Magic Girls of Multiverse Inn 3, page 10
“I know.” I gave her a wry smirk in the darkness. “But I don’t know if it’s the smart choice yet.”
Kaz and Prinna nodded, and we hurried our pace just a bit to catch up with Pete on the path. He didn’t seem to notice our private exchange, or if he had, he didn’t seem to be bothered by it.
“Just ‘round the next corner,” Pete said, and he pointed toward a curve in the path.
We passed around a copse of tall palm trees that hung with vines, and then we came right to a small stone cottage. It was probably thirty feet by forty feet with a thatched roof and a rough wooden door in the middle. A small stone chimney stuck out from one side, so at least we knew Pete had heat and the ability to cook inside his home.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” Pete said with dry humor in his voice as he opened the door.
We stepped inside the dark cottage that was lit by only the moonlight that pooled through a window on the opposite wall from the open fireplace. Pete hurried inside behind us and picked up an oil lantern.
I scanned the room, and I blinked against the harsh light of the lantern.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” Pete said, and he turned the flame down until it cast a gentle glow through the small one-room cottage.
The cottage had two narrow beds with well-worn blankets and a single pillow each. A rough wooden table sat under the open window with three chairs, and an assortment of chipped pottery and dented tin cups and plates filled a few shelves on the walls. A wooden crate acted as a bench seat near the fireplace where a large black soup pot hung over the dead ashes of a previous fire.
The place was small and didn’t have luxuries, but it was tidy and neat. Someone put care into keeping this a home, and it showed.
“Would ya like something to eat?” Pete asked.
“That’s kind of you,” Prinna said.
Pete gestured for us to sit at the small table, and he moved around the cold fireplace. He opened a few jars and a small trunk before he walked over and picked three tin plates from the shelf above one bed. Then he presented three plates of hard bread and some kind of salted meat to us.
“Thank you,” I said.
I picked up the meat and guessed it might be like jerky, but I was horribly wrong. It tasted like I’d licked the inside of a salt shaker, and I coughed at the intensity of it.
“It’s not very good,” Pete admitted. “But it’ll fuel ya.”
“You said you know where your sister is being taken?” I prompted.
“They’ll be movin’ her to his stronghold by morning,” Pete said, and the words seemed to reignite his fury. “We must move fast if we’re to save her.”
“Where is she now, though?” I asked.
“Captain Crick’s manor,” Pete said, and the weight in his tone made it sound like Captain Crick should be a well-known adversary.
“Captain Crick is the man who took her?” I asked. “That big hairy-chested man?”
“No,” Pete said with pure disbelief all over his face. “You don’t know Captain Crick?”
“This is our first time in Ebon,” I said. “Give us the short version, would you?”
“Captain Crick is the most powerful man in all of Ebon,” Pete said. “Those men were his low-level lackeys. He hardly ever leaves his land. He ain’t got need to leave, not when he’s got four dozen men working for him.”
“Four dozen?” I asked, and I started to think this was a bad idea.
“Last I counted.” Pete nodded. “But half of them are at sea, so we’d only be facin’ maybe twenty.”
I nodded and tried to keep my eyeballs from popping right out of my skull.
Holy shit. Twenty.
“They patrol…” Pete’s voice faded, and he looked around the cottage for a moment. Then he started to assemble several small items on the table between us. “Wait.”
“Okay…” I hummed patiently.
“Okay, this is the manor,” Pete said, and he identified the building, the grounds, and a few other small landmarks like a shed and chicken roost by using the various household items to try and create a map. “They’ll probably have Izzie here.”
“In the chicken roost?” Kaz’s voice was baffled.
“No.” Pete pointed at a tin cup. “That’s the chicken roost.”
“Wait, I’m confused.” Prinna shook her head.
“Hang on,” I said as I reached into my rucksack and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pencil. “Here, can you draw the map instead?”
“Kraken’s beard,” Pete said in an astonished voice. “You have paper?”
“Yes,” I said, and I narrowed my eyes at his amazement and his exclamation. “It’s quite plentiful in our realm.”
