Hunter or Hunted?

After some organizing, a tentative plan was put in place to catch the pirates that plagued the imperial group. Devrim could not help but smile at the thoughts of the other three. He was glad to be on their side and not battling against them.

"Let us head back to our group!" The Emperor said loudly, knowing that four someones were spying nearby.

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The four pirates, who went simply by Angry, Shifty, One-eye, and Pungent, had been careful after two of their comrades died while they trailed the imperial troops. At first three of them had wanted to turn around and report the events to Xander, but then then Shifty reminded them that none of them had been close enough to hear the fugitives' plans.

So instead they had been following the group for these past few days. The pirates had a good idea where the group was going but wanted to be absolutely sure. If they brought inaccurate news, Xander would have their heads on a platter. Shifty and the others were wary of the gnomes, and they did not think the smaller men would help them survive if their captain wanted to kill them.

More than once, the four buccaneers drew sticks to see who should head back to give an update, but the loser always flatly refused. So onward they came together, figuring that at the right time, maybe they could catch the other group's leader and protect themselves from Xander's wrath. Unfortunately, the leader seemed to never be alone, always shadowed by the formidable general and a host of soldiers.

Then the pirates saw their big chance. The leader of the fugitives went into a town with only three others. A four on four match-up was not ideal, but it was far better odds than facing the larger group as a whole. With Shifty in charge, they waited until the two nobles and two guards were leaving the city to head back.

The leader of the group was disguised as the general, but that would not fool Shifty. He was wise to that game. Before becoming a pirate, he was quite good at disguising himself to avoid debt collectors and angry women. He was so busy reliving the glory days that he missed the four fugitives drop over a small ridge and disappear.

"Uh, Shifty?" Pungent asked. "Where did they go?"

Shifty's mind came back to the present. "Over the ridge, hurry!" When they caught up to where they had last seen their targets, they found four distinct shoe imprints in four different directions. The group had parted ways and run. Shifty wondered how foolish they were to leave such obvious tracks. But he was not sure which ones belonged to the leader. It probably was not the smallest set of prints, but he could not be sure. This was their best chance at getting their man because he was alone.

"Split up! Each of us will follow one trail," Shifty ordered.

"You sure?" One-eye raised his brow behind his eye patch.

"Get moving, or they'll get away! Meet back at our horses once you've caught the one you are chasing." Shifty shoved Pungent toward the largest set of shoes, while he selfishly took the most dainty feet. It bettered his odds that he would not end up against the general. Pungent did not seem to notice the scheme. The pirates each went their separate way.

One-eye ambled along loudly. His field of vision was limited, and he was not sure if he was going in the right direction. Just when he had given up hunting his target, he could hear someone sobbing by a tree. He had seen women hysterical before, but what bothered him was that he could not find the cause. The noblewoman was huddled up by a tree and her blonde hair fell around her shoulders as she sobbed into her knees. One-eye was not sure what to do. He was supposed to capture her, but he knew that the lady would be highly unpredictable.

Her next words shocked him. "Help me, sir!" she cried when she looked up to see him. "My party ran off without me, and I am lost."

One-eye thanked his good fortune and sheathed his sword. "Of course. Come with me. Do not cause any trouble, and I will not hurt you," he offered with a malicious gleam. He did not see the matching spark in his opponents eyes.

"Tell me, how did you lose the eye?" the lady asked gently as he neared.

One-eye paused. "In a sailing accident," he answered.

"And how would you like to lose the other?" she continued calmly.

The pirate was confused, but he leaned forward to entrap the maiden. Instead of grabbing the woman by her blonde hair, Eira whipped her body to one side and gave him a staggering punch in his nose.

"Ouch!" One-eye fell backwards. He scrambled to his feet, trying to understand what just occurred as his eye watered profusely.

Eira pouted, "Sorry, I missed. Let me try again."

"I am going to kill you!" The man tried to run at her, but she kicked him, causing his knees to buckle as his manhood suffered a painful blow.

"Missed again. I am out of practice." Eira shook her head sadly. "Give up and this will all be over."

From the ground, One-eye drew his sword and swung it toward the soldier. She easily dodged the strike, and the pirate landed in the dirt. He was defeated.

