Chapter 101: 101: Catch a Break

“Calvin?”

Calvin’s insects flinched away from the creature as it started calling his name. it must have heard Kala say it.

Taking that as a sign that invoking his name could ward him off, it started saying it repeatedly, all the three-inch Kala’s voices along the creature’s body rose up as each of them began calling out his name, adding high pitched, chittering noises that resolved into his own name if he paid enough attention.

“Calvin!”

“Calvin, Calvin!”

Calvin spun away further, his wings fluttering as his imaginary gorge rose.

Is it doing something to me? Some kind of mental attack? I feel sick, like I’m gonna pass out.

Don’t quote me on this, but you’re probably just Breaking. Took a while, actually. Probably because this stuff’s like crude oil compared to the stuff on the surface. Let me know if you experience any discomfort. For science.

Now!? Sonofabitch! It would probably kick Calvin out of his wasp-body, and going through the Break with a body that damaged was a great way to die. Not to mention the eldritch horror that wanted to eat him with a trillion Kalas

But it was happening, so Calvin had to deal.

His bugs near Kala saw that she had a sheen of sweat on her brow, signifying a Break.

 The one thing that absolutely cannot happen is for both of us to pass out at the same time.

He didn’t have any Bent left, and another three hours before he got another one.

Kala might have some, but even if he borrowed one point from her, his wasps were mindless killing machines without directions. He couldn’t provide directions while he was unconscious.

His Knick-Knacks were much smarter, and he could probably give them complicated instructions with a reasonable chance that they would follow through on it without supervision, but they were incapable or unwilling to cause harm.

Nadia would let Kala die while he slept, if not kill her herself.

***Nadia***

“Hah! The kid’s totally got your number!” Elliot crowed through the little black box in her room while Nadia crossed her arms and pouted.

“That’s Guar shit! He would obviously make her a summon! Does I look like I want an annoying Gadveran stick-princess for a roommate?” She threw her drink at the screen.

At least I would make sure he couldn’t find the body when he woke up, She thought, nodding to herself.

***Calvin***  

Due to his injuries, his Break would probably be longer than normal, hours, an entire night at least. Kala’s would be comparatively shorter, being in much better condition.

Looks like keepaway it is.

A moving, intelligent bed made of Knick-Knacks was about as good as Calvin could think of.

Calvin flew all his wasps save one over to the Mimic, squirting it with all the venom he could spare.

“Calvin!” It said, holding Kala’s hand up to shield itself, putting all five fingers composed of smaller Kalas in the path of the venom. They began to melt and slowly slough away as the microscopic Kalas ingested the poison and died.

Gods, that makes it hard to follow through, Calvin thought as the false Kala screamed in pain, running away from him.

Damn.

Calvin could only hope it wasn’t interested in coming back, because he was starting to lose the ability to control his swarm.

Calvin quickly killed the wasps out in the darkness, then unsummoned the final one in front of Kala, dropping his real body onto the ground a couple inches off the metal grate.

A nub of bone caught him in the back, but that was the least of his discomfort. The light impact grinded the broken rib-stubs against each other in his chest, paralyzing his lungs

There was a warm spurt of blood from the massive puncture in his leg, along with an agonizing burning sensation that seemed to spread up and into his hips.

“Break,” Calvin said by way of explanation. “Got any Bent to spare?”

Summon the Knick-Knacks, then tell them to carry Kala and me, obey either of our instructions, and to keep us together and away from anything down here that moves. With an emphasis on keeping us safe. Should work.

She shook her head, her sweat-soaked brow furrowed.

“Not for an hour or so.”

“Well, shit.” Calvin said as his eyelids fluttered, struggling to keep his eyes from rolling back in his head. “Now I feel sheepish.”

Here we go! Hold onto your assets!

Warp overflow detected…

Initializing Warp Protection System… Break.

Calvin’s eyes finally rolled into the back of his head as he slipped into unconsciousness.

***Jinnei, Western Ocean***

“Good tide to you as well,” Jinnei said, folding her arms and bowing in the traditional Shuweya greeting as she stepped off the ramp of Karen’s Folley.

Shuweya were rather pale people who shared heritage and a root language with the continent to the west, but that was where the similarity ended. A long, long time ago a Warp mutation had carried on from a coastal fishermen to his children and their children after them.

