Page 43 of The Sky Pirate's Stowaway
But since then, I’d been even more careful.
Apparently, not careful enough.
Shaking off the thoughts, I sighed and rolled my shoulders, trying to let the tension out. Not using my magic was really doing a number on me. I really was going to have to find a place to release some of this pent-up power.
“You can’t go off by yourself.”
The sudden voice made me jump, and I whipped around to find Reaper standing a few feet away, staring off into the distance, probably at Duskwater Harbor.
His words registered, and for a few horrible seconds, I thought he’d somehow figured out what I was and that I’d been contemplating finding a remote place to discharge some of my magic.
But then I realized that was ridiculous because there was no way Reaper could read my mind, so I cleared my throat and asked, “What?”
He glanced at me, then away again. “You can’t go off on your own in Duskwater Harbor. It’s too dangerous.”
I scoffed, unworried. I still carried the sword, throwing knives, and daggers I’d found on the ship, and Reaper didn’t know I could make stone explode if I really needed to. No one would hurt me while we were on that island. I was probably safer than he was.
Reaper grabbed my forearm, startling me into looking at him. He released me quickly, glanced around us, and scowled before quietly saying, “I’m serious, Ghost. That place is nothing but a festering wound filled with vile people who’re out to get everyone they come across. Everywhere you turn, someone is stealing or hurting another. It isn’t safe to travel alone.”
Even though he was trying not to look at me for appearance’s sake, I could see the concern on his handsome face. “I hear you, big guy. Hawk-Eyes wants to take me to some pub anyway.”
He blew out a breath and gave a short nod. “Good. Stay with her, be careful, and keep your eyes peeled.”
“I will.”
He walked away without another word to me and started barking orders again. I stared after the man for a long moment before I turned back to the island. I was surprised he’d chanced coming and talking to me in a civil manner where anyone could see.
Even though we’d stayed up in the crow’s nest and talked every night, even though I’d seen the good man underneath his facade, we’d kept up the charade. Sometimes it was kind of fun playing the part, but other times it made me sad that he couldn’t be himself in front of the others.
I sent a glare in the direction of the captain’s quarters, again wishing Viper was gone.
But since I didn’t want to get in trouble for it, I quickly turned back to the approaching island.
Like every other city in all of the kingdoms, the place had a wall hundreds of feet tall around it. There were a few docking bays on top of the wall since it was way too dangerous to land in the water, especially way out here in the middle of sea serpent waters.
The closer we got to the wall, the more my nose wrinkled. The wall itself looked dirty and uncared for, and if I wasn’t mistaken, there was a big chunk missing from the far side. Why in the world would they let that happen? Did they want a sea or island monster to get into their city and eat everyone?
Long ago, before our ancestors built our kingdom walls, humans lived in constant fear of being torn apart and eaten by monsters. They couldn’t stay near the water because the sea monsters were many, always hungry, and capable of coming onto land for short stints. But neither could they go inlandbecause the deserts, plains, and forests were filled with even more monsters with their own insatiable appetites.
The only thing that kept us safe and let our people flourish were the walls protecting our cities, towns, and farmlands from monsters.
The people of Duskwater Harbor needed to fix their wall before something terrible happened.
But… this was pirate island. I shouldn’t be surprised by the state of it. Everyone had heard the stories. I’d just… hoped they were wrong.
As our airship settled on the mooring tower and things were connected, I stared at the city below with trepidation. Now that we were here, I was a little nervous about it.
But before I could freak out, Willy came over and waved me on. “Come on, Ghost. Let’s go.”
Hawk-Eyes was with him, and she gave me an encouraging nod. So with a sigh, I disembarked the ship and followed them down the many stairs to get to the ground.
I saw Viper and Reaper ahead of us, and when they reached the bottom, they went in the opposite direction from the rest of the crew. They were going to make a trade with the loot from the last raid—something I had no interest in being a part of.
The rest of the crew was grumbling by the time we reached the ground, but they were in good spirits and ushered me away and through the dirty streets.
There were booths lined up along the main street where people were selling and trading things, but there was a lot more yelling going on than I was used to. I saw lots of weapons, some clothes, food, alcohol, fluxstones, tools for ship repairs, and lots of other random things.
Honestly, it was loud and overwhelming.
