The lights illuminating the halls reeked of burning animal fat. My feet clattered on wood smoothed with oil and use. The pitter-patter of four chambered hearts called to me from outside Riena’s door. These belonged to creatures not bonded with us. Enemy sailors must have clung to our haul and waited for their moment to strike.

  Those were my targets. After a few more clattering steps—no time for stealth—I was upon them.

  Two Saianuh had magnetic nets over Riena’s guarding sphere drones. The last one picked at her lock. Red lights pulsed under the door in time with Zhencha’s alarm siren.

  I drew my blade and charged the lockpicker. One of the net holding Saianuhs released it to intercept me. I lowered my shoulder and attempted to knock him away only for four hands to grab my shoulders and hips to toss me with the movement.

  A body twist slammed my foot onto the ceiling and a kick continued my trajectory to the lockpicker. The Saianah behind me cried out, but he was too late as I parted my target’s head from his shoulders.

  The cry of warning turned into one of grief and outrage as the man drew four sabers and swiped toward both my shoulders and horizontally in both directions across my stomach. I caught the stomach blades with one hand and parried the other two with my sword.

  While the creature reeled, I drove my weapon to his throat. Rather than be skewered, the demon released the two locked blades and stepped backwards before drawing two pistols. He fired both at me.

  I deflected one and took the other on my shoulder. Since Riena was behind me, I couldn’t let the shot pass. I closed the distance as my opponent dropped the pistols and drew two more. His remaining sabers caught my next slash and lifted my blade up long enough for him to stick a pistol against my chest and fire.

  This time, I suppressed the sparks as my free hand went for his throat. The fucker was unfazed by the misfire and bit my hand. His teeth proved softer than my gauntlet, but he was starting to piss me off. If I had to guess, this sailor was the previous first mate. Stronger people tended to be in higher positions of authority.

  I relaxed my blade and wrapped his remaining two sabers with a flick of my wrist. When I twisted my hips to fling him into a wall by his teeth, his bottom arms latched onto my left arm, and he released his bite. My shove only caused him to slide back into the other demon holding a drone.

  Nyla flashed in and tackled that demon. My foe had the presence of mind to roll away and crouch to grab two fallen sabers. I flicked one into my left hand and straightened my venom blade. The demon rambled in his alien tongue, hyping himself up.

  I didn’t care anymore. A two-bit tier 3 monster shouldn’t be giving me this much trouble. I reinforced the floor with my aura and thrust my blade forward as I relaxed it again. The tip of the chain hit the man’s guard and slammed him into a wall, cracking it. I tossed my saber into his heart and through his spine. The Saianuh died friendless and alone, since Nyla had already toasted the other demon.

  The alarm hadn’t stopped. I retrieved the monster’s picks and unlocked the door in a second. Nyla gave me an odd look, “That’s an odd skill for a hero to have.”

  “When ye fightin’ villages or towns o’ monsters, the subtle approach is best. A slit throat in the night can disrupt an army more than poisoning their grog,” I replied.

  “You’re an assassin?”

  I sighed, “Aye lass, professions be like hats. Wear the right one for the occasion.”

  “Speaking of your whole pirate-act. You’re also the only one I know to talk all heroically in normal conversations. Are… you always doing a bit?”

  “There’s no humor in it. Be it piracy or legitimate privateering, there be certain rules o’ decorum to follow, but I do be more used to certain ways than others. Now, no more interruptions. We have a Captain to check on.”

  I entered the room and found that Riena had slept through all of that. Zhencha’s concern hadn’t diminished at all. The little ball continued to fuss over Riena as she tossed back and forth.

  “Ohhhh, this be the first bit of raiding our Captain has done. Ye remember the first time ye saw a man try to put his entrails back in?” I chuckled. “Most don’t have the stomach for it.” The first violent death I saw was my father’s. Whenever I inflicted it on the enemy, a bit of the old debt was repaid. That didn’t spare me from occasionally being disturbed at what I’d seen and done. Like shade growth, the desensitization took time. Once the thrill surpassed it, heroics became much easier.

  Nyla shook her head. “Casimir is going to be so busy.”

