According to Neri, she had gone down to the hold to make sure the cargo was secure in case an attack did occur. After hearing it was a false alarm from Org the goblin, she was about to head back up when she noticed someone talking alarmedly from below. It was Iritius, whom she had no idea why he’d be in the hold in the first place. As she descended the stairs, it sounded as if he had caught someone doing something they weren’t supposed to. Then- muffled cries, and a thud, followed by silence. Neri apparently hid inside one of the crates before seeing what had actually happened. After about five minutes she said, she went out and found Iritius where he was now, dead. That’s when she screamed bloody murder.

  Checking the corpse, Captain Dawnwing found two stab wounds in the chest, one that hit the lung and the other had certainly pierced the heart. He ordered Aritian, Momo, and Pan to search the entire hold for any sort of short, bladed weapon, but they found nothing. Neri did have a knife on herself, but it was completely clean. Dawnwing huddled with the three adventurers to discuss everything before they proceeded any further.

  “I believe Neri’s story. I don’t think she murdered that Iritius fellow. Problem is, unless we be havin’ a stowaway, which is the next thing we’ll check for… someone on the boat that we know is the culprit.”

  “Oh! Iritius… and Aritian… the names are pretty similar… you think that’s a coincidence?” contemplated Momo.

  “Who’s Aritian?” replied Aritian flatly.

  “Nay,” added Dawnwing, “There are now three things we need to do. First- we’ll have Neri check the hold for anyone hiding. Second, Momanuel, Kitty, and Valarys, head up and search the rest of the boat. If we’re clear, then I’ll apprise the rest of the crew as to what happened. After that, it’ll be up to ye to ask and get everyone’s story- what they were doing, and when, leading up to the murder. In the meantime, I’ve got to keep this boat on course and try to figure out the motive behind Iritius’ death- I’ll search his things upstairs. Any questions?”

  “Yeah-” replied Aritain, “How come you’re leaving all of this up to us? I mean, not to sound strange, but… you did just meet us yesterday. You’ve known the crew for much longer, certainly.”

  “Aye, that be true,” stated Dawnwing somewhat regretfully, “however, I am a good judge of character. And I feel that you three are the kind of adventurers who do right by the people who trust ye. I’m a bit biased in that way towards my own crew- I’d never imagine that any of them could be guilty. That… and the fact that you three were up on the deck with me when the murder occurred, that makes me trust ye.”

  Momo had almost forgotten about that part- it really couldn’t have been himself, Pan, or Aritian who killed Iritius. That left the other crew members as suspects; Org the security goblin, Fradrick the first mate, Bibizan the cook, Eli the cabin boy, or it could just have been Neri, the cargo worker.

  They had Neri open up all the crates and compartments in the hold to no avail- all were void of any hidden occupants. Then, Momo, Pan, and Aritian checked out the lower deck, main deck, and the forecastle and quarterdeck. No sneaky knife murderers to be found. So after Dawnwing gathered everyone on board and told them what had happened, it was interrogation time. All the other crewmembers were ordered to stay in the dining room with Pan as Aritian and Momo spoke with each one at a time in the kitchen.

  First up, they met with Fradrick, who as the first mate, should have really known what was going on at all times when he clearly didn’t. The first question Aritian came up with was why he hadn’t shown up on the deck when a pirate attack was announced.

  “Well, ah, as the first mate, it’s also my duty to make sure that everyone was aware and safe on the vessel- so I checked in on everyone before I made my way up, and by the time I got around to that, uh, there was the scream downstairs and… yeah.”

  Momo could easily smell the strong alcohol coming off the orc’s breath as he spoke.

  “So, if we ask everyone else, they’ll tell us that you checked in on them? And even if that’s true, you definitely didn’t check in on everyone, since one of your crew-mates is dead.”

  Fradrick cracked almost immediately; “Alright! OKAY! I have a bit of a problem, in case you haven’t noticed!”

  “We noticed,” prompted Momo.

