Othello the Legatus Act 3 Part 1.32

Act Three Scene 3 Part 3

Iago hesitated in his move. He looked to Othello.

"I think not now, Othello. You are in anger and pain. You may do worse than last night." Iago told him. He then probed on the friendship of Cassio and Desdemona.

"One voyage, and he had charmed her? I salute the other for his ways. It took me ages to charm my love." Iago spoke out in a cynical manner.

"Who? You meant Cassio. No, he knew Desdemona, even before myself." Othello replied.

"I meant no ill intent, Othello." Iago defended himself.

"None taken. Why do you asked? Is Cassio not trustworthy?" Othello asked back. "Have I mistaken him all this time?"

"Trust is the word he is." Iago replied.

"I want a honest reply, Iago. I am still your friend." Othello shouted at the other.

"Deny not me the privilege to keep myself of the thoughts of another man. We are akin to brothers; we had shared many journeys, fought many battles, and even bathe in the same stream." Iago told Othello. "You and him included. Do you think we .."

"Could read the other? No! I can't. You tell me of him as from your view." Othello glared to the departing figure of his love. He ache in his heart if she had hurt him.

"Tell me. Iago. He may had something not whispered to me but you may know. Too hideous to be revealed, but meant a lot to him. He may had to tell to let it off his chest. You told me he is trustworthy, but you spoke in pain to say the word. So tell me what you would not say, or be damned to eternity that I had mis-trusted you."

"Please, my Legatus. Don't let this be our moment of disbelieving in the trust we all had. You know I love you. " Iago fell to his knees and bowed to his Legatus.

"I think you do, And I know of your trust and love. But the last words of yours weighed against them. For I see in you now, a mis-trusted legionnaire that may stabbed me in the back. One admission I would not deny now, that its been spoken to you." Othello looked to the man before me. "Iago, I love you but make me do it once again. And for Micheal Cassio sake please."

"Mentioned not Cassio in the same tone. He is trustworthy I can assured you, my Legatus." Iago defended the other.

"Then speak your mind as one of mine. Hold nothing back for the open words would reveal the truth or ...it false messages." Othello told him.

"Messages I am to utter, are bound by the duty of friendship. But if the vile ones are spoken by me on others, would it not be the same as the thieves who forego their oath. If that was to be, then the whole friendship of ours should not had been forged."

"True words, but in conspiring against your own friend for his good, make haste his recovery to become closer friends. Don't betray him but denying him the truth of his actions." Othello told Iago. "Speak my, my friend."

"Aye, my Legatus. I would speak as if I am reporting to you on the Legions. I am a Centurion and my faith is in my leader while my command are my men. If they failed me, my faith with the leader would be shaken. For that, searched them out in the strength and weakness, weed out the bad ones, and nurtured the better ones. I spied on them to learn their ways and sometimes, it may be of weak excuses to the hard ones of jealousy among the ranks...."

"Iago, speak to me not in riddles, but in words. I command thee." Othello grew impatience.

"You hold in you the purse of hard earned coins. You held it there in trust. Its yours and yet not yours for some had taken it from you. Supposedly someone had slipped into your coins from below, and removed its content from it. You may end up holding only an empty purse. It would make you angry, but you may not know how it was to be then."

"Riddles, riddles, I heard them many times. I know not what you mean, Iago." Othello beamed up his eyes to the skies. "My Gods bear witness to this. This friend of mine shall tell me the truth today."

"Othello, don't invoke the Gods on your jealousy." Iago spilled it out.

Othello the Legatus Act 3 Part 1.31

Prologue 19

Othello looked at Brabatio seated at the head of the table. They are still waiting for the one other guest to arrive. The old member of Senate was getting irritated that the others are here, but not his loved one; the daughter he had named Desdemona. She soon arrived, and did not offer any curtsy bow to the one other who was also at the table; Lady Alicia of Venice. 

"Dear Desdemona, please greet our guests." Brabatio looked sternly at her. The daughter of his looked up and nodded to her father. She then nodded to the dark masked man and the several guests in attendance, but stopped short of the lady who sat opposite her.

"And what of Lady Alicia? She is also my guest." Brabatio was clearly then very upset. Desdemona looked to the lady and leaned over.

