Evolution: A Warlock’s Rise To Power

Lucan watched as Holdin turned gray and disappeared.  "Well done."  He said to the team.  "We have already done better than last time.  Now… let's finish this."

The warlock looked to the stairs leading upwards.  If things were the same as their last attempt, the floor above containing the mess hall and kitchen would only have a few pirates straggling about. Everyone else was stationed on the main deck while the captain waisted in his quarters on the rear of the ship.

Super looked around.  Once everyone had recovered and prepared themselves, he turned to Lucan while wielding a pair of cutlasses that he had taken from Holdin.  "We are ready."

Opening the door, the warlock slunk up the stairs, peering around the corner he found the first level to be deserted.  The kitchen and mess hall were empty, but a large pot in the corner was still boiling.  It looked like those that were here earlier had all left in a hurry.  There were still half eaten meals left on the tables that were steaming.

The others followed Lucan up.  "It looks like they must have heard us."  Super said.

"You can bet that they are waiting for us on the deck."  Lucan remarked.

"Do you have a plan?"  Super asked.

"Of course…"  Lucan said with a smile.  "We kill them."

***

On the main deck Captain Seaworth stood on the raised deck that was above his quarters.  Looking out below at the lower deck he smirked as twenty pirates surrounded the entrance from the first level, each with a sword or dagger in hand.  On the upper deck, at his side was another ten pirates with their muskets drawn.

Seaworth glanced towards the crow's nest on top of the central mast to see his first mate aiming a rifle straight down towards the stair way.

Leaning against the banister, Captain Seaworth took a pipe from the pocket of his jacket and struck a match.  He filled his lungs with smoke as he waited for the vermin below deck to make their move.

The pirates tensed up as they heard a door swing open.  The sounds of boots could be heard leisurely walking up the stairs.  First one set then another, followed by even more.

A motley crew of ten travelers stepped out onto the deck with Lucan leading the way.

"So it seems that you no longer wish to hide in the shadows and launch your sneak attacks." Captain Seaworth said with a grin.  "Perhaps you have come to negotiate your surrender?"

"Indeed, we have come to negotiate."  Lucan responded with a pleasant smile.

"Ha, what did I tell ya."  Said the captain as he slapped one of his men on the shoulder before leaning back over the banister and taking another puff of his pipe.  "I must say, you have killed most of my crew, But I can be reasonable and still offer kind terms.  How about this… Drop your weapons and I will have my men grant you a swift death."

"Ha, ha, that is funny.  Here is a counteroffer, surrender yourself and your crew can have the opportunity to jump off the ship."

The jovial expression on the captain's face disappeared.  "KILL THEM!"

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

The muskets fired and the pirates moved in.  Lucan's team only smiled as the musket balls and swords past through them.

"Quickly reload, they are only illusion.  Don't waste your time on the fakes and find the real ones!"  The Captain yelled.

"Who are you calling fakes?"  Lucan said.

He pulled a wand from his sleeve and a serious of shadow bolts blasted into the closest pirate's face.

Super jumped out and began to slash his new cutlasses.  With each slash, pirate blood sprayed into the air.

Milocara and the knight pushed forward as the sprinted towards the steps of the second deck.  The knight's sword was knocked from his hand, but the heavy gauntlet he wore drove into the face of the pirate wo disarmed them.  The lean pirate was no match for the hulking night who slammed him so hard, that the pirate tumbled over the railing into the sea.  The monk snaked past the night and threw out two kicks which launched another pirate off his feet.

"Kill them!  What are you lot doing?  Kill them all!"  The captain screamed again.

"But captain, we can't touch them.  It is like they are phantoms."

Seaworth sucked on his pipe Leaned back and then exhaled.  The smoke pouring out of his mouth turned into a rolling fog that covered the ship.

The pirates with muskets could no longer see their targets.  But that didn't matter, all their shots had gone through their enemies and hit their comrades or the ship.

