Chapter Three Hundred and Forty-One - A Little Bird Told Me

“Hello!” I said with a little wave to the old cervid lady. I wondered if it would be impolite to ask about her missing limb and the eyepatch she was wearing. It probably would be, but I bet there was an interesting story behind that. Then again, maybe those weren’t the best of memories, and it wouldn’t be nice to bring it up.

“Hello,” Three Hooves said. She cracked a smile for us. “So, what are your friends going to ask me about, hmm, Calamity?”

“Ah, well, I think I maybe ought to let them talk to nya,” he said before backing up a step.

I shared a look with Amaryllis, and she tilted her head a tiny bit towards me. I nodded back and then faced Three Hooves. “We just have a few questions,” I said. “My friends and I came over here looking for some lost ships.”

“Not many ships in the plains,” Three Hooves said.

“They were airships. Apparently they got blown off course and ended up passing by a bit to the north of here. Uh, I don’t actually know how far away, exactly, but yeah. Calamity helped us find them.”

“That’s hardly surprising. He’s lived his life with his head in the clouds, that one.”

Calamity cleared his throat and looked a bit peevish about that, but I suspected that maybe it was a little true.

“Oh, don’t lose a shoenail about it,” Three Hooves said. “You know it’s true. Now, ships. Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Kinda,” I said. “We found crashed ships, some of those we were looking for, but not all of them. We also found a smaller boat that wasn’t part of those. Uh, it’s a pirate’s boat, but there weren’t any pirates around, so I guess it’s ours now. Well, ours and Calamity’s.”

“Oh-hoh, well, that’s one of his dreams come true,” Three Hooves said. “I imagine you want to know what we know about the fight?”

“That would be nice,” I said. “But more than that, I think we want to know about the pirates. They had to be pretty well-equipped, and that means a lot of people working for them, which means a big group. Maybe you know something?”

The older cervid rubbed at her chin in thought, then nodded along. “I keep abreast of most things. This old body of mine isn’t what it used to be, but my mind’s never been sharper. I listen, you see. Something you younger folk aren’t too apt to do, I’ve noticed.”

I pouted. “Have you seen my ears, ma’am, I’m perfectly good at listening.”

“Hah! Maybe you are, at that. We’ll see. Now, as I was saying. I listen to folk’s problems and whip people about to get things done. I haven’t heard of these pirates of yours, and if they were recruiting, I’d have heard it. For that matter, I know what it’s like feeding a lot of folk and taking care of equipment. It’s a big job, takes all sorts of people and things. I can tell you that there’s nothing like that in the plains. How many ships are you talking about?”

I glanced at Amaryllis, she’d know the exact numbers better. “At least six vessels. Possibly more than that waiting in ambush. We’re talking six decently sized ships, with crews of between ten and thirty aboard.”

“And I imagine they’d need more folk back where they’re from, just like the hunters need camp folk,” Three Hooves said. “So call it two hundred folk, more or less. No, a group that big would leave a mark on the plains. Prices would have been different at the fort too if they were supplying from there.”

“So you think that the pirates aren’t getting supplied from here?” I asked to confirm.

“They’re pirates, couldn’t they just steal what they need?” Calamity asked.

Three Hooves gave him a look which had his mouth clamping shut. “Fool boy, if they stole what they needed, the price of those goods would still go up. More so, even. Merchants aren’t keen on banditry. We would have more guards being hired to patrol the city and escort merchant caravans. Didn’t notice anything of the sort this season, so they’re getting their things from elsewhere.”

“That leaves the north, and Sylphfree,” Amaryllis said. “Or a long trade from the harpy mountains. Well, thank you, that eliminates a lot of possibilities. We might just run into some pirates that are either state-funded by the Snowlands, or who are hard-up for resources after buying good Snowlander ships.”

“You're welcome,” Three Hooves said. “Now, I’m not quite done with you. See, I’ve heard things that I haven’t had time to tell yet, so do yourselves a favour and listen to me for a minute.”

We all agreed and came closer to listen properly.

“There’s a story that’s been circulating around for a while now. I hadn’t decided if it was hearsay or some silly overblown rumour, but I’m starting to suspect that there’s a grain of truth to it all. That’s often how these things are. Stories of a pirate lord who has travelled from the far west, chased by the knights of Pyrowalk across the Endless Swells to come and settle on the edges of our lands.”

“We don’t hear too much about the Pyrowalk Empire,” Amaryllis said. At Calamity’s confused look, she continued. “It’s far to the west, across the Moonstruck Sea, with the Endless Swells between us and them. They’re old. Ancient, even. Mostly human, but not like Mattergrove. Richer, more set in their ways, I think.”

Three Hooves hummed. “As you say, little word of those distant places reaches us. This pirate lord might hail from there, but rumour has it he’s come here to escape the wrath of his old lords and to make a new name for himself in our lands. It’s been quiet, but some people have followed the rumours. Not the average worker either. People with very particular trades from the western end of the Trenten Flat’s land.”

“What’s his name?” I asked, both as tantalised and curious as a bun could be.

“Commodore Megumi. The Sky Killer.”

“Whoa,” I said. That was a scary sounding name. They even had a cool title! I didn’t have one of those. I kinda wished I did, though maybe not something too close to the Sky Killer.

