06
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A young boy ran through the streets of a dying city. Large stone buildings and structures crumbled beside him. Flames lit up the sky, brown from an atmosphere of smoke. The boy continued to sprint in fear as he watched the horrific reality take place around him. Dead bodies layered the blood-soaked streets. Armored men snatched up as many children as they could carry. The cries could be heard from every direction.
The young boy slid behind a wall and peeked around it. He could see one of the armored men snatch a baby from a woman’s arms. “No!” she cried. That was her last word before a lance went through her collarbone and out of her lower back. Her scream was muted to a gag by the pain as she died with her eyes wide open. The young boy turned away from the horrid scene and put his back against the wall.
He looked down an alleyway and saw that it was clear. He rushed over to it and began to make his way down the one-way alley. In his hand was a sword . . . Raal’s sword.
“Raal!” a young girl whispered as he sprinted past a window. He stopped and turned around to see a little brown-haired girl peeking her head out of the window and motioning to him to come to her.
With one more cautious look around, young Raal did as he was told. He jumped for the window and the girl helped pull him in.
“I can’t find him,” the girl told him as he peeked out the window to see if anyone followed. “I can’t find him, Raal. I can’t find him anywhere!” Her voice was full of despair, worry, sadness, anxiety, and angst—all of these emotions that should have never come from a girl as young as her.
Raal turned to her. “Where was the last place you saw him?” he asked. His young voice was adolescently raspy.
“On the swing,” she answered, eyes full of tears. “He ran off as soon as they killed Mother.”
Raal slammed his fist against the stone floor. “You didn’t see them take him, did you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think they saw him. They came after me, but I got away. I’ve been searching for him for hours.”
He put the hilt of his sword to his chin as he began to think. With the screams and sounds of horro from the outside echoing in him, he found it hard to concentrate on anything. “Look, Sangi, we have to get out of here.”
The girl gave a look of resolve. “I’m not leaving without my brother.”
“I’m not saying leave . . .” he corrected her. “But there’s nothing we can do at this point. We want to save him, right? How are we going to do that when we’re dead?”
Sangi questioned the logic, but then she slowly nodded. She knew Raal was right.
“Let’s get out of here,” he told her as he put out his hand. She took it and they ran to the door. As Raal started to open it, someone on the other side kicked it down. The force knocked Raal and Sangi back and onto the floor.
In stepped an armored man. His sword, dripping blood, was pointed at Raal. “Nice sword, boy,” the man said. “Give it here.”
Raal gripped his sword and glared at the armored man. He then turned to Sangi. She was out cold.
“Give it here, or I’ll pry it from your dead hands,” the man threatened as he walked infamously toward Raal.
Raal held tight onto his sword. “Get away from me!” he cried.
“I don’t have time for this.” The man moved in closer and lifted his weapon. “There’s no reason to keep a little scoundrel like you alive!” With his sword high above his head, he looked down at Raal one last time and then brought it down.
Raal woke up, staring at a serene blue sky. He was lying down on his back on the deck of the boat. He stood up and looked around. It was a mess. Broken planks were scattered all over the boat’s floor. Pieces of different parts were missing. The broken mast that almost killed him and Leah still sat at that same spot. Seaweed and bloodstains covered the railing of the ship. He continued to look and saw multiple people lying down, scarred up and bandaged. That prompted him to feel his side that had been scratched by the dragon’s scales. He was bandaged up as well.
Raal sighed and then he turned his head to the sound of clanging blades. He watched as two bladesmen expertly sparred against each other, one with a curved sword and the other with a double-ended glaive. Leah and Natala held nothing back as they attacked each other, clanging their blades together with every move. Raal watched in awe as these two female warriors danced in combat.
“Ho, ho!” Natala laughed as she ducked a swift strike from Leah. She wiped sweat from her forehead. “Thata girl. Now just remember to see it through. You have another blade on the end of that stick you could have finished me off with.”
Leah nodded. “Oh, I know. I just didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Hurt me?” Natala chuckled. “I saw it coming. You would have missed and I would have gotten your blindspot.” Then she got into an attacking stance. “Now no holding back. Show me what you got.”
