"What's goin' on? I thought you were goin' to get that pervert?" Tabitha asks.

"We are. She's not on that s.h.i.+p," Fenrir says, looking at Ull's flags.h.i.+p.

"Where is she?" Oleander asks. "Just point me her way and we'll get going."

Fenrir struggles to see exactly where The Steel Tiger is as it's already left the docks and the sun is setting, but he can still feel which direction Nell is in. "They're taking her out of the city," he says.

"Who's they?" Ca.s.siel asks.

"Alexander and his crew. Don't know how they got her off of Ull's s.h.i.+p, but it wasn't with Ull's permission. Ull still thinks she's...o...b..ard there."

Oleander is already at the s.h.i.+p's wheel and starting the engine while dropping the sails. Serra hardly manages to untie the s.h.i.+p to the pier in time for its sudden power to jolt it forward away from the pier.

The fire that was engulfing Ull's flags.h.i.+p has already been extinguished. Some of the men aboard it are shouting and pointing at The s...o...b..ll as it sails away, suspicious as they have yet to discover whom attacked them.

"Think they'll come after us?" Ca.s.siel asks Fenrir, standing next to him.

"They won't. Ull said he knew it wasn't us," Fenrir answers.

"You talked to him?"

"Yeah, ran into him on the way here. He was trying to figure out who attacked his s.h.i.+p and said that it obviously couldn't have been us, so once he talks to his crew, it should be fine."

"Speakin' of that deer guy, what're we goin' to do about this horn? Where should I get 'er set up?" Tabitha asks.

Fenrir wants nothing more than to hurry and catch up to The Steel Tiger to save Nell, but until they actually get closer, there isn't anything for him to do. All he can do for the moment is to try and calm down. "Not sure. The ballista has been pretty useful, so I don't want to replace it with the horn. It would probably be better off near the back by Olly. He likes blowing things anyways, so I'm sure he wouldn't mind a giant horn next to him," he says. An obvious tension controls his tone despite him trying to joke around.

…

"Why are you doing this?" Nell asks, trying to break free from the chains around her body. She can't even see what is happening as a heavy cloth is tightly tied around her head, blocking her vision.

"Because I refuse to return emptyhanded. Honestly, I don't care about you in the slightest, but I know that my empress will. I also know that kidnapping you is going to get underneath that mutt's skin, so taking you is common sense," Alexander says as he holds a cracked gem in his hand. "Shame these teleportation gems can only be used once."

"Empress? I only know of a single empress in this world."

"That's right. Livia, Empress of the Augus Empire. She likes to collect things just like your old master did, but unlike him, she actually uses her collection instead of just letting it collect dust. Do not worry, she is not a cruel woman. She just gets what she wants."

"You are working for her?" Nell asks, still struggling within her chains.

"Working for her? I suppose you could say that. Though, it is a shame that I couldn't accomplish my original mission."

"And what would that be?"

"Like I would tell you that – at least, I cannot tell you that yet. I'll fill you in on the details once we make it to our friends."

"If Ull discovers that you are the one who has taken me, and that you work for Livia, you understand that he will wage war against the empire, don't you?"

Alexander bursts into a fit of laughter! "Right! What's going to happen? Some Vikings from across the ocean try to not only make it through the Augus Empire's navy, but then give up all their advantages to march inland and attack fortified cities? I would love to see some Vikings away from the water and their trees try and a.s.sault a citadel. They wouldn't even be able to make it past the outer layers of defenses let alone get anywhere near anything that matters. They would be annihilated before they even reach the first walls."

"Do not underestimate Ull. He is a powerful—"

"And Livia is the smartest player in this game and she's also leading the most powerful and largest faction there is. Have I mentioned that her commanders are all as strong as Ull, the Lightning Witch, and even Indra? Trust me, snake, there is no reason to think that your old master nor his pathetic little followers could ever take on the empire."

"If the empire is so powerful then why would Livia be interested in me?"

"Why do you think? Not a single faction has been able to defeat one of the serpents. However, you somehow made a deal with one. If the rumors are to be trusted, one could even say that you're friends with it. Whatever knowledge you have is one of a kind and something that Livia would never pa.s.s up. There is no telling what lies beyond the serpent, and Livia would love to discover how to get past them."

"I will not share such information with anybody. Well, perhaps," Nell smiles, "I might share it with Fenrir. He is the only one deserving of such knowled—" Nell is cut off when lifted up by the chain around her neck.

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"He is nothing compared to my empress, and if you think that you could resist her, you are sorely mistaken. She will get that information out of you in one way or another."