Amaryllis crossed her arms. “What do you know about this ‘Commodore Megumi?’” she asked.

“Very little,” Three Hooves admitted. “News from so far afield doesn’t make it here, like I've said. But it’s a name, and there’s a reputation attached to it. He’s supposed to be a terror in the skies. A man who has reached the third tier, at least.”

So he was at or over level thirty, and had two other classes to boot. That was a lot of skills with a lot of potential synergies. Not to mention a lot of health and stamina and all of those other bonuses to go with it. Rainnewt was around that level, I thought, and Bastion too.

“Thanks,” I said to Three Hooves. “Just knowing who we’re dealing with will be worth a lot.” I bet that the sylph had a file or two on him, even if he was located far, far away from their mountains. They seemed the sort to keep tabs on strong people, just on principle.

Three Hooves nodded along. “I wish you the best. Though I do hope you won’t be running headlong into trouble. Though, if Calamity’s coming along, that might well be a moot point. Boy always loved making a mess, hmm?”

“Hey meow, I’ve matured a pinch since my younger days,” Calamity said. But he said it while lowering the brim of his hat so that Three Hooves couldn’t see his eyes, which cast some doubt on his assertion.

“Well, I haven’t matured and I don’t plan on it,” I said. “But I think I still know better than to just run up to someone called Sky Killer and cause a fuss.”

"No, you'd run up to him and ask him to be your friend." Amaryllis grumbled. She turned to Three Hooves and gave the woman a quick bow from the waist. “Thank you, ma’am. I appreciate the information. Rest assured we’ll put it to good use.”

With that, we said our goodbyes and then stepped back and away from Three Hooves’ carriage to a spot where we could chat with a bit more privacy. The camp was a busy hive of activity, especially since another group of gatherers were returning with all the goodies they’d found on the plains.

“So, we need to tell Sylphfree about Commodore Megumi,” I said.

“Obviously,” Amaryllis said. “They might be able to relay things back to us. Something’s fishy about all of this though. An infamous sky-pirate moving to the Snowlands just in time to cause trouble for the harpy delegation?”

“Nya think it’s suspicious?” Calamity asked.

Amaryllis nodded. “Of course it is. The delegation was a big deal. It was well-guarded, more so than any normal trade convoy, and yet it probably carried less valuables than the average trading ship... well, perhaps it did. There’s no accounting for what a bunch of nobles would think to bring along, but those kinds of goods can be difficult to fence.”

“But the nobles themselves are worth something, no?” Calamity asked.

“Yes, that’s true. It could just be a pirate, new to the area, trying to establish themselves as a big player by capturing an important and valuable bounty. But something tells me that’s not the whole of it. The Redemption would be worth as much as a small corvette under the right conditions. If the entire pirate fleet is made up of valuable ships like that, then they’re not spoiling for more riches. They aren't advertising their deeds, so it's probably not a play for reputation or fear-mongering. Which leaves... politics.”

“Oh no,” I said. I’d gotten my fill of those lately. I was hoping that our secretive adventures in a foreign land at the behest of a foreign king to save foreign nobles would remain nice and non-political.

“Well, I ain’t know nothing about that,” Calamity said. He stood up taller, which wasn’t all that tall, really, and puffed his chest out. “But as one-quarter captain of the RedemptionI think I ought to accompany you on your quest. To keep my investment safe, nya see?”

Amaryllis huffed the sort of huff that was almost a laugh. “Uh-huh. I’m sure you’re not coming along because you have misplaced dreams about fighting sky pirates over the prairie like some dashing prince out of a children's book.”

“More of a dashing rogue than a prince, really,” he said with a grin. “But I wouldn’t mind meeting a princess or two.”

“Eh, princesses are mostly just normal girls,” I said. “They run around, plot crimes, and do shadowy things in secret just like any other girl.”

Calamity blinked. “I think we’ve been spending time around a different quality of girl, you and me.”

I glanced at Amaryllis, then gave her a shrug. “I’m okay with Calamity coming. He seems strong, and I think we’re going to need every friend we can find if we end up having to fight an entire crew of sky pirates.”

Amaryllis shook her head. “I’m voting nay. He’s another variable to calculate, and there's no guarantee he will be useful.”

“Hey now,” he said.

“You were a great help in the plains,” Amaryllis placated. “But I don’t know if your skills will translate well to the sort of trouble we tend to land ourselves in. We can let Awen cast the deciding vote.”

Calamity grumbled, but I had the impression he thought the criticism was fair enough.

We returned to the Redemption which was still parked next to the camp. A few tents had been moved away, and a few more had popped up nearby. It looked like the camp was constantly changing as new people showed up and others ran off. The airship was a novel change though, judging by the people giving it curious looks.

When we found Awen, she was on the ship’s deck with a complex device in front of her that was burning some lamp fuel to heat up a glass bulb which had some liquid pouring into a container to one side. It looked dangerous, but Awen was being pretty casual about it.

When we asked her for her vote, she gave Calamity a long, searching look, then shrugged. “Yeah, okay.”

That, of course, meant that it was time for a round of congratulatory and celebratory hugs!

***