Find a Critique Partner
Jeremy Deveau
By Jeremy Deveau
Feb 1, 2010, 12:36

                They attacked in the middle of the night; Jarren was asleep when his father burst in through

the door.

“Quick into the basement, the city is under attack!” he cried as he pulled Jarren out of his bed.

“What?” Jarren asked groggily, and then his father’s words truly sunk in as he became more

alert, “I want to help fight Dad! You know I can, you taught me yourself” Jarren insisted.

 “No Jarren, your training isn’t nearly complete, now quick get in the basement and hide in the

hidden alcove.” With that he lifted the hatch pushed Jarren into the basement and slammed it shut

again. “Now Jarren lock the hatch, hide in the alcove and don’t come out until morning.”

                Those were to be the last words Jarren ever heard from his father, however, he listened to every

word his father had said. Slowly despite the sounds of a raging battle he eventually drifted off to sleep

still huddled in the alcove praying no one found him.

                When he finally woke the next morning Jarren first noted the eerie quietness that seemed to

have come over the city and decided it would be fine to make his way out of his house. He was greeted

by the most nightmarish sight he had ever seen in the short thirteen years of his life. There were dead

bodies everywhere he looked, there were members of the Talons and even some of the Rec-mauls,

that’s when he found the body of his father in his red battle armour the color marking him as the

captain of the Rec-mauls, the elite squad of warriors made up from the best men in the Talondraile

army. He was heartbroken sitting next to his father’s body but looking at the surrounding bodies of

whom he assumed were the attackers he could tell his father did not die without a fight, Jarren

strangely found some solace in that fact.

                The next day Jarren joined the Talondraile training academy almost as soon as his father’s

funeral ceremony was complete. Jarren mainly joined because he didn’t feel like he had a choice, his

mother had passed away giving birth to him, making his father his last living relative.

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                Although Jarren excelled in the combat aspect of school, he struggled in all his other studies and

was constantly in trouble as he frequently lost his temper, it took about a year but Jarren finally had

enough of the academy and left. It was this same fateful day when he met Caldon after he had

wondered down to the docks, lost and not knowing what to do.

                Calden took Jarren under his wing, and onto his crew; he quickly became like a second father to

Jarren, teaching him all he needed to know about sailing and the world. Jarren was as happy as he had

ever been, feeling like he had finally found his true calling out on the open seas; he served Calden

faithfully on board the Gesabell for the next four years of his life.

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                When Jarren turned eighteen he wanted to move on and decided to talk to Calden; between

what he had saved over the years and the extra money Calden gave him in order to see him off, he had

enough money to return home. Jarren was even planning on taking his place among the Talondraile

defenders.

                After a month’s hard travel he finally arrived home, only to find his home overrun by the same

invaders that had attacked those many years ago; and the city he loved so much levelled to the ground

with only a few small crumbling ruins left behind. Jarren only stayed for a night, even after such a long

time travelling he could not stand to be near these men who had destroyed his home and his family.

                He traveled back to Kandal the closest port city he could find and got a job working on the

docks, after a few months he managed to buy himself an old ship between his earnings and savings, and

took to the high seas once more. Jarren continued his travels for another six years before fate

intervened in his life once more.

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                It was a bad storm, probably the worst he had ever seen even after all these year of sailing. He

finally decided after battling the storm for almost a full day Jarren finally decided to make for the port

his watchman had pointed to rather than continuing to push his luck. It was one thing for him to risk his

own life, quite another to risk his crew members.

                It took over an hour to bring the ship safely into port, tie it up and pay the port taxes.  Jarren

wandered off after going in and paying for the crew’s accommodations for the night, deciding he would

rather find some peaceful accommodations away from all the rowdiness and noise sailors made when

drinking and partying. He did not have to wander far before finding the Lost Traveller’s Inn and decided

he was far enough away from all the sailors in port due to the storm.

                He made his way into the inn removing his hat and cloak all the while thinking about sitting by a

warm fire and drying off. He turned to the counter reaching for his money pouch and stopped

overwhelmed by the beautiful woman behind the counter. She had long Auburn hair tied back away

from her face and light blue eyes, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen with a smile that

seemed to warm his soul. It took him a few moments to regain his thoughts once he had, he ordered a

hot meal and lodgings long enough to ride out the storm without sounding too much like an idiot he

thought he found himself a table as close to the fire as he could get, which was not hard cause he

assumed mainly because of the storm the place was completely empty besides himself and the woman

at the counter.

                About ten minutes after his meal had arrived three gruff looking young men stumbled into the

bar, it was evident they had already been drinking. They ordered drinks and started groping and fondling

the serving girl who had been so nice and welcoming to Jarren despite the mess he made dripping with

mud as he was; as she brought them their ale.

                Jarren finished his meal all the while continuing to monitor the three men, they were on their

fourth round of ale when Jarren finally stood up, he could not take another minute of them harassing

the serving girl. “You boys should show her some respect and leave her alone.” Jarren said menacingly

as he rose slowly from his chair.

The biggest of the three, almost twice the size of himself looked straight at him chuckling “And

who do you suppose is going to make us? You?” He asked, as he walked towards Jarren.  Jarren laughed

as the big one moved towards him, by the time he was eighteen he was the best fighter Calden had on

his crew and even now Jarren had never met his match in any kind of combat. He was a vicious

fighter, cold and calculating when it came to tactics, he doubted if this man would even be able to hit

him. After all his adventures he had never met his equal and he doubted that he would find his match in

a small port in the middle of nowhere, it struck him as funny and he could not help but start laughing.

“What’s so funny? Asked the big man, “Do you find it funny your about to get your head

knocked off?” Jarren did not bother to respond. As soon as the man stalking towards Jarren got close

enough and had finished speaking he threw a wild swing aimed at Jarren’s head, He easily dodged the

clumsily thrown punch. Jarren stepped back deciding not to do anything unless the man took another

swing, which he did almost immediately after recovering from the first one. Jarren ducked underneath

the man’s arm and slammed his fist into the man’s giant chest. The man stumbled back more from

surprise then pain but Jarren quickly swung inwards and launched his fist into his chin sending him

sprawling. As Jarren brushed himself off the other two young men grabbed their friend off the floor and

dragged him outside as quickly as they could encumbered by his weight, as they were and unwilling to

take their eyes off Jarren clearly hoping he would not pursue them.

                After dealing with the three thugs Jarren walked over to the serving girl “Are you alright?” he

asked

“Yes, I am fine; I deal with their kind all the time, but thank you for helping me just the same.”

She replied flashing that amazing smile she had. They spent the rest of the night together and continued

talking well into the early morning before Jarren even realized the time, excusing himself from her

company in order to go to bed.

