Silence fell upon the deck. Not a clang rang out, nor a shout. Only a single pair of footsteps crossing the deck toward them.

  Morgan reached The Butcher’s body and retrieved her sword from where it had fallen. Her gaze then fixed on The Butcher’s own sword. For a moment Amanda was worried she would pick it up. The metal was likely still hot, too hot to touch. If she dropped it, it might ruin everything.

  But Sirius, as if reading her mind, got to it before her. With his back to the crowd and his hand tucked inside his coat, he picked up the sword and threw it overboard into the ocean.

  He turned to Morgan.

  For a moment the pair faced one another like two dogs standing over a kill.

  Ever so slightly, Sirius bowed his head in concession. “It was your sword that struck the first blow.”

  Morgan squared her shoulders but her posture relaxed slightly.

  Sirius wiped his own sword on his pants and returned it to his scabbard.

  Seeing this, Morgan turned back to face the crowd. Holding her sword high in the air she proclaimed. “Your Captain is dead. Any who do not wish to meet the same fate will leave my ship now.”

  "Cheat!" cried out a voice. "He was outnumbered."

  Morgan strode fiercely toward the speaker, who shrank back from her. She pointed her sword at two other bodies that lay on the deck. "Oh, and what were they? That's three by my count. Would you like to make it four?"

  The speaker was silent. Another voice spoke a little quieter. "She cheated." One of The Slicer's crew point toward Amanda. "Somehow she cheated."

  Morgan turned on him next. "Tell me how then."

  He did not answer. Instead he glanced back into the crowd looking for someone. The crowd parted slightly to reveal the borrower. The man sat at the back on the railing but he did not look like he had an answer. He looked confused.

  The firesticks, the distance, the subtly, it had all worked.

  The borrower gave a slight shake of his head. The effect it produced on the crew of The Slicer was stark. Worried looks were shared between man to man.

  "We wish to negotiate," said another voice. The crowd parted to reveal a sinewy-framed red-headed man wearing glasses. "I am Ren, the quartermaster.”

  Morgan gave a single nod.

  For once it seemed like things were going well.

  Then an explosion rocked the air.

  All on deck turned and watched as smoke poured out of The Slicer and slowly the ship started to sink.

  With anger in his gaze, Ren turned back to Morgan, who quickly hid her surprise. It seemed she’d briefly forgotten about that part of the plan.

  Drawing his sword, Ren said, “Well, it seems you leave us no choice.”

  The deck fell into chaos as the cry went up to fight.

  Swords clanged and men shifted into wolves.

  Before Amanda could react, Sirius had picked her up and set her down near the far railing. “Stay here,” he commanded. Then he spun and she watched his cloak disappear into the fray, an action she was by now all too used to and one that caused images of him lying lifeless on the deck to flash through her head one more.

  All too soon the fight had reached her end of the deck and she was forced up to higher ground least she be skewered. She ducked swords as around her the deck turned bloody once more. Fear claimed her. It was happening all over again and this time there was nothing she could do to fix it.

  But then Sirius was at her side again. “The borrower’s dead,” he told her. And just like that, her hope returned.

  “How?” she asked, still afraid it was a mistake, afraid if she used her powers again, she’d feel that familiar loss of control.

  “Randy got him,” Sirius said as he fought off an attacker from their left.

  Another one came in from the right, too fast for Sirius to protect her.

  Amanda flambéed him before she realised what she’d done. He fell to the deck more ash than man and she snuffed the fire out before it could burn the wood.

  Suddenly she found herself flying through the air. She hit the ground hard, the force momentarily knocking the air out of her. A telekinetic had likely thrown her. A battle of magic had started.

  The air smelt like barbecue. Nearby she saw one of their own on fire. She snuffed it out and then found the source. An enemy firestarter who turned to her next with his fist encased in a well-controlled flame and a wild grin on his face. But he wasn’t like the borrower. He fought her for control and she beat him easily. Soon, he too was nothing but ash.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  A shadow fell over her. For a moment she thought it was Sirius. This man was a similar size and he wore a long coat just like Sirius, but it was a dark brown and the fit was different. His hungry look was all too familiar though.

  “Where are you going, pretty lady?” he growled.

  She raised her hand slightly ready to fend him off with her fire and found suddenly she couldn’t. It was distant, just like how it had been when they’d slapped the bracelets on her.

  She shrunk back.

  He leered closer. “Aren’t you are treasure. We gonna have us some fun we are.”

  He spun, just in time to dodge a sword.

  Sirius again. Back to rescue her.

  The two faced one another off. Sirius pointed his sword at the man’s neck and then suddenly his sword was gone, vanished from his hand.

  Before the other could raise his own sword, Sirius reached for him and lifted him right off the ground with his bare hands.

  The enemy laughed and sneered and then he looked confused. With growing incredulity he looked from Sirius’s face to the arms that held him aloft and back again and Amanda understood. This was a binder. He was binding Sirius’s magic and yet, Sirius still managed to lift him off the ground.

  A gun fired. Both men glanced down. Then Sirius threw the man into the crowd, right into the shooter. They stumbled for a bit and were then drawn away into new fights.

  Amanda turned her gaze toward Sirius. He placed a hand over his lower right side. It came away red.

  Before she could reach him Sirius was drawn away into the crowd again, forced to defend from new attackers.

