or wait for the heavens to open and answer it for you?"
"Why do they call you the Scourge? I've heard the saying that the Scourge took him or something like that since I was a child, but I always assumed it was a particular monster of the sea."
"A monster, perhaps," he answered. "But not of the sea. At least, not exclusively."
Before more could be said, the captain approached. He looked a little the worse for wear now that the fighting was over.
"Why do you call him the Scourge?" Brahgen asked before Skharr could say anything.
"Because that's what he was—for a while at least," Graves answered honestly. "Barbarian Scourge of the Sea. It’s been some time since I've seen him on the open water but there is no mistaking him. He hasn't aged a day either, I should add."
"This was not my finest hour," Skharr muttered.
"Think that if you like." Graves grinned. "Still, you came onto my ship, killed heaven knows how many of the godsbedammed mercenaries while fighting a fucking kraken, then paused to negotiate your passage in the middle of the attack, during a thunderstorm, and proceeded to not only to drive the kraken off but kill your enemy as well. If that ain't your finest hour, I'd love to see the moment when you climb to Janus' throne and kick him off it. I can conceive of nothing else that could possibly exceed what you accomplished tonight."
The barbarian smirked. "I might have told bigger stories in my day than the reality of what I did."
"You're on my ship, not in chains, and you say you might have stretched the truth? The last I knew, folk don't give a wagon-load of horse shit about the truth. You have to lie to make your reality believable."
"I had a friend in trouble," he answered.
Graves raised an eyebrow. "The dwarf?"
"Aye."
"Friend?" Brahgen asked when he realized that he was suddenly a part of the conversation. "No offense, Skharr, but you have an arrangement with my uncle."
"I told Ahverna you were my friend and one doesn't lie to a goddess," Skharr answered with a shrug. "At least, not to her face."
"You spoke to the goddess Ahverna?" Graves chuckled and shook his head as the warrior took another bucket from the crew who were still tossing water overboard. "I told ya, Scourge. Ya got to lie to make folk believe even half the truth, DeathEater."
"You spoke to the goddess?" the dwarf asked and narrowed his eyes.
"I have a feeling everyone's fallen under some kind of deafness spell," Skharr muttered. The slime from the kraken that had caught on his legs proved particularly troublesome to wash off.
"It’s odd how she hasn't heard any of my words for decades and now, she's paid attention to me twice in the span of a month."
"I have a feeling she's listened to you a great deal more than that," Skharr interjected. "She merely did not need to answer."
"I needed her before!"
"Not this badly, I suppose. Still, she heard your prayers and healed me from whatever trap they left for us in the entrance with a little extra besides. I think she had a mind to see me hasten my pursuit because I didn't need to sleep until I was a day out of Tacham."
"I must assume that is how you managed to close the distance between us," Brahgen muttered and looked almost impressed as he glanced at the crew who kept to themselves and avoided the conversation like their lives depended on it.
Skharr could see the questions still welling in the dwarf's mind, but he immediately had the good sense to move away from them.
"Wait." The youth shook his head. "What happened to the trap they left outside the cave? They left it there specifically in case you survived whatever they poisoned you with first."
The barbarian shook his head. "I think she might have tripped it or disarmed it. I kept it, of course, and have it somewhere in my packs. It annoyed me that they felt the need to kill me again."
"Is that why you gutted him and fed him to the sharks?" Graves asked.
"You what?" Brahgen snapped.
He narrowed his eyes. "I was angry. And I did have considerably more planned that I wanted to do to him, but after dealing with the kraken, I was more tired than anything else."
"Gutting a man and tossing him into the water is what you do when you're tired?" The dwarf shook his head. "I almost asked what you would have done