Butcher of Gadobhra Chapter 233 Raw Draft (Patreon)

Sat down, and this just poured out. Totally raw and will get a lot of editing for errors.
"Too late for that, my good Captain Woodrat. There is nowhere you can run from me. Not on my ship."

Lord Peerson stood on the main deck. His coat was tattered, and his hat was missing. Long white hair steamed behind his gaunt, black face. Other than that, he seemed unharmed. Thick black chains surged from the deck, wrapping up Ozzy and dragging him to the main mast. He strained against them, but he was bound tight.

Mariah turned to flee, becoming a whirlwind. She was only twenty feet in there air when silvery chains wrapped around her.
"As Master of my ship, and by the Law of the Sea, I bind you.

I told you that I would, little cyclone." Mariah turned back to her human form but floated in the air by one thin silver chain. Her eyes were blank and silver.

Woodrat took out his sword and pointed at Lord Peerson. "I challenge you for your ship. You against me. Sword against sword."

Peerson saluted Woodrat. "Well done. A terrible choice, but you have nothing left to do, right? I have two of your crew; you can't leave the ship unless I allow it. But, as amusing as this is, why should I allow it? I can just as easily toss you in the hold or burn your mind and leave your body a husk."

Woodrat licked his lips nervously. "But you can't leave here, can you? The weed has you stuck fast, and your crew is long gone."

Lord Peerson put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth across the deck. "True and not true. While I seem to have some problems getting my ship to the open sea, the crew are not a problem." He snapped his fingers twice, and the ship shuddered; from the holds below, they heard the sounds of hundreds of charred as they moved around. "It was a valiant effort you made. Even using weapons outlawed in seven kingdoms. I haven't felt the bite from that mist in many a century. Painful for sure, but it helped to clear my mind."

He chuckled. "Nearly brought low by a tea set. What was I thinking? I hate that woman. "But once I bind crew to me, they aren't going to leave just because they fall to pieces. A bit of smoke, and they are ready to serve their ship as they always have been."

"So crew is not a problem. But thinking crew are. Tell me, Capain Woodrat. How could you aid me in freeing my ship? Unless you have a plan, I see no reason to have a little duel."

Woodrat pointed at Ozzy. "That one can dig a trench in the weeds faster than ten men and works all of one day and all of the next. I have another mate who is twice as large back at my camp, along with half a dozen crew. More are roaming this island and can be gathered. And I have a ship. A sweet little thing with an auric hull. With a crew of charred, I could sweep the seas looking for those shipwrecked by the eruption. With a hundred crew the Conquest would sail the smoke again."

Peerson clapped several times. "I was wondering how ruthless a captain with that sword would be. By losing to me and being bound you trade a small ship and become my flag Captain on the Conquest. A good trade. And all it needs is for you to bind your soul to me and through you the souls of your crew. A duel is a win for you, even when you lose. I accept. Show me what you have before you lose. After all, you may have some competition for your new position when we begin to take other ships."

He walked to the mast and anchored Mariah's chain to it, above Ozzy's head. "Can't lose track of my new slave and let her float off like a balloon, can we?"

Ozzy stared at him, and Peerson stared back. "My, what an interesting brute you are. A Butcher from the Conjunction. You'll do." He turned to smile at Woodrat. "And you might be getting a demotion sooner than you think. Keeping a Mate that strong is always a mistake for a new captain. He flicked his hand, and an inky black sword made of smoke appeared. "To the death then. It's always best to kill a man and bind his soul while he's weak. I can bring you back and send you off to gather your crew."

Woodrat and Lord Peerson began to fight. Woodrat with desperation and flair, Peerson with graceful negligence. Ozzy wondered what level Peerson was. He couldn't even tell by looking at him.

Admiral Lord Peerson, Captain of The Battleship Conquest, Level ??? ???

Pride of the Fleet, Traitor to the Crown, Ship Chained, Forever Serving for his Crimes

But one thing Ozzy had noticed, he wasn't all-powerful. Bringing back his crew had cost him. The dark shiny wood of the ship that Woodrat so enjoyed looking at was lighter in places and not as smooth. He had drawn on the smoke in his ship. Ozzy didn't like this ship.

He really didn't like this ship, at all.

As Peerson played with Woodrat, Ozzy grasped the chains, and drained the life out of them while trying to break them. He felt hundreds, then thousands of smoke pour into him. Ozzy had gained rank 10 in Smokestealing and his COR was at 20. When fighting other creatures he was able to steal 310 smoke. But he really didn't like this ship, and over 1200 smoke was stolen from the chains and into him. He strained at the chains, expending that smoke and trying to weaken them.

Woodrat saw Peerson flinch, and he risked a slash that exposed him. His sword sliced along the Admiral's arm, leaving a gash. Peersons return stroke was clumsy and Woodrat dodged it, but not the backhanded slap that sent him reeling toward the railing.
"Excuse me, I need a word with your first mate." He made a fist and the chains around Ozzy tightened enough that he couldn't move, and shouldn't be able to breath. The chains became thicker, but he saw a part of the hull become brown and rotted. "I don't like interference in a duel. A few broken ribs will remind you of that."

He turned to Woodrat who was walking back to him. He'd lost his hat, and there was a fire in his eyes that wasn't there before. "I never did here the tale of why you were sentenced to sail forever. I'm sure there's a story there." He lashed out with three quick slashes, all were expertly parried, and then it was his turn to back away and dodge as Peerson unleashed a series of fast attacks on him.

