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Fierce waves rose up high when giant skeletons of ancient sea predators broke from the water and loomed over the ships. Some with long necks, others with multiple limbs, and others with large, broken pieces of shells covering them. All with deadly sharp teeth or claws with ragged edges, ready to crush anything between them.

Masts cracked like twigs as they were torn from the demon ships, the shreds of soaked sails falling down on demons who were struck with instinctive dread. Already broken hulls cracked open further with a single snap of monstrous claws or the lash of thick tail bones, just like the bodies of the few mindless demons who dared to raise their swords at the new enemy.

Conchim flew up at once to contact all captains and order them to call all pirates back to their ships and retreat from the battle.

Tarrence clenched his teeth when he noticed the fight turned bad for the demons while Ulric pushed him back with his attacks. 'How much do you want for it!? I can pay you a fortune!'

Ulric scuffed and swiped his spiked fists at the demon canine. 'I'm not interested in money!'

Tarrence avoided the slash barely and jabbed his dagger at the empty space where Ulric stood just a moment before. 'You want power then!?'

Ulric grinned and kicked Tarrence in the stomach, flying him back onto the deck. 'You have nothing I want.'

Tarrence winced slightly at the pain from his breath and quickly glanced around for a new assessment of the fight.

Elyta grumbled in frustration as she jumped at the other mast with spread wings, landed on the yard, and immediately shot an arrow back at Iphigenia, who swung at her from one of the bon-lines she had cut. She deflected the arrow with a twist of her body and landed with ease on the yard. 'Who are you?'

'None of your concern!' said Elyta and shot another arrow at her.

Iphigenia slashed it out of the way and shot forward. 'Attack us and it is our concern!'

Muni rushed at Elzbieta as she cleared the cloud of gun powder in front of her with one fast swipe of her gauntlet. The black feline's face appeared in a flash in front of her, fangs bared and his sword pointing straight at her. She slammed Muni's sword out of his hand with her own. He barely evaded her grab at his throat by jumping back fast, then snatched the rusty and crusted sword of a demon at his side. It shattered at the next hard slash from Elzbieta. 'You're a really persistent elf.' he growled.

'I've been told I can be very stubborn.' she said and hacked down on him, but he rolled away and rushed up the stairs to the next deck, pushing a demon hard towards her. She skewered the demon in his gut and threw him aside. 'Especially when someone tries to kill me.'

***

Gigacks sensed the last power in his mana stones draining rapidly while his opponent apparently had seemingly effortless control over the undead force attacking his demon fleet. The outcome was inevitable to him. 'Screw this.' he cursed, and walked up to the back of the ship.

Crabs and octopi crawled closer to commodore Wallace the moment Gigacks dropped his barrier. Renhard stared at the battle, then cried out when the first claw clamped on his Achilles heel. His screams turned to utter terror when the crab snapped the tendon in two. 'Save me!' he shouted to Gigacks as he fell down and the creatures swarmed over him.

Gigacks ignored him and gripped his two mana stones tighter while the sea boiled below him and the top of a mast rose from the water. 'Go down with the rest of your human fleet.'

***

Tarrence saw no chance to take on the bloodwolf on his own and his party members were too busy with their opponents to be of any help. He had to deal out at least a little damage to let them know they weren't invulnerable but he hadn't seen an opportunity so far. The shredding of a large demon by two shark skeletons at the front of the ship caught his attention. He jumped along the ship's rigging towards the fore castle and the undead sorceress.

Valdys focussed momentarily at her guardian sharks attacking the demon trying to attack her, and jumped back when the enemy canine landed on the deck close to her. He paused briefly to take out his daggers, then leaped at her.

He yelped at the electric shock bursting through him, and smacked down hard on the deck, for a moment glad for his combat training to lessen the impact of both lightning magic and physical damage, and glared at the feline on her knees on the other side of the deck. 'Here!' shouted Gigacks at him from the yard of a sloop passing the Citadel.

Without another chance for a surprise attack, Tarrence dashed towards the side and jumped over onto the small demon ship. Muni caught him while Elyta shot several arrows at the Citadel. 'Take us out of here!' shouted Muni, and Gigacks pressed the demons manning the oars under his control to the limit.

Ulric gripped the rail as he watched the sloop distance itself rapidly. 'Fuck!'

Caylais slumped onto the deck and Valdys hurried over to her. 'Are you all right!?'

Caylais gave her an exhausted smile. 'Looks like I still had a little left in me.'

Valdys chuckled. 'Yes, you did. Thank you.'

Ulric came over. 'We still have a few demons to toss overboard. Hang on.'

Valdys nodded. 'They're without control now, send them back to their peaceful graves below. I'm sending our sea friends back as well and have them take any demon with them.'

The remaining demons lost their drive and coordination, and the pirates soon cleared their ships from the menace and cheered in victory. Oglevie stepped up to the quarterdeck and addressed the crew. 'Sharktail is dead. As your new lord I will lead you to new victories! Kill all the others and sink the flotilla!'

A sword at his throat silenced him and the crew.

