Chapter 12 - Cragtooth
Cragtooth Heights
“You know, it kind of reminds me of the building my last bosses worked in.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Blade tilted her head back, watching as the massive shape of the Cragtooth fortress slipped by overhead, supported by six gargantuan chains with links larger than the Arrow. Each of the chains was connected to one of the three spires of rock ringing the area like sentinels, two chains per spire. The chains were thick and massive enough that additional supporting structures had been built on the bridge-like crossings between them. The result was something like a minimalist spiderweb, with the fortress hanging at its very heart.
“Who built this place?” she asked, pulling her gaze away from the mass of metal hanging above them and turning back towards Barnabas. The minotaur was leaning against the rear gunwale, occasionally waving towards other pirates as they called out from one of the docks in his direction.
“No one knows,” he said, shrugging. “It was here when the first recorded explorers of the Ocean arrived. Minus the docks and whatnot,” he said, waving his hand towards the mazelike construction of wooden docks and huts around the base of each rocky spire. “Obviously we added in those, and over the years there have been some adjustments to the fortress itself—adding an airship dock, partitioning rooms, that kind of thing—but as far as the original builders?” He gave her a shrug, his body rocking back as he leaned out over the rear of the boat. “No one knows. They were tall, that much is for sure. And they made some nice stuff. You know there isn’t a speck of rust on any one of those chains? or the fortress itself?”
“Really?” she asked, eyeing the metal links as they slid slowly past above them. The giant metal ovals were caked with ice and snow, detritus packed up over who knew how many centuries of exposure to the elements. He was right though, she realized as she eyed the grey chain. Even though the overcast sky wasn’t offering the best light, she couldn’t see a single reddish scar on the flawless metal surface.
“What is it made out of?” she asked.
Barnabas shook his head. “We don’t know. We can’t damage it, either. We’ve taken some pretty impressive bits of metal to it and come away without even a scratch to show for it. Not that we’re that keen on the idea,” he added, his voice dropping in volume just enough that the shouts of general activity from the nearby docks became all the more apparent. “The last thing anyone wants is for one of those chains to break.”
“I’ll bet,” she said, her eyes sliding towards the long shape of the fortress itself, hanging in the air above the ice. “I actually got a chance to see something like that happen once. The Equestrian Railroad Service’s eastern headquarters.” She glanced at him just long enough to see him shake his head slightly.
“Check the news from Equestria sometime,” she said as she looked back up at the massive metal construction hanging several hundred feet above the ice. “They might have pictures of what was left.”
“That was the building you mentioned?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yep. Pretty ostentatious if you ask me. But …” she said, spreading one wing as an itch made itself known. “Pretty cool. Especially when it’s falling down. Dangerous, but cool.” A stray feather caught her eyes, one that looked out of place, and she ran her beak along it, pushing it back into place.
“Huh,” Barnabas said, bending down and picking up one of the Arrow’s tie-lines. “As interesting as that story is, do us all a favor and not mention that to Captain Titus. Or anyone else around here.” The Arrow shuddered, tilting to the side as something cut into its speed. To either side, the side-sails began folding inward, the ship turning and sliding sideways across the ice as the sails retracted.
“Always one for the stylish arrival,” Barnabas said, grinning as the Arrow slid toward the nearby dock. A diamond dog was tapping his foot against the wood, watching as they approached. Barnabas waved to him and then tossed over a rope, its coils slowly unspooling as it flew across the ice and into the waiting diamond dog’s arms.
“Want me to fly up and get the forward lines?” she asked, watching as the dog nocked the rope around one side of a cleat and began pulling in the slack, tugging the rear of the Arrow towards the dock.
Barnabas shook his head. “No need. Frost always brings us in pretty straight. I just like giving the docks something to do. He’ll get the forward line after he ties off that rear one.”
“Pretty slick operation.” She wasn’t exaggerating. Their journey through the center of the stronghold had given her a pretty good view of the other two docks, and the one they were just sliding up to was just as orderly. If not for the obviously tattooed pirates and a bunch of really-slapdash warships, this place could be any other well-organized dock around the world. Crud, throw a bunch of griffon airships in here and it’d be as orderly as a clan airbase.
“Captain Titus has us keep it that way,” Barnabas said, moving towards the door. “She doesn’t leave much room for error these days.”
“No,” Blade said, shaking her head as the Arrow came up against the side of the dock, rocking as it bounced against the buoys that had been tied there. “I saw that when we came in.” Each of the outward faces of the spires had been thoroughly armed, everything from cannons to more advanced guns of some caliber built into the outer face of the rock. “This place could take a decent siege.”
“That’s the idea,” the dock worker called before she could follow Barnabas inside. His fingers were almost a blur as he tied the Arrow off against the dock. “Those Blood’ooves come for a piece of us, they’ll ‘ave to work at it. Nothing they ‘ave is going to put much of a chip in the teeth.”
“Teeth?” she asked as he rose and began loping down the dock towards the front end of the ship.
“Yeah,” the diamond dog said, nodding as he reached out with one long arm and pulled against the side of the ship, tugging the front end towards the dock. “The rock bits. We call ‘em the three teeth.”
She nodded. It was as good a name as any. “What if they get past them?” she asked. “Get under the fortress itself?”
The diamond dog shrugged as he began wrapping the side line around another cleat. “We’ve got plans for that too.” He reached up and took a wet, rounded piece of stone out of the corner of his jaw, eyeing it for a moment before tossing it back in and sucking on it. “Plus, if we can’t put a dent in that fortress, I doubt anyone else will be able to, even if they do ‘ave a bunch of magic users with them.” He gave the line a quick tug and then moved further down the dock, his voice rising as he grew further away. “You a friend of Barnabas then?” he asked.
“Employer,” she called back. “I needed them for a job.”
The dog’s eyebrows rose a bit as he leaned out over the ice and grabbed the bow line. “Barnabas I could understand, but you ‘ired his sister too?” He shook his head as he crouched, tying off the final line with a quick, practiced motion. “You must ‘ave a lot of enemies, miss.”
“A few,” she said as the diamond dog stood.
