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Jane, Warrior of Decura Chapter 16

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Unfavorable Odds

“Nate, I want you to stay here and make sure none of these pirates get inside” William said while keeping his eyes on the huge crowd of enemies before him.

“What are you going to do?” Nate asked. “You can't possibly kill that many by yourself.”

“Maybe if I were a few years younger I could...” William replied with a low grumble. “However, if I can take out enough of them to cause a panic...”

“Do you really think that will work?” Nate asked.

William narrowed his eyes. “Probably” William said in a serious tone. “At the very least, it'll give miss Nice more time to wake miss Jane up. Just stay here and try not to draw too much attention to yourself. Only fight off those who try to get past you.”

“That's not a very well thought out plan” Nate muttered before smiling. “But it's better than what I could come up with so... Let's do it.”

William smirked and started to walk toward the pirates. A few moment's later, William found himself surrounded by the smirking High Sea Hangmen. “Ready to die old man?” one of them asked. William responded not with words, but with a unimpressed sigh as he readied his maul.

One of the pirates charged, eager to be the one to land the killing blow. His  enthusiasm was rewarded with a single strike of the old knight's large maul, which sent the poor pirate hurdling over his comrades and into a pile of crates. Hoping to take advantage of William's wide swing, two more pirates rushed in. Unfortunately for them, William simply spun his body, causing his maul to slam into one of the pirates shoulders, knocking him into his companion and sending both ruffians into the dirt.

William cracked his neck. “Anyone else?” he asked before smirking.

Not interested in having their bones broken by William's maul, several pirates broke away from the group and started to head towards the tavern. However, they only made it a few feet before one of them was killed by an arrow piercing his head. “You're not getting any closer!” Nate growled.

“You think you can stop us?!?” one of the pirates barked back, only to be silenced when an arrow penetrated his skull.

“Yes, I do” Nate replied before loosing two more arrows in rapid succession, killing two more of the pirates. The final ruffian lunged forward, hoping to strike Nate down before he could draw another arrow. Much to the pirate's surprise, Nate didn't even bother with an arrow, opting instead to use his steel bow to block the pirate's scimitar. Before his opponent had time to react, Nate drew one of the two short swords on his belt and shoved it into the pirate's neck. “I won't let you down Jane.”

As Nate kicked the dead pirate away, Quill watched from afar, unable to take her eyes off the young reyn. “Where the hell have I seen him before?” she thought as the biggest of her guardians poured her a cup of tea. “I'll have to find out before I kill him. Otherwise this is going to drive me crazy.” After taking a moment to enjoy her beverage's aroma, Quill turned toward her crossbow wielding guardian. “Peter tell me, does that reyn boy look familiar to you?” she asked as her bushy tail waved from side to side.

“Now that you mention it...” Peter muttered while trying to focus his vision, his eyes widening a second later. “No, it couldn't be...” Peter whispered something in Quill's ear, causing her gasp and then smile.

Suddenly, one of Quill's pirates was knocked from the crowd and landed a few yards away from her. Quill looked over to find William effortlessly fending off her crew despite being surrounded. “Oh for god sake” Quill grumbled after burying her face in her palm. “How embarrassing...”

“Would you like us to interfere?” one of Quill's guardians asked while readying his chains. “He won't last long if we all attack him together.”

“I'm not so sure Julian” Quill said before taking another sip of her tea. “This man might be the most skilled fighter I've ever seen. Better to wear him down a little before dealing the killing blow. For now, I want the four of you to hang back and wait until I give the signal.”

“But what about the kassi?” Quill's shortest guardian asked. “What if she tries to run?”

A sinister grin appeared on Quill's face. “Relax Francis” she said. “Even if the kassi somehow manages to escape the town, she'll just run into one of our patrols surrounding the town. Not only that but thanks to our 'backup' the sea isn't a possible escape route for her either. Trust me, no one's escaping unless I say so.”

Meanwhile in the center of the brawl, William used his weapon's hilt to strike an attack pirate's stomach. Winded, the ruffian had no chance to react before getting his head clobbered in by William's maul. “Anyone else?” William asked when the pirates stopped attacking him. “No? Typical cowardly pirates...”

“True, true” a woman chuckled. “My boys have gotten soft over the past few years.” The pirates quickly cleared a path, revealing a smirking Quill. She was wearing a gray top and black pants, armed with two black scimitars. Unlike her companions, the woman had no noose around her neck. “But what more can you expect from a crew made up entirely of humans. A strong human warrior is so rare these days.” Quill smiled while flickering her light green eyes. “You seem like a skilled man. Care to join my crew? I could think of at least a dozen uses for somebody like you.”

“No thank you” William replied while keeping his guard up. “I'm already part of a much better crew.”