Sharktail moved her mouth close to Oglevie's ear. 'Who is dead?'

Sweat broke out on his head. 'I saw you go down at Ulric's hand.'

The very much alive pirate ruler grinned. 'He was nice enough to hold back.'

'Take her out! Now!' Oglevie shouted as he stared at the crew on the deck below. When no one moved, he gazed left and right quickly. 'Come out now!' When still no one showed any sign of support for him, he realised the captains and first mates that he knew were on his side, were missing.

'If you're looking for your mutinous friends, I cut them down while I was presumed dead.' said Sharktail, and threw him down onto the deck with the tip of her sword pricking his neck. 'It's an advantage when they don't expect you to be alive.'

Oglevie froze when Rigmora pushed one of her fellow female captains onto the deck. 'This birdie was eager to sing in exchange for the absence of steel between her ribs.'

He glared at Ulric. 'I paid you a lot to kill her.'

Ulric nodded. 'True, but I thought her plans for Red Cove were more profitable in the long term.' Sharktail raised an eyebrow at him and he chuckled. 'Elzbieta saw your reports and notes on legitimising the pirates on your desk. Trading is a much healthier and nicer business than looting and killing.'

Sharktail chuckled and smiled. 'I knew you all would come in handy.' She turned to the crew. 'Fish the poor souls from Wallace's flotilla out of the water and send them back to their ships and on their way! We have won and we'll celebrate with a big feast at Red Cove!'

The crew cheered once again and set out to do their pirate lord's bidding while Oglevie was sent to the brig. Ulric chuckled. 'I think they prefer to follow a proud queen, as opposed to a backstabbing lord.'

She smiled at him. 'I'm only someone looking out for my people.'

He nodded. 'That's why we decided to give you a hand.'

'Is that the only reason?'

He chuckled. 'Do we need more?'

She reached into her jacket, pulled out a cloth bag, and opened it. 'How about this?' The party gazed at the ring piece. 'I had my suspicions about why Renhard would take on Red Cove so suddenly, but when that black canine who tried to buy this thing from me before attacked you directly, I knew you didn't just came to Red Cove to become pirates.'

Ulric laughed. 'True. We are looking for these pieces.'

She tossed him the stone and he gazed in surprise at her.

She smiled mischievously. 'I have a feeling this is better placed in your hands. It was only a token payment to me, and I wouldn't know what to do with it anyway.' She stepped forward and leaned her arms around his thick and fluffy neck. 'I might even come with you.'

Ulric smiled. 'I think you can't really leave this place, even if it didn't need you to turn from piracy into a legitimate trading company.'

She giggled. 'That's another truth.' She pulled back slowly. 'It's a shame I might not experience one reason for why these girls stick by your side.'

He blushed and chuckled, and Iphigenia ran her fingers through his neck fur. 'I think you already experienced one of the several reasons why we do.'

***

Festivities were still going on when the party met up with Joris at his cog moored to the pier. He lifted a jug and grinned. 'Something to toast your victory with during the trip.'

Iphigenia giggled in the last of her slight buzz. 'As if we haven't toasted enough already.'

Joris stepped aboard his boat. 'Live like a pirate, drink like a pirate.'

'Oh, but we're no longer pirates.' Ulric said as he took the bags from the girls and stowed them away. 'Those days are over now.'

Joris laughed. 'Once a pirate, always a pirate. You can't run away from it, no matter how far you go.'

'You should be proud to be Red Cove pirates as well.' said Rigmora as she walked up the pier with Caylais. 'No better pirates than us.' She handed Elzbieta an envelope. 'Sharktail regrets she can't see you off, what with all her official duties needing her now, but she asked me to give you this. Hand it over at the guild house in Fiskurall and you'll receive a well deserved bonus on your card. Also as thanks for the instructions you left behind for improved healing spells and medicinal potions.'

Elzbieta gave her a nod. 'Tell her we're grateful.' she said and looked at Caylais clutching her bag. 'You're leaving as well? Going to try your luck elsewhere?'

Caylais shuffled a little with her foot. 'Well, I was hoping I could.'

Valdys sniggered. 'Let me guess, that elsewhere points into the same direction as we're going?'

The feline blushed, and gave a shy nod.

Valdys turned to the others. 'What does our party leader have to say about that?'

Ulric sat back on a crate. 'I see no objection to that. I think we're all pleased that you want to come with us and as far as you'd like.'

Iphigenia nudged him. 'I see a new member for your harem.' she said softly and giggled.

He chuckled. 'I'm not so sure. She is pretty, but I don't feel the same sort of attraction as to you and the other girls.'

'Give it time. ' she said and stuck her tongue out playfully.

***

The trip was thankfully uneventful, and the not-really-former pirates went to the guild house first to claim their bonus, before buying supplies and heading back to Susi and Isazea. The guild house was busier with people who wore one or two pieces of a familiar looking guard uniform.

The clerk at the desk gestured at the crowd in front of the request boards with a nod of his head when Kaui handed over the party's card. 'I hope you're not looking for any interesting jobs. There are more people who've been trying their luck in adventuring lately.'