Leah gripped her glaive, smirked, and then launched herself at Natala, bringing it down on her. Natala had to use both of her hands to deflect it as they continued to spar.
Now that Raal was paying better attention to Leah’s combat skills, he was astonished to see how experienced she was. Like water, she moved with a calm, unpredictable motion; however, like a serpent, her attacks were swift and precise. To be such a humble and delicate-looking girl, she was surprisingly lethal. It gave him a feeling much like the one he had on Oaka when she bested him. After watching her and Natala for a while, mesmerized, Raal left them to their training. They never saw him.
“Raal!” Miro said, surprised when he spotted Raal walking down the ravaged hallway of the cabins. Raal turned around. “Man!” Miro said. “You’re finally up! Does Leah know?”
Raal shook his head. “I didn’t want to interrupt her training,” he told him.
Miro laughed. “Training, shmaning,” he said. “She’s been worried about you all day.”
“Worried?”
Miro nodded. “From what I saw, she was more worried than any of us.”
“Why?” Raal said.
Miro shrugged. “Anyways” he started. “This took us way off schedule. We have another whole day until we reach Ban-U-San.”
“You think the ship will make it in this condition?”
“It’s been through a lot worse.”
“I bet.” Raal rubbed one of the damaged creases of the wall.
“Man, you have no idea how good it is to see you up. We’ve been talking about how you took down that dragon all day. You have some kind of nerve.”
Raal smirked and massaged his aching shoulder. “Maybe too much,” he said, making Miro laugh. “How long have I been out?”
“About a day and a half.”
“A day!”
“It’s not that big a deal,” Miro told him. “With a fall like that, you should be glad you weren’t out permanently.”
“Yeah,” Raal mumbled. “But a day and a half? Really? What all has happened?”
“Besides the stories that are going around about you being a dragon slayer . . . not much.”
“Dragon slayer, huh?” Raal scratched his head and laughed. “I guess I’m the talk of the ship. I should be captain.”
Miro laughed with him. “Don’t get too bigheaded, now. Anyways, I need to go help Troviii fix the harpoon. Lay low and don’t overdo yourself.”
“Don’t worry,” Raal assured him. As Miro walked off, a few other crewmembers came from behind Raal and gave him a noogie.
“All hail the dragon slayer!” they jested as they continued on to their destination. Raal laughed and smirked as they walked on.
Leah threw her glaive in the air and then caught it with one hand as she twirled it behind her back and over her shoulder. She came into an attack stance and thrust her glaive outward several times, very quickly. Then, with a loud yell, she swung it back around, barely missing Raal’s head.
“Whoa!” he said ducking.
“Raal!” Leah said, surprised. “You’re up!”
Raal felt his head to see if it was all together. It was. “That was close.” Raal sighed.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Leah said over and over. “Are you okay?”
Raal nodded and then glared at her. “Chop my head off, why don’t ya!”
Leah backed up, surprised by the outburst. “I’m sorry, I—” Leah started to speak, but Raal cut her off.
“Can you even handle that weapon?”
“Hey now,” Natala said as she stepped in between them and glared at Raal. “What’s up your arse today? You kill one dragon and now all of a sudden you’re king of the ship.” She pointed at Leah. “Did you not see her? Of course she can handle it.”
Raal ignored Natala and shook his head.
Leah put her hands on her hips. “What happened to that sensitive guy the other night?”
“That was a once in a lifetime thing,” he told her.
“Well, I like that Raal better!”
“Tough, this is the way I act!”
“Then try to act differently!”
“I don’t want to!”
“But I want you to!”
“Like I said before—tough!”
“Fine, then be a stubborn jerk!”
“I will then!”
“Fine!”
“Fine!”
“Fine!”
“Fine, already!” Natala blurted out, annoyed by the childish back-and-forth. “Sem’s wrath! Get a room you two.”
Raal sneered and turned his head from her. He glanced at Leah quick enough to see her stick her tongue out at him before she quickly put it back in. With a final glare at both of them, Raal growled and walked off.
