Gears of Troy 2

by Daniel Pierce

  “The wind does not blow in your favor here, friend! You have no chance of escape. We may let you live if you simply do as we ask.”

  “Yeah, you can eat my ass.”

  The motor burst to life, and the Moonshadow sped forward. If I had to dent my girl to get past this punk in front of me, then that was the price I had to pay. I wished I could have seen the looks on their faces as I pulled off a stunt the likes of which they had surely never seen before, but I was way too busy trying to stay alive.

  A second before we plowed directly into the wooden hull ahead of us, I veered to the right, attempting to slide between this boat and the rear of the one Laxos commanded. My men spread their feet out to steady themselves as the side of our ship knocked against theirs. In my periphery, I managed to see several members of the enemy crew fall backward from the unexpected impact. There was no way they saw that sudden acceleration coming.

  Several arrows pounded against our protective shell, and twice as many sailed across the plexiglass of the console. It was then that I noticed Linos behind me, holding his shield over everyone’s heads.

  “Linos,” I asked, “is your backside protected?”

  “Not all the way, Troy.”

  “Everyone, pull in closer! Stand next to me, Linos, and angle it down more. I don’t want your ass turning into a giant pincushion.” I was not about to lose one of my most valuable men due to some silly logistical oversite.

  “What’s a pincushion?” Linos asked, hunching forward.

  “Your ass, if you get shot!” I barked.

  They scrunched in closer, and I bent lower in my chair to allow the shield to come down as low as possible. It was practically wearing it as a hat at that point. Arrows continued to batter our metal layer.

  The Moonshadow’s hull screeched as we drove through the two enemy vessels. The one that had been flanking us was already making its way around the one that tried to cut off our escape. Laxos’s ship was turning around as well. In the next minute, both ships were again on either side of us, sending a constant barrage of fire our way. I wanted to break out and continue our journey east to the mainland, but I did not know how long they would be willing to pursue us, and the gas was not going to last forever; the tank was not even full to begin with. I imagined their eagerness to take what we had was only bolstered after seeing what my ship was capable of. As it stood, we were heading directly for the bay.

  Laxos’s ship rammed us from the side, again forcing my men to steady themselves. I knew their hull was made of much tougher stuff than mine and wanted to avoid as much of that as possible, praying it had not already suffered any serious damage.

  “You are testing my patience, Troy!” Laxos shouted. “And I am not a patient man! This is a clever trick your ship has, but it will not do you much good!”

  His taunts were punctuated by the banging of more arrows.

  “Everyone all right so far?” I shouted.

  I was answered by a chorus of affirmitives.

  “Good—hang on just a bit longer. I’m heading for that cove. It looks like our best shot is to take this fight to shore!”

  We sped on through the entrance of the bay, whose c-shape permitted no escape aside from the one we had just come through. My plan was desperate and tenuous at best, but it was all I had.

  I did not slow down as we darted towards the shore. As I had hoped, our pursuers broke away, not wanting to beach their own ships. This would indeed leave us in a compromising position, but it would give my men and me enough time to gather more weapons for the fight.

  We hurried around the deck, stepping through the amber muck oozing from the leviathan. At least one of its sacks had been pierced in the action. That sticky slime was going to be a bitch to clean, but I just hoped I would be alive to do it.

  Laxos’s ship was approaching the shore, having changed his mind once he saw us go to shore. As we were climbing down, the captain shouted, “You have nowhere to go now! You can still surrender to minimize the bloodshed.”

  Scander answered his request with an arrow of his own, which missed one of Laxos’s crew by half a foot—a decent hip-fire shot from such a distance.

  “As you wish, whoreson,” called Laxos.

  The boat slid over to mine, and his men made ready to board. We drew nearer, Linos and I holding two shields in front while the other two sent more arrows their way. As one of their men fell to the piercing of an arrow in his side, the rest of them hurried away, half making for the steps to go below deck. I had hoped they were not going to reappear with shields of their own.

  “Okay,” Laxos said, “how about the two of us settle this, Troy? What would you say to that?”

  “What do you suggest?” I asked from behind my shield.

  “We fight one on one to the death. If I win, everything you own is mine. If you win, you have everything that is in my possession. Deal?”

  “What of my men?”

  “If I win, they are free to stay here on this island, assuming they do not interfere.”

  “How about you ferry them to the mainland instead?”

  “You are asking too much, Troy. You are in no position to be bargaining.”

  “I don’t know about that—we just took out one of your men, and you haven’t hurt any of us yet. Looks like we’re holding most of the chips from where I’m standing.”

  “You say that as you are hiding behind a shield. That metal plate is the only thing keeping you from death.”

  “It’s apparently more than you have. Guarantee that you will see my men safely to the mainland and we have a deal. Otherwise, we’re going to make this as difficult for you as possible.”

  There was a pause after which Laxos said, “Fine, if that is the way it must be, then we will agree to those terms.”

  “Troy, you cannot trust them,” Linos hissed in my ear.

