Like many of my other stories, this one serves as an exert from a yet-to-be-written novel. In order to properly understand the title, I have to provide a little background on the stories in the Magical Realms series.
All of these stories tie together in a grand tapestry that spans from the creation of the Magical Realms to far in the distant future. At some undisclosed part of the timeline, different pirates have risen up to conquer their respective parts of a major ocean and have many other pirate crews under them. These Pirate Lords are effectively unchallenged royalty of the seas that none dare to challenge openly.
This story is a glimpse into the life of Rogers, the last of those pirates powerful enough to rise to the rank of Pirate Lord on the world of Terebethia.
A man with a long, but well trimmed, black mustache laughed as he sat his mug down. “No kidding?!” he said amongst his laughter as he looked across the long wooden tavern table. “He really did that?!”
The other man, a large and burly man with dark skin took a sip from his own mug and nodded. “Yes, captain. He got drunk on a keg of dwarven ale and waddled down the pier. He hit that loose board that always squeaks when you step on it and ... well, it seems there wasn’t anything holding it down anymore! The board tilted up and Old Bart found his fat self dumped into the mud head first!”
The tavern erupted in laughter and it took some time before the man caught his breath and could continue in silence. “It was hard to stop laughing long enough to set boards on the mud so we had something solid to stand on while we pulled him up.” He laughed again. “When we finally got him out he coughed up mud a bit. When we laid him on the shore he just mumbled something about getting the wrong brew or he could’a handled it!”
The captain laughed and twiddled with his mustache. “Well, this is sure a change of life. Seems like just yesterday we were joking about paddling our ship across the ocean after the top of it got blown off by that meteor spell ... Now we’re in our own tavern laughing about some old fool self who fell off a pier.”
“Aye?!” piped up a short stocky Dwarf with tanned skin. “What’s wrong Captain Rogers. The life of being a Pirate Lord and managing your own little kingdom doesn’t suit you anymore?”
“Naw, Dudley. It’s just that I miss the excitement indiscriminate raiding could bring sometimes.”
“Well,” replied the man with the dark skin. “You could always return to the old ways and leave your kingdom to your trusted first mate to manage.” He grinned.
“Hah!” guffawed Rogers. “I don’t miss it that much Tigus! Raiding ships when our arse of a neighbor let’s any ships enter our territory is excitement enough.”
Tigus grinned. “Especially when our sea borders change depending on what day it is.”
Rogers laughed and held up his hands. “It’s not my fault they can’t keep better track of the calendar! We informed them of what they were like.”
“Well, it’s nice to see that there’s some excitement here,” said an elderly female voice behind Rogers.
“Wha?” muttered Rogers as he looked back at the woman.
The table fell silent as the woman walked over and pulled out a chair next to Rogers. “This seems like a nice establishment. Is the drink good?”
“Um,” murmured Rogers. “Yeah, the drinks good but you’re about to get more excitement than you could handle ... ma’am.”
“Oh?” said the woman with a twinkle in her eye. “Is that so?”
“You’re obviously not from around here. Brawls are scheduled for every Thursday.”
The woman blinked and looked at Rogers incredulously. “Scheduled? You schedule brawls here?”
Rogers chuckled. “Yeah. At the barkeepers request so he can make sure all the breakable stuff is put away in advance. Everything else is enchanted.” He smirked. “Who says that Werewolves and the like are the only ones who can have fun with those brawl bars of theirs?" He glanced up at a clock. “But you may want to move back somewhere safe. Chairs tend to get thrown around a bit.”
The elderly woman smiled. “I think I’ll be fine. Thanks for the consideration.” A slight smirk formed for a moment as she stared at Rogers.
Rogers noticed the look, “Eh?” He had just opened his mouth to say something when he noticed someone walking into the bar. “Don’t start the brawl early, Todd! We still have twenty minutes left!”
“Yes, sir!” replied the tall and lanky man.
“You never answered my question about a drink,” prodded the woman with a smirk.