He wasn’t exactly sure why he took such offense to Leah’s combat movements. It was an honest mistake that she nearly decapitated him, and it was more of his fault for walking into her session without warning. Perhaps that dragon really brought a lot into perspective for him. Leah was certainly skilled, but the world of Auroa would hold nothing back for a sheltered village girl, which meant he had a responsibility to prepare her for it. Was it really the best idea to bring her on this dangerous quest? He pondered on that as he walked past Trovii.
Trovii walked around the ship, looking at the destruction. He picked up a broken plank, looked at it with discontent, and then threw it over his shoulder and sighed. “Well, this is pretty much three Sem-cursed yali pedals from a dreadna,” he said.
Noticing his dissatisfaction, Little Man walked up to him. “What is it?” Little Man asked.
Trovii folded his arms looked in disgust at all the broken and damaged fragments of the ship. “We definitely need parts for the ship,” he told him. “I don’t think we’ll make it to Ban-U-San with the damage that the water dragon gave us.” He sighed. “We’re like a pregnant caracaur. You don’t know when we’re gonna break.”
“That’s a slightly disturbing metaphor,” said a voice from above them. They looked up to see Gale relaxing against the broken mast with a toothpick in his mouth. “But you’re right,” he said. “No matter how strangely you put it. And that’s why we’re going to Uselles Island a few hours north from here. After the boat specialists over there get our ship fixed, we’ll head straight for Ban-U-San. . . . Well, at least that’s what I’ve been hearing. Don’t quote me on it.”
Little Man laughed. “I trust your ears, Gale. If anyone knows what’s going on, it’s you.”
They all sat around doing their natural duties. Then, all of a sudden, Miro yelled, “Ring the bell!”
Gale looked around. “Captain Miro, what’s going on? I don’t see anything!”
Miro pointed far out to the north. “Look!” he said.
Gale focused on the sea and saw a blur. To get a better look, he put up his monocular. “Oh, no!” he cried.
“What!” Trovii asked.
Gale, frightened, said aloud, “It’s him, it’s . . . Katu.”
After Gale said that, Trovii didn’t hesitate. He ran to the bell and rang it frantically.
“A dragon?” Raal cried as he ran up to Miro. Leah wasn’t far behind him.
Miro shook his head. “No,” he replied. “This is far worse.”
“Worse?” Leah said, trying to think of something worse than a water dragon.
Miro stammered with the sentence. “It . . . is . . . Katu.”
Raal and Leah looked at each other. “Isn’t that the same guy you told us about?” she asked. Miro nodded.
Raal watched as Miro’s hands trembled on the steer. He could see in his eyes that this was going be far from an ordinary altercation. “Miro,” Raal said. “How dangerous is this man, truly?”
Miro turned to his friend. “Katu has been given the name, the Sea Raider,” he said. “Pirates are all considered sea raiders, so for that name to be solely given to one person already puts into perspective the depth of his fame.” He gripped his steer tighter. “Our previous encounter with him was during a typhoon. The waves were monstrous and rose high over our ship, and the rain and wind were out of our control. We were barely holding on as it was. Then, just as a wave arched over our heads, a harpoon came through it and took out one of our sails. It killed three of my men.” Miro shook his head in both disbelief and heartbreak as he pondered on that memory. “Without the sail, we lost our ability to maneuver, and the wave crashed on us, taking us all under. The entire ship was underwater for so long that I was able to look up and see the bottom of Katu’s ship sail over us. And by the Brothers we were lucky to be down there. There was no way we were going to survive a fight with him in those conditions. The next wave brought us back up to surface, but not without casualties.”
Raal and Leah listened in awe. They could visibly see Miro’s story in his eyes and hear it in the tremble of his voice.
“After the typhoon finally passed, Katu’s ship was gone and I had lost fourteen crewmen.” Miro then looked at Raal with a sternness. “During a typhoon, Katu was able to aim in and shoot us from behind a wave. From behind it, Raal!”
