The Wolf and the Flame

Chapter 1

    "BRACE FOR IMPACT!" The soldiers knelt and grabbed for what they could as the ship collided with the enemies'. The Skian soldiers cheered as both ships stopped dead on contact. They had been hunting this pirate crew for five months, and now that they had the slippery bastards in their grip, they werent going to let go.
    While the pirates scrambled, the Skians boarded their ship, archers releasing a wave of arrows onto the deck before joining their comrades, showing no mercy towards the pirates.
    Amongst the chaos, a female warrior led the charge, slaughtering all pirates within her range, imbuing her spear with wind magic. As a pirate swung at her, she jumped back, using her spears superior range to keep distance.
    She chuckled as she twirled her spear, ramming the butt of the spear into the mans throat, and as he grabbed his throat, trying to regain his breathing, the woman spun her spear again, a miniature tornado forming around her spear tip, swinging it up between the mans legs, the wind magic tearing him apart as it rapidly spun, the pirate screaming as much of his lower half exploded into a pink cloud.
    As she left the poor bastard to bleed out, another pirate ran at her, only to be stopped by a male soldier, who bashed his shield into the mans face, blood and snot shooting out as his head shot back. The male soldier wasted no time to follow up his attack by bringing his sword to the pirates neck, beheading him.
    The soldier chuckled and wiped the blood on his sword off on the pirates corpse, turning his head to the female "Always your rear. Always gotta cover your rear, Rosa" Khubalai Takizawa chuckled as he took a breather, surveying the chaos "We're killing them quick but they're still putting up a decent fight"
    Rosa Lykos rolled her eyes "Oh please. Like you care if a womans rear is covered" She laughed, looking at the battle, the Skian soldiers making quick progress. Much of the soldiers were in a shield wall formation, sweeping the deck with spears and swords. The veteran soldiers overseeing them either stayed in front to battle the stronger pirates or stayed in the rear to command the troops as if it was a trainjng exercise and not a battle.
    In the front, a red headed female soldier was leading the charge, a blood soaked scythe in her hand. Hestia Fotia was as blank faced as ever, cutting down pirates left and right. As she neared the captain, she raised her hand at the first mate as he charged her, a wave of fire erupting from her arm, the first mate screaming as the fire burned so hot, it began melting his skin. He jumped into the water in an attempt to save himself, only to be dead before he even hit the water, his blackened corpse floating to the surface.
    The captain snorted, the large, 7 foot man grabbing two battleaxes from his back and slammed them into the deck, splintering it as Hestia charged forward, her scythe locking with his axes. The girl attempted to blast him with fire, only for the captain to kick her away, throwing her several feet back.
    The brute of a man laughed and rested his axes on his shoulders, his face hidden behind an iron helmet and a large brown beard crusted from sea air and years without washing. His bare chest and arms covered in scars, wearing only brown pants and straps on his back to hold his axes.
    "Is this the best Skios has!?" The beast bellowed, his voice deep and rough on a persons ear "I should have come to your watees long ago!" He laughed loudly and stepped forward, swinging his axes around
    Rosa sighed and rubbed her eyes as Hestia jumped back up and charged once more "Why must she always attempt to do things alone? Come on, Takizawa, lets go save her ass" She cracked her neck before rushing forward.
    "Or we could...never mind" Takizawa shook his head "Some days, I swear I cant tell whos the bigger pain in the ass!" He raised his shield and charged behind Rosa.
    Hestia growled as she ducked, feeling the captains axe swing above her. For a big guy, he was surprisingly fast, bringing his knee into her gut as she stood back up. She puked a little over his leg as the wind was knocked out of her. The captain scowled "SKIAN WHORE!" He roared and raised his axe.
    As he brought it down, Rosa let her spear fly, slamming into the behemoths arm. He roared in pain as he threw the axe at her, Rosa flicking her wrist and a blast of wind knocked the axe to the side.
   She smirked and rolled to the side as Khubalai came behind her, grabbing a fallen pirates sword and throwing it at the captain. The captain eyed the sword with hate as he knocked it aside with his second axe, quickly moving to block Khubalais sword thrust, locking the two.
    Hestia puked up some more before kneeling down, taking several deep breaths. Her rage for the captain ignited as she finally found her breath and grabbed her scythe.  She spat on the mans boots before swinging. As the captain attempted to block, Takizawa bashed him in the throat with his shield and took a step back to avoid the mans massive leg flew up.
    The captain screamed as he fell to the ground, crashing into the deck loud enough to disrupt the fighting. Skian and pirate alike stopped to watch as Hestia placed her red leather boot on the captains chest.
