Chapter 85: A Job is a Job
The Viraaz soldiers whispered amongst themselves as Dr. Lein disappeared into the cabin of the other ship.
"Do you think this is some sort of trick?"
"How could it be when Miss Eilownia has said so herself?"
"Yeah but can we trust her? What if she betrayed General Marix?"
"But if she betrayed him would she have come back?"
"Ugh. I don’t know I guess we’ll have to wait for Dr. Lein to return."
"And what if he doesn’t? What if they kill him over there and start picking us off one by one?"
"Quiet! All of you!" Vos yelled, immediately quieting all of the chatter.
Everyone looked to him for direction, reassurance, anything he could offer to calm their nerves, but he was at a loss.
He could lead recruits in training courses, but easing the nerves of an entire army?
This wasn’t his job and it was obvious.
What would Marix do in this situation?
Vos chuckled to himself as he paced before the crowd. ’How funny. I’m the one that trained him, yet I’m the one needing his guidance.’ He thought before clearing his throat.
"Everyone. I know these circumstances are not ideal, but we must trust in the woman that General Marix has chosen and pray for his recovery."
The group didn’t look too enthusiastic. Some furrowed their eyebrows and chewed their lips while others fidgeted in place, a few even shot each other awkward sideways glances.
Vos rubbed his nose and cleared his throat, "On with what you were doing before they arrived. Relax, unwind."
He raised his hands in the air encouragingly, but the crew just stood there. Vos was sure he could hear crickets chirping.
"Go on, I said!" He shouted sternly. Although it was more out of discomfort rather than actual anger.
The group jumped at the sudden climb in decibels and quickly went back to what they were doing, bumping into each other as they scrambled to their prior places.
Captain Deka sauntered on board, checking out the soldiers and the ship. He ran an index finger along the steering wheel and frowned as he smudged the grim between his index and thumb.
"Hey! You stay away from there!" The Viraaz ship Captain yelled as he waggled his finger, "As a Captain yourself, you should know never to approach another man’s steering wheel unprompted!"
Captain Deka laughed, his back facing the other Captain, "You say this to a pirate of all people? You know we don’t follow the rules."
"I know that even a pirate should respect the ship of another!"
"It’s difficult to respect another ship when you are busy plundering and sinking it most of the time."
He turned around with a smile on his face, but when the Captain of the Viraaz ship saw his face, he let out a horrified gasp as if he’d just seen a ghost.
"Y-You!"
"Me?" Captain Deka said, "What’s wrong with you? Parrot got your tongue?"
The other Captain fell onto his butt as he flailed his pointer finger at Captain Deka.
"E-Ezra?!"
Captain Deka’s eyes widened before he squinted them, investigating the man before him before they widened yet again.
"Kam?"
Captain Kam’s eyes filled with tears, "Ezra...it’s really you?"
"It’s Captain Deka now." He said, as he fixed his coat and stood tall.
"Captain Deka....Ezra we searched for you that day! Father went after you!"
A small smile began to curve upwards on Deka’s lips.
"Father came after me? I thought he’d forgotten about me, abandoned me to the previous captain of Izka."
Kam shook his head, "No. He took the entire grew and followed after you both. He tried his hardest to get you back."
"Well. I’ll have to give him my regards before I return to Izka."
Kam’s face fell as his eyes darted to the floorboards beneath them.
"Our father never returned that day. Our ship was torn apart by coral reefs. I barely managed to escape and got picked up by a Vasis fisherman. Father and the rest of the crew either sunk with the ship or were eaten by sharks."
Deka turned his back to Kam, "I see."
He didn’t want to admit to the twisting ache that was forming in his chest.
"Well. I was very well taken care of. The previous Captain treated me like a son, taught me everything I know. How funny, we both became Captains."
"It’s in our blood I suppose." Kam said with a shrug as he hung his head.
The tension between them was obvious. Similar to a magnet, they could feel the pull towards each other, both wanting to turn and hug the other, but at the same time, they were being repelled.
Inside the cabin on the Izka ship, Marix lay in the bed, sleeping soundly. Eilownia sat next to him and pet his head as Dr. Lein checked his pulse.
"He was injured terribly in this arm. I don’t know if he sustained any other injuries. He must be so exhausted, he hasn’t woken up since he fell asleep."
Dr. Lein nodded and rolled up Marix’s sleeve to see the blood soaked cloth wrapped around it.
He cut away the strap and checked the wound.
"Nasty thing. How long has it been since he fell asleep?"
"Two days."
"Two days." Dr. Lein repeated.
Eilownia nodded in confirmation.
"He should be waking up soon. He probably exerted all of the energy he had left. After a good rest, these wounds tended to and hopefully the scent of a good meal, he should open his eyes."
Eilownia let out a soft laugh as a small smile appeared on her face.
"I hope so. I miss him so much. He took such good care of me, Dr. Lein!"
"Of course, you are his loved one after all. Speaking of, I want to check you too when I’m done with him."
She nodded then leaned in closer, "Can I help with anything?"
Dr. Lein shook his head, "No. I don’t want you touching any of this."
He looked along Marix’s body, lifting his clothes and gently rolled Marix over so as not to wake him.
Other than the minor scrapes and bruises, the cut on his hand from the jagged rock seemed to be slightly infected. The wound on his arm was the biggest problem. Dr. Lein knew he’d need to give him stitches and get herbs and ointments.
The problem was, he’d used up his stock on Tryde’s recovery.
He stepped back and rubbed his chin with his wrist, avoiding making contact with his face with his bloodied hands.
"I’m going to need to stich him up, treat the wound on his hand, but I need to send someone to Vasis first. I need supplies that I just don’t have right now."
Eilownia’s eyebrows knitted as she grabbed hold of Marix’s other hand, gripping it like a lifeline.
"Whatever has to be done, let’s do it quickly so he’ll recover faster."
The two of them headed out and began heading towards the Viraaz ship to request a trip to shore when the lookout yelled down to them.
"SOLA SHIP! BOW SIDE! I REPEAT! SOLA SHIP! BOW SIDE!"
Dr. Lein turned to Eilownia, "Get back in the cabin and don’t leave there until I come get you!"
Eilownia nodded and grabbed her dress, lifting it up so she could run back to Marix and take refuge in the cabin of Captain Deka’s ship.
The soldiers on board pulled out their swords as Captain Deka marched back to his own ship, shouting orders.
"READY THE CANNONS! PREPARE FOR BOARDING!"
The pirates rushed to their stations, yelling out their battle cry as the Viraaz soldiers erupted into chaos.
They didn’t know what formation to get into on the ship and Vos shouted uncertain orders.
Aleiza and Jinya had to practically carry Tryde down into the lower deck as they tried their best to convince him he was too weak to join in.
"BOOM!"
"SPLASH!"
"BOOM!"
"SPLASH!"
Several cannons went off, sending balls of cast iron flying through the air at the Sola ship.
They were still too far away to do any actual damage, but the first hope was that the cannons would scare them off.
However, to their surprise, they received cannon fire back.
"What?! They have a war ship?! What do they need a military ship for?! Sola doesn’t have any sovereignty!" Vos exclaimed.
As the Sola ship got closer, their sails raising high and confident, the cannon fire got louder and louder.
"SINK ’EM!" Captain Deka screamed as he grabbed onto one of the nearby ropes, his giant cutlass draw.
"Try to shoot them with arrows!" Vos commanded the archers they had on board.
The group got into position under Vos’ orders and sent their arrows flying. The ship was too far away for them to see the exact outcome but it seemed like the arrows had made it on board.
"Keep going! Shoot them! Make sure they don’t get closer!"
