Lark is Executed

In a room without any light or sound, time blurs. Did they leave me down here for several days, or had I lost all sense of time?

The door creaked open, and I felt a splash of water on my face. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the sight of three guards and one of the red-hooded men standing in the doorway.

“Get up pirate!” barked one of the guards.

“Wow, thanks for the wake-up call. Last night was pretty crazy. You should’ve been here.”

“Shut up!” screeched a familiar guard voice.

“Is that my absolute favourite guard in the world?”

The same guard who had escorted me with Sir Branwell stepped forward.

“I begged for them to allow me to pull the lever at your hanging”

“I’m so sorry to hear that. Perhaps at my next execution, you can do it.”

One of the guards snickered before composing himself.

The guards tied a rope to my wooden handcuffs, which were still fastened from the previous day. I could feel the irritation around my wrists where they were bound.

Once the rope was secured, they marched me out of the cell. The familiar guard gripped the rope and led me from the front, whereas the other two marched behind me with their spears pointed at me should I try to escape. Some of the fellow prisoners jeered as I passed them.

We walked out of the gates of the castle and began to walk through the town. It seemed they wanted to make a spectacle of my execution, parading me through the city as residents emerged from their homes to watch.

Some hurled glass bottles and tomatoes at me. It occurred to me that this was probably the reason the guards all kept their distance. A tomato smashed me on the forehead, and the red juice dripped down my face.

I did my best not to react.

As we neared the city centre, several more guards were positioned managing the crowd who had come to see the execution. I could see they had erected the gallows upon a large wooden platform. It seemed the administrator really wanted to see me die.

“Please let us speak to him!” pleaded the familiar voice of Miss Reiden.

I glanced towards her voice and saw that the majority of the class had turned out and were watching. Kenji and some of the other boys were missing, but it appeared the rest had managed to attend.

The guard managing them sighed.

“Very well, since it is you. I will permit you to speak briefly. But the remainder of the Otherworlders must remain here.”

“Thank you,” she responded, lowering her head. The guard let her pass, and the guards escorting me stopped as she approached.

“Susami, please… If you renounce your crimes and join us in fighting the demon lord, I’m sure…”

“I’m not going to do that. I have no reason to. Besides, believe it or not, there is nothing you can do that’ll spare me in this situation.”

“But maybe if…”

“Once again, I already know the king won’t change his mind.”

She looked like she was about to protest further, but the plain-armoured guard stopped her.

“You have had your say. We must now execute the pirate.”

He once again began to move, and the other guards followed suit. Miss Reiden was escorted back to the crowd by another guard.

The three guards escorting me marched me up the wooden stairs. A red-hooded man like those in the dungeon was standing on the platform. Seeing me, he quickly placed a rope around my neck. As they were doing this, I looked out at the crowd.

I saw a flash of pink hair before it vanished back into the hordes of people. I could never mistake that hair anywhere.

“You’re awfully calm for someone who is about to die,” the plain-armoured guard commented as he finalised the knots.

“I’ve come face-to-face with death too many times before. I suppose after a while you just get used to it.”

The guards all took several steps and stood behind the gallows. The red-hooded man walked forward, and the crowd, which had been chatting excitedly, fell silent.

“We gather today to bear witness to the execution of the Accursed Captain Lark. A pirate who has committed various insidious crimes, including murder, theft and other illicit activities.”

Other illicit activities? That’s a bit vague, don’t you think?

“Captain Lark, do you have any final words? Perhaps you wish to beg for forgiveness.”

I turned to look at the crowd who were watching on in silence.

“Why fear the Demon Lord when you should be fearing me?!” I shouted.

I watched as the crowd turned pale and gasped in shock. At that same moment, the trapdoor beneath me opened and I fell. Simultaneously, a gunshot rang out, and a bullet skirted past my head, severing the rope connected to the noose.

I fell below the stage and into the arms of Viola.

“We’ve come to rescue you, foolish princess captain,” she joked with a wink, holding me in a princess carry.

I could feel my cheeks burn up.

“H-hurry up and put me down!” I stammered.

She leaned in and whispered. “Oh, does that embarrass you, foolish captain?”

I looked away and mumbled. “I want to die right now.”

“Sorry, but we’re not letting you die that easily,” she laughed as she slowly lowered me down.

The city was in an uproar as a large fireball shot up into the air. The magnitude of the blast was honestly terrifying. I couldn’t fault everyone fleeing in fear. The glow of the accursed gem suggested that some weren’t lucky enough to avoid the blast. A few seconds later, Pippa and Elora ran under the platform and joined us.

“Did you see that fireball? That was my dark powers,” Pippa bragged, posing.

“I cut down a few guards as well,” Elora added, pouting.

I would have loved to pat them all on the head, but unfortunately, I was still handcuffed.

“Can you get me out of this now?”

“About that…” Viola added not making eye contact.

“What about it?”

“Well, you see, in that scuffle on the beach…” she trailed off, still avoiding my gaze.

“Please go on.”

“We may have lost it.”

I already suspected they were going to tell me this.

“So I’m stuck like this?”

Elora and Viola avoided eye contact, but Pippa’s eyes lit up.

“I can use my dark powers to cast a fireball to burn the wooden cuffs.”

“Pippa… Your magic is way too powerful. You would kill me.”

She puffed up her cheeks and stomped a few times, frustrated.

“Well, we can wait until…” I trailed off, seeing Raizel, the mimic girl, skipping through the chaos in the crowd as if nothing was happening. “What the hell is she doing?”

A guard approached her, and she reached up to his face with her bare hand. The guard dropped, gripping his face, which was dripping with blood. I caught a glimpse of a small, jagged-toothed mouth on her hand, which slowly faded back into the folds of her hand as if it had never been there.

The carefree expression on her face never changed as she skipped over.

“I was right to hang around, you are a lot of fun.” She looked over at my cuffs. “Hold still.”

She reached into her pocket and retrieved a little tool. She shoved it into the lock, and a few clicks later, the wooden cuffs fell to the ground. With the cuffs off, I could move a lot quicker. I signalled towards a side street and we began our run towards it.

Elora slashed some guards that were in the way.

“Susami!” Miss Reiden’s voice called.

I slowed to a stop and turned around. She had a concerned look on her face. My class members were behind her, looking equally worried. Pippa began charging up another fireball, providing just enough time to smirk at the classmates.

“Sorry to say, Susami Kaito is dead. I am Captain Lark!”

Pippa’s flames engulfed the plaza.

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 38