“Well then,” he said, giving her a quick nod and flexing one tattooed arm. The door into the Arrow’s interior popped open, Barnabas’s massive shape moving behind it. “Welcome to Cragtooth ‘eights. And tell Barnabas I ‘aven’t forgotten about those fifteen reeds ‘e owes me.”
“It was ten reeds, you blaggard!” Barnabas called, waving a fist at the diamond dog as he stepped out onto the back deck. “And even then, I still think you slipped an extra ace into that deck!”
“Interest, Barney,” the diamond dog called, giving them a lazy wave as he began to trundle down the dock. “Don’t be in a ‘urry to pay up on my account!”
“Good-for-nothing rock-eater,” Barnabas growled, though Blade couldn’t sense any real ill-intent behind the words. “I never should have let him deal.”
“He’s good with the cards?” she asked, giving him a small grin as he rolled his eyes.
“Like a six-clawed griffon,” Barnabas said, tilting his head back as a single, small tuft of white drifted past his face. “Looks like we made it just in time,” he said, holding out a hand and catching the small snowflake in his palm even as several more began to follow it. “There’s the snow, just like Frost said.”
“I’ll get my coat,” Blade said, stepping inside the entrance and catching sight of Alchemy and Hain chatting by the galley table. Her coat was hanging by the side door, and she threw it over her shoulders, her wings fighting for only a moment to slide through the slits in the back.”
“You might not need it,” Barnabas said, sticking his head inside the door. “Both the spires and the inside of the fortress are actually pretty warm. The original owners put in some amazing insulation.”
“What is it?” she asked, shucking the coat from her back.
“No idea,” Barnabas admitted with a grin. “Some lightweight stuff we decided we’re better off not touching. We can’t even find it inside the fortress. It’s between the walls, and we can’t cut ‘em.”
The hatchway to the flying bridge opened, Frost dropping down the ladder with adroit swiftness. She took a quick look around at the rest of the group and then moved for the door without a word, not even making eye contact with Blade or Barnabas as she passed by them.
“How long is she going to be annoyed with us over that search?” Blade asked as Frost hopped onto the dock, the Arrow rocking slightly at her departure. The mare had been forced to bring the ship to a stop outside of the base in order for the vessel to be searched by fellow Cragtooths on account of her new passengers, and she hadn’t been happy about it.
“Give her another few minutes,” Barnabas said, “and don’t worry about it too much.” He stepped over the gunwale and onto the dock, the Arrow rocking from side to side as he took his weight off of it. “She always perks up a little around the elevators.”
“Elevators?” Alchemy asked as he joined them on the back deck. “You have elevators?”
“Of course,” Barnabas said, waving for them to join him on the dock. “You don’t think we’d walk up almost a dozen flights of stairs if we didn’t have an alternative, did you?”
“I don’t know,” Hain said. “I’ve got wings.” A look of momentary disappointment flashed across the minotaur’s face, and Blade let out a short laugh.
“Yeah, fine, be that as it may,” Barnabas said, moving up the dock as the white flakes of snow began to grow in number and size. “Even you guys use elevators in that capital city of yours, so don’t feel too superior about the fact that you can fly.”
The dock was laid out in tiers, with the higher levels and more permanent structures, Blade noticed, built closest to the spire itself. Low, wooden walls were built around the higher areas as well, and the stairways between them were placed at right angles or near edges.
“Kind of an odd dock,” Alchemy commented as they moved up another set of stairs. “They could lay this out in a lot more simple pattern.”
“It’s a defensive measure,” she said, her words earning a nod of affirmation from both Hain and Barnabas. “The raised elevation grants a strategic advantage to the defensive force, and the layout of the stairs makes it hard for an attacking force to maneuver to their advantage.”
“Oh,” Alchemy said. “I guess that makes sense.”
“The low walls are part of that too,” she said, brushing her wing across one as they passed by. “Stuff for sapients to hide behind in a ranged battle.”
“How’d you guys pay for all this?” Alchemy asked, directing his question towards Barnabas.
“What do you mean?”
“The wood, your ships,” Alchemy said. “Where’d you get the funding for them?”
Barnabas shrugged, snow swirling in the wake of his dark-blue shoulders. “Here and there. Some of it we did ourselves. Some of it we paid for with piracy—taking glitter shipments and whatnot. That was a long time ago,” he said as Alchemy shot him a dirty look. “Though I won’t lie, we still go around and collect every so often, but it’s more of a safety tax than anything. We’re not exactly the pirates we once were.”
“No.” Frost said from where she was standing by a pair of heavy, stone doors. “We’re not.”
“Do you think you should be?” Alchemy asked as she rapped a hoof against a metal panel set in the stone next to the doors. There was a heavy thump that shook the dock, and the doors began to roll open, sliding forward slightly at first, Blade noticed, and then opening outward. A wall of noise, louder than the general hubbub of the docks, swept over them as the doors opened further.
I wonder what operates those things? Blade thought, eyeing the mechanical arms that were pushing the doors open at the hinge. And what powers them? She glanced over at Barnabas, but decided the answer would probably be along the lines of “No one knows.”
“I …” Frost seemed to be struggling with an answer to Alchemy’s question, her face twisting slightly as if she couldn’t make up her mind on which expression she wanted to show. “Maybe if it meant we killed more cult members,” she said, settling on anger as she stepped inside, snow swirling after her. Had they not already been in the cold, Blade would have expected to see mist steaming up from the mare’s shoulders.
“If there weren’t any cult members fouling the situation, things would largely be the same,” Barnabas said, picking up the slack in the conversation as they moved into the interior of the spire. “Titus is big on change.” The floor underfoot shifted from stone to wood as the ceiling—already high—pulled away, opening up into a massive cavernous space that was crisscrossed with walkways and stacked high with crates.
“Sorry about the mess,” Barnabas said with a laugh as he stepped over a loose pile of rope. “Looks like Captain Titus’s stockpiling has spread down to this level.”
“How many levels are there?” Hain asked.