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                Jarren stared out the window looking over his farm lost in his memories, at twenty-six years old

he had seen and done what most young men only dream about and then some. He had slain dragons,

sailed the oceans, sacked towns and defended cities, but in all his travels he still had never been able to

find out who the invaders that had attacked his homeland were. Part of the reason he continued to fail

was due to the fact that he found out that the invaders had successfully invaded his homeland. In

fact after he found out, whenever he could avoid it he would not even enters those waters and at all

costs he avoided docking altogether. However, even after all those bad memories, all the things he had

seen and done, the memory that stood out from all the others was the first day he had landed in

Darlynn. How could he ever forget, he was forced to dock because of a terrible storm and decided to

wander away and obtain different accommodations for his crew needed some space, and wandered

into the Lost Travellers Inn, and there was Kila.

                He laughed to himself, here he was a year and a half later married and had a daughter. He and

Kila had hit it off immediately that very night. After that night Jarren always found an excuse to be near

Darlynn as much as possible and never once failed to dock as he came by, soon after he went to her

father asking his permission for her hand in marriage. They were married less than a week after that.

 Jarren quickly hired a captain while keeping control of his ships and started using them as merchant

ships. Shortly after that Kila gave birth to his beautiful baby daughter. Kiera was as beautiful as her

mother and very happy, she was always smiling and laughing. Jarren considered himself extremely lucky

but yet...

                He still missed his old life, the adventure, the danger, the high sea battles, and the thrill of treasure

hunting and most of all the freedom of the open seas. He had made up his mind that he would give up

the adventurers life very shortly after meeting Kila, deciding to turn his ships in merchant vessels and

settled into the life he had now, quiet and peaceful on a small farm just outside of town. He never really

regretted his decision but he still could not keep himself from looking back every now and then mainly

because with Kila he felt more at home then he had felt since he was a little boy.

“Jarren...Jarren” Kila called snapping him back to reality

“Coming” he replied as he walked towards the front room.

When he entered the room he came to a stop dead in his tracks, there standing right at the door

was Calden, his old captain and dearest friend. “Jarren!” Calden exclaimed as he greeted him with a

friendly embrace. “ You remember my wife Milanna, and my daughter Trika, she’s a bit older than when

you last saw her eh?” he said adding a wink with the last part causing her to blush. Jarren greeted both

of them warmly, Milano being almost like his second mother, then walked over lifting Kiera from her

mothers arms and placing his arm around Kila

“Well captain, you’ve already met my wife Kila and this is my daughter Kiera” Jarren said as he

gave Kiera a kiss on the top of her head “So what brings you here?” He asked casually.

“Can we leave the women in here to talk and we can talk outside?” Calden answered

somewhat suspiciously Jarren thought.

                Jarren passed the baby off to Kila leaning in to give her a quick kiss and a meaningful look as he

did so, and headed outside gesturing for Calden to follow him and to sit on the front step. “So again

captain, what brings you here?” Jarren asked almost immediately as they sat down.

“You know Jarren,  you really are kind of hard to find” Calden was saying, but Jarren barely

heard him.

“Calden, quit stalling alright? Now what do you want?” Jarren said as soon as Calden stopped

talking.

“Alright Jarren alright, I’m here because...” Calden hesitated taking a deep breath, “ I’m here

 because I’ve gotten my hands on a treasure map.”

“Sorry Cal.” Jarren said continuing quickly before Calden could say anything more “I really am

but I gave that life up, I’m happy here.”

“Jarren” Calden broke in before he could go any further “Listen alright, this isn’t just any old

treasure map, if it was you know me and the rest of the crew would have been off after it already. This

map leads to the city of Norvola and I believe that the code that’s written on the back of it has

information on how to get around the obstacles and get into the city safely...I need you Jarren, you were

born for this and you know it...” Calden trailed off.

                They sat in complete silence for a few minutes before Jarren decided he had to break the silence

“I don’t know Cal. I love it here with Kila and Kiera it feels like home.” Jarren waved Calden to remain

quiet before continuing on “I’ll think about it, I have to talk to Kila about it, I can’t just go running off.

You guys are more than welcome to stay as long as you want regardless of what I decide though.” Jarren

and Calden spent the rest of the time catching up on the new adventures and things that they had each

been up to while wandering around the farm as Jarren gave Calden a full tour, until Kila called them that

supper was ready.

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                After dinner Jarren and Calden stayed up late talking and reminiscing about the old times until

Jarren finally decided it was time to head for bed. As he walked into the bedroom and closed the door

Kila spoke up, giving him a start since he thought she was asleep “What’s wrong? Something’s been

bothering you ever since you and Calden stepped outside to talk, and don’t lie Jarren you know I can

tell.”

Jarren just stood next to the closed door for a few moments before answering “Calden...” he

began “Calden...wants me to go with him, he found a map leading to the city of Norvola...”

“Do you want to go?” she asked simply even though Jarren could hear the reluctance in her

voice as if she already knew the answer. Jarren leaned his head against the door frame and sighed “Do

you want to go?” she repeated a little louder thinking that he might not have heard her

“Yes” he replied barely a whisper but she heard him anyway.

“Alright, then go...” she said simply catching him by surprise

“What about you and Kiera?” Jarren asked

“We can go with you and Calden until we get to the closest port, you do have sail before

heading inlaid do you not?” Jarren nodded quickly “and we can stay there with the boats while you,

Calden and the rest of the crew head off on foot. It will keep you from having to be away from us for so

long.” Jarren regardless of how much he wanted to could not argue with that point

 “Who would we get to tend the farm and animals while we are gone?” Jarren thought he had

her with that one.

 “Well my father just hired on someone to manage the inn and is bored with his retirement. I’m

sure he would not mind coming out and looking after the place for us.” again Jarren thought to himself I

cannot argue with her logic.

“ Alright” Jarren sighed “I’ll tell him in the morning and we can start planning.”

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                After he and Kila had talked Jarren laid in bed for about an hour until he finally decided he

needed to go for a walk in order to clear his head. He slipped out of bed making sure not to wake Kila,

got dressed and wandered out to the barn deciding he may as well go for a ride. When he got out to the

barn he quickly saddled up Maraude and walked her out of the barn. He decided to go cross country but

that he would head towards the town and when he got to the gates he would turn around, that would

give him about an hour’s ride there and back.

                About fifteen minutes into his ride he started up a low rise and heard a commotion coming over

the next rise. He quickly galloped over the next rise in order to discover what was causing it, as he

crested the hill Jarren was horrified at what he saw. It was a raid and to his horror the attackers were

easily over-running the Darlynn Militia. However, that was not what bothered him. It was that the

attackers armour was fashioned into the likeness of demons. After a few seconds Jarren got his wits

back and leaped off his horse, unleashing a fireball into the middle of the attackers as he charged down

the hill summoning his lightning blades. He jumped into the fray smashing into the back line of the

attackers. He slashed at any attackers he could reach, the attackers quickly realized how much of a

threat Jarren was. After dispatching ten of them not counting the ones his fireballs had taken out, they

quickly turned on him. Jarren was being surrounded and for a moment he was afraid he had got himself

into a mess he could not hope to overcome, until he caught a glimpse of the militia men and was

instantly relieved. As soon as he had fully distracted them the militia took advantage and launched into

the attackers with a renewed fury.