  I patted Zhencha. “Easy there little one. It’ll be alright. Riena is getting her sea legs, but for battle. We all went through it.

  The drone stopped the alarm and blooped concerned notes.

  “No, it not be good for her. Being a pirate is great, fantastic, liberating, and wonderful, but it isn’t nice.”

  I rose and went back to the hall. Nyla looked between me and Riena. “Are you just going to leave her?”

  “Aye, the crew need a bit of motivation after this spot of mutiny. They didn’t do it, but they knew about it.”

  “Fuck.” Nyla sat on the bed and tried to hold Riena steady. All that did was wake her up. I closed the door behind me before ripping the head off the first mate’s body. Twisting a head off tended to leave a bit of spine dangling out, which was the intended effect.

  I sauntered onto the poop deck and whistled at the night crew before tossing my bloody trophy in their midst.

  Through Riena’s bond, I felt their fear of me and the grief they had over the death of a well loved friend. Meanwhile, they felt my satisfaction. I tried to hide it, tried not to think about it, but tonight it was too obvious. My face hurt from smiling. My eyes followed the flecks of blood as they soared away from the flung head. A flush filled my cheeks, and my breathing was heavy from excitement rather than exertion. My chest felt more full and an energy had infused every limb. I was lighter and freer.

  Their fear and grief was like nourishment for me. Seeing things from their perspective didn’t make me pity them. It only made delighting in their horror easier. Demons should be scared of me. This too was heroism.

  I glared at them until the sun rose. With dawn, I relaxed and continued my attempts at socialization. There was no reason to hold a grudge. They knew what would happen if something like last night occurred again.

  A few hours later, Riena sauntered onto the deck and gave the crew words of encouragement before approaching the collection of barrels that I and several sailors were using to have an impromptu drinking contest. She put her hands on her hips. “Is that really appropriate right now?”

  I burped. “Aye. The crew gets less shy with spiced rum in them. Can’t hold onto grudges if you’re fallin’ out of your seat.” I drained my cup and shouted to the men. “Isn’t that right, boys!?” They cheered in affirmation.

  Riena shook her head. “How can you go from killing these people to drinking with them in a matter of hours?”

  “Hating your enemy makes loving what ye do harder.”

  “Don’t you feel bad for killing their friends? You know how much that hurt them.”

  I hooked an elbow with a crew member and we both chugged flagons before I answered her question. “That’s a new one for me. Those mysterious powers of yours give whole new insights.” I shivered. “I love it. Makes the deeds feel fresh.”

  Riena rubbed her face and walked away while muttering complaints about her psychotic teammate. I didn’t mind. If she was saying it aloud, that meant she didn’t fear me, which a lot of my friends did.

  Another day and night of sailing passed before we neared our destination. Riena spotted it first because Nyla had snuck a bunch of grog up into the crow’s nest and was drunk off her ass. I examined the island with my own spyglass. The landmass was small. We could probably sail around it several times in one day. A thin line of beaches surrounded a teeming tropical jungle that was broken up by a large shard of pink crystal jutting from the center of the island. It had three sides and ended at a sharp point.

  We got as close as we dared before setting the main anchor. Our team gathered at the ship’s boat. I said, “Me and Captain will grab the treasure. Y’all better stay here and defend us from mutiny and corsairs”

  One Casimir’s crows flew from a now sober Nyla and landed on his arm before disappearing in a puff of shadow. “That’s not wise. The strongest intended monster should be on that island.”

  “How’d you figure?”

  “If we need to get the treasure from the map, then obviously a big monster is guarding it.”

  “Bah, landlubber. The biggest danger on the high seas are the weather and fellow sailors in that order.” I knew that was wrong. The creatures of the deep were among the worst monsters, but pirate-me wouldn’t believe that. Pirates told tales of sea monsters destroying ships. They didn’t hunt krakens and drive them from the shoals. The colossi weren’t a normal threat.

  “That’s utter nonsense. Any number of—”

  Riena cut him off. “Cas, I appreciate your concern, but I can pull us out of any danger we run across. My trump cards are limited, so I don’t spend them frivolously, but I’m just as capable as Exemplar when it comes to killing monsters.”