“Huh?” Rogers looked at the woman quizzically and gestured for a drink to be brought over. “I hope you don’t mind a wooden mug. All the glass and heavier ones were already put up for the day.”
The woman smiled and nodded at the server as she was handed her thick beer. “And if you’re keeping the brawl from starting early on my account, go ahead. I think I might enjoy seeing it going on around me.”
Rogers glanced around at the others seated at the table with a questioning look. He received confused shrugs in response and he looked back at the woman. “Well, if you insist. I’m sure they’ll try to brawl around you, but you’d be taking your life into your own hands. You might want to move off to the side over there.” Rogers nodded toward the bar in front of the barkeeper.
The woman took a drink of her beer and shook her head. “I’ll be fine,” she said dismissively. “Just go ahead and start.”
“Well,” began Rogers uncertainly. “Alright. I warned ya.” He rose from his tall-backed chair and whistled. “Alright everyone! Lenard, start the brawl! Just be mindful of the woman!”
The atmosphere of the bar suddenly became tense as Lenard stood and tossed his empty mug lightly up and down in his hand. “Hm,” he went quietly as his eyes scanned the bar for the ideal first target. He grinned. “Hey, Chuck! Catch!”
Chuck, a stout tanned Human looked over just in time to duck the mug as it flew through the air. “Oh, is that how it goes?!” he shouted as he threw his chair back and charged across the bar. “You started the last brawl with a sucker-punch when I wasn’t looking!”
“That’s why I made sure you were looking this time!” retorted Lenard.
The woman tilted her head as she watched the brawl begin. “You must have a lot of protection spells on this bar for humans to fight like this.”
“Yup! Only the best! How else do you think we could beat each other up without injuries? We brought in the best paladins we could find, just so we could get away with doing things like ...” Rogers suddenly leaped from his chair and punched a nearby patron in the face and joined the brawl.
The woman laughed and finished her beer in a few large gulps as she got up. She wiped off her face with the back of her hand as a combatant came stumbling across toward her. With a gentle motion, she managed to prevent the man from falling.
“Huh?” uttered the man as he turned around. “Oh, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” replied the old woman with a kind smile. As the man was starting to turn around, the woman slugged him so hard in the shoulder that he staggered back and spun around before regaining his balance.
The man stared at the woman in disbelief. “What the ...?”
The woman smiled and strolled off into the midst of the brawl-filled bar. She dodged and weaved her way through the bar until she was immediately behind Rogers, and she tapped him on the shoulder.
Rogers spun around with upraised fist and managed to barely hold his punch when he saw who was behind him. “Oh ... uh.” He lowered his fist. “You know, it’s dangerous to do that.”
The old woman grinned. “You still can’t bring yourself to punch a woman. That’s very weird for a pirate.”
A confused look came upon Rogers’ face, which was promptly erased by a punch square to his jaw. Rogers staggered back and rubbed his jaw while he stared at the woman. His mouth dropped as he stared at her in disbelief. “Can’t be ...”
“So, about all those scorch spells.” She grinned. “I didn’t regret a single one.”
“It is ...” said Rogers as he tilted his head and then laughed. “And my tailor didn’t either! I ended up buying all my pants in bulk! It is you! I can’t believe it!” The look of excitement quickly faded to sorrow. “But what happened? Look at you. I would have thought for sure that ...”
The woman sighed and looked down. “I know. I would have ... but ... there were complications.”
“Complication? What kind of ...”
“Have you heard of the Solar War? The one fought against the Sun King in the Desert of the Shifting Sands? He used a curse ... It ...”
A chair hit Rogers over the head. “Ow!” He rubbed his head and looked back and gestured towards the other side of the bar. “Keep the brawl over there! I’m talking here!”
“Sorry!” replied one of the combatants before he slinked away.
“How about we talk outside?” asked Rogers.
The woman nodded and smiled. “What? You actually want to hear yourself think?”
