Imperial Year 155AU — Second Moon
Two Weeks Later
"Okay, we lost them. With great help from the serpent," Kace said, leaning against the railing.
"Next problem—crew. Where are we going to get some?" Maelor asked.
"And is Soren really riding an apex beast that could rival a dragon like it's a horse running through a field?" Vael said.
Out in the open sea, Soren was doing exactly that.
Nythrys burst through the water, the massive adult sea serpent gliding across the waves with terrifying speed. One moment she vanished beneath the surface, the next she exploded from the sea, sending water high into the air.
Soren stood on her back with his arms spread wide.
Then he slipped.
"Shit!"
He tumbled sideways off her neck and disappeared into the water.
A second later he surfaced laughing while Nythrys circled around him.
"She's going to kill herself before anyone else does," Kace muttered.
Soren climbed back onto Nythrys' back with no saddle, no ropes, nothing but one hand gripping the silver fin running along her neck. The serpent surged forward again, diving under the water.
A few moments later she came up beside the ship, her massive head level with the deck.
Soren jumped off, landing hard on the wood, soaked head to toe and grinning like an idiot.
"So," he said, brushing wet hair from his face, "I found out I can breathe underwater."
There was silence.
"Well," Kace said finally, "that's useful information."
"For the future," Soren said with a grin. "When we raid some great city."
"Of course that's your first thought," Vael muttered.
"For now, crew," Kace said, smirking. "Soren. Or should I say… Captain."
Soren lightly punched him in the arm.
"I thought you were the brains, Soren," Vael said.
"I am."
Soren leaned against the railing and looked out across the sea.
"Easy solution," he said. "We recruit slaves."
The others looked at him.
"We free them," Soren continued with a grin. "Then I win them over with my great charm."
"Your charm?" Maelor asked.
"Exactly."
"You mean manipulation," Kace said.
"Same thing."
"I mean," Kace said with a shrug, "since we're there, we might as well take the ship too."
"True," Maelor said. "Could add it to the fleet. Or sell it for coin."
"And we have an adult sea serpent," Vael said. "They might just surrender without a fight."
Soren's grin widened.
"We still have to kill them."
The others looked at him.
"Got to earn the loyalty of the new crew," he said simply.
Before anyone could answer, Vael pointed toward the horizon.
"There."
Far in the distance, three ships cut across the sea.
One large ship in the center.
Two smaller escorts beside it.
Soren walked to the front of the ship, grin slowly spreading across his face.
"Well," he said softly. "Looks like I found my crew."
The slave ship moved steadily through the water, broad and slow, the escort ships keeping close on either side.
Soren climbed onto the railing.
"Kace, Maelor, Vael," he said. "You three board the middle ship. Free everyone below deck."
"And you?" Kace asked.
Soren looked down at the water below.
Then at the shadow circling beneath the surface.
"I'm going to make sure the escorts have a very bad day."
Then he jumped.
He hit the sea below.
For a moment he disappeared beneath the water.
Then Nythrys followed.
The surface went still.
The escort ships slowed, confused. Sailors pointed toward the water.
Then the sea exploded.
Nythrys burst from beneath the left escort ship.
The entire vessel lifted out of the water.
Wood snapped.
Men screamed.
Soren stood atop Nythrys' massive head, laughing.
The adult sea serpent opened her jaws.
A blast of shimmering blue-white water erupted from her mouth.
It hit the side of the ship with the force of a siege ram.
The hull shattered.
The escort ship split apart and sank beneath the waves.
The second escort turned immediately, trying to flee.
"Oh no you don't," Soren shouted.
Nythrys dove.
Then reappeared beside the fleeing ship.
Her tail smashed into it with a crack like thunder.
The mast snapped in half.
The ship nearly rolled over completely.
Another blast from Nythrys tore through the stern.
The surviving sailors screamed and turned what remained of the ship away.
"Let them go!" Soren called, laughing. "Someone has to tell the story!"
Then he turned toward the center ship.
By now, Kace and the others had boarded it.
The guards were already throwing down their weapons.
Because Nythrys was coming.
The sea serpent coiled around the slave ship, her massive body wrapping around the hull. The wood groaned beneath the pressure.