Trovii ran up to the steer. “Katu’s ship is blocking our path to Uselles! We don’t have the luxury of taking a longer route with the water dragon damage!”
Miro slammed his hand against the steer. “I know, I know. I need time to think.”
Raal understood the situation. Katu was surely a feared pirate with unmatched expertise on the seas. That story struck a chord of fear in Raal as well, but there was one element of the story that he noticed Miro failed to exploit. “That was a surprise attack,” he said to him.
Miro fell silent for a second as Raal continued.
“During a typhoon, Katu ambushed you.” He pointed out toward the oncoming blur of the enemy ship. “We’re facing this guy head-on this time. No tricks, no gimmicks; just brute force and power of will.”
Miro stayed silent for a while longer and then said, “You don’t know this guy, Raal. Katu is different, and he has a legendary crew to back him up.”
“You have legends on your crew too,” Raal assured him. “And what Katu doesn’t know is that he’ll be going face-to-face with two Dalanians.”
After Raal said that, a small sense of fear began to leave Miro. His posture slowly became upright. “Dalanians . . .” he stuttered. “I . . . We are . . .”
Before Miro could get out what he was about to say, Gale cried out, “They’ve spotted us. Get down!”
The entire crew ducked as arrows flew over them. The arrows punctured some of the crewmembers. Their blood spilled all over the boat.
“How’d they shoot us from so far away?” Raal asked, still ducking.
Miro kept his head down. “These are Katu’s archers that we’re dealing with,” he answered. “Mastered marksmen who can hit us from just about anywhere with their custom bows.”
Katu’s boat could be seen coming closer and closer to Miro’s. As they continued to duck, Raal and Miro looked at each other. Neither of them had to say a word anymore. They both knew exactly what needed to be done.
Miro let out a quick breath and then stood up. “Okay, men!” he cried out, yanking his sword out of his sheath. “Let’s show these landlubbers how real pirates fight!” All of the people on the boat pulled out their swords and yelled battle cries.
Another barrage of arrows flew out of Katu’s approaching ship and soared through the air. The arrows looked like a dark cloud coming toward Miro’s ship; however, the crew was ready for this wave. Everyone ducked behind an object as the arrows came in contact with the ship.
“Not today!” Miro yelled after the wave of arrows ended. He quickly stood back up and raised his sword. “Trovii!”
“Right,” Trovii said as he and a large group of men with bows lined up along the side of the boat. “Let’s show them who they’re messing with! Ready!” Trovii and the archers raised their bows. “Aim!” They took out their arrows and locked on to Katu’s approaching ship. A moment passed, and then Trovii shouted “FIRE!!!” as he shot his arrow into the air. The rest of the archers fired as well.
Now a dark cloud of arrows flew from Miro’s ship to Katu’s, and Miro watched as the arrows hit their destination. Katu’s ship did not slow down. As a matter of fact, it picked up speed.
“Okay!” Miro yelled as he gripped his sword tighter. He stood still and looked at the floor. Leah watched him and saw him gradually get angrier. He was boosting his own morale. After a while, he was so pumped up, veins were bulging out of his neck. “Aaaarrrrggg!!!!” he shouted up in the air. “I am Miro of Dalania! The Basilisk! If they want to die so badly, let them come!”
Raal smirked as he looked up at Miro. The rest of the crew saw how pumped Miro was and they too became equally as raucous. Little Man slammed his huge fists against the railing and broke part of it. He howled with anticipation. Gale furiously tapped his foot and slid his sword back and forth against the wood. Natala stared at the incoming ship with a strange joy in her eyes. She licked her lips like she was ready to eat. The whole crew had turned into wild, bloodthirsty animals, ready to pounce.
Leah looked around. The pleasant crew that she had been accustomed to was nowhere to be found. They were a whole new group of people. They were replaced with . . . pirates. She turned to Raal, who looked calm, but there was something in his eyes that was different, more venomous. He looked at Leah.
“Can you feel it?” he asked.
Leah didn’t know what he was talking about.
“This,” he said. “This is the atmosphere that brings out the real you. Can you feel it?”
