Border Crossing

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"You're late." Baralai Fairchild despised the rain, almost as much as he despised mages. He was waiting at one of the bridges that crossed the river that in turn divided the two largest kingdoms in their land. It was the same bridge where he had waited countless times. Templar or no, gold was gold, and this gold also got rid of troublesome mages.
"You want the gold or not?" A black clad man snarled as he jumped down gracefully from his equally black steed.
Baralai muttered something rather unbecoming of a Templar, then held a gloved hand out. "Gold first, then the cargo. Try anything..." He words were cut off as the mage he was transporting broke free of his restraints. It all happened so quickly that he didn't see the flash of lightning and the proud Templar was crashing into the raging river below.
Six months. It had been six months and the fallen Templar still woke in a cold sweat after dreaming of that night. The mage had rendered him immobile, though wide awake when he had plunged into the river, his heavy armour weighing him down until a pig farmer had dragged him from the river several miles away. It had taken months to get back to health and pay back the farmer for his kindness. In that time word had gotten out that Fairchild the Templar was a deserter.

Alice Gormanghast was scowling into the mirror. She hated this world she had been born into, even now as her maid pulled tightly on the laces of her dress she thought of nothing but a way to escape. Her brother's were all war heroes, famous to everyone in the kingdom for their brave deeds and triumph in defeating several of the dragons. But Alice... All she was known for was to be the prize her father handed over to the man he deemed brave enough to end the war altogether. She was the proverbial Princess in the tower, useful only for luring in prospective suitors. The young brunette didn't even realise her rose coloured lips were quirked into a slight smile 'if only they knew'. Indeed, her father would have a literal heart attack if he knew his prized daughter had secretly been learning how to shoot a bow and handle a sword. She lost herself for hours at an end in books that told of the thieves guild, and their mysterious leader who was sometimes known to have a higher moral code than the knights of their kingdom.

Alice allowed them to shout for another few moments as she looked at each of them. "So you think me weak, is that it?" She finally asked thinly. "That I am some helpless little girl who needs you to act on her behalf?" The Captain added, her hand on her sword. "Garrik was there because I demanded it of him! No one should be entering my cabin without my permission, not even with tea!" She added, trying to decide how long she could avoid informing them of the details fo the previous night.

"Then I shall finally have what I want." Bear shrugged. "Because when I did have a heart... it was broken the moment the one I loved abandoned me. I died for her, and she just didn't care."

Ever so slightly Garrik shook his head, indicating that she not reveal their secret. "You bloody fools never bothered to ask if we were plannin' the next part of  the journey. Just assumed you bleedin' knew everything." He hissed through blood covered teeth. "We have a plan for that king and his army..."

"If you died...how could you know?" Piglet scoffed at his words. "And did you ever tell her you loved her?" She pushed him hard with her nose. "You shems are the worst about that."

Alice followed Garrik's lead and drew her sword, standing between her first mate and the rest of the crew. "So come on then, do the rest of you have any idea how to make that damn king suffer the most? No? I didn't think so!" She growled.

"I'm here, ain't I?" Bear snorted. "I came back, and I ain't seen sight or sound of her since. Reckon she just gave up."

The man doing all the talking shook his head. "I'm not sure I'm buying this. Does it really need all that plannin' with his shirt off?" He asked, his eyes never leaving the captain. 

"You're a man. I doubt you came back. Your lot doesn't know how." Piglet said darkly, trying to to turn her head. "Get out, shem."

"What exactly are you implying?" Alice asked thinly, her cold gaze lingering on the man who spoke.

"Make me." Bear replied, making a show of stretching out as though he were about to take a nap right there.

The man looked from one to the other, his cutlass tapping on his leg. He didn't need to say what he was thinking, it was written all over his face. 

Piglet snorted, filling the tiny space with smoke. "You are getting on my nerves." She growled. "Why are you so ready to die?"

Alice didn't give the man another warning, she had lunged forward, pulling a dagger from her boot now and twisting it painfully into his thigh. "Remind me again how this is any of your business?" she hissed, close enough for this deckhand to feel his Captain's breath on his lips.

"Why are you?" Bear countered, though he was lay against the dragon now, his eyes closed. "Sitting here, in this mountain, not eating a thing, that's exactly what yer doin'; waitin' to die."

"I...we...we was just lookin' out for ya Captain." The man said, swallowing hard. "You gotta understand that."

