Hogan on the other hand was focused towards the horizon as if he was waiting for something or someone. Although he was ordering his men to prepare everything in advance, his gaze lingered on the sunny horizon as if in anticipation of something good.
The guards were quick on their feet and hurriedly transported their luggage on the ship waiting for them at the docks. The terror of the family head was something every single one of them wanted to avoid at all costs. Therefore, there were no mistakes in the entire affair.
One of the guards came forward and reported to the family head in a crisp voice, "Everything is ready sir, the captain is waiting for your orders."
Hogan nodded to the guard and motioned for his escort guards and Nelson to follow after him. His security detail walked on either side of him while Nelson walked beside Hogan as they swiftly boarded the ship waiting along the quay with its sails lowered and its anchor weighing it down to a stop.
The guards manned the ship swiftly like trained seamen and raised the sails and the anchor at the stern end of the ship.
The blowing wind behind the sails allowed them to go out to the open sea at a swifter pace. It took only took the party a few days to travel a distance that would have taken them a week to travel. Of course, the wind mages that Hogan had brought along played a significant role towards that. They conjured up wind behind the sails until they became completely exhausted so as to not earn the ire of their family leader who seemed to be in an eternal bad mood.
Nelson tried to acquire information about their destination along the way but the guards barely knew where they were going. They had only received a set of instructions from the family leader and were unaware of the exact location. Nelson didn't have it in him to ask his father directly. His failure while dealing with Violet had lost him a lot of points in front of his father which made him slightly fearful of his wrath.
Only after they reached the isolated island hidden in the depths of illusory mist did he understand the kind of place his father had brought him to and he couldn't help but feel terrified. It seemed to be a den of a brigand of fearsome pirates that roamed the seas and committed robberies and murders indifferently.
The person receiving them at the pier was the evidence. He was the epitome of how he had imagined a pirate to look like. Black teeth and gums, golden piercings all over his body, shaggy hair that was worse than a wild beast and a smile that was more ferocious than the cruelest murderers he had encountered before. Not an ounce of warmth could be felt from his cold gaze and ye the pirate greeted his father respectfully.
These pirates were so infamous that even the government had failed to bring them under control despite launching several missions against them. None of the missions had ever succeeded in reaching the hideout of the pirates but his father had brought him here as if he had known the location all along.
He wondered what his father had to do with these criminals.
Nelson stopped thinking any further since he would come to know of those details soon anyway. He followed his father off the ship confidently since his father had never willingly walked into danger. The safest place was definitely beside him and Nelson believed that personal safety was the paramount in all situations.
"When can I meet your Captain Blackbeard? I sent a message to him before I set out." said Hogan in a cheerful manner. It seemed that he really believed that this Captain Blackbeard was the solution to all of his problems.
"Our Captain already knows of your arrival. I will take you to him." the pirate replied in a weird accent that made one want to vomit. His accent made it feel like he was gurgling phlegm in his throat all the time.
Just as they began to move, several pirates came out of nowhere and surrounded their group as if to escort them to their captain.
"How long is it going to take us to see him?" asked Hogan. He was in quite a hurry to take down Zach who was proving to be more of threat with the passage of time. He had already foiled his plan two times. He couldn't afford more failures as the Windsor family was slowly gaining strength in the city. It wouldn't take the Windsor family long to stand toe to toe with the number one family of the city with their growing momentum.
The group of pirates were well versed in the forest paths as they skillfully guided Hogan and his men to the center of the island where their captain resided along with the major players of the pirate group. Even though there wasn't much danger on the island, the twisting paths between the forestry were hard to keep a track of. The hunter family would have definitely gotten lost, had they come on their own to find the fearsome captain.
Following the twisting maze of greenery, a clearing encompassing an area of several kilometers came into view. Several wooden dwellings that looked quite modern stood in the center with a huge hall in the center. A stocky man sat on a huge chair set in the center of the hall like the emperors of olden times. He had an air of superiority around him as he watched the group arrive with an amused smile on his face.
While Nelson grew wary of his huge countenance and the air of authority that he oozed unconsciously, Hogan grew incomparably excited as if he was meeting a long-lost friend once again and had so many things to share with him. While Hogan still appeared regal and terrifying to the guards, Nelson could sense the change in his mood.
Blackbeard, the leader of the pirates stood up, his tall looming figure casting a huge shadow over the ground that was twice as tall as him on the pillar supporting the ceiling of the large hall in the middle of the clearing.
Nelson gulped heavily as he tried to rein in his runaway heart. It was affected by the heavy presence of the pirate leader. Thinking that the pirate leader was smiling at his father helped him calm down his overly sensitive senses and take control of them.
While Nelson and the guards were apprehensive towards Blackbeard, Hogan moved forward with a confident gait as if Blackbeard was an old friend of his whom he trusted wholeheartedly.
The guards wanted to keep him still before making sure that there was no danger to his life but they didn't eventually. They knew how paranoid their master could be regarding his personal safety and were sure that he felt absolutely no danger from the giant pirate leader.
"How long's it been since we las' met, eh?" asked Blackbeard enthusiastically as he pulled Hogan into a bone crushing embrace.
"Too long my friend; it's been too long since we got together like this." replied Hogan with just as equal amount of passion as the pirate captain.
Nelson wondered how his father knew this pirate. They even seemed to be on exceptionally good terms for his father to act so affectionately towards the latter.
Hogan pulled free from the bear hug and took a few steps in order to take a good look at the fearsome stature of his friend. Although he looked like a brute barbarian, Hogan knew that this pirate captain was in fact a high-level mage. His strong body and oozing killing intent almost always gave his enemies the wrong impression about him.
Blackbeard scrutinized him at the same time. The Hunter family leader was still full of confidence and based on the followers around him, it was obvious that the Hunter family had the same power and authority among the people of Byzantium city as he remembered.
Although Hogan was an old friend, Blackbeard believed in benefits and was unwilling to work with Hogan unless he could offer him something of equivalent value. Therefore, gauging the current condition of the Hunter family was paramount for him before he could proceed with whatever deal Hogan had brought for him.
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