"He snores and farts in the night. Oh, the stench of it would even drive the rats to the cellar." Desdemona told the lady who reacted with the disbelief in her eyes.

"Ah! Shut the fake expression. I am just cautioning you not to be sway by the gold and coins in his care. They are mine by law on his death." Desdemona continued on. The lady in focus was upset and stood up to announce her departure from the table. The other guests of her entourage chose to follow suit leaving Othello, Cassio and Brabatio there with the errant young lady.

"What devil had taken your senses, Desdemona? Lady Alicia was our guest....." Brabatio spoke to his daughter.

"She would not be anymore. Neither would she spread herself for you, Father. I would not have her take over my mother's bed." Desdemona stood up and looked to the other two.

"My mother died a long time ago, but her spirits roam these walls. If my father choose to re-marry, he can do it in another house." Desdemona made her statement and left the table. Cassio got up and followed her. Othello looked to the departing couple and then back at the older man.

"I think I would be leaving now, Brabatio." Othello announced.

"No, please. Stay. I am in need of some comforting." Brabatio looked to the doorway which his daughter had taken. "I had tried to get a new mother for Desdemona, to quell her ....unruly manners, but she had desisted all my requests, and ....choices."

"I am sure Desdemona loved her mother and ...." Othello tried to justify the outburst by the lady.

"Oh, you are not aware of her antics as yet. You hardly knew her. Cassio did, as he was at his father side when they came to visit us. Desdemona is a outspoken lady like her mother, and a believer in fighting for the unprivileged or the so called innocents. She once argued with me on the plight of a beggar who came to my kitchen for food."

Othello laughed and then apologized to the older man.

"I am most amused at the lady's character. Truly a strong one, and yet ....." Othello was cut off.

"Yeah, she is. If you can command a Legion, perhaps one day you may over her." Brabatio hinted over. Othello continued his laughter.

"Me? With my dark mask, many of them shied away. I doubt I would be good for her. Cassio may be the one." Othello was seldom wrong in his judgment, but the night he was very wrong to assumed otherwise.

Othello the Legatus Act 3 Part 1.30

Act Three Scene 3 Part 2

The walk to the harbour was slow and entertaining for Cassio as Desdemona never stopped talking. He was initially walking in front of her but when they neared the tavern, she was beside him. They were sharing a laugh when they saw the Legatus who was with Iago a distance away.

"Hello, love. I was taking a walk with Cassio. It was a lovely day." Desdemona called out to her love. Cassio was shocked by the presence of the Legatus. Just when his status was still unknown, he does not want to see the Legatus. He turned to Desdemona.

"I have leave now. I have other works to do." Without another word, Cassio left for his own route away from his Legatus but he did not evade the Dark One' view.

"Iago, is that Cassio I saw walking with my love?" Othello asked his other Centurion. Iago looked over and then pretended to be unsure. He strained his face expression and then shook his head.

"It looked like him, but with the uniform, he could be any Centurion. I doubt if its Cassio, he would avoid you. He was your friend." Iago replied. He picked his last words to test the Legatus.

"Yes, he may be Cassio, but as my friend, he would not missed me. Unless...." Othello trailed his words.

"Unlikely, Legatus. Cassio, myself and you have been friends for too long to let last night event stand between us." Iago told Othello. He felt like the advocate of the God of Liars, double meaning to his word.

"Desdemona, I am surprise to see you." Othello looked to the rear of her. "Who is that?"

"A Centurion who came to me and asked for advise on his drunken manner last night. He felt bad, but felt more sad that he was misjudged on his mis-conduct. A slap on the hand would had suffice but he was sent to be demoted." Desdemona told him. She did her speech, but Othello was not keen.

"So that was Cassio, I saw just now. Why did he not see me?" Othello was irritated.

"Yes, Cassio it was.He came to me for my advise. So tell me, the Legatus that command the Centurion, are you forgiving?" Othello turned to Iago.

"Go and I would join you later." Othello told the other but Desdemona wanted to push the issue.

"Othello..." Desdemona called out to him but Othello had raised his hands. She repeated again, but she was stopped by the her love.

"Not now, Desdemona. I need to settle something first." Othello told her. "Maybe tonight but not now."

"Tonight? Why not earlier?" Desdemona asked. "Noon meal?"

"No, I said tonight." Othello told her but Desdemona was insistent. 

