The Silver Girl carved through the restless sea, a week out from the temple's ruin, its silver hull slicing swells under a sky thick with clouds that refused to break. A storm had kicked up and chased them from that doomed island, but as the ship approached the jagged outline of Leago, a ramshackle pirate haven clinging to a spit of rock, its docks a tangle of rotting planks and swaying lanterns, flickering like the last gasps of a dying fire, Maggie used her magic to force the wind to ease up. Hanna Calico stood at the helm, her tricorn hat tilted against the salt breeze, her tawny cat fur damp from spray, whiskers twitching as she guided the ship to moor. Two days had sharpened her unease, the pink-skinned stranger in her brig, the temple's prophecy, the shadow on the horizon, it all stank of fate, and she'd claw fate's throat out before it shackled her again.

  Belowdecks, Cornell Plume had spent those days sorting the haul they'd snatched from the temple's wreckage, his parakeet feathers pristine despite the damp, spectacles glinting as he cataloged oddities with a scholar's fuss. The loot sprawled across crates, a splintered desk patched with twine, a chair with one leg jury-rigged, a dented case, which William had called his guitar case with the guitar inside, glass vials of strange liquids, large books and binders full of strange words that he couldn't read, and a leather bag bristling with metal tools and bandages. Most was packed for trade at Leago, but Hanna had ordered a few kept after Cornell's chats with William. The medical bag stayed, sharp blades, needles, tubes that made her whiskers twitch but promised utility, a few of the books he said he needed. The guitar too, after his insistence, and faded pictures, flat, colorful squares of places and faces that meant nothing to her crew, yet they seemed the world to William. The Silver Girl docked with a groan, ropes creaking as the crew lashed it to the pier, cats and dogs hauling lines with practiced grunts. Hanna stepped onto the swaying planks, her cutlass slapping her thigh, her voice a sharp bark over the harbor's din.

  "Titus, Cornell, with me-we've got goods to shift. Move it!"

  Titus Claw lumbered up, his grizzly bulk a wall of muscle, a crate slung over his shoulder like it weighed nothing, on his waist swung a hammer bigger them most Athenian's heads. Cornell followed, his rapier dangling awkwardly at his side, a second, smaller crate tucked under his arm, more scholar than fighter, but sharp enough to see under sellers and crooks, his beak clicking as he muttered weights and values. Sslsistar stayed aboard, her reptile voice cracking orders to keep the rest in line, cats trimming sails, dogs coiling ropes, vermin mopping the deck and cleaning the cannons.

  Leago buzzed with chaos, cats bartered fish, dogs touted hides, reptiles hissed over rope coils, bird scholars scribbled trade logs, vermin thieves darted through, snatching scraps. Hanna led her trio through the throng to "Trader Ric's," a squat shack leaning over the wharf, its sign a plank scrawled with crooked letters, swaying in the breeze. Ric, a wharf rat vermin, lounged behind a counter piled with junk, bones, blades, trinkets, his beady eyes glinting as they approached, whiskers twitching like a thief scenting a mark. Titus dumped the crates, spilling their contents-desk, chair, papers, vials, odd metal bits gleaming in the lantern light, a thief's dream or a scholar's puzzle.

  Ric rasped, running a claw over the desk's smooth edge, his vermin snout sniffing, his voice a sly drawl.

  "Well, sink me, what's this haul, Calico?" Ric said, "Ain't cat craft nor bird scribbles-where'd ya snag such queer plunder? Spill it, or I'll guess ya nicked it from some dead king's crypt."

  Hanna leaned on the counter, her tail swaying, voice flat but edged, her claws tapping a slow rhythm, "You'd wouldn't be far from the mark, Ric," she said, "Temple haul, old as The Before Times, twice as strange. Pried it outta rock and ruin with blood and powder. You buyin' or gawkin'? I ain't here to spin tales for yer grubby paws."

  Ric sniffed a vial, recoiling at the sharp scent, his whiskers twitching as he squinted at the papers' alien text, then grinned, a gleam in his eye, his tone wheedling, "Amazin' make," Ric said with awe, "smooth as a newly hatched lizard, weird as a bird's ramblin'. Might be worth a pile, this."