                The battle was over in minutes, only 5 of the Darlynn militia had been kill and 3 more seriously

Wounded. As Jarren surveyed the battle ground he noticed that two of the attackers had only been

wounded and were currently being shackled. He grabbed one of the invaders slamming him painfully

hard into the ground “ Who the hell are you? Where do you come from?” Jarren screamed at him

“You’ll never know, for no one shall no our true souls.” With that the invader spat in his face.

After that Jarren decided to question him not caring what lengths he had to go to in order to get the

information out of him, as he went to grab him the invader slumped over and Jarren noticed silver

dagger the man had killed himself with, Jarren turned thinking to stop the other but noticed he was too

late.

                “Thanks for the help” Jarren heard as someone approached him from behind while he was

looking at the two dead invaders, he turned to find the militia captain standing next to him.

“You're welcome Avalice” Jarren replied as he shook his hand he suddenly had a thought,

“Where did they come from?”

 “We don’t really know Jarren, Jo and Salem were on sentry duty when they seen them heading

for the main gates of town. Luckily they managed to warn us, mind you, not that we were very effective

against them, they fight like they are possessed.”

                “Well at least I was here to help, but I need to head back home.” With that Jarren mounted his

horse as one of the militia men brought her down to him, and started riding home. He quickly kicked the

horse into a gallop worried that if those invaders were there, there might be more of them around and

hoping the whole time that he was wrong.

                                                -------------------------------------------------------

                Kiera had woke her up, but as Kila sat in the chair feeding her she heard a noise coming from

outside, assuming it was Jarren she walked towards the door then paused, there was not any more

sound coming from out there, she decided that something was off and went to the guest bedroom

waking up Calden just in case.

                As Calden headed towards the door he held his sword at the ready, he did not think anything

was wrong but Kila seemed nervous so he prepared himself just in case. As he inched towards the door

Jarren burst through , the first thing Calden noticed is Jarren seemed on edge, and then he noticed the

blood splattered all over him. “Jarren, what the hell happened to you? You’ve been in a fight...”

                After Jarren finished explaining almost everything, only leaving the attackers armour

unmentioned, Calden knew too much about his history. A thought occurred to him, thinking about what

the attacker had said, maybe just maybe there would be information in Norvola considering the library

that was rumoured to be there was the greatest ever known to man. “Well Calden, I was going to wait

until morning but we are all going to Norvola, so get some sleep, we need to start planning.” And with

that Jarren, Kila and Kiera all said good night and went to bed.

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                Jarren slept in the next morning after what happened last night. When he finally woke up, he

found Kila, Milanna, and Trika in the kitchen. Kila was preparing breakfast while Milanna and Trika were

fussing over Kiera, they pointed him outside telling him that Calden had decided to help out and was

working out in the barn.

                Jarren walked into the barn “ Hey Cal!” he called out.

                “Finally awake are you? Well I guess I would sleep in to if I had the long night you had.” Calden

answered as he climbed down the latter from the hayloft, “Well, not the way I wanted it to happen, but

I’m glad I got you on board Jarren.”

                “Yeah, tell me about it Cal.” Jarren said it a slightly annoyed voice.

                “Don’t worry too much just yet though Jarren, we can’t leave right away, we have lots of

planning left before anything happens.” Calden replied trying to calm Jarren down a bit.

                “Yeah let’s go in Kila should have breakfast done by now I’m sure and we can start planning

what we need.” Jarren said finally relaxing a little bit about his decision as he realized he did not have

to leave his home just yet.

                “Alright sounds good, although I hope Kila is a better cook then Milanna” Calden said laughing

as they walked towards the house.

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                Kila stood there looking out over the small town from the Inn, she was exhausted, during the

last five months there had not been even a small slack in the amount of work for everyone to do.  

The first month had been especially hard because to her amazement Trika had never learned to cook or

clean properly. It was hard to believe a girl went through eighteen years of life without her mother

showing her even the basic skills she needed in life, Jarren cooked better than her. After finally teaching

her how to cook, some of the work finally slacked off as there was someone to help her with some of

the work and she had to thank both Trika and Milanna because of them she never felt like she was

neglecting Kiera.

                As if she knew she was thinking of her Kiera started squirming in her arms bringing Kila back to

reality, “Alright” Kila sighed to no one in particular “ I guess I can’t put this off any longer.” and with that

she started off towards the massive ship WaveBreaker that Jarren had acquired for the journey. She

had not thought it was necessary but he said he bought it because he wanted her and Kiera to be as

comfortable and calm as possible.

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                Jarren smiled as he looked up from the men who were busy loading the last of the supplies onto

the ship and noticed Kila walking towards the ship carrying Kiera. He watched until she was just about

on the docks when he decided to hop off the ledge heading to the gangway to help Kila onto the boat.

He smiled to himself as he walked off the boat to meet her. It was a testament to how much she loved

him that she was coming as far as she was on the journey. Kila hated any water deeper than her waist

and despised boats, in fact he did not think she had ever even been on one before.

“Hey”  she said as she smiled her beautiful smile and wrapped her arms around him lovingly

“Hi” Jarren replied quickly, as he took Kiera and turned towards the boat he looked back at Kila

“Follow me, I’ll show you where our cabin is. I made sure the cabin was on one of the lower decks, so

 you will not feel as much rocking.”

“Alright” Kila said smiling sheepishly as she climbed onto the ship. Jarren watched how nervous

she was and smiled to himself, it was like being able to see how much she loves him.

 Jarren lead her onto the deck and entered the main captains quarters “This is where most of

the plotting courses and that happens, and our cabin is down these steps. We have a huge bed, I had it

bolted to the floor, and I built a crib right into the side of the ship to keep Kiera safe.” Jarren was talking

as he carried some of their bags down into the cabin not realizing that Kila had not followed him. Jarren

turned around when she did not answer, looking around confused he quickly put the bags down in their

cabin and made his way back up the steps to find Kila standing at the window of the cabin looking out

over the ocean. He smiled as he walked up behind her wrapping his arms around her and Kiera “It’s a

beautiful sight is it not?” Jarren said blissfully he never realized how much he had truly missed the

freedom of the ocean.

“Yea, it’s pretty remarkable, I’m just nervous about when we are actually sailing” Kila replied

quietly, trying not to ruin the peacefulness of the moment. Kila and Jarren stared out over the ocean for

a few minutes when the man Jarren hired as his first mate for the voyage came in.