"You really do feel inferior to him, don't you?" Nell asks, her voice struggling from the tight chain constricting around her neck. She may not feel pain, but she can still find it difficult to breathe. "You get so jealous just from me saying his name."

He tightens the chain even more.

"Even Ull is more of a man than you. He never resorted to violence," Nell says thus earns even more of Alexander's fury.

Alexander pushes her against the wall while keeping her held up by her throat, each of his hands now wrapped around it. "You are lucky that I can't kill you," he says. "This would all have been for nothing if I do tha—"

Nell's tail thrusts forward and wraps around his neck! The rough scales protecting it sc.r.a.pe against his skin as she constricts her tail around his neck, and she even tries to yank her tail as if trying to snap his neck.

However, her attempt at fighting back ends up being short-lived as Alexander drops her to the ground, draws his sword, and stabs it into her tail.

Nell feels her tail go numb as it limply falls to the floor. It has been a while since she last suffered enough damage to actually see her vision start to darken, and this numb sensation reminds her of her encounter with Manasa.

"You might have an innocent face, but you're just as much of a b.i.t.c.h as that mutt is," Alexander says, rubbing his neck. He then takes his sword out from her tail only to thrust it right back in, pinning it against the floorboard. "Let me make one thing very clear to you. Until I hand you over to my empress, I will not be treating you like Ull did. I'm not going to just lock you away when you misbehave. You are stuck with me until we make it up to the capital, so if you misbehave, I will punish you."

"I do not believe we will be together for as long as you think," Nell says, looking in the direction of the s.h.i.+p's stern. She may not be able to see still, but she can feel.

"Sir! We're being followed!" one of the crewmen shouts.

"What – how? Is it some random n.o.body we p.i.s.sed off? Wouldn't put it past those idiots from the second round to try and get revenge either," Alexander says.

"Can't tell, sir! Just see its silhouette heading straight for us!"

"How long until we meet up with our escape?"

"We can't go any faster than this, so it'll be another hour at least!"

"My hero will catch up by then," Nell says.

"What are you talking about?" Alexander asks her.

"My hero – that s.h.i.+p coming after you. It is The s...o...b..ll, is it not? My hero is coming to rescue me, and when he sees what you have done to my tail, I doubt that he is going to be very kind to you. I've caught him looking at it rather often, so I think he may be into that sort of play," Nell explains with a smile.

"You – d.a.m.n it! You three, get back here and equip everything you can!" Alexander shouts to his crew.

…

Fenrir sneezes.

"Catchin' a cold there?" Tabitha asks.

"Don't think so," Fenrir answers.

"Perhaps somebody is talking about you?" Corwin suggests.

Fenrir shrugs and returns his attention to Serra and the ballista. Using the explosive bolts are too risky for as long as Nell is aboard The Steel Tiger, so the hook-shot has been loaded into the ballista instead. "All you have to do is slow them down," Fenrir tells Serra.

"Got it," Serra says, aiming through the scope and ready to fire.

"Everybody ready? The rest of you ready?" Fenrir turns around and asks.

Bonekraka, Ca.s.siel, and Tabitha have their weapons out.

"About time we board," Bonekraka says. "Finally get real fight."

"Yeah, I've got to admit I've been missing fighting with my sword," Ca.s.siel says.

"I 'spose it's about time to finally show off what I can do with my baby here," Tabitha says as she casually twirls her ma.s.sive hammer around with her fingers.

"Alright! Let's kill those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds and rescue Nell. We rescue her and I promise there won't be any more fis.h.i.+ng tournaments," Fenrir says. He turns around to look back at Serra, ready to tell her to fire, but ends up almost getting knocked off his feet when Oleander performs a sharp turn to avoid a blast of fire magic.

"We aren't going to be able to get close if they keep shooting fire at us!" Oleander shouts. "It's way stronger than before!"

Not only are the blasts of fire larger and being shot from further away than Alexander did during the tournament, but they are much more accurate given the increased distance between the s.h.i.+ps.

Sailing straight at them would be suicide. Hooking onto them to slow them down would be just as bad.

"Why are you smiling?" Ca.s.siel asks.

"They're afraid," Fenrir says. "He's trying to keep us away. He knows that if we get close, we win. He also knows we're not going to risk shooting them while Nell is there, so all he has to do is keep us away."

"But he'll run out of Mana eventually. Isn't it a waste to just use it all up now?"

"He's not dumb, so that just means he's trying to buy time for something."

"Or somebody," Tabitha adds on.

"Exactly," Fenrir says.

"Then what do we do?" Ca.s.siel asks.

"Something stupid."