22. Tristan: First Job (V)

  Tristan watched anxiously as Rosalina dropped to one knee, clutching her head with both hands, fighting against the pain of the Reaver Worm writhing inside her skull.

  She groaned in agony, blood trickling rapidly from her nose. The sight made Tristan deeply uncomfortable.

  “Rosie, are you okay?” He asked, curiously rather than worriedly, when she remained silent for a relatively long moment.

  “Yes.” Rosalina slowly raised her head, her eyes briefly glowing a faint blue before returning to normal. “And stop calling me Rosie.”

  ‘Hmm…she seems relatively fine.’ Tristan thought.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Like my brain just melted.” She replied sharply, then shook her head. “It doesn’t matter right now. Let’s focus on the traitors.”

  She stood up quickly, sniffing rapidly through her nose, searching for the scent of stolen goods.

  It was bizarre seeing Rosalina sniffing the air so aggressively, and Tristan wondered if such exaggerated movements were necessary for the magic to work, or if Rosalina was just too inexperienced with it.

  “There!” She suddenly called out.

  Rosalina lifted Tristan with one arm and sprinted toward a medium-sized ship docked not far from their position.

  Using the Thermolis, Tristan could see at least twenty figures aboard. If David had paid them for their services, alarming them might provoke the entire crew into attacking. Or rather, they’d attack Rosalina and use Tristan as leverage, forcing her to surrender – since he was painfully aware there wasn’t much he could do trapped inside a child’s body.

  “I’ll leave you here.” Rosalina suddenly said, as if reading his thoughts. “I’ll deal with them and drag their asses out in shackles if I must.”

  Tristan hesitated at first. He sensed Rosalina didn’t actually have a concrete plan. What if they killed her? Would he simply remain hidden, waiting helplessly for…something?

  Moreover, despite knowing his physical limitations, Tristan wanted to be there – to observe, to learn, even if he couldn’t do anything on his own.

  Eventually, instead of commanding Rosalina to take him along, he chose to remain silent. He’d board the ship on his own, quietly following her. That way, he’d be present to watch Rosalina handle things without burdening her. Allowing her to battle freely without worrying about his safety.

  Rosalina rushed up the gangplank, crossing onto the ship’s deck in mere seconds.

  She was immediately greeted by one of the ship’s crew members who was keeping watch.

  The crew member turned sharply toward her, startled by her intrusion. Before he could shout or even fully draw his weapon, Rosalina plunged her great sword into the wooden deck and unsheathed her katana from it. Then, in one seamless motion, she charged forward, striking the man squarely in the jaw with the blunt side of her weapon, instantly knocking him unconscious.

  Across the deck, another sailor noticed the commotion and immediately sounded the alarm. “Intruder aboard! Intruder aboard!

  Within moment, more men began pouring from below deck, scrambling into the open with weapons drawn, their eyes sleepy yet wary.

  Rosalina stood calmly, pointing the edge of her sword toward the rapidly gathering crew – at least seventeen men now.

  “Their names are David and Fenek.” Rosalina said, her voice deadly calm. “You’re harboring enemies of Ifrit aboard your ship. Bring them here now or suffer the consequences.”

  A tall, broad-shouldered man stepped forward, clearly the captain by the confidence his stance radiated. He raised his hands in a placating gesture.

  “Listen, lady,” he said firmly. “My crew and I are from Kareth. We hold no allegiance to either side of your underworld feuds. I don’t know who these ‘enemies’ of yours are, and frankly, I don’t care. I kindly ask you to leave my ship before things escalate.”

  Rosalina narrowed her eyes, taking a threatening step closer. Her voice grew colder. “I’m not asking again. Hand over the two men you’re harboring, or I’ll personally see to it that you and your crew never set foot in Stulan or any other kingdom ever again – alive or otherwise.”

  Silence fell over the deck, the tension thickening. Meanwhile, Tristan quietly slipped aboard the ship unnoticed. He kept himself low, hidden carefully behind stacked barrels, and watched the confrontation in silence.

  Then, two men emerged from behind the assembled crew, draped all in black – including their faces.

  “Captain Murell, thank you kindly for your loyalty!” David said brightly, clapping the man on the shoulder as he passed by. “I truly appreciate your bravery. Remarkable, really!”

  Then he turned toward Rosalina.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Commander Rose.” David called out cheerfully. “You’ve figured us out. We knew you wouldn’t call for backup – you’d much rather die of shame then admit you had failed. Not surprising in the least – but I must admit I’m curious. How exactly did you find the precise ship we were hiding on? Or were you planning to raid every single vessel here until you stumbled upon us?”

  Fenek, standing closely beside him, inclined his head respectfully toward Rosalina. “Commander Valcazar.”

  “What was the idea, David?” Rosalina asked, her voice betraying the frustration and disappointment she felt. “Betraying Ifrit? Really? Even if you managed to fool us and escape the harbor, do you think Ifrit wouldn’t send people to hunt you across all of Terra? Are you that overconfident that you’d think you’d be able to escape him for the rest of your life?”

  David shrugged playfully. “That was never our goal, Rose.”

  “Then what was?” She pressed firmly.

  “We can’t tell you, Commander Valcazar.” Fenek calmly stepped forward.

  Rosalina clicked her tongue in irritation. “Two fools…Either way, you’re both under arrest. Ifrit himself will decide exactly how he wants to execute you. I hope the thrill of danger and stupidity was worth it.”

  David laughed shortly. “We’ll see about that. There’s still one thing we need to do here.”

  Then, before Rosalina could respond, David lunged toward her, drawing his scimitar at the same time.

  Rosalina reacted instantly, bringing her katana up just in time to deflect his strike. David pivoted swiftly, slashing again, each swing powerful enough to pressure Rosalina backward.