'No, we already had our share in the last few days.' Kaui said and laid down the envelope marked with a Red Cove stamp. 'We're to hand this to you.'

The clerk opened the envelope, read the letter inside, and frowned.

Kaui cleared her throat politely. 'We do hope what's written is not over the top, otherwise we'll just leave it at that.'

The clerk smiled amiable at her. 'No worries. The guild is negotiating with Sharktail for an agreement to transform some of her, let's say business, to adventuring and support. We have a mutual dislike of a certain person, which helps the cause.' He took the party's card, inserted it into the tally register, punched a few buttons, and returned the card to Kaui.

She smiled as she read the increased number and level. 'We've increased a level.'

'Nice.' said Iphigenia as she leaned on Kaui's shoulder. 'That'll give us an advantage for the next time we're taking on requests.'

Caylais put down her card and held out an envelope with the same Red Cove mark. 'I also have a letter.'

Upon her return of the card, she smiled bright. 'I never gained so much before!' she said and looked at the others. 'It's all thanks to you!'

Ulric chuckled. 'It wouldn't have been possible without you either.'

Iphigenia put her arm around Caylais's shoulders. 'As long as you stick with us, you'll see your score go up quick enough.'

Caylais chuckled and nodded. 'As long as I can be useful.'

'Oh, I'm sure you will be.' Iphigenia said, and winked at Ulric.

He shook his head in amusement. 'Come on, let's go buy what we need and return to Cat.'

***

The party was barely in sight of the low and long pile of upturned earth between the trees where they had left Cat, when the ground around it trembled and the pile rose and crumbled apart. The roof of Cat appeared and it crawled up from out of the dirt. A cheerful Susi stormed towards them as soon as the side door opened. 'Daddy!' she barked, and jumped into Ulric's arms and licked his face enthusiastically.

Valdys giggled at Caylais's puzzled expression. 'She's an orphan bloodwolf we adopted a while ago, not really his biological daughter.'

Susi looked at Caylais while wagging her tail firmly. 'Hi! Daddy's Susi is Susi.'

Caylais smiled at her. 'I'm Caylais. Nice to meet you, Susi.'

'Are you another mom for Susi?'

Caylais nearly chocked and Valdys laughed while she pat the blushing feline's back. 'No, Susi, Caylais asked to journey with us for a while.'

Isazea stepped out of the train when the party arrived, and Conchim held up a sack. 'We brought you some of the tastiest treats from the city.'

The little lizard woman smiled gratefully as she looked into the bag. 'Thank you.' she said, and looked up. 'Did you find the piece?'

Valdys took out the ring piece from her robe. 'We did. We'll tell you the whole story while we eat and drink.'

***

'You failed again!' said Kullek through the magic spell engraved on a piece of wood.

Tarrence clenched one fist but kept his voice calm. The wood was already splintering with every screech of the supervisor. 'The sorceress in the party is more powerful than we had seen before and they had the help of an unknown and very powerful lightning magician. Someone who should have been on the list of people to keep an eye on.'

'Don't give me excuses!'

'I'm sending the others on errands to collect high grade mana stones when we dock. At our next encounter with Quaint, we won't fall short. In the meantime I'll force them to split up. I found someone useful to make that happen.'

'Don't fail again. You might be strong, but you're not the only one I can send to do what needs to be done. And the first assignment might be you!'

Tarrence watched the spell tear the rest of the wood into thin strips. 'I guess I also need to do something soon.' he muttered to himself before turning to Gigacks. 'Find out where our stone leads to now.'

***

'This will be your room then.' said Valdys as she opened the door for Caylais.

Caylais placed one furry foot carefully on the wooden floor at the other side of the doorway, then stepped inside when it was clear the floor was not an illusion. At least not one she'd fall through. The room was empty and big, and it had a great view from the side of the strangest wagon train she'd ever seen or even heard of in fairy tales. 'I'm not sure if I'll become used to this dimensional magic. I never even try to think of those enhanced packs and chests.'

Valdys laid her hand on the feline's shoulder. 'I'm sure you will feel at home as soon as you've furnished the room. Isazea is very good at making things, so just tell her what you want and she'll see to it.' She gestured at the window. 'And that's a one way view, so no need to worry about someone peeking inside while you change.'

Caylais blushed and chuckled. 'Thanks.'

***

Ulric placed his paws on two of a row of mana stones on a workbench in Isazea's workshop, and directed his mana flow into them. 'How have you been all this time? I hope you didn't feel uncomfortable here, but if you want to change things or return to your old place, just let us know.'

Isazea smiled a little and gave him a nod, and scribbled a thought in her book of notes. 'I'm good here. I have all that I need to experiment with and build.'

Ulric looked at a canvas spread out over an object half his height and about two metres long in one corner of the room. 'A new golem project?'

Isazea closed her book. 'Yes, kind of, but I don't want to reveal it yet. I still need to do some work on it.'

Ulric picked up the next two stones. 'I understand. But I am curious to see what kind of wondrous thing you came up with.'