Chapter 4: Scent on the Breeze

Overhead, the timbers groaned softly against the riggings as the briny air wafted over the lapping water and pulled Hiraeth across Sorrowful Sound. The gentle breeze caressed Captain Jos’s face, drawing her mouth into a slight smile. Despite the threats from the risen, the Inquest and local pirates, she loved the Bloodtide Coast. More than any other stretch waterways, the air here had the right mixture of salt and spent gunpowder.

Jos nudged the wheel to port and Hiraeth took her guidance. Hugging the southern shore of Stormbluff Isle, she kept her eye on the ramshackle structure of boats and buildings peeking over the rocky outcroppings of Laughing Gull Island. Those buildings were the home of some of the most notorious pirates in all of Tyria. The distant construct looked less like a home and more like a pile of broken masts and ship beams stacked together like a house of cards. A handful of figures made their way across paths and walkways near the cannons..

As they approached Stormbluff Isle, Jos called to drop anchor just a few dozen yards off shore from Captain’s Cut, the fortified beachhead for the Lionguard fortress. She decided to leave Nexx onboard to make sure everything was ready for the cargo and took crewman Nahg Razorburn to go ashore. By the time she and the char pulled the ship’s boat up into the sand, a dozen Pact soldiers were already waiting beside a large crate. The box was several hands taller than most humans—easily as tall as Jos’s norn bosun, Jorg—and was covered in stenciled asuran text in black paint. 

A human soldier in full plate armor and a gleaming sword at his hip stepped forward. His chiseled jaw, skin with the texture and color of leather, and broad shoulders betrayed his years of combat experience. 

Jos’s boots splashed in the surf as she made her way up the shore. “What brings a bunch of you happy-go-lucky Pact folks out on a beautiful day like this? A relaxing trip to the beach?”

Behind Jos, crewman Nahg grunted and snarled as he dragged the ship’s boat ashore.

When the armored soldier spoke, his voice was nearly as deep and gravelly as a char’s. “You must be Captain Blackfyre.”

Jos tipped her tricorn and gave a nod. “Indeed I am.”

“First Sergeant Rowe.” He held his hand out and they shook. His eyes narrowed for a second as he gripped her gloved hand. He arched an eyebrow. “Have we met before? You look familiar.”

An image of a younger Corporal Rowe popped into her head. His Istani skin largely hidden by large swaths of black Risen blood as he stood on the rotting Orrian beach. The stench of death, rotting fish and salt was so overwhelming that it was burned into her memories. The Pact Commander and his guild had already slain the elder dragon Zaitan, but a force of Risen cut off the Pact’s supply lines. Jos, rather Lina as she went by then, led a charge to save the soldiers and supplies. Plenty died that day, but the looks in the eyes of those terrified faces that her platoon had saved kept her sane. 

She smirked and looked him up and down. “Oh, I seriously doubt it. You’d definitely remember if we had.” And she gave him a brief wink.

Rowe’s cheeks flushed, and he let go of her hand. “You, uh… have your certification?”

Keeping one eye on Rowe, she casually pulled the folded up paper from the inner pocket of her black waistcoat and handed it over. The first sergeant sniffed then snatched the paper and stepped back to read it. Jos struggled not to smile as she watched his eyes scan the page. When he was done, he folded it up and handed it back. 

“Very well.” Rowe stepped to the side and held his hand out toward the crate. “Your cargo. One crate and one passenger.”

Jos nodded. “Excell—wait, what? What passenger?”

A small asuran progeny stepped out from behind the crate. Jos blinked as she realized that, in fact, this particular asura wasn’t actually diminutive for her kind. The young female asura stood, hunched over with her shoulders pulled forward and her triangular ears were small by asuran standards. No, she was just so timid and withdrawn that she seemed much smaller than she really was.

Jos’s gaze darted from this newcomer back to the first sergeant. “That verbose little twerp Grint never said anything about a passenger. We don’t do passengers.”

The timid, little asura, with her pink hair and nearly white skin flecked with black freckles shrunk back even more. “It’s, it’s okay. I’m not really very helpful anyway.”

Rowe set his jaw and gave a deep sigh. The gaze he leveled on Jos and told her she should have kept her damn mouth shut. “Absolutely not. My instructions were clear. Golementalist Danni is to go with you, period. End of story. Her experience with this particular… er, piece of magitech, is invaluable and necessary.”

He knelt next to Danni and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re going to have to go with them to keep this safe. You’ll be fine.”

Jos swallowed hard as a vague sense of guilt settled in her throat. 

The first sergeant gave Jos a small nod then turned back to Danni. “Captain L—Jos here will take care of you. She’s a good woman and will make sure nothing happens.”

Captain Jos’s cheeks flushed and she clenched her teeth to keep herself from groaning. The embarrassment that her ruse was not as effective on Rowe as she’d hoped mixed hardened her hazy guilt and dropped it into her stomach. Clearing her throat, she angled her chin at the large crate. “What’s in the box, anyway?”

Danni’s eyes lit up and she opened her mouth to speak, but the first sergeant cut her off. “It’s classified.”

Jos rolled her eyes. “Of course it is.”

It took more than an hour to get the crate on Hiraeth. Their first attempt nearly put a hole right through Jos’s ship’s boat, so the soldiers had to bring out one of their own, much sturdier dingies. By the time they finally had the cargo on board and tucked away in the hold, the sun was already dipping toward the crags of Laughing Gull Island to the west.

As they were preparing to leave First Sergeant Rowe called for Jos to wait. With her jaw clenched and her eyes closed, the captain cursed to herself.

“Captain Blackfyre.” 