Leah looked around at everyone. She could see everyone’s muscles contracting. She could hear the gritting of teeth and the grinding of blades. She could see the anticipation in everyone’s eyes as they stared at the approaching ship. It was so close now that she made eye contact with some of its crew members, who were in that same state of mind. She started to sweat, and her hand tightened on her glaive. She began to tremble.
“Are you scared?” Raal asked.
“I . . .” Leah answered, still trembling. “I am, but . . . I’m excited.”
Raal looked at her with a slight amazement. She so quickly latched onto the zeitgeist of this preemptive battle. Her fear was there, but so was the warrior spirit that he recognized so clearly. “Stay with me,” he said to her. “We’ll be fine.”
The whole crew yelled and howled and banged their weapons against the rails. The mood was wild.
Katu’s ship came closer and closer. The dark war-torn wood of the ship could be seen, and the faces of all of his men echoed the same of Miro’s. One of Katu’s men swung on a rope from their mast toward Miro’s ship, but before he reached it, Trovii quickly shot him down. The man let out a yell of agonizing pain as he fell into the water.
Both crews braced for impact as Katu’s ship sailed into the shadow of Miro’s.
Suddenly, Miro cried, “ATTACK!!!!”
The ships collided. People jumped from boat to boat. Weapons clashed and people fell, slaughtered. Raal yelled as he jumped onto Katu’s ship, slicing through one of the enemy pirates. One tried to come from behind Raal, but Leah thrust her glaive into the man’s belly. The man screamed in pain and fell. Leah was immediately overwhelmed with the same feeling that she had when she killed her first victim on Oaka, but it was subdued this time around. Raal noticed her hesitation and quickly moved to her side. His momentum was enough to put her back into a state of combat.
Raal and Leah stood back-to-back, cutting down anyone who tried to attack them. Natala and Trovii dealt with the archers. Trovii, who sat behind on Miro’s ship with the rest of the archers, fired his arrows at a quick and steady pace. He never missed his target. Natala locked her eyes on an enemy archer who was aiming another way. While she was running, she held out her sword and cut off the archer’s head as she continued toward the other enemy archers. Little Man used his massive body as an advantage. He jumped on people, ran over them, and with all his strength, he easily threw some of them overboard.
After using his hands for so long, he took out his large ax that was the size of a full-grown man. He swung wildly, taking down everyone in his path. Gale jumped off his bird’s nest, slid down a rope, and then landed on top of one of Katu’s men. He drove his sword into the man’s back and then ran toward his next victim.
Miro looked all around for Katu, killing enemies as he went. Soon he spotted a person on a platform looking down at the battle. It was him!
“Katu!” Miro cried. “Come face me!”
“Miro,” Katu said. His voice was like a breath of fresh air. It had no hint of frenzy in it. “So it is you.” Katu turned around and looked directly at Miro. This was Katu, the Sea Raider. His red vest and khaki pants waved in the breeze of the sea.
His khaki-colored pirate hat was tilted to cover one of his golden-colored eyes. And it was those eyes that stood out from his brown skin. His vest was open, and it showed his muscular body. Grazes of hair were on his chest, abs, and arms. On his arms were black tattoos that started from his wrist and wrapped around his forearms, ending at his elbows.
His dark-brown, dreadlocked hair was in a long ponytail that had beads going all the way down to his lower back. But it was his devious smile that caught Miro’s attention; that smile, so calm, so cool, like everything was perfectly fine. It contrasted from every other face on the battlefield. No one seemed to be as calm and collected as Katu. “It’s a pleasant surprise to know you’re not buried at sea. I couldn’t recognize you during the storm until I saw your flag floating on the water.”
“You won’t best us this time, Katu!” Miro yelled. “This time I’ll slit your throat!”
“Really?” Katu laughed. “Let me see you try.” He took out two oddly shaped weapons. They both had two handles, and the long, curved blades were backward. When he held them, they didn’t point outward, but came upward to his shoulders. Miro didn’t seem to care. He was determined to annihilate Katu once and for all.