"Othello, are you listening?" Desdemona shouted. "I am you love. I have given you my vows to be your love. You have given yours to be with me. With that we are to share. I was sharing your work. I had listened when you did not. I had heard him well, he told me his errors, and I found it the need to forgive. Did you?"

"Desdemona, I told you not now..." Othello was in rage. He was humiliated by her.

"Othello, perhaps you let me handle it." Iago intervened, but he was told to back off.

"Is that it? Cassio loved you. He served with you long. How you no decency to speal to him?" Desdemona pushed on.

"What is it that you are wanting me to listen to him? He is not your love. He is my legionnaire." Othello replied in anger. "Why must we be having this discussion? I am confused on this."

"Because its our first lively discussion but you are shutting me out." Desdemona told him. "Its could be first or our last."

Othello shook his head. He was not sure how did he managed to here. He reached out with his hands but she turned away. She walked on back to the tavern alone.

"Iago, get me Cassio. I need to talk to him." Othello told him. 

Devils Own ( Steampunk and Mystic ) 3.4

3.4

Captain Amos saw the signal from the Berserker. The Attila was with the Hind then engaging the Dreadnaught. They been trading blows and all the ships are damaged, but still floating. He signaled the Third Mate to signal back and focused on the battle. The Hind had lined itself parallel with the Dreadnaught and exchanged fire. It was a suicidal move, but the Attila was earlier in the same parallel path on the starboard side. All the three ships have suffered damages, with the decks littered with bodies. The strategy was to barrage it from both sides, but the plan had changed when the Attila slowed down to hold the stern position. It was a move to bring the Junkyard into the battle. The Junkyard soon reached the height to replace the Attila. The Attila lined up at the stern, and fired its twin twelve pounder at the Dreadnaught. The twelve pounders were doing damages but it was holding up against wider and thicker wall.

“Damn!” Captain Amos cursed out. “They reinforced their hull.”

By then the Junkyard had joined in. She was earlier in the battle with the frigates, and came with the upper hand on the battle. The Junkyard was to join in but a lucky shot by the dreadnaught gunners had pierced the Junkyard balloon during its climb. The shot tore a hole and the balloon was leaking. The Junkyard had to ditch its plan to join in. It signaled the Attila at the stern. Captain Amos saw the signal and looked to the Hind.

“Captain, the Hind is also signaling us. She is leaving the scene too.” The Third Mate reported up.

“Okay”, Captain Amos spoke up but his last word was not soothing. He saw then some of the main riggings of the Hind snapped from the holdings on the deck. With the main riggings shot or snapped, the hull was no longer attached to the balloons. The port side of the hull tilted and exposed the main deck to the dreadnaught cannons. The dreadnaught gunners took their opportunity and ripped up the deck apart.

“Move in. We need to help.” Captain Amos shouted out but the Hind was already beaten. She had limped off to the ground level, with the dreadnaught chalking one more victim alongside with the Junkyard trailing near it. The Mayflower could not join in as they battle the remaining frigates.

The dreadnaught had enough and was sailing off with its mustered speed from the steam engine. Captain Amos will have given chase but his own deck was a mess too.

On the sky, Captain Ernest had been flying sorties on the frigates. He was assisted by the three yachts that were actually lighter dirigibles but fitted with machine guns and bombs. They were swift in the air and causing the frigates considerable damages.

Baron Ernest positioned his flyer on the top of the frigate before he released the three clawed hook. The hook fell on top of the balloon surface. The flyer moved on and soon it found a crack which it could hook on. It was then the Baron attached the two projectiles with the fuses lighted on the chain and watched it sailed down. He then kept pace with the dirigible until the projectiles exploded. The explosion tore a hole in the balloon and soon the frigate was fighting for control on the sky. During that commotion, the yachts will move in for the kill with their machine guns. The Baron was onto his second frigate when he saw the new flyers. It was not like the ones he had seen in the hull, but another design. They were shorter in length and looked like a winged bike with an extended rear but their wings were as wide as the Eagle. The only difference was these wings were swept back and placed back at the rear of the bike. It also held two flyers on it, with a short distance in between them. The one flying the bike was the rear flyer. The front flyer handed the machine gun which was mounted on the fore of the bike. All of them carried the United Continents emblem. He heard of these inventions; an innovation from the winged bike, but they carried more firepower and faster. They were supposed to be in the design stage was what he knew till then. They were nicknamed Pegasus.