Wet sand squished behind Jos. Sucking in a deep breath, she opened her eyes and turned around with a smile. “Yes, Corp—First Sergeant?”

The man’s face didn’t even twitch as he held his gauntleted hand out. “I just wanted to wish you good luck.”

Tentatively, she reached out and shook his hand. “Thanks, but it’s a simple run, and Hireath’s a fast ship. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“Yes, your confidence is legendary, as is your single-minded focus.” He nodded as he kept shaking her hand. With a tug, he pulled her in close and his voice dropped to a rumbling whisper. “Just don’t forget about her, understand? I’d hate for her to feel...deserted, Captain.”

Jos pulled back with her right hand, but Rowe’s grip only tightened. Her left hand slid over the wooden grip of her pistol. She knew his hot breath on her neck was meant to intimidate her, but it only hardened her resolve. Still, she forced her voice to stay up-beat, if even a little overmuch. “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine. I’ll deliver her safe and sound to Rata Sum. But I’m going to need my hand back to do that.”

First Sergeant Rowe finally let go, and Jos turned away without another word.

Standing at the helm, the captain watched her crew bustle about to make the ship ready. She was about to yell to weigh anchor when soft footsteps coming up the stairs gave her pause. Without turning to see who was coming, she gave a small smile. “What can I do for you, Golementalist Danni?”

The footsteps paused, then continued. “H-how did you know?”

“Nothing happens aboard my boat that I don’t know.”

“O-oh, okay.”

Several seconds passed as Jos waited for the asura to say her piece, but as time wore on the air felt very awkward. Irritation built at the back of Jos’s neck until she couldn’t bear it any longer. Finally, the captain glanced at Danni and arched her eyebrows. “So what’s up?”

“Oh, um…” The young asura shifted her feet in place. Her fingers twitched on her hands as if she was trying to work up the courage to say what she needed. “Um, I wanted to inquire as to where to put my personal effects. I mean, if it’s not too much trouble.”

A part of Jos wanted to laugh at the golementalist, but that was a small part. Rather, the captain was mostly annoyed. Every second the passenger dawdled and dalied at getting out her question, the more it irritated and grated on Jos’s nerves. But she couldn’t let her know that. Jos had to remain professional. 

“Well, we don’t have a passenger cabin, so I was thinking of putting you in Nexx’s quarters.”

Danni’s near-white face shifted to a bright pink. Jos caught the shift from the corner of her eye and kind of enjoyed it. Boots thumped up the stairs, small but not nearly as light-footed as Danni. 

Nexx appeared on the other side of Danni. “Perhaps another suggestion would work, Captain.”

Jos arched an eyebrow. She knew why, but she wanted to play along and see how Nexx explained his reasoning. “Why?”

“It would certainly seem more appropriate for our passenger to have the most luxurious quarters, wouldn’t you say? And that is usually the captain’s quarters. And being in the council’s good graces again would be… profitable.”

“Usually. Have you seen my cabin?” Jos eyed the two asura. She did not want to share her quarters, and she most certainly did not want to give them up entirely. But as usual, she couldn’t exactly argue with her first mate’s logic.

The captain let out a deep sigh. “Fine. Put her stuff in my cabin. I’ll clean up a bit once we’re under way.”

Nexx gave a sharp nod. “Aye.”

“And weigh anchor.”

“Aye-aye.”  Nexx saluted and gave a sly smile. He turned and moved to the top of the stairs. Cupping his hands over his mouth, he bellowed, “Weigh anchor!”

The command echoed across the ship’s deck and descended. A couple seconds later, she felt the familiar vibration of the anchor-rope rubbing against the hawsepipe. Just as another breeze came up from the south, Hiraeth lunged forward.

A feeling touched at Jos’s stomach and her nose itched. The local pirates shouldn’t be a problem as long as they steered clear and they were already past the area controlled by the Inquest. And, while they were heading toward the Flooded Castavall, they’d turn away long before they got anywhere near the waters heavily infested with Risen. Still, something pricked at the back of her neck.

“Nexx!”

“Aye, Captain?” Her first mate appeared below her on the main deck.

“Make sure we’ve got sharp eyes on lookout.”

“Aye aye!” Nexx scampered off and slapped a few members of the crew on their shoulders. The crew members jumped to and dashed up the rigging. 

The ship curled sharp away from the shore and headed for Merchantman’s Straight, then turned southwest toward Sanguin Bay. Jos kept one eye on dark, murky water, but nothing seemed to change. The more she watched the gentle waves, the more she started to realize something was off. 

Hiraeth passed into the bay, and the itching in Jos’s nose grew worse. “Watch the water!”

“Um, c—Captain?” Danni squeaked.

The captain sniffed the air. Of course, it smelled just as briny and normal as ever, and yet… she could swear there was a strange scent on the breeze. 

“Captain?”

Captain Jos scanned the horizon. She thought maybe it wasn’t a smell. Maybe something looked off, but she couldn’t figure out what. “Danni, go to my cabin.”

“W—what?”

“Neeeeeexx!”

The first mate thumped back up the stairs and stood next to Danni. “Something piquing your perception, Captain?”

Jos shook her head and pointed at Danni. “Get her below.”

“Aye.” Nodding, he gently grabbed Danni’s arm.

Then she saw it, one of the dark shadows that looked like a kelp bed just under the water moved. “And make sure your pistols are loaded. Something’s coming.”

Nexx stopped and looked around. After all their time together, Jos knew he trusted her, trusted her sense of danger. 

His free hand shifted to the pistol on his hip. He nodded again, this time slower. “Aye.”