Miro ran at him with his sword at hand. He leaped onto a wall and then ricocheted himself onto the platform. Once he reached Katu, their weapons clashed with a loud, sparking boom.
The two captains fought with expertise. Miro swung his sword around, trying to chop off Katu’s head, but he ducked, cutting Miro’s side. Miro jumped back and felt his side. It was wet. He was bleeding, but it didn’t bother him. Miro jumped in the air and brought his sword down. Katu dodged. Every time they attacked, their swords collided. They ducked, dodged, attacked, defended; they did everything. They fought in the center of the boat and on the edge, but nothing seemed to break them apart until Miro saw an opening where he could finish Katu off. He went for it, but unfortunately for him, Katu purposely left that blindside open. And Miro fell for it. Katu easily deflected Miro’s sword and then kicked him into a wall. Before Miro could recuperate, Katu pierced one of his swords into his right shoulder.
“Ggggrr,” Miro growled in a low voice. Blood started to rouse out of the pinned shoulder. The pain was dreadful. He almost wanted to tear his shoulder off.
“Perhaps you didn’t hear me the first time,” Katu sneered. “I suggest you give up. Just give me your valuables, and you won’t have to face any more pain.”
Miro, who was sitting against the wall, still hurting, spit in his face. “You dare take me for a fool,” he told him. “My crewmen that you killed! I’d die before letting you have anything!”
“I see then,” Katu said, wiping the saliva off his face. “Looks like I have to take it by force.” Then he pierced his other sword into Miro’s other shoulder. “Aaaaarggg!” Miro cried in pain. Blood began to surge out of that one too. Katu then yanked both of his weapons out of Miro’s shoulders and pointed the bloody tip of one of them at him. “Now, you sit there like a good boy,” Katu told him, “and let me do what I have to do.” Then he walked off, looking for any treasure he could find on the war-torn ship. Miro would have tried to stop him, but he couldn’t fight. His arms were ravaged.
“How many of these guys are there?” Leah asked as she sliced her glaive through one of Katu’s men.
“I don’t know,” Raal said. As he continued to fight, he spotted Katu walking around Miro’s ship. Shouldn’t have Miro fought him already? he asked himself. His question was immediately answered when he noticed Miro sitting against a wall. “Miro!” he cried, running to him. Once he reached him, he spotted the blood gushing out of his shoulders. “Did Katu do this?” he asked him.
Miro nodded. “I couldn’t defeat him. He’s just too good,” Miro said. “Here, I can’t move my arms. Tie these two rags around my shoulders so that I won’t lose any more blood.”
Raal took the rags and did what he was told. “Katu is going to pay,” Raal said.
Miro let out a grunt and said, “Be careful, Raal. His skills as a seafarer aren’t lost on his hand-to-hand.”
Raal stood up. “Remember who I am as well, brother,” he said. Then he ran off.
“Where’s the loot on here?” Katu asked himself as he walked around Miro’s ship. He looked around every crack and crevice. His calm and unworried disposition was so contrasted from everyone else that no one seemed to spot him. “There has to be something . . . or maybe not. This is Miro’s ship after all.” After a while, he spotted Leah slicing up his men. “Who is that?” he said. He smiled and began to walk toward her.
Leah yelled as she stabbed her glaive into the back of one of Katu’s men. She was about to thrust her glaive into another guy when Katu caught her arm. The person she was going to attack saw it as a chance, and he thrust his sword at her, but before it could stab her, Katu caught his sword with his other hand without touching any of the sharp sides of the blade. He gave the man a look, and the man receded into the battle to look for another opponent.
“What . . . who’s this?” Leah said, trying to wiggle free from Katu’s grip. He forcefully turned her around so they were face-to-face.
“Now, why is a gorgeous woman such as yourself part of this pathetic pirate crew?” he asked her, still holding a firm grip on her arm.
“You’re Katu,” Leah said. “Aren’t you?”
“You know my name. I’m honored.” Katu smirked. “Come join me. We’ll sail this vast ocean as a beautiful couple and bring down anyone who gets in our way.”