  Ric looked over the other items, "This deck and chair are wondrously made, but they'll need repairin'." he looked at the books, "Written in gibberish, but I can see there's a language." he flipped through the book's pages, "Amazing construction, this. Never seen anything like it, but it needed to be translated if that's even possible." He looks over the rest of the loot during the math in his head or at least looking as if he's doing the math, "Ten a piece or Fifty for the haul."

  Hanna glanced at Cornell who gave her a slight shake of his head. Hanna's ears flicked, her claws pausing as she leaned closer, voice low and sharp, "Fifty? Ya thievin' rat, twenty a piece, hundred total, or I'll hawk it to them bird scholars down the quay. They'd pay double to puzzle it out, and I'd laugh watchin' ya scrounge the scraps."

  Ric chuckled, a dry rasp, his paws spreading wide,"Twenty? Yer cuttin' me heart out, Calico. You know how much I'll have to sink into this to get top gold. sixty, and I'll throw in a cask o' rum to sweeten it. Take it, or I'll let the vermin boys swipe it free."

  Hanna opened her mouth, ready to counter...

  A scream sliced the air, high and raw, followed by a crash that rattled the shack's walls. Shouts erupted outside, boots pounding planks, a low moan seeping through cracks. Titus's grizzly paws snatching up his hammer, a brutal slab of iron, his growl rumbling deep, "Trouble, Captain-big kind."

  Cornell fumbled his rapier, parakeet feathers puffing in alarm, his voice a shrill squawk, "Goodness. What fresh calamity is this?"

  Hanna never took her eyes from Ric, there was gold to be had, and gold is what she'll get "seventy-five and the rum."

  Ric looked at the loot, then to Hanna, then to the loot. He lets out an annoyed sigh and hissed, "Agh, ffffine," He reached under his counter and pulled out two bags of coins which Cornell took as Hanna swiped the rum.

  "Always a pleasure, Ric," Hanna said as she drew her cutlass, its edge glinting, and kicked the door open, her tail lashing when she turned to her crew members, "let's get back"

  The Draco-Lich ship loomed at the harbor's edge, its rotted hull grinding against the pier, black sails dripping like wet rot, The Draco-Litch, eyeless sockets glowing cold fire stood at the helm. Skeletal figures poured ashore, killing all as they went, cats with fleshless grins, grizzlies with cracked skulls, birds with broken wings, bones clattering, joined by Leago's newly living dead, groaning townsfolk turned shambling husks. The rabble fought, cats slashing claws, dogs biting, reptiles whipping tails, bird scholars swinging staves, vermin thieves hurling knives, but the newly fallen rose again to join the ranks, clawing their kin and friends with decayed hands. A dog sailor crumpled under a grizzly's rake, staggering up, eyes blank, joining the assault.

  "By Order's mercy," Hanna said under her breath as she watched the horror that was before her, "Back to the ship!" Hanna roared to Titus and Cornell, she lunged into the fray, her cutlass a blur of steel.

  She slashed a cat corpse, its skull splitting with a wet crunch, pivoted, and parried a bird's bony wing stabbing at her flank, driving her blade through its ribcage, shattering it to dust. Titus barreled forward, a grizzly storm, his hammer swinging wide, smashing into an undead bear's chest, ribs exploding. Cornell trailed, thrusting his rapier with deadly precision. He pierced a cat's eye socket, punching through its brain and dropping it truly dead this time.

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  The docks were a slaughterhouse, blood slicked planks, screams drowned in the storm's howl. A reptile trader hissed, cleaver swinging, falling under undead dogs, rising to join them. Hanna ducked a bear's claw, her cutlass slicing its arm off, but it lunged, she rolled, drove her blade through its spine, twisting until it dropped. Titus roared, "Stay tight!"

  He pulped a bird mid-stride, feathers and bone raining around them, then smashed a cat's legs, it crawled, claws scraping, until he stomped its skull flat.

  Cornell dropped a lizard by removing its skullcap and exposing its rotting brain to the world. He pointed, "There's the ship," he yelled, "Not far!"

