Chương 20: 19 Wake Prime Aged

"Barkley!" a voice bellowed from the stairs. We shifted as an Orc started limbering down, peg leg thumping with each step. A clawed prosthetic hand snapped at his side. Barkley went pale, whirling on Naomi, dropping his voice.

"Buy a bottle of Aged Wake Prime, pay any price, do it now!" The Orc thump-stepped down, grey-bearded, hanging haggardly from his green chin.

"Barkley," he snarled again.

"You owe me a blood debt." The band cut the music off abruptly, the four nearest tables going silent as Orcs and other pirates shifted to take in the intrusion. Barkley whirled, forcing a grin.

"Snapfist, what a surprise! So great to see you!" His eyes darted wildly about the room. I turned as well. There was no telling how many of these pirates were in his crew. A table of Vulcans cleared away, anticipating trouble. Barkley whispered forcefully out of the corner of his mouth.

"Aged Wake, get it!" Naomi flinched, scanning for the barkeep who had slipped into the back.

"Don't you "hey Snapfist" me," the captain said, lumbering forward, peg leg scraping the floor.

"You left me to die, and I want blood!" Velk grinned, slapping Barkley on the shoulder.

"Good luck," he slunk back to stand behind his captain.

"Snapfist, buddy, you're miscounting, I'm certain," Barkley said, voice pleading.

"Faerie Rock, you betrayed me to the Seelie Court," Snapfist growled as he drew out a pocket book. No—a book of debts.

"The Battle of the Jaw!" Barkley insisted.

"I'm the one who sank Cross Eye Bill's ship. He had you on the ropes!"

"You sold the adamantine job to Bloodwake Exploits after we had an accord!" Snapfist growled, his prosthetic claw creaking as it clenched at his side. The Coredwarf pushed through the swinging doors back into the front, and he hesitated as he saw his patrons focused on Barkley and Snapfist. Naomi waved the barkeep over, but the Coredwarf started easing his way back into the backroom. I slapped the counter, drawing his eyes, and frantically motioned for him to come. The Coredwarf hesitated, then tiptoed over.

"There was the thing on Prime Rock! The Naga Temple!" Barkley insisted.

"You'd be sacrificed on a snake altar if not for me!"

"Then you sold my location to Black Rick!" Snapfist growled, swaying as he stepped closer.

"You knew he wanted me dead!"

"I also knew you'd be too clever to fall into his trap!" Barkley exclaimed, shrinking back tighter against the counter.

"I'd never have said a word if I thought you'd actually fall for it, honest!" Naomi whispered something to the barkeep, and he muttered something back. She recoiled as if she had grabbed a tinker shock probe. The Coredwarf waited, tiny horns glowing on the ends with heat. Naomi scowled before slapping coins on the table. Not silver—gold. The barkeep collected the payment, nodded once, then disappeared back into the back room.

"There's the map I gave you! Goric's treasure!" Barkley tried.

"Map that led nowhere!" Snapfist growled. On stage, the musicians laid their instruments down, anticipating an escalation. The final murmured conversations in the room died as the patrons on the far end of the chamber shifted our way. Even the tavern flowers pulled away from the balcony. I rubbed my gloved fingers, measuring the distance to Snapfist's claw. Controlling the wrist would be key. On the other side of Barkley, Elara's eyes also assessed the situation. Should this turn into a brawl, she'd be ready.

"Heim Rock!" Barkley cried.

"You'd be giant jelly if not for me—twice!" Snapfist's claw came up, blade-like fingers opening and flexing.

"Counts as one."

"What?" Barkley gasped, scandalized.

"The hill giant at the vault, and the stone giant shepherd!"

"Same job!" Snapfist huffed, leaning forward.

"Still," Barkley said.

"That makes us even." Snapfist chuckled, the laugh somehow violent.

"Don't forget, Drake! You betrayed me to the Bloodwake. Then you took me boat, that's two you owe me!"

"Same job!" Barkley insisted.

"If you're counting the Heim job as one, then Drake also can't be two."

"I can count it as two when you pack salt in the wounds," the Orcish captain sneered, rolling his shoulders forward and casting his shadow over the half-Hobgoblin. Barkley shrank.

"Do you hear that, everyone?" he called.

"Apparently Cap'n Snapfist can change the rules in his debt book when it suits him." The pirate captain froze, turning to take in the rest of the room.