“Paper is of the highest luxury in Ebon,” Pete explained. “Ye’d get a fortune for a few pieces.”
“Really?” Kaz asked. “But… the map?”
“You have a map?” Pete nearly shouted his question. “Of Ebon?”
“Is that… rare?” I asked.
“‘Tis.” Pete nodded.
Then he set to work drawing out a rudimentary map of Ebon. It was similar to Professor Wersnop’s rendering of the island, but Pete didn’t write any labels on it. Instead he drew shapes that were enough to identify the various landmarks.
“Perhaps when this is done, ye’ll tell me how you got a map,” Pete said.
“Perhaps.” I smirked.
“So, here is the manor,” Pete pointed at the map. “They’ll probably have Izzie here, in this storage shed. If we don’t get her by morning, they’ll put her on a ship and take her to Crick’s stronghold. Then she’ll be lost to us forever. There’s no coming back from there.”
“Is Crick’s stronghold on another island?” Kaz asked.
“‘Tis.” Pete nodded. “His ship is here off the coast.”
Pete pointed to the southwest corner of the island. Apparently that whole part of the island beyond Thunder Cove was Captain Crick’s territory. A spark of inspiration came over me, and I pulled my parchment map from the rucksack.
“So this whole area is Captain Crick’s?” I asked, and I indicated the western most part of Ebon.
“Shiiiit,” Pete breathed as he stared at the map like it was an open chest of pirate treasure. “Ya do have a map!”
“It was given to me by an old friend,” I said as a way of explanation. “He drew it himself.”
“He could write?” Pete asked with interest.
“Um, yes,” I said as an eyebrow arched up. “Is that a rare skill here?”
“Mmm.” Pete nodded. “It ain’t a common skill.”
I quickly read off the few labels Wersnop had put on the map, and I marked a square roughly where Pete had indicated Captain Crick’s manor to be. I sketched a simple ship shape and labeled Crick’s ship, too. Then the marketplace was added in, and I drew the rough shape of the footpaths through the jungle as well.
Pete helped us identify a few more locations on the island, and I wrote in the names and drew in little houses and docks where he indicated. He also indicated that the land rose sharply to the west of Thunder Cove’s sandy beach area into tall cliffs.
“The fall from the top is far enough to crush a man,” Pete explained. “It’s part o’ why Crick took the territory for ‘imself.”
“It’s a tactical advantage for sure,” I said.
“How do they get down to their ship?” Kaz asked.
“They’ve got stairs built on the cliff walls here,” Pete said, and he pointed at the map again. “They’re rickety as hell, and they been known to burn ‘em down before to keep folk from followin’.”
“Holy shit,” I said. “Okay, so we don’t want to push them into fleeing. But technically, we could burn them down ourselves to keep them from leaving before we’ve got a thorough ambush in place.”
Pete frowned at this logical point. “Aye… but we’re gettin’ a good ambush in place right now ain’t we? And I’m certainly not riggin’ ropes and the like for jimmyin’ down after we’ve burned our damn escape out.”
“Fair enough,” I muttered. “You said Crick’s people would be patrolling the grounds?”
“Yuh hmm,” Pete hummed. “Izzie and I’ve staked out the spot before. He sends ‘em out in teams of two and three.”
“You’ve staked out the spot out before?” I asked. “Why?”
“Most everybody on the island has,” Pete said in a casual tone. “Crick’s a real shit bastard. We all just figured there’d be a time we’d have ta get in there.”
“Looks like that was wise,” Prinna sighed.
“Groups of two and three are ideal,” Kaz said, and her tone spoke volumes to Prinna and me that Pete wouldn’t be able to follow.
I nodded and understood that she felt most comfortable with charming small groups.
“Ideal would be my sister not being abducted at all,” Pete grumbled.
He sighed heavily and raked his fingers through his hair. The action disrupted the tidy ponytail at the nape of his neck. Pete pulled the black strip of leather that held his hair back and combed through his hair with his fingers before he tied it back once more.