  Casimir glanced my way, expecting me to deny the claim, which I wouldn’t. A tier 5 Crafter of her wealthy background could easily paste a tier 5 monster… once. Given her father’s displeasure at her attendance at Aspiration, I doubted the Hartgrove trust fund was available to Riena. While it would be foolish to waste her resources here, we could tolerate more risk due to those options.

  Our Healer continued to grumble as Riena and I took the boat to shore. I rowed. Riena’s efforts would add more drag from her oars than she would add. I got lost in the way the sun framed the ship and sails behind her as those ruby eyes gazed ahead.

  Riena sighed, “Okay, I’m starting to think I didn’t cause your crush. No matter how many times I clamp it down, it comes back.”

  “How couldn’t a sea dog—”

  “Mari, this needs to be a serious conversation.”

  I was being serious, but I knew what she meant. “Riena, you’re beautiful, smart, and competent. Rather than living a life of luxury in the lofty towers of Last Stand, you risked your life and became a hero. Of course I’m infatuated with you.”

  “Why not one of the others? Can’t we just be friends?”

  I nodded, despite the pain in my heart. “Without your bond, you wouldn’t know about my affections. We are just friends and will stay that way. I doubt you’ll blossom feelings for me. You know me too well.”

  “Mari, what does that mean?”

  “I understand. Heroics is a messy business and my love for it is off-putting to most people. No matter how obviously attractive I am, my personality and a person’s sexuality could prevent a relationship.” I didn’t date a lot in my teenage years, aside from Izy.

  “That’s… I…” Riena was at a loss for words. After a few more failed starts to continue the conversation, she sighed and said, “I’ll stop suppressing your feelings. That was wrong of me.”

  I frowned. “I gave you permission.”

  “Yes, but we don’t know the long-term consequences to your mental state. It isn’t worth the risk.”

  “I’m probably the best specimen for such an experiment. I’ve mastered a variety of meditative and aura techniques to restore my mind to the proper order.”

  Once again, Riena looked at me like I was a geometrically impossible object. I defied how she understood people should or could be. Before the pause became too awkward, she said, “Be that as it may, it’s a needless risk.”

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  “Fair enough.”

  We were quiet until I rowed to shore and beached the boat. Riena cast her eyes about the jungle and then lifted her thumb up to the crystal. “Based on the map, our treasure should be that way.” Riena pointed in a direction toward the jungle.

  “Aye, Captain.” I led the way and cleared brush with sweeps of my blade. Birds squawked in outrage as their perches were rustled by our passing. Colorful plumage dotted the canopy above, messengers sent to other flocks about approaching intruders. The vines bled a green ichor with each cut, smelling of fresh-cut grass and blueberries. Insects scattered at our approach or formed small bands to attack our titanic figures.

  Like us with regular Titans, their efforts were barely noticed. Though, Riena eyed a few hand-sized spiders with concern.

  “Don’t be worrying about eight-legs there. The bigger ones tend to have the weakest venom,” I reassured. “Well, until they be giant.”

  “I’m not scared of spiders,” Riena said. “It’s a big bug. I’m keeping an eye on it.”

  “Ye should fear spiders. Most demon spiders will kill ya in one bite.”

  “Oh… most of the ones I’ve seen have been harmless.”

  “That primal fear is there for a reason. Them, snakes, and others. Ye bones know dangerous shapes.” My foot smashed through another army of ants. This group had tiny spellcasters shooting acid. The efforts were almost cute.

  After half an hour of plodding through the jungle, we approached a clearing. Weeds and vines covered the ground, but no trees of any significant years were visible.

  Riena equipped her visor and pointed to the dead center. “Lots of metal in that location. This must be the spot.” She craned her neck up the crystal stretching above. “I wonder what that is for.”

  “It could be anything. Maybe it’s a natural part of the world and ferries souls to hell. Maybe a Titan or equivalent tossed it here during a calamity. Maybe a previous people built it as a hotel. We can’t and will never know.”

  A scraping of scales on bark drew my attention to shaking trees in a nearing ripple. I positioned myself between Riena and the approaching sound before the serpent’s head poked through the foliage. Its crest flared with rainbow feathers as it hissed at the two of us.