“Sir, we’re all loaded up and we were the last ship in the convoy, we are untying from the docks

as we speak.”

 “Very good Mister Shell, I’ll steer us out the harbour personally,” Jarren said dismissing his first

mate “You should come stand on the deck with me Kila; you know that your parents will be watching

our departure and its quite a sight to see as we exit the harbour for open waters.”

“Okay, as long as I can stand with you, I’m still a little nervous and Kiera has wanted you

all day.”

 “That’s fine” Jarren replied bending his head down a bit in order to give Kila a kiss before taking

her hand and guiding her out of the cabin and up to the upper deck with the ships wheel.

                                -----------------------------------------------------------

                Kila let Jarren lead her along, she had been trying to hide how nervous she was from him and

thought she was succeeding mainly because she knew how distracted he was with everything that was

going on. Kiera had definitely picked up on her feelings though as she squirmed around in her arms

refusing to stay still. She inhaled sharply as she got to the upper deck and looked down to the docks, not

only was she higher up then she had initially expected but as soon as that thought entered her mind

another quickly followed unbidden, can something this massive even stay afloat, if it sunk while she was

below in the cabin would she even be able to save herself or Kiera. With those thoughts Kila quickly

started hyper-ventilating. Jarren must have noticed as she felt his strong arms encircle her and started

whispering in her ear to calm her down.

“Look” Jarren said trying to distract Kila from her fears “Your parents are standing at the edge of

the docks” Kila looked up scanning the crowd trying to make out her parents where Jarren was pointing

“I don’t see them” she said as she kept trying to notice where her parents were.

 “There just at the edge of the docks slightly away from the rest of the crowd, Their waving.” He

said again pointing towards the edge of the crowd.

“Oh, I see them,” Kila replied as she began waving towards them, unsure if they even noticed

her and if they did, even realized it was her.

                                                ----------------------------------------------------------------

                Jarren felt so guilty as he steered the ship out of the harbour and onto the open sea, Kila was

extremely tense. He could not help but think to himself maybe if I was not so selfish I would not have

dragged her on this voyage, if I would have told Calden no, we would be going along with our regular

routine. Then as they exited the harbour, he noticed a change in Kila, as the view of the open sea

developed before their eyes, she exhaled and her eyes stared to glow. It was the most open look of

astonishment and wonder Jarren had ever before seen on her face, and he could not help but let all his

doubts slide away and smile himself. “Mister Shell” Jarren called out

“Yes, sir” came the reply within seconds.

“Take the wheel, I’m retiring to my cabin to get my wife and daughter settled, it’s going to be a

long journey.” Jarren dictated then her turned to Kila “The quicker you get comfortable and we get Kiera

settled the smoother the journey will be.”

“Aye sir,” was the reply from Mister Shell.

“Okay” Kila replied giving Jarren a one armed hug as she cradled Kiera in her other arm, taking

Jarren’s hand she let him lead the way to their quarters.

 As they reached the cabin Jarren took Kiera and began playing with her on the bed, her

favourite game was having an object placed a distance away from her, so she could crawl too it and then

have it moved again so she could try and find it. While Jarren entertained Kiera, Kila began unpacking all

the clothes and things she felt she had needed for the trip.

                                                -----------------------------------------------------

                They had only been sailing for a couple days when the lookout called down that there was two

ships approaching fast from the port side, both flying a pirate flag.

“Captain” the lookout called down “they’ll be on us within the hour”

“Load the cannons, prepare for battle, boarding parties get your armour on.” Jarren yelled out

as he ran to his quarters in order to retrieve his armour and swords.

“What’s going on Jarren?” Kila asked as Jarren entered the cabin.

“Stay in the cabin, there are a couple of ships coming towards us. Don’t worry it won’t be hard

at all to drive them off, every man on this ship has had years of sailing and fighting experience we’ll be

fine.” Jarren kissed her quickly and asked her to help him put his battle armour on, “I’ve stationed three

men down here, they’ll hold the door as long as they can if it comes down to it, but I doubt the enemy

will make it farther than our deck,”

“What if they do make it down here Jarren?” Kila answered worrying more about Kiera than

herself.

“They won’t, just trust me okay every man on this ship including myself has been through this

countless times.” With those last words Jarren grabbed his dragon armour and began getting the

magical chainmail he had acquired that went underneath. As Jarren finished putting his armour on

except for the helmet, Kila could not help but stare, he looked magnificent. Jarren was already tall at

about six feet, and his shoulders were as wide as an axe with a barrel chest, with his armour on he

looked like a giant. He seemed at least half a foot taller and even wider than before, his armour was

black and red scaled like dragon skin, on the knuckles were three inch long sharpened nails. Blades stuck

out past his elbows, his whole body was covered in small metal spikes, with talons crafted on his feet, he

had the shapes of wings on his back, and the helmet was shaped like a dragon’s head.

“You look magnificent” Kila said as Jarren finished fastening his armour and strapping his

weapons on, it was the first time she had ever seen him in battle gear.

“I love you,” Jarren replied bending over and giving her a long kiss before turning and walking

back up to the deck.

                He surveyed the decks and watched the final minutes of the approach of the two attacking

ships. At the last second was when Jarren started working the spells to block any attempts to board his

ship while sending ropes out to latch onto either of the ships giving his boarding parties ways to get onto

the new ships. “We take the ships, we take as many prisoners as we can, pillage all possible supplies we

can use and then burn them.” Jarren commanded “Me and my personal boarding party made up of the

men we previously selected will take the ship on the starboard side, the rest take the port side.”

“Aye sir,” Was a chorus of replies which came from his entire crew,

“Mister shell, front and centre,”

“Here Captain” Shell replied as he made his way to the front of the crew

“You're going to lead the other boarding party, is that understood,”

“Aye Captain,” he replied quickly as he took off calling his party to him. Jarren called his party to

him, and as the ship came within feet of WaveBreaker, Jarren lead the charge leaping the last foot from

WaveBreaker to the enemy ship. He was met with resistance almost immediately, but Jarren quickly cut

them down. Jarren left his men to deal with the rest of the crew and made his way to the man standing

on the upper deck who was obviously the captain of the attacking ship, dispatching the few men who

tried to get in his way. The harden captain watched Jarren approach him, and as he stalked up the stairs

he drew his swords, causing Jarren to smile.

“You know your crew is going to lose,” Jarren stated “I am not without mercy put your weapons

down now and we will take you peacefully and unharmed.”

 “You’ll never be taking my ship from me,” replied the captain as he charged Jarren. Jarren

sidestepped the initial charge using the blades on his elbows to block the backswing of the man. Jarren

just turned slowly smiling at the man, and came to a decision at the moment. He reached up removing

his helmet, all the while keeping his smile on his face.

“There I thought you should see the face of the man who will defeat you in battle” Jarren

Taunted.