The ability to breathe water was a fine advantage, but mainlanders didn’t take kindly to these people as they became more numerous, pushing them out into the ocean, where they settled the small islands that dotted the water, gradually developing their own culture and trade.

“I’ve seen him before,” the Shuweya chief said, pointing at Kip, “But not you, or your ship. It’s make is unfamiliar.”

Jinnei glanced over her shoulder at her vessel, where Karen’s Folly had been hastily slapped over the ship’s former name.

“It’s a recent acquisition from Iletha.”

“And the rest of these?” he asked, motioning to the fleet of vessels anchored in the bay, their crews held hostage on the beach at swordpoint.

“The West Gadvera Trading company.” Jinnei said with a grin.

“Are these ships from the island?” he asked, his welcoming smile turning suspicious. He didn’t need to specify which island. They both knew he was talking about the one with the giant caterpillar shitting out ships.

Jinnei still wasn’t sure she’d actually seen what she thought she’d seen. People exploding into black tubes, strange half-metal creatures that stank of death.

“They are a fleet of Ilethan trading ships whose escort was lost in a storm. We are going to sell them to Gadvera for a tidy ransom.”

The chieftan’s grey eyes narrowed. “You’re lying.”

“Fine, we got them from the island, but there wasn’t any curse.” Jinnei said, “Just a fleet of Ilethans chasing everyone away.”

“You’re not entirely sure of that.”

“What are you, my mother?” Jinnei demanded. “We’ve got steel and you’ve got food. Are you interested in a deal, or what?”

The man’s brows rose as Kip made little ‘stop’ motions with his hands on the edge of JInnei’s vision.

The man scowled, the gills on the side of his neck ruffling as he curled his toes in the sand.

“One day.”

Kip groaned.

“I will give you one day and one night to trade, then I want you on your way.”

“Fair enough,” Jinnei said, putting her hand out. The chief glanced down at her outstretched hand and ignored it, turning away to stalk back up the beach toward the sprawling city carved into the stone of the island.

“You shouldn’t have insulted him.” Kip asked. “Just sweeten the pot a little and we could have had a week.”

“What’s the difference? It won’t take more than a day to load the ships and be on our way again.”

“Men need rest days. A little time on land between months at sea. One day spent hauling tons of cargo before setting out the next day isn’t going to sit well with the men.”

“Tell them to suck it up,” Jinnei said, rolling up her sleeves. “I’m not asking them to do anything I wouldn’t demand of myself.”

“Have everybody with mercantile Skills loaded up with knives, axes and nails from the ship’s storage. Have them scatter and secure enough fresh fruits and salted fish to last twice the expected journey. And…see if you can’t hire on-board entertainment to make up for it. Use discretion. I don’t want to get their hopes up in advance.”

“I guess you did learn a thing or two,” Kip said, nodding. “If only just.”

“Get to it,” Jinnei said before heading back up the ramp and grabbing a heavy-duty wheelbarrow, throwing the hefty piece of wood and iron over her shoulder.

Her increased Body was treating her well.

“Come on boys, we’re burning daylight here! Every minute we waste, the value of those Ilethan ships depreciates!”

Jinnei’s pirates gave a half-hearted cry of enthusiasm.

“What was that!?” Jinnei demanded, rounding on them. “Who wants to make some ‘Vash-damned money!?”

There was a slightly louder cheer.

“Who wants to snort Jush off a hooker’s titties!?”

There was a much louder cheer.

“Then work like you mean it! Sooner we’re out of here, sooner we’re drowning in luxury! You really want to share a stone cot with a fishy smelling tart!?”

They piled off the ramp after her, leaving only the men watching the Ilethan skeleton crews.

It took all night, but they eventually got enough to last them two months, twice the estimated distance of the trip between them and their final destination.

During the intensive labor, many of the pirates looked like they wanted to say something, but held their tongue when they saw their captain carrying entire barrels over her shoulder, moving at a blazing hustle as she loaded up ferry after ferry, where teams of priates loaded up their primary vessel with the food.

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The vast majority of the food was on her own vessel, as further incentive for the captive Ilethans to think twice before deciding to overthrow their captors.

They might be able to kill the pirates watching them, but they would most likely starve if they didn’t regularly accept food from her flagship.

It was nearing the early hours of the morning when Jinnei threw the last barrel of underripe fruits into the ferry and collapsed into it, allowing her aching body to be rowed back to Karen’s Folly.

