Butt man's Arc

Chapter 4 of 3

Marta's price was too high, and Butt Man had no coin. Kael would not spend a copper on trust. So Butt Man made a choice. He would get his own gold. He remembered the pirate crew, and their hoard, and the man who once tried to hire him. He rolled off toward the shore alone. The hideout sat low against the water. Weathered timber walls sagged under a rope net. A carved skull hung over the door, and barrels crowded the sand. Butt Man pressed against the wood and listened. Inside, men laughed and coins clinked. He found a gap where two boards had split, wide enough for no man but perfect for a butt. He squeezed through and dropped onto a floor of spilled mead. Gareth Gold-Tooth stood at the head of a long table, counting gold into stacks. The pirate had once offered Butt Man a coin and a trap. His crew had meant to leave Butt Man to hang for their theft. Now their gold sat in the open, and their captain had his back turned. Gareth heard the wet slap of Butt Man landing. He spun, hand on his belt, and his gold tooth caught the lantern light. "You," he growled. "The seat that turned down my coin. Come to steal from me instead?" He drew a blade. His men rose, cutlasses out, backing him in a half circle. Butt Man did not run. He could not. He had one weapon, and he had carried it his whole life. He clenched. He aimed at the crowded room. Then he let go. The blast filled the hideout. A green fog rolled off him and swallowed the lanterns. The stench hit the pirates like a wall. Gareth gagged and dropped his blade. His men clutched their throats and folded. One by one they hit the floor, eyes rolling, mouths open. Gareth reached for Butt Man, took one breath too many, and toppled across his own gold. Butt Man waited for the air to clear. Snores filled the room. He rolled to the table and scooped coins into a torn sack with the pirates' own tools. The sack grew heavy. He had more gold now than Marta had ever named. He dragged the sack out through the split boards and onto the sand. Then he heard Gareth cough behind the wall. The pirate was already stirring. The gas did not hold them long. Butt Man had his gold, but now Gareth Gold-Tooth knew who took it, and knew the strange shape that had felled his whole crew. A screech cut the dusk. Down the shore, a tall clawed bird lifted its head from a carcass and fixed one yellow eye on him. It smelled the mead on his skin. It stepped toward him, then broke into a run. Butt Man had gold at last, and a hunter between him and the road back to Kael.