“ha, I have faced better than you, boy, I shall slaughter you and give any women on your ship to

my men to enjoy.” The man replied with an evil chuckle, again charging at Jarren with a wild swing. This

time Jarren rolled underneath the blade, spinning backwards with his sword as he came to his knees

driving the man backwards. Jarren then attacked startling the captain as he quickly slashed the sword

out of his hand and landing a boot square to the chest of the captain he was facing. The pain exploded

over the captains body as the talons of Jarren’s armour dug into his flesh. Even more pain bloomed

almost into a cocoon as he slammed into the rails of the ship before bouncing off and falling face first to

the deck. Jarren watched as the captain slowly managed to pick himself up from the vicious attack.

Jarren kicked the man his sword.

“If you wish to continue to be stubborn and continue this pointless fight, I will gladly oblige

you.” Jarren taunted him again. This time as the captain picked up his sword he slipped a dagger into his

hand and as he stood threw it at Jarren. It bounced off the armour slicing a gash across Jarren’s neck,

and before Jarren could recover charged again. Jarren barely managed to get his elbow blade up to stop

the sword coming for his head, he quickly dug the spikes of his gauntlets into the captain’s chest. He

immediately stumbled backwards with a look of shock on his face as blood came out of his mouth. As he

stood Jarren saw that the spikes he had drove into him had punctured the opposing captains lung

making him unable to breathe well. Jarren knew the man was done for and advanced on him quickly

batting the man’s sword away from him. He had decided the moment he knew the man was dying the

he would end it quickly for him. He quickly spun behind the man forcing him to his knees, Jarren

dreading the nightmares this would surely leave him with and regretting that he must take another life,

placed his sword at the back of the man’s neck and drove it downwards through the captain, whose

body gave one last spasm as the sword entered before dying. Jarren put his foot on the dead man’s back

and shoved the body off of his sword. After he had cleaned his blade replacing it in his sheath he walked

to the edge to observe the fighting on the lower decks, which to his surprise was already complete. His

men had captured over half the crew and were walking through finishing off the severely wounded but

still living of both crews.

                After watching the crew working on their gruesome task for a few minutes Jarren swung back

aboard WaveBreaker and sauntered over to the opposite side to see how the battle had went on the

other attacking ship, and found that his crew was going about the same gruesome task. “Mister Shell?”

Jarren called not spotting his first mate immediately,

“Aye sir.” came the reply just as Jarren noticed him. His first mate had a sever limp, and seemed

to be slowly bleeding from his head.

“Are you alright mister Shell, or do you need me to send a Magi down for healing?” Jarren asked

somewhat worried.

“No captain, I’m fine, I’ll stay down here and oversee the prisoners and the salvaging of

whatever provisions we can find.” Shell replied, Jarren thought he sounded somewhat drowsy.

                “Alright Mister Shell, get it done fast, I want to head towards port and turn the prisoners over,

so we can continue on our journey.” With that Jarren started to stroll away, heading back towards the

other ship to oversee the men doing the same thing.

                After he made sure the prisoners were all secure in the brig he headed back to the deck to find

his first mate, who he found on the upper deck lying against the port side railing waiting for the Magi to

heal him. “How are you feeling Mister Shell?” Jarren asked concerned.

                “I’m fine captain, my leg is starting to feel a little stiff and I have a headache, I’ll be fine in a

minute.” Shell replied, Jarren could tell that he was trying not to pass out.

“The Magi are pretty busy up here; I’ll have you up and about in a few seconds mister Shell, not

to worry.” Shell started to protest but Jarren was already crouched next to him, lost in the trance of the

healing spell. Jarren had to focus when it came to healing, he may be an accomplished spell caster, but

he spent all his time mastering offensive and defensive spells. Jarren never saw the point in studying

spells that he did not have use for, as a captain he always made sure he had at least three Magi on

board to take care of the main spell casting duties.

                It took Jarren all of five minutes to get his first mate back on his feet, “Jarren?” he heard a

familiar voice calling him as he helped Shell up.

                “Hey Cal, you missed all the action!” Jarren called watching him climb up to the upper deck.

                “Yes, we didn’t notice right away what was going on back here?” Calden replied, although Jarren

could tell he was a little upset at not getting to see any combat, if there was one thing Calden loved to

do it was fight with anyone and everyone he could.

                “Mister Shell?” Jarren said turning back to his first mate.

                “Aye captain?” Shell replied snapping to attention quickly

                “I’ll be in my cabin get us moving as soon as all the supplies we managed to salvage are onboard

and the ships are sunk.” Jarren said as he started walking towards the steps down to the lower deck

motioning Calden to follow him.

                “Aye sir, I’ll make sure we are moving within the half hour.” Shell replied and started walking

beside Jarren so he could go down and oversee the rest of the operations still going on.

                “Oh and Mister Shell, when the Magi are done healing, I want sealing spells on all the doors in

the brig and then I want binding and holding spells on the prisoners so they can’t go anywhere,

understood?” Jarren stated as the thought crossed his mind just before he entered the captains

quarters.

“Aye understood captain, it should be done within the next twenty minutes and until then I have

10 armed guards posted just outside the doors in case they try anything.” As Shell finished Jarren

disappeared into the captain’s quarters, he was anxious to see Kila and make sure she was calm.

                “Hey Calden, so when you head back to your ship, make sure to send word to the rest of the

convoy we are heading to the nearest port. When we arrive only one ship as escort comes with us,

alright? I can’t see us running in too much trouble but better save then sorry.” Jarren kept talking as he

walked over giving a quick scan of the maps to see which port they would be headed too.

                “Yea, the one ship is a good idea, and I’ll make sure that the rest of the convoy knows, they’ll

follow, and the rest of the convoy is going to anchor at the entrance of the port so we can see, and make

sure nothing happens.” Calden said “but I’m going to head back my ship, I only came aboard to make

sure everything was fine, we’ll trail you into the harbour, see you in port.” With that Calden headed out

the door.

                After Calden was gone Jarren made his way down the stairs to his cabin dismissing all the guards

he had posted except for one, who he ordered to go fetch one of the cabin boys. The guard snapped a

quick salute and headed off as Jarren entered the cabin.

                “What happened? Is it over?” Kila exclaimed worried, she put Kiera down gently and jumped off

the bed quickly.

“Every things fine, we boarded them as soon as they got close, they didn’t stand a chance, and I

took the captain down fairly quickly and by the time I finished with him the rest of the fighting was

done.” Jarren said, gently rubbing her arms for a couple minutes before quickly stripping off his armour.

“We have some prisoners so we are going be heading for the nearest port as soon as we are done

salvaging as many provisions as we can and sinking the ships.”

