The sea trip was a pleasant change in routine. The pirates were very gently put to sleep and didn’t wake up until the ship had reached Justice, a day later. At first, the navy didn’t want to let them in because they were on a pirate ship, but the name ‘Sayfire’ solved all problems.

The island had the biggest port the boys had ever seen; it stretched from one side of the island to the other and had about a hundred ships docked, as the man that came to welcome them explained. He was old and wearing formal clothes, but his calloused hands suggested that he had served on ships for many years. His gray hair had begun to gray and, although he couldn’t be called an impressive man, there was something in his eyes that discarded any notions of taking him lightly.

“Welcome to Justice”, he smiled, speaking in a slightly raspy voice. “My name is Frederico Jianpatta Roseiler. You can call me Fred.”

That's a big name, thought Vreil.

“Thank you, Fred. I am Jiovanni and these are Milos, Vreil, Arthur, and Nigel.”

“What brings you to this island?” Fred asked as they were entering the town hidden behind the port. They were inside a huge gulf whose size could be compared to the size of the island’s land.

“We have an urgent matter to discuss with the vice-admirals. I suppose you are one of them?” Jiovanni smiled back.

“I am. But please don’t tell me about the matter you want to discuss until all of us are gathered.”

“Very well.”

They walked through intertwining paths towards the heart of the harbor town, until they had completely lost their sense of direction and then some. Eventually, a big building appeared in front of them, with a dome on top of it. They followed Fred inside and entered the big domed room, where the rest of the vice-admirals were waiting. Fred went to his seat among the others.

There were ten vice-admirals, all with white or no hair, and they were sitting in a circle. Six of them were women who looked to be the silent type, mostly allowing the men to speak. They nodded at the five newcomers, urging them to move to the center of the circle.

“Good morning, esteemed vice-admirals”, the armored man’s sonorous voice echoed through the hall. “I am Jiovanni, and we have come here on behalf of lady Sayfire to request your assistance in taking down the Black Beard pirates.”

“You are hasty, Jiovanni”, said the person who appeared to be the one leading them, an ancient-looking man with a deep voice and a long beard. “Let the young ones introduce themselves.”

Jiovanni nodded; then, the four boys introduced themselves one by one.

“My name is Velros”, smiled the leading vice-admiral, “and it’s my pleasure to meet you all. It’s also nice to see a fellow wizard once in a while, young Vreil.”

Vreil raised a brow in surprise. How did he know?

“Because your aura is just like mine was when I was young”, Velros replied, as if reading Vreil’s thoughts. “I can tell Ashter’s mark when I see it, as I once was his disciple too. You are now practicing body strengthening magic, yes? Let me give you some advice: Don’t rely on it too much. Among the schools of magic, it is the one everyone knows, and the one nobody fears.”

Ashter’s disciple? Vreil blinked, staring at Velros. The man looked ancient!

“Surprised, aren’t you?” laughed Velros, his beard shaking with his head. “Ashter doesn’t like to brag, but he is so powerful that even time itself is deterred from approaching him. Ever heard of immortals, boys?”

“Immortals?” they asked, in various states of confusion. Of the four, only Nigel nodded, his reading habit paying off.

“Yes, immortals”, nodded the old admiral, going straight into teaching mode, and the rest of them groaned as they shuffled uncomfortably in their seats. Velros ignored them.

“They are people, or creatures, of extraordinary power. So much power, in fact, that they even age slower. They are not truly immortal but, to the eyes of us normal people, they might well be. Ashter, for example, has already walked this earth for half a millennium.”

Vreil’s eyes were now wide as saucers, and Velros laughed before he continued.

“The Flood Bringer, he used to be called, and in his youth he was one of the strongest beings in the entire continent. He still is quite formidable among the immortals, even if his strength has declined due to advanced age. In fact, Ashter is your revolu-”

“Velros.” Fred cut him off, throwing him a look. Velros smiled wrily, nodding at Fred before he changed the subject, and suddenly his visage was serious.

“Jiovanni, as to the matter you already mentioned, we have received word since a few days ago. We are ready to set sail at any time. Seeing as to how you brought a pirate ship with you, I guess there has been proof of their betrayal.”

“It is as you say, vice-admiral Velros”, Jiovanni nodded in deference. “They sent people to assassinate lady Sayfire, but they failed. We also have oral proof that they have been in touch with the elves.”

He gave some more details, excluding the Sword of the Sea incident, and, in the end, Velros nodded.

“Oral proof is not the best but you are trusted by the lady, and your goals align with our wishes. Too long have we let them roam the seas unchecked. Mein”, he ordered a man sitting quietly at the back of the room. “Go tell the captains to get ready. We are going after the pirates. And have the city guards send people around the island to keep watch. For the next few days, the guard’s main force is to be on standby on the port.”

“Do you think the pirates will make it all the way here?” Jiovanni asked, surprised.

“No,” replied Velros, “but it is not them that we guard against.”

