I stood among my crewmates before daybreak the next morning. A hush had settled over us in the early morning light. We stood silently, every eye on the door to the captain’s cabin. As the first ray of sun broke above the horizon the door to the cabin was thrown open, our captain stalking out to stand before his silent crowd.
“Jumé-falio with Obsidarian and Forcan; Fame-jujio with Steel and Braze; Xament with Flame and myself.” Mají-jalio rattled off. “For those of you who remain here, don’t grow lazy at your posts, change is coming. Each to their station, the raid begins soon.”
The captain turned to leave in silence, but was stopped when a voice rose from our crowd. “Ye see that lads? Our captain fancies the girl. Keeps her out of trouble he does, brings her on the raids when she’s still wet-behind-the-ears. It’s disgraceful. What makes her so special?” Karius called.
There were a few murmurs of assent, but the captain did not rise to the bait.
“Do you need a reminder Karius?” I growled. “Having both witnessed and tasted of what I can do, do you doubt your captain’s judgment? Or are you so dim-witted that you truly cannot recall, and must be made to remember in a way that shall never again be forgotten?”
“No such thing occurred,” he hissed. “You lie!”
“As a pirate,” I purred. “That is part of my life, however, if you are not to green-gilled to take off the scarf you wear in the land of eternal summer, our crewmates may see for themselves the marks you bear from our last encounter.”
Karius snarled, pulling his yellow-hilted cutlass from its sheath. I reached for my dagger, but the captain threw open his door and yelled once more.
“Flame! Xament! Report! I said all to their stations you lazy swabs!”
I took my hand away from the hilt and turned to the stairs again. Xament was a half step behind me, separating Karius from me, herding me up the stairs to the captain. He closed the door behind us.
Mají was lounging behind his desk, acting as if nothing had happened on deck. He stared at the chart on the wall behind him.
“There is little left to take that hasn’t been taken already,” he said softly. “We are going to focus on a different objective today.”
“PIRATES OFF THE PORT SIDE!!! CAPTAINS STORM AND VINYÉ WITH THE ROGUE LEADER APPROACHING!”
Mají vaulted over his desk and beat us to the door, drawing his rapier as he kicked the door out. He strode coolly to the port rail, clamping his hand over the pirate who had been shouting.
“Very good Forcan,” he hissed. “But Griffon knows you talk far too much. Next time come directly to me instead of hollering for the whole damn world to hear.”
He released the unfortunate man, waving for the rest of us to approach the rail. My breath caught in my chest. The men stretched across the field, spanning the length of the ship with a depth that seemed our ship’s length three times over. Each bristled in their place, weapons drawn as the watched the three leaders stand at the forefront. It was a show of force, a quiet rabble that milled about at our camp’s entrance. For the first time I thought of how exposed our camp was. Captain Storm’s crew lived within his fort, with pointed walls and a moat. Captain Vinyé’s crew lived underground, the entrance to the camp disguised amongst the roots and underbrush of the surrounding forest. Even those who served Captain Carnie had made an attempt to keep safe by living in the ramshackle huts instead of beside the storage building. Yet we, the best of the best, lived defenseless, protected only by the rope ladder presently on deck.
“What do you want?” Captain Mají-jalio asked, sticking his head over the railing. “State your business here and be about your way.”
“Give us the girl, and we will leave your crew in peace.” Captain Vinyé shouted up to us. “Captain Mají you know she is a threat. I have heard tales from those standing beside me, Storm and Dikamir. They have both witnessed these abilities on their own occasions. For the sake of this world you must hand her over to us. With all due respect, even you are not that strong.”
“She is a member of my crew, tried and tested,” Mají said. “You do not control my decisions. I shall do as I wish, and I wish for her and her abilities to look to my colors. Would you fight me Vinyé? Tempest? Dikamir? No, you and your amassed crews would fall before my blade before you drew her blood. I answer to no one but the Griffon.”
“You are a captain!” Storm snarled. “You are no better than the rest of us; you are no king, no god to this world. You will hand over the girl or blood will wash your decks by midday.”
“Will it?” Mají taunted, climbing to stand on the rail. “Then duel me, I challenge any and all. Duel me, win and take my crew for your own if you dare; lose… and fall at the ground to worship the very deck I stand upon, for I will have you swabbing and scrubbing until even the bilges shine. Carnie’s girls would appreciate the help.”