                Jarren had just finished taking his armour off when there was a knock on the door. Jarren

opened it to find the cabin boy he had sent for. “I want you to clean and polish my armour for me, when

your done bring it back here. If I’m not here just put it in the chest, understood? Oh and do a good job

and I’ll give you an extra gold piece.” Jarren told the boy.

                “Yes, sir, captain, I’ll have the armour polished so bright you’ll be able to see your own face.”

with that the boy picked up his armour, Jarren could not help but laugh a little as the boy struggled to

carry all his armour. He quickly cast a lighting spell to make it easier for him then closed the door as the

boy left.

                Jarren walked over picking up Kiera, and then hugged Kila, he could tell she was still a little

shaken from the whole ordeal. She may not have had to see anything, or any fighting but it was also the

first time in her life she had ever been even close to a small battle. He spent the rest of the night with

Kila and Kiera, ordering food was the only time he left the cabin after that. After that battle he wanted

nothing more than to spend all his time with his family, which is why he was so glad he had found a first

mate as capable as Mister Shell was.

                                                --------------------------------------------------------------

                                It took less than two days to make port in Stormlinburg thanks due mainly to the

favourable strong winds. Stormlinburg had an interesting set up, it was mainly an island surrounded by a

thin but very tall outer island which provided only a small gap big enough for a ship to sail through.

Jarren and Kila were standing on the bow watching as the island appeared before their eyes almost like

Magic. Jarren smiled as he heard Kila suck in her breathe in amazement. “Amazing isn’t it?” Jarren

breathed as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Breathtaking,” was all Kila could manage in response.

“Well stay up here as long as you want but I have to go downstairs and get my armour on, I’m

going to help escort the prisoners.” With that he gave her a quick kiss and strolled off.

                As he entered the cabin he could not help but smile as Kiera squirmed a little, she had fallen

asleep on the bed while Jarren had gone to get them something eat. Kila still was not used to being on

the boat so she did not like to leave the cabin unless she could see land. Jarren got his armour on quickly

and headed down to the brig where he had at least four guards and two other magi waiting for him, he

was not taking any chances. Jarren felt he could handle the spells but he was always more comfortable

having fully trained Magi who had graduated from the academy, which was on a mysterious island that

no other ship seemed able to find without specific spells cast by the master Magi who taught all the new

students.

                “You,” Jarren pointed to one of the younger guards. “Run up to the deck and send down

another Guard. The moment we are docked you are to run down and fetch the proper authorities who

we will be turning these prisoners over too,”

“Yes captain,” with that the young guard snapped a quick salute and ran as fast as he could in

full armour.

                Jarren quickly organized the rest of the guards and waited for about ten minutes before the

replacement guard walked in the door. “How long till we dock?” Jarren asked impatiently.

“Within fifteen minutes we’ll be docked and tied up.” The guard said snapping a quick salute.

“Alright, Avale and Takron release the spells on the doors and the trapping spells, leaving the

binding ones though. We’re going to bring the prisoners to the upper deck.” Jarren pointed to two of the

Guards and Avale. “ You three are going to be bringing the first 10 prisoners up to the deck, I’ll be close

Behind. You two and Takron will bring the rest following close behind me so I can keep an eye on both

Groups. Keeping them separate will give them less of a chance to strike at us.” With that the four guards

snapped quick salutes while the two magi each gave him a slight bow and began releasing the spells on

the first ten.

 “Jarren, the prisoners are read to be moved.” Avale told him as he lined up the first ten

prisoners with him and one guard in front, and the other guard stationed behind them. Takron got his

group of prisoners set up similar to Avale except he went to the back. They were obviously counting the

fact that Jarren would be between the two groups making sure none of the prisoners tried anything at

all.

                They reached the deck just as the gangplank was being lowered and Jarren saw the young guard

he had sent up sprint down the deck and along the docks almost before the gangplank had even been

lowered all the way. It took him all of five minutes before Jarren spotted him heading back down the

docks with an armed party ready to take control of the prisoners even though Jarren could not quite

make out how they looked from the area he was standing in.

The party boarded the ship and Jarren had to stifle a gasp, it was the invaders. In the years he

had been away sailing they had clearly expanded their empire over a thousand miles from where

they had been.

“Who is in charge of the prisoners?” the tallest of the party stepped forward as he was asking, it

was clear he was in charge and expected a quick answer.

“That would be me, the captain of WaveBreaker.” Jarren said with all the courage he could

muster.

                “Very well, we will take the prisoners from here. They will be in the custody of Advanced pike-

man Akron of the SoulCord empire, which is myself. They will be punished in accordance with the laws

laid down by our lord and master King Hollensing.” The man was defiantly a senior officer by the way

he stated everything matter of fact-ly. Jarren had considered not handing the prisoners over here but

just by the manner in which this man Akron addressed him, he could already tell that he would have to

kill the entire party and sail out of the harbour as fast as possible if he was to avoid having to hand over

custody of the prisoners.

                “Alright, Advance Pike-men the prisoners are yours, do you require any extra men for the escort

towards the prison?” Jarren asked finally deciding he had no way out of this but to hand the prisoners

over. However, he also figured out that the quicker he got these men off his boat the quicker he could

be away.

“No, Captain” Akron replied with a disgusted sound as he said the last rank, he clearly did not

respect the authority of any other man except himself Jarren thought, or perhaps it had to do the fact

that he was not a SoulCord.

                As Jarren watched the men escorting the prisoners away he did not hear Mister Shell approach,

“Captain, are we shipping off? Or are we staying in port?”

“Well Mister Shell, I want you to get the ship ready. I’m going to take Kila and Kiera and find a

nice inn so we can have dinner, and we’re going to stay in port for a night, to give Kila a break.” Jarren

told him as he started walking towards the captain’s quarters.

 As Jarren walked into the cabin he was smiling “Kila? Are you in here?” Jarren called out.

He nearly jumped out of his skin as Kila entered the cabin with Kiera in her arms.

“Have you been in here long? I took Kiera up to the planning room, so we could look out over

the small beautiful city we’re in.” Was all she said with the beautiful smile Jarren loved so much on her

face.

“No, I actually just came down here to get you.” Jarren replied

“What did you want to get us for?” She asked curiously.

“Well we’ve been sailing for a week now and we have almost another month at sea, so we are

going to spend a night on land. We’ll find an inn, have a nice dinner and relax for a night, I’m going to

tell the crew they are allowed to leave but at least ten have to stay aboard at all times, in full battle gear

ready to go.” Jarren kept talking as he watched the smile blossom on her face.

“I would love a night on dry land, and I’m sure Kiera wouldn’t miss being stuck in a crib bolted to

a wall.” She said excitedly, as she packed a few things for the night.

                After Kila had finished packing a few basic things for the night her and Jarren made their way up

to the deck, Jarren carrying Kiera. “Mister Shell” Jarren bellowed making Kila jump a little as they exited

the mapping room.