Leah started to back away, but she didn’t get far because Katu still had her arm. He moved in closer to her. “Come with me,” he said to her again. “Come, and I’ll turn your life into your wildest dreams.” Leah tried to punch him with her free hand, but Katu caught that one too. “You’re rough. I like that.”
“Let her go, Katu,” a voice came from behind him.
“Raal!” Leah said. Raal’s voice startled Katu enough that it caused him to loosen his grip. Leah quickly got away from Katu and ran to Raal.
“Are you okay?” he asked her.
Leah nodded. “I could have handled him. He just caught me off guard.” She looked up at Raal. “This isn’t a damsel-in-distress type of thing.”
Raal laughed with derision. “I don’t see any damsel here,” he said. “Anyways, for now, let me handle this guy.”
Katu stared at him, and then said, “Who are you supposed to be, some unsung hero or something?”
Raal smirked. “Yeah, something like that.”
Katu laughed and took out his two oddly shaped swords. “People like you are hilarious to me,” he said. “You make your lives out to be like some kind of epic story.” Raal gripped his longsword. Katu smirked and then rushed at him. “I guess yours will have a tragic conclusion.”
Katu swung both his swords at him, but Raal, using all his strength, blocked the attack. Still, the force overwhelmed him and put him off balance. He staggered backward to keep himself from falling. As soon as he got his balance, Katu was already throwing a barrage of attacks at him. Raal blocked, dodged, and did anything he could to keep the attacks from damaging him. Soon Katu stepped back to try another hard blow, but Raal was ready for this one. He tried to counterattack by thrusting his sword outward to stab Katu in the chest.
It didn’t work. Katu spun around the sword and tried to swing his weapon at Raal’s head, but Raal ducked and quickly backed away. After that, Raal jumped in the air and brought the sword down to chop Katu. Katu dodged right, and Raal’s sword sliced into the floorboard of the boat leaving a giant gap and broken wood around it. Katu started running to the deck of the boat, and Raal followed him with his sword in the air.
As Leah watched, she almost forgot about the danger she was in. Upon hearing the running footsteps of a pirate behind her, she ducked as a sword flew over her head. She swung the back of her glaive up, allowing the blade on that end to slice up through the pirate’s thigh. She then spun around and brought the other end down on his back. Another pirate attacked from her side, but she quickly feinted the incoming thrust of his sword.
Leah flicked the sword out of his hand and swung her glaive into the man’s left shoulder. It gashed deep, almost into his collarbone—plenty enough to bring him down. Leah took one last look at Raal and Katu’s fight, which had now moved down the deck, then she rushed off to face other enemies.
Raal and Katu fought forever. They had cuts and bruises, but they still kept at it. Soon Katu began to run again. Raal stayed hot on his trail. As soon as Katu stopped, he turned around to see Raal’s gigantic sword coming down on him. Katu put his blades in the air and blocked the attack. Then Katu kicked Raal in the stomach. The kick knocked the wind out of Raal, and he started to cough. He put down his guard to hold his stomach, which left him wide open. Katu went for the attack, but Raal quickly dodged and backed away from Katu as far as possible.
“Does your stomach hurt?” Katu asked sarcastically. He put up his leg and started patting his knee. “There’s more where that came from.” Raal started coughing up blood and stooped on the ground. Katu saw this as an opportunity to rest a little.
“You’re certainly stronger than that scum of a seafarer, Miro,” Katu told him. He held out one of his arms. “That last attack I blocked got my arms numb. Where did Miro get this guy, anyway?” He noticed Leah running to Raal’s aid. “And what about her? Is she strong too?”
Leah moved toward Raal. She crouched next to him and rubbed his back, trying to make him feel better.
“He’s tougher than I thought,” Raal said while wiping blood off his lip and staring at Katu. He didn’t want Katu to hit him with a sneak attack while he was down.
Leah then noticed blood seeping through the side of his shirt. She lifted it up and saw what it was. He was hit where the dragon had scarred him. “Raal, your . . .” She didn’t finish her sentence.