“That's a shame” Quill sighed before pointing one of her blades at William. “I guess I'll just have to settle for one use, practice.”

Suddenly, Quill rushed forward at an incredible speed. Hoping to end the fight in one blow, William swung his weapon horizontally to try to strike the captain's side. Quill however, simply dropped to the ground and slid under the huge maul. With her opponent's torso now exposed, Quill prepared to swing her blades directly for William's stomach as she passed by.

Realizing what Quill was aiming for, William used his weapon's powerful momentum to pull himself out of harms way. A smirk appeared on Quill's face as her blades just barely scrapped William's armor as she slid past. After quickly regaining his composure, William tried to go after Quill before she could get back to her feet. However, the second he started to move, two more pirates rushed at him, forcing William to stop and fight them off.

After dealing with his two new attackers in a single stroke, William spun around just in time to block one of Quill's blades with his maul's handle. Quill tried to ram her second blade into William's stomach, but the old knight shifted his body to the side just enough to avoid it. Before Quill could attempt another attack, William pushed forward, his superior strength quickly forcing Quill to use both blades to push back against his maul.

“Feisty old coot” Quill snickered before jumping back. “You're fun.” The second after Quill's feet touched the ground, she was forced to quickly crouch down when William thrust his maul toward her chest. The smirk on Quill's face grew bigger as she stuck the tips of her scimitars into the dirt.

Not planning on letting Quill launch a counter attack, William brought his maul back and thrust it at his opponent again. Much to the old knight's surprise, the ducking Quill put all her strength into her legs and jumped up, just barely avoiding William's attack.

Unfortunately for William, as Quill swung both her blades at his face. While she was too far away to land a blow with her scimitars, she was close enough for the dirt on her weapons to fly straight into William's eyes. By the time William had wiped enough dirt away to see, Quill was standing on top of his Maul's head and pointing one of her swords directly toward his throat. “That was close” she said before letting out a relieved sigh. “You almost got me there, but I guess I was just a little too agile for you.” Assuming she had the old knight beat, Quill jabbed her blade at William's face. Much to her surprise, William managed to shift his head out of the blade's path just enough so that it only cut his cheek.

A second later, William reached up and grabbed Quill's wrist. Quill tried to slice her opponent's arm off, but unfortunately her sword wasn't fast enough and William effortlessly tossed the light captain off his weapon. One foolish pirate tried to attack William before he could put his guard back up, predictably getting launched into the air with a single strike from William's maul a second later.

William glanced around him, giving the surrounding pirates the fiercest glare he could. “If I can just take out a few more, their morale should break...” he thought while taking deep breaths through his nose. “Thankfully these pirates seem fixated on me. I'll just take it slow and deal with them as they attack me.”

“It's a good thing I chose to deal with you myself” Quill chuckled before snapping her fingers to signal her guardians. “I doubt even the best in my crew could last five seconds against your skills old man. Tell me though, is your friend just as good? Cause if not...”

William's eyes widened when he spotted Quill's four guardians stroll around the crowd of pirates that surrounded him. “So much for taking it slow” he thought while looking around for a gap in the pirate's formation he could break through. “I need to find a way back to Nate, now.” Unfortunately for William, Quill wasn't about to give him a moment to think and charged forward, unleashing a flurry of attacks with both of her scimitars.

Meanwhile, Quill's guardians stood before the mirian tavern and the lone reyn that guarded it. “I suppose it's pointless to tell you to move right kid?” Peter asked, causing Nate to aim an arrow at him. “Figured as much.”

“I suggest you just turn around and walk away” Nate growled. “If you take one step closer, it'll be your last mistake.”

The guardians suddenly burst into laughter, the only exception was the hulking pirate wearing steel gloves, who remained silent and cracked his knuckles.

The shortest guardian readied his daggers. “Can I be the one who gets to kill him?” Francis asked while preparing to charge. “Please Peter. I promise I'll let you have the next one.”

“Now, now Francis” Peter chuckled while looking over to his eager crewmate. “Captain Quill has a few questions for this one before we kill him.”

“I'm not really in an answering mood right now” Nate growled while trying to decide which opponent he should loose his arrow toward.

“I think that might change when you hear my question” Peter said before smirking. “Tell me something kid, do you know a reyn named Edward?”

Nate's eyes widened. “Dad?” he muttered a little too loudly, causing his three of his opponents to once again burst into laughter. “What's so funny?!?”

“You're Edward's boy?” Julian asked after nearly dropping his chains. “Amazing... What are the odds?”