                “He’s on the upper deck captain” replied one of the deck hands as he walked by.

                “Here Kila, hold Kiera for a couple of seconds, I have to run up and give him my orders for the

rest of the night.” As he was talking Jarren passed Kiera to her mother and began climbing the steps to

the upper deck. “Mister Shell, are you up here?” Jarren said as he reached the top.

“Here captain” was all Shell said as he was talking in a low voice to one of the crew.

“Mister Shell, while I’m on land the men are allowed to leave the ship, but I want at least ten

men on guard duty at times. Rotate them ever eight hours, and enjoy the night in town, that includes

you Mister Shell understood?” Jarren told him impatiently.

“Aye captain heard you loud and clear!” He snapped a quick salute and went back to giving

orders to the men he had been talking to before.

                Jarren climbed back down to the lower deck, “Ready to go?” he asked Kila as he attempted to

lift Kiera out of her arms, a little surprised that Kila did not immediately let go.

                “Jarren, you don’t need your armour, you can bring your sword in case anything happens

though,” Kila said before he could get angry with her for not letting him hold his daughter.

                “Okay,” he said as his anger dissipated almost as fast as it had come “I’ll be right back.” Jarren

disappeared back into the captain’s quarters heading for their cabin.

                As he climbed down the stairs he thought he saw someone leaving their cabin and paused. After

a few seconds of trying to listen for any sign of movement he cast a viewing spell, which revealed

nothing but shadows. Dismissing the weird feeling he had, he walked to the cabin in order to remove his

armour. ‘The SoulCord’s must have me a bit on edge.’ he thought to himself as he stripped his armour

off. He quickly strapped his weapons back on and headed back up to the top of the deck. This time Kila

let him take Kiera and took his hand in hers.

                “Captain,” Mister Shell called from the upper deck.

                “Yes, Mister Shell?” Jarren called back impatiently, he was anxious to be off the ship and alone

with his family.

                “What time does the ship need to be ready to cast of?” Shell asked; he could sense the captain’s

irritation in being delayed from leaving with his family.

                “We’ll be back by noon tomorrow, have the crew back by ten and be prepared for departure as

soon as we board the ship.” Jarren answered quickly, that should give Calden enough time for him and

his crew to have some fun should he decide to dock tonight Jarren thought to himself. He led Kila off

the ship while carrying his daughter, who was squirming around in his arms making random little noises

that made Jarren unable to do anything but smile.

                As they strolled up the docks and into town Jarren could not help but notice how happy Kila

seemed to be now that they were back on dry land and it made him regret making her come on the

journey all over again. However, after realizing how much more energized he became each day he was

on this adventure he knew that he would have eventually said yes to Calden, so in a way he was glad

that she had decided to come with them.

                “What are you thinking about?” Kila asked bringing him back to reality, “You’ve been looking

more energized ever sense we set of but you have a concerned look on your face all of a sudden.”

                “It’s nothing,” Jarren replied casually “I love you Kila” he added smiling down at her.

                “I love you too.” Kila said back with a somewhat questioning look on her face. After that brief

exchange they continued to walk along in silence, each going back to their own thoughts.

                After wandering along for another ten minutes or so, they finally came across an inn. Jarren

looked up at the sign, it was slightly weathered and beaten but Jarren could make out the painting

which was of a man and a women dancing on top of a half-moon. Although he could barely make out

the name he thought it was called the dancing moon.

                “Do you want to check it out this one?” Jarren asked Kila as he came to a stop in front of the inn

listening to the music flow from the open windows.

                “Yes, this one looks fine.” Kila said smiling “It kind of reminds me of my father’s inn back home

in Darlynn.” as she said this Jarren could not help but hear the longing in her voice and it made him feel

horrible all over again but he smiled back at her anyway.

As Jarren entered the inn with Kila everyone except for the bards who were performing on an

area that was slightly elevated off of the main floor stopped what they were doing and turned to look at

them. Jarren saw a few of the men leering at Kila while giving him a glance now and then. Jarren

lowered his hand drawing all of their attention to the two swords and his belt. He gave a smile as he

watched them slowly drop their gazes turning back to whatever it was they had been doing before they

had entered, for most all that meant was ignoring the bards and drinking heavily.

“Can I help you?” asked the innkeeper as he approached Kila and Jarren warily eyeing Jarren’s

swords “I don’t want any trouble.” He added cautiously.

“Do you have any rooms available for the night?” Kila asked calmly before Jarren had even

realized the innkeeper had said anything.

“I only have one room left up on the top floor, it’s the biggest room I have, and it costs seven

gold pieces for the night.” The innkeeper replied, it was clear from the look on his face that he doubted

that either Kila or Jarren could afford such a high price.

“That will be fine,” Jarren answered this time reaching into his pocket and pulling out eight, he

noticed a couple of the men in the tavern turning to watch him with a little too much interest. “Is there

a private dining area?” Jarren asked as he handed the man all eight gold pieces. He smiled to himself as

he saw the greedy look in the innkeeper’s eyes; he was clearly hoping there would be more gold coming

from Jarren if he treated him nicely enough.

“Yes, would you prefer to be shown to your room first so the lady can wash up?” the innkeeper

asked politely. Jarren was amazed how much an extra gold piece had changed the innkeeper’s attitude.

“Of course, I would love to wash up before dinner.” Kila answered before Jarren could make a

sound, smiling at him the whole time except for flashing the innkeeper the occasional smile as well.

Jarren was a little surprised at how calm Kiera was being the whole time, she was not making any

sounds just squirming on occasion as if to let Kila know she was still in her arms.

“Alright then, follow me.” The innkeeper said rubbing his hands together as he turned heading

for the stairs. “When you are ready just come down, and I’ll show you the private dining area.”

After the innkeeper finished the first little bit Jarren zoned out as the innkeeper continued

rambling on about all the different things that were happening around the small port city.

                “Oh Jarren, it’s just like my father’s inn!” Kila exclaimed when the innkeeper had finally left

them alone.

“I know, you must feel almost at home.” Jarren said smiling at how happy she sounded as he

placed Kiera on the bed so she could crawl around a little bit.

“Yes and no, it reminds me of home but it doesn’t have the same feeling.” was all she said as she

removed her clothes and began washing up.

It only took Kila roughly ten minutes to finish cleaning up; after she finished they decided to

spend some time playing with Kiera before she decided to fall asleep.

“Are you ready to go get some food?” Kila finally asked Jarren distracting him from what Kiera

was doing momentarily who immediately grabbed his nose and started pulling.

“Ouch!” Jarren cried out as he gently pulled her hand away “Yes, let’s head down...let’s hope

their cook is better than the ship’s” Jarren continued laughing.

