Sayed crouched against the wall in sight of the ship named the Robin as he watched Alex run off into the night. Almost all was going according to plan. They had hoped to get the lieutenant to follow after Alex, but the round man stood on the deck with a few of his soldiers. Some of them limped from Alex''s surprise attack, but that would not be enough. Sayed knew that, at this moment, he would need to improvise.


    "A daring ruffian enters the tale," he whispered as he opened the gate in his chest to receive God''s blessing.


    Heat pumped out from his heart in rhythmic waves, flowing through his limbs into his khopesh''s blade and his gauntlet''s claws. As he stepped out from his hiding place, they glowed a bright orange in the night. It was time to begin the tale.


    "Prepare to be boarded!" Sayed yelled, calling the attention of the guards.


    They turned to him, taking out their spears as the six of them stood on the deck. The lieutenant stood still at their center, picking his nose as he slowly turned around. The man was a mess, with food stains covering his uniform. Sayed did not think he would get a good fight from such a person.


    "Lieutenant, what should we do?" One of the guards looked up to the bald man, but the lieutenant didn''t appear to be paying attention.


    Grrl.


    "I think I could get some spring rolls," the lieutenant said.


    Sayed shook his head. He wouldn''t get a good story out of this fight if the lieutenant weren''t even motivated to fight. Already, the men around him were uncertain. Sayed could easily take them out, and he jumped onto the deck with one movement to tower over the seven guards.


    "We''ll have to take him ourselves," one of the guards said.


    "Right!" the other five said in unison.


    They moved as a unit, spreading out around Sayed with their spears. Sayed entered a wide stance, his khopesh held high above his head as he waited for them to positions themselves. He held his claws pointed at the one who had spoken and kept his focus on the guard.


    "Let me show you a proper fight," Sayed said as he clenched his muscles in his arms and legs. "Demon''s Twister!"


    Sksh. Ting.


    He swung his blade in a wide arc as the circle closed around him, his heated blade slicing through spear points as easily as cutting through flesh. The guards were knocked back from his attack, five of the six falling to the ground.


    The final guard, the one who had spoken, remained standing before him until his spear broke apart in the center. The guard dropped his spear and backed up until he hit the lieutenant''s large belly. The guard looked up at the lieutenant as Sayed advanced.


    "He''s going to kill us, Lieutenant Cade! You have to help us."


    "Maybe I should eat some rice." The lieutenant drooled, still not looking at his subordinates.


    "I do not think he is worth your allegiance," Sayed said as he approached, his khopesh out to his side. "Abandon the ship, and I will let you all walk away."


    "Lieutenant!" the man screamed up at the round man. "He''s going to take away all the food stores."


    "What?" Lieutenant Cade looked down at the man as if he had heard him for the first time.


    "No, I said I wanted the ship," Sayed tried to interject, but the guard kept talking.


    "If he takes the ship, we''ll be out of food, lieutenant. You don''t want that, right?"


    "Right!" The round man pushed the guard off him and faced Sayed. "We don''t tolerate food thieves on this ship."


    "If that is what it takes for you to fight." Sayed retook his stance. "Then let us get on with it. I will take this ship!"


    "Dough Hammer!"


    The rotund man threw back his hand before bringing it down on Sayed. At first, Sayed was surprised. He would easily be able to take such a hit, assuming it could reach, and his blades would cut through the man''s hand as easily. He brought up his sword to block and said a silent prayer for the loss of the man''s hand.


    Bam! Hiss.


    Sayed''s blade met resistance as he held it up with both hands. Lieutenant Cade''s hand had grown to the size of a barrel, and his arm had stretched out from where he stood. Sayed''s blade caught the blow, but his hand shook as the weight of the attack pushed him back. The lieutenant was blessed as well.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    "Gruah!" Sayed forced the hand up and off to the side.


    It snaked back toward the lieutenant, shrinking back to its normal size as the arm shortened. Sayed noticed a burning line across the man''s skin from where Sayed''s sword blocked the attack. He narrowed his eyes. This had not been part of the plan.


    "What foul blessing do you have?" Sayed pointed his glowing sword at Lieutenant Cade. "What is this dough that you speak of?"


    "I''m a man cursed with the power of dough." Lieutenant Cade smiled, his fingers stretching out into thin strings of pasty white. "Combined with the Path of Grit, there''s no way you can get past me to the food!"


    Sayed took a moment to analyze the situation. On the nightsea, running into people with strange powers was not rare. Curses, or as Sayed preferred, blessings, allowed people to exercise supernatural abilities. He had seen many of this man''s kind on the nightsea, and it would take more than a curse and technique to beat him.


    "Again, I do not desire your food, but your ship," Sayed said, holding his gauntlet out before him and lining up his sword''s point with it at his side. "Step away from this ship, and I shall let you live."