“Now hold on a minute” Peter said while trying to calm himself. “It could always be a different Edward. We need confirmation.” Peter reached into his shirt and removed the silver locket around his neck. “Luckily, I have just the thing to get it.” After giving Nate another smirk, Peter opened the locket and tossed it over. “Tell me kid, are we talking about the same Edward or not?”

After lowering his bow and catching the locket, Nate took a moment to study it. “No way...” he thought as his eyes widened. “It's can't be.” Inside the locket were two old but very detailed sketches, one of Nate's mother Judy and the other of him when he was much younger.

“I'm pretty sure we're talking about the same Edward” Francis giggled while pointing at Nate's stunned expression.

Nate closed the locket and put it in his pocket. “Where did you get this?” he asked as his fist began to tremble. “And where is the person it belongs to?”

“Well it belongs to me now” Peter chuckled before extending his hand. “Edward didn't need it where we sent him. Now give it back.”

After looking down at his pocket, Nate chose to give Peter an arrow instead, shooting it straight toward the pirate's smug face. Not expecting Nate to draw and loose an arrow so quickly, Peter couldn't completely avoid the projectile and it struck his left shoulder. “I said, where did you get this?!?” Nate roared.

Peter clutched his shoulder as he dropped to his backside. “Damn brat!” he growled before looking at his companions. “Don't just stand there. Get him!”

Nate loosed another arrow at Peter, only to have it be swatted away by Julian, who spun one of his chains to form a shield. Before Nate could draw another arrow, Julian swung his other chain straight toward Nate, forcing the reyn to dive to the side. Hoping to get another shot off, Nate prepared to draw another arrow the moment he got back to his feet. However, the second he was standing, Francis was already within arm's reach and thrusting one of his daggers toward Nate's chest. Thankfully, Nate was able to use his bow to knock the pirates hand away just in the nick of time.

A big smirk appeared on Francis' face as he used his other to grab Nate's bow. Nate tried to pull it free but the small pirate's grip was too strong. “Got you!” Francis grunted as a large shadow enveloped both him and Nate.

Nate quickly looked behind him and spotted the hulking pirate about to bring both armored fists down on top of him. Knowing he only had one option, Nate abandoned his bow and jump away, just barely avoiding the attack.

“We almost had him there Jason” Francis grumbled before tossing Nate's bow away. “Oh well, we'll get him next time.”

“At least you got his weapon away from him” Peter grunted as Julian helped him up. “What are you going to do now kid? Throw your arrows at us?”

Nate answered by drawing both of his short swords and assuming a defensive stance. “Damn it... I don't know how long I can hold them off with these” he thought while looking for his bow. “But I have to keep it up. Not only to keep Jane safe, but to find out where dad is.” Nate narrowed his eyes. “So, how did one of you cowardly pirates get my father's locket?” he asked. “Did you steal it from him?”

“Are you sure you want to know?” Peter asked. “I don't think you'll like the answer.”

“Stop wasting my time and tell me!” Nate snapped. “Or I'll stick one of these blades into your other shoulder!”

Peter gave Nate a chilling smirk. “Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you” he said. “I think it was about seven or eight years ago when one of our raiding parties didn't come back from their weekly pillaging. The captain ordered me to lead another group to figure out where they were. Turns out they'd gone to raid a small fishing village, only to be slain by a lone archer that the locals had apparently hired.” Peter rubbed an arrow scar on his arm. “We tried to capture the bastard but we couldn't even get close and had to flee.”

“I'd bet all the coin I have that the villagers didn't hire dad and he just volunteered to help” Nate thought, unable to hide a smile when he remembered his father's desire to become a hero.

“The captain sure wasn't happy when you came back with less than half of your party Peter” Julian chuckled, quickly stopping when he found Peter's crossbow aiming right at his face.

“No she wasn't” Peter growled before lowering his weapon. “It didn't help that the next three raids she sent to the town all came back half dead and empty handed. The captain got so fed up she personally led everything she had to capture the archer. It took several hours and cost us almost a third of our entire crew, but our sheer numbers won out and by nightfall, we had the archer on our ship and in chains.”

“And that's when you took his locket” Nate growled while tightening his grip on his swords.

“Well yes, but not before we made him watch as we burned the village he was protecting” Peter snickered before looking at his shorter companion. “Captain Quill was going to leave the archer in the middle of the sea, but Francis and I thought we'd have some fun with him first.” Peter took a moment to think. “Francis, how long did we torture him for?”

Nate was speechless, surely these pirates had to be lying or at the very least, bending the truth. But the fact that they had his father's locket strengthen the story's validity.

“Oh, at least a week” Francis eagerly replied. “I was sure to mess up that pretty face of his first. Would you like me to list everything I cut off him?”

“Shut up...” Nate muttered as he gripped his swords so tightly, his hands started to bleed.

