Chapter 5: The Harpy

Chapter 5: The Harpy

Xavier walked through the ship to where they are keeping the ones, they rescued with Ethyn and Creamer, they were filling him in on what happened. One of the prisoners had viewed the other captives as all his and now, when he was on The Shadow, he wasn’t allowed to do anything to them and had attacked the crew members that had been watching over the captives. Xavier decided to talk to the female captives first, knowing they were more likely to speak out against the bad guy. He entered the dining area they had set aside for the women that had been saved.

“I'm sorry for the inconvenience of the rooms assigned to you, I hope we will be able to get you to your homes soon. In the meantime, please let either Ethyn or I know if there is anything more, we can do for you.”

None of the women looked up, they were all too scared. Xavier turned to leave.

“Excuse me, sir, what's going to happen to Elyias?” one of them asked, she had red hair that flowed in waves down her back and yellow /green eyes, almost like a bird of prey.

“I don't know, I will be talking to him soon. I want you all to know we will try to keep you as safe as possible, none of my crew will touch you.” a few of the women finally looked up, they smiled and said thank you.

“What's your name?” Xavier asked the one who spoke up.

“I'm Crimson,” she looked thoughtful, and then took a deep breath, trying to gather her courage. “Elyias wasn't like the rest of us prisoners, he was evil and would grab whoever was closest to him in order to satisfy his needs, whatever they happened to be at the time. We all tried to stay as far away from him as possible, but the cells weren't all that big. He would take one of the men who would be protecting the women just as fast as he would take the women themselves.” Xavier nodded in understanding.

“Thank you for speaking up. Would you like to come with us so you can see him be sentenced and most likely executed?” Xavier asked, Crimson nodded and took the arm that was offered to her by Ethyn. They walked to where the men were dining, and Xavier made a similar speech and then asked if any of them wanted to come forward and witness Elyias's sentencing. None of them said anything but Xavier could see a few were clearly ashamed. He made a mental note to Dock at Brightside before getting anyone home, so that the creatures that lived around there could help them come to terms with what happened.

When Xavier entered the room that Elyias was locked in, he raised an eyebrow. In front of him the creature was trying to be invisible, but Xavier could see him, although he was translucent. He was a shorter the Xavier but stocky and the look in his black eyes not only spoke of cunning but also his evilness.

“What happened to Elyias, shouldn't he be locked in those chains?” Crimson asked.

“I did lock him in!” Creamer replied. Before he could walk forward, Xavier put his hand on Creamer’s chest.

“He is there, don't get to close” Xavier said, “You should have done your research chameleon, then you would have known that no one is invisible to Captain Xavier, the Rogue of the seas.” with a small intake of magic Xavier revealed the chameleon to Creamer, Ethyn and Crimson. His black eyes were glaring at them all. Hate had set deep lines in his face.

“How interesting” Ethyn remarked. Crimson agreed. Xavier released the chain from the wall but still kept the chain around the prisoner as they lead him out onto the deck for his sentencing in front of the crew.

“You attacked my crew when they refused to let you have your way with the women on my ship. You abused those that were unfortunately kept in captivity with you, do you have anything to say in your defence?” Captain Xavier asked the man sneered.

“I don't need a defence, I am a soldier of the King Sarus, I am not bound by this ships laws! I'll do it again and I’ll enjoy it, the more pain I cause the happier I am, and I'll get out of these chains and then I'll go for that pretty little red-haired girl” Elyias replied staring directly at Crimson. Crimson lunged at the man with an ear-splitting scream, causing the crew to collapse as they tried to cover their ears to protect themselves from the noise. Xavier watched as Crimsons hands became talons, wings erupted from her back and her eyes became more hawk-like. He tossed Elyias to Creamer and grabbed Crimson with a magic leash before she could rip out the man's throat. As he held her close and tried to get her to calm down, he turned to Ethyn.

“Personally, I think a harpy is more interesting than a chameleon.” Ethyn managed a slight smile in reply.

Once she was no longer seething, he motioned Ethyn to come close and hold on to her. He asked her to take deep breaths to calm down and managed to get her to shift into her human form.

He turned back to Creamer who was still holding Elyias.

“A soldier of the King Sarus? The Crane King of the south? He has ordered the death of many creatures, more than the other kingdoms, at least as far as it’s known. Unfortunately for you, I am captain aboard this ship, and I rule it as I wish.” Xavier turns to Creamer,

“From what I’ve heard there is only one sure way to kill a chameleon.” Xavier said and promptly sliced the man’s throat and threw his body overboard.

“What way that sir?” Creamer asked. Xavier shrugged.

“Drowning but I also figure he won’t survive if there is no blood to his brain.” Creamer nodded and then looked down at his blood-soaked clothes and walked off.

After asking the deckhands that were about to scrub the deck, Xavier turned to Crimson, she had calmed down but looked freaked out.

“Was that the first time you shifted?” He asked. She nodded slowly.

“I... I-ah, I didn't know that I could do that... I've... I-ah... How did that happen??” she was freaking out. Ethyn went to pat her comfortingly on the back.

“Stop!” Xavier commanded. Ethyn immediately retreated, looking at Xavier with confusion, “Touching her back will cause her to retaliate without thinking and cause her to unintentionally hurt you.” Xavier took her hand and lead her to his quarters