Lucy Evermore who stood behind Lucan began her chant with her eyes locked in the direction of the captain.  When she finished, she raised her staff and a green beam of soul fire launched out and latched on.

"Follow the beam!"  Lucan yelled.

Even though Lucan yelled, not a single person left his side.  The captain who could see through the fog saw this and felt something amiss.  He ordered his men to change tactics.

"Windy Seas my lads!  WINDY SEAS!"  He yelled.

Lucan had switched to thermal vision.  He saw that most of the pirates on the deck ran to the banisters and grabbed ropes that were tied to it.  They cut the ropes that were attached to the sails and jumped.

Captain Seaworth Took his pipe and turned it over.  He smacked it on his palm and cleared the ash.

*Wham* *Creak*

As he slammed his pipe, the deck rattled and started to lean as a large wave rocked the ship.  The pirates who hung on their rope didn't fall, they even started to swing.  Lucan wobbled for a moment, but those with him stood firm.

Three pirates were swinging together, with swords drawn they glided towards Lucan.

DarkX_XAssassin reached into his bag and pulled out a mug that was filled with black powder with its top covered.  He sparked the wick that was attached to it and stepped into Bubblegumfairy's interlaced palms.  With a grunt, she lifted while he jumped.  The assassin held the mug and launched himself towards the three pirates.

*Boom*

He exploded midair.  Two of the three pirates were blasted off the ship while the last tumbled backwards on the deck.  There was no more DarkX_XAssassin, only parts, strewn across the ship.

Lucan's teammates had been invulnerable at first, but the pirates found at that after several tries, they were able to finally connect with their enemies.  One by one they began to cut them down.

Captain Seaworth pulled a pack out of his pocket and began to stuff something into his pipe. When the beam that was doing minimal damage to him faltered, he nodded to a pirate at his side.  The man jumped and threw himself in front of the captain while taking a soul firebomb to the chest.

Captain Seaworth held the pipe in his mouth while he struck another match.

*Woosh*

The fog that obscured everyone's vision burst into flames and then vanished.

Lucan stood alone with his teammate's corpses at his feet.  Bloodied and wounded pirates surrounded him and pointed their swords towards his throat.  Captain Seaworth held up his hand to signal his men to stop.

"It looks like your luck has run out warlock.  You stand no chance of defeating us.  You lost, accept your fate like a man."

"He, he, ha, ha."  Lucan laughed while spreading his arms wide and showing his empty hands.

"What is so funny!"  The captain said while slamming his fist into the banister.

"My, my, so agitated, and we have yet to actually begin.  That, that was just the overture."  He slammed his hands together and let out a loud clap.  His flash bang spell triggered while all attention was staring directly at him.

The crew and captain rubbed their eyes while their vision slowly came back.  But Lucan and the corpses were of his team were nowhere to be found.  The first thing they heard when their hearing returned was the sound of a loud scream.

"AHHH!!!!"

Everyone looked up to see the first mate plummeting form the crow's nest.  Ass they looked even higher, to the top of the mast, they saw arrows begin to rain down.  On either side of the archer was a priest, ready to cast healing spells that were capable of reaching anywhere on the ship.

A knight and a quad kong burst out from the stairway.  This time when the pirates struck, they meet a real resistance instead of a phantom, but the problem was, their opponents hit even harder than the illusions.

Adrestia flew down from above and opened her mouth, black shadows spewed out, covering the entirety of the top deck where the pirates with muskets and the captain found themselves unable to see.

Bubblegum, Dark, Milocara, and Super rushed out of the captain's quarters and began to hack into the pirates from behind while Silent continued to fire from above.

As the pirates fell one by one, a swarm of blue descended from the crow's nest and began to slice through the pirates and feed on their open wounds, quickening their demise.

Unable to dispel the shadows that filled the upper deck, Captain Seaworth and the pirates by his side descended the stairs to the main deck.  The others moved in to dispatch of the pirates while Tango and the knight moved in to stall the captain while the two healers above kept them alive.

