Chapter 2

Caged men tell interesting tales.

Chapter 2:

 

The sun beamed high in the sky over the city of Everport, the towns people were in a hurry running from corner to corner consuming all of the latest goods on the market. The tall buildings over looked the tents where salesmen barked loudly at the crowd speaking of their wondrous commodities from far off lands.

“Ma’am I’ll have you know this item was crafted by the best Dust iron worker known to man!”

“Sir you won’t find another sword like this in the kingdom, wizards have spent years treating the steel with magical wards! There isn’t another like it!”

“Beware my lady for if this pendant is opened right now everyone in the market place shall feel the wrath of this curse!”

All down the streets of Everport people could be heard in the market but the selling of goods was not the only thing spoke of that day.

“Did you hear about the execution? It’s supposed to be today?” Ask a man to a woman standing next to him.

“Yes they say he is a notorious pirate, we haven’t had one of them in a long time this is definitely an exciting day,” Answered the woman.

The sound of rumors and exaggerations of the day’s execution could be heard far throughout the town but they could not quite reach the ears of a crew that sat about a boat in the town’s harbor. The sails were raised high in the air and were as crimson as blood itself. The wood of the body was old and creaked as the crew walked about it making the metal claps sound with a clack as they stepped on them. The figure head was a mighty wolf whose wooden teeth stood out of its mouth with ferocity. The name stamped on the side read “The Enigma” and above it one man sat on the railings. His bald head shined bright as the sun reflected off his dark skin tone. His muscles where large rippling down from his neck to his chest. One arm was clearly the result of many years of battle and manually labor tight with muscle and a clear “X” shaped scare on the shoulder while the other was a marvel to look on. Metal and circuitry sprouted from his shoulder weaving together to form a fully functional arm and hand. This was only topped by his eyes. While one was a plan normal brown the other was composed of metal. With a lens that was constantly focusing in and out.

“He’s late,” said the man as he combed the harbor. “Why is he always late?”

“Come now Muzii you mustn’t rush the Captain,” said a woman that walk up behind him “He isn’t a man known for his punctuality.”

The woman that stood behind him had bright scarlet hair that was tied in a bun in the back. She wore a vest that had a white linen shirt underneath and skin was a pale white. She stared sharply with her emerald eyes at Muzii as he continued to comb the harbor.

“Salina the Captain needs to learn to be on time one day. We have a schedule to uphold after all,” Muzii rose up from the railing of the boat and faced Salina directly.

“I am well aware of that, however the Captain is the one that picks the clients and work for and the ships we raid so if he chooses to be late every now and then I say that he is well within his right.” Salina proclaimed proudly.

“Within his right? The Captain has the right to up hold his honor to our clients. We cannot keep operating on good will alone Salina, his name can only go so far,” Muzii protested back at Salina.

“Oh but you forget Muzii we are pirates. We have no such honor,” Salina joked as she walked up to Muzii’s side. “But I do feel you are right. The Captain is later than usual.”

“I just hope he is alright,” Muzii says as he signs and walks off below deck.

Salina stood there for a minute studying the harbor as ships floated there with people getting on and off them. The busy noise of the market place and its rumors of an execution were just out of ear shot of her. She looked over the tops of the tall buildings as their bodies morphed into their pointed tops. For a second she could see what looked like person in a hood sitting on top of one of the buildings but when she looked again they was gone. All that remained was a gust of dark smoke and what looked like burn marks on the top of the roof. At that moment a smile shot across Salina’s face and she whispered to herself “Oh I think he will be just fine,” she turned and walked below deck following the same path Muzii took.

 

In the very middle of Everport sat a building that erupted to the sky piecing clouds as they floated by. Men and women were quickly walking back and forth from one building to the next. Some were officers of the island and carrying people to unknown destinations. Others were officials of some form wearing suits and even the occasional powdered wig. After weeding all of these out all that remain are those that are being dragged from building to building. Lowlifes and delinquents, most dirty and scared with fowl breath and wretched teeth. They were either being taken to the main building of this complex that read “Hall of Justice” on the top of the entrance or being taken to a small building that lead to a vast underground complex. The entrance looked like a smaller version of the Hall of Justice, a small spire that had a single large doorway in it. Down this doorway lead into the sprawling interconnected dungeon system that held the convicted after their trials. There is no light in this crept except for that in the guards area. Inside one of the cells right next to the guard station sits a skinny man with broken glasses. The man is dirty of the face and his clothing is mostly ripped from days of tiring at them. A bottle sits next to the man and he rolls it around on the floor for a several minutes before he loudly groans “DRIP!” in the dark. He waits several more minutes and then says again “DRIP!” And continues for next couple of minutes keeping the same interval.   