“Fourteen, five below us, eight above,” came the reply. “All about this tall. The whole place is almost three hundred feet at the tip. Same for the other two. And all of them mostly hollowed out like this one was.”
“Doesn’t that make them a little unstable?” Blade asked as they moved past a group of pirates who were opening up crates and checking their contents off against a checklist. One of them looked up and waved a friendly hoof at Barnabas, who returned it.
“Not that we can tell,” he said, giving another pirate a wave. “They were like that when the first explorers found them. All these rooms and spaces have been added in over the years.” Up ahead there was a cry of high pitched laughter, and Barnabas smiled. “It’s a lot of living space if you want it.”
Something white and round flew through the air, and Blade threw her wings out, adrenaline flooding through her body even as the object broke apart across Barnabas’s face, eliciting a yell of surprise. The high-pitched laughter that had echoed across the space intensified, and Blade folded her wings back with an embarrassed grin, her cheeks burning as Barnabas dove forward, digging back behind a pile of barrels.
“Little high-strung there, aren’t you?” Her cheeks burned harder at Hain’s words.
“Sorry,” she said as Barnabas straightened with a triumphant yell, a loud and kicking but obviously overjoyed butter-yellow colt clutched in one hand. “Just a … yeah …” Smooth, Featherbrain.
“Well,” Barnabas was saying as he held the kicking colt upside down in front of his face. “What have we here. A little assassin, huh?” The colt giggled and shrieked with glee as Barnabas’s gaze drifted behind the barrel once more. “Oh ho!” Another shriek of laughter rang out, followed by a second snowball that fell far short of hitting the minotaur.
“Ah hah!” Barnabas said, reaching down and plucking another giggling colt out from behind the barrels, lifting him into the air by his hind leg. The new arrival let out a loud laugh as Barnabas tossed him into the air and caught him by his front, eliciting another shriek of laughter.
“All right you two ruffians,” Barnabas said. “I caught you.”
“You caught two of us,” one of the colts said through his laughter.
“You’re right!” Barnabas said in what sounded like mock surprise as he peered behind the barrels again. “Where’s that little pegasus fillyfriend of yours?”
“She’s—She’s not my fillyfriend,” the colt said between laughs. “And she’s above you?”
“Wha—?” Barnabas looked up just in time for a third snowball, this one much larger than the others, to hit him right in the muzzle, the soft snow breaking across his face and leaving it momentarily covered.
“Yahoo!” came a cry from up above, and a young moss-green pegasus filly dropped down from one of the beams, a massive grin on her face.
“Hain,” Barnabas said, snow shifting and falling from his face as he spoke. “Or Blade. Anyone, really? Would you mind grabbing that kid?”
“On it.” Alchemy had launched himself upward before Blade had even finished spreading her wings, the filly letting out a surprised shriek as the earth pony plucked her from the air, managing a single forward flip before he landed balanced on his two rear hooves, the filly held carefully in front of him. She stared at him for a moment with wild eyes, and then her wings flared out.
“Again! Again!” she called, her wings flapping frantically, but not enough to break free of the earth pony’s grip.
“All right, you little miscreants,” Barnabas said, his expression taking on a facade of mock sternness made all the more ridiculous by the snow still covering parts of his face. “Where’d you get the snow?”
“From Frost!” one of the colts said, laughing. “She said you were coming!”
Barnabas shook his head, more snow spilling away from his face in damp clumps and scattering across his vest. “I guess she’s either in a worse mood than I thought, or a better one.”
“From snowballs?” Alchemy said, his body twisting left and then right as he kept his grip on the energetic pegasus filly.
“My sis is a bit of an enigma,” Barnabas replied, crouching and setting both colts on the ground. “Alright, you three,” he said, resting one elbow on his knee and fixing them all with a stare. “You know the drill. You’re not supposed to be down on this level while everyone’s working. So either go play on the docks or go back up to the residence levels.”
For a moment one of the colts look disappointed, but then his face lit up. “Docks!” he said with an excited grin. “Come on!” Alchemy let go of the pegasus filly and she whizzed through the air after the two running colts.
“Huh,” Barnabas said as he rose. “That was actually easier than—Hey! You three stay off of our boat!” Laughter echoed back at him as he turned and resumed moving down towards the other end of the space.
“Nice,” Blade said, grinning at him. “That makes me think though. Is it just me, or is this the first place I’ve seen kids?”
“It’s not just you,” Alchemy said. “There are children in Ruffian’s Wharf, or on Ender’s Isle too, I’d expect …” He paused and looked to Barnabas, who nodded. “But they’re kept inside. Hidden. No parent wants to run the risk of the cult or the Bloodhooves messing with them, especially if they start checking for unicorn foals.”
One more reason it won’t hurt to take that group down while I get this mission done, Blade thought.
They rounded another stack of crates to find Frost waiting for them in a large, wooden elevator. Several more doors nearby showed that there were at least three others like the one she was in. “About time,” she said as they stepped in. “I was about to start making this thing go up on my own.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Barnabas said as he crouched and grabbed a handle near the floor. A swift tug sent a stack of horizontal wooden slats rising toward the ceiling, unfolding as they went until the last one met the ceiling with a loud click. They could still see out through the gaps, but they wouldn’t be jumping out anytime soon. “You know you’re too lazy to work this thing. You might break a sweat.”
He reached over and grabbed ahold of a lever sitting on the far wall and began cranking. A creaking sound filled the elevator as pulleys engaged, and the entire room began to move upward.
“Interesting system,” Blade said as she watched the floors pass by outside the elevator. “Pulleys?”
“And a counterweight,” Barnabas confirmed. “We can’t do it any other way. It’s good exercise though.” He began to rotate the lever quicker, the elevator picking up speed as it passed another level. Blade caught sight of what looked like a communal area with children playing on some kind of jungle gym.
Interesting, she thought as her eyes spotted several diamond dog pups mixed in with the foals and a lone minotaur calf. Nobody seems uptight about their kids playing together, at least not that I can see.
“Top floor,” Barnabas announced as the elevator began to slow. “Nobody look down if you’re afraid of heights.”