“I know. I didn’t dodge one of his attacks completely. Looks like I paid for it.” Then he started coughing up more blood. “And his kick wasn’t that nice either.”
Leah took the purple cloth out of her hair that kept her long ponytail up. Her hair tumbled down to her lower back. She pressed the cloth to Raal’s wound and told him to hold it there so he wouldn’t lose any more blood. He did so.
After treating Raal, she got up and glared at Katu who, after noticing her scornful stare, raised up a little. Leah gripped her glaive tighter. “Let’s do this,” she said. She held her glaive in a fighting position.
Katu smirked. “Do you honestly think that I would fight a woman?”
“Don’t play the gentleman card with me, pirate,” she told him. “Get up and fight or I’ll come over there!”
“I think I’ll choose the latter.”
Raal grumbled, “Leah, don’t do this.”
She ignored him. She was determined to avenge him and also gain his respect. She yelled at Katu, “Have it your way!” She ran to him as he quickly got up, and she thrusted her glaive. He dodged, but Leah spun and hit him in the side with the blunt part of her glaive. He did multiple backflips away from her. Once he stopped, he held his side.
“I knew it,” he said to himself. “She’s more than just a pretty face.” However, as soon as he said that, Leah was coming at him full force. She jumped, twirled in the air, and then brought her glaive down on top of Katu. Katu blocked the attack with his blades; otherwise, Leah’s glaive would have sliced him in half. The twirl that she did increased the power of her attack, which, to Katu’s surprise, brought him down on one knee. They were in a deadlock. Leah pressed her blade down on Katu’s. Her altitude gave her the natural advantage of gravity.
Katu’s blades eased closer and closer to his face. Tiny fragments were breaking off of the blades from the immense friction. The fragments were falling onto Katu’s face: a taunting element of deadlock that proved he was losing. Realizing that he was in imminent danger, he summoned up all of his remaining strength and began to push back. Leah felt the momentum change, and so she added a little bit more strength to her push, but it was no use. Katu was much stronger than her.
He lifted up off of his knee, which, to Leah’s disadvantage, added additional force from his legs. She could no longer hold him. Katu pushed her away with a climatic thrust. The force of the push almost knocked Leah off of her feet, but she caught herself and regained her balance.
Raal looked on in amazement. He had never seen Leah fight a tough opponent until now. He actually believed she could win.
Leah studied Katu. He was slumped over, sweating and panting. The deadlock had drained him. Leah put her glaive in a resting position. “That’s it,” she told him. “You’re done. You already fought Miro and Raal. There’s no way you can fight me too. I mean, look at you. I haven’t even started warming up and you already look like you’re about to pass out.”
Katu wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He took in a deep breath and then let it out while rising up. “Don’t worry about me,” he said to Leah. He popped his neck and shoulders and then got back into a fighting stance. “I’m still more than enough for you.”
Leah shook her head in vexation. “Pirates,” she said with exasperation. “They’re just so full of it.” She looked up at Katu and got back into her attacking stance. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Then she started to run at him.
Suddenly, a huge brawny man came from behind her. He took his club and smashed it across the back of her head. She was immediately knocked unconscious and fell into the man’s arms.
“Leah!” Raal cried. He started to get up, but he couldn’t.
Katu looked at the fallen Leah and then looked up at the huge guy with disdain. “Roden, did I say you could do that?”
“Sorry,” he apologized.
Katu sighed. “Just lock her in one of our sleeping quarters,” he told him. Roden lifted Leah up over his shoulder and started toward Katu’s ship.
“Stop!” Raal cried. He was standing up, but barely. “This isn’t over, Katu!” he cried.
“Apparently, it is,” Katu said. “Don’t worry though. I enjoyed our fight. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again sooner or later.” Then someone else came from behind Raal and smashed him on the back of his head as well. He fell onto the boat’s floor.
“No, wait,” Raal stuttered. As he watched Katu and Roden take Leah away through the fog of the battle, everything seemed to get blurry. “Leah,” he said in a low voice. Then he passed out.