Lilian and Silver stood facing a massive man, and they weren’t in good shape. Lilian was covered in cuts and one of her chains had been shattered. She’d returned the bandit’s hat to him, and both of them were surrounded by a makeshift barricade of corpses. The remaining bandits stood in a large ring around all of them.

It wasn’t hard for Angel to figure out that the man was the leader of the bandits. However, there was still no sign of Vanessa. He pulled his hand away from his stomach and glanced down at it.

The wound was still bleeding badly. His body’s accelerated healing was working in overtime, but it would still be at least an hour before it was gone. Heading down to the lower deck to help them was off limits – he’d just be a liability.

Part of him wanted to search for Vanessa, but that was equally stupid. If Silver and Lilian got killed fighting the captain, he was next. Angel opened his travel pack and peered inside it. There were still a few filled canisters, but the majority of them were empty.

Based on how much difficulty Silver and Lilian were having against the captain, he had to be a high level. Point blanking a fireball to his face probably wouldn’t be particularly effective.

Angel grabbed one of the empty canisters and started to draw in his air with his metal arm, creating the pattern to fill it with energy. He worked quickly but confidently, finishing it and locking the spell inside.

In the time that it took him to load the spell, the bandit captain had already managed to push Lilian and Silver to the edge of the ship. He sported hundreds of thin cuts. Silver’s blade whipped out again, lashing across his skin. The man didn’t even respond. He had to have some form of artifact strengthening him.

If he was naturally that tough, Angel shuddered to think what level he might have been. However, there was no time to consider hypotheticals. Angel loaded the spell into his arm and took careful aim.

Across the deck, Silver’s large hat wobbled as he glanced up in Angel’s direction. He couldn’t make out the silver-tongued bandit’s expression, but Angel hoped it was a confirmation.

A bolt of lightning thundered out of his arm. His injured foot was unable to support the increased force on his body and he staggered, catching himself on the railing at the edge before he could fall.

Air crackled as the spell tore through the sky and crashed into the huge bandit’s back. The man stumbled forward. A smoking crater had formed in his back, burnt and charred from the powerful spell.

He spun, two cold eyes focusing on Angel instantly.

“Where’s my second mate?” he growled. His voice was so loud that it was perfectly audible, even as far as Angel was.

“Dead and smoldering behind me,” Angel said. The canister clattered out of his arm and he loaded a second one into it. “And you’re next, unless you want to let my friends and I walk.”

“She was right,” the captain growled. “I should have killed you and turned your arm to scrap. If you think you’re walking after butchering half my crew, you’re sorely mistaken. You’ll pay for their lives with blood.”

“Already have,” Angel said. “I don’t reckon they were worth more than the few drops I’ve already spilled, though.”

A second bolt of lightning tore free of his palm. The captain dodged to the side, but the strike still caught him in the leg. To anyone else, it probably would have blown the appendage clean off. Instead, the captain was simply left with a slight limp as he charged through the crowd of his men towards Angel.

Silver’s sword flicked out, killing several more bandits as they turned to make room for their captain. Angel grabbed another canister and placed it into his arm. His motions were sluggish due to his blood loss.

The captain was incredibly fast. He had already closed more than three quarters of the distance between them before Angel had finished. The Seeker slapped his hand against the deck and stone spikes erupted from it, shooting up toward the bandit’s stomach.

With a snarl, the huge man charged through them almost effortlessly. Several of the points snapped off in him, but he ignored them. He thundered up the steps and grabbed Angel by his hair, lifting him into the air.

“How are you so damn tough?” Angel wheezed.

“Artifacts are wonderous things,” the captain said, spittle flying into Angel’s face. “And I’ll be adding yours to my collection. You’re no longer worth anything to me alive.”

“An artifact, huh?” Angel asked, a weak grin pulling across his face. His hand whirred, flipping and transforming into its blade mode. He thrust it into the bandit’s side. It barely went an inch into his skin.

“Cute,” the captain said with cold fury. “Say hello Teia in the underrealm, and tell her I’m sorry.”