When she arrived, the barbeques were running at full capacity, flooding the deck with orange light as men chatted, ate and drank. There were even a handful of Shuweyan dancers livening things up, hiding their nudity behind gesh fronds as the sailors cheered wildly.

Kip gave her a hand out of the boat as it was hoisted level with the main ship.

“Good job,” She said nodding at the blissfully entranced pirates.

“I doubt it’ll last them all the way to Gadvera, but it’s a damn sight better than nothing,” he agreed, following her gaze.

“I’m going to sleep. Facilitate volunteers for the morning shift, don’t wake me before noon unless the ocean is on fire.”

“Aye, sir,” Kip said, the salty old pirate saluting her as she stumbled to the captain’s cabin, hauled the heavy door open, then shutting it, slamming a heavy steel rod in place, barring it closed.

As well received as she was among the Malkenrovian pirates…they were still filthy, brutish pirates that she didn’t trust one bit.

She did her customary check of the closet and the bedding, making sure no one was hiding out in her room, before collapsing into bed, asleep almost immediately

****

The knocking that woke her up seemed urgent, rattling the iron bar stretched across it.

“Captain, wake up! Something strange on the horizon!”

Jinnei peeled a single eye open and peered out of the steel reinforced window in the rear of her cabin.

The sun was falling on the west side of the tropical island shrinking into the distance behind them.

It was before noon.

“Better be on fire,” she muttered, climbing out of the pillowy down comforter and sliding her shoes on, tightening them with a quick jerk.

She marched up to the rattling door, peered out to make sure it wasn’t a dozen men looking to jump her, then yanked it open when she saw Kip’s concerned face.

“You’re gonna want to see this.” He said, nodding toward the crow’s nest.

Jinnei narrowed her eyes and jumped a third of the way up the mast in a single bound, catching the rungs and working her way up to the nest.

She slid into the cramped space beside the thin spotter with missing teeth and bad hygiene, and accepted the spyglass from him, wiping the thing clean before putting it to her eye.

She knew what these people had on their hands.

“What am I looking fo- oh, shit.” Rather than having to scan the horizon, the horizon itself seemed to be the problem.

Behind them, beyond the Shuweyan island, on the very edge of the horizon, was a fleet the likes of which didn’t seem possible. Sails were so thick on the horizon that they seemed to blend together to make a whitish band around the edge of the world.

“There!” The spotter said, pointing to the island, prompting Jinnei to shift her gaze.

Gigantic metallic caterpillars were in the process of dragging themselves out of the ocean and setting upon the island’s forests.

“Damn it to the abyss and all the hells therin.” Jinnei muttered before launching herself out of the nest, falling the thirty feet to the ground, her feet sending up splinters when she landed on the deck.

“Send the signal to all the other ships! Turn around and head toward the island for a pass across the western side!” Jinnei bellowed with everything she had.

Kip began spewing out commands and the men rushed to do her bidding.

Yeah, I could get used to instant obedience.

Leadership has reached level 7! 35% Correction.

The ship groaned as it turned against the wind, and they began zig-zagging, attempting to reach the Shuweyan before the Ilethan fleet.

If that even is the ilethan fleet.

The going was slow, and by the time they were within hailing distance of the island, the massive creatures had already consumed a huge portion of the Shuweyan island and destroyed huge swaths of the stone cities.

The pirates muttered, expressions dark as she guided them closer to the giant creatures that had destroyed their last vessel.

With the wind at their backs, the enemy fleet closed rapidly, resolving into an armada the likes of which no one had ever seen, stretching out from a few miles away, all the way to the horizon and beyond.

“I take it your aim is to save these people?” Kip asked her quietly. “That poses serious challenges, sir, not least of which is how to get them all to the boats. We don’t exactly have a lot of time to send out the dinghys to round them up.”

As he spoke, the enemy fleet was beginning to curve around the island like a living thing, threatening to swallow it up. They’d seen Jinnei’s fleet, and were making to surround her.

“What are you talking about?” Jinnei asked, glancing at him as they reached the point of no return. She pointed at the hundreds of people swimming toward their ships. Some were already trying to climb the sides.

“Down to the smallest child, the Shuweyan are excellent swimmers. Drop the nets for them to climb and let’s get the fuck out of here. Anyone who doesn’t make it, we’re leaving behind.”