“DRIP!”

“DRIP!”

“DRIP!”                    

“DRIP!”

“DRIP!”

“DRIP!”

“Oi! Would you shut it already! Or I’ll take you out of their and break that jaw of yours!” A Guard yells from inside of the station.

“There is a drip!” Says the man in the cell before a drop of water hits the ground and he again yells a loud “DRIP!”

At this point the guard stands, grabs a torch, and walks over to the cell and starts bagging on the cell bars with his free hand “You shut it yah hear! No one cares about a simple drip!”

The man adjusts his glasses and stands in front of the guard his pale white skin being shown in the light.

“Five thousand and forty” the man stared sternly at the guard. “That’s how many drips there have been in the one week I’ve been here, how much of this bottle do you think five thousand and forty drips can fill?” The man held the bottle up to the guards face as the guard stared at him.

“It doesn’t matter keep quiet or we will…” before the guard could finish his sentence the man threw the bottle at the cells bars causing glass to fly everywhere and a few shards landing in the guards eyes. As the guard staggered the man reached throw the bars and pulled the guard towards him

“I want a fresh glass of water now! I haven’t had a drink in a week and I’m tired of hearing a free supply of water right out of my reach!” He lets the man go and he runs off with his hands on his eyes. The man then walked back to the far dark corner of his room and laid back on his bed. He stared up into the ceiling, or at least what he believed to be the ceiling, for what seemed to be an eternity but was at a minute.

“Well that was rude.” A voice shot through the darkness to the man’s ear and he sat up.

“Who said that?” He looked toward the outside of his cell but could only see the dim light the guard station gave off.

“That man did not deserve a face full of glass just because your thirst has not been quenched for a week, he was simply doing his job. A man like him doesn’t think to do something unless otherwise told. Throw glass into the face of the man who’s duty is to tell him to give you water.” Said the voice that seemingly came from nothing but darkness.

“I see, it would appear that I have gone so mad that I am now hearing voices” said the man as he sat up from his bed. “That or the cell next to me is now occupied and I was not informed”.

“I would put money on your second guess my friend” said the voice.

“I would normally ask for you to introduce yourself however because of my current situation I don’t find myself caring all too much for you do such a thing” the man laid back down on his bed and let out a long sigh. “I’ll be dead soon enough today anyway”. The voice the spoke up through the darkness again.

“That is fine, I already know who you are anyway Prof. Ulysses H. Fanz”.

A long and uneasy silence fell over the room as the man didn’t know what to do at that time. He was frozen in thought over how anyone inside the prison could know who he was.

“How do you know me? And how much do you know?” said the doctor as he was still in shock. Before the disembodied voice could answer a load noise came from the guard station. The small flicker of light that would normally occupy a space on the wall went out for a second. The noise sounded as if all the air in the room had been sucked into one spot and expanded out in half a second. Prof. Fanz could feel that there was a strange decompression in the air right before the noise accrued almost as if something pushed its way into the room from nowhere. The light from the guard station returned after a brief moment and footsteps could be heard coming towards the cell area.

Prof. Fanz jumped to his feet and walked to the edge of his cell, sticking his head out in between the bars. A hooded figure was headed their way from the guard station. A torch was in the person’s hand. He couldn’t make out much of anything else other than the person was wearing boots, which was also confirmed by the loud footsteps of the person walking. Whoever the person was Prof. Fanz was certain they weren’t a guard. At least not one of the ones he had seen in his week stay at the dungeons. He could not directly see the guard’s faces cause of the darkness but he knew that they were all on the rounder side while this person was clearly lean.

“I know you are here. Speak up already!” said the person as they walked closer to the cells. There was an awkward silence for a little while until the person stopped walking right before Prof. Fanz cell. He could make out that the person was indeed a woman from the figure of her body being outlined by the light source. Her face was stern and cold, it was like looking at someone with a face carved from ice. At first the professor wasn’t one hundred percent certain but he was confident now that she was standing before him. The woman was of the Dusk, she had the dark skin and hair to prove it. It wasn’t very uncommon to see the Dusk in Candent ruled islands but her being here seems odd if anything.

“I don’t have all day would you say something already!” said the woman as she looked down the hallway. Prof. Fanz was about to address her when the voice from the cell next to his rang out.

"Sister! I’m glad to hear your voice, being in a dungeon all day has made me miss that harsh tone of yours”

The woman walked over to his cell and stood in front of it and began ranting in anger towards the person inside.