The elevator came to a shuddering stop, and Barnabas kicked out at a small foot-switch near the door with one hoof. There was a loud click followed by a rattle of wood as the door slid down out of sight, and then they were moving across another large open space, though this one was smaller than the one down below. A large set of doors awaited them on the other side of the room, flanked by a bored-looking earth pony.
“Hey!” the guard said, her face brightening as she saw the group approaching. “Frost! Barnabas! You’re back!”
“Hey Merry,” Barnabas said as they approached. “How’s things?”
“Ah, the usual,” the mare said, shrugging. “Titus keeps driving everyone to prep for the worst, my brother’s making a nuisance of himself …”
“Oh?” Barnabas said as he moved to open the door. “Been sneaking the kids into the fortress again?”
“Yes,” the mare said with a roll of her eyes and a toss of her head. Her mane swung to the side with the movement, and for a moment Blade’s eyes locked on the faint nub of bone protruding from her forehead. It was definitely the beginnings of a horn, but it cut off abruptly, as if it had been—
Cut, she realized as the mare’s mane fell back over it. It’s been cut off. Was she a member of the cult? She turned her eyes away before the mare could notice her staring.
“You going to be around for a few days?” the mare asked, her attention still darting between Barnabas and Frost ... but lingering of Frost, Blade noticed.
Of course, Blade thought as she took a closer look at the young earth—No, she reminded herself, unicorn—pony. She’s a teenager. Probably looks up to these two.
“Probably not,” Barnabas said, glancing back at his sister. Frost seemed to have a very tightly controlled look of neutrality to her. “We’re actually here on business. I probably shouldn’t really say more.”
“Oh, all right,” Merry said, her head sinking a little. “That explains that runner earlier looking for the cap, huh? Well, say ‘hi’ when you can. And give my brother a kick for me when you see him, all right? Or better, yet,” she said, looking in Frost’s direction. “Maybe something with ice. Freeze him in that spot I got in trouble for kicking, all right?”
Barnabas let out a laugh as he pulled the door open, revealing a wall of white coming down from the sky so thick that Blade almost couldn’t make out the distant sight of the fortress. The light snowfall that they’d experienced at the bottom had become a blizzard.
“Got it,” the minotaur said as he bent down and ruffled the mare’s mane, taking care, Blade noticed, not to let his hand drift over the forward part of her head were the bony nub was. “Kick Pippin when we see him or wrap his nethers in ice. Doable.” He gave the teen a grin and then stepped out of the doorway.
Blade waited until the door was shut behind them and they were moving out onto the flexible, metal bridge that had been built over the massive chain links before she spoke. “She’s a unicorn, isn’t she?”
“You saw that, huh?” Barnabas said.
“Yeah. What happened?”
Barnabas shook his head. “The purge happened. Merry was born a few years after it, and she took after her grandmother. Her parents …”
“They cut her horn off to keep the cult from finding her,” Frost said, her voice so razor sharp it could have cut a snowflake. “They took away her magic, crippled her for life, because of the Order.”
“Yeah,” Barnabas said, slowing. “That.” Frost came to a stop behind him and turned towards Blade.
“That’s why I don’t care about the money,” she said, her eyes as hard and cold as her voice. “The cult has taken so much from so many. I’ll stop them, by any means necessary.” She continued on down the walkway, her hoofsteps muffled by the already thick carpet of snow.
“Don’t let her get to you,” Barnabas said, shaking his head as he watched his sister walk away. “She’s just …”
“Sad,” Alchemy said, and the minotaur nodded.
“Yes,” he said, nodding. “Very sad.”
They continued the rest of the journey in silence, the world around them fading into white as the snowfall around them continued to increase. They didn’t head straight for the fortress; Barnabas guided them off onto one of the offshoot paths, cutting over to another chain and working their way around the back of the massive keep until they arrived at the airship docks.
At first it didn’t look like much. The snow was coming down heavily enough that at first the docks were just a line of wooden platforms sliding out of the thick snowfall, followed by muffled calls and yells, but then a massive, oval shape appeared, rising out of the wall of snow like a specter from a fog, flanked by a set of landing lights that barely penetrated the gloom.
It was the envelope of the Seeker, the lightly armored courier frigate that Kalos had been sent after them in. As they moved into its shadow, the shape of the fuselage beneath the envelope came into view, a sharply angled and slightly stylized body with a nose that looked a little like a diving griffon’s beak. Except that a griffon’s beak wasn’t armed with modern cannons. A collection of dockhooves and hands were busily securing the airship’s tie-lines to the dock, securing the vessel above the platform.
“Kuzen!” came a cry from nearby, and Blade looked over to see Kalos waving a wing at her. He was involved in a discussion with one of the dockhooves, probably the airboss from the look of him, but Kalos waved his claws and the pony nodded. A second later the griffon had spread his wings and was flying over towards them.
“Excellent!” he said as he came to stop next to her, his wings sending up a cloud of snow. He was wearing a captain’s vest without armor, and a pouch was slung over his shoulder. “I was almost worried you’d gotten lost in this snow!”
“Not likely,” Blade said, eyeing the sleek lines of the frigate. “So this is your command, huh?”
“Yep!” Kalos said, grinning and then giving the rest of the group a quick bow. “Lady and gentlebeings—” Hain let out a short, low laugh.
Kalos continued as if nothing had happened. “—allow me to introduce you to the courier frigate Seeker, a product of our own design and engineering.”
“Really?” Blade said, surprised. “She’s a new design?”
“She is,” Kalos said, a satisfied looking smile on his face. “Conceived, designed, and built—mostly—in the Teardrop shipyard. “First of her class.”
“Which would be …”
“The Seeker class, of course,” he said. “You always name the first vessel after the class.”
“Right.” She gave him a nod but didn’t expound. It certainly wasn’t a bad looking ship, though she doubted it was as fast or maneuverable as The Hummingbird. But then again, that ship had been a fast, long-range deployment dropship compared to this. This was a warship.
She opened her mouth to ask about the ship’s armament, but Barnabas spoke first. “Are you ready to meet with Captain Titus?” he asked.
