Chapter 21: My breath of air. (Part 3)

After a few minutes walking Lara finally spoke, "Rain where are we going?"

"This path leads back to the main river," I replied easily.

"But the pirate camp…," she looked ahead anxiously.

"It's this or get lost for Goddess knows how long. We can just avoid them."

She nodded, "Alright."

Marley however stiffened, "We should get rid of them."

Her blunt words caused me to frown, "You think we can?"

"It doesn't matter if we can. They're bad people and deserve to be put down."

"Well I can't disagree with that but right now it's too much of a risk. Once we reach Reese I'm sure the Demons have their own kind of guard. We'll tell them where the camp is."

"And how long will that take? They could be gone by then!" her eyes turned down fiercely.

"Marley…," Lara looked at her unsure what to do.

"If you don't want to help give me the knife and I'll do it," she reached out her hand.

"For a priest you're pretty violent," I commented coldly. This went past her obsession with the injured or the sight of blood. It was darker and although she wasn't much younger than me or Lara, seeing someone of her appearance, just a girl, wanting to kill so easily… it didn't sit well inside me. If in a few years the children of Axel looked the same I'd have a heart attack.

Marley's lips tightened, "What about it? You already think I'm creepy right? That I like the sight of blood, seeing people hurt. So what? If I'm going to kill them I might as well enjoy it."

"Marley!" Lara yelled at her, the sound much louder than any of us expected. It blew away the quiet of the night and small animals skittered away in panic. Seconds passed as the tension died down and Lara stepped towards her. "You can't say that. They might be bad people but they're still alive like we are."

Marley huffed, "Let's go."

"Wait," I grabbed her before she could leave. "What are you going to do? If you want, I'll help you."

"Rain!" Lara turned her eyes to me angrily.

I held up my hand to quiet Lara and continued, "If you want to get rid of the pirates we can but only on the condition that if possible we'll spare their lives." I looked between the two. "Is that okay for you both?"

Marley nodded and after some hesitation Lara did as well. It was a risk for sure but Marley and Lara were oddities far stronger than the average person or pirate. If we could get the jump on them they wouldn't stand a chance. The only problem was the Kraken…. Worst case situation I died again and had to repeat the week. It would be annoying but at least if we were attacked by the pirates again we'd be prepared.

We moved on silently and after an hour or so of more walking the sun began to rise. With the light it became much easier to traverse the forest and soon enough we could hear the push and pull of water. I gestured for Lara and Marley to hide themselves while I moved ahead alone. The trees and foliage here were thinner and together with the sun it became much harder to keep hidden. Thankfully however the pirates didn't seem to be paying much attention.

It was a small cove hidden around the bend by thick trees and an open cave like structure that arced around them. The water was quite deep and the pirate's boat sat in the middle. A large channel led away assumingly joining with the river. As for the pirates, they were camped out on the shore. Several more permanent structures pressed up against the rock wall and a bonfire was lit nearby. Scraggy men laid out on the sand asleep and several more stood around yawning. They were definitely the men who had attacked us. The Kraken however was nowhere in sight. In total there were about a dozen of them outside.

I moved back to where Marley and Lara were and quickly explained the situation.

"Lara how many do you think you can take out? Can you do it like the bandits back in Wester?"

She shook her head, "Without Ardent I don't think so. I'm not very good at large scale magic. I have the power but we didn't have much time so I didn't practice it." It was unfortunate but made sense. Lara's job was to stop the Demon Lord not face an army. Her techniques were focused to small fights.

"If it's only a dozen we can just charge in," Marley said. "Some were sleeping right?"

I sighed, "Yes but they still have that Kraken. Without better equipment we won't be able to hurt it." Also I was pretty damn useless against something that big. "I'll try take them out one by one, if something happens I want you to jump in while they're distracted. Got it?"

"Rain isn't that a little risky for you?" Lara asked.

"If it looks bad just come in and save me okay?" I smiled to her. "Don't worry I'll try not to kill them."

"Thank you," she bowed her head.

The two followed me for a while and then snuck to a different part of the cove hiding behind the trees. I headed to the other side. The first step was to take out their sentries. I targeted the furthest away. He was a demon with feathers for hair and clawed feet. He wasn't paying attention and sleepily staring into the cove while standing in what should have been a look out. It was easy for me to sneak next to him. In an instant I had his neck locked into a hold blocking his voice and breath. He struggled against me but couldn't overcome my strength. It was at that point I realised that the anatomy of a demon may be different to a human. Could I really knock him out like this? What if his windpipe was actually somewhere else or he could breathe differently? The questions slipped away as the demon fell limp in my arms. It actually took less time than I expected.

I double checked to see if he was still breathing and quickly tied his arms and feet together with a nearby rope. A dodgy looking bow was set up against the wall of the look out. It wasn't anywhere near as nice as my usual one but it would do. With practiced movements I tiptoed my way across the cove dispatching any pirates that were alone. As I neared their main camp, two others were also now tied and unconscious. Only ten or so more to go, plus the Kraken… I still didn't know what to do with that one.