"That's right," Barkley said.

"If you double-count Heim, but not Drake, everyone will know you're a hypocrite. Is there no sanctity to your book of debts?" Snapfist tipped his tricorn back with a clawed hand, then his head bobbed.

"Fine. Drake was only one; you're still in the negative."

"The Harpies!" Barkley gasped.

"Floating rock!"

"Didn't save me life, or make me money. Why should I count that?" The Coredwarf returned with a black, dusty bottle, the end stopped in red wax. He hurried over and handed the bottle to Naomi.

"Well—" Barkley reasoned.

"I saved you from having to climb the Shattered Spine Cliffs. Think about how hard that would've been with the peg leg."

"I had me leg then," Snapfist said.

"They call them the Shattered Spine Cliffs for a reason," Barkley said.

"You could have died!"

"Not good enough," the old captain grumbled. Sweat beaded on Barkley's brow.

"There's—what about—" he grasped for another point in his favor.

"Oh!" he snapped his fingers, pointing.

"I sank Black Rick's ship, later!" he said.

"He tried to kill you, I got him. Killing your enemy. That counts for something, right?" Snapfist hesitated, then his head bobbed.

"Aye, it do count for something." The book in his good hand snapped shut.

"The book is balanced," he said.

"I greet ya, Barkley Helmjerker, not as an enemy, but as a peer." Barkley's fingers, down by his side, wavered discreetly toward Naomi. I nudged her, and she slid the bottle into his hand.

"Only as a peer?" Barkley asked, hefting the bottle up.

"That's too bad. I only share my cup with friends." Snapfist went quiet, eyes locking on the bottle, lip twitching around a tusk.

"Wake Prime—" he murmured.

"Aged." A moment passed, then his head snapped back, and he roared with laughter.

"Barkley, me boy, it's good to see you, old friend!" The collective room heaved a sigh, and the musicians gathered their instruments, striking up a new tune.

"Cups, barkeep!" Barkley said with a grin.

"For me and my old friend!"

"What brings ya to Los Colmillos, friend?" Snapfist asked, dabbing at the corner of his eye. Barkley glanced around conspiratorially.

"Money, Snapfist." His voice lowered.

"I got me an opportunity."

"Not so loud, Helmjerker," Snapfist waved Barkley down.

"If there be gold involved, maybe we can discuss this in private." The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The captain finally shot Naomi and me a glance.

"This be your new crew?"

"Aye," Barkley said.

"Saved my life. Do you have a table?" The barkeep set down two tin cups, and Snapfist plucked them up.

"Aye. Follow me." Minutes later, we settled into a booth on the second floor. Down in the common room, the patrons sang a repetitive harmony of a drinking song, screening our conversation from prying ears.

"Introductions first, methinks," Snapfist said, pouring himself a cup of Aged Wake Prime.

"Me name's Snapfist. Cap'n Snapfist." His claw opened as he motioned to Velk on his right.

"Me first mate and helmsman, Veril Velk."

"We've met," the Derk-Feykin said, eyes fixed on Naomi. Snapfist gestured to the halfling on his left. A red bandana was tightly wrapped around her hair and hoops dangled from her ears.

"Me second mate, Brilla Lillbigun." She stared at me. Only me. I cleared my throat and tugged at my collar.

"This is Naomi," Barkley clapped her affectionately on the shoulder. She shrugged his hand off, eyes rolling.

"She ain't the captain, but she's our boss." He nodded toward me.

"That's Tony; he's muscle."

"And Elara—" he glanced around. She hadn't come up with us. I glanced down at the first floor. She nodded up at me from the bar. A second set of eyes from another angle—good.

"Good," Snapfist grunted before taking a sip.

"So, what be the job?" Naomi frowned.

"I need to know that I'm speaking to a professional. You're not going to sneak off and snag our score."

"Yes, yes, you have my word." His claw waved dismissively.

"Now—business." She watched him carefully for a moment, assessing, and then she continued.

"We were supposed to meet up with a customs officer on Scorched Rock, a smuggler. He had forty tons of orange steel for us." Snapfist let out a low whistle.

"Hard to load that, especially on Scorched Rock."

"So we discovered," Naomi said flatly.

"A patrol found us, and the navy drove us out. We left the prize behind."

