"Damn it," Red cursed under his breath.
All he wanted to do was get some rest.
Instead, the sounds of hundreds of footsteps pounded towards them. It didn't take a genius to know what was coming, or more accurately, who was coming. The Pirate King had not come alone after all.
Zara took a long breath. "If that's what I think it is, then we need to leave now."
Derrin's grip tightened on his blade.
"It's fine. We were prepared for this. Vizim?" Red shook the fatigue away for a moment and turned to his friend.
Vizim glanced at him without question and handed a small device to him. This item was the key to their success. Either the pirates would believe him, and they would succeed, or the pirates wouldn't, and they'd be screwed.
Figures suddenly began appearing at the end of the tunnel. A tall woman rushed ahead of them all. Both Zara and Derrin tensed up, preparing for a fight to break out. However, Red stepped forward calmly and looked up at the pirates.
Despite everything weighing down on him, his voice came out firmly, "If any of you take another step, you will all die."
The woman in front glanced at him suspiciously. She didn't seem convinced to take another step. However, Red knew this was only a momentary solution. Raising his hand into the air, he held the small device aloft. Wires and bolts jutted out from the strange item as it glinted in the light.
"I'm sure by this point you all know plenty about the explosions that have been going off around the island. What you probably don't know is that it was me. What I currently hold is connected to dozens of explosives lining the tunnel. If you even think an aggressive thought, I will click the button that sends you kaboom! Got it!"
Silence.
The confident expression on the pirate's face seemed to have gone pale. Her hand twitched uncomfortably at her side as if testing Red's patience. If any of them moved, Red knew he would have a big problem.
The device was not actually connected to the bombs.
Vizim had taken the time to set up numerous explosives along the tunnel. However, they still hadn't been able to come up with a way to remotely detonate them with a trigger. Without that, the device he currently held was useless. The only way to actually blow the bombs would be manually and would certainly result in most of the pirates surviving.
Knowing all of this, Red stretched his arm higher.
"Has he made himself clear!" Zara boomed, her voice echoing across the chamber like a thunderclap.
All eyes turned to her, and if the pirates could have gone any paler, they did.
The woman leading them nodded slowly. "We understand."
"Good. Then you will remain where you are," Red continued. "I do not wish to kill all of you, or I would have already. But don't take that as weakness. I can kill all of you at any time."
Vizim turned to them and whispered in a low voice, "What about the Pirate King? Should we tell them?"
"Not yet," Derrin replied quietly. "We wait to reveal that card."
"I want all of your weapons to be dropped over the edge," Zara continued. "Any wrong movements and you all could die, do you understand?"
"We do."
The pirates began mulling amongst themselves. The uncertainty was palpable. While those in charge could certainly escape if the bombs were real, that would doom over a hundred men.
"You," Zara pointed at the woman, "You seem the highest-ranked still standing. You may approach slowly."
There was a moment of silence before she did as instructed. She began to slowly make her way down the path into the central cavern. Behind her, weapons were being dropped off the ledge and clattered against the rocky floor below.
Zara waved the woman over with her blade and pointed at the cage. "Do you know who that is?"
The pirate froze at the sight of the man in the bathrobe. She didn't speak and just stared before slowly hanging her head.
"Oh, Calra!" The man said cheerfully, "I'm glad you're alive. You know I was really worried you were all dead when I appeared in this cage, and I…"
"Zip it," Zara growled.
Calra shook herself quickly and turned to Zara. "This is Gan. He is the Pirate King's final contingency in case everything were to go wrong. Swapping with Gan means he has left the island entirely and returned to Avelon."
"What is Avelon?" She pressed.
Calra turned to face them. "Our boss has fled, meaning he will not return. I will give you whatever information you request about him if it means I won't be killed. However, I can not tell you any more about Avelon."
"You can't or won't?" Zara narrowed her eyes.
"None of this is important right now," Red cut in. "We need to deal with the gearborn ship that is still in the harbor. I'm sure you don't want the gearborn to win just as much as us.
Calra nodded slowly.
"Good. Then keep your people in line. We don't want to deal with you while we're trying to deal with them."
"I'd ask how you plan to do that, but…" Calra glanced at the fallen robots.
The clatter of weaponry began to slow behind them.
Zara cleared her throat. "Regardless. The fleet is on its way. They were notified nearly a week ago and should be here any day. When they show, the gearborn will be sunk, and you will be arrested."
"Now, this can be done one of two ways, Calra. Either you and your men can surrender and get a bit of peace handed to you. Or you can fight and help the gearborn, ensuring your demise. It is your choice."
"It doesn't leave us much of a choice," She replied flatly, not at all scared by the presence of someone so much stronger than her.
"I'm sure you are thinking about your chances of breaking free to your ship. Even if you succeed, the gearborn will sink you in the harbor, so don't do it," Derrin spoke for the first time.
"I will do my best," She grimaced. "Pirates can be rather… antsy."
"Good. Tell your men that if they don't hold tight, they will be killed by either the gearborn or the Valencian military." With that, Zara turned her full attention to the rest of their group. "As for us, we need to figure out what the gearborn are actually going to do."
Red grimaced. "And whatever happened to the rest of the soldiers."
Zara nodded, "Yes, but priority is knowing the state of our enemy. We can find my men… or what remains of them later."
Allowing Calra to return to her men, the rest of them turned down the tunnel that led out to the beach and the gearborn vessel beyond.