Captain Seaworth clenched his pipe in his teeth while drawing the cutlass at his side, with a single swipe he cut into Tango, slicing the beast's cloak in half.  The pirates helping their captain were taken aback when they saw the hairy man was really a four armed beast.

"There is no fear on my ship boys!"  The captain yelled.  His pirates regained their vigor and fought twice as heard while abandoning any form off defense.  They attacked with reckless abandon. "There is no surrender!  There is no retreat!  Fight! Fight! FIGHT!!!!!"  He yelled.

Reaching into his coat, the captain pulled out a black powder pistol and pointed it in the face of the knight and pulled th trigger.

The knight was knocked off his feet and tumbled backwards.

Milocara threw a javelin made of ice straight through a pirate and then pulled it out to block a cutlass.  He abandoned the ice and unleashed a rapid set of fists that stunned the man who attacked him.

A dark figure appeared behind the pirate and brought both his daggers down to assassinate the man.

SuperSleuth held onto a rope as he swung across the ship.  With both feet raised he slammed into a pirate and kicked him overboard.  Jumping onto the deck he fired his hand crossbow before drawing his cutlasses and entering the fray.

The Captain didn't like how things were going.  His men were beginning to fall.  A monk slipped past the beast that was attacking him and delivered a swift chop to his thigh.  Ice began to form and run down his leg, securing him to the deck.  With his pipe still clenched in his teeth, he exhaled through his nose as a thick smoke swarm the martialartist.  The smoke formed cuffs around his limbs and the Cryormancer began to float into the air and off the ship.

Super dropped one of his cutlasses and grabbed his whip.  He lashed out and the whip curled around Milocara's leg.  Super then pulled him back to the ship and slammed his alley onto the deck where he could hold onto the banister.

The smoke bindings that held MIlocara froze and then shattered.

Another puff of smoke pushed back Lucan's team as they were rammed by a fluffy wall of gray. Those who didn't hold their breath began to cough.

The remaining pirates began to reform, and they surrounded their captain to ensure his protection.

The shadows that consumed the upper deck receded.  Lucan and ten cloak figures stood at his side while the warlock leaned against the banister.  The cloaked men raised their muskets.

Lucan smirked towards the captain and then raised a pitch-black sword.  "FIRE!!!!"  He yelled while bringing the sword down.

The rifles didn't make a sound, but shadow bolts flew from the musket barrels in waves and cut into the pirates defending their captain.  Lucan stepped on the railing and leapt into the skirmish below.

The team put pressure on the captain as he fought.  The man was good with the sword and his pipe kept them from overwhelming him.  After pulling a few black powder pistols from his coat he switched to a dagger for his off hand.  The fight was long, but the healers were safe and the Captains health was slowly falling.

Captain Seaworth was back peddling to avoid getting surrounded.  Glancing over his shoulder, he realized he was running out of room.  He took a large step over two dead pirates.

While his legs were spread wide, the further corpse split apart into tentacles and wrapped around his leg while the other sprang up and delivered an uppercut to his pirates' treasures before stabbing him in the thigh several times.

Bubblegumfairy's disguise and ruthless attack caught the captain unaware.  The man fell to his knees while the tentacles that were once a corpse began to wind over his limbs.

Lucan and the others rushed in and didn't hold back.  The man was frozen, burned, stabbed, punched, kicked, slashed, pummeled, and pierced until he eventually dropped his weapons and stopped resisting.

"Hold up."  Lucan said.  Everyone stopped with Lucan's words.  They had also noticed that the man's health was stuck at 1 and wouldn't fall any lower.

Captain Seaworth coughed up blood.  "Fools.  You may have defeated me, but I was only the scout. The fleet commander is coming."  With his dying breath, Captain Seaworth locked towards the horizon where the sun was rising.  In the distance, three pirate ships flying the same flag as this ship were sailing towards the group.

Captain Seaworth turned gray and disappeared.  When he died, his coat and pipe fell to the floor. They were left behind.

A cheer went through the team as the dungeon clear notification popped up in their interface.