“Let's see, I took one of his eyes, his nose, several teeth, most of his ears... Oh and his tail” Francis giggled. “He screamed real loud when I cut that off. By the final day he was telling us anything we wanted to know. Not that we really cared but it's always nice to have a name to put to a face, or what's left of one.”

“I said shut up” Nate growled as tears began to run down his face.

“Once we'd had our fun with Edward, we sailed out to uncharted waters and dumped him” Peter explained. “I wonder how long he lasted in his condition before drowning or becoming something's lunch.”

“SHUT UP!” Nate shouted before letting out a fierce roar and charging directly toward the four pirates, tears flying behind him. The hulking Jason quickly moved to intercept the berserk reyn and managed to grab him by the front of his tunic and lift him into the air. Undeterred, Nate gave the exposed parts of Jason's arms several wild cuts, forcing the huge pirate to toss him away.

Fortunately, Nate was able to land on his feet just as Francis rushed directly toward him and let loose a flurry of strikes with his daggers. Despite the pirate's well coordinated combination, Nate didn't let a single attack breach his guard and even began to force the pirate back. However, just when it looked like Nate was about to score a blow, the short pirate jumped away, just in time for Julian to whip one of his chains at Nate.

When the enraged reyn swatted the chain away with a single stroke of his sword, Jason charged forward and swung a punch at Nate's chest. Realizing he had no time to properly dodge, Nate raised his other sword up to guard. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and the iron glove not only knocked his sword aside, it also collided with his chest. The blow was so powerful it sent Nate hurdling back-first into the tavern's wall.

“You got guts kid” Peter chuckled while watching Nate fall to the ground. “But that only gets you so far. Now, perhaps you should stay down so we can get the kassi.”

“No...” Nate groaned before coughing up a little blood. “I won't quit...” Despite being in a lot of pain, Nate managed to pick himself up and stumble toward the tavern's entrance to block it. “For Jane... For my father... I'm not letting you bastards through...”

After raising his swords, Nate glanced back into the tavern hoping to see an awake Jane. Unfortunately, the only faces he spotted were those of frightened mirian hiding behind the bar. “Jane... I promise I won't let you down” he thought before looking back at his four opponents. Jason was cracking his knuckles, Francis was clanging his daggers together, Julian was swinging his two chains around and Peter had his crossbow aimed right for Nate's face. “Even if it costs me my life, I will protect you Jane.”

TO BE CONTINUED....
Nate and William find themselves standing against over a hundred pirates and Nate soon learns a shocking truth.

Previous Chapter
Jane, Warrior of Decura Chapter 15A Cute but Chilling Mask
An hour later, Nate let out a sigh as he sat at the tavern's bar. He'd just finished asking the barkeep if he had any clues as to his father's whereabouts. Much to Nate's dismay, the barkeep informed him that he was the first reyn he'd ever seen. “Where are you father?” Nate thought while staring at his drink. “I haven't gotten any leads since Four Corners and even that one was vague at best...”
Nate felt a quick tap on his arm and glanced over to see Nice standing on the bar. “Hey reyn, I require your services” she whispered while frantically looking around the tavern, her eyes filled with terror. “I'll make it worth your while and that's a kassi promise.”
“What's the matter with you Nice?” Nate asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I just finished meditating only to find that my other servant, William, got dragged off into another room by the grumpy dwarf woman” Nice explained, sweat pouri


Next Chapter
Jane, Warrior of Decura Chapter 17Journey Over?
After letting out a yawn, Jane sat up and stretched out her arms. “What a great sleep...” she mumbled while rubbing the rest of the sleep from her eyes. The sunlight beamed in through the opened window, it's warmth almost causing Jane to lay back down. Fortunately, Jane was able to summon all her willpower and pulled herself out of bed. Through her sleepy eyes, Jane managed to spot a mirror and slowly stumbled toward it.
However, the second Jane got close to the mirror, she almost jumped back. Strangely, she didn't recognize the girl staring back at her. The person in the mirror had long black hair, paler skin and lacked Jane's impressive height, scars and toned physique.
That's when it hit her. “Wait a minute... That's me” she thought as her eyes widened. “Or at least, that's what I used to look like before coming to Decura.”
Now wide awake, Jane quickly scanned her room, immediately realizing she wasn't in Sunhaze Bay's tavern
© 2017 - 2024 LordWolx
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Dang this is sooo Good! Your fights so well-written!! Not to mention that you're showing off Quill and her top pirates but never letting her top men look too weak compared to her and William by having Nate taking out two of them with ease!


I also see what you did with Edward,if I'm right then your making this adventure a hell of a great time similar to One Piece 😊😊

You give me hope as an aspiring writer 😊🔥🔥