"Piglet, you're not talking to you're food again. Are you?" The voice at the top of the stairs was nothing but hate and ice. "You silly beast. One day it will talk back.:

"Looking out for me?" Alice echoed, not believing this. "At what point did you think I was in a situation that needed interference?" She added, twisting the knife a little more.

Bear shifted position slightly, only to keep himself out of sight. He didn't like the sound of that voice one little bit.

"I went up to the cabin myself to give you the night watch report. I heard the sounds of a struggle..." the man wheezed, shivering in pain. 
Garrik simply snorted from where he was still tied to the mast. He refused to look at any of them. 

Piglet turned, hiding the man with her tail. "You hear nothing but ghosts. They do nothing but complain." 
Kane headed down the stairs, an odd shaped knife in his hand. "Are you going to help the thief open the portal this time, girl? Or am I going to bleed you again?" He asked, no one to beat around the bush. "I'm actually hoping for blood. It's been awhile since you screamed for me, my darling."

"And you assumed I wasn't kicking his behind for disturbing me just before you did?" Alice asked thinly, the dagger still in the man's thigh.

Bear opened his eyes, his fingers on his sword. He was ready to gut this man in less time than it would take for him to call for help. He couldn't understand why the Piglet was letting this happen.

"I warned you about that curiosity, mate." Garrik said spitting blood at the man's feet. At these words the crew dispersed, suddenly seeming to find more interesting things to do. 

"Take what you need." The dragon said softly. "But you'll get no sound out of me. I'm hoping for death with this one."
The king laughed, the dagger dancing easily through his fingers."until I am on the throne, , you won't be going anywhere."

Alice yanked the blade out of the man's leg and wiped the blood on his shirt. "Try something like this again, and the blade will be higher next time." She warned. "When and if I need defending, I'll appreciate the help then, but until then you wont be taking matters into your own hands." The Captain wasn't quite sure if this was a well meaning effort to protect her, or simply an excuse to beat a man.

"He wont be on the throne long if rumours are true..." Bear breathed only loud enough for the two of them to hear. "Got a Pirate Queen out for his blood."

The crew cut Garrik down without so much as a word. He wouldn't have wanted it that way anyway. He stood rubbing at his wrists, his eyes on Alice waiting for her orders as if it were a usual day. 

"That's not enough to hope for." The dragon muttered, blowing smoke in the king's direction. This seemed to anger Kane and he plunged the knife deep into her hide. She took in a gasping breath. 
"I need to go to the Black city." He hissed at her. "Take me there...now..."

"You should be more careful, I can't be there to save your sorry behind every time." She warned, for the sake of those within earshot, though she smiled ever so slightly at Garrik.

Bear snorted quietly, still assuming the Black City was just a vast and empty nothingness. His hand was resting against the Dragon's tail, his touch warm even through her thick scales.

Garrik raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing in response to this. "We are looking at a strong storm approaching, Captain." He said finally. "Should we batten down the hatches?" 

"It's too soon." Piglet said, though the blade was making her think otherwise. "We...may have enough magick to pull it off..."

Alice looked to the horizon and nodded her head. "Secure the cannons, things may get rough." She smirked a little at the last part and offered Garrik a playful wink.

"Give the petulant boy what he wants, Piglet." Bear breathed, knowing that look in Kane's eyes; he was desperate.

Garrik nodded, his gray eyes twinkling. He turned away from her, shouting orders to the men. "I don't like the way those clouds look!" Someone from the crows nest shouted. "Look how they're hanging over the mountain like that!"

"It matters little to you, shem. Your cost is nothing." She muttered, turning her head to the king and lifting her throat to allow him to cut it.

Alice was quick climb to a higher vantage point and saw the clouds. She had read about phenomenon like this in books at the castle. "The black city..." The breathed the words without even really thinking about it.

"That's the gateway, your death?!" Bear hissed, most likely giving himself away to Kane now. "What about the knife ear?!"

"The what?" There were not many outside of elves and the scholars who knew what the Black city was. Most only knew that the Maker was waiting to greet them. They didn't care where.
"You seeing this?" Garrik shouted from the deck. "We setting a course for it, Captain?"

Kane was bathing himself in her blood, desperately covering every part of his body. He was paying attention to very little else. 
"He needs the magic to cross over. He'll take the ancient one with him. Go now shem while the upstairs gate is open. Go and never look back..." the dragon told him, her voice for a moment sounding like Yena's again.