Jiovanni nodded, but then he spoke again. “Boys”, he said, “can you go outside for a bit?”

They looked at him in surprise but, when the vice-admirals didn’t object, the four of them left the room and the building.

“I have one more thing to report”, Jiovanni announced when he was left alone with the vice-admirals. “At the port of Portsmith, these four children killed the Sword of the Sea. We also got his sword, it is on the ship”.

“Hehe,” laughed Velros, seeming surprised, “to think youngsters these days have so much potential. You have done well, Jiovanni. In the upcoming battle, it is your responsibility to keep these boys alive. Fred, they will be on your ship.”

“Yes, sir.”

“There goes my revenge”, sighed a muscular vice-admiral who was lacking a left arm.

“Go kill someone stronger, then”, commented another.

“I heard the Sword of the Earth, who fell last year, has been replaced by now. No better way of breaking the enemy’s morale than to kill their young”, said a third one, his hand wrapped around his sword’s handle.

Seeing how he had nothing else to do there, Jiovanni politely excused himself, but the other four were nowhere to be found. “They are probably lost already”, he mumbled and then walked towards what he hoped was the port.

Some hundred meters in the opposite direction, the four boys had decided to race to the port. And, as everybody knows, the fastest way is to go in a straight line. Therefore, they climbed to the roofs and started running.

Milos was leading the race but Vreil was close behind him, thanks to his magic. Nigel and Arthur had been left behind, and the distance between them and the leading two was growing rapidly. Milos smiled as he watched the port approach.

The wind slamming against his face was exhilarating, and the roof tiles disappearing beneath his feet only added to the excitement. This is amazing! he thought, unable to stop himself from laughing out loud. He felt so alive!

His wolf speed aside, a great part of his training had been done in similar terrain. In fact, it was amazing that Vreil was almost able to keep up with him. He looked back and almost came face-to-face with the Arknas. He quickly looked ahead again and dashed. They had just been through an area of relatively flat roofs and Vreil had closed in on him.

Milos climbed to a higher roof that was on his way while Vreil just jumped above it, and now Vreil was ahead. They had almost reached the sea when Milos caught up. Finally, Milos got ahead again, but then the roofs disappeared and the two of them found themselves flying over the port and falling in the water.

Laughing, some sailors helped them climb to the pier.

“Worth it”, said Milos.

“Agreed”, Vreil smiled, breathing heavily.

A minute later, Nigel and Arthur arrived too, exhausted. “You a-are so damn fast”, was Arthur’s comment. Nigel wanted to spend some time on this island, getting to know it, but moments later a call to arms was issued. Every man on the island headed to the port where a scrawny man was giving out orders in a loud voice.

“ALL SHIPS GET READY TO SET SAIL. THE GUARD IS TO SEND OBSERVERS AROUND THE ISLAND AND REMAIN IN THE PORT IN CASE OF AN ATTACK.”

The island was suddenly bursting with activity, tons of people running in all directions. It seemed chaotic but, if someone observed them from above, they would find an undeniable order in the sailors’ movements. Soon, everyone had donned their light armors and were boarding the ships, while a number of them had formed a double row and were transporting things from the warehouses to the ships and vice versa. Some men were wearing different armor, so Vreil assumed they were the island guard, but it turned out they were the captains of the ships. The four young men were impressed; they had never witnessed so much activity in so little time. Then they saw a familiar face.

“Sir Fred”, Vreil shouted, but Fred didn’t hear him in all the commotion.

“SIR FRED”, shouted Arthur in his usual booming voice, and everyone around stopped whatever they were doing and looked at him.

“Oh, there you are. Come, come. You will be on my ship.”

They followed him and soon, they were on board a ship. His ship was one of the largest in the port and Fred himself was wearing a shiny armor decorated with medals, as if to scream about the man’s importance.

“You must stay close to me at all times unless I give you a different order”, he warned them strictly. “While you are on my ship, my orders are absolute. Do not forget that. If you disobey me during the battle you may well lose your head, no matter who you are. Got it?”

“Yes, sir”, they shouted as one. It only took two hours for the ships to get ready and then they immediately set off. Vreil, Nigel, Milos, and Arthur spent most of this time wandering around the ship or observing the sailors, helping where they could. As soon as all the ships were ready, Velros gave the order to set sail, and a breath-taking fleet of a hundred ships set out to defend their waters. As the island was getting out of sight, Vreil thought he saw a man jumping up and down in the port.

Nah, must be the light playing games.

He turned around to face the front of the ship, but he just couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was forgetting something. Then, he started laughing so hard that he scared the birds off the central mast.

Back on the island, a furious Jiovanni could do nothing but watch as the ships faded into the horizon. He stopped jumping and headed to the guard, to ask if there was a ship available. After all, his mission was to watch after the boys. However, he would soon learn that, besides some small fishing boats, the only ship left on the island was one used for emergency evacuation, that was absolutely not allowed to move. He would then start jumping up and down again, and steam would come out of his ears.