The Lengthening Shadow

Another encounter involving the Alrack versus Uldrich feud was about three seasons after their first encounter. Uldrich, now with his replaced body parts; an eyepatch, an iron fang, and a hook, was commandeering a restored Vengeful across the cold waters of the Northern Sea, looking for booty. Onefang had not forgotten his first meeting with Alrack and was hoping for revenge. With his advisor at his side and his mates driving the crewbeasts, Uldrich prowled the frigid waters of the sea like the shadow of a thundercloud, destroying all ships that came his way. One cold evening, his lookout spotted sails in the distance. “ Captain! Come look!”. The corsair hurried to the prow-deck of the Vengeful and peered into the distance. It was misty, but not so misty that the fox could not see the tattered gray sails bearing down on his ship...... “ Attack! It’s the Ragsail, mates! We’re under attaaaaaaaaaaack!”. The motley crew raced to their battle stations; preparing cannons, grabbing rifles and pikes, ready to board, drawing weapons as they scrabbled to get ready. When the black weasel’s galley was close enough, the Vengeful’s crew hurled grappling irons at the opposing vessel and started boarding, led by Venge. The ferret roared his battle cry at the enemy.

“Onefaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!”

The vermin serving on the Ragsail roared back theirs.

“Blooooooodfeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!!”

The vermin headed by Venge had successfully clambered onto the Ragsail and started attacking the crew. However, Alrack was smart. He knew, from long seasons of experience that the other crew would always send one of the ship leaders to head the attack. He jumped down from the afterdeck and confronted the scene, sword in sable paw. He laid two stoats low with swift, curving blows and joined his crewbeasts in the midst of the fray amidships. Taking out a lanky rat with an upward strike, he turned and cut down a fox who had been sneaking up on him from behind. Making his way belowdecks, he gave a few orders to the leader of the cannoneers. “ Skoundrel! Keep your worthless oafs firin’! Have Ragsnout and Slinktail fire some chain-shot at the sides o’ that vessel! Don’t try ter take ’er over, sink the thing! That ship is absolutely no use ter me”. He rushed up the companionway steps to the fight above and hurled himself toward Venge. The ferret was giving orders to a tall, skinny stoat. “ Wertts, tell Frafter and his crewbeasts to take out the ones who appear to be leading this motley group trying to stop us......”. His words were cut short as Alrack came bulling his way through the throng of foebeasts, slaying Wertts and the ferret called Frafter with a single stroke. Venge gave orders to the vermin surrounding him. “ Leave this here ‘captain’ to me. He carries a sword, so obviously I can deal with him”. The ferret drew his slender basket-hilt cutlass from its sheath and confronted Alrack. The corsair responded in similar fashion, wielding his blade like a drum major’s baton. Venge sidestepped and swung at his opponent’s midriff. The weasel

blocked the strike and thrust forward at the ferret’s chest. Venge took a pace backwards, avoiding the move by inches. He countered with an upward slash at Alrack’s chin which his adversary deflected with a sideways swipe. Then Alrack made a battle-changing move. He ducked a high swing, came up beside Venge, and made a vicious slash at Venge’s head. This time, the move connected, and Venge fell to the deck, blood leaking out of his head where the top of his skull had once been. Seeing their leader down, the remaining vermin of the Vengeful fled to their own own vessel, the slower ones being mowed down like bugs under the wheels of a cart.

Later that night, in a bunk on the second deck, Venge lay sleeping, a white silk sash, now mostly crimson, wrapped around his head. Alrack had not put him out of his misery, due to the fact that Venge said that if he recovered, he would serve as advisor on the Ragsail. Alrack had agreed, and was now making a replacement out of steel to fit on Venge’s mangled head and cover his horrendous injuries. Venge had lost an eye and most of his upper skull, along with both ears. Luckily, there was no brain damage, or Venge would have been dead before he hit the deck that evening. The next day, cries of pain came from the Ragsail. In the captain’s cabin, an emergency procedure was taking place. Venge lay in the bunk, letting out cries of agony as Alrack held the replacement skull in place while Waveclaw welded it on with a hot iron. When it was finished, the ferret got up and walked around, testing if his new cranium would hold.

On board the Vengeful, Uldrich was steaming with fury and berating his hapless crew soundly. “ Bungle-pawed idiots! You cowards ran away at the first sign of battle! I lost Venge, Frafter, Wertts, and many others, but do you care? NO! Ugh, you cravens disgust me”. Also steaming at the foebeasts’ victory were Zanter and Vinsley, the mates, and Hagfrall and Dirtchops, Uldrich’s two trusted spies. Hagfrall was berating a burly ferret. “Ditchtail, you idiot, I thought yew was told ter stay wid Frafter”. Ditchtail pleaded with the hard-faced stoat. “ But Frafter wuz slain along wid Wertts afore I could do somethin’, please don’t kill me , ‘agfrall!”. The spy finally relented his telling-off of the ferret. “ Yew kin live, jist don’t act like such a craven nex’ time, d’ya ‘ear me?”. Hagfrall turned to Dirtchops. “ Whit da ye think we shid do ter that gutless ferret?”. Dirtchops was not the brightest of stoats. “ I dunno, whadda you think, mate? Should we do somethin’ painful? I likes painful things, Huhuhurr!”.

Uldrich turned on the two dim-witted spies with a face like thunder. “ Shut up, yew tew, or I’ll gut ye wid me ’ook!”. Hagfrall and Dirtchops took the warning to heart and stopped reprimanding Ditchtail. The ferret scurried belowdecks to escape further wrath from the captain and his spies. Hagfrall stared after the retreating figure of the chastised crewbeast. “ That un’s got ‘is lumps comin’ someday, mark me words”. Dirtchops agreed with his smarter friend. “Huhuhurr! You be’s right, mate. ’E’s gorra ‘is lumps comin’, huhuhuhuhuhuhuhuhurr! Can oi be the one that gives ’em to ’im, Hagfrall?” The other one of Uldrich’s spies nodded solemnly. “ Yerrah, shore yew can, Dirtchops. Arter all, yore the best one fer the job.” Dirtchops seemed pleased by this. “Huhuhurr, oh goody. I’ll give ’im lumps. Huhuhuhuhuhuhuhurr!”