Rogers smirked. “Something like that.” He gestured toward the door and led the woman along as the brawl parted before him.
= = = = = = = = = = = =
The woman smiled as Rogers shut the door behind them. “I heard the rumors, but I never would have imagined that you’d become king of a place like this. It’s so ... peaceful.”
“King?” asked Rogers with a chuckle. “Naw. They might call me that, but I’m a Pirate Lord. I conquered the seas and took part of a kingdom when I got tired of not having a place to call my own.”
The woman smirked. “Yet you chose a hostile kingdom that no one liked and treat your subjects better than they were ever treated before. That sounds like a good king to me.”
A shadowy figure watched from an alleyway as Rogers waved his hands dismissively and tried to argue the point. There he is. He’s every bit as powerful as I would have hoped ... but he also seems more alert. He would pose too much of a threat to simply drain and sneak away from. The man’s attention shifted to the woman who seemed to be giving the Pirate Lord a hard time. Now her on the other hand. Her magic is quite impressive ... and she looks to be getting tired. He patted his hand against a satchel resting against his side. Hers will be the perfect addition before I go to sell what I’ve acquired.
Rogers laughed. “Alright, alright, Autumn! That’s enough! Just don’t cast a scorch spell on my butt or throw a meteor at my ship!”
Autumn grinned. “That would only be if you’ve done something to deserve it, or have you done something I don’t know about?”
“Nope, but even if I had,” Rogers grinned triumphantly. “You still couldn’t sink my current ship.”
“Oh, is that a challenge?”
Rogers crossed his arms. “I don’t know. It might be if you were up to it ... but you look kind of tired.”
Autumn sighed. “I am. That’s ... part of the reason I’ve come here.”
Rogers looked at her incredulously and crossed his arms. “You what?”
“I’m dying Rogers. I spent a long time trying to beat the curse ... but I’ve decided it’s best to just enjoy what time I have left while I still have strength rather than pursue agelessness anymore ... which you seem to have reached.”
“Yeah ... and you just want to give up?”
Autumn smiled. “It took me a long time to become accepting of this, but yes. I just wanted to see you ... what you’ve done ... for myself one last time before I settled down for what time was left.”
“No.”
“No?” Autumn placed her hands on her hips and looked at Rogers.
“No. You’re not gonna give up.”
“I’m not?”
“No! Do you know much I came to enjoy our fights?"
Autumn smirked. “What, where you refused to raise a hand against me or fight back in any way?”
Rogers covered his mouth and coughed. “Would you rather that I did?”
Autumn grinned. “Never. It made it so much more entertaining when I did this ...” She held out her hand and a ball of fire appeared in it as she cast.
“Hey, no, no, no, no!” said Rogers frantically as he waved his hands.
The fire faded and Autumn sighed. “I must really get to bed.”
Rogers nodded. “Alright. You know where to stay?”
Autumn nodded as she stifled a yawn. “I already have a room at the inn.”
Rogers nodded again. “Good. Then we can talk about it tomorrow.”
“Talk about ... what?”
Rogers grinned. “How to beat this thing.”
“What now?”
“Do you think I’m just gonna let you give up like this?”
“Well, yes. It’s taken me a long time to accept what was going to happen and I’d like to –”
“Na-uh.”
“Can’t you just let me –”
“Never. Not gonna happen. Do you know how long I’ve spent wondering what happened to you? Thinking about how much I was looking forward to our next bout where I could beat you with trickery, and then try to escape without the ship getting blown up by one of those meteor spells?!”
Autumn stamped a foot and clenched her hands. “Rogers! Why don’t you just –”
Rogers held up his hands. “Alright, alright. Maybe I got ahead of myself ... How about tomorrow we talk about it.”
“Humph ... That’s better. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about it.” She added in a mumble, “You were about to get your pants scorched again.”
“Hah! You would have been in for disappointment! I’ve got my pants warded!”
Autumn’s jaw dropped. “You’re a strange man Rogers.”