    "The trickery of a food thief won''t work on me!" Lieutenant Cade''s arms stretched out into large white hammers. "Smash Parade!"


    Whirr. Whirr.


    He swung the hammers in a circular motion as he charged forward. It reminded Sayed of fights in the streets as a child before he and his brothers on Hajh knew the proper way to take on a foe. He took in a deep breath and clenched his muscles tight.


    "Demon''s Thrust!"


    Ting. Boing.


    In a blur of movement, Sayed shot across the deck, stabbing forward with his sword into the man''s flesh. However, his thrust would not penetrate through the man''s flab. Instead, it bounced back and sent Sayed stumbling back as the hammers came for him.


    Bam. Slam. Crunch.


    A hit to his face knocked him to the right, and a hit to his chest sent him flying into a crate on the ship''s deck. Sayed grunted as he hit the crate, and it broke around his body. Pieces of paper fell onto him, and some burned as they touched his sword.


    "You are powerful," Sayed whispered as he pushed himself up from the remains of the crate. "Yet, I feel I will still win the day. With the blessing of God on my side, I will knock you off this ship!"


    "Is that a pastry?" Lieutenant Cade asked, tilting his head to the side as he raised one of his retracting hammer hands to his drooling mouth. "It sounds delicious."


    "You will find out the taste of his glory," Sayed said as he began to walk a circle around the lieutenant.


    In their earlier exchange, the lieutenant''s subordinates had managed to scramble out of the main fray and did not appear willing to interfere in the fight. Sayed guessed they were normal men, bereft of a blessing so that the entire fight would appear a flight of fancy instead of a simple battle.


    Lieutenant Cade watched Sayed as he walked the full circle around the rotund man''s mass. Sayed had a few ideas he wanted to try, but every second wasted on an attempt was a second that the plan might be doomed to failure. Alex was his brother. Sayed would never let down a brother in need.


    "I have a way to deal with your power," Sayed said. "It will be dishonorable, but I must sacrifice my preference for the greater good."


    He took on a stance, holding the claws of his gauntlet close to his body in a tight fist as he stopped his circling. He switched his grip on his khopesh, holding it upside down in his right hand. Lieutenant Cade watched him and smiled.


    "If you think you can beat me with a just punch, you''re mistaken," he said, taking in a deep breath and expanding in size. "My tough dough will push back your punch and throw you across the docks! Dough Ball!"


    In any other situation, Sayed would find the man''s stance humourous. His legs were tiny sticks against the ground, and his arms were small now in comparison to the size of his body. He had indeed become a ball of dough, and even his head was melded into his round form. Again, Sayed had the impression that the man fought rarely, for Sayed saw the weakness in the technique.


    Sayed focused the heat of his body into his gauntlet, letting the fingers of the hand burn bright against his skin. He clenched his teeth but ignored the stinging pain. He would finish this fight with one move. He just prayed to God that his plan would succeed.


    "Demon''s Fist!"


    He shot forward, his entire body like a cannonball, and threw his fist forward into a hard punch. The force shook through his arm and down his whole body as he slammed into the man''s body. Sayed then slammed down his sword, cutting into the deck with all his strength to hold himself in place.


    Slam. Shing. Boing.


    Lieutenant Cade''s body pushed back against the attack as the force rippled through his rotund body and then back toward Sayed. However, there was nowhere for the force to push Sayed back. His sword, planted deep into the deck''s steel, gave him a point of leverage. Sayed grunted as he pushed harder forward into Lieutenant Cade''s flesh, and the force reverberated back.


    Whoosh.


    Like a ball kicked as hard as a person could, the lieutenant''s round body was forced off his legs and shot through the air across the docks. Instead of Lieutenant Cade''s body throwing Sayed across the docks, the lieutenant flew off the deck and into the night.


    Slam. Crack. Splash.


    Sayed fell forward, catching himself on his knees with his gauntlet as he let his gate close. When he looked up, he could see the impression of a ball on a nearby slipship''s wooden hull from where the lieutenant had landed before falling to the water below. Sayed smiled.


    "Lieutenant!" The men on the deck went to the railing and looked down. "We have to help him."


    "Yes," Sayed said, standing up and swinging his blade through a wide arc before holding it at his side. "That sounds like what you should all do. Abandon this ship and leave to help your comrade. If you do not, I will need to take more forceful options."


    The remaining guards looked over at him with wide eyes. Then, as one, they ran off the deck and onto the docks. Even two who had clearly been hiding belowdecks came up from the front of the ship and ran off to follow the rest. Sayed sheathed his khopesh on his back with its brother and took a good look around the ship.


    With the ship clear, he only needed to cut the lines that held it to the docks. Once that was finished, he would do his best to bring the ship away from the docks and toward their meeting point. He was not that experienced in piloting a slipship, but Alex had assured him it would be simple.


    Holding up his clawed gauntlet, he walked over to the ropes and set to work. All was going according to plan.