The Next Day, Noon
~William’s POV~
FSSHRT!
BAM!
A group of guards are sent flying back by an explosion as plasma blasts land on the ground.
“What the fuck happened?” Alex asks.
“Veridies got pissed,” I respond.
“No shit,” replies Castor. “He’s been doing this since yesterday.”
“By the way, where’s Pax?” I ask.
“No idea,” Alex and Castor reply.
Meanwhile
~Pax’s POV~
I fly to the ruins of Veridies’ ship on the sky skates Will got for me. The information the guard told me runs through my head.
“I don’t know what happened,” the guard had said. “But when I was watching the island where Veridies’ frigate crashed, I think I saw someone walk around before collapsing, waving for help.”
I create a wall using my spirit weapon to block any bullets that may fly at me.
I land on the ground and look around. I look around, scanning for threats. The smell of death assaults my nose.
I walk around, holding my flintlock and aiming it around. I walk around the ship freeze in shock.
It looks like a massacre took place here. Pirates lie dead, burns on their body. Some are twitching, as if their souls are barely hanging on to their bodies.
“Hey kid,” a voice croaks weakly. “Over here.”
I whip around and aim my gun at the head of a pirate sitting down, his back against the ship’s hull. He looks at the gun, resigned.
His wounds are horrific. His right arm is a stump of burned flesh, the right side of his face is covered in burns, and he looks horrible. He weakly shows that he’s unarmed before coughing up blood into a pool of it next to him.
“What happened to you?” I ask.
“What do you think happened here?”
I sigh.
“A fight,” I respond.
“Correct kid.”
I assess the pirate’s wounds. If I get him back to town quick enough, I could get him medical attention in time.
“Tell me what happened here,” I say. “And I will get you to a doctor.”
A look of hope flashes across his face.
“You promise?” he asks with a voice tinged with hope.
“Promise,” I nod.
“There you are, we’ve been looking for you.”
Will walks out from behind the ship.
“You have a lot of guts flying somewhere without telling anyone,” he says dryly. He looks at the pirate. “Now tell us what happened here and we’ll keep his end of the deal.”
The pirate looks at both of us before taking a deep breath.
“Veridies proposed we attack the town itself. A lot of us protested, saying that they had a numerical advantage and our advantage of surprise disappeared long ago. They were right, but Veridies wouldn’t listen. After a bit, he got pissed and started attacking us. I’m the last one alive.”
“Alright,” says Will. “Let’s go. I’ll carry you.”
He walks over to the pirate. I look around, scanning for any threats. My eyes land on a pinkish purple beam flying at us.
“Will!” I yell. I tackle him to the ground as the beam lands where he once was. Something flies at the place where the pirate was.
“What the-?” Will stammers before trailing off.
SNAP!
I whip around to see a dead body thrown at the ground. It’s the pirate we were just talking to, his neck snapped and his eyes lifeless.
I look up to see a man, way bigger that anyone else I have ever met, clad in purple armor. He looks at us, his eyes filled with rage and a little bit of madness.
“Veridies,” Will mutters with a voice filled with malice and hatred.
I create a magic circle while Will draws his word in one hand and pulls out his gun in another.
Veridies smiles at us as he creates his own magic circle, a symbol with 3 circles in the middle.
End of Chapter XXII