  Hanna looked and saw Maggie darted up beside Sslsistar on the ship, her squirrel paws raised, her voice chirpy but fierce. "Take this, ya nasty rotters!" She summoned her Castor magic-glowing firebombs flared from her hands, streaking toward the horde. They exploded in bursts of flame, scorching undead Athenians, stalling their advance as fur and flesh sizzled, the pier lighting up with her barrage.

  "Keep movin'!" Hanna shouted, parrying a vermin's rusted dagger, its snout snapping-she kicked it back, slashed its neck, and spun to face a cat and dog, flesh peeling, eyes milky. Her cutlass took the cat's head, arced to cleave the dog's shoulder, dropping it twitching. Titus waded through, hammer a thunderclap, a cat corpse flew, smashing a stall, a reptile's tail burst under heavy iron. Cornell jumped back as a rat lunged, teeth snapping at his arm, he thrust, but stumbled over a fallen barrel he did not see, "Captain!" he yelled as the rat went for him.

  Hanna spun, removing the rat's head, reached down and hauled Cornell up, "You alright?"

  Cornell nodded then sent out a thrust behind Hanna and swiped up, cleaving a dog's head in half, "Yes, Captain," he said, "just lost my balance for a moment"

  The pier trembled, as the Draco-Lich leapt from his ship landing on the pier. It advanced, skeletal claws gleaming, a silent menace. Hanna locked eyes with its sockets, a chill biting deep, "By Chaos," Hanna said with fear.

  "Flank it!" she roared. She circled left, Titus's right, hammer raised but a cat leapt, claws raking his arm, he bellowed in pain, "Die, ye rot!" He smashed the cat, but a bear slammed his back, Hanna run up and slashed its flank, the bear turned, jaws gaping, she ducked, sliced its legs, letting Titus crush its skull.

  Cornell stabbed a bird, pinning its wing, Hanna ran past finished it with a her sword in its brain pan. More surged, a dog with half a face, a bird dragging a broken wing, a cat with ribs bare, Hanna's cutlass felled the dog, Cornell sheared the bird's head, Titus caved the cat's chest. Gunnie yelled from the ship, "Cannons hot! FIRE!"

  Booms rang-cannonballs tore through the horde, splintering the pier, scattering undead into the surf as Maggie lobbed another firebomb, flames licking the pier and any wood the fire could eat.

  The Lich loomed ever closer. A lizard ran past the powerful entity and up to Titus swiping with its claws, Titus blocked, swung his hammer and sent the undead thing flying off the pier.

  "We're outmatched and outnumbered!" Cornell panted, rapier lodging in a cat, it clawed, he yanked free spun and promptly beheaded it. "To the ship-now!"

  They fought for every step, Hanna felling a wolf, Titus smashing a racoon, Cornell dodging a duck, until the gangplank loomed. Sslsistar held the line aboard, whip snapping necks, felines, canines, reptiles, and vermin battled beside her to keep the undead horde of The Sliver Girl, while Maggie's firebombs lit the night, and Gunnie destroyed the pier with cannon fire.

  Hanna vaulted aboard; Titus behind, but a yelp cut through the chaos. Hanna turned to see Titus staggered, the Lich's claw pulling out from a hole Titus's side, blood soaking his fur as it ran free, he swung with a roar, but the Lich was gone as fast it had appeared, and Titus crumpled, gasping holding his side, dropping his hammer.

  "Titus!" Hanna hauled him up, his grizzly weight a mountain.

  Cornell stumbled aboard, rapier dripping ichor-the crew slammed the gangplank shut as the dead swarmed.

  "Cornell, get the stranger!" Hanna barked, easing Titus to the deck, his breath ragged. "He's a doctor-if he wants freedom, he's helpin' now!"

  Cornell bolted below, Hanna turning to the crew, "Full sail! Off this cursed rock-move!"

  Sslsistar roared, "Haul the sheets, ye louts! Anchor up, sails out-go!"

  The crew scrambled, cats, dogs, reptiles hauling, cutting lines and raising sails.

  Gunnie yelled, "Fire!" Cannons boomed, stalling the dead as The Silver Girl lurched free, hull scraping the dock. Maggie dashed to the rail, her squirrel paws raised, voice chirpy, "Here we go!"