  “And after yesterday when I spent 5 minutes conversing with what I thought was the captain about our course, Dawnwing took away the last of my rum, and hid it in his quarters!”

  “What were you conversing with?” queried Momo.

  “A very convincing seagull on the railing.”

  “... did this seagull have a knife?” followed up Momo.

  “So is that where you really were? Looking for the rum in the captain’s room?” Aritian accused.

  “Yes. And evidently… I found it. And I drank it,” stated Fradrick, his head swaying.

  Next was Bibizan, who was really taking issue with them holding interviews with the crew in the kitchen. Every step or motion they took would send her into hysterics if it risked touching or invading the space of her spices or ingredients.

  “What did you do after you heard me say there was a pirate attack?” asked Momo after sufficiently calming the lizardfolk down.

  “Well, I started looking for my whacking spoon for defense, if we were going to actually be attacked by some pirates, but Org told me it was a false alarm before I found it,” answered Bibizan as if this made perfect sense.

  “Your… whacking spoon?” inquired Aritian.

  “Oh, yes. I did end up finding it after,” said Bibizan, who pulled a ridiculously large wooden spoon from somewhere behind her. It was at least 6 feet long, and must have weighed a ton.

  “What the hell do you even use that for?”

  “There are some old Dwarven soup recipes that call for such an implement to be used.”

  Next they chose Org, who as the alleged security expert of the vessel, really should have been on the deck during the ‘attack’. The goblin seemed to fidget uncomfortably on their stool as Momo asked them the first question.

  “Murderer says what?!”

  “Huh?” said Org, clearly caught off-guard. Momo looked to Aritian to see if this counted as proof of guilt. Aritian rolled his golden eyes.

  “Look,” the aasimar started, “you surely heard from someone that there was an attack. Where were you?”

  “I was actually at the crows nest before any of it started, way at the top. So when everything went down, I actually was there. In fact, I was technically there before you guys,” Org stated.

  This made sense to Momo and Aritian- at first. Then, Momo realized something.

  “Wait- but before Neri screamed down in the hold, you told everyone that the attack was a false alarm. We would’ve seen you come down from the crows nest to do that! LIAR!”

  “Uh… would you believe that I snuck past you guys?”

  “Not with all that heavy gear you carry, no,” rebutted Aritian.

  “Fine, fine! Look, I’m ah… not as brave as everyone thinks,” admitted Org, “I swear I started to go up- but I stayed by the stairway that leads down to the lower deck- I can’t risk getting hit by a stray bullet or arrow! I watched the captain talk with Marlon, then when I realized it wasn’t an attack, I went and told Bibizan, Iritius, and Neri, who were all on the lower deck. After that, I went and took off my armor with my things.”

  “You never found Eli?” asked Aritian.

  “No.”

  “And did you see Fradrick at all?” Momo questioned.

  “Oh, he was most certainly looking for his rum in the captain’s quarters.”

  With that, they chose to question Eli next. The young boy looked exceptionally nervous, but any kid in his situation would probably be quite frightened to death.

  “I, uh… well it’s simple. When I heard the pirates, I hid in the head of the ship,” he explained.

  “The head?” clarified Aritian.

  “... the toilet. Near the captain’s room.”

  “Ah. Smart,” noted Momo, “in case you had to go during the attack.”

  It seemed neither Momo nor Aritian had the heart to keep interrogating the scared child, so they moved on to the final, and most likely suspect, Neri.

  “Alright, Neri,” started Momo with a finger extended accusingly, “if that even is your real name… why’d you do it?”

  Neri was starting to sweat. Her fire-lit eyes flickered nervously. “W- What?”

  Aritian sighed. “Look, we’ve spoken with everyone but you. You were in the hold. Iritius died in the hold. Seems like… y’know.”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “But, but you checked my blade! There was no blood or anything on my knife!” she protested, “And there wasn’t any other weapons in the hold otherwise, so whoever killed him took their blade with them upstairs!”

  “AH! But not if you tossed it out the window of the hold!” objected the tengu.

  “Momanuel, there’s no openings down there. It’s below the water line,” pointed out Aritian.