Kalos nodded and tapped at a pouch hanging at his side. “I spoke with Patriarch Arcwing a few days ago, and he outlined an appropriate set of conditions for me to follow. Lead on when ready.” He shivered for a moment and then eyed the sky. “Even if the weather has warmed up enough to snow, I’d rather not be completely soaked by the time we arrive.
Barnabas nodded and began leading them towards the end of the platform. As they walked, her cousin slipped up next to her and flipped the top of his bag open.
“I also have something for you,” he said, pulling out a small piece of rolled paper with one pair of talons. “That favor you asked for.”
“Nice.” She plucked the small piece of paper from his claws and unrolled it with one swift motion. A blank piece of paper stared up at her, as white as the surrounding snowfall.
“It’s blank,” she said, looking up at him. “What’s the joke?”
“They couldn’t translate it,” he said, shrugging. “We passed it to a few people we have who could be considered experts, but they’re really not, just knowledgable. The closest they could get was that it’s definitely some form of ancient griffon, or derived from it, but past that …” He gave her another shrug. “Maybe if you took it somewhere else, but that’s all I’ve got.”
“Interesting,” she said, crumpling the blank paper. “Thanks.” Ancient griffon? Why would a key to unseal the prison of an ancient unicorn cult leader have a form of ancient griffon writing on it? I might not be an expert on the subject, but I’d think if there was something like that in our history, I’d know about it. She glanced in Hain’s direction. If he’d overheard their conversation, he wasn’t giving any sign.
“You look like that actually told you more than I thought,” Kalos said. “What’s up?”
“That’s confidential,” she said, shooting him a smirk. And I don’t really know. I’m going to need to do some more research. “So, what’s the armament on the Seeker?”
“Awesome,” Kalos said, grinning with a faraway look in his eyes. “She’s a beaut. Hardened wood, steel plating. Multiple rail mounted auto-reloading ballistas. But the best is her forward guns. Two fifty-millimeter guns mounted on either side of her forward hull, with pretty good firing arcs. They cost us a small fortune to import, and to fire, but it’s worth it.”
“Not bad,” she said, only half listening.
“Oh, it gets better …” Kalos continued describing the virtues of the Seeker as they moved further into the keep, passing into tall-ceiling, wide hallways that were overly large for any species she could think of except perhaps dragons, but then they looked too small for that particular species.
“We’re almost there,” Barnabas said as Frost came to stop by a closed set of double doors. “You guys ready?”
“Sure,” Blade said, hoping her ruff wasn’t out of place. I’ve never met the ruler of a pirate gang before, unless I count that lousy group of smugglers near Highclaw Beach. Kind of a poor comparison.
Barnabas gave the doors two quick knocks and then pulled them open as a loud, commanding voice rang out “Enter!”
She wasn’t sure what she’d expected. Maybe a throne of valuable metals, or at least some sort of grand hall. But instead what she saw as they followed Barnabas into the Cragtooth leader’s room didn’t look wholeheartedly like a trophy room. It looked like a war room. Mixed with an office.
At the center of the room was a massive, rectangular table that had been mounted on adjustable legs so that it could be moved to any height that was needed. A three-dimensional map of the Ocean of Endless Ice had been built atop its surface, complete with blocky wooden models—color-coded—that Blade expected marked the locations of known “enemy” forces. She had to admit it was a pretty impressive map, especially when she noted the smaller numbers that had been attached to the sides of each of the force markers.
Numbers? she thought. Or … no! she realized as she ran her eyes over a few of the other models. That’s how long it’s been since she’s gotten more information. She couldn’t help but notice the large number “1” sitting atop the forces near Cedar Shipyards.
The rest of the room was still impressive, even with the centerpiece that was the map dominating everything. Several shafts of wood were hanging from the wall, each with a plaque beneath it that listed the name of the ship it had been taken from. A few weapons were hanging nearby, along with the skull of what looked like a young dragon. Compared to the table, however, the display was somewhat subdued.
Even the desk looked like something she could have found in the office of any other commander. It was large, which wasn’t that surprising when considering its occupant, but other than its size there wasn’t anything spectacular that set it apart or marked it as being the desk of a leader of a group of pirates. In fact, from the number of folders that were spread across it, it could have been the desk of a clan accountant back in the Empire.
But it was the individual sitting behind the desk that caught her eye. Captain Titus rose as they entered the room, her tattooed, muscular arms pressing down on her desk. So colorful were the images and shapes that spiraled up and down her arms that Blade had to look toward the captain’s face to get an idea of her pelt color—a basic grey, with no other distinguishing features to show aside from the three, long braids of her hair that stretched almost to her waist.
Captain Titus was wearing, to Blade’s surprise, armor, a full plate that seemed to barely cover her chest, though when she moved, a hint of a black tunic beneath it poked out around the edges. It didn’t rattle against anything as she moved, and when she rose up fully from behind the desk, Blade saw why. She was wearing only the front half of the plate armor, and there was a wicked, scorched, and molten dent running along the lower half of it. A simple pair of cloth pants was all she was wearing past that.
“So,” she said, her voice booming through the room. It was rich and thick, like molten chocolate. “You miscreants are the ones responsible for whole Ocean being up in flames, huh?” She stomped around the desk, the floor shaking faintly underfoot with each thud of her hooves. “Which one of you is responsible for this?”
“That’d be me,” Blade said, flexing her talons and stepping forward. Captain Titus came to a stop a few feet away from her, glaring down at her and breathing heavily through her nostrils.
“Why?” Blade ventured. “You got a problem with how I handle my team?”
“A problem?” Titus said, her eyes widening. “A problem?” The floor underfoot shook from the force of the captain’s voice. Blade had heard that female minotaurs were loud, but actually being a few feet away …
They’ve definitely undersold it, she thought as Titus took a deep breath, preparing for what was sure to be a deafening tirade. Game face on.
“Thanks to you, Cedar Shipyards is without a neutral stance for the first time on the Ocean in over a hundred years!” the minotaur yelled, her voice rattling the room. “They’re appealing for aid. Our aid! They want protection! To work out a unified, mutual agreement!”
