Chapter 10: The First Voyage
The Sea Serpent was a war galley built for speed and violence. Eighty feet of oak and iron, with a ram shaped like its namesake, capable of carrying eighty men and enough supplies for a month at sea.
Captain Maris stood at the gangplank as I boarded, arms crossed. She was maybe fifty, built like a barrel, with gray-streaked hair tied back and a face burned dark by sun and salt.
"You're the tournament fighter." Not a question.
"Yes."
"Lord Corlys says you're worth ten regular marines." She spat over the rail. "We'll see. You're on deck maintenance and watch rotations with everyone else. No special treatment. Prove yourself or swim home."
"Understood."
She assigned me a hammock below deck—a narrow slot between two other marines who both looked at me like I might steal their rations—and put me on the duty roster.
Four hours on, four hours off. Scrub the deck, check the rigging, haul rope, whatever needed doing.
I didn't complain.
Instead, I put on my weighted bracers under my sleeves. Twenty kilograms each. The smith had done good work—they looked like leather bracers, but the weight was distributed through thin lead plates sewn inside.
The crew noticed I never tired. Never slowed down. Hauled rope like it weighed nothing, scrubbed deck for hours without a break.
Respect came slowly. But it came.
Five days out from King's Landing, the Triarchy pirates found us.
Or we found them. Hard to say. The lookout spotted their sail at dawn—a galley flying colors I didn't recognize, maybe thirty men aboard.
Captain Maris called all hands. "Pirates. They'll try to board us, steal our cargo. We're faster, but if they get grapples on us, it's a knife fight."
She looked directly at me. "You claim you can fight. Prove it."
The pirate ship closed fast. They had oars out, rowing hard, probably thinking we were a merchant vessel.
Surprise would be on our side. For about thirty seconds.
The ships came alongside. Grappling hooks flew across the gap, biting into our rails. Pirates swarmed over the ropes, weapons drawn, screaming in languages I didn't understand.
The first one to reach our deck died with my knife in his throat. I'd shifted to light weight, moved faster than he could track, closed the distance before he could raise his sword.
The second came at me with an axe. I hardened my arm with Tekkai, blocked. The axe bounced off. His eyes widened.
I kicked his knee. Bone snapped. He dropped screaming.
More pirates poured over. Five, six, eight. Too many for the narrow deck.
Time to try something new.
I ran for the rail, jumped, and kicked the air.
Geppo. Moon Step. Kicking off nothing, using the air itself as a platform.
It worked.
Barely.
I managed one air-jump, enough to carry me across the gap between ships. Landed hard on the pirate deck, stumbled, nearly fell overboard.
The pirates on their own ship froze. One man actually crossed himself.
I didn't give them time to recover.
Soru forward. Appeared in front of the nearest pirate. Shigan to the throat. My stiffened fingers punched through flesh. He gurgled, fell.
Next one. Tekkai to tank his sword strike, then break his arm with a weighted palm thrust.
Third. Fourth. Fifth.
I carved through them like they were practice dummies. Shigan to throats and hearts. Tekkai to ignore their desperate strikes. Soru to appear where they didn't expect.
Ten seconds. Five men down.
The rest broke. Threw down weapons, raised hands, or dove overboard.
I stood in the center of their deck, breathing hard, covered in blood that wasn't mine.
Across the gap, Captain Maris was staring at me. Her mouth hung open slightly.
I used Geppo again—two air-jumps this time, getting better—and landed back on the Sea Serpent's deck.
"Pirate ship's yours if you want it," I said.
She found her voice. "What in the Seven Hells are you?"
"A marine who trains hard."
She looked at the pirate ship. At the bodies. Back at me.
"Right. Training. Of course." She shook her head. "Tie off their ship. We're taking it as a prize. And you—" She pointed at me. "You're promoted. Marine sergeant. You train the others."
I nodded.
Word spread faster than I expected.
By the time we returned to King's Landing two weeks later, every ship in Corlys's fleet knew about "the White Demon."
The bastard who jumped between ships without a ladder. Who killed five men in ten seconds. Whose skin turned aside blades.
Pirates started avoiding ships I was aboard. Bad luck, they said. Cursed.
Captain Maris gave me free rein to train during off-hours. I used it.
Rankyaku practice. I'd stand at the stern and kick toward the water, trying to generate visible air blades. Most attempts produced nothing. But occasionally—just occasionally—my kick would create a compressed arc that cut the water's surface before dissipating.
Progress. Slow, but real.
Fire resistance too. The ship's brazier became my training partner. I'd hold my hands near the flames until my skin reddened, pull back, let it heal overnight. Push a little further each time.
The crew thought I was mad. They were probably right.
But madness with purpose was just determination.
We docked in King's Landing at dawn. Two weeks at sea, three pirate encounters, one prize ship taken.
Lord Corlys himself waited on the dock.
He climbed aboard, greeted Captain Maris, listened to her report. Then he turned to me.
"Maris says you're worth twenty marines, not ten. She wants you permanently assigned to her ship."
"I'm honored."
"Don't be. She wants you because you make her job easier." He extended his hand. "You've earned your library access. And permanent employment, if you want it."
I shook his hand. "I'll take it."
"Good. You can start in the libraries tomorrow. Today, rest. You look like hell."
I did. Two weeks of combat, training, and minimal sleep had left me lean and hard. Burns on my hands from fire training. Scars on my arms from blade cuts that had healed faster than they should have.
But I was stronger. Faster. Better.
And tomorrow, I'd have access to the Red Keep's archives.
Somewhere in those dusty books and scrolls was information I needed. Helaena's routines. The secret passages Blood and Cheese would use years from now. Dragon lore that would help me eventually bond with Silverwing.
The pieces were coming together.
Step one: visibility. Complete.
Step two: access. In progress.
Step three: approach Helaena.
Soon. Very soon.
I walked off the Sea Serpent, legs unsteady on solid ground after two weeks at sea, and headed for my rented room.
Tomorrow, the real work began.
Note:
Please give good reviews and power stones itrings more people and more people means more chapters?
My Patreon is all about exploring 'What If' timelines, and you can get instant access to chapters far ahead of the public release.
Choose your journey:
Timeline Viewer ($6): Get 10 chapters of early access + 5 new chapters weekly.
Timeline Explorer ($9): Jump 15-20 chapters ahead of everyone.
Timeline Keeper ($15): Get Instant Access to chapters the moment I finish writing them. No more waiting.
Read the raw, unfiltered story as it unfolds. Your support makes this possible!
👉 Find it all at patreon.com/Whatif0