He smirked. “Oh, you know you like me.”
“Uh huh,” replied Autumn while trying to keep a straight face. “Tomorrow, we’ll talk.”
“I’ll meet you in the dining room at eight.”
“Sounds good. Then I can convince you to drop all of this so I can go on with my life.”
Rogers scowled. “You mean what’s left of it.”
“Goodnight, Rogers,” she replied through slightly clenched teeth.
“Goodnight.”
= = = = = = = = = = = =
Autumn glanced back toward the bar as she veered off across the empty street for the sidewalk. The door closed behind Rogers and she sighed as she stepped up onto the planks of the raised sidewalk. “If I knew he was going to be like this, maybe I wouldn’t have come,” she muttered as she shook her head.
Her attention turned to the peaceful and quite storefronts before her and the occasional passers-by. She smiled. “And to think there’s so many former pirates living here ... crews that conformed to the way Rogers does things and act as privateers when they get the chance.” Autumn chuckled. “All because it sounds like he got bored and restless when I stopped hounding him on raids ...”
As Autumn approached a dark alleyway between storefronts she felt a prick on her shoulder. A sudden weakness came over her as she glanced into the alley and saw a dark-cloaked figure whose hood-covered face was obscured by shadow. She raised her right hand to act in self-defense, but couldn’t channel magic into it for a cast. “What?” she gasped as the figure grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her into the alley.
The man threw her roughly to the dirt alleyway and placed a hand on her throat to restrain her. His hand began to glow slightly. “Ah, your magic is so much more than I ever would have thought ... and far more valuable than the Pirate Lord’s. I might even sample some of it myself rather than putting it all in a crystal,” he hissed.
Autumn attempted to struggle but all her strength had left her and she could do nothing more than groan as she felt her magic being siphoned out of her body. The sound approaching footsteps and laughter could be heard back on the sidewalk and she attempted to raise a hand and opened her mouth to call for help. Again, her body wouldn’t cooperate with her will and all she could do was twitch her hand and make a quiet “eep” sound.
Just as she thought all hope was lost, the laughter stopped on the sidewalk where it met the alleyway. “Hey!” came an angry voice accompanied by the sound of a sword being pulled from its sheath.
The figure looked at the unwelcome intruders and made a strange growling hiss at them that gave them pause. He held out a hand over Autumn and a crystal materialized that was filled with a strange swirling fiery magic that was mixed with dark tinges. The two people rushed toward Autumn as her attacker fled in the opposite direction. A lightning spell narrowly missed him as he bolted around the corner at the opposite end of the alleyway.
“Sound the alarm! We’ve got a magic thief, and don’t let him escape! I’ll help the woman!” ordered the caster as he rushed to Autumn’s side.
The other man dashed off at a furious pace and managed to catch site of the magic thief. “Stop!” He snarled briefly. Like he’s going to do that. “Alarm! Magic thief! I’m chasing a magic thief who just attacked a woman in the alleyway by the general store! Spread the word!”
The magic thief cursed as he desperately tried to cast a teleport spell. Why can’t I cast?! What’s with this strange heavy feeling?! Dammit! It must be something in what I sampled ... I’ll have to purge. The magic thief leaned forward as he pushed himself harder in an attempt to outpace his pursuer as others bolted out of buildings to join the fray. He slipped the crystal into a pouch on the front of the satchel and held his hands to his side. He cupped them slightly and dark flaming orbs formed in his palms. How could this get much worse?
Rogers and a group of bruised brawlers from the bar appear with a flash in the middle of the street ahead of the magic thief. “Take his head boys!” cried Rogers as he pulled out his sword and began channeling a fire spell into his left.
“Crap!” cried the magic thief as he poured everything he hand into a bolt at the Pirate Lord. He held his hands further from his side as he purged the last of the tainted magic from his body. He grinned as Rogers swung his sword. His grin grew even wider as he phased himself magically, causing the sword to pass right through him.