“That sounds like what you—” Blade began. Titus didn’t let her finish.
“Worse!” she shouted, turning and motioning toward the table. “Your actions on Ender’s Isle have brought the Bloodhooves and the cult down on it harder than ever before. They have six ships docked there right now—six! And they’re claiming that it’s neutral, but it’s not. They’re harassing citizens, pushing people around, trying to goad the town into putting up a fight so they can claim some justifiable reason to take the place wholesale or draw my fleet out!” She let out an angry snort, nostrils flaring, and then turned back towards her desk.
Time to be bold, Blade thought. She took a step forward. “So what’s the problem?”
“Problem?” Titus stopped as suddenly as if a rope had been lashed around her waist. “Problem?” she asked again, turning.
“Yeah,” Blade said, staring up at her. “Problem. Last I heard, you wanted to try and get some allies in this little turf war of yours anyway.” Titus’s eyes flashed at the phrase “turf war.”
“So we’ve kicked up a little trouble,” Blade said. “So what? Would you rather we have let the Bloodhooves finish their new dreadnought so they could lock you in here like birds in a cage and wait out a siege? You should consider what we did a favor lady, especially since we’re here with an envoy from the Teardrop Eyrie, which you wanted anyway. So Ender’s Isle is under a little pressure.” She shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “Who cares? With the combined might of both your forces and the eyrie’s, taking back the place probably won’t be that hard. If you’re lucky, the Bloodhooves and the cult will push them into wanting you to do it anyway.”
For a moment Titus leaned in closer, her massive eyes boring into her, and Blade began to wonder exactly how much trouble she’d get into if she ended up in a fight with the titanic female minotaur. She’d never actually fought one before, but she’d heard the stories. Female minotaurs were usually larger than the males of their species, and all of the larger, more stable minotaur clans were led and ruled by their clan mothers. The abundance of males was what made them so warlike in the first place, proving their battle prowess as a test of strength.
I can take you, old goat, Blade thought as she stared up at the minotaur, whose gaze was growing grimmer by the second. Make a move, and I’ll make myself a new leather—
Titus let out a chuckle, the anger melting away from her face, and Blade paused. Wait, what? Then the minotaur threw her head back, letting out a long, deep laugh that was almost as deep as Barnabas’s own.
“You are a firecracker!” she said through her mirth. “Wow! No wonder you’ve got Barnabas and that old exile in tow. Pits of Tartarus, girl, you’ve got more guts than my old mother had, and she’d soon as chew nails as back down from a decent fight.”
It was a test, Blade realized as the minotaur took another look at her and burst out laughing.
“Look at you, still ready to fight!” she said, wiping away a tear from her eye. “Don’t you worry about that in here, hun. Old Captain Titus was just sizing you up.” She let out another long laugh. “No wonder you’ve got half the Ocean in an upheaval; you looked like you were ready to fight me right here and now!”
“I, uh, actually was,” Blade said, tapping her talons against the floor as her words seemed to make the minotaur laugh even louder. “No hard feelings, I hope?”
It took Titus a moment to stop laughing. “None at all, hun,” she said, reaching out and offering her a handshake. “Long as you don’t hold it against me for checking. I just had to see what kind of fight you had in you, considering all that’s gone on over the last few weeks. Did you know that the Bloodhooves have a bounty out on you?”
“They do?” Blade asked as she shook her head.
“Sure do,” Titus said, the amused look still on her face. “Seven-hundred and fifty reeds, dead.” She let out another laugh. “Compared to the five thousand bits that Equestria is offering for you alive after wrecking their border crossing, I think Ennuis is out of his league.”
“Ennuis?” The name made her ears perk up.
“Oh yeah, that moron’s pretty steamed about you beaching his ship, hun. And for poking out his eye. And the broken arm. And the finger.”
“Actually,” Alchemy said, speaking up. “I broke his arm.”
“You must be Alchemy,” Titus said, dropping Blade’s hoof. “I’ve heard some interesting things about you from the reports on Cedar Shipyards. You’re a lot stronger and faster than you look, I hear.”
“You’d be right about that, ma’am,” he said, nodding.
“Yeah, well, as much as I make my own crew call me ma’am, that tone bothers me,” Titus said. “So you’ll be dropping that until you can make it sound like I’m the pirate captain I am, not some doddering old female who can’t remember where she put her knitting needles.” She turned her gaze toward Hain next. “And you I’ve heard of.”
“Hain, captain,” he said, offering a slight bow. “Tactical and combat expertise.”
“Uh-huh,” she said, planting her hands on her hips as she looked at him. “And I’m a diamond dog den mother. Nice to meet the legendary general at last.” She gave him a respectful nod before turning her attention away.
Blade’s eyes flicked back toward Hain, watching for a reaction, but he simply nodded. Must be the nature of who he’s talking to for her to get away with that. Still, there was a slight tremble to the tip of his tail. The reminder of who he’d been—and what he’d given up—hadn’t left him unscathed.
I might have to talk to him about that later, she thought as she turned back to see Captain Titus jokingly ask if Frost was planning to leave any cult members for the rest of her crew.
Or better yet, she thought. Get the whole group in on it. They deserve to know the whole story on what kind of griffon we’re working with.
“And last but not least,” Captain Titus said, her voice still warm and friendly, but with a touch of iron in it. “We have our griffon envoy.”
“Captain Kalos Arcrider, ma’am,” Kalos said, spreading his wings and bowing low. There was a touch of dignity to the way he said the word “ma’am,” a sense of respect that permeated his words. “Envoy of Patriarch Gan Arcwing. It’s an honor to meet with you.”
“Honor, huh?” she said, reaching out and offering her hand. Kalos rose and took it. “Mighty words for someone who’s basically a pirate queen. Still, I like the way you said it. Arcwing your father?” Kalos nodded.
“Good,” Titus said, dropping his talons and walking around over towards the table. “So then I’ll assume that you’re good and on the inside of what he’s offering.”
