by Heath Pfaff
The section of the ship in which the Brigade resided was left entirely to them. None of the other crew, with the possible exception of Ethaniel, would breach the area that had become theirs since the trip began. There was no set rule, but it was common knowledge that they had made their homes there. I wasn't sure what to expect as I pushed open the door which separated the black cloak quarters from the rest of the ship, but it certainly wasn't what I encountered.
Some part of me had believed that the fierce-eyed half-men would live in squalor, filthy and disorganized, a testament to the part of them that was Fell Beast. The truth couldn't have been further from that. The area beyond the door into the black cloak rooms was spotless. Everything was pristine, and well organized. It looked as though it had all been cleaned within the past couple of days. There was no sign of a spider web or spot of dust anywhere. Whatever else the black cloaks might be, they were tidy.
I briefly considered asking for assistance with what I was about to do, but the thought passed as quickly as it came. If I brought anyone else with me, and they were injured, it would be my responsibility. Besides, I didn't want to give the impression that I had a fight in mind. If possible, I still wanted to avoid a conflict that could result in more deaths.
I walked down the hall, my quiet footsteps seeming loud in the empty corridor. Doors lined either wall, separate apartments, each large enough to bunk four crew members in an emergency. I wondered if they lay empty, or if each was filled with the tidy quarters of another black cloak. Were they all so fastidious in their cleaning? I knew so little about them. I felt out of place.
It was a feeling that had assailed me as soon as I crossed through the door into the clean and well kept area the Black Patch Brigade had taken for themselves. It wasn't that the cleanliness was off-putting, so much as a sense of not belonging. I had come somewhere that I wasn't welcome to be. I felt no outward hostility, and sensed that I had not yet been detected, but that feeling of not belonging did not fade as I walked deeper into the ship.
I was headed for the commons. It was a large open area, with tables and facilities for cooking. Liet had told me that would be the best place to find Kivann off shift. I knew where the commons would be, though I had never actually been there. The interior of the ship was divided into four sections. The front two sections were the same, only mirrored. This was true of the rear section as well, but it was the front section that was most important, as that was where the black cloaks had taken residence. Knowing how the other side of the ship was arranged, it was not difficult to determine where I needed to go. I followed the path I would take to reach the commons in my own section of ship, only I reversed the turns as necessary. There were few turns to make anyway.
A door opened on one side of the corridor and a figure dressed in black stepped out, hood pulled down. I recognized female features instantly, and remembered Liet had said that all the females were pregnant. The black cloak female saw me, and her eyes went wide for a moment. She stepped back into her room, and the door shut behind her. I wondered if she was a mother to be, or if she was already a mother. All of the females would soon have children. Even having had Kay, the concept of children seemed alien to me. I had been a terrible father.
I was curious about the black cloak child already born, but I would need to handle the situation with Kivann before I could make any further inquiries into the health of our newest crew member. Even then, it was unlikely the black cloaks would be eager to accept my intrusion. I was an outsider to them. The actions I was embarking upon, I knew, would not help that situation.
The sounds of voices drifted to my sensitive ears from further down the hall. I was approaching the commons. The jumble was too thick to pick any one voice out, but the conversation seemed light and was interspersed with laughter. For all practical purposes, it could have been any group of people in the mysterious commons still further ahead of me. Away from the scrutiny of the rest of the crew, it seemed that the Brigade, for all their seeming hostility and bleakness, were not so very different after all.
I cleared the last of the distance to the black cloak common room with some trepidation. I was about dark business. I wasn't happy to be doing it, but it had to be done. I would try my best to make them see reason, and if reasoning failed, I would resort to the universal language of violence. It was, sadly, a tongue I spoke only too well.
I entered the commons. The black cloaks around me were hardly recognizable. Most of them, though not all, were dressed in normal clothes, likely taken from the supplies in the hold of the ship. The few that were in cloaks wore theirs hoods down, and had their weapons off and laid to the side or on the tables before them where they sat. The tables were full with men playing cards, and men drinking and eating. I saw a few women amidst them, some dressed in feminine clothing, a strange sight to see over their Fell Beast bodies, even stranger than such a sight on a Knight of Ethan.
As the first eyes fell on me, a wave of quiet swept through them, moving from the first to notice, and outward, until the entire room had fallen to silence. Before I had felt that I was some place I wasn't meant to be, at that moment there was no denying the significance of my intrusion. Every eye in the room fell upon me, and though not all were hostile, those that weren't, were confused. I had pierced a secret place, and the black cloaks were, perhaps rightly, agitated.
"I'm here to see Kivann." I said, deciding the best course of action was to directly confront the problem, and get myself away as quickly as possible. The tension level in the room rose immediately. A table with eight black cloaks around it stood up as one. I saw hands reaching for swords, and heard the sounds of steel on leather as weapons were drawn. A few other warriors around the room stood and drew weapons. One of those who stood was a woman, dressed in a pale sun dress, her bestial body seeming so unusual in the fabric. She'd taken the sword of the armed man next to her, and held it defensively. In her dress, I could see the bulge of her stomach, heavy with young.