Soren jumped from her head onto the deck.
"Hello!" he called brightly.
The slavers were dragged to the center of the deck and forced onto their knees.
The captain was among them.
Below deck, the cages were broken open.
The slaves stumbled onto the deck slowly, blinking in the sunlight.
Soren looked at them.
Then smiled.
"Well," he said, "this worked out nicely."
He walked over to the kneeling captain.
"You know," Soren said casually, "I should thank you."
The captain glared at him.
"If you hadn't gathered all these people in one place…"
Soren glanced back at the slaves.
"I wouldn't have found myself a crew."
Then he drove his sword through the captain's throat.
The man collapsed.
The slaves flinched.
Soren yanked the blade free and stepped onto a crate.
"You can leave if you want," he called. "Take a boat. Swim away. Hide somewhere."
He shrugged.
"Maybe somebody catches you and throws you right back in chains."
He spread his arms.
"Or…"
His grin widened.
"You can follow me."
The slaves looked up at him.
"Follow me, and no one will ever chain you again."
He pointed toward the endless sea.
"No kings. No masters. No cages. Just freedom."
Then he pointed at the kneeling slavers.
"And your freedom starts now."
He kicked a sword across the deck.
It stopped in front of one of the slaves.
The man stared at it.
Then at the kneeling slaver in front of him.
The slaver started begging.
The man picked up the sword.
And swung.
Then another slave stepped forward.
Then another.
Soon the deck was filled with screams.
Soren stood beside Nythrys' enormous head, smiling as he watched.
"Told you," he said to Kace quietly. "Great charm."
That night, the captured slave ship followed behind them through the dark water.
The old slaver banners had been ripped down and thrown into the sea. Forty-three new men and women stood on the deck, no longer chained, watching Nythrys glide beside the ships beneath the moonlight.
They looked at her with fear.
They looked at Soren with something else.
Hope.
Kace stepped beside him at the railing. "You really think they'll follow you?"
Soren looked back at the new crew.
Some were cleaning the deck. Some were tending the wounded. Some were staring at him like he had saved them.
He grinned.
"Of course they will."
"Because you freed them?"
Soren laughed.
"No. Because now they have nowhere else to go."
Kace was quiet for a moment. "So what now?"
Soren looked out over the endless sea.
"Now?" he said. "Now we get more ships."
He pointed toward the horizon.
"Then more crew. More gold. More weapons."
His grin widened.
"And one day, when every captain in these waters hears my name, they'll kneel before they even see Nythrys rise from the sea."
"Ambitious," Kace muttered.
"I know."
Movement caught Soren's eye.
A boy stood near the mast of the captured ship, maybe ten years old. Thin. Dirty. Dark hair hanging in his face. He held a knife too large for him in both hands, like he expected someone to try to take him back in chains at any moment.
Even now, after everything, he wasn't sleeping.
He was watching.
Watching Soren.
Soren hopped down from the railing and crossed the deck.
The boy immediately raised the knife.
"Easy there," Soren said with a grin. "You're going to stab yourself before you stab me."
The boy said nothing.
"What's your name?"
Silence.
"You have one, right? Or should I call you Terrifying Little Knife Boy?"
The boy hesitated.
"Rian," he muttered.
"Rian," Soren repeated. "Good. Better than Terrifying Little Knife Boy."
The boy still did not lower the knife.
Soren crouched in front of him.
"You know how to use that?"
Rian shook his head.
"Perfect," Soren said. "Neither do most of my crew."
Behind him, Kace snorted.
"Hey," Maelor called from across the deck. "I heard that!"
Soren ignored him.
"You have two choices, Rian," he said. "You can keep standing here looking miserable… or you can come with me."
The boy frowned. "Why?"
Soren smiled.
"Because somebody has to teach you how to become terrifying."
For the first time, the boy looked uncertain instead of afraid.
Slowly, he lowered the knife.
Soren stood and held out a hand.
After a long moment, Rian took it.
Kace watched from the railing. "You really taking in a child?"
Soren looked down at the boy beside him.
"Of course," he said lightly.
Then he grinned toward the dark sea ahead.
"Every great captain needs an apprentice."