  I tossed Riena the shovel. “Dig up the treasure while I handle the monster.”

  She scowled. “You’ll dig faster. I’ll fight it.”

  “Don’t waste your resources, I can handle it.”

  “Fine.” Riena reluctantly grabbed the shovel and plunged it into the dirt and stumbled at the ease of it. While her shade was the newest among us, the strength of more than 25 people made digging a hole trivial.

  The serpent finished slithering into the clearing and unfurled bright white wings that it flapped to hover. The creature’s body was thicker all around than I was from shoulder to shoulder. From tip to tip, it towered over the trees. The wings were half as wide and clearly provided flight through magic rather than natural means.

  A quetzalcoatl.

  Mythical creatures weren’t that uncommon in portal worlds. Some scholars suspected that Earth had a period of invasion in its ancient history and that the myths were inspired by real monsters. I personally subscribe to the theory that our myths tied us closer to worlds where they were real, and that’s why portals would have them.

  No matter the truth, the creature and I stared each other down, neither moving. Its vertical slitted eyes shifted to Riena’s digging and the creature bristled before shouting in the strange language of the Saianuh.

  “I do not speak that language,” I replied, growing more nervous. This creature wasn’t a mere feral beast and seemed to hold value over the buried treasure.

  The serpent tried a dozen more tongues. I repeated myself each time. The creature grew frustrated and roared while rearing up to place us in its shadow. Body language conveyed her—I decided it was a ‘her’—intent clearly. That treasure was hers.

  To stall for more time, I acted confused and backed a little toward where Riena was digging. “Easy.” I held my hands in a calming gesture. “Be calm.”

  She didn’t buy my act. Her green scales flashed a rainbow of colors before all the nearby vines transformed into snakes and slithered toward me.

  I whipped my blade across the clearing, the flexible tip shearing through the rushing tide. While I slew many of them, more kept coming and gained ground through my defense. A controlled fire would drive off the snakes. Alas, Nyla wasn’t here to provide flame.

  Which meant I needed to create my own.

  I pointed at a slain foe and activated the only necrotic ability this armor had: Ignite Corpse. The body exploded into green flame. The fel energies bucked against my Fire Manipulation, but they generally spread where I wanted them to.

  A few more corpses were sacrificed until a pyre of green flame surrounded Riena and I. For a Crafter, Ignite Corpse was an excellent way to lose materials by instantly burning all the available MP, but it did provide a potent means to generate flame and disrupt larger hordes, a satisfactory trade-off.

  The Coatl hissed and flapped her wings to part the flame far enough for her to charge through them at Riena. After infusing the ground with aura, I leapt at the monster, leaving behind only a small crater.

  I landed on the creature’s center with my sword and plunged it into her heart. Her maw enveloped my top half and ripped me off her. As her head flung side-to-side, I grabbed one of her fangs and pulled myself further down the beast’s gullet.

  A concerned mumbled came from the throat before my stomach flipped and my legs smashed through a tree. I gritted my teeth and inched forward. The creature flung her head up and then forward before opening her mouth and coughing. This let me lunge almost all the way inside. She clamped her mouth around my left foot before I pulled it in.

  More distressed sounds came from the creature who was doing remarkably well for having her heart cut out, which likely meant she could heal or didn’t need one. Either option meant I needed to do more damage.

  I pressed my right foot against a fang and pushed until the serpent lost her hold on my foot. I flung forward and hit the back of her throat. The creature swallowed me and then made cries of alarm.

  She was right to be worried. I shoved my left arm into her squishy throat and slashed with my blade to make a hole. Prismatic blood poured into the esophagus. I kicked through the tide and began carving at the muscle and fat layers beyond.

  My excavations were interrupted by a tide of vomit that spattered me to the ground below. I vault to my feet to see the Coatl’s heart-wound glowing with a green light and slowly closing.

  “What is wrong with you!?” She screamed with a voice that harmonized with wind rustling through trees and the babbling of brooks.

  I wiped a layer of grime off. “Ah! I do speak that language.”

  “Stop stealing my stuff!” Her wings flapped in irritation.