  “I know, but I’m doing all I can. I’m kind of just talking out my ass here. This is going to be a hard situation to get out of. We’re backed into a corner. But listen, if the unthinkable happens and he somehow manages to kill me, you guys need to spring into action immediately. I doubt they’ll stick to their end of the deal, but don’t waste time trying to figure out if they will or not. This is life or death.”

  “This child-man will not harm you!” Linos argued.

  “I’ve definitely handled worse, but you never know what will happen. If he does end up winning, you guys go down fighting, understand?”

  “I understand.” The others grunted their agreement.

  Half of his crew accompanied him to the shore. The captain himself carried no weapon that I could see, but his men stayed at the edge of the water with their arrows ready. The other two ships drew in, their crews also poised for battle. Laxos had explained the situation to them before coming to land, adding extra emphasis when he told them that they were to ferry my crew to the mainland if I lost. I did not know if that intonation was meant to be a sort of wink to his men, but I suspected it was. My guys were going to have a hard time getting out of this if the crews decided not to honor their end of the deal.

  “Here I am,” Laxos said. “Let us do battle bare-fisted, shall we?”

  “That’s fine by me.” I strode forward, dropping my shield and loosening my belt, letting it fall to the sand.

  So far, none of his guys made to attack, which was mildly reassuring. Laxos took it a step further and removed his shirt. He was fitter than his outfit led me to believe; the bulges of his muscles shone in the fading sun. He cracked his knuckles and leaned from one knee to the other, stretching his legs. I would have popped my own hands as well if they were organic, but I was satisfied with only cracking my neck. It boomed out over the relative quiet surrounding us, an effect I had always been proud of.

  “Do you suggest any rules?” he asked upon finishing his warmup routine.

  “Nope—anything is fine by me as long as you’re not hiding a knife on you somewhere and your men don’t get any bright ideas.”

  “Al
l right,” he said, “the let us not waste any more time with idle talk.”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  I charged him like a bull, reaching out to scoop him in on either side, but he was quick and ducked low as he slid out of the way. He left a leg behind, trying to trip me as I hauled past, but it only provided minor resistance as my shin knocked it to the side. It was a sloppy initiation, but I was only getting the ball rolling.

  He was literally on my back before I had time to turn around, his arm around my neck in a chokehold. I reached up and grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking him forward as I dived to the ground. His head met the sand first, and I continued into a roll until he was completely beneath me. His grip was strong—I’d give him that. He had still not released me by the time he was buried in the sand under the weight of my body.

  His fist slammed into the side of my head, urging me off. Feeling my breath running short, I took hold of the arm around my neck and dug my prosthetic fingers in. They tore straight through his flesh like a wedge of cheese, leaving him yelping in surprise as blood streamed from his bicep. I heard some of his men gasp. The Thirians were cheering, egging me on.

  He had no option but to let go, and I decided to spare him a moment of mercy as we got back to our feet. We stood facing each other two yards apart.

  “You have an impossible grip!” he yelled. “I have never seen a man do something like that!”

  He was huffing, his left forearm now completely covered in a thick red film that was dribbling down to the sand. This fight was going to be over soon. He looked at the hand the had caused him so much pain.

  “That—your hand is strange. What is that about?”

  “Oh, this?” I lifted my hand nonchalantly so that he and his men could have a better view. “This is made of metal. I lost my real hands in combat.”

  “Impossible! I have never heard of such a thing! Metal does move like flesh and bone! Were they gifted to you by the gods?”

  “Something like that.” I thought it best to keep things vague, hoping on the off chance that their imaginations would make it out to be something more than it was. Perhaps that could be our ticket out of this mess.

  “Maybe I shall earn their favor in defeating you then,” he said and lunged for me.

  “I doubt it, dickhead. Sally forth and all that,” I said, meeting his lunge.

  I caught him around the waist with one arm and covered his face with my hand. His fists pounded against my back, but he did not have enough range of motion to do any harm.

  “I could crush your face as easily as I tore your arm,” I warned, applying a little pressure to his head.

  I pushed him away, but he rushed back in immediately. This time, I brought my knee up to meet his stomach. I heard the wind flee his parted lips, and he doubled over. My foot was on his back, and he pressed his arms into the ground, trying and failing to push up against my weight.

  “You know, I really don’t like killing people if I don’t have to,” I said, suppressing the urge to yawn. “I’ll let you surrender, and we can just go our separate ways.”

  “Over my stinking corpse!” he screamed.

  “Suit yourself.” I released him, never being one who enjoyed killing a restrained man. If I was to die in battle one day, it would likely be the result of such a display of generosity. People were not always willing to take the second chances offered to them and just walk away.

  We were back to where we were a moment ago, standing within a couple yards of each other. His eyes were red from the sand and tears streamed down his cheeks. Both his fitst were clenched fists, knuckles gone white from rage.

  “It’s not going to get any easier for you,” I said. “My offer still stands.”

  “Die!” he shouted, once again charging forward.

  I decided that would be his last chance. It would not be best to tempt my luck and risk dying, leaving my king behind with no one to save him. He ducked low this time, but I reached down and grabbed him around the throat using only my hand.