The men shuffled slowly, scuffing their toes in the dirt as they stared down to the earth.
“No man?” Mají said, mocking the men below as he prowled the rail. “Then it would seem I am a king among you, untouchable by your…common...blades. Tend to me my most faithful crew, for those below us shall now pay tribute to their new king. And every pirate worth his blade will dine with me tonight on the finest of wines and delicacies hidden away in the cupboards of the pirate captains.”
I jeered at the mass of pirates with the rest of my crew. Obsidarian and Fame-jujio stepped forward to lift the Captain from the rail and set him to stand upon their broad shoulders. We cheered and stomped the deck in our bloodless victory, our tribute to our captain, their king.
“Karius, Steel, round up the stragglers” Mají said coolly. “Forcan, Braze, check their pockets for anything valuable, let them keep their weapons. Jumé, Flame, to my side at the rail.”
All leapt to do his bidding. Jumé beat me to standing at the captain’s right side, looking worried as he shooed me to the left side instead. Our pirates laughed, many vaulting the rail to knock the other pirates about. Xament darted below deck and emerged with a fiddle in his hand. Sawing away at the instrument, he beat out a merry tune on the deck with his bare feet. All was laughter; gay and giddy as we celebrated in the early sun. Those who had not been called to a duty soon joined Xament, pausing for a moment to catch the beat before leaping in time to the fiddle.
Then it all went dark, black swirling clouds obscuring the sunshine within moments. The wind picked up, whirling about us as the earth shook beneath our feet. A screech pierced the air, and every man clasped his hands over his ears and fell to the ground. My own knees hit the deck, and I watched Obsidarian and Fame-jujio unceremoniously dropped Captain Mají from the shoulders. I could not hear the sound of his impact though he fell only two feet from me, so loud was the noise. We waited; hands pressing against our skull with our eyes squeezed shut, pleading for the great sound to stop.
All at once it was gone, leaving the world in paralyzed silence at the turn of events. Jumé-falio recovered first.
“He is coming,” he whispered.
Then we all heard it, softly at first, the whisper of wings on the wind. Cautious eyes looked to the sky, fixed on the creature. Tawny figure, golden plumage, with black talons and a beak sharper than any blade I had ever encountered.
The Griffon.
He landed on the deck beside us, gouging the wood with his talons. No one dared look up at him now. I stared at the black talons, flexing as he shifted his weight.
“Mají-jalio,” the Griffon rumbled. “You have summoned me at last. Rise, let all pirates rise, for all must bear witness to what is to take place.”
I got to my feet slowly, standing between Obsidarian and Xament as we watched our captain and the Griffon. The living legend turned away from us, beckoning Jume-falio forward with one claw.
“You,” he ordered. “I have need for your strange ability. Put a screen on the foremast, facing the rest of the pirates. Then record all that happens here.”
“I… I… I… I do not know how. My… my… my… my… ability, it... it…” Jumé managed to stammer out.
“Spit it out lad!” the Griffon thundered. “Speak! I had thought you to have a square head on your shoulders, yet all I see is a bumbling twit. I say ‘Put the screen on the foremast.’ You say ‘It will be so m’lord.’ Is that so difficult? You are standing by the Griffon! For your life’s sake your power will not fail!”
“It will be so my lord,” Jumé-falio whispered.
He turned and moved his hands toward the foremast, whispering to himself as we watched the mast turn toward the crowd. We watched as the sail unfurled and become a black screen instead of a white canvas. The screen flickered, fuzzy images appearing and swirling until it settled upon a single crisp picture. Jumé brought his hands down and faced the Griffon, and the image changed to one of the living legend. Whispers broke out amongst the pirates at the base of the ship. The Griffon turned and faced Jumé-falio, staring down the masses who were watching the screen. They fell silent once more. The Griffon broke his stare, and glanced around to my crewmates and I as the voice rumbled in his chest and he spoke so that all could hear him.
“I do not doubt that you have all heard the garbled versions of the legends, of how this world came to be, why it is as it is. I have been summoned back to these desolate worlds by a presence, a heartbeat. Among the four worlds, my child has risen to power.”
