up along the line of her spine. Scarlet's eyes went further down, lingering on the taut curve of Leona's ass and the shape of her legs. Guess all that kick swimming is good for something.

An idea came to her, and she had to suppress a snicker. Scarlet tiptoed over to the sleeping mermaid, and held the lance out horizontally. She lowered it down, until the haft slipped into the palm of one of Leona's hands. A moment passed, then Leona grabbed hold of the lance and pulled it close to her chest. Scarlet clapped a hand over her mouth to cut off a loud snort, then backed out of the room with slow steps, shutting the door behind her.

With both Yesseil and Leona seen to, that just left Lexaeus. Scarlet walked back across the deck to the hatch in the center. She hauled it halfway open, keeping one hand on the wood for balance as she went below. Scarlet called out, "Oy, Lex, you down here?"

"Back here," came the response from somewhere to her right, in the direction of the bow. "Give me a moment."

Scarlet wound her way through the wooden spars that made up the frame of the ship, hidden by the outer decks and hull like the inner carapace of an insect. She heard the splash of water on the wooden floor, the patter of droplets on planks. Then the thud of a wooden bucket upon a barrel.

Around the corner she went, her fingers lingering on the wood as she found Lexaeus. The Otter was naked, his ragged, torn up pants cast aside into the corner. There was no point in keeping them after what they'd been through. Without any clothing on, Scarlet could take in the full measure of the life he'd lived through his scars. She'd borne witness to the injuries that had caused the majority of them. Still, he was gorgeous, with his dark fur like lacquered ship's wood highlighting the contours of his blacksmith's frame. The pink skin peeking through the fur glistened, the scar tissue healing into tight lines that looked like tiger stripes.

Lexaeus did a half-turn towards her. His dark eyes shone in the low light. Scarlet was blatant in looking down between his legs, where a pendulous pink cock rested atop two thick, full balls. "I said I would be a minute," Lexaeus said, his voice a low rumble.

"I know," Scarlet purred, reaching up to undo the top two buttons of her shirt. "It's my intention to keep you down here for a little while longer."

She pulled her shirt down, exposing a breast and squeezing it between her fingers. Lexaeus's eyes widened a fraction, a breath huffing out his nose like an angry steer. "Scarlet, I'm not..."

"Hush," she murmured. She took one of his webbed paws, putting it on the soft skin and pressing down so his blunt claws trailed along the curve. "You were cooped up in that prison for so long," she growled in his ear, reaching down to cup his cock and balls with a hand. "Just how pent up are you?"

Lexaeus's plaintive whine told her all she needed to know. She let her breath fan out against his ear, warm exhalations tickling the damp fur of his cheek. He became more erect by the moment with her gentle prodding, her fingers circling and stroking his thick member. "Oh, you did miss me, didn't you?"

The Otter nodded against her shoulder. He always tried to hold himself in check, the poor dear, but Scarlet knew how to loosen his inhibitions. His paws slid up her legs, gripping her ass through her pants. "Ah ah." She shook them off with a circle of her hips, kneeling down in a fluid extension of the motion. Scarlet buried her face in Lexaeus's crotch, inhaling the pure masculine aroma that she'd been missing for the past month. Fooling around with Yesseil had been fun, but she craved something more between her legs than just fingers and a tongue. A heady cocktail of musk, sweat and seawater assailed her nostrils. It was deeply salty, a dirty odor.

She couldn't get enough.

Smell turned to taste as she went down on the Otter's cock, going halfway down while cradling the root with her palm; there was no way she could ever get all of Lexaeus in her mouth. Then again, she didn't need to. Lexaeus made a feral growling noise deep in his throat, a sound that some more primitive part of Scarlet's brain recognized as a warning. It scared her, just a little, but that fear spurred her on.

She lapped at Lexeaus's member, lapping the sweat from the soft, taut flesh. Burst of pre spurted along her tongue like the first droplets from a leaky mead cask. She moved her hand lower to cradle the Otter's balls, being very gentle with the thick orbs in her palm. Lexaeus growled another warning, the sound sharper. You only get one more, it said.

But that's what Scarlet wanted, because Lexeaus losing control was when he was at his hottest. So she continued to torment him, kneading, squeezing and lapping at his massive maleness, adding her voice as the finishing touch to utterly raze his resistance. "I missed you on that island, Lexy," she said in a sweet voice, running her lips up the side of his cock. "I missed you so much, I could hardly stand it. Thinking about all the ways we-"

That did it. The Otter growled like a predator and grabbed hold of her, pulling her off her knees. His prodigious strength gave him the leverage to bend Scarlet over the barrel that he'd set his wash bucket on earlier, said bucket clattering to the floor to make room for Scarlet's torso. Blunt claws scraped against her lower back as Lexaeus found her waistline and yanked her pants down. Warm, damp air touched her ass as Scarlet thrust her hips back. "That's a good boy," she whispered. She put a hand over her mouth, knowing what was coming.

Lexaeus thrust himself inside her to the hilt with one hard motion. Scarlet bit down on her fingers to keep from making a noise of pleasure that probably could've been heard back at Port Corrin. As it was, she was certain at the very least Yesseil heard it, but the elf had probably figured out what she was up to by now.

The Otter began to rut her, driving his hips forward with steadied, sharp motions. She felt the press of his thighs against the back of her own, the claws splaying on the curves of her hips as she was tugged back against his pelvis. Lexaeus breathed deep, each exhale a new snarl of possession. Scarlet felt her knees weaken, shifting her weight so it was her belly keeping her upright on the barrel as her first mate rutted her.

"Toria," Lexaeus panted, the name slipping from his muzzle with all the sweetness of mead. "Oh, Toria..."

Scarlet dared not to make a sound. She didn't begrudge Lexaeus calling her by his dead mate's name when they fucked. The bond he'd shared with his two paramours was one that likely would never be replaced, and Scarlet didn't have any interest in Lexaeus beyond the fact that he was better hung than most human men, and he was the only one she trusted to give her the roughness she craved.

Also, he claimed the souls of both his mates lived in his blacksmith's hammer. That was a bit strange. But she wasn't about to turn down good cock because of an eccentricity.

So she raised her hips and kept as silent as she could, letting Lexaeus get lost in his own fantasies and memories. Scarlet just closed her eyes and held on to the barrel as the Otter's cock split her wide and wrung several small orgasms out of her, each making her body shudder little by little. She added a little backwards motion to her hips, the soft plap of supple bottom meeting furred pelvis filling the hold. Sweat seeped into her shirt from the humid air, the stillness becoming saturated with the smell of sex.

Lexaeus growled a warning, holding on tight as his motions grew sharper, almost to the threshold of pain. Scarlet reached back and grabbed the Otter's paws. Don't you dare think about coming anywhere but inside me.

She got her want a moment later, as Lexaeus let out a long moan and settled against her backside. Warm Anthra cum painted the inside of Scarlet's sex, and she laughed softly to herself as the Otter's cock pulsed again and again within her clenching cunt.

Euphoria followed, with Scarlet leaning heavily on the barrel and Lexaeus leaning against her. Neither of them said anything, leaving only the ocean lapping at the hull as the sound they heard. Scarlet never knew what to say in this moment, with him. Lexaeus was important to her, beyond the fact that he could fuck her like few other could. He was her best asset, and a loyal friend. One of the few she had, in fact.