“Well,” Kalos said, apparently caught by surprise by the suddenness of the way the meeting was moving. “We’d like to propose an alliance. A unification of forces to the eradication of the common enemy.” He stepped forward, coming up on the other side of the table. “Using a plan under the guidance of the exile—”
“Stop,” Titus said, lifting her hand. When it was clear that Kalos had stopped, she dropped most of her fingers, leaving a single digit in the air. “I want assurances,” she said, her voice firm. “This alliance. Are you willing to continue to work out specific details of force deployment, contributions, and stance with us after we’ve reached the end of our campaign?”
“Of course,” Kalos said. “In fact—”
“Then I agree,” Captain Titus said firmly.
Her announcement seemed to stun everyone involved, including Kalos himself, whose beak opened and closed several times before he found his voice. “Just like that? Without any other discussion?”
“I’ve wanted this alliance for a long time, young one,” Titus said, pressing both her palms against the edge of the table as she leaned toward him. “And even if the finer points are something we might disagree on come the future, for now the promise of our two sides working together is enough for me to agree to it, given I can get one little thing taken care of. Besides, with the battle plan coming straight from the beak of General P—”
“Don’t. Say. That. Name.” Hain’s words cut through the room like a knife. His wings were flared out, widespread while his talons did their best to dig into the wooden floor. His eyes were wide, distant.
“My apologies—” Titus began.
“Just don’t,” Hain said, his voice still a wire stretched so tightly it sounded as if it could have been used to cut through stone. “I am Hain. Nothing, and I mean, nothing, more.”
“Very well,” Titus said, the look of surprise vanishing from her face. “I apologize. I hope I haven’t offended you such that you wouldn’t offer your advice and assistance in planning out our little war?”
Hain seemed to snap back to awareness, blinking suddenly as if realizing where he was and what he’d said. “No,” he said, his voice still sounding a little strained. He ruffled his feathers, shaking his shoulders and wings as he tucked them back in. “No, I can offer my advice.”
“Good,” Titus said, her eyes drifting towards Blade and then on to Kalos. “Because I might hesitate if you weren’t. We’ll be needing you.”
“You mentioned one other little detail,” Kalos said, his voice starting a little shaky but quickly picking up speed. Apparently he’d been a little rattled by Hain’s outburst as well. “What might that be?”
Titus grinned. “I’m glad you asked, though it shouldn’t matter much to you.” Her eyes turned in Blade’s direction once more. “It’ll matter to them though. I can’t deploy my fleet at the moment. Not in any large numbers.”
“Why not?” Barnabas asked.
“Behemoth,” Titus said, her finger tapping a single wooden marker on the table. Blade stepped up to the edge and eyed the large, red, carved piece. “It’s patrolling the Ocean between here and the Pinnacle, right in line with Ender’s Isle.”
“So you’re locked in unless you go south,” Alchemy said.
“Exactly,” Titus said. “Even then, if we were to swing south around Ender’s Isle and come at the Bloody Tip from that direction—”
“The Behemoth could react and move to cut you off,” Blade said, nodding. “So you’re boxed in.”
“Yep. That dreadnought is bigger and more heavily armed than anything we’ve got,” Titus said, tapping the model once more. “And it’s got its own attendant fleet.”
“What of?” Kalos asked.
“A destroyer, the Heart’s Blood, and four frigates, two of which are running full anti-air packages with the newest gear,” she said. “By the time an airship gets close enough for an accurate shot on Behemoth …”
“They’d be picked off,” Kalos agreed. “That is a problem.”
“Fortunately,” Captain Titus said with a grin that featured more than a few missing teeth. “It’s a problem we’ve been working on for some time.”
“You have a solution?” Blade asked.
“We do,” Titus said, her grin widening. She glanced over at Frost and Barnabas. “We finished it.”
“It?” Barnabas asked. Blade took a little satisfaction in that he appeared as confused as she did by the vague statement.
“It,” Captain Titus said, nodding. “We finally managed to get it working.”
“What is ‘it,’ for the rest of us that don’t know?” Blade said. “A decoy?”
“No,” Titus said, shaking her head. “‘It’ is a bomb.”
“A bomb?”
Titus nodded. “A high-powered, ethereal bomb. A whole lot of explosive compounds, some of which I’m fairly certain any number of blacksmiths back in the homeland would take issue with us knowing, mixed with glitter.”
“Making a bigger bomb,” Blade guessed.
“No, actually,” Titus said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t assist the explosion at all. The explosion reacts with the glitter.”
“Doing what?” Hain had asked the question before Blade could.
“Well, overall nothing really,” Titus said. “If you were to detonate it anywhere else, the ultimate reaction would be … an explosion, really. No noticeable change. But,” she said, one corner of her mouth lifting slightly. “It has an interesting effect on the repulsive properties of the glitter.” Now Barnabas and Frost were nodding, apparently reminded of what the captain was talking about.
“Quit circling around the issue,” Hain said. “What does the bomb do?”
“It deactivates lift plates within its detonation radius,” Titus said with a smirk. “As near as we can tell, the way we’ve packed the bomb redirects much of the explosive energy of the blast into the glitter supply, which redirects it outward in the usual manner seen here on the ice. But since the crystal sealed in the lift plates is fixed in a single position and can’t adapt, move, or redirect, only resist incoming energies and push them back … the blast overwhelms them. A complete, irreversible destruction of the glitter in the plate.”
“Leaving the ship stranded at the mercy of the ice and unable to move,” Blade said. “That’s perfect.”
“A ship stranded on the ice would be torn apart,” Kalos added, his eyes wide. “And even if that took time, it’d be immobile.”
“Yes,” Captain Titus said. “If we detonate this bomb on Behemoth, the Bloodhooves lose their most powerful asset on the Ocean. However, there’s a catch.” She turned towards Blade. “The bomb needs to be delivered and armed manually.”
“You can’t fire it?” Kalos asked. “Or airdrop it?”
Captain Titus shook her head. “Believe me, if we could turn it into a shell of some kind, or airdrop it in, we’d have done it already. But the bomb’s too big to do either. Anything smaller and we don’t reach effective range. Maybe with a few years of tests …” She let her voice trail off.
