Flipp
“Is this really necessary?”
Xagon had restrained the creature and placed him in a chair. He had rolled out an archaic kit that was clearly for torture. There were ice picks, blades, and a couple of saws. All of which made me very uncomfortable. Azil was conveniently not in the room. He probably didn’t like to get his hands dirty.
Xagon turned and stared at me. “He’s not answering any of our questions, Flipp. I would love to know how he managed to get on the ship. So, if you don’t mind…”
“I do mind, that’s the point. Why do you have to do this?”
“Because I want answers,” he roared at me.
The creature had not stopped staring at me since I entered the room. His gaze was mesmerizing, and I couldn’t figure out why he found me so interesting.
“Look over here,” Xagon barked at the creature. But the creature just stared at me. It clearly bothered Xagon, and I took a small amount of joy in knowing that.
“What is he?”
Xagon glanced at me. “He’s a Denon, and by the looks of it, some kind of soldier or warrior. I guess we know now where all the missing food has gone.”
“And the rats?”
Xagon shrugged. “He’s not talking.”
“Xagon, please don’t do this. Let me talk to him.”
“Absolutely not. This is not your ship. I suggest you leave, if you are uncomfortable.”
I glared at him, but chose to leave the room. As I was walking away, I heard a groan and I looked over my shoulder. The Denon was looking at me panicked, as if he was not supposed to let me out of his sight. I closed the door behind me, and I jumped when I heard the roar of the Denon. They had begun torturing him, and I didn’t even want to know what they were doing. I made my way back to the upper deck, where the crew members were in clean-up mode. Blood was being mopped up from the deck, and repairs were being made to the ship. I smirked when I saw crew members working on the part of the balcony that I blew up.
I went looking for Azil and found him at the bow of the ship. He was just standing there, looking out at the water. He didn’t turn when I approached him.
“Flipp, I’m glad to see that you are intact.”
“Yeah, thanks. What’s going to happen to the Denon downstairs?”
“That all depends on the intentions of the creature. If he means us ill will, then he will be executed.”
My stomach turned.
“You sure have a lot of concern for all these creatures. Maybe that’s why you’re in the mess that you’re in.”
“Don’t condescend me.”
He turned then and smiled. It irritated me that he found me so amusing all the time.
“You really are something, Flipp.”
“Are the pirates going to come back?”
“Maybe one day, but not anytime soon. They lost a lot of men and would need time to recover. It's likely they will try other boats and avoid the one with my flag on it. Xagon is a great warrior, and not too many Sirens want to go up against him.”
“They sure left quickly.”
“And almost took you with them.”
“Yeah, if it wasn’t for the Denon.”
“Oh, he’s your savior now? I thought I was.”