  “Oh.”

  They decided to let Neri go, for fear that she would burst into tears if they asked any more questions. Dawnwing found them a while later after the crew had been released to go about their business. It was just nearing dawn now- the murder seemed like it had happened ages ago, but it must have only been 6 or 7 hours. Everyone seemed nervous, but no one had any idea what to really do.

  “Well? Anything?” the captain said with a hint of pleading.

  “Well… no,” replied Aritian.

  “Nothing conclusive,” answered Momo.

  Dawnwing grit his teeth, which for a tengu was more of an angry clicking of the beak. “Damn. I hate to suspect one of me own crew, but that’s how it seems it is.” He paced along the deck now, watching the waves anxiously as if they might reveal the answer. “I did some digging through Iritius’ belongings and his person. Looks like he was heading to Barren to trade some of the materials used in their Harmonyist rituals. Sacrificial talismans, ingredients, stuff like that.” Dawnwing took a moment to spit off the side.

  “Which means… that anyone on the ship who’d have a grudge against the Harmonyists might have killed Iritius as revenge?” suggested Aritian. “Has somebody in the crew been a victim of the sacrifices?”

  “That’s the thing,” continued the captain, “As far as I am aware, none of my crew has been directly affected by their purges. Which means no motive.”

  The three of them hung their heads in discouragement as the sound of the foaming ocean kept on. Pan groaned.

  Dawnwing spoke up. “Of course, you interview them again, and-”

  “No. No more questioning,” asserted Aritian. “Momanuel, Kitty, and I haven’t slept in two days now. We’ll think more clearly on a good night's sleep. Besides, I don’t think there’s anything else we can learn now.”

  A few minutes later, the three adventurers convened by themselves in the hold. Aritian had just finished moving all their belongings as well as a couple of the hammocks down there now. It must have been almost noon when they finally came up with a plan.

  Aritian started. “My theory is that the killer, whoever they were, was down here trying to accomplish something- maybe loot the cargo, sabotage the boat…”

  “And that’s when Iritius found them. And then… stabby stabby,” finished Momo. Pan yipped in agreement.

  “Which means,” continued Aritian, “that they still might come back here to complete their objective. I say we stay here for the rest of the journey, stake it out. If the murderer returns, we’ll ambush them.”

  The dim magical lights flickered hauntingly across the adventurers' circumspect faces. Momo stroked the dark feathers of his chin. “Well… I don’t really want to have to talk to the crew again. So yeah, lets do it.”

  Momo and Pan agreed to take the first watch while Aritian slept; they couldn’t afford to all sleep at the same time when the killer came down. They had tucked themselves and their stuff around the corner behind the stairway- there was almost no way somebody could walk on the stairs without them hearing the creaking of wooden floorboards above.

  Hours passed and Momo spent the time carving a drawing of Pan, Aritian, and himself sailing a boat of their own and fighting a kraken with wings. Pan complained that her fangs weren’t big enough in the picture but it was fine. Meanwhile, nothing happened on the stairway at all. At some point, Momo began to fear that everyone upstairs had turned into zombies or something. It was eerily quiet other than the splashing of waves around them and the echoes of sea winds above.

  At sundown Momo’s head started to sway with fatigue and so he nudged Aritian awake. The bard was grateful that nothing had happened while he was unconscious and began pantomiming his harp as Momo curled up next to Pan. Drowsiness soon took over and the rhythmic breathing of his panther friend guided him to sleep.

  ***

  Momo didn’t usually have particularly vivid dreams, but this one was different. An angelic being made of powerful purple light was reaching out to him in a land of clouds. It whispered a promise of power and security from anything that could hurt him. It all sounded honky-dory, but something was holding back Momo from taking the angel’s hand and accepting the blessing. He wasn’t sure if it was an invisible barrier, or… perhaps his own caution. The glimmering hand and bright heavenly lights were soon replaced by a bloody hand of flesh in a dimly lit room.

