On the landing outside, Jherek peered over the railing and watched as Vurgrom bounded around the second story landing where the steps switched back the other direction. With the surefooted grace of a man used to navigating rigging in hostile winds and blinding, storm-driven rain, Jherek leaped over the edge and landed on the railing slanting down toward the second story.
When he hit, the wood cracked ominously and he knew it wasn't going to hold him even as he realized he was past Glawinn's arcane silence. He fell forward, caroming off the second story landing wall only a few feet behind Vurgrom. He heard voices then, people calling out to one another from the tavern proper downstairs.
A bare-breasted serving wench carrying a platter of food and a pitcher of ale cursed at Vurgrom as he went by, then she turned into Jherek. Already a victim of his downward momentum caused by the treacherous railing, Jherek couldn't stop. He thought quickly enough to throw the cutlass and hook out to the sides so he didn't endanger her, which left him going face first into her.
There was a moment of confusion as they fell in a tangle at the foot of the landing. The platter of food went flying while the ale pitcher shattered against the wall. Jherek ended up face first against the serving wench's well- cushioned charms. He managed to prevent his full weight from falling on her by catching himself on his knees and the fist around the hook handle.
He pulled his head up from her breasts, the fragrant rose scent of them filling his nose. His face flamed in embarrassment.
'Lady,' he apologized as he pushed himself up, 'I'm truly sorry.' Awkwardly, knowing there wasn't any time for anything else, he pushed up and resumed his chase, drumming his boots against the steps.
At the base of the stairs, Jherek ran through the coral shell stringers that made a partition from the steps leading into the main tavern. Vurgrom stood near the entrance, his face showing agitation and the fact that he recognized Jherek. The pirate captain leveled a thick forefinger in the young sailor's direction and shouted, 'A hundred gold to the man who guts that bastard!'
Instantly, nearly every man in the tavern surged to their feet and drew weapons. Vurgrom grinned, the effort like a rictus in his round moon face.
'Been nice knowing you, boy, but you signed your own death papers coming here after me.' He made an obscene gesture, then pushed through the door out onto the street.
Nearly half the tavern got up and followed Vurgrom, letting Jherek know the pirate captain had stationed men downstairs as well as upstairs. At least forty men came at Jherek with drawn swords, eager to cash in on the pirate captain's offered bounty.
Jherek watched helplessly through the paned windows as Vurgrom disappeared, heading down the incline toward the harbor. Stubbornly, the young sailor held his ground with the beaded strings covering the doorway at his back.
A woman to his left cursed and stood suddenly, sweeping back the hooded cloak that had covered her face. Tall and slender, her silky black hair hacked off evenly just below her shoulders, her pointed ears visible, she wore a rough green shirt that was loose enough to disguise her sex, and scarred leather breeches tucked into high-topped boots.
She grabbed the chair she'd been sitting in and hurled it toward the front of the crowd gathered in front of Jherek. The chair hit two men and knocked them backward into the others.
'Back, you damn slime-sucking bottom-feeders, or I'll fillet you myself!' she cursed as she drew a scimitar and dirk, then rushed toward Jherek.
The young sailor turned to face her, lifting his cutlass.
'Not me, you brain-dead ninny,' she told him sharply. 'I've come to take a stand with you, though by Fenmarel Mestarine's kindness, I don't know why. You've cut yourself enough trouble for a small army, much less one sailor boy.'
Jherek kept his blade up, wary that she could be attempting to trick him to get close enough to put a blade between his ribs.' Ware now, lady,' he warned. 'I don't trust so easily.'
'Azla!' someone in the crowd shouted. 'Azla of Black Champion is here!'
'Kill her,' another man roared. 'Vurgrom's bounty on her head is a thousand gold pieces!'
The half-elven woman's brows arched in anger. 'You'd better pick sides quickly, boy.' A half-grin played on her face, but it was cold as a moneylender's heart. 'I'm worth more dead than you are and I don't intend to die without trying to escape. You're standing in the way.'
'Aye,' Jherek replied, watching as the crowd regrouped, 'but there was a mess left upstairs as well.'
Azla glanced back at the tavern crowd and knocked a thrown dagger from the air with the flat of her scimitar. 'Our chances of escape have got to be better there than here.'
Jherek nodded, hating to lose Vurgrom and not certain what they were going to do even if they made it back up the stairs. He pulled the beaded strands to one side.
'No,' Azla said. 'You first.' She spoke like one used to command.
'Aye.' Jherek turned and raced back to the steps, waiting for her.
Azla reached for the pouch at her side and stuck enough of her arm inside it that Jherek knew it was a bag of holding. She removed a small flask, handling it carefully.
'Keep moving,' she ordered, then flung the flask at the doorway as two men shoved their heads through.
The flask tumbled end over end and struck the floor, shattering and spreading slow moving oil in spots and a pool. Immediately, the oil caught fire. The flames spiraled up at once, and the spots that had landed on the two men charred holes in their clothes. They yelled in terror and pain and began beating at their clothing, but it only served to spread the flames. The fire in the doorway rose up four feet high.
'Run,' Azla directed. 'I don't have any more of that ensorcelled oil with me.'
She sprinted after him as they ran up the first set of stairs. Three pirates were coming down, fleeing from Glawinn. The lead pirate raised his sword, yelling hoarsely to warn his mates of the danger.
Jherek reached the corner of the landing first and blocked the man's sword with his cutlass. The other two men ran into the first, and all of them struggled to keep their balance. The young sailor kicked the first man in the chest, pressing his own back against the wall to get everything into the effort he could.
All three pirates slammed against the railing, snapping the supports off and tumbling amid screams to the floor below. They'd only just landed when the first of the pirates from the tavern area burst through the oil, stopping only long enough to slap the few flames from his clothing. Now that the oil had nearly exhausted itself, other pirates followed.
Glawinn gazed down through the maze of switchback staircases. 'Company?' the paladin asked calmly.
'Aye,' Jherek answered, breathing hard from his exertions, 'and plenty of it.'
'Who's she?' Glawinn asked.
'A friend,' the young sailor said, glancing at Azla again. Despite her unexpected appearance, he got a good feeling about her. 'For now, at any rate.'
The half-elf smiled and shook her head. 'From the looks of things,' she said, 'I may be the only friend you people have in Westgate.'
'Not the only,' Glawinn snapped. 'Begging your pardon for my abruptness, lady.'
'That's Captain Azla,' she growled.
'I stand corrected.'
Jherek glanced back down the stairs and watched the pirates getting themselves organized. 'Maybe we should sort that out later.'
'The boy's right,' Glawinn said. 'What's your plan?'
'The harbor,' Azla answered. 'We jump.'
'I've been pursuing Vurgrom for years,' Azla told them.
Jherek sat in Black Champion's galley nursing a cup of hot tea. For the moment, Glawinn, Sabyna, and he were guests of Azla. After jumping from the third floor of the tavern, they'd been pulled from the water by some of Azla's crew, who had been waiting in a small skiff for just such an eventuality. They sat at one of the long, rectangular tables where her crew messed. All of them had dry clothes from supplies the ship's captain had on hand.
Glawinn sat at one end of the table working on his armor. It was a job he'd told them couldn't be put off, and