"Oh, nothing exciting. Simply politics. The old Queens wanted to keep their heads on their necks and disagreed with the nobles who wished to rule. I think I said I'd support them out of sheer boredome. Never occurred to me they actually try to pull off a coup. So there were the Queens, with only a little bit of evidence agains me, but needing the support of the fleet. They couldn't let me stay on land and be recruited again. 'Once a traitor, always a traitor.' etc etc. So they compromised and bound me to my flagship, which I didn't mind at all. What Captain ever wants to leave his ship? You'll get used to it to. Enjoy your little freedom while you can. Once we have a crew, the real fun begins.

Ozzy was having trouble moving, but not breathing. The constricting chains held him tight, but an armored hull was keeping his ribs intact. His next move needed to be a good one, something to give Woodrat an opening. Just pulling more smoke would probably only earn him a slashed throat to keep him quiet. The chains were tight on him, and he didn't have good leverage on them. But they did hold him tight to the mast...

He thought about Suzette, Ben, and Rolly. He wasn't getting back to them if Woodrat lost this duel. Despair started giving way to anger, and he grabbed all of the heat he could from around him. The air was stifling, still bearing the heat from the erruption. His Furnace was near to full. He pulled heat from the ship and it was a flood of fire racing into him, as if the ship was a living thing. His Furnace was far past overload and his mind was on fire.

The main mast was broken off two thirds of the way up, but was still over 150 feet of wood with an average thickness of two feet. It weighed just over 80 tons, and was secured in many place. Ozzy was held tight to the mast, but he could still lift it. His normal STR was 28, letting him lift and carry over 20 tons. With too much heat in his furnace and too much anger in his mind, it moved a good bit north of 28. And shipbreaker was amplifying that by a factor of four times.

As he pulled heat from the ship, he lifted and tore the mast from its supports.

Peerson screamed in pain and doubled over. Woodrat looked at him for a second and then sprang to the mast and brought his sword down on the chain connecting Mariah to the mast in a double handed slash. The sword didn't disappoint. He had been feeding it his own smoke to give it the energy for a powerful strike. Mariah's eyes cleared and she unleashed her winds against Peerson, sending him tumbling. Then she fled into the sky. Woodrat watched her go. "Good girl. One of us gets away at least. Go save the others."

He turned back to where Lord Peerson stood, staring at Ozzy. Before he could act, the Butcher took a step, pulling the mast out further, and then he used his body to swing it against the aft mast, shattering pieces of both of them, before losing his balance and falling to the deck while the mast slammed into the foredeck, shattering it. Peerson staggered, and Woodrat dove at him, slashing his sword at him over and over.

Lord Peerson was hurt, but his Level was far above Woodrat, and his skill had been honed over centuries. Now that he was determined to end this game and kill the lesser captain, the only thing holding him back was the constant attacks on his ship. Ozzy was down, but he kicked at the deck, breaking the wood, sending spasms of pain into Peerson. Getting to his knees, he swept the sixty foot stub of the mast back and forth, shattering more and more of the ship.

Woodrat cut the Admiral again and again. Deep slashes that should have killed him. But always he healed. And his ship rotted, loosing more and more smoke from the wood. The charred below were silent, long ago sacraficed to heal Peersons wounds.

Ozzy strained against the chains, stealing smoke from them. Peerson had no time to reinforce them. He had more problems, as sounds of hammering and tearing came up from the side of the ship. The crew of the Splinter were hammering with tools on rotted wood and ButterBelly was tearing huge chunks of hull from the ship.

Ozzy strained again, and the chains binding him shattered. Peerson looked at him in horror, not seeing Ozzy but something far larger. Then Woodrat caught his attention by stabbing him in his eye carving off half of his face. Peerson screamed and slashed at Woodrat. The blow was so powerful that even parried, it knocked the little Captain against the rail.

Peerson healed. And Woodrat laughed. His hair was on fire, as was his beard. His mirth shook Peerson. "You can't win. I have my entire ship to pull from. I am the Conquest, and she is me. You've won nothing but a decade of repairs." He lashed out with his sword.

Woodrat parried. "Tell that to the Butcher who breaks ships."

Peerson turned, but wasn't fast enough to stop the first blow of a flensing hatchet. The weapon came down on his shoulder and cleaved through several ribs. Hacking Undead. Striking Undead. Shipbreaker.

Hack Undead did 290 points of damage. Strike Undead added 195 points to his damage. Enhanced by rage and Shipbreaker, his first strike did 2000 points of damage to Lord Peerson. His second strike came down on the other shoulder, again, cleaving deep. Woodrat slashed across his throat with Blackfyre. Peerson healed and the ship tilted to one side.

"NO! It doesn't end this way."

Captain Woodrat advanced on him as Ozzy hit him again. And again. "It should have ended long, long ago. But instead of fighting, you began running from battle. A coward who wouldn't risk his ship because it was part of him. You became just a parasite on the smoke, and that ends today. Faster than Peerson could react, Woodrat stabbed him through his heart, stunning him.

Ozzy brought around his heavy cleaver in a long arc, severing Lord Peerson's head from his shoulders. The headless body reached for the head, but a wind picked it up and moved it away. Woodrat stuck his sword through it. Ozzy began hacking the body over and over as the ship rotted around them. The crew drew back as the last mast started to fall. The light died in Pearson's skull and it turned to ash.

Mariah grabbed Woodrat and half lifted, half threw him from the ship, exhausted and unable to do more. Ozzy slashed at the body twice more and saw it turn to ash. The ship disintegrated around him. Wood falling and turning to ash. As the ship blew away, the Butcher was left standing where it had been. Exhausted, he sat down on the large chest that was the only thing left. He blew out a smoke ring and watched it sail up into the Skye