The whispering broke out again, scared and hopeful voices mingling together. I kept my mouth shut, but could not help but look to Mají-jalio, who still stood apart from the rest of us. He was frozen, immobile as he refused to tear his gaze from the fabled Griffon. The Griffon settled his own look upon the captain, circling him on the deck as he continued his speech.
“I split the worlds when the pirates became a disgrace, when they could not defend themselves. The once proud region had become nothing but snorting piglets with greedy eyes wishing for the power of Midas. Yet here stands a man who brings order to this chaos. He organizes all beneath him, sets up camps and schedules raids. He protects the weak. Above all, he protects himself from all but his own arrogance. At one point you were a good candidate for an honor of times far before your own. But today… you are a pompous fool.”
He lunged and slashed the air before Mají’s face, his talons no more than a hairsbreadth away from Mají’s nose. The captain was pale now, staring straight ahead without focusing on anyone. He had not flinched, and did not flinch as the Griffon turned and clacked his beak in his face. The Griffon turned and circled Mají in the other direction, brushing against the captain’s face with his tail as he did so.
“You call yourself a king? You grind the faces of those around you in the dirt. You make them bow to you, worship before your feet. These free souls, these malicious pirates, you hand cuff them with your notions. You make them meek and submissive to your might. You pride yourself? Narcissistic conqueror, enslaving women as a “bargain” to protect them. Coward, you hide behind your secrets and crewmen. You send them to where you dare not face those you have stabbed in the bag. You draw all in to you, collecting each that you judge to be a potential threat. You call it an honor, to run to the amazing captain’s bidding. You call yourself a swordsman? You challenge those who have been beaten, yet never spar with your own crew. You keep power with tricks and trades; never a true duel has been seen. You think yourself powerful? To do so challenges ME Mají. Do you wish to challenge the Griffon? Draw your sword.”
Mají-jalio did not answer. He knew he could not win, we all knew he could not win. He was beaten. Yet the Griffon crouched low, growling as he watched Mají-jalio. Mají now looked at him, looked death in the face. And for an instant; he looked at me. The Griffon pounced.
A wall of fire appeared between the Griffon and Mají. The Griffon soared through unharmed, but landed with murder in his eyes. He turned to me, bounding toward my face and looming over me. He reared and I threw my arms up to shield myself, but he did not attack. He stood there, staring at me as I brought my arms down and stared back at him.
“You are a strange and suicidal creature Gittoran Flame,” he said calmly. “A pirate, a thief, a passion that burns through your very veins, yet you are loyal to one such as this.”
He pointed one talon to Mají-jalio, who was now trembling slightly in his silence.
“Did you believe you could kill an immortal Gittoran Flame? Did you believe that a dagger and a few flames could show me death?” he whispered; his face close enough to blow my hair back as his breath hit my face.
“No m’lord,” I whispered.
“Do you believe you are powerful enough to be a king Gittoran Scarlet?” he hissed. “Do you or any other man wish to fight?”
“There are no kings here,” I said steadily, “only pirates. Though the north may give you the nobility you search for.”
He screeched in my face, I fell to my knees before him. No other pirate moved.
“Mají-jalio!” he thundered. “One remains loyal!”
He turned to face my captain once more. A broadsword materialized on the deck before the captain.
“This is the kingblade,” the Griffon said, amusement in his rumbling tone. “I give it to you, for you, as of this moment, shall be King of Pirates. In your death your successor shall be chosen. Learn from this day Mají-jalio. You are not invincible. None can become immortal while the worlds stand divided.”
Mají slowly bent and picked up the blade, it gleamed brightly, whispers filled the ship, coming from the trees and wind around us. The Griffon ignored Mají, focusing on my crewmates. He paused to look several of us in the face.
“Such fine pirates,” he said slowly. “Each…flawed, in a different way. The paranoid genius, the pride driven fighter, the vindictive rookie… and the King of Pirates as a Captain. This will be interesting. As my child grows stronger more and more of those within the worlds will gain powers and abilities. I shall keep an eye on you, even if you do not see me.”
The screen went black. The Griffon crouched low and with a leap and a single stroke of his powerful wings he shot straight into the clouds. His screech sounded once more, and the clouds cleared, leaving the world as if he had never entered it. The foremast was back to normal. The gouged portions of the deck were spotless once more. Yet in my captain’s hands….the kingblade.