There was three of the Pegasus in the skies. Two winged bikers went to assist the frigate while the remainder one intercepted into the Baron’ path. The Baron pulled at his steering tick and dive the Eagle down. He thought his Eagle was fast, but the other flyers were faster. The Pegasus came at the Baron, swerving in random path while avoiding the oncoming machine gun fire.

“Damn!” Baron cursed as he thought he was the best in the sky, but this other flyer was doing better. He had been training in the skill of flying since he first boarded the first dirigible. That was over fifteen years ago, and when the offer came to test the winged bike he jumped to it. He was the pioneer in the test flights and soon he was coaching the young flyers. There were many volunteers but the ones that qualified were few. When the Naval retired him, he joined the Free Traders. He helped them develop more winged bikers, and soon he was the only one who could fly the Eagle. Now there was another who matched him.

“I’ll be darned if you best me.” Baron Ernest cursed at himself. He flew on towards the other. The Pegasus had the sight on the Eagle and the machine gun roared out. The bullets had grazed the Eagle on the wings. The Baron pushed the Eagle to a tight left turn and then spins into a loop to come broadside to the Pegasus. The machine gun on the Eagle spat out, and hit the steam engine of the Pegasus. The Pegasus started spattering on its engine and then the propeller ceased spinning.

“Danke!” Baron Ernest shouted out. He did not see the other Pegasus which had climbed onto his rear. The second Pegasus sighted the Eagle and mowed it from the rear to the fore. Baron Ernest never stood a chance and cursed his last profanity.

Baron Ernest was bested in the battle.

Devils Own ( A Steam Punk and Mystic Tale ) 3.3

3.3

Stryker’ First Mate took command when the Captain was killed on the first bombardment. Captain Ian Skyes was on the upper deck when the machine gunners laid their fire on the Stryker. The deck was littered with wounded and dead, while sections of it were damaged by the barrage of explosions. The stern section of the upper deck was without a wall and it opened to the lower deck with a gaping hole. Some of the riggings on the hull to the balloons had come undone and were flogging the side of the hull.

“The deck is yours, Captain Zachary.” Third Mate Tomas stepped up to the upper deck. “Second Mate was wounded. Chest was hit. He is in the Infirmary.”

Tomas dressed in the battledress of the blue and white shades. He had on a parka due to the winds and held the megaphone to direct his crews. On his waist was his pistol with six ammo clip and the naval sword worn on the left. The sword was two feet in length curved at the end and the hilt was a gold film coated on a solid cupped guard. He raised his megaphone and gave his first order.

“Fire the cannons on portside.” The twelve cannons already primed by the gunners, pulled the lever that will fire up the propellant. The propellant hurled the three pounder projectiles at nearly two thousand feet per second took a split second to reach the destroyer helm. Six of the cannons shots had hit the helm with its broadside. The three projectiles exploded on impact and ripped off section of the helm deck.  The crews stationed there were killed or thrown overboard. With that damage, the steering at the upper deck was affected and the ship was off to its portside.

“Full to port. We are going in for another round.” Tomas shouted out. The sailors at the engine room pushed the engine levers up and moved the flaps. The Stryker sailed to order but she was targeted by the frigate that was shadowing the destroyer at five hundred feet above. It dived down to shield the destroyer. During the dive, the frigate turned to starboard and released its cannon fire. The eight cannons hit into one of the two balloons of the Stryker and soon caused a massive explosion. The explosion ripped both balloons, and the wave hit at the diving frigate which was on impact collision course. More rigging came undone and fell off.

“Balloons on fire!” The alert went out. It was a sign to abandon the ship.

“Abandon ship!” Captain Tomas gave the command. He knew that with the balloons damaged, they were going to crash. The crews had their issued out jump-chutes which will allowed them to land safely onto the ground below.

While the crews donned the chutes, some were still at their station. They were still operating the cannons in view of the firing it once more.

“Loader, close the breech.” Gunner Liston told his crew member. “I will get that bastard before we go down.”

Loader Micheal slammed the breech lock before rushing to the cannon next to it. The loader there had left the position with the gunner trying to do the task. He did the same for the second cannon and nodded to the gunner there.

