Agusti's Betrayal

There was no way around it. The deaths were his fault.

Agusti, wheezing through a bruised throat and bleeding through the hastily applied bandages on his now-useless wing, inspected the corpses of his two friends. The only other sounds were the faint rustle of leaves in the scorching wind and the lonely whisper of waves on this nameless island.

"You should be standing with me," he whispered as he closed their eyes and arranged them in the shade.

He tried saying it in his native tongue, but his left syrinx was already beyond repair. He didn't know it yet, but he would never speak that language unassisted again.

He turned and stood to face the human who had rowed the three of them away from Kolkuzhn, away from her. The only person from Kolkuzhn to Gok-Rock who joined him in standing up to that dead lizard. She would make a good first mate. Together they could build up their own crew. He nodded.

At least I can do something useful now, he thought.

Not all privateers had to kill to survive.

Background

When Captain Bloodscale died and started making a name for herself in the piracy game, she recruited four kliasta to be her elite guard, naming them Bloodeyes.

Agusti was the first to be recruited, but over time he became disillusioned with the killing, so he attempted to kill her. Of the three other Bloodeyes, two sided with him, and ended up dead; the other pretended to be on board with the coup, but betrayed the betrayer just before he managed to do the only thing that can permanently kill a revenant like Bloodscale--sinking a nullrock blade into the brain.

Now, permanently wounded and on the run from the 'law' enforcement of Kolkuzhn's waters, he is a bit of a local hero to the farmers and merchants who don't have the supplies or skills to defend themselves against pirates.

Agusti is the reason that Bloodscale kills those who show even an inkling of defying her. He is also the reason she started wearing a metal helmet that she never takes off, should anyone else get as close to her brain with a nullrock blade as he did.