  She unleashed her wind magic, gusts blasted from around her, snapping the sails taut, shoving The Silver Girl forward so fast Maggie stumbled, nearly toppling over the rail, her tail flailing as she caught herself with a squeak.

  In the brig, Cornell burst in, finding William lounging against the bars, picking at his nails.

  "Trouble topside," he said between breaths as Cornell unlocks the brig, "undead, Draco-Lich, real as the sun and moon. Titus is hurt bad, Captain needs you. Titus needs your skills."

  William stood and ran to the door, voice sharp, "I need my gear, the medical stuff. Can't fix a grizzly bare-handed."

  Cornell nodded, darted off, William climbed up, finding Titus sprawled, blood pooling, hammer clutched weakly. Hanna knelt, cutlass stained, eyes fierce, "You're not dyin' on me, ya big oaf."

  William dropped beside them, assessing the gash-deep, jagged, crimson spilling, "Shit, he's a mess," He looked around, "where's that bird?"

  Cornell appeared and thrusted the leather bag into William's hands, the tools clinking. William ripped it open, hydrogen peroxide, scalpel, thread, bandages, hands steady despite the sway, "Hold him-this'll hurt."

  Hanna pinned Titus's shoulders, claws digging as he groaned. William poured the peroxide, Titus roared as the liquid foamed up. William pulled out a washcloth and cleaned the area. He sliced torn flesh off, stitched with precision, barking, "Wipe it, Cornell-keep it clean!"

  The parakeet took the washcloth and dabbed the area. Minutes stretched, shouts fading as The Silver Girl sped from Leago's burning docks, Maggie's wind driving them hard. William tied the last stitch, packing and wrapping bandages tight, Titus's breathing steadied, shallow but alive.

  Hanna exhaled, tail flicking, "He'll make it?"

  William fell back on his butt and sighs "Barring infection, yeah. He's tough as hell."

  She nodded, standing, "Come with me."

  William stood and followed the cat captain to her cabin, a cramped nook of wood and maps, cutlass clattering onto a table. She shut the door after he entered, green eyes piercing, "What just happened out there-ya got answers, pinky?"

  He leaned on the wall, shrugging, voice weary, "Again, I'm not pink, and beats me. I was in the brig. The parkette said something about the undead? That's new, onlt undead we have where I come from were in movies and books so I'm as lost as you, Whiskers."

  Hanna's ears twitched, softening, her voice steady, "Ya saved Titus, I won't forget that. Whatever ya are, yer no dead weight." She paused, weighing words, "Crew's still spooked-pink, clawless, talkin' rot." she thinks for a moment, "Brig's yer bunk, but yer not locked, roam the ship, stretch yer legs. Stay clear o' the powder and armory," she points at him, "don't test me, Pinky."

  William smirked, sass flickering, "Aye, Captain Whiskers-free-range freak, huh? Guess I'm movin' up in the world."

  Hanna snorted a quick laugh and waving him out. Cornell slipped in past William as he was leaving. He stopped William, "Excellent, work, William," he said in acknowledgement, "You must have been a great doctor on Earth,"

  "Thanks, Feathers," William said, "Working in an underfunded ER will keep you sharp, but I don't know if I'm cut out to be a vet yet," William waves over his shoulder to Hanna and Cornell, "I'm off to bed, I'll check on Smokey in the morning. He'll probably need his bandages change by that time."

  Cornell watches the strange human head down as he closed the door, "he sure is a weird fellow, is he not,"

  Hanna nods and smiled slightly, "No doubt, but there's somethin' bout that scur that I can't help but like."

  Cornell smoothed his feathers, "What's our next move, Captain?"

  Hanna paced, claws tapping, "Pride Kingdom waters-their navy's got teeth. If them nightmare bastards follow, we'll need backup. Set course."

  Cornell nodded "Wise course, Captain. The Pride cutters and galleons might deter even that Draco-Lich."

  She stared out a window to see nothing but the darkness the night brings, knowing that the darkness in anything but empty, "We can hope, Cornell."

  Cornell nods and leaves her cabin. Hanna sat at her desk tapping it with a claw thinking, "We can hope," she said aloud to no one, "but I doubt it."