“Yessir,” Kip said, relaying the orders.

The pirates breathed a sigh of relief as they began to turn away, evading the encircling net.

A rumbling caught Jinnei’s ears.

“Is it another of those wurms!?”

“Ah fuck, we’re dead if that’s so!”

“Shut it!” Jinnei shouted, tilting her head to listen. “It’s not the wurm. Sounds different.” She glanced around and noticed the arm of the the encircling armada had somehow sped up drastically, with froth spraying up behind their boats like the bottom of a waterfall.

That was where the sound was coming from.

“What the Abyss is that?” Jinnei asked Kip, pointing at the boats moving at breakneck speeds, sending up walls of spray as they moved faster than the wind.

“I…don’t know.”

“Gods damnit! Load the cannons and ready to turn us starboard! We’re going to have to brute force our way through this thing!”

“You,” She said, pointing at a random deckhand. “Go belowdeck and grab all the arms we confiscated and put a saber in the hands of every gillface dragging himself aboard. There’s no free rides on the Karen’s Folly!”

They watched helplessly as the enemy ships nimbly out maneuvered them, creating an impassible wall of wood in front of them.

“Hard to starboard!” Jinnei shouted, turning her ship into a narrow gap between two enemy vessels, unloading every cannonball they had into them.

The heavy attack took the two on either side out of the race, but the other ships were travelling so much faster, they were easily able to pull up alongside Jinnei’s ship.

“Llortan,” one of the greying Malkenrovian pirates said, warding himself against evil as the ships approached close enough for them to see their occupants.

The enemies were Malkenrovian, primarily, with a few Ilethans mixed in, but they did not look right. They were far too pale, their eyes bruised, gums blackened.

“Don’t let them slow us down!” Jinnei shouted, walking back and forth across the deck. “Keep our sails clear, cut any hooks off, focus on speed!”

Jinnei’s crew of pirates, along with their ILethan ‘guests’ and Shuweyan rescues, tightened their grips on their sabers as the ocean breeze was overcome with a foul smell.

Moments later, battle was joined, with the strange Malkenrovians attempting to seize control of the top deck, trying to push their men away from the railing so they could put up a board.

“That speed thing’s all well and good,” Kip said between hacks, “But what are we going to do about that?” he nodded toward a third ship easily overtaking the embattled Karen’s Folly and turning sideways, presenting an impassable obstable.

They couldn’t go through the other ship: they didn’t have the size, speed, strength or mass to survive such a thing.

They were well and truly boxed in.

Damn… Jinnei gritted her teeth and prepared to fight to the death.

There was a glimmer of light, and the ship in front of them split in half, wood creaking in protest as each severed end turned skyward, revealing some strange, bleeding metal mechanism in the ship’s guts.

“What in the Abyss did I just see?” Jinnei asked.

“I don’t know, but now’s not the time to stop and ponder it!” Kip shouted, shoving a hissing Malkenrovian with blackened gums off the side of the ship.

Despite his advice, Jinnei kept looking, idly fending off the occasional screeching sailor.

Far beyond the split vessel was a Gadveran destroyer, but even more interesting to Jinnei was the person running along the surface of the water, from the destroyed ship, directly toward them.

A very large person, wearing very heavy armor. Running on water.

Crap. Jinnei forgot all of her dignity as a pirate captain for a moment and almost jumped off the side of the ship.

Moment’s later there was an explosion of watter off the edge of the ship and a heavily armored body landed in the center of the deck, illogically causing no damage whatsoever to the wood despite the impact rocking the entire ship.

The armored behemoth swung twice, and every enemy on either side fell into two pieces, and their ships received massive gouges along their sides that began bubbling furiously, causing the ships to list.

“By all the gods, it’s Karen the Bloodletter!”

“Nonsense, she disappeared twenty years ago when Malkenrovia closed! That has to be someone else!”

“Hi, mom,” Jinnei said, waving sheepishly with one hand as Karen eyed her furiously.

Macronomicon

Enjoy!

Spent the weekend moving furniture, but unlike most of the times moving furniture in my life, this time it was my furniture. That's right, Macronomicon has a couch.

Been able to meet and exceed the deadlines well recently, so Patreon is up to chapter 128! Hopefully life will continue to be manageable...but you all know how silly that idea is.

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