Chapter 16: Mercy Has No Wings

The storm broke an hour before the convoy arrived.

Rain sheeted across the sea in dense, slanting lines, soaking the deck of the Tempest Wing as Kira stood at the helm in silence. Sayida adjusted the sails, steadying the small ship against the wind. Aria knelt on one knee with her scope trained through the fog, sheltered by the crude sniper hood she'd stitched from stolen cloth.

"One ship," she said. "Standard merchant hull. Fast. No escort. Looks quiet."

Sayida shouted over the wind, "Are we sure it's the one?"

Kira didn't speak right away. Her eyes tracked the ship's profile as it cut between rock fingers, slowing just before the inlet where smuggler routes once thrived.

"Same route. Same timing. Same signal on the mast," Kira said. "It's them."

She turned from the helm. "Sails down. Let the storm carry us."

Sayida obeyed without hesitation.

The wind howled.

The Tempest Wing drifted forward, swallowed by fog and water.

They hit hard.

Sayida crashed the small ship broadside into the convoy's stern. The hulls scraped with a violent shriek, ropes already coiled and thrown.

Kira vaulted across first. Lightning burst from her heel, her body trailing a shimmer of energy.

She landed on the enemy deck just as a guard turned in confusion—her staff cracked his jaw in a single movement.

Three more rushed her.

None of them got close.

Sayida followed behind, twin blades flashing. Aria stayed behind on their own deck, rifle already snapping with precision. The first shot took a man in the shoulder mid-shout. The second silenced a would-be runner.

By the time the crew realized it was an ambush, half were unconscious or down.

Kira moved through them like lightning incarnate. She didn't toy with them. She didn't warn.

She struck.

The ship's hold smelled of sweat, salt, and rot.

Sayida opened the hatch and froze. Aria swore.

Inside, twelve girls. Most under twenty. Shackled in a tight, swaying hold with barely enough air to breathe.

Kira descended without a word. Her steps were heavy.

One girl flinched. Another started sobbing.

Sayida moved in and knelt, whispering reassurances as she worked on the locks.

Kira turned to Aria. "Guards?"

"Tied. Alive."

Kira's expression didn't change.

"Throw them over."

Aria blinked. "You want to kill—"

"No," Kira cut in. "I want the sea to decide."

Sayida didn't argue.

They freed the girls by dusk.

The ones who could stand were brought above. Sayida gave them water. Aria shared rations.

Kira stayed by the helm.

She didn't say much.

Didn't need to.

They took the merchant ship. Scuttled it after stripping what was useful. Left only the Tempest Wing to carry the freed girls to the nearest island with aid.

No flags. No names. No warning.

Just a single white feather nailed to the broken mast of the ship they left behind.

Sayida approached Kira later that night, rain still misting the sea.

"That was more than a message."

Kira didn't turn. "It needed doing."

"I'm with you. Always. Just wanted to say... we saw you."

Kira looked over at the freed girls huddled by the deck rail. Some slept. Some cried. But they were alive.

She nodded once.

Then turned her eyes back to the sea.

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