“Thanks, Micheal.” Gunner Stein nodded to the loader. He was a retired gunner but his desire to fight made him volunteer for the smuggler’ trade. He then looked to gunner Liston who was checking the coordinates for the shot.

“Hey Liston. Screw the coordinates. Just shoot the damn gun.” Stein shouted out while he leaned over to get one last check on the cannon. The ship was tilting then and some of the unsecured items were rolling with the tilt.

“Damn you, Stein. I am checking for the damned armory.” Liston replied while he continued on his search. He steadied himself for the shot while the ship continued tilting. He then turned to the loader and told him to leave.

“Leave, you young fool.” Liston shouted to the loader, who was younger than the two older gunners. “You still got a life ahead of you.”

Loader Micheal ignored the gunner while he was loading the third cannon. He then looked out the port hole and shouted.

“It’s the destroyer again. It’s too frigging near.”

Gunner Liston looked over and shouted out.

“Stein, we got her on our broadside.” Liston then pulled the lever to fire the cannon, while Stein did the same. The two ships were less than a hundred feet across, and the impact of the two cannon shots hit it on broadside. Micheal does not want to be left out, also fire the third cannon. The three shots on impact tore through the lower deck and crashed the supporting ribs of the hull. It also cracked the hull opened and the destroyer ship started breaking into pieces.

On the Stryker, Liston grabbed his chute but he did not see the projectile that came loose of its mooring. The projectile sailed across the deck and hit the supporting beam. It exploded and the fire spread to the other projectiles.

“Fire in the hold!” Liston shouted in his dying voice while he was laid back on the deck caused by the explosion. The subsequent explosion took off his ability to speak again. The Stryker joined the same fate as the destroyer.

On the deck of the Queen’ S, Captain Borak had seen better days in his battles. His ship was in near wreck after a series of broadside battle with the dreadnaught. The Queen’ S had taken down one frigate before it was hit by the dreadnaught in the stern. Captain Borak had lost his Third Mate then, but he had commanded the crews to steer away. His ship was smaller and had the speed to turn. During the next few rounds, the Queen’ S had her cannons bruising the Destroyer on its hit and runs, but the fire power of the Destroyer have their own turns too.

“Derek, are the explosives primed?” Captain Borak asked his Second Mate. He had placed a series of explosives at the lower deck of the stern near the steam engines. “Then get the frigging order off.”

“Abandon ship!” The command was given to all. Captain Borak took over the steer and sailed towards the destroyer.

He had come in from the port side of the destroyer. The destroyer cannons roared but the Queen’ S kept on coming. The narrow target posed to be harder to hit but there were some major damages. At distance of over four hundred feet, one of the shots hit the helm and blew section of it off. Captain Borak was thrown to the middle deck and was wounded in several places. He staggered up and ran to the stern. There was another steer there installed by him for such emergencies. He steered the ship to starboard with the port side hull being aligned parallel to the destroyer. The cannons from the destroyer was presented with a wider target, and the lashing was given on the Queen’ S hull. She survived that barrage, but the captain was not pulling out from the steer. He had the ship continued in it turning till the stern was aimed at the destroyer. The cannons from the destroyer tore into the stern, but the explosives were already primed for detonation. The Queen’ S stern slammed into the destroyer’ hull and caused a major explosion. The explosion broke the ship hull into sections and it went down like a rock.

The Berserker was unlike the others, although it had the same complement of twelve cannons. It had also a set of six howitzers that was position on the upper deck. More to it, it had a bigger steam engine which allowed it to have short burst of speed but due to the engine design, it was only for a short distance before it needed cooling down or it will explode. Like the name the ship, Captain Claus Schneider was an unpredictable person. He had run the gauntlet on the frigates, and came out winning after sinking two of the numbers.

Devils Own ( A Steam Punk and Mystic Tale ) 3.2

3.2

Captain Amos unveiled the two Eagles to the young inventor when they reached below deck. It was not a winged bike but it did resembled one. Its hull frame was an eighteen oblong shaped wooden contraption with a built in steam engine at the rear to power up the forward two propellers on the folded wings. The wings were pulled back in a folder manner when store and during flight, it will expand to it full width of over twenty feet each wing. At the rear of the wooden contraption was the raised vertical wing of three feet with a movable swing operated by the pilot using a series of gears, and belts.  There were two small wheels attached at the hull below the pilot seating area and one more wheel at the rear of the oblong contraption.

