The Lands of Ralosia & Ranuulo (Books 1-3)

Cook & Chill Chapter 3- Coppah

~Chapter 3- Coppah~

         Under the full moon, Coppah ordered her crew to start hauling their take for the week onto her ship. Ropes anchored her ship to a small beach with an overcast of rock hiding it.

         The shapely Mecarne, Coppah, wore thin clothes over her chest and legs, with several daggers along her hip. She had a distinct bronze tint to her metal-looking flesh. Occasionally, she'd catch her men ogling her. One of the more foolish men under her command was missing an eye, the price he paid for daring to touch her.

         Ekor and some of the other commanders had recently dropped off their hauls to Coppah - it was her job to bring it back to Cook and Chill. Wooden barrels filled with supplies they had stolen were stacked on the sand, while Coppah's crew lugged it onto the ship.

         She narrowed her eyes as she watched them move at a snail's pace, picking up only single barrels at once. For such muscular men, they were pitifully weak. She always advocated to recruit more Mecarne, but Cook and Chill didn't like that - they were harder to reign in. Cook and Chill could more easily intimidate Ralosians and Phantines. Like those Phantines in the Bog Woods.

         Every few years, Cook and Chill sought to expand their enterprise and amass more numbers. After hearing about Ekor's crew falling apart, they decided to expand. When they discovered a weakened Phantine tribe living in the Bog Woods, it seemed like easy pickings.

         Cook and Chill gathered some of their commanders, including Coppah, and attacked. All the Phantine men were detained, and the women fled. Of all the men, their Chief was the most problematic. But once Chill stepped forward, he defeated him in an instant.

         The Phantine men of the tribe were shackled and sent to the Pit. Coppah knew that most of them wouldn't survive. They'd be pitted against each other to find the strongest of the bunch. They'd be broken until they understood their only choice was to obey Cook and Chill. Same as what was done with Ekor many years ago.

         Coppah impatiently tapped her foot in the sand as her crew slowly filled up the ship. She was becoming anxious. She saw a shadow of a bird on the ground, looked up, and saw nothing. She found it odd - why would a sky rider fly around there? Even if it was one of the seagull or pelican riders from Tortusa, it's strange for them to fly around at night.

         She saw silhouettes approaching her ship before disappearing near their supplies. Coppah pulled one of the daggers from her hip and readied it.

         "Everything alright, boss?" One of the members of her crew asked.

         Coppah narrowed her eyes. It appeared as if one of the barrels moved on its own. She threw her dagger - it plunged through the barrel and came out the other side. She circled the barrel and found no one.

         Maybe she was just seeing things.

         "It's nothing," Coppah answered flatly, "Just hurry up and get everything onto the ship."

         Barrels were carried onto the lower deck of the ship for storage. Coppah couldn't wait to set sail; she had this feeling of unknown eyes on her. Brisk sea winds carried them far out onto darkened water. She could've sworn she saw the silhouette of a sky rider lingering above them, but as soon as she checked again, it disappeared.

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         On the bottom level of the ship sat dozens of supply barrels that had been stolen by the bandits. But that was not all they held. One of the barrels began to wriggle about, compelled by what was inside. With a tiny beam of blue light, a hole was created in the barrel and blue eyes peered through it from inside.