“Alright, with me,” Skitters said. He hauled open the hatch and jumped into the tunnel, followed by Kora and Orion.

The wavy-haired thief pulled out a candle and lit it, thrusting light against the darkness. “We’re gonna have to be quick,”

The tunnel was as wide as a barrel but lower than head-height, so they had to crouch. Orion wondered who had built the passage in the first place, after all, it was clearly used for illicit activities but the fact there were countless easier ways than through a stuffy tunnel stumped him.

“Hey, Skitters. What’s the ship carrying?” Kora asked. She had left her cloak at the Sticky Fingers’s den after they’d been told they’d be swimming. So, she was now wearing her green jacket and leather pants, which had earned her quite a few nods and ogles from Ginger’s thugs.

“Heh heh, summin good for sure, considering that ship’s coming from the south,” He paused. “But if I was to say, girly, it’d be some items, mostly Gajoi nuts since that’s the craze now, or it’d be slaves. Maybe weapons cuz Visgamar is heating up,”

Orion’s thoughts turned to slaves. They were legal and pretty much everywhere. Depending on where you were, there were different rules regarding them, such as cities like Visgamar frowned upon having them in public, while others considered them a show of wealth and flaunted them with gold chains and the such.

Personally, the House of Zakari had kept no slaves, only servants. So, slavery rubbed Orion the wrong way since he believed while men could be lower than others, none should be low enough to be devoid of self-control, save the dead. As for Kora, he knew she was fine with them considering the House of Cruorem kept thralls.

“And why’re you attacking the ship again?” she asked.

“Me? I get paid for this, girly. And if I find something precious, I could get a few golds for it and buy a home out of the slums, maybe near the market. There’s always tons of rich twits strutting their purses there and if I buy some nice clothes, them Guards won’t even touch me,” He started laughing deep from his heart. “Nanlong and his boys? I dunno, probably use it on whores and booze. As for Ginger and his Sticky Fingers,”

He stopped talking as they reached the end of the tunnel. He pushed forwards and moonlight entered the darkness, revealing the crate that blocked the exit and a stone platform past it.

“Y’know, they shouldn’t be called the Sticky Fingers- not even half the skill I have. Anyway, I heard this job is from Fatso, y’know the Underking, since the Saltrocks left him for Madam Richy, or whatever that whore’s name is. If Ginger does this and gets out safe, I reckon he’ll be higher in Fatso’s books, if y’know what I mean,”

“Wait, who’s the last Underking then?” Orion asked.

“Grima. No one’s got any clue what the guy looks like, but everyone knows he runs the biggest information system in Visgamar. Don’t mess with him either: the saying is he’ll know about you coming before you even decide to,”

Skitters stood on the platform and stretched, staring into the midnight-blue waves. The ship flickered in the distance. “Not that you’ll listen to me about danger, ain’t it? You wanna meet Rats, don’t you? Mad,” He scoffed and buttoned up his pockets. “Alright, then. Let’s go,”

Skitters leapt into the water, the Seekers diving in after. The water was cold, a soothing cold for Orion and a freezing bite for the others, and the waves were choppy up above. The Seekers followed the thief as he circled the ship, making special care where they went up for breath.

The ship was a large wooden beast 30 metres long and 10 metres tall. Its keel and hull had grown dark green with plant growth, and its figurehead showed a woman with her tits out. Classy.

Once they were in position, the trio quietly trailed the ship as it sailed to the docks and anchored. Skitters occasionally sneaked closer and stabbed metal holds into the hull before diving away. They continued waiting, waiting until the first sailors stood on solid ground, waiting till the first shouts rang the night. Now. Skitters climbed the ascending holds and leapt onto the ship, his figure shivering. Kora followed with similar ease, her not-so-human body dealing with the chill better. Orion was the last up and had to claw himself up to the deck due to a few holds come loose.

Once up there, he saw Skitters crouching with his chest heaving, cold water dripping onto the stained boards. They had scaled the ship behind the shadow of some stacks of crates roped to the deck and under the cover of night, allowing their entrance to go undetected. However, it obviously wouldn’t be the case for much longer as several sets of feet thundered across the floorboards, lighting up every lamp.

The thief pointed behind him and whispered, “The flares, they’re over there. I’ll run and dump, you guys cover me,” He brandished a dagger, pushed it up his sleeve, and turned.

As if by clockwork, a shout sounded just as Skitters got up and casually began walking. “Shoot the flares, you fucking idiots. And wake up that fat bitch,”

The Seekers creeped to the corner of their cover and waited. With the lamps tearing away the night’s veil, the thief was sure to be identified as an uninvited guest. Yet, he smashed their expectations as he jogged up to the higher platform, seemingly unaffected by the pressure as he moved calmly.

“Rook, why’re you wet? Get away before you fuck both of us,” said a sailor as he tried to the light a cord. The box of flares was by his feet.

Skitters pointed to the cord with his left hand. “You idiot,”

The sailor looked at the cord in confusion, and Skitters’s right hand came down by his neck, bearing the dagger. In shock, the sailor pushed Skitters back and tried to scream, but didn’t get far before he got stabbed once more, and another. The thief picked up the box of flares and flung them over the side.

Unfortunately, his execution hadn’t gone unnoticed. Another sailor screamed in place of his mate, and the ten or so remaining men turned to face Skitters and the corpse beside him. Loud shouts came from the docks as Nanlong’s mercenaries and the Sticky Fingers finally found the hidden Saltrocks.

Orion tugged on Kora and whispered, “Let’s just go. We’ll make this worse,” Their job was already done; there was no need to kill anymore sailors.

She shook her head and pointed at one of the deck’s unlit areas. “There are crossbows there. Besides, these aren’t good people, you idiot. Don’t bother caring for them,” she said as she leapt from their cover, cutting down a sailor before he even considered death.

Orion growled and stood, his fingers gripped around his hilt. It was an unnecessary fight but now that Kora had entered, he simply couldn’t back down.