Runnin'

The avatars and animals have always been aware of the other. When a cat avoids a certain spot of the room it might because an avatar – or one of their lesser servants – is standing there, unseen to the rest of the world. So as the twins raced for the Ark they were completely unaware of Mihos standing in the middle of the path. The horses, however, saw and realized that staying their present course would be a very bad thing.

The twins, obviously, did not appreciate this. Langley swore, pulled on the bit, kicked the horse, and the beast only put its head down further and weaved through the forest, taking them further away from the Ark. The captain finally ducked down and hung on once she had a narrow miss with a low branch.

“Langley!” Sabreur called from somewhere to her right, “How do we make these things stop?”

“I don’t think we can anymore!”

She tugged on the reins again. Sure enough, the horse only snorted and ignored her. Logic seemed to have left the situation. One minute she was in control of the animal, the next minute it was acting like all the creatures of the underworld was on its tail. Of course, if Langley had known that a very amused Mihos was following them, unseen, in his bird form it would have made a lot more sense. As is, she could only hang on and hope that they had lost any pursuit by the pirates.

They weren’t so lucky. The horses’ mad flight curved away from the beaches back towards the interior of the island. By that time Butterfly had been destroyed and Bartoa had fetched the remaining horses – four of them – and with his most able crew set off in pursuit. They met as the horses finally turned their path back towards the western side of the island.

“Well, we’re even numbers again,” Langley said absently, twisting to regard their pursuers.

“Bartoa, you treacherous scum!” Jeff howled and attempted to turn his horse to confront the pirate captain. It didn’t work.

Two of the pirates drew pistols and fired. One bullet whizzed over Langley’s head, who ducked and swore, the other passed close by Sabreur. His horse stumbled once and then went back to a full gallop. Langley glanced back over her shoulder. The pirates were reloading. She could conceivably turn around and return fire but that would involve letting go of the horse and she just didn’t trust her horsemanship skills that well. Especially not with Crystal hanging onto her waist.

The smell of salt was growing stronger in the air. Up ahead the land rose, then vanished and the roar of sea waves could be heard from far below. The three horses fanned out, trying to find a different route, and realized that they’d just carried them and their riders into a little pocket where the only way out was back. That option was out of the question because: for the humans, they were being chased by pirates; for the horses, Mihos had just settled down in his brightly plumed bird form at the only escape route. So they stopped and the twins dove off their backs with respective weapons readied.

There was one thing that the twins had been taught while at the Academy when it came to ‘mancer duels. Speed. Always, always have a component ready before your opponent. Obviously, the pirate ‘mancer had not been Academy trained for as he pulled the horse to a stop to attack the twins already had their hands up and were speaking the focus words of some rather nasty forms of ‘mancy. Langley had her opal ring swiveled on her finger so that the stone was on the side of her palm. Sabreur had done the same with his ruby and hematite ring.

Fire roared out around the horse’s hooves. It reared, screaming, and threw the rider from its back before bolting. Avatar or no avatar, it wanted out of here. The ‘mancer fell heavily to the ground and looked up just in time to see a metallic sphere flying through the air to land directly on his chest.

Now, firebombs vary in degrees of effectiveness depending on what quality of explosive Sabreur can get his hands on and how much personal energy he expends when imbuing them with the fire ‘mancy. These had been made in a hurry. So, even with the ‘mancers weak and hasty shield against physical harm, he managed to survive. Granted, he was on fire, but he was alive. The man scrambled to his feet, screaming, and ran for it. He got only about three yards before a bony hand reached out and grabbed something and pulled. His body went three steps and then collapsed. He, himself, remained squirming in mid-air as an invisible, now human, Mihos studied his face.

“No, you aren’t the one I’m after,” the avatar said and let go. The pirate’s soul vanished.

Langley, in the meantime, had similarly gotten the remaining pirates off their horses in much the same manner. She, however, did not lob a firebomb as a follow-up. Instead she ran at the two nearest, rapiers drawn, and came in low, aiming for the legs and then coming up for jabs to the soft squishy vitals in the torso. It worked, but she was so preoccupied with the two that she didn’t see Bartoa behind her.

His sword went diagonally down her back and she was knocked face-first into the ground. The sword tip was placed against her throat and she swore, colorfully, and with feeling.

Jeff and Bartoa glared at each other. Sabreur started to panic as realized he couldn’t fall back on his firebombs this time. And Crystal just stared blankly.

“Jeff, still not carrying weapons?” Bartoa tsked, “See, now that’s why you lost the Black Pebble… you rely too heavily on luck.”

“Hasn’t let me down yet,” he replied and reached over and pulled a pistol from Sabreur’s belt. Raised and fired. Bartoa blinked and Langley rolled away from his sword tip, grabbed her own and put the point through his heart as she rose to her knees. It turned out that this was a moot point as Jeff’s bullet had made it there first.

The pirate toppled forwards onto the grass. His soul remained standing, staring down in disbelief until a bony hand wrapped around his shoulder. He slowly turned.

“Ah,” Mihos said pleasantly, “Now you’re the one I was waiting for! Allow me to introduce myself – I am Mihos, avatar of Vengeance. You’ll be meeting my sister Deceit and my brother Indulgence here shortly as well. We’ve all been very anxious to make your acquaintance.”

And somehow, Bartoa’s soul managed to turn pale. Those stories about how betrayers and mutineers belong to Mihos’s realm of the underworld? He was starting to think he should have taken them seriously.

Of course, the twins couldn’t see any of this. They were just gathered around Bartoa’s body. The only person with an idea of what was happening in the space between life and death was Crystal and she just had a vague expression of confusion on her face.

“The horses have calmed down,” Jeff noted.

The twins glanced over to them. Sabreur shuddered.

“Stormriders weren’t made for that,” he said, “We belong to the sea.”

“We’re walking to the Ark,” Langley finished.

“And I’d like my pistol back, if you don’t mind.”

Jeff sighed and handed it over. Pulled a flask out from under his belt and took a swig. Sabreur walked off to remove the bridles from the horses. Might as well turn them loose if they weren’t going to keep them. When he reached his, he paused. Looked closer. Glanced at Crystal for a moment and considered calling Langley over. But she had shed her jacket and was cursing at Jeff who was attempting to take a look at the injury and see if he could stop the bleeding before they started back to the Ark. No, he’d just leave it be and forget about it. She didn’t need to know about the bullet hole in the beast’s neck and how it was no longer breathing. Hopefully Crystal would forget about this particular zombie and let it go in a week or so. Hopefully.

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