  Aritian grabbed hold of the tengu’s shoulder and shook him further awake. His fine silk dress shirt had now been drenched in dark blood from a wound. There was a slice somewhere on his stomach, and Aritian's golden eyes were shockingly wide with danger.

  “WAKE UP! I’M BLEEDING!!” he shrieked.

  Momo immediately sat up and snatched his greatsword from the pack beside him.

  “What? Happened?” he asked, rubbing his beak. “Is this dream?”

  I’m doing it again. Blabbering bird-brain.

  “He’s here! The assassin!” Aritain rasped, pointing around the corner of the stairs.

  Momo quickly noticed that Pan was nowhere to be seen. He almost shoved his friend out of the way to look for the missing panther.

  In front of the stairway, pretty much exactly where they had found Iritius’ dead body, stood a hooded figure wearing a dark blue robe.

  It’s him. This guy’s the killer, said Pan, who stood in between the stairs and the figure now, blocking the path in a crouched stance.

  It was difficult to discern in the flickering light, but he had sharp facial features and very pale skin. With their cloak now removed and flung to the side, the equipment and armor of a light-footed assassin could be seen- glistening throwing knives, vials of drab liquids, and twin sheathes for two daggers adorned his body. One of which was in hand now, dripping with blood. He smiled devilishly and pointed his blade threateningly at Momo.

  “Finally,” the assassin said with a tooth-gnashing cadence, “you fools made this much harder than it needed to-”

  “Who the fuck are you?!” exploded Momo now in confusion. This guy was certainly not one of the crewmembers they had met; they didn’t even remotely resemble anyone aboard.

  At this outburst, the assassin seemed taken aback for a moment with eyes wide, but quickly regained their composure. “It does not matter. What matters is your deaths, boy. This entire time I’ve been waiting for a moment to get you two and your pet alone, but I suppose this is as good an opportunity as any.”

  With that, the pale skinned foe tossed two knives straight at Momo in a flash of swift metal. Still hung up on the fact that this random guy was apparently the murderer they had been looking for this whole time, Momo was slow to dodge, and caught a blade straight in the pectoral. As he glanced down at the wound, he could see what Aritain had meant- blood was unnaturally flowing out at an alarming rate; likely a poison or some similar quality coating the blades that was causing this.

  Pan pounced recklessly with a savage roar upon seeing her companion injured brutally- but the assassin dodged, weaving their body like a contortionist to evade tooth or claws. His adrenaline pumping now, Momo charged forth and swung the greatsword in a wide arc in combination with Pan’s furious swipes. The assassin continued to deflect and duck his way through the assault, making counterattacks with his own slashing daggers at Pan and Momo all the while. After a furious few seconds, the adventurer and his animal companion were forced to back up- multiple bodily burning sensations lead them on to the fact that they had been hit at least a couple times in the brawl.

  This isn’t working- Pan rasped, we can barely hit him.

  “Me knows. We need plan.”

  Fweet! Fweet!

  A slew of arrows flew by Momo’s shoulder a moment later, surprising everyone in the room, including the murderer who took one of the projectiles to the collarbone.

  Aritian, evidently now recovered somewhat from his gaping, stood at the side of the hold’s hallway they had slept in drawing arrows like a madman at their target. For a split-second, it looked like the tide of the fight was turning- until a dark cloud of smoke erupted at the feet of the pale assassin. Momo, Pan, and Aritian converged on the stairway to try and survey the scene, but it was impossible to tell where their enemy might be now.

  “We could go up and try to raise the others to fight! The captain surely would back us up,” suggested Aritian. The druid heard his friend’s words, but the intense pain from his wounds was starting to make him rash. Not only that, but Momo’s empathic connection to Pan was feeding him even more information regarding her agony. He was mad.

  “No. Killer-man may hide below. We never find again. I end this now,” stated Momo, now forming the basics of a plan. Pan yipped with doubt.

  This plan has holes. Literally.