“This must be very hard for you,” Prinna said in a comforting tone.
I knew she must be feeling all of Pete’s desires and intentions.
“Sorry…” Pete said, and he straightened his shoulders. “It’s not yer fault, and I’m real grateful for yer help.”
“Hmm,” Prinna hummed with sudden interest.
I caught her gaze and arched a questioning eyebrow at the white-blonde witch. She gave me a pointed look like she wanted to communicate something new she was reading off Pete, and I sort of shrugged at her.
“Speak freely,” I said with a little casual gesture of invitation. “It’s your choice.”
“What’s happening?” Pete asked, and she stared between the three of us.
“I have… skills,” Prinna said slowly. “I can magically sense the intentions and desires of others.”
“Truly?” Pete asked with amazement. “You can feel my anger then?”
“Yes, it is intense,” Prinna said. “But none of it is directed at us.”
“Incredible,” Pete breathed.
“But you caught something new just then, didn’t you?” I asked.
“There’s been something lingering I couldn’t name.” Prinna nodded. “But now I can identify it.”
“What is it?” Kaz asked.
“Bravery,” Prinna answered, and she turned to Pete. “You have no fear inside you in facing this Captain Crick.”
“I ain’t afraid of death,” Pete said simply. “I am afraid of what would happen to my sister if we don’t go get her, and I understand if ya don’t wanna come with me. She’s my responsibility, I’ll do this alone if I have ta.”
Prinna’s hazel eyes bored into mine, and I could almost feel the intensity of Pete’s honesty through her. If we were stealthy enough, and with the magical powers my ladies added to our bag of tricks, we could get this done.
“We’re not going to make you do it alone,” I said.
Kaz and Prinna grinned brightly at me, and I could tell they were very pleased by my declaration.
“Prinna can act like radar and scan the area for enemies before they ever spot us,” I said.
“What is radar?” the three of them spoke in weird unison.
“It’s not important,” I chuckled. “All I mean to say is that no one is going to sneak up on us or catch us off guard with Prinna around. And Kaz’s skills will be incredibly useful, too.”
“What are your skills?” Pete asked my Enchanted lover.
“Should I demonstrate?” Kaz asked the room in general.
I shrugged in response to let her know it was up to her, but Prinna giggled.
“Chickens are quite funny,” Prinna said.
“Chickens?” Pete asked with absolute confusion.
“Pete…” Kaz said in that charming, hypnotic, and magical voice of hers.
Pete’s blue eyes grew a bit hazy as he was instantly pulled under Kaz’s influence.
“Yes?” Pete asked slowly.
“Squawk like a chicken for me?” Kaz said in her seductive Enchanted voice. “Just give me a little bawk bawk.”
Without hesitation, Pete started to bawk and squawk like a chicken, and I was pretty impressed at the accuracy of the sound. If I closed my eyes, I would have believed a real fowl was pecking around at the ground under our feet.
“Thank you, Pete,” Kaz said, and the magic slipped out of her voice.
“Baaw– what!” Pete returned to himself in the middle of another cluck, and his eyes were wide with shock. “That’s wild!”
“And incredibly useful,” I pointed out with a smirk. “Don’t you think?”
“Can you only make people behave like chickens?” Pete asked.
“I have never found something I could not charm a person to do,” Kaz said, and she gave me a sly little look.
Her magic didn’t work on me, but that was an entirely separate fact.
“That will make this easy!” Pete laughed with newfound confidence. “What a skill! Poseidon be damned.”
“How much time do we have until morning?” I asked.
This realm seemed to have very short days, and I only hoped the nights weren’t as quick to pass or we might be rapidly running out of time.
“We should have six hours more of darkness,” Pete said. “Perhaps seven. But you make a good point. We should prepare and go very soon.”
“Okay,” I said with a nod, and I stood up with my hand on my short sword.
“I have a spare pistol you may borrow.” Pete eyed my visible weapon.