They spent an hour or so in the dining room before Kila decided to return to their room in order

to feed Kiera. Jarren was not quite ready to go back up stairs and decided to check out the inn,

eventually finding a small library hidden in the back. Jarren found a few interesting older books. After a

few hours he decided it was time to head back upstairs and spend time with Kila.

                                                ------------------------------------------------------------------

                Jarren was only asleep for a few hours before he sensed one of his warning spells being

triggered, he carefully slipped out of bed making sure not to wake either Kiera or Kila. After he got out

of bed he pulled a pair of pants on and lifting his sword he carefully snuck into the other room hiding by

the door and waited to see if anyone came through.

                                                ///////////////////////////////////////////

                Kila woke up within seconds as she felt Jarren slipping out of the bed, but laid in bed for a few

minutes before getting up. As she started walking to the other room she heard a few scuffling noises

almost as if there was a fight going on that made her hesitate wondering whether or not she should

actually go see what Jarren was doing. After a moment’s pause she took a breath and peaked around

the corner into the other room and was confused and shocked by what she saw. There was one man

lying on the floor covered in blood and with what appeared to be a very nasty wound just above his

right ear; Jarren was in a fight with another man, Kila quickly looked away as Jarren spun behind him but

she could still hear the sword being drawn across the man’s throat.

                                ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

                Jarren looked up letting the dead man fall to the floor, “Kila, I think it’s time we leave.”

                “Alright,” she sighed heavily, she knew they had to go but she had been hoping for at least a few

more hours before having to re-board the boat, who knew if she would get another day before they

reached their final port which was almost a full two months away. As she turned to get Kiera ready and

get fully dressed the door opened slowly.

                “Did you finish...” the innkeeper trailed off clearly surprised that Jarren had finished off his two

men.

“ So, this is how you treat your guests is it?” Jarren stated slowly standing up. The innkeeper was clearly

scared as Jarren approached him.

                “ I... I?” the innkeeper stammered. He then turned and bolted out the door before Jarren could

get within arm’s reach.

                “ We need to leave!” Jarren called toward the other room where Kila had gone “ Now, I

wouldn’t be surprised if he’s gone to get more thugs!” Jarren called urgently as he pulled his boots on,

he didn’t expect to have enough time to pull on his shirt.

“Alright! Kiera is ready and I’m hurrying!” Kila called back, Jarren could already tell she was afraid.

“It’ll be alright” Jarren reassured her as she came rushing out of the back room. “Stay close to

me.” He told her as he started walking towards the door.

Jarren peaked out the door and saw that the hall way was clear, he motioned Kila to follow him

and began slowly down the hallway. He knew he had to be careful not to get them trapped, there was

no way she could run for long with Kiera in her arms.

 As they made their way to the top of the steps and Jarren glanced down he saw four fully

armoured guards charging up the stairs. Waving Kila back he quickly summoned a small fireball tossing it

down the stairs, he did not want to cause any major damage he just needed to slow the men down. As

soon as he finished that he backed up a few steps casting a shaping spell forcing the walls to twist and

warp forming a thick wall at the top of the stairs and then quickly cast a hardening spell to make it so

they could not hack through it.

                “Quick, let’s go down the back way.” Jarren whispered to Kila, “I’ll lead”

                Kila nodded once showing Jarren that she knew they had to remain quiet. Jarren crept down the

back steps slowly afraid more men would come up the back way, he was relieved when they reached

the bottom and realized they had thought that the four men coming up the main way would have been

enough to catch them so no one was stationed inside the back door. He signalled Kila to stop and cast a

life detection spell and was un-surprised to see four guards standing just outside the back door. Jarren

started preparing multiple spells, this part worried him he had never had much success with quick

succession spell casting which was probably the hardest talent to master involving magic.

Saying a quick prayer to Shiveran goddess of all magi Jarren finished preparing and began

casting. He cast a silence spell on the back wall of the inn, followed by an air blast which ripped the back

door of its hinges followed quickly by a muting spell on the guards. He quickly followed with a binding

spell as he charged through the door, he quickly buried his sword into the closest guard’s throat. A knife

sliced into his arm causing him to drop and roll to the side, damn Jarren thought to himself realizing that

his binding spells had failed to trap the guards. He threw a knife as soon as he was braced properly after

the roll taking another of the guards in the throat, as the other two guards charged him Jarren realized

he could not take them both but then something happened that left them all stunned. A sword

exploded through the chest of the guard on the right side, Jarren was the quickest to recover, leaping to

his feet, a quick slash of his sword severed the remaining guards head. Jarren quickly wiped his sword

turning to see who his saviour was.

                Jarren was shocked to see Kila holding Kiera in one arm and was still holding the sword which

had been dragged to the ground by the weight of the dead guard’s body.

                “It’s okay,” Jarren said calmly as he took the sword from her hand, he quickly wrapped his arms

around her kissing her forehead “We have to keep moving.” He continued softly as he pulled away from

her.

                Jarren crept to the edge of the building, peering around the corner, judging by the fact that

there were no other  guards coming Jarren took that as a good sign meaning that although his binding

spells had failed the rest had not. He would never forgive himself for having failed those binding spells,

after all had they not failed Kila would not have felt the need to save him and would never have killed a

man. However, at the moment he had the more pressing problem of getting them back to the boat

safely at the moment.

                Jarren motioned Kila to follow him as he started moving stealthy towards the docks trying to

avoid any guards and hiding from any who were rushing past him, Jarren and Kila eventually made their

way to the entrance of the docks.

“YOU THERE, HALT!” Jarren cursed silently the moment he heard the call, he turned quickly and

saw to his horror five guards running straight towards them.

“Kila, get Kiera to the boat!” he ordered turning towards the guards drawing his swords

preparing to face the guards “GO! Don’t argue,” he yelled when he saw she was about to argue with

him.

                Kila took off after a moment’s hesitation “I love you” Jarren whispered after her, the guards

were less than twenty feet away when they all of a sudden came to a stop , confused Jarren quickly

looked over his shoulder hoping that some of his men had shown up and was even more confused when

there was absolutely no one behind him, not even in the distance. He turned back expecting the guards

to continue moving towards him but they did not so he began slowly backing towards the ship.

                Jarren was severely confused as he made it on to the docks, the guards had not left but they still

did not pursue him even as he made it to the gangway of his ship. Finally as his curiosity over came him

he quickly cast a spell of magical detection which only served to make the scene even stranger. A few of

the guard’s weapons or trinkets twinkled a little bit but there was no spell around any of them. Jarren

deciding not to push his luck turned and sprinted up the gangplank as fast as he could.

                “Mister Shell get the men back to the ship, we are leaving now!” Jarren Bellowed as Kila came

out of the captain’s quarters and practically jumped into his arms.

                “Yes captain,” Shell replied snapping a salute then rushing off to send men to find the rest, he

heard the urgency in the captain’s voice and knew it had to be done now.