A Hero With/Out Time

Chapter 19: My breath of air. (Part 4)

We cleared the camp and piled the demon pirates into a stack before throwing them all onto the boat. Most of them were unconscious and the ones who weren't, Marley shut them up with a glare. Surprisingly she hadn't killed the pirates, only beating them into a state which I could barely call life.

"Are you sure you can drive this Rain?" Lara asked me as I unfurled the sails of the ship.

"I think so," I replied. "Help me lift up the anchor." She didn't need my help and pulled the chain up herself. It was awkward but with her and Marley's help we managed to get the ship out of the channel and into the river proper. With this we wouldn't have to walk and had an easy way to transport the pirates. That and we could also sell the ship for money, although I think I was the only one with that idea.

The sun was fully in the sky now and the morning rays shined down upon us. The pirates were all tied in a heap on the deck. Marley stood close to them, while Lara moved across the ship as I told her. Ordinarily I wouldn't be able to control a ship of this size but with Lara's magic we managed to keep it in the centre of the river. We changed the ship's flag to a white one. It wouldn't be funny if another ship attacked us thinking we were pirates.

I was glad to be moving again. At the rate we were travelling we'd be in Reese within a few hours. Everything was fine and although the tied up pirates occasionally jeered at us, they couldn't do much... or at least I thought so. It happened quickly while Lara's back was turned. Even as I saw it, from my position on the bridge there was nothing I could do. The pirate captain who had been silent since we captured him suddenly lunged forwards. A knife shot out from his sleeve. He had somehow undid his bindings and in front of him was Marley. The knife slipped through her stomach like it was nothing.

"Marley!" I screamed and jumped towards him. It was too late. He pulled the knife out with a vicious smile and she collapsed to her knees. Fresh blood dripped from the steel, splashing onto the deck staining it red.

Lara turned around to see the pirate captain lunge at her next. Normally she would have reacted perfectly but as the four armed man charged towards her, her eyes fell to Marley and the growing red stain on her clothes. Her eyes widened in shock. The captain's knife cut past Lara's cheek just as she managed to compose herself.

"Bastard!" her yell surprised me and the captain flew away from her careening across the deck and crashing into bridge. The knife slipped from his hand as he fell unconscious.

I reached Marley's side. She was in shock. Staring at the blood on her hands, the same blood that was coming from her stomach. Her lips twitched into a smile struggling through the pain.

"Marley heal yourself!" I tried to snap her out of it. My words seemed to work as she nodded and a glow permeated her skin. I breathed relieved as the wound began to close. It was presumptuous however. In a stiff jerk her head shook releasing a silent scream. She hit the deck convulsing. I gripped her body and stopped her from moving as much as I could. A minute passed as I struggled. Black ominous lines threaded beneath her skin curling across her body following her veins. Poison. My heart thudded in realisation.

"Lara?" I looked up to see her keeled over on the deck. Her breath raspy and struggling to compose herself.

"I'm... okay," she was definitely not okay.

"Stay where you are," I picked up Marley's body and took her to Lara where I guided them both into the captain's quarters on the ship. It was dirty and filled with bits of coin and loot. I knocked it all aside as I made room to lie them down. Marley's skin was pale, her body twisting as bouts of pain sprang through her. Lara was better but the symptoms were beginning to show as black faded lines sprouted from the cut in her cheek. Without my apothecary kit there was nothing I could try.

I ran outside and to where the Captain was unconscious. My hands gripped his shirt tightly and shook him. He didn't respond and I slapped his face. Again nothing happened. Although alive Lara's blow had knocked him out cold. I tied him back up and moved onto one of the other pirates who were awake.

"You," I shoved my knife towards him and tore off his gag. It was the pirate with feathers for hair. "What poison did he use?" He hesitated. "If you don't start talking I'll make sure you never do."

"I-I don't know. The Captain uses a lot of things."

"Do any of you know?" I pointed the question at all of them. None of them replied. Some just looked at me blankly, others with a victorious contempt. I picked up the feather haired one and dragged him away, throwing him against the railing. "Do you want to live?"

He nodded. I carved a random magic circuit into his skin.

"This is a bomb. You don't do what I tell you and it goes boom, understand?" Again he nodded and I continued. "I need you to steer this ship and take it as fast as you can to Reese. Can you do to that?"

"I-I can," he looked at me fearfully.

I cut his bindings, "Then do it and if you so much as look in the direction of your so called friends I hope your happy with their faces because it's the last ones you'll ever see."

"I get it! Just don't blow me up."

"Then go," I pointed for him to leave and he immediately began to move around the ship doing anything he could to make it move faster. Of course the circuit wouldn't explode. I was just bluffing but from the way he looked at me he was dumb enough to believe it.

I ran through the ship looking for anything like an antidote but there was nothing. When we cleared the cove there wasn't anything I had seen either. It was entirely possible that this was a poison I had never heard of. The vegetation in the Demon territory was different to what I knew. All I could do was hope to reach Reese and help as soon as possible. I cursed myself for thinking dying was the worst possible outcome. This was much worse. If Lara and Marley died.... I shook the thought away and forcefully helped to make the ship move faster.

Hours passed as I continued to check up on their condition. Lara was still conscious but barely functioning. Whenever I entered the room she'd smile to me encouragingly, sometimes she tried to speak before I quickly told her to stop. Marley on the other hand wasn't doing well. Although she had managed to heal the stab wound it only made the poison spread quicker. I was afraid that if it had been someone with a weaker constitution they'd already be dead. In fact it might have been a miracle from the Goddess that she was still alive at all. The pirate's ship didn't have much in the way of reagents, though those which I did find I did my best to ease their pain and prolong their lives.

Finally as the sun reached midday Reese came into view. It was around the same size as Tona and even busier as I could see the streams of people walking on the outer streets. The ship began to slow down as signals from the port flashed our way.

I turned to the feather haired demon angrily, "Don't you dare slow down."

"But we'll crash at this rate," he said panicked.

"Does it look like I care," I narrowed my eyes like daggers. "The faster you get us inside the better." If we went through the proper procedures it could take hours and that was time I couldn't risk losing.

He nodded and the ship regained its speed. The demons at the port began to signal harder calling us to stop. Instead however we came in at full speed crashing against the wooden docks, the ship shaking as they tore into each other. I was barely able to hold on as the ship came to a halt forcefully connected to the dock.