  Rosalina adjusted her stance quickly, her blade slicing forward as she regained control of the situation and pushed David onto the defensive.

  Their blades clashed as the ship’s crew were at a loss for what to do.

  Though David moved fluidly, executing quick counters, Rosalina’s footwork and overall skill steadily overwhelmed him. She pushed forward harder with each passing moment, and he could barely keep up.

  Meanwhile, Fenek casually approached a seemingly random stack of barrels nearby.

  “Young Master,” he said calmly, his eyes fixed directly on Tristan’s hiding place, “could you please step out and surrender?”

  Tristan’s blood froze instantly.

  ‘How the hell did he know I was here?! They weren’t even above deck when I hid here!’

  Staying still and silent wasn’t going to work – Fenek already knew he was there. So, Tristan quickly decided on his next-best approach.

  “You know that if you harm me, Father will annihilate your entire bloodline, right?” Tristan called out from behind the barrels.

  He was fairly certain Ifrit didn’t care that deeply about him, but it made for an effective threat regardless.

  “I know.” Fenek replied calmly. “Don’t worry. You won’t be harmed, Young Master.”

  Something in Fenek’s calm, reassuring voice almost made Tristan drop his guard. He wondered briefly if Fenek was using some sort of emotion-influencing magic on him.

  Then, a moment later, realization dawned on him. Carefully analyzing Fenek’s words – or rather, the way he said them – Tristan finally understood everything. He finally understood the Partans’ real plan.

  “I’m coming out.” Tristan said decisively, stepping from his hiding spot.

  Fenek, without touching Tristan, gently motioned him forward with his scimitar, guiding him toward the ongoing battle, where Rosalina was clearly beating David into submission.

  David noticed Fenek approaching with Tristan and quickly evaded Rosalina’s next strike, pointing dramatically at them.

  “Well, looks like we’ve caught the little prince!” He announced smugly. “What would you do now, Rose?”

  Rosalina’s gaze snapped toward them, her eyes widening in shock when she saw Tristan seemingly captured by Fenek. “Little Devil!”

  “You bastard!” She turned to David and roared, about to unleash her full wrath on him – but Fenek raised his free hand, stopping her.

  “Commander Valcazar, please withdraw your weapon.”

  Rosalina trembled with anger, eyes darting rapidly as if she was desperately searching for a better solution. Just as she was about to surrender, Tristan spoke up.

  “This had been fun and all, but I already know Father put you up to this.”

  Everyone froze in place.

  “What?” Rosalina asked incredulously, glancing between David and Fenek with widened eyes.

  “Ifrit told them to do it.” Tristan continued with confidence. “It only makes sense.”

  “W-whaaaat? Nooo…” David stammered.

  Tristan turned toward Fenek. “Am I wrong, Partan?”

  Fenek sighed heavily through his black fabric mask, making the answer clear without even saying it out loud.

  David suddenly burst into laughter. “I knew Fenek’s shitty acting would give us away eventually.”

  ***

  “David, you dumb idiot!” Rosalina shouted, punching David’s shoulder – not so playfully.

  He laughed it off, though he seemed in pain. “What can I say in my defense? When the big boss tells me to play a traitor, I play a traitor.” He shook his head. “He had asked us to make it a bit elaborate – to test the Young Master’s brilliant mind – but I’m not sure about how well it turned out. We did have just a few hours to plan an execute everything, leaving all our Partan brothers in the dark while at it.”

  Rosalina sighed deeply. “It does make sense…When he briefed me about the mission, he had insisted I let Tristan take the lead as much as possible. He wanted him to figure everything out. That, and see the family business in its most basic point.”

  Tristan nodded. Now that all the pieces came together, he had the entire picture. But it also meant that Ifrit might be angry with him at how things turned out…

  “The finale wasn’t exactly what he had in mind, though, Young Master.” David said, giving voice to his concerns.

  “He wanted me to use the Reaver Worms?” Tristan asked, already knowing the answer.

  David nodded, and Fenek spoke up, his voice as calm and steady as ever. “Exactly. In the case you did manage to solve the mystery and find us on this ship, he wanted us to push the situation to an extreme, forcing you to use one of the Worms. Unfortunately, I…failed to make it convincing.”

  “You were terrible.” Tristan blurted out, quickly realizing he’d spoke without thinking again. He immediately tried to apologize. “Well, it wasn’t – “

  “No, no, Young Master,” Fenek interrupted, “I know I was terrible. I was never trained in acting – only violence. I tried my best, however.”

  “Your best was shit.” David said, bursting into laughter again before turning to Rosalina. “But seriously, Rose, how did you manage to sniff out our ship? I was planning to give you a clue when I saw you approaching…Did you -”

  Rosalina cut him off with a deep sigh, her gaze dropping toward the ground. “Yes. I took a Worm…”

  Tristan couldn’t see their eyes, but from their body language alone, he was certain David’s and Fenek’s eyes had widened.

  “No way…” David murmured.

  “Is it that big of a deal?” Tristan wondered aloud.

  Before either man could reply, Rosalina spoke up. “I had never used a Reaver Worm before in my life, Little Devil. One of my biggest prides was always my complete lack of magic – born without it, never consuming anything to gain it. Magicless for twenty-eight years, until tonight.”

  Tristan let the revelation sink in, though it didn’t truly surprise him. “And yet, you decided to use it now. Why?”

  Rosalina’s eyes briefly darted away before she met Tristan’s gaze firmly. “Everything I do is for your sake, Little Devil. Always remember that.” She shook her head. “I never thought I would have to use it – and for a fricking act of all things – but it is what it is…”

  She straightened, regaining her composure. “Come on. These two will handle things here, but we must meet Ifrit. I assume he’s expecting you.”