Looking at the path ahead, Navia observed the sky slowly turning yellow as the sun rose on the horizon. She could finally lower her guard as the monsters didn’t attack when the sun was in the sky. Admiring the beaches and the forests of the island she had stood on last night.


    Hearing the sound of moving waves, she turned toward it to notice that a ship was following right behind them. Seven times bigger than what she was standing on. The ship had three sails, with the one in front being triangular in shape. On a square crow''s-nest stood a man, leaning against the rails as if he was bored. The ship was made of dark wood, yet at a closer look, it seemed like a dark blue color like dark ocean water. The ship’s beak was made of silver metal shaped like waves of the sea charging right in front of it.


    Navia had her hand on her dagger but moved it away as she recognized the ship. “Is it… Dark Wave? Maybe they are heading north too… Even if he is a different kind of pirate, he must do some business in Liberin City.” Hesitantly, thought Navia, unsure of why the ship was moving the same path as her.


    Dark Wave sailed much faster than Navia’s ship. She followed with her eyes as the Dark Wave moved to the left side of her ship, toward the ocean. The group of people with swords and sabers in their hands looked at her. Suddenly, a harpoon was fired from the cannon into the deck of a small ship, a rope attached to it.


    “Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!” The ship suddenly jerked as it was pulled toward Dark Wave by the harpoon. “Stop! I know the captain of your ship! He won’t be happy about what you’re doing!” Shouted furiously Navia but she was calm, knowing that Evan would be on her side.


    “I am happy with what they’re doing.” Between the pirates, Evan showed himself, leaning his elbow on his companions.


    “What?” Navia was taken by surprise, she couldn’t believe it. “But you said it earlier! To not touch us!” Shouted Navia, not understanding the pirate’s ways of thought. The disbelief on her face made Evan burst out with laughter.


    “Hahaha! Uh… I… Ah…” Evan tried to gasp for air as he calmed down and stopped laughing, looking Navia right in the eyes. “I said not to touch you… IN THE VILLAGE.” He informed with a wide grin on his face. “We don’t want to lose one of our stops because of my men''s stupidity… and I wouldn’t want to get my merchandise damaged.” He said with a terrifying calmness.


    “You’re… A slave trader…” Whispered Navia. The image of an unusual pirate shattered into pieces in a mere second without any doubt.


    “That’s only one side job… And with a good catch, it gives so much profit.” Evan rubbed his fingers in front of his face. “Especially exotic catch like you. From a LOST CITY! That’s three times the usual price! And for a woman, your figure is… neutral. I’ll find some client that will pay me five times the usual price…” Muttered Evan as he already imagined the money he would get from selling her.


    “You’re a monster!” Navia shouted aggressively, making the rest of the crew burst with laughter.


    “You heard her boys! We’re monsters!” Evan laughed with them for a moment, but once he stopped, his face was serious. “I don’t care what you call me. I just do that for the money.” With a snap of his fingers, three men jumped down to the small ship, their sabers pointed at Navia.


    In front of her was the bald man she had met at the inn last night. He was licking his lips, a wide grin on his face as he was ready to fight, even excited about it. Behind her stood two men; one was wearing a bandana over his head and was trying to hide his emotions, wearing a blank face of unknown feelings. The third guy had long black hair, two daggers at his side, and a dark cape around his torso. He was the only one who looked worried about what they were doing.


    Navia spared each one of them only a short glance, and her eyes stopped on the bold one. “I won’t be sorry if I hurt you first…” She thought as she lunged forward at the bald man. He raised his saber to protect himself and met Navia blade to blade. He was so sure of himself until the battle of strength between them started. He was using all his strength, yet he was only able to slightly slow the dagger from getting close to his throat while Navia used only one arm. All that pride and feeling of superiority vanished from him. He was so focused on his sword that he forgot about her free arm. Navia grabbed his wrist and pulled him down while sending a knee to his stomach.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    He fell to his knees and spit a bit of vomit from his mouth, barely noticing the awful taste of his insides as the pain was unbearable. Navia wanted to continue attacking him, but a charging scream from behind made her look back at the running attacker. The man with the bandana ran without any thought besides striking his opponent. “I’ll be merciful to you.” Whispered Navia before dashing forward with her dagger, the tip of the blade inches from the man’s throat. He wasn’t able to follow her movement; for him, she just disappeared.


    A shadow blocked his vision and screamed, “Step back!” Realizing who it was, he took a few steps back and saw his companion with two daggers trying to hold Navia’s blade away from getting himself killed. He wasn’t as foolish as the bald one as he jumped back before he could completely lose the match of strength.


    “Captain! She is-” The man tried to ask his captain for help, but before he could finish his sentence, he had to pick up his guard and block the dagger. He could feel the pain from straining his arms from sudden movement. He pushed his speed to his limits, and even that was no match for her. The distress was clear on his face, and he struggled to defend himself. While the other two wanted to kill her from the beginning, he had a different goal. From the moment he stepped down onto the small ship, he felt like he was locked in a cage with a lion. His goal was only to make it out alive.


    Each time he raised his daggers, his arms were thrown away from Navia’s attacks. Just by the twitch of his eyes, Navia knew that something had changed. The other two pirates looked for a chance to attack, and they took that chance. His eyes twitched, not in the hope of defeating her but out of fear that they both were about to die. He could see both of their throats being slashed open in mere seconds.


    “You fools! The death is right in front of us!” The man screamed inside his head as he didn’t have enough breath to shout it to his companions.


    Navia no longer aimed to kill those pirates swiftly. She would slowly get her revenge on that disgusting man. Navia ducked down to avoid the two sabers that were lunged at her from two sides. As she turned around on the ground, she was able to wound the man with two daggers by slicing his abdomen and drawing the first blood from the pirates. Next, she used her arm with a dagger to hold herself while she kicked the man with a bandana in the chin, knocking him away. He tried not to lose consciousness, but his legs already felt numb, and he couldn’t stand straight. He backed away until he hit the edge of the ship and fell into the water.


    With her leg still in the air, she laid her foot on the back of the bald man’s neck and brought his face down to the floor, pressing her leg against his throat to choke him. Not wasting more time, she raised her dagger and brought it down into the man’s skull.


    When the fight began, the pirates cheered for the fighters and laughed when the bald one was humiliated, but it all went silent once in a split second Navia wounded, knocked down, and killed their companions.


    The smile faded from Evan’s face, and a disappointed frown replaced it. The rest of the pirates tried to step away from him, but one man was unfortunate. Before he could move, the captain grabbed him by the collar. “Get him before he drowns.” He said with a cold voice as he threw his underling into the water.


    Evan jumped down onto the small ship and took one last look at his dead companion. He had his hands in his pockets as he slowly walked around Navia. “If I knew you were a warrior, I wouldn’t even run after you… Where are you from? Ironclad Clan? The Monastery? Shadow Clan? Or maybe… Order Of Tomorrow?” Evan looked for the answer, and he didn’t even have to hear it to know which one hit the mark; a slight change in Navia’s expression was enough. He then stopped walking around. “Really? The Order of Tomorrow kills people? I thought their goal was to save everyone from the monsters…” Evan said sarcastically as he took one last look at his dead companion.


    “I didn’t kill him as a warrior of The Order of Tomorrow. It was personal.” She answered with annoyance as the man tried to agitate her, defending his immoral actions.


    “Personal? He did try to get his hands on you, but in the end, he didn’t. So you punished him for something he didn’t do? How soulless...” Said Evan as he slowly drew out his saber, making the sound of the unsheathing metal vibrate through the air.


    “It is a personal matter that is connected to all the pirates!” Navia shouted as she jumped forward at the pirate’s captain.