“What are these?” Irina asked while she looked at the break way components on the extended wings.

“Those are flaps.” The figure dressed in the red shaded overall approached the trio. On his head was the flying head cover favored by the flyers and the goggles over his eyes. “I could dive the Eagle or soar by operating the flaps. Unlike the bike, I had to raise it manually.”

“My name is Ernest.” The red overall figure extended his hand to Irina. “You may address me as the Baron. That is my ship, the Fokker.”

“Pardon me”, the red overall figure stepped into the oblong contraption and lowered him into a seated position. He then signaled the assistant who brought over the machine gun to affix on the right side of the contraption. The gun was attached to the ammo belt that reached from inside the rear of the pilot. The aide then stepped in and attached the string of projectiles which were hung over the left side; a total of six of those explosives projectiles with fuses. Another aide was attaching the three clawed hooks on the left side before the projectiles. The claws are attached to a long chain. There was also a spring lock to release it once it was hooked on. There were three sets of it.

“How fast do these fly?” Irina asked.

“Faster than the dirigibles, but we are tied to the steam engine capacity.” The flyer sounded out. “Its experimental and we hoped to higher speed and height.”

“Do I get a kiss before my flight?” The flyer voiced out. He leaned out with his lips pouting. Irina gave him a peck on the left cheek and a hearty slap on the shoulder. He the gunned up the engine and watched the steam engine picked up its momentum before it powered up the propellers. Once the propellers were turning rapidly and constant in its speed, the assistant let off the brakes to release the Eagle. It rolled along the short deck before it reached to the end where the stern hull wall was lowered to reveal the open sky. The Eagle went over and downwards in a dive once it cleared the hull. During its descent, the wings were spread out to the fullest, and the flaps pulled back. The Eagle slowly leveled up and then soared to the clouds. The cheers of the crews that managed the Eagle all roared to life when it pulled up.

“Captain, who is the second flyer?”

“There is none.” Captain Amos replied. “No one would do it. Only Ernest was crazy enough to fly it.”

With that, Kassius grabbed a flyer head piece and walked to the second Eagle. He climbed into second Eagle and gave his thumbs up. The assistants ran forward and protested.

“You can’t fly yet. We have yet to warm up the engine.” The assistant told him. “We need half an hour to warmed up and fit up the ship.”

“Then do it now.” Kassius refused to get out.

“Are you sure you could this?” Captain Amos asked Kassius. The later just nodded and smiled. With that, Irina and Captain Amos went back to the upper deck. The First Mate was there and reported to the Captain.

“All cannons are primed and ready for battle.”

“Then shall we take the best spot to view the battle.” Captain Amos smiled.

Devils Own ( A Steam Punk and Mystic Tale ) 2.10

2.10

The “Attila” was a hideous design for a dirigible, but it was unparallel in speed and firepower. The ship was floated by a single oblong balloon, and propelled by the triple propellers with the center one measuring a radius of ten feet and the two smaller ones extended out at fifteen feet like a set of tail wings, with a radius of six feet. The hull of the dirigible that made is hideous in design was that it resemble a soap crate with four sides. That was to camouflage for its double deck with the ten twelve pounder cannons hidden on each side of the hull. It fore deck was lined with six twin mounted machine guns that roared like the dragon fire when fired. It duo firepower of the twelve pounders will tear a large hole in the frigate. The other unique design of the dirigible was it had twenty four large wheels attached to it bottom hull for hard ground cruising. Unlike other dirigibles, it does not need a port tower to dock on.

“Aye, Kassius. You are a colorful sight to one who is color blind.” Captain Amos Cohen was the captain of the Attila. He had her build to his specifications, and had sailed her for over a decade outfighting the Islands Kingdom naval dirigibles including the heavy dreadnaughts to the speedier frigates. The dreadnaughts are held up by four larger balloons with a length of five hundred feet and hundred feet across, and a cannon complement of twenty on each side of the hull.

