Reborn From the Cosmos

Miniarc-Bad Tidings 05

How does one explain the threat of a competent summoner?

The pirate captain wasn't daunted by the simple warning of danger. He knew danger intimately, walked hand-in-hand with it. Threats were things to be conquered, the stones he used to build the wall of his reputation.

As a native of Graywatch and a sailor, he also understood creatures beyond the means of mortal men. He'd survived a leviathan swallowing the ship he sailed on. Had helped evacuate the city when a storm brought in a thousand creatures of the deep with teeth tougher than steel and poisonous blood. When he was a young man, the captains were akin to gods, forces of nature with the will and whims of men. No matter how unfair or how unjust, there was nothing a runt could do but stand aside.

Those experiences worked against him in the worst ways as Maxine tried to explain Lou. Having risen to the loftiest heights along the shore, the pirate both understood the innate fallibility of anything of flesh yet also hung onto the childish awe that believed that the leaders of men were deities, he himself a deity now that he had achieved the same heights. He neither believed that a single person could rival the threat of a sea monster nor that a single person could rival him.

"There you go right there," Artor said as Maxine finished her explanation. He poured himself another glass of his liquor. Maxine's didn’t follow. She'd taken a small sip after it was passed to her, for appearances, but didn't plan to consume another drop. She'd barely licked it but even that amount was enough to set her gut aflame.

Whatever it was, it was strong and nasty. It was an exercise in control not to grimace as it lingered on her tongue. More importantly, she did not relish the idea of losing control around her current company. Sponsor or not, the man was a pirate. Not a group of people known for their upstanding morals or character.

"This woman isn't the threat. It's whatever creatures she's got tagging along with her."

"Does it matter? A captain's strength is his crew."

Artor tilted his glass in acknowledgment. "True, a captain doesn't have to be strong. But! Have you ever heard the saying that a boat is only as strong as its weakest plank?"

"A variation."

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"I bet. The reasoning is sound. When there's a weak link in a crew, everyone else has to cover the slack. The higher up in the chain the weakness is, the more the rest have to compensate. The worst thing for a crew is to have a big, glaring weakness that will bring them all down like there're anchors on their waists."

He drained his cup, breathing out strongly. Maxine was amazed he wasn't hissing in pain, because he surely had a hole in his gut from the acid he'd just swallowed. "No matter how well you protect it, it's going to get got eventually and everything goes straight to shit."

 "There were plenty who thought the same as you. They are currently buried beneath a city."

Artor's lips twisted into a grimace. Then he smiled, exposing five golden teeth. Replacements for those knocked out when he didn't have his reputation and had to fend off drunken braggarts. "Good point. Heh. The men of Graywatch are many things but they aren't fools. I'd have to be an idiot to ignore the bodies right in front of me. Explain this summoning thing to me, again."

A kernel of worry unraveled from where it wanted to take roots in Maxine's gut.

"I'm no master." She didn't want to explain the strange art to him. The more mysterious summoning sounded, the more powerful and mysterious Lou was. She also didn't know anything more than the basic principles, which she'd only learned after the debacle with the Grimoires. Her father didn't know why the powerful family seemingly imploded overnight but he suspected it was rooted in summoning. Maxine had seen it as an opportunity to impress him, but her meagre amount of research wasn't enough to give her any more insight and she wasn't willing to dedicate an endless amount of time to the problem.

"Eh, you know more than me. And right now, this hook is too sharp too swallow. There's got to be rules to this thing, otherwise every fool and his dumb cousin would be pulling land sharks or some other nonsense out of thin air."

"It's not quite that easy. Not all elementals are human, but the concept of trade is the same no matter the realm. When you give, you want something of equal value in return. To my understanding, that is the one and only restraint in summoning. Powerful creatures demand a powerful price."

"A price this Tome girl was able to pay. Says a lot ab—"

The rest of his sentence was drowned out by powerful cursing and crashing. Jack, who had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, straightened up, dark eyes glowing as he moved toward the door.

It didn't take them long to discover the source of the noise, as it came barreling into the room. Maxine couldn't help her reaction. It was foolish to show weakness, any kind of weakness, to the men but the sight of a desperate, bloody man made her jump. She quickly settled once she internalized the man was no threat. The moment he crossed the doorway, Jack grabbed him by the collar of his torn shirt and threw him against the wall, putting an arm to his neck.

"Ye got iron ones, kid."

Maxine noted with some distress that he was a kid. His impressive beard did a lot to disguise his age, but the smooth skin of his face and his gangly limbs gave away the ruse. She doubted he'd seen his second decade.

Despite his youth, it didn't seem like poor judgment had brought him to Artor's office. Hollow Jack's reputation had spread far and wide along the shore. Even the hardest sailor would feel at least a little trepidation having him at their throat. Yet, the boy looked relieved of all things.

"Boss!" he shouted, turning toward Artor. "Ye got ta do somethin'! She's lost 'er—"

He was interrupted by several crashes, followed by muted shouting. Artor frowned as he turned toward the door. "What kind of mess did you bring to my door, runt?"

Jack, concluding that the threat was outside the office rather than in, dropped the boy and turned toward the door. His aborted victim stumbled after suddenly regaining his feet but didn't hesitate a moment in lurching toward Artor. Maxine shied away as the youth practically threw himself across the captain's desk.

"She's lost 'er mind, captain! Swears! We—"

The rest of his explanation was drowned out by the sound of breaking wood as the office door was kicked in. Not so much as a splinter got past Jack, the air forming a wall around him with a speed that spoke of great skill.

A nightmarish figure appeared in the shattered doorway. At a distance, the woman looked no different from the other natives of Graywatch; tanned skin from long days working under a hot sun, thick-soled boots, dark leather pants, a sleeveless off-white shirt with fraying ends, and a wide-brimmed leather hat. It took a closer look to notice the skin-crawling details. Her overly pronounced jaw, the chin wide and strong. The creases in the skin along both arms, easily ignored but hinting at startling secrets. The way her shoulders writhed, undulating sporadically.

Maxine fought the urge to back away as every instinct she had screamed that the person before her was wrong. The woman raised a hand, pointing a finger at the frightened youth. At first, Maxine thought the red was the fabric of a glove, but the longer she stared, the more certain she was that it was the woman's skin, pigmented by some strange means.

"That one's mine!"