"Hey you!" the voice came suddenly surprising me. A thick bearded demon with scales running across his arms rushed towards me.

I threw up my arms innocently, "Please I'm just looking for help."

He stared at me unconvinced, "How did you get in here?" He was being loud enough that his companions noticed.

"I just followed the path," I replied truthfully. "Umm, are you traders? I got lost and…."

"Yes we're traders," the pirate smiled. "No need to sneak around. We'll treat you nicely."

"Really?"

"Really," he nodded and stood in front of me.

I let my smile drop and plunged my hidden knife into his leg. He screamed and staggered to his knees. I gripped his body like a shield turning him away and placed my blade at his neck.

"Don't move or I'll kill him," I yelled to the rest of pirates. They looked at me and laughed.

The door to the hut on the cave wall opened and a large four armed man came out. It was clear he held a rank above the rest. His clothes were much cleaner and he even wore bits of armour across his body. That and his hat which screamed I'm the captain.

"By the nine seas what is going on out here?" his eyes locked on to me.

A random pirate spoke, "Some brat snuck into the camp sir."

"Don't just sit around kill him," their leader scoffed.

The scaled man I held as hostage began to shake, "But sir…."

The captain pointed something towards us and with a steady thunk something shot out. A crossbow bolt pierced the man's chest and threatened to go all the way through. Its edge poked out his back. If the man had been any skinnier it could have hit me too. The scaled man coughed blood and fell limp.

"Shit," I swore loudly and on cue Lara jumped out from the trees. She beelined towards the captain at a speed I could barely follow. The captain managed to look up just in time to be ploughed into the dirt. He didn't get back up. From there it was a mess as the remaining pirates split towards us. Most rushed towards Lara and a few to me. With only a knife, a dodgy bow and no armour I ran away immediately. A crossbow bolt flew past my shoulder as someone screamed at me in a bloodcurdling fervour.

The surface of the water beside me began to churn and a thick purple tentacle broke into the air. The Kraken dragged itself to the bank. I turned around to see Marley making her own work, somehow finding a bat and swinging it with wild strength, caving the sides of the pirates who came towards her. A vicious grin lit up her face as the demons fell. It was honestly scarier than the men I was running away from or even the Kraken.

Lara easily cleared the demons who had attacked her and now brandished a stolen sword charging towards the Kraken. I didn't have time to watch however as the three pirates chasing me cut off my escape, slowly edging me towards the water.

"Umm so we can resolve this peacefully right?" I asked with false hope.

"Don't kill him. He'll make a good slave," one of the pirates licked his sword intimidatingly.

I stepped back, my foot submerging into water, "I'd make a pretty bad slave. Though you know who would a great one, her." I pointed behind them with a smile.

Their heads turned to see no one. I rushed towards the edge of their encirclement. The closest one realised and jumped to block my path. His snake like eyes followed me as a forked tongue poked from his lips. I swung my knife pre-emptively and he dodged back only to reply in kind with the small axe in his hand. The rusted blade caught the edge of my skin and tore through it. I winced in pain, drew back and cut into his arm. The axe fell as he yelped but just as I tried to push against him he spat. The thick glob stuck to my chest burning a hole straight through my clothes and sending a searing pain to stretch across my skin. I fell back into the water trying to wash off the acid spit.

The demon hissed a laugh, "Never fought a Fork tribe have you?"

"Can't say I have," the burning sensation died down as I sat submerged in the water. When it came down to it, I didn't know enough about demons to stop myself from being surprised. The three continued to approach. My mana began to charge inside and the ripple of pain through my chest began to rise like usual. Their eyes started to widen in surprise unable to stare at me directly. Before I could make my move however a monstrous shriek echoed through the cove. The next thing I knew the giant body of the Kraken was flung towards me. It sailed over my head and rolled into the pirates as they could only try to run and fail.

I turned around hesitantly to see Lara covered in the blue blood of the Kraken. A stained crooked sword in one hand and huffing annoyed. Marley stood nearby a pile of what I could only assume were dead pirates in her wake.

"Good job," I shouted to her uncertain. Yep… I was feeling pretty useless. If I had sent Lara in alone she probably could have done it all herself.

She ran towards where I still sat in the water. The corpse of the Kraken now sitting very noticeably on the shore of the cove. The three demons who had attacked me were pinned underneath making a racket. Lara stopped beside me while Marley continued to knock the pirates unconscious. The girl had no mercy, clogging them over the head with her bat. She did at least heal them making sure they didn't die from the trauma.

"Are you okay?" Lara reached her hand to help me up.

I took it and stood up, "I'm fine thanks. Though you really surprised me."

"Sorry," she smiled innocently. "I saw that you were in trouble and wasn't sure what to do."

"Well throwing a giant purple octopus is definitely something." Seriously… just how strong was she? "Is there anyone else?"

"No, at least I don't feel anyone else," she looked around. "What now? We can't just leave them and we still need to get to Reese."

I looked towards the pirate ship, "I have an idea or two."