None of them had matched his ‘Attila’ for what he had named the ship in resilience and survival rate. He had once limbed back to the plains for repair while cruising on the hard ground with only a single propeller working. Two months later, the Attila with a newly reinstated eight crew members was sailing the skies and within that week, sunk the two dreadnaughts that had violated her hull.

“Good day to you, Captain Amos. I made it back.” Kassius held out his arms to the dirigible captain. Captain Amos was every inch a sky faring adventurer, with his stubby five footer body frame that was marred with more wounds than a person that was flogged. He once said that every wound on my body tells a tale that would cost you a barrel of rum or a violation of the flesh if the listener was a lady. He had seen his battles with over four decades of sailing, with his receding hairline that was then braided to form a pony tail. He was dressed like all dirigible captain in his finest white uniform and the fine braided aiguillette of golden threads lined across his left shoulder to his breast pocket. Unlike other naval captain, he had on the flying helmet instead of a cap.

“Never was one like this.” Captain Amos looked to the ragged figures that were descending to the lower deck. “I heard the Guild had it badly mauled by those damn troopers. I heard more that the mercenaries were upset when they were made cannon fodder. But they got paid well. Life wasted for gold. ”

Captain Amos shook his head before he continued on.

“Master Galeb told me before hand not to get involved. He said if such an invasion I was to take all of you to safer grounds.” The air flyer spoke up. “But had the pigeons picked your brains. You are asking me to fly all of them to the Islands Kingdom. That is like diving into the pits of Hell from the Devil’s clutches.”

Captain Amos looked at Kassius and then corrected himself.

“Didn’t meant to assed up your Guild name’s with the references but I am certainly worried for your choice of destination.”

“It’s what Master Galeb had asked. He felt that Guild need to rebuild in a new territory, and what’s more convenient than in the Princes’ backyard.” Kassius replied.

“But tell me, Captain Amos. How did you turn up here?” Irina asked. She and the rest had joined the Captain on his ship. They were then afloat outside the city boundary towards the open sea.

“Aye, I was turned up by your good friend here. Kassius located me in the docks. He said he was in need of a ship and there was none better than mine. Everyone knew that.” The captain laughed out loud. “He had another good reason to seek me. The troopers were on his tail then.”

Irina smiled at the Captain. She knew that Kassius was never short of attention, and being chased was not new. Kassius smiled back at the earlier adventure. He was in the dockyard with Lucas. They heard of the attack and rushed to the one ship they knew would assist them. They wore cloaks over their uniform while asking the sailors. They were keen to find one ship known to them as the Attila. It was manned by one named Captain Amos, who was the good friend of the Guild.

No one will tell them of the ship or its’ Captain. They stopped at a tavern and cleared their thirst when a sailor walked up.

“Leave now. The troopers had seen you.” The sailor spoke up and then walked towards the tables in the darker corner. Lucas was slower to react and saw the dark figures stepped out. They were five mercenaries, and with them was a trooper. The alarm went off, and the mercenaries rushed to the duo. It was then the other patrons got into the act. A drunkard pushed the stool into their way, while another patron rolled the cask of wine in their path. The mercenaries went down and another patron threw the meals he was having onto their back. One of the mercenaries stood up and threw a punch at the one who threw the food. From then on, it was all out brawl, with the five mercenaries the focus of the patrons. The trooper was held back by the other patrons with dagger at his throat.

By then Kassius and Lucas had made it out and into the street. They took down the street towards the docks, but they had to chance on a check point for the Guild members. It was too late to backtrack when the troopers there challenged them. It was Lucas who ran first, and caused the chase towards the docks.

“Follow me!” Kassius shouted out and led the way into the warehouse. They made it in pass the sliding door, and among the crates of goods. There were some workers unloading then but they were not interested at the runners. They had seen many of these runners; from the authorities for smuggling or other offences. One of them whistled to Kassius and directed him to the side. The other workers then moved their crates of goods over the path taken by the duo before the troopers came in. The troopers found their way blocked and were given the wrong direction to pursue. Meanwhile Kassius and Lucas made it to the clear and resumed their search at the docks. Just when they thought they were really cleared, they were met by the same troopers on the re-check of the path.

It was how Captain Amos found them. He had a ladder rope lowered down for them to climb up. He had sailed the ship across the docks looking for the two when he heard of the commotion. His greeting to them was ‘welcome home, assassin’. He also told them of the warehouse.