Purple sparks flashed across Angel’s blade. They coursed up into the captain’s body, dancing around him like hundreds of miniature flashing lights. Then, with a jolt, it started to flow back into his arm.

The sparks turned to streamers. The captain’s eyes widened and he staggered back, but there was no stopping it. Energy flew through the air, flooding into Angel.

The bandit shrunk. His muscles atrophied and he scrabbled at his chest, trying to stop the purple light from leaving his body. The last of it vanished with a pop.

“Tell her yourself,” Angel said, falling forward and thrusting his blade up through the man’s chin. His head jerked back and he made a gurgling noise. The Seeker leaned forward, shoving the formerly huge man over the railing.

The captain tumbled downwards, crashing to the ground at the bottom with a thud. He didn’t move again. Angel felt as if there should have been a moment of silence in respect of the man’s death, but there was no such thing.

Silver continued his gruesome work, dancing through the bandits and making mincemeat of them. With the death of their captain, there was nothing left to stand against him. Lilian took her fair share of them down with her as well.

The fight was over several minutes later. Angel leaned on the railing, his hand pressed against his stomach as he looked over the scene of carnage below him. He couldn’t help himself. He threw up.

“First slaughter?” Silver asked, walking up the stairs to stand beside him.

“And hopefully my last,” Angel muttered.

“Doubtful,” Silver said. “Did you know that most bloodbaths are caused by repeat offenders?”

Angel just shook his head. The man was far too jovial. They’d just killed easily one hundred people. It wasn’t that he had any qualms against that – bandits were scum and murderers. Even so, his conscience was heavy. The horrible scent permeating throughout the air didn’t help.

“Have you searched the ship?” Angel asked. “We need to find Vanessa.”

“Lilian is already looking,” Silver said. “But do you really want to find her that quickly?”

He nodded down at the wounds in Angel’s stomach foot. “We find her, the deal is off. And, full respect to your talents, but you’re no match for me in that shape. You might have had a chance if you were uninjured – a small one, mind you.”

Angel grimaced. He didn’t need to scan the man with his artifact to know that he didn’t stand much of a chance against him. The carnage surrounding them proved that.

“We don’t have to be enemies, you know,” Angel said.

“That’s what I’ve been saying. Forget the girl and make some good money. I need to rebuild my crew anyways, and you’d be a worthy first mate.”

“Can’t do that,” Angel said. “I finish what I start. And how can you so willingly sell someone into slavery when we nearly became victims of it ourselves?”

Silver pressed his lips together but didn’t respond immediately. “Do you really think you can protect her? She knows nothing, Angel. The girl seems nice enough for a noble, but the Magistrate of Salt Lake knows you’re taking her to a school. He’ll find her. Are you going to bodyguard her for the rest of your life?”

“I sure won’t be the one that brings her in,” Angel said, spitting on the ground. His saliva was tinged red with blood. “I can’t keep her safe forever, but I’ll be bringing her to our destination. At least I can do that. She doesn’t deserve to get sold into slavery, fake marriage or not. Nobody does.”

Silver shook his head. “Your bleeding heart will get you killed.”

“At least I’ll die for something,” Angel said. “Better than being a dog for the Magistrates.”

“Captain Silver has a reputation to uphold,” Silver snapped. “If I don’t complete this job, nobody will hire me again. I’d be trading the girl’s life for my own, and I have no plans of doing that.”

Angel shook his head. He looked out over the railing at the churning sand below them. The barge had stopped at some point during their fight. There was no sign of the ruins of Silver’s old ship or crew.

“Captain Silver doesn’t have to survive the crash.”

“What?”

“You went down with your ship,” Angel said, shrugging. “Blaze of glory. Killed the bandits and died in the process. The desert is a big place, Silver. Easy for one man to vanish.”

Silver opened his mouth. Then he closed it and cocked his head to the side, examining Angel. “And what would I do? Become a philanthropist?”

“Well, I happen to be in need of a Hunter,” Angel said slowly. “Interested?”