The Elantra Pirates

Chapter 18

"You ready?" Li came into the tent, Shug was resting on the floor for about thirty minutes. "Your little friend is all patched up, no serious damage to her head so be thankful for that."

"Oh thank god." He was relieved.

"Still surprised you came out fairly unscathed."

"Guess I'm just lucky."

"You better hope your luck stays like that. Take your weapon with you."

He got up off of the ground, picking up the bone club leveraging it on his shoulder as he trotted out of the tent.

Brentha and Kurt walked up together. She had a bandage wrapped around her head. She was more lively than ever as her eyes lit up as she saw Shug.

"Shug!" She said as she ran up to him for a hug. "I'm glad you're ok."

"I'm glad you're ok as well. Thought you were gonna have a concussion or something."

"Thankfully not. To be honest." She leaned in close. "I didn't really trust these guys. I thought they were gonna kill us."

"Well they didn't." He said as he patted her on the shoulder.

"You guys don't have time for your little chit chats," Kurt butted in. "Now let's get going, we'll lay out the plan for you." He started leading the charge. Shug, Brentha, and Li all followed him towards a set of two carts. "You'll both be sharing a cart while Li sticks behind you. He will be your guide on how to get around here. Now we don't know where exactly Angeline's base is but we know she lies somewhere along these rails. Maybe she's resting or something but we haven't seen her in a while, even though she checks up on us regularly."

"Once we get in there." Li chimed in to finish. "Her fortress is just a connection of minecarts like a train. But filled with a huge amount of crystals, very sharp that it hurts to touch. So with that club of yours, we're gonna smash them into tiny pieces so we can get on. Only problem is that we have no idea what kinda power she's fully capable of. I've seen her kill before but I've never seen her take on someone in an actual fight. I believe this'll be a tougher fight than any of you are ready for."

"You two are very brave. Coming down here in the first place. Didn't you get warned to stay away from this cave?"

"It was actually the opposite." Brentha responded. "We were advised to come here."

"By who?"

"A guy named Jinlin Lofter."

"Hmmm, oh right that rich dirtbag. I'm guessing he wants the mushroom as well."

"No, we're trying to cure our friend of the Vill stone."

"Really now? Well you shouldn't be taking this much time to chat. You guys curing your friend is very unlikely but I appreciate your dedication."

They approached the mine carts, with Shug and Brentha getting in the first one together and Li squeezing in the one behind them. Kurt jumped on the track and connected them.

"Alright now, imma give you guys a good push and from there you should be good to go." Kurt explained as he got behind Li. "Good luck out there, and if you don't come back, at least you went down fighting." He started running and shoved the carts forward up the track. He was running for a few good seconds, driving the cart until giving one huge final thrust as they got sent flying. "Take that bitch down!" He yelled one last time before he disappeared out of view as the track took a sharp right turn.

The wind breezes through Shug and Brentha's hair as the red glow from the crystals below them gets brighter and brighter. The track they were on was near a cave wall that overhung the shining red gems.