A Quest for the Stars

Tendrils of rage wormed into Alistair's heart. The light of the waning moon brightened the sparse forest path, granting him vision over the multitude of foes before him. He was separated from the woman he swore to protect, risked his life during dialogue with one of his superiors, and an entire village had ostracized him. All within the past two hours. Traveling since early in the afternoon had finally taken its toll on him, and while he had been idle for most of it, he was fatigued from the events of the day.

A nearby corpse's head was flattened by Alistair's war hammer, a gift from Tizoc that was almost as long as he was tall. His eyes wide open, he turned to decapitate another corpse skulking right behind him with the sheer weight of the weapon. He heaved the hammer with a victorious roar before slamming it down on the forest soil in a display of dominance. "I have faced giants, cultists, and demons. If you still think you have a chance, you're welcome to try!"

The undead, long gone from the coils of mortality, mindlessly shambled forward. They lacked the capacity to understand Alistair's warning, and while the boy knew this, he had hoped something - anything - was still alive within them. With their arms forward, they shambled and reached out to the only living creature they could sense.

But there was a silver lining buried beneath it all. Now that he was alone, Alistair could finally let loose. "Wait for me, Lenoria."

***

~Caesar~

About 90 minutes earlier

"Who are you, mister?"

The children, understandably frightened, ran along with Caesar on their way to the Argo Navis. Eleanor's murder pushed all four to tears, with two actively sobbing, another sniffling, and the last to put up a brave front despite the betrayal of his tear-stained face. The only things that pushed them to run were the rush of adrenaline and the sound of footsteps behind them.

"My name's Caesar! Didn't Eleanor tell you about me?" The captain remained as calm and light-hearted as he could, but the footsteps were getting closer. He had to convince the children he was friendly or else their doubts could hold them back long enough for Demetrio's men to catch up. At least he knew their former caretaker's name all in thanks to paying attention to the villains' earlier conversation.

"She never m-mentioned you, sir."

"Are y-you one of the bad guys?"

"I'm a friend of hers," Caesar lied. "Are there any grown-ups you trust around here?"

"N-no," answered a young rat girl.

Knowing he had to save his breath while running, Caesar refused to inquire further. "Eleanor was waiting for me to take you all away from here, anyway, so just follow me back to my ship. It's not far!"

"Y-you have a ship?"

"Yeah! It can fly in the air, so you'll be safe once you hop on board!"

With newfound resolve, the children wiped their tears and followed Caesar out of the tree patch. Under any other circumstance, he would have not placed himself in this situation. Pirates like him were happy to rob the rich and the greedy but drew the line at kidnapping. However, he had to put aside his own code for now to guide the children away from a madman. He'll have to think about the repercussions later, and the silver lining for his involvement would be his crew gaining the infamy they rightfully deserved.

"Halt, in the name of the King!" A voice interrupted Caesar's train of thought as a volley of objects whizzed past him and THUNK'd on a nearby tree. He quickened his step after glancing behind him for a single second caught the sight of a man in red running after him, displaying a wolfish grin as he reloaded an arrow for his bow.

"He's catching up!" Caesar made sure to stick to the trees, which allowed him to avoid the arrows fired at him. The exit was close; he could feel it. He just needed to exit the patch and make a beeline for the gate. With any luck, the guards would not have returned to their post just yet. The last thing he needed was a pincer attack.

Blood dripped out of his shoulder just as the semi-open village gate came into view. The children shrieked when they heard him shout, but he pointed at the gate. "Go!" Caesar shouted through gritted teeth. "My crew is right beyond the gate! They'll help you!"

Tired and gasping for air, the children stopped. "Mr. C-Caesar!"

The captain smiled at the children to ease their worries. "Move it! Tell my crew that 'there are dogs at the captain's quarters!' They'll know what to do!"

After a moment, the children nodded to each other. "Let's go," said the oldest among them, a young, red-skinned boy just a year or two short of puberty. He was the first to run, and the others soon followed right behind him.

Confident no more obstacles were left, Caesar forced himself to stay in place to keep the man in red from advancing. "That's far enough," he warned the pursuing soldier. Knowing that drawing his firearm would be a bad idea, he reached for his cutlass instead and strapped it to his metal gauntlet. He had no desire to fight a charging minotaur, and battling with a gun could bring the full might of Demetrio's army on him just from the sound alone.

"You're smart for stopping when you did. You can't outrun me," said the man in red. "You'd collapse from exhaustion before I even break a sweat!"

"That's funny," said Caesar between his panting. "I could go all night, myself."

"Lad, you don't look so good." Beckett's disembodied voice was one of concern.

"I'm bluffing, of course I can't outrun him. He got me pretty good back there." Caesar's back and a portion of his arm and shoulder seeped with blood. "That shot was too precise. I can't let my guard down around him or else he'll find an opening for sure."

The man in red seemed to be less interested in Caesar, however, as he raised his bow and took aim at the runaway children. "Lord Demetrio asked me to find the rest of the children. When he doesn't specify their condition, I don't have to bring his prey back alive."

Time slowed down for Caesar. What was he even doing here? The reality of the situation struck him like a sack of potatoes. He wasn't just dealing with some form of law enforcement; the man before him was a cold-blooded killer, willing to follow orders and even kill the innocent in the name of his lord. Someone like that must be leagues above the ruffians and police he was used to fighting and escaping from.

Caesar's mistake was thinking he could easily run away from him.

With his cutlass latched on tight, Caesar dashed forward and struck the vile villain before he could fire. Threatening gestures from the blade kept the soldier from firing an arrow. "Let's get one thing clear," Caesar said, "the one thing that pisses me off is guys like you thinking you can pick on anyone weaker than you. I'm done running; time to teach you a lesson!"