    "Aw, whats the matter, pirate? Not so fun now is it?!" She roared and swung her scythe again the captain screaming again as his other leg became seperated. He tried to raise his axe to fight back but another swing and the axe, and arm, fell.
    They all watched as Hestia stood up on the mans chest, smiling as she dragged her scythe blade across his abdomen, leaving a line of blood as she rested it on his face "You dont die in battle. Not as a warrior. You get to suffer" She spat in his face before swinging a final time, blood spraying over Takizawa and Rosa.
   Takizawa kept his eyes closed and his mouth shut to keep the captains blood from getting in him, Rosa on the other hand simply blinked as she wiped half an eye off of her arm. The captains screams filled the air as Hestia engilfed her scythe blade in fire, butning it until the metal was red hot "Careful. Dont want you bleeding out" She smirked
    What was left of the pirate crew tried to back up, some falling in an attempt to get away from Hestia as she brought the metal to the captains wounds, the smell of burning flesh covering the deck, the captains screams increasing in volume, sounding as though a banshee was in pain instead of a human being, until going silent, losing consciousness from the pain as Hestia cauterized his wounds, sealing them with heat.
    Hestia licked her lips, pleasure and hate deep in her eyes as she looked at he handieork, before blinking and looking around, as if snapping out of a trance.Rosa and Takizawa stepped beside her, Rosa putting a hand on her shoulder "Well I'd say the battle is won" She smiled weakly at her friend, a little troubled by what she had witnessed.
   Takizawa said nothing, instead just shaking Hestias shoulder before going to help the Skian wounded while directing the soldiers. The pirates were rounded up and made to kneel on the deck as Rosa and Hestia walked back to their own ship.
    Before they could step on board, however, they stepped aside as a man in blue armor stepped onto the deck. Their captain, Hanzo Hishigawa, surveyed the seen before taking off his helm, revealing his bald head, clean shaven face, and gray eyes.
   He turned to Rosa, his face devoid of emotion "Status report, trainee" He looked back at the pirate ship, nodding as he mentally counted the captured privates, including the captain who was being dragged by his single arm towards a cage by four soldiers.
    Rosa stepped forward, saluting the captain as she cleared her throat "This battle was a success, sir. Casualties and injured of both sides are being counted right now and will be reported within the hour. After a brief but bloody battle, the enemy captain was incapacitated by Hestia Fotia, and it appears much of his crew is dead, including his commanders" Rosa nodded and stepped back so Hanzo could think on what she said.
    Hestia nodded and stepped forward to salute Hanzo "As the one who brought the captain down, I request he and his crew be taken to Tarabus" She cleared her own throat as Hanzo shot around to turn to her.
    The pirates looked stunned, one trying to stand up in his binds "Dont send me there! Ill tell you where our hideout is! Just-" Hanzo snapped his finger, the pirates pleas went silent as a soldier slit his throat and kicked him overboard.
    Tarabus island was the most infamous prison island in Skios. It was specially reserved for the worst of Skios' criminals. Rapists, pirates, murderers. Once sentenced to Tarabus, many attempt suicide in order to escape. It was designed to be hell. One where the prisoners werent even seen as living beings.
   Hanzo stared at Hestia for a few moments before nodding "The captain may go, but his crew cannot. As much as these beasts deserve to suffer, the fish need food too. Throw them overboard"
    The soldiers nodded and tightened the pirates binds, checking them for anything sharp as they did so. They lined the prisoners along the deck before taking daggers and slicing off their ring, index, and pinkie fongers to prevent them from untying themselves before they kicked them into the water. The pirates screamed and begged even as they submerged, their allies' corpses being tossed in after them.
   Hestia nodded, satisfied in Hanzos answer, watching blankly as the pirates were being kicked off the ship. Hanzo cracked his neck before turning back to the Skian ship "Soldiers! You have twenty minutes to do as you wish with the ship! Whatever valuables these animals had will be sorted through and either returned to their rightful owners and their families, or be divided up and sold to pay for your next shore leave! Helmsman! Navigator! Prepare a course for Tarabus island!"
    The soldiers cheered and hurried up disposing of the pirates, a few taking their time to carry any Skian bodies back to the ship, preparing for their final rites. Rosa and Hestia returned to the ship quickly to go below deck and rest, with Khubalai staying behind to finish the battle report.
   When the twenty minutes were up, the soldiers were all on the ship, cheering and partying in celebration as the ship sailed. The plan was to deliver the pirate Captain to Tarabus and then return to Parmillos. All were excited, all except Rosa and Hestia.