Rogers clenched his jaw as he spun around, dismissed the spell he had been preparing, and cast a quick spell into his sword while he swung it toward his target. A cutting wave of magic flew through the air and struck the magic thief as he materialized, slicing both into him and his clothing.
“Gah!” cried the magic thief as he winced, almost losing his footing and falling to the ground. He felt something slipping and reached up, only too late, to catch the strap of his satchel as it slid off his shoulder. The magic thief glanced back towards the satchel as it hit the ground, but his eyes widened when he saw that his pursuers were almost upon him. “Curses!” he cried as he cast a teleport, leaving his satchel behind.
“Dammit!” cried Rogers as he stared at where Autumn’s attacker had just been.
“Hey, captain!” cried one of his men as he picked up the satchel. “He dropped somethin’!”
Rogers stowed his sword and bellowed. “Get to tracking! I want to find out where he went! I want his head, do you hear?!” He grumbled as he walked over and took the satchel. After inspecting the latch carefully for traps, he opened it. His eyes widened. “Mana crystals ... and lots of them.” He shook his head and inspected the rest of the pouch. Carefully, he took a loose mana crystal out of the pouch on the front. “Autumn’s” he mumbled while examining it. His eyes widened. “Autumn’s!”
Rogers thrust the crystal back into the pouch and pulled his communication-stone out of his pocket. He put in the magical frequency of the com-stone belonging to the town healer and yelled into it. “How is she?!”
There was a slight pause before an agitated voice came over Roger’s com-stone. “Not good, if you’re referring to the magic-drained woman that was brought in, not good. There seems to be a curse that’s rapidly spreading through her body. Even if I was a paladin, I don’t think there’s much that could be done to stop it.”
“Darn it ...” Rogers thought quickly for a moment. “Get her to the array room in the stronghold! I’m not giving up yet!”
“Yes, sir!” came a quick reply.
Rogers looked at one of his men. “Gather the mage circle and check her for belongings. Get someone to get the things from her room in the inn. If she was trying to break this curse before, she might have something we can work with. I’ll mark the point the thief teleported from so we can track him later and get to the array room when I’m done.”
“Yes, sir!” replied the man as he rushed off while pulling out his own com-stone.
Rogers worked quickly and placed magical markers around the spot where the magic thief vanished from. He opened the satchel again and began examining the contents. “I wonder if there something I can work with ...” His eyes moved carefully over crystals while examining each one and reading small labeling carefully inscribed on each one. “ ... and this might help.” He carefully took a fiery-red mana crystal out of a slot in the pouch and cast a teleport spell.
= = = = = = = = = = = =
Rogers appeared in the array room and looked around as his mages as they spread out and quickly searched through Autumn’s belongings. One of them quickly took note of a carefully warded box and began examining it. “Anything useful, boys?”
“I might have something here,” replied the caster who was examining the box. “This seems awfully well warded and protected.” He glanced off. “Somebody toss me the ward-breaker scrolls!”
Rogers watched as someone quickly searched over a wall full of cubbies filled with scrolls, grabbed a bundle that was carefully tied together with twine, and tossed them to the caster. “Well, I’ve got something here that might be helpful as well!” He held up the mana crystal. “The magic thief managed to find something special!”
“It will have to be something special!” snapped the healer. “She doesn’t have much time left! There’s only so much I can do to channel magic into her body to hold the curse off!”
“Got it!” yelled the caster who was investigating the box. He carefully opened it and he was about to touch a large gem he found inside. His eyes widened in a moment of realization and he pulled his hand back. “It can’t be ... Captain! I think we got something here! Just don’t anybody touch it unless you want to be a pile of ash!”
Rogers looked over, forgetting what he was going to proclaim. “What?!”
“It’s the Heart of Fire! This thing is like a window into the Fire Realm itself!”
