Red groaned, dropping onto the moss-covered ground. His muscles ached from the previous journey, and climbing the plateau hadn't helped. Vizim slumped in a heap full of panting breaths. Lying on his back, Red stared off at the canopy of trees. Derrin had been right. The plateaus gave them a much better view of the island.
He didn't like what he saw. The fort that Vizim had spoken about was on the other side of the island. A long wooden wall ringed the place, but it was hard to make out any more details at the distance. He might have spotted movement, or perhaps his eyes were just playing tricks on him.
Without dodging patrols, they could possibly make the distance by nightfall. But they were dodging patrols, and the further into the jungle they went, the more pirates they encountered.
The only reason they hadn't been seen yet was not that they heard the patrols coming. In fact, most of the time, the patrols appeared silently. None of them was as boisterous as the first group.
The jungle had been their savior thus far. Whenever a group of pirates was drawing closer, the jungle seemed to grow silent. The birds stopped tweeting, and the bugs stopped vibrating. Derrin had noticed these signs immediately, and they'd prepared as best they could.
So far, they'd managed to avoid getting spotted, but Red doubted they'd be able to keep it up much longer. If the jungle fell silent at the pirates' approach, then it did the same as they moved. The pirates may not have noticed for now, but it was only a matter of time before they encountered someone truly skilled. Getting caught seemed like it was only a matter of time.
The sun was at its peak and they were starving. As if to emphasize the point, his stomach growled in complaint. Hunger would have been manageable, if not for the thick undergrowth. The simple climb up the plateau had left them exhausted.
Derrin seemed to be the only one without a problem. Currently, he was eyeing the surrounding jungle carefully. Red watched for a moment and stumbled to his feet beside the man. There was little they could spot besides the jungle canopy.
He observed a few areas where the jungle seemed to thin. These were no doubt the location for the major campsites of the pirates. There was one very close, perhaps only half an hour away. That explained the concentration of pirates here.
A plethora of other plateaus dotted the island. They seemed to be arranged in a ring shape around the center, only stopping when they drew near the central tower. It might be possible for them to quickly travel between plateaus as they made their way to the potential stronghold on the far side of the island.
"What do you think?" Red glanced at Derrin, who had his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, "We could probably travel between plateaus and make our way to the fortress. That seems like the safest way."
"Perhaps," Derrin caressed the pommel of his weapon as if waiting to draw it, "I doubt you two will make it that long without food. Direct travel will take us another day or two while dodging patrols. Going around the plateaus would take us maybe a week."
Red didn't doubt that Derrin could plow straight through the entire island and make it there today. He wouldn't make it out unscathed, but the pirates wouldn't be able to stop him. That was just the problem, though. Did the pirates even need to stop him? Who's to say the fort hadn't already fallen? He'd waste all of his energy arriving there only to be caught by the same pirates he ran from.
"We need more information," Red finally said.
Derrin peered at him under raised brows.
"What?" He scowled, "We do. Everything we're doing now is guesswork. Let's say we can somehow get to that fort tonight. It wouldn't matter if it has already fallen."
Derrin chuckled, "I was just wondering what you were thinking. You are right, though. We're running in the dark, which is very unfortunate for our situation. We've run across dozens of pirates, and who knows how many more are in their main camps."
Red glanced at Vizim, who lay unmoving except for his chest rising and falling. Vizim seemed in even worse shape than he was.
"What will we do if the fort has already fallen?"
"At that point," Derrin paused, staring into the distance, "I will go alone."
Those words hung heavy in the air. Red couldn't stop himself and burst out laughing. Derrin's eyes went wide, clearly worried that they'd be spotted. He just couldn't help himself.
"What's so funny?" Vizim asked, finally rolling to look at them.
"Goodness, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to imitate Ayjax. But seriously, you think that you'd be better off alone? I don't doubt that you'd be able to survive no problem, but to take on this…" Red flicked his wrist, "Yeah, you're not doing that by yourself."
"I have to fulfill my oath…" he trailed off at the scathing look from Red.
"Oath this, oath that. Just shut the hell up already. I thought your damn blood oath was about saving my life, not whatever the hell you're thinking. Quite frankly, I might never be in any danger in the first place. At least not enough to fulfill your oath."
"What the heck are you guys talking about?" Vizim pushed himself upwards.
They held each other's gaze for a long moment before Derrin simply nodded.
"I'll concede that point. But we've got bigger problems. We need food, and fast."
"Let me guess, we're going to have to take it."
"What else would you expect?"
"Oh, don't tell me you guys are…" Vizim cursed, "That's bloody insane. Are you two crazy? You're going to get yourselves caught."
He smiled, "Not if we have a plan."
Derrin released his sword hilt and walked to the edge of the plateau, "I am going to do some scouting near the camp. You've got this right?"
Red only nodded.
"Do you actually have a plan?" Vizim asked, biting his lip.
Red turned to him, "Did you bring anything with you from the engine room?"
He hesitated as Derrin vanished over the side, "A few things…but what does this have to do with your plan?"
Red's eyes sparkled, "I'm glad you asked. Derrin will sneak into the pirate camp. But, he isn't going to be able to do it unseen. Which is why you and I are going to make a distraction."
Vizim froze all movement as his eyes narrowed, "What kind of distraction are we talking about?"
Red shrugged, "I was thinking simply going back to the basics will work out fine."
"The basics?"
"Yup," He grinned, "A big damn explosion."