“I have a pistol, actually,” I said, and I patted the concealed lump on my hip. “I’m not as good of a shot as you, though.”
“Would ya like some pointers?” Pete offered in a casual tone. “Ya’d want to warm up anyway before going in.”
“Um, sure,” I said. “Is there somewhere we can shoot?”
“Come on,” Pete said, and he picked up the oil lantern.
The friendly pirate led us outside and around the back of the cottage to a small clearing of packed earth. A single segment of split-rail fencing stood about twenty yards beyond the cottage, and several glass bottles were lined up along the top and bottom rails. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I realized there were the broken bottoms of more bottles on the rails, too.
It also occurred to me that practicing in the darkness of night was a good idea. I’d only ever shot in the bright fluorescent lights of indoor shooting ranges, and I knew the darkness was going to greatly affect my ability and confidence.
“Lemma put up some new targets,” Pete said as he hurried over to the fence.
He quickly set up twenty new and mostly intact bottles, and then he jogged back over to us. I reached inside my jacket and pulled my semi-auto pistol from its holster.
I was glad Pete had offered a few pointers, not just because I could use them from someone so skilled with a gun, but also because I still didn’t know for certain if my gun would work here.
There was no way to tell what traveling through a multi-realm portal could do to things like this, and I was relieved I would be able to test it. I had no idea how I might have asked otherwise.
“Shiiiiit,” Pete breathed, and the expression on his face showed exactly how impressed he was. “That’s a pistol?”
“Yes,” I said with a slight smirk. “It’s different than yours, would you like me to show you?”
“Please.” Pete nodded emphatically.
He gestured for me to pick a target, and he stepped back. Kaz scurried behind me several paces and clamped her hands tightly over her ears. Prinna, on the other hand, stood only a step behind me.
“You should cover your ears, too,” I told her. “Enough exposure to a sound this loud can permanently damage your hearing. Cover your ears when you can, and I’ll pick up some hearing protection soon.”
“I’ve already gone mostly deaf in this ear,” Pete said in an almost boastful tone as he pointed at his left. “Keep yer hearin’ if ya can.”
“Okay,” Prinna said softly, and she reached up to place her palms over her ears.
“At yer leisure,” Pete told me.
I picked a green bottle that was a bit easier to see in the darkness as my first target. I took a breath, shifted my feet into a good stance, raised my arms, and took aim.
A sudden sharp knife of doubt stabbed through my chest, and I worried the gun wouldn’t do anything when I fired. There was only one way to know, though.
Caleb’s words of advice cycled through my mind quickly, and I kept both eyes open and on the target. I focused on my breath enough to time my shot with my next exhale, and I squeezed the trigger.
The shot was painfully loud without hearing protection. The ringing discomfort in my eardrums, and I opened my mouth wide like I could pop my ears back to normal.
I breathed a sigh of relief that the gun worked, though I couldn’t help but notice I’d completely missed my target. I couldn’t tell where my bullet had impacted, but it wasn’t on the green bottle.
“Ugh,” I grumbled softly.
Pete stared at me with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open for a long moment. He gazed at the Sig in my hands like he wanted to snatch it from me and run off with the new treasure. He cleared his throat and seemed to gain control of himself.
“That is a remarkable weapon, Sam,” Pete said. “It is a weapon truly worthy of a venturer.”
“Thanks,” I chuckled.
“I saw ye kept both eyes open,” Pete said, and his tone was still a bit awed as he gestured at my gun. “That’s good, and you breathed well. Remember, you won’t always have enough time to set yourself up like that. You should practice firing from the hip.”
“Firing from the hip?” I repeated his words with confusion. “What does that mean?”
“Do you want him to hold the gun there?” Prinna asked, and she pointed near my holster.
“No,” Pete said with a grin. “It means you should practice the action of pulling your gun and bringing it right up to aiming position.”
Pete turned around to face the targets, and gave us the fastest look to let us know he was about to fire. Then he grabbed his flintlock pistol from his hip, raised it, cocked the hammer with his other hand, and fired all in less than two seconds.