Eira sighed. She could not finish him off when he looked so helpless. The soldier wrenched the sword from the man's hand. "Goodnight, pirate," she said as she whipped him across the skull, making One-eye's good eye go dim. The blonde woman tied the pirate firmly to a tree and ran to find the princess.

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Angry thought about abandoning the other three now that they were separated. He could fade into the scenery, and they would just assume he died. Pirates were not loyal, and he had only stayed with the others because he was afraid they would try to kill him if he left.

But as he turned to leave, Angry realized that he would miss out on all the spoils that awaited him if they were victorious. His greed won, and Angry followed the Emperor through the trees and away from the others.

It was not long before Angry felt that somehow the tables had turned. The very easy to follow track was going in a wide circle. But why?

Something in Angry's peripheral vision caught his eye, he threw a knife towards the movement. It fell uselessly into the dirt.

The element of surprise gone, Devrim came out of hiding. "Thanks for the gift." He picked up the knife and tucked it in his belt.

"You think that's the only weapon that I have? I have killed men more ways than you are days old." Angry pulled out a tube with darts and blew two of them at the Emperor within a second. Devrim rolled to one side before the little needles could hit their mark. Angry cursed like the sailor he was. He pulled out a small, double bladed axe and swung it around. "Why are you keeping your distance?" Angry taunted.

"Feel free to come to me," Devrim responded. Angry did not hear the threat in his words until it was too late. The pirate stepped in the wet clay below his feet and his boots were immediately lodged in place. Angry realized they had been going in circles because his opponent had been setting up this trap.

"You blasted puffed-shirt!" Angry yelled along with many obscenities as he tried to free himself from the mire.

"Gnomes aren't the only ones who can use the ground as a weapon." The Emperor was quite proud of himself.

Angry tried fervently to get out, but it only caused him to become more stuck. The angrier Angry got, the more stuck he became. The clay had a significant suck, and no longer would taking off his boots be enough to free the pirate. He needed help, but instead he spewed hate.

"If you give up and surrender, I will get you out." Devrim wanted the assault on his ears to end.

"Never!" Angry yelled at him. "I will die before I give into the likes of you."

"Then I will leave you here," the Emperor dusted off his hands and prepared to go.

Angry hurled the ax at Devrim, causing the pirate to nearly faceplant into the ground with the force of his throw. He reached down to steady himself and his hand also became stuck in the goopy silt.

The ax went wide, and Devrim shook his head. "You have terrible aim."

"And you have a death wish." Angry spat.

"Probably..." Devrim agreed.

He inched around the pit to try to grab hold of Angry's hands to tie them together. Devrim teetered at the edge of the muddy sinkhole. Rather than cooperate, Angry pulled his torso forward to drag the other man with him. Losing his balance, the toe of his first boot and the sole of his second landed in the mud.

"Junayd's going to kill me," he muttered as he looked at his borrowed shoes.

"Not if I do first!" Angry thrust a wavy dagger at the Emperor. In order to avoid him, Devrim went to his knees. Thinking quickly he wrapped the rope in his hand around his fingers and punched Angry with all his might. The rope-hardened fist connected with the pirate's jaw with a bone crunching crack.

Black liquid and tooth shards fell out of Angry's mouth as he collapsed on the Emperor.

"My tooth!"

In his lust to find creative ways to kill others, Angry had bought a false tooth and filled it with poison. It had been a fail safe to avoid being tortured, but the extra power from the rope had been enough to bust it prematurely.

Angry slumped over on top of Devrim and went still. The pirate's last kill had been himself.

Recovering from his shock, Devrim pushed Angry off of him, leaving the pirate to sink deeper into the clay. Laying completely flat and with careful effort, the Empeor pulled himself from the muddy pit with a sickly squelching sound.

"That is something a gnome would never have to do," Devrim said humbly to himself.

He was covered in the dirt the color of his eyes, but the man didn't seem to notice. Instead, Devrim's eyes spotted something that made his blood run cold. On the ground were animal tracks: large animal tracks. They were going toward the direction where Junayd had run. He needed to warn him.