  “No.”

  “Do you know how hard it is to make a hole with no arms? I went through so much trouble putting my time capsule there.”

  “Fear not beast, we’ll take good care of your shinies.”

  Her tail swished behind her, clearing some of the flames which protected Riena from the horde of snakes still suicidally charging the barrier. “One, I’m not a ‘beast’. You can call me Coatlie. I think your tongue can handle that. Two!” She still waved one tail tip at me. “I don’t care what you do with the ballast, but leave my books alone! Their wisdom must be preserved for future generations.”

  “Nay, all the booty is ours!” I wanted the books more than anything. Demon literature included so many secrets and getting them translated could be an adventure in and of itself.

  “Then die, foolish mortal!” She tightened her wings and dived at me headfirst. I braced for a charge and stabbed upward. Instead of cleaving into her brain, the monster collapsed into thousands of tiny versions of her. They swarmed me and bit every surface while wiggling into any crevice they could find.

  A thousand insults and promises of death sprung from the tiny mouths searching for my doom as they prodded my armor for weak points. Coatlie didn’t sound different in her smaller form.

  I swiped, rolled, grabbed, smashed, and spun to clear the swarm from me. After my initial reaction, I had the presence of mind to reach for the flames and wrap them about myself, incinerating hundreds of Coatlies.

  The rest of the swarm broke away and reformed herself into the massive serpent. “Rejoice!” She spread her wings between us and the sun. “After wrestling with a deity like myself, I have decided to grant you a boon. You may take ONE book.”

  Covered in soot and burnt scales, I coughed and croaked, “There are no gods.”

  Coatlie managed to sneer with a serpent’s face. “Rude, and of course there are. I’m one and I know dozens of others.”

  “What use are gods to a pirate? We all know where we’re going.” Humans had never found a god in all the monsters we fought. A few spirits were very powerful, but none stood above the Titans, much less this creature.

  “Hmph! If I didn’t have other more important godly duties to attend to, I would smite you for the heretic you are.” She flapped her wings and the skies thundered. “Know this. If you steal my books, then a doom will befall you!”

  Thunder clapped, and she disappeared in a flash of lightning. As I blinked away the afterimage, Riena shouted, “I got it!” She pulled herself out of a large hole with a chest slung over her shoulder. “Are you done playing?”

  “Aye.” The field was littered with the dead. Most were too scorched or expended to have any useful materials. Conjured and transformed minions tended to have poor MP concentrations even if they left a body behind. “We best be off then. This could be a ruse, and the crew ought to be getting restless.”

  I motioned for Riena to toss me the chest. She complied, and we sprinted the way we came. Forgot to open the chest and marvel at the gold. Dammit, I hadn’t been a pirate for a while and was out of practice. Few situations called for it.

  When we broke the forest’s edge, Riena sighed, “How are we supposed to deal with that?”

  A dozen ships had surrounded our vessel, pinning her near the island. I lifted my helm and spat the pirate out. “We wouldn’t. They would capture us and take the treasure. We would then need to make a daring escape from their stronghold and then chase the captain that fled with our loot in the middle of night. That would lead to one thing, and then another thing, and so on. Portals can have exceptionally long intended paths. If we want to make it to class tomorrow, we need to bust through that flotilla. It’s your call.”

  “No, you have far more experience in this matter. Do you see a way through?”

  “I do… but the first step may piss you off.”

  Riena waited for me to continue.

  “Our Saianuh are likely their allies. We need to execute the crew.”

  “Or we could maroon them, but I think I can keep them in line. They’ve been willingly in our bond for days. A little pull and they’ll love us more than their friends.”

  She couldn’t see my raised eyebrow. I found her latter suggestion more brutal than mine. “That’s a sound tactic.” I imagined a future where Riena thralled whole demonic communities to Humanity’s cause. After a couple generations, children in that culture would be raised to see humans as allies. Subversion to that scale would make a significant dent in the war effort. I would have to push her to seize her legend for that future to be possible. Dozens of plans spun in my mind, a background buzzing before the coming battle.

  Riena nodded. “I’m glad you agree. Now tell me all of your plan.”

