Elemental Thief Part I : Child of Calamity

Capture

Tayver landed a few moments behind Xilo and Anzael, as she watched the Rulin General stalk towards the man who had the ship's captain bent near completely over the rear railing of the ship. Xilo was followed closely by Anzael, both men looking ready to do murder.

She turned then and saw the little pompous lordling sprinting across the deck, trying to get away from the four of them that had landed, and she gave chase, gliding for a moment, before hitting the lower, main deck and sprinting after the man. Tayver cursed as the Clairvalan Knight caught him and put roughly to the ground.

Glancing at the ship's crew, which stood around, watching the boarding idly, Tayver cursed at herself, knowing she had missed most of the fun parts of this journey. She saw Captain Darya climb up to the larger deck and glance around with a frown, hands on her swords.

Tayver caught her gaze and gave a tense shake of her head, before nodding up towards where the helm was, both of them reaching the Quarter deck as Xilo deposited an unconscious man messily to the deck, glaring at the human left standing. The ship's captain was scruffy, a beard half grown and his clothing looking slightly worse for wear than even some of the crew.

The fight was done, and she'd missed most of it, though there'd not been much of a fight at all.

None of the crew of the ship had drawn a weapon.

As simple as that, the threat was caught, and the only blood spilled was the small amount trickling down the Captain's throat, from where the knife had cut in a little close for comfort.

"If you ever let someone get their blade that close to you again, I'll let them slice your throat." Xilo growled at the man she realised she knew.

"He moved quicker than I gave him credit for, I'll be honest." Oliver rubbed his throat, blinking a couple times, his eyes going from an odd reptilian yellow to a more human shape and colour. "I saw you coming, though."

"You did not see us coming." Anzael laughed, shaking his head, before crouching down to start tying up the unconscious man. "You weren't looking up at all. You were goading this prick."

"You didn't have to sit in a cell with him, listening to him taunt a fifteen-year-old girl with torture and cruelty." Oliver snorted before glancing over at her. "Commander Tayver, it's been a while."

"Your contact was the Captain of the Sea Sprite?" Came the incredulous voice of Captain Darya, looking between the two of them. "What kind of idiot lays a trap with the most famous of Clairval's warships? What kind of idiot doesn't realise it's a trap? Why the hell are you sailing the Sea Sprite? Do you have any idea how pissed Watersbreak is going to be, knowing she's out of harbour? She's a relic. A museum piece."

"She's been out of service of Waterbreak's fleet for a long while." Oliver said, slightly bemused. "You are?"

"Captain Darya Rakier." The woman said sharply, giving him a tough look. "And you are?"

"Oliver del Rei." He said simply, offering a shrug. "Formerly Duke of Watersbreak, Admiral of Clairval."

"Bull..." She trailed off, the fierceness in her gaze fading into confusion, frowning at the man, looking slightly less than sure of her convictions.

Tayver felt sorry for her then. It wasn't an easy-to-understand story, why Oliver was alive, looking as young as he did, as if he aged like the Rulin or Vayans themselves, though by all appearances was human.

Other than the eye thing.

It was a long story that Tayver only half-knew, as the man had told no one but his close friends, though there had been rumours of dragons and power and distant lands beyond the reaches of their maps and patrols.

Darya looked between the rest of them, then back to Oliver, before shaking her head. "Whatever. This is a matter for Rulin and Tisaso to work out."

And she turned and stalked away, back to her own ship.

Tayver frowned after the woman, glancing at Anzael, then over to where Xilo was still glaring at Oliver, who sighed and looked at Tayver. "No one warned the human?"

"Wasn't inclined to." Xilo said simply, pulling off his helmet finally, clipping it purposefully onto his belt.

It was then that Tayver turned, grabbing one of the prisoner's arms, nodding to Anzael. "C'mon, let's take him to the Calamity, throw him in the brig with his friend."

Anzael looked as if he were ready to argue, but he nodded, and took the man's other arm, helping her carry the man across the ship, leaving Oliver to deal with a furious Xilo on his own.

Once they were on the other ship, and had been relieved of their baggage, Tayver looked over at Anzael curiously. "Heard Xilo talking to Wilan. Drakos wants Kethan to face Rulin justice."

"I think they've begun to use the crystals as much as we have..." Anzael offered a shrug, looking at her for a long moment before wincing. "I received word from Janzel. She had headed to the Capital when you came over here with Xilo. She didn't get into details, but they found some pretty dark stuff that that man was responsible for. Verana had to be subdued to calm down her more violent instincts when she found it. There will be no mercy to these men, or those who seek to side with them. And if Clairval doesn't play along, it could still mean war."

Tayver frowned, knowing she was missing something. "We knew he was a dirtbag."

Anzael shook his head, expression sombre. "No. That doesn't begin to describe it. Verana found where he tortured and killed a lot of people. Janzel thinks a lot of them were kids. She lost it, and of course, Drakos lost it. The level of cruelty and sickness that it would take for a man to do the things Janzel suspects happened is indescribable, and if Xilo knows, it means he just saw Oliver being threatened by that same man. I'm surprised he didn't rip him in half where he stood."

"Ah." Tayver let out a slow, thoughtful breath, nodding carefully, though she knew that the truth of the matter would infuriate her when she digested it in totality. "You think Clairval will have an issue with Rulin laying claim to him?"

Anzael thought about it for a long moment, shaking his head finally. "I think that we may have an issue if Verana is still in Clairval when we arrive. But despite the goal of peace, this is something I would start a war over, personally."

Tayver arched a brow at the general, seeing the man she had grown up around uncharacteristically furious as well. If Anzael was in a dark rage, then Clairval was walking on thin ice, and she was certain that there would be more news to come before they reached the island nation's shores.