“But we don’t have those few years,” Kalos replied. “So then, I assume you have a plan for getting this weapon of yours within range of Behemoth?”
“Yes,” Titus said, her eyes sliding towards Blade. “Actually, I do, and now that we have Sunchaser and her little group of reckless and crazy miscreants with us, I think we’ve got the team to pull it off.”
“Reckless and crazy?” Alchemy asked. “Us?” Blade could hear a hint of honesty to his question.
“Don’t worry about it, hun,” Titus said, grinning. “Around here, that’s a good thing. Now, let me explain what I’ve got planned, and then we’ll see what your ‘exile’ has to say about it.” Hain’s wings flared out slightly again as she spoke, and Blade glanced in his direction.
I’m going to have to address that soon, she thought as Titus began laying out her plan. The longer he has that reaction to his past … She shook her head and brought her attention back around to the captain and her explanation of what she wanted to do.
She was right. It was a plan for the reckless and crazy. A plan that was absolutely insane. And as Titus continued to explain how it was going to work, Hain occasionally interjecting and offering his suggestions, she couldn’t keep herself from grinning.
We pull this off, and the Cragtooths will be free to assist Teardrop’s forces in taking the Pinnacle, she thought as Hain, Kalos, and Titus began getting more in-depth with their planning, outlining their various options and strategies for taking the fortress.
We’re doing it, she thought as she watched them move and add forces to the table, plotting out angles of approach and discussing how to best utilize what force they had. We’re going to blow up a dreadnought and then invade a fortress. With an army. Frost was in on the discussion now, relaying her theory on the Order’s interest in finding their old founder. She could see Hain glancing in her direction, a telltale sign that he wanted her in on the action. That was fine. She could do that.
This whole plan is insane, she thought as she stepped up and offered her own opinions on the plan that had been laid out. And to be honest, I love it.
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It amazes me that a story featuring OC's can garner this much attention and get featured. Gives me something to strive for.
One day I'll read this and see what the hubub is about. It's been recommended by other friends on the site.
But for now, just know that you've got my respect for achieving this attention. Good job.
General setup chapter, nice tidbit with the kids. Wondering if there's a way to restore horns in this universe. Crazy team doing crazy things. At this point it's not so much a tight-knit crew for Blade, but definitely a lot of professionals. Aside from the brother-sister combo, they just seem to be there and haven't formed any kind of bond beyond the job. Not that there is time for any of that to happen, what with the crazy cult and all.
That's going to bug me until the reveal.
Piper? Pepper? Peter? Pharoah? Pliskin? Picklebarrel? Primewing? Primus? Prime____? Wonder if there's a hint in previous stories.
6154234
Glad you enjoyed the worldbuilding. It's fun to build all these different cultures.
And the DG armor does have innate magic resistance, though not recycling.
6158244 6164577
6161526
Yeah, there's a lot of threads to follow, especially if you're looking deep into it and trying to pick out all the hidden details! Glad you're enjoying it all!
6164600
There's so much more to come!
6164902
Will we?
6165129
The question is ... who?
6168383
Last time, I gave you fights. This time, I give you battles.
6172031
For the first encounter with a Patriarch in this saga, I was glad it worked out well.
6173684
I kind of suspected there would be some who had this issue. They loved the characters, but not the world. Suffice it to say, you've trusted me this far, I'd encourage you to keep reading and see what happens. You know this is all building towards something ... cutting out before that moment would be a tragedy.
6173759
I'll never tell! Oh no! *Holds pinkie finger to mouth*
But seriously, the next few chapters should prove quite interesting.
6178557
Thanks! It wasn't easy. The Dusk Guard Saga has been built on a lot of hard work and sacrifice.
I wouldn't recommend diving in here, though. I'd start with Rise, where the whole Saga starts off. You could start here, but there will be a lot of "aha!" moments that won't have quite the same depth or meaning.
Still, getting an all-OC adventure fic that's massively long featured is an accomplishment I am quite proud of, no matter what some would say. I'm facing pretty much every negative stereotype fimfiction has head on and still succeeding. That says a lot about the quality of what I've been writing, I think.
6178595
This is one of those comments where I open my mouth and start to say "Well ..." but then shut up, grin, and nod. Spot on observations and thinking, but I'll not spoil anything.
Also, one of my favorite moments in this chapter (this whole arc of gathering the two factions even) is the bit with the kids. It tells us a lot about what kind of leader Captain Titus is and what her future for the Ocean may be compared to what it is currently.
Now things are getting interesting
Whenever Titus said "hun," I was reminded of this comic:
assets.amuniversal.com/b2c234d06d6501301d80001dd8b71c47
The children playing where they didn't belong was adorable, especially the pegasus that Alchemy apprehended. Plus, it showed off more of Frost's impish side. It's nice to see hidden depths, when it can be pulled off well.
Odd question, but it's one that's tripping me up: Do female minotaurs have human or bovine style mammaries?
6183911
Thanks for the compliments!
I hope I don't regret this, but let's go with humanoid (that was how I pictured it).
6183931
Thanks for clearing that up. It's easier to read things when I'm not confused about what things should look like.
Also, Alchemy's saying his line without the slightest hint of sarcasm really sold it for me.
For a variety of reasons, I hadn't had the opportunity to start reading BtB. So I just binged through ~100K words of it in a day. And here are my impressions:
1: This is not what I was expecting.
2: Holy crap this is amazing why didn't I read this already?
3: Rapidfire release schedules make me oh so happy.
4: Blade "Collateral Damage" Sunchaser is rising meteorically on my list of favourite OC's.
5: The Ocean of Endless Ice might be my favourite setting in anything I've read this year. So many interesting concepts, such a nicely conveyed atmosphere. Your descriptions of it are top notch. I love the hovering ice ships, and the mysterious ancient hanging fortress, and how just *there* you feel reading about the snow and the wind. Damn.
The magical version of an EMP of sorts, huh?
6185736
This is the best nickname given to any OC ever.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=branded+theme+song&&view=detail&mid=5787350489279AC3C6665787350489279AC3C666&&FORM=VRDGAR