"Of course we are!" Alice declared, leaning over the side of the ship now as she watched the cloud. "I'll find a way to make Kane pay, and the Black City will show me!"

"I'm coming with you." Bear swore as the blood splattered him. "This bastard will get what he deserves."

"I never said you were sane, Cap." Garrik said as Alice joined him on the deck. "You realize that will mean waking up the magic man." He had yet to put on a shirt though he had cleaned up somewhat. 

"In the darkness I look to beg his forgiveness. He is never there." The dragon said softly. "You...don't want to go."

"Or you could just kill me to get me there." Alice breathed, the cool tips of her bare fingers discretely tracing against Garrik's taut abdomen as she smiled slightly.

"I don't want to stay." Bear pointed out. "There is... no one for me here."

"Why would I do that?" Garrik asked gruffly. "I couldn't follow you. The Maker doesn't care much for me." His eyes swept over her face as if he were memorizing it. "Besides, I don't think you need all that blood outside that lovely body of yours, Captain." 

"Why not?" The dragon's heavy head fell and Kane was on Bear in an instant, the blood stained knife under his chin. "Isnt there anyone to love you, Templar? What a shame that is." The king purred, burying the knife deep into his stomach and twisting it.

Alice had spent the past year suffering with the grief of what she had believed to be her husband's death, it was only Garrik who had given her cause to breathe again. She had been ready to tell the crew about them, until Garrik had stopped her. "A Queen needs her king, does she not?" She breathed as her fingers now idly toyed with the cold metal of Garrik's belt buckle, like she was afraid he was about to laugh at her.

Bear felt the pain, and he laugh, spraying blood in Kane's face. It was nice to feel again, even if it was pain. "Your sister will destroy you." He sneered. "She will humiliate you, take your throne, your title, and even then I doubt she would kill you!" He spat, blood flowing freely past his lips now.

Garrik's eyes dropped. The mention of her husband still hurt. She still loved him. Nothing he did would changed that. "I'll wake the magic man." He said gruffly, pulling away from her. He turned to go below deck finally allowing her to see that the crew had had time to whip him on top of everything else. 

"How do you know about her?" Kane hissed, grabbing a handful of Baralai's hair and yanking his head back. This made the odd shaped necklace he wore begin to hum. The jagged edges turned and strained to reach for the other man. This was almost enough to change the subject.

Alice watched Garrik leave with tears in her eyes. "I meant you." She whispered to the now empty deck. Those deep and angry marks on his back only made her feel even worse. It was proof she really did just bring misery to those that got close to her.

Bear laughed again. "The whole kingdom knows about the little performance at your precious coronation." He sneered, though he stopped when he saw the reaction the necklace was giving off.

The magic man was ancient. It took him what seemed like forever to hobble onto the deck. Garrik was a patient man and didn't seem to mind how long it was taking them to get there. He held the leathery arm and guided him to a box and helped him to sit before sending the cabin boy scrambling for the Captain. When she arrived he was lighting a pipe for the old man, the two of them chuckling over a story the ancient one was telling. 

Kane ignored the comment and was watching the reaction as well. He allowed Baralai to drop all the way to the ground and followed him down yanking off his necklace and hanging it over the man's body. "Why aren't you dying?" He hissed. He'd gutted the Templar and not only was he still alive but he was beginning to heal. The necklace was swaying violently, trying to get out of his fingers as if it needed to join the other man.

"Well? Can he do it or not?" Alice demanded rather bluntly as she stormed across the deck, the terrified looking cabin boy trailing behind her. Though he likely hadn't meant to, Garrik had deeply wounded his Captain and lover when he had misunderstood her earlier.

Bear was laughing near hysterically now. "The undead can't die!" He exclaimed, simply lying on the ground as he watched the king struggle with the force the necklace was exerting now.

"Ask him yourself, Captain." Garrik said, his gray eyes resting on her face for a long moment before he took a lungful of the pipe the old man was offering him. "This is your plan after all." He added, when he was finished, blowing smoke at the cabin boy. 

Kane stomped roughly on Baralai's throat, taking the pendant and shoving it hard against his chest. The jagged edges began to tear at his flesh. 
"Now I understand." Anaris breathed. He knelt on the other side of the Templar his fingers resting over Kane's. "He's the reason we cannot get the throne room. He's the missing piece of the dragon's heart...It's glowing..."