  All around the deck had fallen into chaos. Giant wolves were flying through the air, bodies were falling. In one corner a black wolf lay on his side, covered in blood. But something was different about this chaos. It had changed. Before Amanda could figure out what it was, a man came running at her, growling and snarling.

  She yelped and leapt out of the way. He came at her again, but it was a uncoordinated attack and he carried no sword.

  She dodged and then she got a look at his face. His mouth was red like he’d been eating raw meat and his eyes were crazed, unfocused, dead.

  No, not dead. Undead. A zombie.

  Riki had put his plan into action. This was the result of poorly performed necromancy.

  The zombie rushed at her again but was quickly dispatched by the arrival of Stinger. He yelled at her. “Stay behind me.” Then he killed another two.

  And just like that the tide of the battle began to shift.

  The difference she’d noticed in chaos had been the increase of zombies, and they all appeared to be of the enemy. Riki had been smart. Zombies didn’t care about things like sides. They only hungered for flesh, and Riki had cast his magic in the midst of the enemy’s camp. He’d targeted specific bodies, ones who would go for their own first. He had sewed a different kind of chaos, one that benefited the crew of The Wolverine.

  One by one the enemy fell, despite their magic, sword and distraction had sealed their fates. With their captain gone and targeted attacks, their ability to organise had been weakened while those of The Wolverine had stuck together. What to Amanda had felt too fast to keep track of had to the rest of the crew been second nature, an organised attack. With Morgan still alive to give orders, Sirius had been free to keep Amanda safe, and the wolves had been able to work together.

  “Gods, fucking damn it!” Stinger swore as he plunged his sword into the same zombie for the third time. “Why don’t you stay dead?”

  “You have to destroy the head,” Amanda told him.

  “Oh.” He cut off the head.

  The body kept moving.

  “I mean completely. Or burn it.”

  She started to raise her hand but before she could finish the zombie off, Rick, the strongarm, brought his boot right down on the thing’s head with a splat.

  Amanda winced. Exhausted, she watched as they finished of the last of the zombies. At this point, no crew from The Slicer remained alive.

  As the last one fell, Amanda looked for Sirius. She found him sitting on some crates, looking tired and pale. His left hand was pressed tightly against his bullet wound.

  “I’m fine,” he said, although his words came out kind of raspy.

  “Like hell you are,” she scolded. She started to reach for his coat, for the healing magic she knew she’d find inside.

  A cry from across the deck distracted her.

  “Randy!”

  She turned to see Larska, back in two-legged from, completely naked and clutching the body of the black wolf she’d seen lying on his side earlier. He was obviously badly injured but she could see his chest still rising and falling. He wasn’t dead yet.

  As Larska sobbed no trace of dignity or care for how it might look, Ferret placed a gentle hand on his shoulder with a concerned and hardened look.

  From nearby she heard Leo’s voice. “He broke the line to get the borrower but he couldn’t get out out again. They surrounded him.”

  “Where’s Riki?” Morgan yelled out.

  There was no reply.

  “Here, we got him.” Marianne’s voice. Held up between her an Gulliver, an unconscious Riki was carried toward the middle of the deck.

  As Amanda looked around she could see others from The Wolverine who were also injured. Many at risk of bleeding out. Surprisingly few were dead but that would not remain the case for long if these men didn’t receive medical care soon. There had been no healing infusements in the haul from the wreck and there wasn’t enough in Sirius’s coat for this many men.

  “Fuck!” Morgan swore as she saw the state Riki was in.

  Marianne and Gulliver laid him on the deck. He was bleeding heavily from a large wound in his stomach. His breath was weak and shaky. He didn’t have long.

  Amanda looked from Sirius to Riki and then back again. There hadn’t been that much healing magic in those vials of sand, not enough for two, that was for sure. Maybe not even enough for one. Not for an injury like that. Fixing flesh and internal injuries was several steps above simply knitting a bone back together.

  Sirius met her gaze and then he nodded toward Riki. “Go,” he said softly.

  She nodded. As much as she wanted to heal Sirius first, if she healed Riki then he could heal others. She just had to hope there was enough magic to complete the job. If she was short… if the only reason she couldn’t finish the job was because she’d wasted some of it on falling out of a tree while drunk… she swore no matter if this worked or if this didn’t she was never drinking again.

  She reached Riki and instructed them to give him space. Quickly, she explained what she planned and then she handed all but one bottle to Stinger so he could open them and give them to her as she needed them. Carefully she placed her hand against Riki’s skin and she tipped the grains into her other had. Focusing, she pulled their power forward and she pushed it into Riki.

  She knew just enough of anatomy to make this work, just enough to sew him back together. Her father had taught her some of how to heal. He would have done a better job she knew but he was not here. This she had to do on her own.

  One by one the bottles emptied, and Riki’s skin slowly fit back together. She was almost done, when they ran out. She held out a hand for more and finding nothing turned to look at Stinger, who shook his head sadly. That was it. They were out of healing. A wound still remained in Riki’s skin, not as deep as before, but ugly enough she knew it would scar, if he managed to survive.

  He remained unconscious. It hadn’t been enough.

  In the background she could hear Morgan giving orders to stabilise the others and provide as much regular medical support as they could. Amanda focused on Riki. She knew he was their only chance. And it was she who had wasted it. She had used valuable healing magic on an injury caused by her on carelessness.

  “Come on,” she mumbled under her breath.

  But Riki’s state did not change.