“Don’t start acting like you are somehow not in trouble with me. First off how did you get captured in Everport of all places, you outrun the guards here for fun sometimes. Second you ask me to come here to bring you something and then get capture forcing me to come into this disgusting pit. And third these things aren’t something our father can just make any day of the week”

“Your, father!” the voice said with a hardness that seemed out of character for it. It made the woman in front of the cell take a step back.

“Right, anyway why are you in here. I know you can get out easily even without your belt working correctly” The woman said as she gathered her thoughts.

“You see that skinny guy in the cell next to me? I’m here for him.” The voice said regaining its cheerful tone.

“Is he the job mentioned?”

“You betcha” the voice said.

“Well that’s better than thinking you are getting rusty” the woman said with a smile shooting across her face.

“Wait! Hold for just a minute! What are you two speaking about?” Prof. Fanz spoke up to the two during their conversation.

“I am not fond of the idea of being a part of any ones “job” or whatever you have planned. I wish to know what you two are speaking about this instant!” Prof. Fanz said as he grew more curious about the two people he was speaking to. The woman turned and looked at the professor and smiled a little more at the site of him.

“And this is the man that slaughter ten of his students and four of his fellow professors? Brother you sure you have the right man?” The professor’s face grew paler at the words the woman spoke. He gripped the bars and glared heavily into her eyes as she stared back at him.

“How do you know that” the professor said as he stared the woman down, his breathing becoming heavy.

“Prof. Fanz you should know that word about you has already spread throughout Candent, it’s not every day a history professor and archeologist slaughters fourteen people.” The woman says as she turns back to her brother’s cell.

“Either way here is the battery for your belt. Don’t burn this one up like the last one.” The woman pulls out a glowing yellow light from the bang on her waist and hands it to the man in the cell.

“I’m out of here. Don’t ask for a favor from me again unless it’s life or death” the woman turns and walks away down the hallway towards the guard station

“And I mean it to!” with that last word out of her mouth a gust of smoke replaces the woman and fills the area with the smell of something burning. The professor fell on the ground and was completely without words over what happened. He stared at the place where the woman was until he heard the sound of laughter.

“I can only imagine the look on your face” the man from the other cell said as he continued laughing. “You have to admit my sister knows how to leave you with your jaw on the floor”.

“Sir, please tell me, who are you?” Said Prof. Fanz as he sit on the floor with his mouth a gap.

“Well it’s simple really, I’m the man that’s going to break you out of here” said the voice as the sound of footsteps moved away from the wall that connected the cell with the professor and the man.

“But until then I’m going to sit back and relax besides I’m getting executed today why stress anything.” The man said as it sounded like he laid down on his bed.

The professor sat on the floor in the room completely confused on what just happened but found some way to start laughing and a wide grin came across his face.

“I’m also getting executed today” the professor laid on the floor and stared into the darkness that he assumed was the ceiling. “Yeah let’s just relax.”

The men laid in their rooms for seemingly only minutes until the guards returned.

“Wake up, it’s time for you lot to say goodbye to your heads.” Prof. Fanz stood up and walked out of his cell when one of the guards gave him a stiff punch to the gut

“That’s for throwing that bottle earlier you nutter” the guard said to him as he gasped for breath. The guard put him in chains and grabbed him by the shoulder as they let the man in the other cell out. Prof. Fanz looked back at him but couldn’t make him out to well. All what was clear at the moment was that he was also of the Dusk but his sister confirmed that much. They were lead to the guard’s station which was the first time Prof. Fanz had been in any form of light for a week. The guard’s station was a small brown room with nothing more than a copy of chairs and a table in it. After taking a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the like Prof. Fanz looked back at the man that was in the cell next to his. He was tall with long dreadlocked hair reaching to about his shoulders. His skin was lighter than any other Dusk he had seen before. Most have skin as dark as pitch but his was a fare brown. He wore a white shirt with a blue vest over it and dark brown pants on as well. Most outstanding thing about his clothing was the belt he wore across his chest that looped around his shoulder. It was definitely a belt but it looked like a there was more to it. The professor stared at it with confusion because he had never seen something quite like it, it looked off to him but he couldn’t explain why.

Because they weren’t allowed to speak to one another while moving from the dungeons to the execution court yard Prof. Fanz wasn’t able to ask the man what was his plan for escaping or what was the details of anything that happened before their leaving the dungeon. He was simply forced to sit next to the man in a transit carriage. The carriage had no windows for them to see outside of it which also kept the air inside sweating and moist. Other than the professor and the man sitting next to him there were three other inmates being moved to the execution yard. They were all generally fidgety over the idea of being beheaded before a massive crowd of people. None of them spoke but the atmosphere was there, the inpatients of it all was killing these men. The professor sat next to the man doing the best he could to clean his broken glasses as the man just sat there wish his eyes closed. Not sure if he was asleep or just trying to calm his nerves the professor choose not to say anything the whole ride.