A figure stepped from the group of eight, dressed in his black cloak, the hem of the fabric still damp from his work down in the pump rooms. He was bigger than the others, a wall of a man, tall and imposing. His hood was back, revealing a young face, with a firm jaw line, and hard gray eyes. He held his sword with confidence, though all of the black cloaks did, his was a casual confidence that bespoke some talent with the blade. His hair was short, roughly cut, and hung bedraggled about his face, giving him an ominous cast.
I had not expected hostilities to rise so quickly. I did not reach for my sword. I had the advantage of speed. If it became necessary, I could draw and defend myself before those around me attacked. There was still a good amount of distance between myself and even the nearest of those who'd stood in Kivann's defense. The pregnant female was the closest, only five paces away from me. That distance could be closed quite quickly. I didn't wish to cross swords with her. I did not want to be responsible for the death of a mother and her unborn child.
"King Noble, you are not welcome here." It was Kivann who spoke, his voice had the gravely edge of the Fell Beast, but there was barely restrained hostility beneath it.
He had not introduced himself, but I knew the large man was Kivann. He would not have stepped forward if he wasn't. He was leading the others. It had been he who first stood from the table. The others had followed quickly, but his motion had begun before the others.
"This is my ship, Kivann. I'm welcome wherever I might wish to be." I answered calmly, keeping my voice steady. My eyes traced the numbers of risen black cloaks. Twelve had stood with Kivann, including those at his table and the female. That made for thirteen possible enemies. Others might support his cause, but they were not willing to do so openly. There was always the possibility that some might be waiting for trouble to start before jumping in, but I did not believe that those with such a heart for subtlety would number high among the black cloaks. They were driven by the same Fell Beast compulsions I felt driving inside of me.
The beast insi
de of me already stalked its confines, growling and snarling, its vicious teeth gnashing at the prison in which I kept it locked. It could sense death coming, and it wanted to be free. I knew the black cloaks around me must be feeling the same impulse. Violence, death, lust, these were the creature's primary driving forces.
Kivann stiffened at my words, his eyes filling with hostility as I claimed the ship as my own. Liet had not been deceiving me. Kivann wanted the ship, and he was doing a poor job at hiding that fact. I could see his knuckles whitening on his sword hilt. Anger, while powerful, could weaken the form of a good swordsman. That tightening of grip would not help his grace with the weapon. His anger worked in my favor.
"Why have you come, King of Men?" Kivann spat the words with venom, emphasizing the word "men," as if to let me know that I was no king to the black cloaks.
"You want my ship." I kept my voice level, without accusation. I was rarely good at establishing a point in a subtle manner, and with the Kivann, I didn't believe it was the best approach anyway. "I'm willing to let you have it." Kivann's grip on his sword loosened, and his expression became confused.
"You'd give us your ship?" He asked, a smile coming to his features. "Fear. Death has filled you with fear?"
"Once this ship reaches its destination, I will turn it over to you and yours, along with any remaining supplies." I said, ignoring his jibe. If I could get out of the situation without violence, I would have achieved my goal. I hoped that Kivann would see the benefit of settling matters without any loss of life.
Kivann's smile soured. "No. The king commands. We die. Too long have we served. We want this ship now. You Knights and Humans, you can take the escape boats. We'll let you have water, food. We'll let you live. No more."
I shook my head. "I don't think you understand the situation, Kivann." I began, not liking the direction the conversation was turning. I would not lose my ship before we landed on Tett O Sut. "This ship is mine. I know your women are with child," at this a rumble of alarm passed through the black cloaks. I knew their secret. "and I am giving you this ship because I believe your services to the throne do not deserve to go unpaid. I will not, however, be given ultimatums on my own craft."
"You don't understand, Oath Breaker." He used the mocking title first given to me by the black cloaks a long time before. It had been years since I'd been called by that name, but it had never bothered me. "We have served. We shed our blood for you without our will. We had no choice but to follow you to our deaths. Thousands of our comrades, dead. How many for this ship? How many for the whims of Oath Breaker?! You say that the ship is yours? Whose blood soaks its planks?" Kivann's voice rose as he spoke. A few more men stood up, drawing their swords. Kivann's message was powerful.
"You want to protect your women, and your new children. I respect that, but I have a daughter to protect as well. If this ship does not reach its destination, she will be left in the hold of the Hungering. She has already been with them for nearly six years. I will not be turned away now, Kivann. Once I am on shore, you can have my ship, but not before then. I will fight to the death to get this ship to my daughter." I still did not move for my sword, but I knew my words might be taken as a declaration of war.
"Then we will kill every human and Knight. We of the Brigade take what is ours. We will not be ignored. We will not serve." Kivann took a step forward as he spoke, and the others around me also inched forward. There were seventeen including Kivann and the pregnant woman.
"Please, Kivann, no one needs to die." I held my hands out palm up, my last attempt to plead for a peaceful solution. "You can have what you want. You've waited so long, you need only wait a little . . ."
"Silence!" Kivann sprang forward, and so did every other standing black cloak in the room.
