Jason Halstead - Voidhawk

“Aye, and why’d the guard call you a eunuch?” Kragor said, squinting one eye and widening the other to look mildly deranged. It was a good look for the dwarf.

The sudden captive looked back and forth between them while the elf woman, Jenna, prowled at the mouth of the alley to discourage anybody from showing too much interest.

“Gelded or not, no man gets away with blackmailing me!” Dexter said, tightening his grip.

“I’m no man.”

“What?”

“What?”

Dexter and Kragor looked at one another for their simultaneous questions. The stranger suddenly spun in Dexter’s grip, breaking free, and moved in a way that suggested a graceful and flowing dance as much as much as it did anything. Dexter turned to face the man.

“He’s a she, and she’s a half elf,” Jenna said from behind them.

As though they were twins, both Dexter and Kragor again repeated, “What?”

“Tis true, My name is Bekka, I am half-elf and half-human.”

“But you’ve got no hair!” Kragor protested. “No self respecting woman would cut their hair off!”

“I’m not a dwarf,” Bekka said.

“Aye, but…but…”

Dexter’s hand fell on Kragor’s shoulder, silencing his sputtering friend. “How about you tell me what you’re about.”

“My thanks,” Bekka said, bowing her head. “I heard what you said to her and I believe I have found someone that I have been looking for. Someone willing to look beyond race and parentage, to a person’s true worth. Am I right?”

Dexter looked at Jenna, who just shrugged noncommittally. Kragor was still trying to understand her chosen haircut, so he was of no use to the man either. Finally Dexter nodded. “Go on.”

“I can fight and I have some magic at my disposal, I would offer you my services if you would have me,” she said.

“Jenna, keep an eye on her please,” Dexter said, grabbing Kragor’s shirt and pulling him after him deeper into the alley. Dexter glanced back at Jenna but her eyes were glued to Bekka, like a hawk to her prey.

“What do you think?” Dexter asked the dwarf.

“What do I think? You’re daft, boy-o, that’s what I think! You’re hiring a crew straight outta the brig? Daft ain’t the word!”

Dexter waved him silent. “Trust me, Kragor, Jenna is a good pick.”

Kragor snorted. “She’s an elf, no trusting them. You mark my words, Dex, she can’t be trusted!”

Dexter sighed. “Okay, I’ll keep an eye on her. Now the other one. It’d be nice to have a spare helmsman, and better if she’s a wizard, she can help us get the Hawk’s Talon charged up!”

“I figured we’d buy a battery to get her enough juice to bring her to a dock,” Kragor offered.

“How’d you get so much gold?” Dexter asked, suddenly remembering the pouch full of gold at Kragor’s side.

Kragor grinned. “Been busy while you’ve been resting with your girlfriends. Brought the cat and the ballista back on the ant after I fixed her up and sold them off to some people I know. Then bought more supplies and did more work on the ship.”

Dexter shook his head. He clapped the dwarf on the back and turned back. Kragor frowned and spoke up, “Wait, I didn’t tell you what I thought of them.”

Dexter shrugged, “That’s okay, I made up my mind.”

The dwarf stood there for a moment, jaw open in stunned surprise. Dexter looked back at him and winked, “It’s good to be the captain,” he said.

Kragor spat on the ground and hurried after his captain.

“I’m not a wizard, I’m a sorceress,” Bekka said when they returned.

Dexter looked at Kragor, who just shrugged. “You hear a lot, don’t you?” Dexter accused her.

Bekka nodded. “Not as much as she does.”

All eyes turned to Jenna, who met Dexter’s stare with her own. “Well?” he asked her.

Jenna held his gaze for a moment then nodded. “It’s true,” she admitted, shooting a silent glare Bekka’s way. “Elves hear well. As for trusting me, I owe you my life, or at least my honor, until that’s been repaid you’ve naught to fear.”

“And then?” Dexter asked her.

“And then we’ll see how well we get along.”

Dexter stared at her again for a long moment, then nodded. “Fair enough.”

Kragor muttered something in his native tongue and yanked his beard in disbelief. Dexter’s hand patted him reassuringly on the shoulder to calm him down.

“Alright, Bekka, I’ll give you a chance. Try pulling what you did in that cell again though and I’ll bleed you then and there,” Dexter said.

Bekka nodded, smiling. “And the both of you need some equipment. Weapons we got; clothing we don’t. Let’s go shopping.”

“The Fed guards took all my money,” Jenna said, looking annoyed.

“Mine as well,” Bekka said.

“Aye, they do that,” Dexter said. “Consider this an advance on your pay then.”

“What is to be my pay?” Jenna asked.

Dexter had turned to leave the alley and head towards the merchants section, but the elf’s question made him pause. He turned back to face her and glanced at Kragor, who tried to subtly make a gesture with his hand: that of a fist with a thumb pointing down. Dexter chuckled.

“How do you want it?” Dexter asked. “Standard rates or a percentage?”

“Percentage?” Jenna asked, a little surprised. “Are you a pirate or something?”

“No,” he replied without hesitation. “But I’m not running a merchant ship either. From time to time we will have some odd jobs and unusual fares.”

“So what’s the cut?” Jenna asked.

Another glance at Kragor yielded Dexter another less than subtle thumbs down, indicating the dwarf advised a low rate. Dexter smiled and looked back to Jenna. “Seven percent. More if you prove you’re as good as you claim.”

She nodded. “Fair enough.”

Dexter turned to Bekka. “You?”

Bekka just shrugged, something that unsettled him a little. “Whatever you feel is fair,” she said.

Dexter looked at Kragor, who stared at the half-elf with even more confusion than before. “I get the feeling you’re testing me,” Dexter said.

Bekka smiled mysteriously. “We’re all being tested every minute of every day.”

Dexter nodded. “Alright, then I’ll do the same for you.”

“What kind of ship is it?” Jenna asked, ignoring Bekka.

“It’s a trader class, with some personal modifications,” Kragor said, puffing out his chest proudly.

Jenna smirked, “What trader isn’t fixed up?”

Kragor glowered at her but bit his tongue. Dexter shook his head and sighed, wondering if he had too many personalities on the ship already. He turned and stepped out of the alley, glancing back at them to say, “You coming?”

They followed him as he made his way through the busy streets of New Haven. Jenna drew several surprised and often hostile looks, prompting Dexter to think that she needed something with a hood to hide her face. They ducked into the first store he found and tried to purchase just that, but the shopkeeper refused to do business with an elf present.

Dexter sighed and they went back outside. Rather than try another store Dexter asked her what she might require, then had Kragor tell him which dock the ant was berthed at and give him the belt with the money pouch on it. He sent them off, leaving Bekka with him to help him carry the goods he acquired.

Bekka received some strange looks, for only at a quick glance in poor light would someone mistake her for a man. Her features had a faint elven cast to them, but the lack of hair distracted people enough that no one made the jump to figuring her as a half-elf, even given her slight stature. That, and, for their current mission, Bekka served as a pack mule.