"You think you have the moral high ground here?" Dropping his bow, the man in red threw a barrage of punches at Caesar. These blows were quick and almost accurate, but Caesar managed to dodge the first two and parried the third with his metal gauntlet. "Impressive for some low-rate cutthroat! But your luck ran out when you crossed paths with me! I'm Asterion, one of Lord Demetrio's best bounty hunters; keeping up with criminals is right up my alley!"

"You don't have to be on the 'right' side of the law to tell between right and wrong!" The cutlass swung downward with considerable force, but this time it was blocked by Asterion's bare hands. Shocked at first, Caesar maintained the stalemate by continuously applying force while Asterion held the blade back. "So, what, protecting kids is a crime now?"

"I'm carrying out my lord's orders. If he says an orphanage caretaker is a traitor, then she has to die before she can brainwash those kids! I merely want to round them up and escort them to my lord; a year or two in the slave pits will teach them a lesson in his infinite mercy!"

"Slave pits?" The words resonated within Caesar like a clapper in a bell. "You know what? I heard enough. You're definitely not getting past me!"

On the contrary." Asterion released the blade, the sudden movement forcing Caesar to stumble forward. "You're not getting out of here alive!"

"Wha-?" A fist enveloped with golden light charged towards Caesar. Instinctively, the pirate captain tried to parry the attack by raising his cutlass. For a moment, a starry outline surrounded Asterion's arm, and Caesar swore he could see a greyhound charging at him while baring its teeth. But just as Asterion's left fist reached the blade, Caesar felt a bone-crushing force striking his ribcage. He looked down to see Asterion's right hand, along with a second greyhound also wrapped with golden light, aiming right for the heart. The left hand was only meant to deceive him, and it worked. The blow was absorbed by Caesar's armor, but it was softened only by a narrow margin. Caesar nearly collapsed from the amount of damage from the single strike, which was enough to startle him.

"I call that my 'Divine Fist of the Hound.' Be a good boy and stay put. I have orders to carry out."

"Damn...it..." As much as he wanted to endure the pain, Caesar stayed put to tend to his wound. This gave Asterion the chance to withdraw and make his way to the southern gate. "Beckett...fetch my rope..."

"You're out of your league, son," said the ghost pirate's disembodied voice. "He's roughed you up good while he's barely got a scratch on him. Let your crew blast him to bits!"

"You're right, I'm out of my league." A ghostly rope instantly materialized on Caesar's hands. "That's why he'll slaughter the crew if I give him the chance. I won't let that happen!"

Drenched in sweat and blood, the pirate captain stabilized his posture and spun the rope like a lasso. Caesar briefly glanced behind him and heard Chestnut's neighing as it faded away towards the north. He then looked back at the runaway Asterion, who was already several yards away as he ran for the south gate. The children were already gone and were most likely explaining the situation to the crew at that very moment.

"Right. Now's the time to leave." The ghostly rope was hurled. The distance seemed too great at first until the rope, as if it gained a life of its own, stretched on outwards and zigzagged its way to Asterion. It caught up to him at surprising speed and quickly wrapped itself around him. "Gotcha!" Caesar then ran towards Asterion's direction.

"Clever trick! But did you seriously think that was going to stop me?" The sound of a SPLAT alerted Asterion and felt something slide off his back. "What the-?" He turned around and was met with brown sludge colliding with his face.

"Cow pie!" The red-skinned boy grinned mischievously as he took aim with a slingshot along with the other children; two had opened fire while he and another boy loaded their slingshots and launched their stinky ammo.

"What the hell? What is this?" Asterion wiped his armor and then his face. Against his better judgment, he smelled the smudges on his hand. "Oh. Oh, no. Oh, no you didn't! Do you know how long it's going to take to rinse off this crap!" Asterion kept his eyes closed, not willing to open them lest the dung got inside his eyelids as well. He felt two more lumps feebly smashing into his armor. "Cut it out, you damn brats!"

Asterion felt his entire body fall and landed face-first on the ground. He felt the rope untie from his body followed by the sound of heavy footsteps running past him. "Sorry, but I gotta run," he heard Caesar say cockily.

"Get back here!" It took him a moment, but Asterion got back up on his feet. Keeping his eyes closed, he focused on his surroundings by sniffing the air and focusing on his hearing. "Cheap cologne," he uttered. "Yes, I can still hear your footsteps. I don't need my eyes to track you down." Laughter escaped the villain as he bolted for the gate. "I can hear all five of you running like frightened cats! You can't escape!"

CRASH

Chipped wood burst out of the closed gate, splinters now sticking out of the dirty Asterion. "It was open a minute ago!" He plucked the splinters out of the exposed parts of his body. "Ow! I swear they'll pay for this!"

Not far ahead, the gangplank had been lowered from the Argo Navis. Caesar could tell Cecilia was confused at the sight of the kids. "They're orphans, Cecilia. They need us."

"What the hell happened? You look like you've seen better days, Cap." Cecilia glanced past Caesar. "And where's that lovely man in shining armor?" She stepped aside to let the children through.

Once the children came on board, Caesar and Temuulen grabbed the gangplank and brought it back to the ship. "Things happened. We didn't find Starflower, but I'd say we found something arguably worse. We had to split up."

"At least we can track them down later." Cecilia grabbed the wheel and kept it steady as the ship began its ascension on the mountainside. "Where to, Cap?"

The whole crew heard the sound of the anchor chains lowering. Knowing no one touched the lever, Caesar and the children rushed to the side of the ship and spotted Asterion hanging on to the anchor about a dozen feet beneath them. His face was still smudged with dung but his eyes had opened again.

"Anywhere but here," Caesar ordered his chief mate. It looked like Asterion wouldn't give up until either man was dead.