My heart hammered in my chest, and the world slowed around me. They were fast, and dangerous, but I was faster, and far more lethal. I pressed forward, letting the resistance of the thick ship air whip at me, even as I drew my blade from my shoulder sheath. The weapon came free easily in my hand, glinting like silver fire under the dim lighting of the ships interior. Even slowed, Kivann was coming fast, his Fell Beast strengths giving him the ability to move with terrific speed. His eyes though, were not equipped to handle the motion, and he was forced to maintain a line once he'd taken it. I used the flat of my blade to turn his charge. His momentum shattered against the side of my larger weapon, and he was thrown to the side, even as those around him attempted to reach my body with their steel. To their eyes, it appeared that I vanished before them. In my slowed perception of the world, I could see the confusion forming on their faces even as I twisted my sword's line of motion with a powerful swing that knocked multiple incoming thrusts uselessly to the side. I ran out wide and stopped as far from the aggressors as possible, allowing the world to resume a normal pace again. I had managed to avoid matching swords with the pregnant woman.
"Take that as a warning." I called across the room, and all eyes shifted from where I had been, to where I had moved. "I can kill you if you make me do it, but I'd prefer not to. You are my men. We have fought together through many situations. Let us not shed each other's blood now, when we are so close to the end of this journey."
"You say you'll give us this ship when we reach land," Kivann spoke after righting himself and doing his best to appear that he had not been knocked easily aside. "yet what have you ever done for us? Hollow words. Empty promises. Give us this ship."
"There are only two, maybe three months of travel left. You would risk all these lives over so little time? If you can take the ship by force now, couldn't you do the same in three months if I do not keep my word? You have nothing to lose by waiting, but the lives of yourself and your fellows are forfeit if you make the choice to fight now. I'm tired of killing my own, Kivann. Let us end this without bloodshed." I kept my tone firm, but spoke from the heart. I did not desire any further death. I couldn't believe that Kivann would risk the lives of his own men, knowing that his power was much less than mine. The other black cloaks watched him expectantly.
"Three months will see all the young birthed. Young make us vulnerable. You wish to weaken us. I'll kill you here. We will take the ship today. You've brought this to the crew. You came here and brought war. We might have waited. Now there are no options." My heart sank at Kivann's words. His will was set, and there was no turning him from his path.
"Let none say I did not try to stop this." I said, loud enough so those around me could hear. No new bodies joined Kivann's side, and I did not believe any others would. If he defeated me, I did not doubt that they would help him achieve his ends, but by the same token, if I won, they would finish out their three months on ship without complaint. They would let a test of might make their decision for them.
"We take him as one." Kivann called, and then his men charged. My body reverberated as it shifted into the depths of its power and speed, quaking to the very bones as every muscle knotted like steel to force the unnatural momentum I would need to stay alive. Seventeen enemies, even if they were not Knights, could overwhelm even the fastest of men. I had to get the odds down in my favor. I charged the men closest to me, my blade leading the way. My reach, thanks to Snow's specially designed weapon, was far beyond that of my opponents. I drove my blade through the charge of the first opponent I encountered, and into his body. The stroke should have killed him instantly, but he grabbed a hold of my blade. I felt his muscles tightening on the weapon, and suddenly I was hard pressed to pull it free from him. Normally I would have ripped the sharp steel out and moved on, but he was using his fearsome grip to end the threat posed by my weapon. Blood frothed at his mouth from the fatal wounding, but he did not loosen his hold.
Two more black cloaks charged in from the sides, one of them the pregnant female. I released my sword with a hard shove of the weapon and leapt at the male on the other side, ripping his throat out with my razor sharp claws. His swing, which he'd started before I'd even let go of my sword, had little for
ce behind it by the time it struck the left side of my body. The blade gouged, but did not cut deeply. My blood joined the rest of the blood spattered across the floor. I didn't need to turn to know the female was coming in for a kill. I dived to the ground and rolled forward, skidding to a stop, and tearing long trails in the wood floor beneath me. The pregnant female's sword was wedged into the ground where I had been just a moment before.
I tore across the floor as fast as I could and grabbed the dropped sword of the Brigade member I had just slain. The first one I'd injured was still standing, my sword protruding from his chest, with both his claws gripped tight around the hilt. He was no longer a threat, but until he died my sword would stay where it was. I charged the next approaching group. They'd been running since the beginning of combat. Only a few brief moments had actually passed, but in that time much had changed. They charged blade first at the last position they'd seen me, but I was no longer there. I stepped between two of them, lashing out with two swings, severing an arm and a head before diving to the ground to avoid a claw swipe from the man whose arm I had just removed. I ducked the claw, but the blow was too fast for his companion who was just behind me. The powerful stroke tore into the already headless body and sent it spinning backwards into the next group of approaching enemies.
I righted myself and charged forward again. I heard the sound of a string thrumming, and dodged out of reflex. A barbed bolt tore into the flesh at my back before I could even spin to see where it had been fired from. By the time I'd spun, I saw that two more black cloaks had charged in while I was occupied, and the bolt had been fired from only two feet away. It must have been a blind shot, but it had been enough. My momentum was still carrying me away from the shooter, even as I spun to face him, and I felt myself strike something warm and heavy with my now injured back. Suddenly there were powerful arms locked about me, pinning my arm to my side.