  I did so as we rowed to the boat. Riena amended a couple points, and we informed our team. The moment the Saianuh shifted from begrudgingly working with us to cherishing us over their allies and nation was imperceptible. Riena didn’t need to move, gesture, or make any great display of power. If she influenced me, I wouldn’t know unless she told me. That possibility didn’t bother me.

  Since Casimir didn’t need to conjure a crew, he made flocks of ravens and a few sharks to prowl the waters. Derek dismissed his cannons and focused on shielding the hull and sails. Nyla and I stood at the bow of the ship. She had a sphere of condensed white flames in one hand and gave me sidelong glances. “I don’t know how offended I should be that you made armor to help me aim my bombs.”

  “It’s a side benefit. Though, your flames are the principal reason I made this set.”

  “Sure, but I’ve tried a Fire Manipulation item. It wasn’t worth using. Throwing the bombs better would take less training, time, and effort.”

  “Even after days with the armor, I’m still mastering it. They will have to get within cannon shot before I can reliably coax your throw to the target.”

  “That’s still farther than I can throw,” she groused.

  I picked up a small barrel of gunpowder. “Watch my technique.” I got into position. “In ancient manuscripts, the people from before the war would challenge other cities to ‘baseball’ matches. The details are lost to time, and I’ve never found one of these bases, but I did glean their technique for throwing balls. Line your shoulders with the target. Hold the ball to the center of your chest. Make sure your wrist is right. Shift like this and get your throwing hand inside your elbow. Then chuck it.” The barrel soared across a kilometer of ocean and hit an enemy captain in the face. He could have dodged that.

  Nyla practiced a few throws until the ships got within range. The nearest enemy galleons turned and hit us with their full complement of their broadside cannons. The shots bounced off Derek’s barriers, but he did grunt from the effort. Nyla chucked two bombs and would have missed with both of them if I didn’t correct their course mid-flight. They crashed into the decks and exploded with white flame, igniting the Saianuh working them.

  Those sailors screamed with the agony of soul burn. They flailed and ran in random directions, bumping into crew and the ship. Wood didn’t burn, but other Saianuh did and they joined their fellows in a pain beyond dying. A few stumbled over the railing into the sea. Sadly for them, water could not smother these flames.

  After a few more bombs, both ships were in complete disarray and created a narrow channel outside the encirclement. See, we needed to not destroy those ships so they could shield us from further assault by their allies. The best way to do that was to burn the souls of all aboard to ashes.

  Our crew felt pity for their former allies and their terrible deaths. Riena pushed a little harder and they forgot about it.

  During our little engagement, more ships swooped ahead and caught us right as we passed their defeated allies. From less than a few ship lengths away, two other galleons bombarded us with their cannons. Derek gasped and fell to one knee as cracks formed all along his barriers. Casimir sent his flock to distract the enemy crews as Nyla and I ferried more bombs.

  Those ships fired one last desperate shot at our deck. I sidestepped behind Nyla and caught two balls careening toward her head and chest. Nyla snarled at the near miss and hurled red bombs at both ships. The flame from these ignited the wood and caused the timbers to explode like bombs themselves. The sailors didn’t burn, but their clothes did and shrapnel felled many of them. The two wrecks collapsed in the ocean, and Casimir’s sharks finished the survivors.

  Once we sailed past those, the rest of the fleet was behind us. Riena shouted, “Full sails!”

  Without any cannons weighing us down, our ship outpaced the others into the setting sun. Our team convened on the poop deck by our stolen treasure.

  Riena put a foot on the chest and swished a jar of grog. “Splice the mainbrace!” Our crew cheered as they all took a drink. Riena polished off her own sip and asked, “So, when does this—”

  The world faded away, and we were back in the warrens under the university. The portal that had previously occupied the room was gone. All that remained of our trip was what we carried and the looted treasure.

  “—end…” Riena finished. “Oh… We did it? We did it! Woo! We closed a portal!”

  Everyone in my team had a glimmer in their eyes. Yes, it was a low tier portal, but portals were what destroyed our world. Each one closed helped stave off the end. It was important.

  We were important.

  Right? Right.