"Fast ship if you escaped," Snapfist said.

"Arcane deck," Barkley said.

"Cap'n Snapfist, these guys are tough. Sank an Inferno Juggernaut."

"Did ya now?" Snapfist asked, impressed.

"With that little thing you sailed in on?"

"That was the work of our Mage, not our cannons," Naomi said. Snapfist leaned back, tilting his tricorn back on his head.

"So where's the prize now?" Naomi's lips pressed into a tight line.

"We don't know," I said.

"Probably Obcity, our contact will follow it and get us a better answer."

"Obcity ya say?" His eyes gleamed as he glanced at his two companions.

"As fate would have it, we also have a job in Obcity. One that's proving problematic."

"Really?" Barkley asked.

"Well, this is perfect! Tell us, maybe we can work both jobs at the same time. You know—help each other out."

"I likes the sound of that," Snapfist huffed.

"Me job—" he steepled fingers and mechanical claws.

"Sultan Azhar Al-Harraq is the local magistrate for Obcity. His wife hired us to steal something from him."

"Hold on," I shook my head.

"You said you're working for his wife?"

"Aye," Snapfist said with a grin.

"He has a lamp in his private chambers. The Missus wants us to steal it."

"A lamp?" Naomi grunted with amusement.

"So she's into antiques? Why doesn't she go get it herself? They're married, right?" Snapfist raked his metallic claw through his beard.

"Can't say why she doesn't do it herself, and remember, they're Efreet—Djin. To them, lamps and vessels are more like real estate than objects."

"Okay," I said, shooting an uncomfortable glance at Brilla the halfling. Her eyes hadn't left me once. I was beginning to worry; her stare might drill a hole in my cheek.

"So why haven't you gotten it yet?" Snapfist's expression darkened, and he took another drink.

"Plan is for the Missus to give one of my crew to the Sultan as a slave. He likes exotic specimens. Problem is, most me crew's Orcs—not pretty enough. Those who are can't resist the heat. What point to a pretty bird if it cooks after a week?"

"Use a magic item." Naomi shrugged.

"Slap a Ring of Fire Resist on your insider."

"No good," Snapfist said.

"The magic item would be worth more than the slave. That's suspicious. Ya don't put rubies on a pig."

"You need someone with natural resistance," I said, the backs of my arms and hands itching. My Apex Wrath resistance had remained active. I suspected it probably would until I cleared out my skin with my mutagens.

"We have one," Naomi said, nodding slowly.

"Bianca, maybe we can embed her, get her to steal the lamp." I blinked, shifting.

"Hold on, why don't we ask her before we agree to send her into an Efreet palace by herself?" I asked.

"Of course we'll ask," Naomi said.

"It's just that we don't have anyone else. I'd say we could send Elara too, but if Sultan Al-Harraq doesn't like Orcs, that rules her out. No one else can stand the heat without aid." My brow furrowed, the idea of sending Bianca into a sultan's palace as a slave twisting my gut like a fork on pasta.

"I'll go with her," I said.

"Two instead of one."

"Tony," Naomi said.

"You won't be able to bring a protective item. You'll cook." My jaw worked soundlessly for a moment.

"I have natural fire resistance," I said at length. Naomi flinched, blinking in surprise.

"You do? How?"

"Racial trait," I said, tapping the rash on my jaw. Her eyes widened as she put it together.

"The Sultan likes pretty, healthy slaves. You're sure that's not contagious?" Snapfist asked, staring at the rash as if it were an infected scab.

"Naw," Brilla the halfling pitched in.

"Even with the marks, he's not a bad looker." I suppressed a shiver.

"Send the boy and the girl," Snapfist said.

"Better chances for success, and it's always good to have a backup should one fail." I scoffed. I'd never felt so much like a tool to be discarded.

"But why come to us?" Velk asked at length, voice thin and raspy.

"Why can't you grab the steel yourself? Or are you just looking for muscle to move it? If it's impounded, it's probably being held at the Obcity docks."

"There's a problem with my crew—" Naomi started, "they're mostly Paradise types. Humans, Dwarves, Feykin, and the like." Snapfist's head bobbed as he nodded to himself.

"Yes, yes, I see the problem. A human, a pair of Dwarves, they'll draw attention. A full crew—" he shook his head.

"Better the unsavory types of my crew. We'd draw attention inland, but at the docks, we'd blend in long enough."

