"Red, get up!" A voice yelled through the fog of sleep.
"Whaa…" he nearly tumbled off the cot that he had been given.
"There's someone here. You're going to want to be there for this," Vizim shouted again.
He staggered out of bed groggily, "Who's here?"
"I'm not sure…" Vizim hesitated, "But, I think it's someone from the pirates."
That woke him up. Their efforts the previous day had dealt a major blow to the pirates' plans on the island. What the pirates would have to say, Red had no idea. He didn't dare hope for them to simply announce their retreat. There was no chance he would get that lucky.
Following Vizim out of the small building, Red spotted a crowd gathered at the far end of the fort. The sun had barely begun peaking over the horizon as they made their way over. Red spotted Derrin and a few other soldiers near one of the entrances to the fort. The sailors were also standing there, only farther back to avoid conflict in the event of a fight. The door was open, and Zara stood in front of it. She had her sniper strapped across her back and her hair glinted in the morning light.
Red stopped short when he spotted the man in front of her. He had broad shoulders and stood to nearly Derrin's height. A power emanated from the man that Red hadn't recognized in any of the other pirates as of yet. Long black hair hung to his shoulders, tightening his expression of snide malice. This pirate was clearly not here to offer his surrender.
A black coned hat rested on his head, and there was a long black coat that swayed gently in the breeze. When the pirate smiled, his twisted mustache darkened his face. There was no hint of fear in the man's dark eyes, despite his facing down a powerful warrior like Zara. That wasn't even to mention the rest of the soldiers gathered behind her.
Zara was the first to speak, "I'm honestly surprised that you chose to make this appearance yourself. I knew you wouldn't remain silent, but I didn't expect you to come personally. We must have put quite the strain on your plans, oh self-proclaimed pirate king."
She said those words with a mock sense of awe. Red felt his shoulders tense, and his hands instinctively moved to his shockblasters. This was the pirate king? They had suspected him to be powerful, but for him to be casually standing outside their fort…
He must have had high opinions of his own abilities.
"I have to applaud your efforts, Zara," the pirate king smiled cruelly.
Even from this distance, Red could feel the aura emanating from him. He was dangerous. A different kind of danger than Zara. Zara was straightforward. She didn't hide her intentions about shooting you in the back.
This man was different. Red had no doubt that he was a sly, cunning bastard who would do anything to remain in control. He was the type who pretended to be your friend in front of you, only to shoot you in the back at a moment's notice. It didn't help that they still had no idea what his powers were.
"Efforts?" Zara raised an eyebrow, "As it stands, your forces have been scattered, your weapons are destroyed, and all of your leverage is now under my control. You may still have more soldiers, but at this point you're in a losing position."
"A losing position? I will not downplay your success, girl," the pirate king sneered, "What you did here was truly a marvelous sight. Planting bombs in all our major holdings to cause chaos. It worked wonders. Even I couldn't have anticipated such an overwhelming response. But this island has already fallen, soldiers of Valencia. You might not see it in your hopeful vigor, but everything before you is mine."
"It seems you are all big talk, but have nothing to show for it," Silas stepped forward with a growl.
Zara raised a hand, and he fell silent.
The pirate king surveyed the people spread out before him and laughed, "Oh, you poor souls. If only you knew what was coming. I pity you and your honorable stand, but my contractor will be arriving soon, and there won't be time for these games anymore."
"Contractor?"
He shook his head, "Ah, ah, ah. No more information for you. I will give you my offer. Surrender yourselves and your fort, and I won't sell those of you that remain to my contractor. Trust me, you do not want that."
"Are you seriously trying to strong-arm us right now?" Zara sniffed, "You aren't in a very good bargaining position."
"You have no idea how wrong you are. My offer will stand until my contractor arrives. At that point, well, it won't matter if your fort has fallen or not. That I can make certain. Well, I have no reason to keep you any longer. You need to prepare for what's about to happen after all," he smiled up at them, "If my contractor gets to the island, you will lose control of it for good… You better hope that is all that happens."
The pirate king turned, "You don't want us utilizing the chamber now, do you? Well, there is no guarantee that we haven't already…unluckily for you."
Zara and a few of the other soldiers stiffened. Red gave them a side glance. What did he mean by chamber? Red had expected Zara to have secrets, but he didn't anticipate those secrets being right beneath their feet. There were too many questions to answer now. The pirate king seemed to simply be trying to put the seeds of doubt in their head. He wanted a sense of unease in the fort.
It worked.
Even Derrin was giving Zara strange looks.
"You seem to be under the impression that you will still hold the island in a few days," Zara called after the pirate king.
He only laughed before disappearing into the jungle. There had been no fear in the man's voice. Red wasn't sure why Zara was so confident in the first place. True, they had better fighters on their side, that wasn't to mention stronger ones as well. However, the pirates had at least twenty times the numbers. Now they had a contractor coming? That was confusing in and of itself.
Why would someone be trying to take control of the island? It made sense why the pirates had taken the island. But what was the contractor hoping to gain from the desolate location? One thing had become clear. There was something beneath the island. It was very likely located in the caverns themselves.