  He was on his back in the sand in the next instant, and I only spared a second trying to decide how to end him. I did not like to make people suffer if I could help it, but I was low on quick and humane options without a blade. Hand-to-hand combat was his decision, so I had to honor it, and he was going to have to live with the consequences.

  As one last display of godly strength, I covered his face with the palm of my other hand and begin to squeeze. I had never actually crushed a man’s face with a single hand before, but I was confident my prosthetics were up for the challenge.

  My knee was on his chest, and he wildly clawed at my upper leg, his screams muffled under my artificial skin. My grip tightened, and his wails grew louder. This definitely was not the most humane way to take a man’s life in hand-to-hand combat, but I was already doing it now, so I had to follow through.

  I looked to his men to make sure they weren’t readying their bows. Every one of them was watching me in stunned amazement as I overpowered their fearless commander. I hoped they were the kind of people that lost the will to fight after losing a leader.

  There was a snap, and my four fingers dug their way in. I pressed my thumb harder against the other side of his head, and it soon followed. In the next moment, his entire face collapsed inward into an unrecognizable mush. Shards of bone stabbed my hand but did not break through its surface. Sounds of agony still echoed up from the man’s throat, so I pressed deeper in, my hand now curled into some semblance of a fist grasping a chunk of tissue and bone. It felt kind of like I was gutting a pumpkin, but Halloween preparations never gave me such an adrenaline rush. It was then the thought occurred to me that I could have simply snapped his neck, but it was already far too late for that.

  My leg was bleeding all over by the time his arms dropped away. Strips of my skin were packed under each of his fingernails. I barely felt it though. His horrified yelps died, and I slowly got back to my feet, expecting his men to descend upon me before I could take another step. But still, they only watched me, shock etched in every face. It seemed as if they were waiting on me to make the next move.

  I raised my voice, saying, “I’ve beaten your leader in fair combat. You heard the conditions, so I expect you to honor them!”

  After a brief pause, one of the men from one of the other ships addressed me, saying, “The Tursha are nothing if not honorable.” I stifled a laugh at such a comment coming from a pirate. If they were honorable, none of this would have happened. “You have bested our leader. It was his dying wish for you to claim his belongings.”

  “And what comes with that?” I asked. “He did not mention any specific details.”

  All of the men exchanged glances with one another and were murmuring among themselves. I could not pick up on anything they were saying.

  The crewman responded, saying, “These ships all belonged to Laxos. We suppose that they are yours now.”

  “No shit!” I did not mean that in a sarcastic way. I was only unable to contain my excitement. This was an unexpected turn of luck. “Well, what are all of you going to do now since that’s the case?”

  “I cannot speak for all of the men,” said the speaker, “but I would be willing to join you wherever you wish to lead.” Many of the others nodded their heads and murmured agreement. “It seems that everyone else feels the same. None of us have any homes to return to, so we might as well journey on under another commander.”

  “Well, that’s just the best news I’ve heard all day.” I picked up my belt and shield and began making my way back to the Moonshadow. “Sure, I’ll take you and your men along.”

  I was admittedly a little leerier of their sudden eagerness to join me than I let show, but I had hoped that if they planned to turn on me, they would have done it right then. They stood nothing to gain by dragging any plans of deception out longer than they needed to. If they wanted to get the jump on me, there was not much I could do either way.

  “So,” I continued, trying to play
it cool, “what else do I get?”

  “Laxos had several valuable artifacts in his possession—mostly jewelry—but, of likely more immediate interest to you”—he grinned—“is the slave girl chained in his quarters.”

  My jaw almost fell open. I said, “I have no need of a slave. Release her from her bondage and send her to my ship.”

  “As you wish, Captain.”

  All of the Sea People had similar skin tone and facial features. I had no idea what became of their original home or if more of them existed elsewhere, but they were not a mere motley crew of wayward individuals who had teamed up with a pack of pirates in hopes of finding adventure and fortune. They gave me the impression that they were much more like a family. This girl they brought to my ship was clearly not one of them.

  Her skin was tanned, but I was sure it would have been far fairer had it not been exposed to so much sun on the open ocean. Loose smatterings of freckles marked her body. Her red hair, which shone even in the modest light of the stars, fell down to the middle of her back. She approached me with the utmost caution, piercing me with suspicious green eyes.

  The girl wore nothing more than a purple cloth strap around her chest and a short skirt of the same color around her hips. I was doubtful she had much of a say in how she dressed while chained up in Laxos’s chamber.

  “Hello,” I said, “I’m Troy. It is nice to meet you.”

  All eyes were on us. I extended a hand for her to shake.

  She accepted my hand and said, “I am Caria, princess of the Ekwesh, also called the Horse People. How is it that you have come in . . . possession . . . of me?”

  “There’s a short version and a longer version. I’ll let you pick which one you want to hear once we set sail.” I signaled for everyone to prepare to depart. “Oh, and I don’t own you. I’m not big on slaves.”

  We moved out, and I filled my new companion in on the details, her electing to hear the long version of it. I told her just about everything that had happened up to where we were now—as far back as my meeting with Helen, only leaving out the time-traveling part. I decided it would be best to drop that bomb on her after we earned each other’s trust, if she decided to stick around.