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Chapter 1
All's Fair For Loot And Pride
YAKOBBA
“You weren't expecting to fly away from me alive, were you?”
I dangled my cutlass close to the captain’s bleeding ear, gripping his collar in a tightened fist. He squirmed, trying to wedge himself free. I clenched harder while digging the heel of my boot into the tender folds of his wings where I had them pinned.
“Release me.”
Spittle flew from the captain’s mouth. His two-toned eyes, of pale blue and light gold, stormed beneath the blazing sôlight. Discontented rumbles broke out all over the deck of the ship. Restlessness simmered throughout the shifting feet of my crew as multi-colored eyes embedded in beautiful, hardened faces waiting for me to exact vengeance. I leaned down, bringing myself to a low whisper as I spoke into the captain’s ear. Somehow, my voice still carried enough for both crews to hear.
“You’d think with these breeches riding so far up your rhèr, you’d do a better job of riding the sea.” I shook his collar. “Yet here you kneel like the skyrat you are.”
Snarls broke out among the captain’s crew at my insult. I didn’t care about any of it. All of them were being held at cutlass-point by my crew. One wrong move and they would lose their heads.
“Clip his wings, captain!”
“Make him fly the plank!”
“Feed him to the octocul!”
Shouts broke out among my crew. I didn’t have to look to know who they were coming from. Jaspen, Dakri, and Kassandra. The three eldest in my crew, the first ones to start a fight and the last to know when to quit while they were still ahead.
The captain worked his jaw, his eyes trying to find me. “That’s a lot of flower talk from an Avarien bastard who?—”
The sudden snap in the air was like a whip against stone. The captain snarled, beginning to foam at the mouth, as Kassandra flew forward, slapping him across the face. Hard.
“Watch how you speak to our captain, fish eater!” Kassandra said, eyes shining wildly.
Urnael didn’t.
“You are an embarrassment to Avari,” He choked as I twisted my fist in his collar, cutting off his airflow. “A shame to the crown that should be ripped from your head and fed to fish eaters.”
Shocked murmurs cut through the thin air surrounding the ship. The earthy-brown faces of my crew darkened, vicious snarls contorting their expressions. The ship remained suspended in the air, balanced in the clouds, skyfuel keeping the vessel airborne.
I swallowed my surprise at the captain’s boldness. I sliced off his ear with my cutlass, cutting through bone and sinew. He screamed out, his agony ringing across the clouds. His blood pooled onto my gloved hand, dripping to the wooden deck in leisurely fashion.
“Captain Urnael,” I tsked. “You should know better than to push me.”
I chuckled darkly. Without blinking, before Urnael could get out another word, I plunged the cutlass into his spine, twisting when I felt the crack of bone. The sound that left Urnael's mouth brought a smile to my face. Excellent lessons taught well always brought about sweet music to my ears.
“If you wanted to pillage angels who traversed the sea to betray the Avarien king,” I lifted Urnael’s chin with the taloned point of my wing. “You should’ve done so out of my waters.” My eyes flashed. I felt the exhilaration of bloodlust flooding through my veins. “The Mistwind Sea belongs to me. You won’t bring the wrath of King Izakaya on our heads. If gossip serves me right, he’s demanding a price now,” I chuckled darkly. “And it will be paid with your head.”
“You don’t have the balls to hand my head to the king, Yakobba,” Urnael spat, blood and spittle flying. “I have more favor with him than you ever will.”
My chest tightened at the insult, and the truth couched inside. I yanked Urnael to his feet and throttled him.
“We’ll see how much favor you have when you’re dead.”
I pushed my cutlass deep into Urnael’s bowels. His scream was a broken, agonizing thing. My sword was enough to make him bleed, but it wouldn’t end his life. Fuming down out Urnael, I drew on ethèr—innate, angelic supernatural, power.
As angels of Domenent rank, we were all Enhancers. My particular affinities allowed me a sort of chameleon ability. I could search out any power around me, tap into the source, and draw on it as if it were my own. As I poured ethèr into the cutlass, deeply embedded in Urnael's body, I plunged the power deep, sifting within Urnael's body for his fôrs, his angelic spirit and life energy. Urnael fought back when he realized what I planned to do.
The captain threw up barriers. Wrapped all his defenses with his own powers to throw me off. Kick me out of him.
But I was relentless.
