The Eighth Sea

Chapter 9

Wren

What was supposed to be a pretty relaxed day escalated a bit too quickly, even for Wren. He had been expecting to just bring supplies on board, maybe sightsee a bit, then set sail again sometime that afternoon, but nope! Fate had other plans for him! All hell really broke loose when some random guy decided to attack his scribe, and of course, he brought friends. At least four others leapt out from behind crates where they had been lying low, and they were all armed to the teeth.

"What do you want from us?" Hector snapped, ever the negotiator, as Wren prepared to draw his sword.

"Can you please return our scribe in one piece?" Wren added, gesturing to Levi, who, quite frankly, looked like he would rather be anywhere else but there.

"We don't want a fight," the pirate holding Levi started as he watched Wren grasp the hilt of his sword. "Just give us all your money and a few crew members. Maybe starting with this one here," he added, nodding down at Levi, who shot him an icy glare.

Wren immediately burst out into laughter at how ridiculous the request was. Only idiots would try to approach him like that. However, he shut up when he noticed how dead-serious the pirates looked. Clearly, they had never heard of the legendary Captain Wren Fields.

"Let's try to talk this through," Hector said, clearly trying to stop a fight from breaking out in the middle of the town docks. "Quite frankly, your request is a bit insane. Could we rethink all this?"

The pirate replied by tightening his hold on Levi and pressing his sword up against Levi's throat, and Wren could see tiny specks of blood seeping out from the cut, which probably meant he wasn't all too interested in negotiations.

"You do know our crew is right there," Hector added, gesturing to the Jolly Rancher at the port. "You're still vastly outnumbered; all we have to do is call for them."

"Or we could half comply and give them Pierre!" Wren suggested. He was getting fed up with Pierre's midnight monologues and his pining over his wife, and this could be a perfect chance to leave him behind.

"I wouldn't wish Pierre on my worst enemy," Hector returned.

"Aw, please?"

"I second that notion. Let them have Pierre, please," Levi added, his voice shaking as he spoke.

"He's still useful. I'm not keepin' the records," Hector said.

"We can hire a new record keeper!" Wren suggested brightly. "I'm sure many people would jump at the chance to work for me."

Hector sighed and shook his head. "Not happenin'. He's been with us for too long, and it would be cruel."

"Hand over the money and crew, and the boy lives," the pirate interrupted, roughly shaking Levi. The pirate seemed a bit fed up with listening to Hector and Wren arguing over Pierre, and they were starting to get some really weird looks from the people walking by.

"Yeah, yeah, fine, fine," Wren conceded, secretly drawing a small knife from a hidden sheath on his pant leg. "I'll give you some money and a crew. And a knife too!"

The other pirates seemed vaguely enthused by the idea of a bonus reward, at least, until Wren stuck a knife in the leader's chest. He lost his grip on Levi, doubling over in agony and coughing as he clutched his chest with horror.

"Go kill them all!" he choked out.

What wonderful last words. Truly astounding. Quite profound. They almost brought tears to Wren's eyes.

The other pirates were quick to obey their leader. They brandished their swords and rushed at Wren while Hector hurried to bring Levi to safety, out of the way of the fight. Wren was more than happy to meet the challenge, drawing his own sword and running to meet his opponents.