  “Okay,” agreed Aritian, “Then what’s the-”

  With a magical flick of his hand, Momo caused a small section of the hold’s wooden walls to peel back, revealing the dark ocean water outside which rapidly flooded inwards. Within moments the assassin’s smoke cloud became sucked up by the churning cold seawater. The three of them backed up the stairs as the room ahead filled more and more, until in front of them was a wall of opaque black liquid. Not even the magical firelights on the sides could shine through it.

  “Momo!? Isn’t this plan going to sink us?” frantically shouted Aritian.

  With a finger, Momo guided his friends bow upwards to aim ahead into the billowing black water.

  “Not if he runs out of breath first.”

  For many uneasy seconds, the water continued to rise slowly. Up half a step. Up another full step now. The Zarl’s Wind creaked and groaned under the new force pulling it downwards. Pan looked up to check if they were somehow taking on water from above now too- it was hard to tell exactly what was happening now. All became quiet, save for the bubbling water in front of them. Aritian was the first to break the tense silence.

  “What if he swam out the hole-”

  A silhouette suddenly broke through the water with dual daggers in hand, raised above its head and ready to strike for the purpose of death.

  Thunk!

  Whether it had been from the shock of someone jumping out of the darkness, or pure instinct, Aritian had loosened his arrow straight into the eye of the assassin. His lifeless figure flopped forward onto the bottom step quite like a fish. No one made a move nor said a word.

  A creak from the top stair brought everyone out of the trance.

  “What in Davy Jones is going on down here?!” shouted Captain Dawnwing, evidently roused from his slumber at last.

  It took only a few minutes to explain what had transpired in the hold that night to the rest of the crew, of which Eli the cabin boy was missing. Some simple deductions led Dawnwing to presume something had happened to the poor kid before he could come aboard at the Gulf Port. The assassin who replaced him had obviously been well-trained and equipped, and had himself revealed his mission was indeed to kill Momo, Aritian, and Pan. Searching his corpse, they found several parchments that might have at one time shown the details of their assailant and his mission, but the ocean water had scrubbed them of all legibility. Aritian privately said to Momo that the killer likely spotted them at the port and was aiming to collect the reward money the Cassian Kingdom had put on their heads. It didn’t explain why that merchant Iritius had ended up dead, but it made enough sense. Dawnwing now planned to sell off the cargo of everburning torches and send whatever was due to Iritius’ estate. The captain would send a letter of his demise as soon as they reached shore in Cassia.

  After tending to the three adventurer’s wounds, it took the crew a long time to bail all the water from the hold. Momo even had to convince a consortium of octopuses to plug the hole in the wall while they made repairs, trading the mollusks’ labor and time for fish food. Hours of carrying buckets up and down the stairs made Aritian and Momo sore, and a much deserved break just after dawn found them collapsed in their cots, now back in the lower deck resting.

  “So… plan is still to check out this… Altarus prison and see what we can learn, right?” queried Aritian.

  “Yeah,” said Momo lazily, however his mind was elsewhere. For the first time, he was beginning to feel like a real adventurer now. Pan was purring in a deep tone as she slept beneath him.

  “You were wrong about running,” Momo threw out.

  Aritian turned over in his hammock. “What do you mean?”

  “When things got hairy, even when you were stabbed and bleeding out, you came back and fought. You didn’t run, Aritian.”

  “Yeah well… I’m not travelling solo anymore. I can’t leave a teammate behind. Besides… we’re on a journey to rescue the others. It wouldn't make sense to not save everyone.”

  Finally there was a sense of peace on the ship with the three members of Overlord out of danger. They would all arrive at the city of Barren in Cassia in three days, where the three of them would need to jump ship before arriving at the port in order to avoid identification. Momo found himself struggling to keep his eyes open, being gently rocked like a baby in the arms of the sea waves below. The weather was turning colder and colder as they headed further south. He shuddered.

  “Aritian?”

  “Yes?”

  “If the other guys are still alive, like that paladin from Higherlord said… what do you think’s happening to them?”

  Aritian paused. An icy wind from abovedecks passed through the room.

  “I imagine they’re going through hell right about now.”