Rogers closed his eyes in thought and a grin formed. “We can use that.” He held up the mana crystal once more. “Along with this. The stolen essence of a Phoenix. The poor elemental may have died to give this ... but at least it can save a life now ...” He took a deep breath. “Alright! We’ll use the Phoenix essence, the Heart of Fire, and anything else we need to! Don’t worry about if she’ll have a problem with it or not! She couldn’t complain if she were dead, anyhow!”
= = = = = = = = = = = =
Autumn stirred and groaned as she sat up. She took a deep breath and noticed a strange sensation in her chest. “Hm? What’s this,” she muttered as she lifted a hand and stopped short. The hand she held in front of her no longer looked aged and curse-worn. Its skin was smooth, supple, and looked like it belonged to a woman in her thirties. “How?” With a confused glance, she looked from her hand to the floor. “I’m at the middle of an array?”
She examined the room around her and did a double take at finding a variety of people passed out on the floor around her. Some had pillows, some used their arms, while others used robes. Still others were passed out in some comfy chairs stationed at the edge of the large circular room.
Autumn’s eyes settled on Rogers, who was passed out in one of the chairs. “He didn’t ...” she mumbled as she got up and kicked a foot about. “How could he have possibly ...” Her words died in her throat as she noticed her belongings scattered about at the edge of the magical array. “No ...” She bolted to the box that once contained the Heart of Fire and took a slow last step as her vision cleared the top edge of the open box. “ ... it’s gone.” Her hand went to her chest where she still felt the lingering warm feeling. “He didn’t ... He did.” She looked across the room at the sleeping Pirate Lord. “ROGERS!!”
All of the sleeping mages and healers woke with a start and stumbled about as they got to their feet. Rogers blinked in an effort to wake up as a fuming-mad Autumn stormed across the room to him. “You used the Heart of Fire?! How could you?! I was supposed to protect it!” She gasped. “No one touched it, did they?! What do you have to say for yourself?!”
“Eh, well,” mumbled Rogers as he rubbed the back of his head. “It worked, so I guess now we can talk about whether you wanted the help?” He smirked.
Autumn’s eyes widened and she punched Rogers square on the jaw.
Rogers staggered back and rubbed his jaw. “Ow! We were up two days casting just to save your life!”
Autumn rubbed her hand and sighed. “I suppose you didn’t deserve that ... but saved my life from what? I still had a bit of time left.”
Rogers grumbled again as he rubbed his jaw some more and worked it side to side. “A magic thief. He managed to escape but we did get his satchel full of stolen essences.” He smirked. “That did come in handy.”
“Oh? What essences did you use to save me?”
Rogers sighed and walked over to the array and picked up an empty mana crystal. He threw it to her. “It probably cost the life of it ... but his or her sacrifice went to something good, at least.”
Autumn looked at it and her eyes widened before a look of sorrow settled on her face. “A Phoenix? I hope you nail that thief and ...” her voice trailed off. “There’s so few of them left as it is ...” She walked to Rogers while examining the array and the wide variety of reagents, crystals, and ingredients that were used in her treatment.
“Yeah,” mumbled Rogers. “We tried to track him but he trail went cold.”
“Even so ... there is something that I owe you for going through all this,” said Autumn as she came to a stop in front of Rogers.
Rogers looked at Autumn and her stern expression. “Uh, yeah ... what?”
“This,” replied Autumn as she cracked a slight smile, leaned forward, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Ah-hah!” proclaimed Rogers. “I knew you liked me!”
Autumn gave him a flat look and punched him in the stomach. Rogers doubled over and held up a hand. “Yeah, think I deserved that one.”
The formerly silent mages who were watching things unfold broke out into laughter.
My original plan in what I wanted to post was thrown off by a modem failing and having to be repaired, so I will finally share more about just who the Drifters are next time. It just didn't seem like anything short of sharing a full fantasy short-story was grand enough to make up for being stuck offline for nearly a week.
Tags:
#MagicRealms #PirateLord #MagicTheif #PheonixEssense #DesperateRescue #FormerAdvesaries #ShortStory #TheLastPirateLord