"How long would it take you to load?" I asked, recalling our problem from last time.

"Obcity docks usually have two hoists per berth. Assuming both work and accounting for the heat…" Snapfist's eyes rolled as he did the math.

"Two days, a single day if my boys are fast and motivated." I deflated.

"There's no way we're going to have that type of time."

"Use your insider," Snapfist suggested.

"Get the Scorched boys to load a ship for you, then me and mine can snatch it, cargo and all."

"We don't know if Ignis had that kind of pull," I said.

"Plus, if it's just a matter of hijacking a ship, we could do it ourselves." Brilla laughed this time, planting her chin on her palm.

"And you think you'd get anywhere near enough before the entire Obcity garrison came bearing down on you?" She shook her head.

"Cute, but naïve." My face heated.

"You think you'd do better?"

"I think we have the Orc power to pull it off," Brilla said.

"We'd need to sabotage all the other ships in port. Ain't no way a cargo hauler loaded with forty tons of steel is outrunning a Sirocco. We need to break their kneecaps before they start running."

"I think we're getting ahead of ourselves," Snapfist said, bladed fingers stroking his beard.

"Now we're not talking about a heist. We're talking about an assault on a major port city. We'll need other crews, more swords, greater reward."

"More than your lamp?" I asked.

"More than me lamp."

"A ship," Naomi said.

"If Ignis can get it loaded on a ship, and you take that craft, that'll be a nice prize."

"Perhaps, but not a cargo hauler," Snapfist said. His bladed fingers rasped against his steel thumb.

"A Sirocco warbrig. Now that'd be a prize worth pinching."

"I can't guarantee we can get it on a Sirocco," Naomi said.

"We don't even know if our smuggler is still in the clear."

"My crew ain't enough to assault and disable the docks of Obcity."

"What if they don't have to be?" I asked. Every eye turned to me.

"There's dissent within Obcity. Rebels, if you will, and we have the weapons they want. So if we can convince them to—let's just say— distract the city for us, draw attention from the docks, then we can open them for you to make your move."

"Not a bad plan," Snapfist said thoughtfully.

"Assuming you already have an accord with these rebels?" I cleared my throat.

"Not exactly, no. But I think we can get it."

"What makes you think these rebels can make a difference?" Brilla asked.

"The Ash Lords are very good at putting down insurrections. It's what they do."

"Well," Naomi said thoughtfully.

"It's a good thing we'd be supplying them with weapons designed to hurt those elementally tuned to flame."

"Weapons in the hands of an amateur are a greater liability than a boon," Brilla said.

"Then I'll join them personally," Naomi said.

"I have a winter mage; whatever it takes, I'll draw every available hand from the docks. Leave them wide open for you."

"Might could be, might could be," Snapfist said, head bobbing.

"Then what?" I asked.

"We rendezvous on the water, load the steel onto the Zephyr? You get your lamp and your ship, we get our cargo?" Snapfist's face slowly split into a grin.

"Too many maybes, but once we turn them into yesses, I think we've got ourselves a plan." Barkley rubbed his hands together.

"What'd I tell you, Snapfist? Opportunity. You'll owe me one for this if we pull it off."

"Aye," Snapfist agreed, gripping his cup.

"A right proper job."

"A job with too many moving parts," I said, shaking my head.

"The type of coordination this would take, between three separate groups. If one side goes down, the whole thing fails."

"You're thinking like a marine kid, not a pirate," Barkley said, grinning over his cup.

"No plan works out. The key isn't planning for everything; it's expecting the chaos. It's throwing pitch on the fire and hoping the flames are so big no one notices you."

"Easy to say when your job is to hop on a ship and sail away," I said pointedly.

"I need to rob an Efreet. Did the sultan's wife even have any sort of escape plan in mind?"

"You're the thief," Velk said.

"Figure it out." The music rose in the pit, and the patrons roared with laughter. A lamp, forty tons of contraband, an Efreet lord, and rebels. Easy. Naomi spoke up.

"We can't confirm whether Ignis can move the loot onto a ship while we're on Los Colmillos. Also, we won't be able to contact the rebels from here. I think the next step is obvious. Make your final preparations. We're returning to Scorched Rock." <<Time to Seal Collapse: 04: 02: 02: 05: 33: 32>>