Once the carriage stopped the man made the first movement the whole time they’ve been there. A wide smile appeared on his face as he stood up and looked down at the doctor. He whispered something to him that the doctor almost missed “Let’s give them a show” and he walked out of the carriage first to a crowd of roaring people. The rest of the people inside the carriage followed behind him in single file as the crowd roared in anger at the men. Some of them were shaken by the noise, after weeks of nothing but darkness and silence being thrown into day light and screaming from all angles overloaded their senses. Rocks and spoiled fruit were being tossed at the men as they walked from the carriage all the way to the platform were a giant guillotine stood overlooking the crowd. The doctor and the man in the cell next to him were at the front of the line and stood next to the guillotine. The doctor was now noticeably anxious. He has seen public executions before and he knowns that the one in the beginning of the line is normally first. Did he ruin the man’s plan before it could beginning or was this part of it? Millions of thoughts filled his head and he was just about to turn and whisper to the man something when one of the guards walked up and grabbed the man by the shoulder. He walked him over to the front of the platform in full view of the crowd as they screamed at tossed rocks at him.

An official of some kind then walked up onto the platform and raised his hand towards the crowd.

“Silence all, silence! I know you are very excited over today’s public executions. But I will ask that you retain some form of decorum. As head of the house of nobility of Everport and official representation of the kingdom of Candent I hereby condemn these men to death by beheading for their crimes. Among these men is a man who is the very embodiment of delinquency and a blight on all of candent. He is born with the very blood of the accursed pirate himself ‘Black’ Edward. The son of the spawn of a demon and fulfiller of his will. Wade Hawkins!” the doctor looked on in shock. The man in the cell next to him was the son of a pirate that was known the world over. The crowd erupted and started throwing more rocks up toward Wade and the noble that stood next to him. The noble waved the crowd back down.

“Even though the blood of a demon runs in you, you are still entitled to last words of some form. If you have any speak now.” The noble said as he backed away from Wade.

“I have no last words, simply because I don’t plan to die today.” Wade said with a smirk on his face.

“Very well then, he is in your hands Executioner” said the noble as a large man walked up and took Wade to the guillotine.

Prof. Fanz was lost as for what he needed to do. His only way out of his current situation was being walked over to the guillotine this very moment and he was to be next in line. Wade slipped his head through the hole and looked up towards the crowd still smiling like a mad man. The executioner placed his hand on the leaver and before Prof. Fanz could think of something to do he pulled it downwards. Time seemed to move in slow motion for the next few seconds. The blade slide down towards Wade’s neck as the crowd roared and chanted for the chance to see his head roll. But then everything sped up when it seemed like lightening was coursing all around Wade’s body and before the blade of the guillotine could even land a plum of black smoke shot out in all directions.

The crowds cheering stopped all at once as the smoke cleared and there was no head on the ground next to the guillotine or a body lying on the bench connected to it. All traces of Wade Hawkins had disappeared from the scene. Murmurs started raising from the crowd about what just happened.     

 Prof. Fanz was also racking his mind with thoughts on how Wade did that.

“It would seem both Wade and his sister have this ability to disappear but is this magic? Or is it some form of dusk trickery? What do I do now? I’m certain I am next once they realize me and three other men are still here.” As soon as the thoughts were done racing through Fanz’s mind he felt something tap him on his back. He turned around quickly to see it was Wade Hawkins with a wild grin on his face. He walked up in front of him to the crowd and took a bow as they all gasped at him still being alive. The guards started to rush back on to the platform but Wade quickly ran back to Prof. Fanz and said to him

“Hold on tight to me Fanz and make sure you keep your mouth closed.” The doctor was about to ask him what does he mean when Wade grabs him and lightening engulfs body their bodies before the professor feels smoke engulf every inch of his body and forcing its way down his mouth. He takes a couple of steps forward coughing for area as he feels a hand smacking him on his back.

“I warned you to cover your mouth professor, well no reason to worry about it now!” Prof. Fanz whipped the smoke away from his face and looked up to see that he was on a boat. Men were crowded around them all giving approving looks toward Wade when a woman with red hair and pale skin walks up with.

“Wonderful entrance as always Captain” said Salina as she walked up and patted Wade on the back.

“What can I say, I’m always a little late. Now all hands, Captain on deck!” Wade yelled out as the crowd of men exploded. Prof. Franz looked on in complete bewilderment, he knew he had gone completely mad when he slaughter both his students and fellow teachers but this madness was something he could not handle.