"Do you think we should help him?"

"He fell a hundred feet down a cliff, and landed rather uncomfortably on some jagged rocks. The blood is already pooling in the surf. I suspect he is beyond our help."

Madrik looked up to the top of the cliff. The old man in the grey cloak was storming off along the edge, flashing his fists at random in the air, his voice echoing back towards the boat. The gangster looked back down to the sea just in time to see the frenzied and savage dance of reddened water cut by the fins of numerous tailsharks.

"Pleasant," commented Talyreina. "What do we do now?"

"We head for Helen's Bay, Tally, to find Tailfin, and make him pay. Excessively."

"Right, I get that. But how the hell are we to sail to Helen's Bay when neither of us knows a damn thing about sailing?"

Talyreina, for some reason, seemed a little less confident about their chances. But Madrik had already made it out of the desert alive twice; floating along the coast in a nice sailing boat – and with a girl for company – was a rather more appealing experience. Besides, he was determined to make it back to see Tailfin. The previous two occasions hadn't gone so well. The third time's revenge.

"We just follow the coast. How difficult can it be? Pull a few ropes here, turn the rudder there..."

"Is it my imagination, or are the sails and rudder both doing very little right now? We seem to be headed directly to that strait. The one with the rickety rope bridge above, and all the rocks sticking out of the water below it."

Madrik quickly scanned the sails, and looked back to the rudder. Talyreina was right. A current had taken them. He ran back to the stern and leaned hard on the rudder, pulling some lines while he was at it.

"What the hell are you doing, Madrik?"

"Something. Anything. Those tailsharks seem to know where we are going better than we do."

"Why did you have to go and throw the crew overboard?"

"Godsdammit, Tally, I told you – I didn't throw them over!"

"Then who did?"

"You did!"

"No I didn't."

"Dammit! How do I know that?"

"I was with you the whole night!"

"Then why the hell do you think it was me?"

"I don't know where you went when I was sleeping."

"And I don't know... aargh, this won't get us anywhere."

The argument had gone the same way a few times during the day. They had woken up in the morning and found themselves adrift; sails flapping, oars scattered, and two plates of lukewarm egg and sausage cooling on the deck, but not a sailor to be seen. Where the hell had the crew gone?

Tally grabbed a line of rope and pulled on it.

"I have been working the salt pans at Rhytheport since I was a kid. What do I know about sailing?"

Still, it seemed to do something.

"Yes! Keep pulling that one."

Talyreina smiled as she clung onto the rope, hanging most of her insufficient weight on it. The boat seemed to angle away from the shore, and soon the rudder began to take effect again. She slowly eased off the rope, and winked at Madrik.

"Don't forget who got us out of this one!"

Madrik had no reply. He couldn't give her the satisfaction.

"You can ease off the rope now," he said.

"I already let it go."

They were clear of the shore, but it was rushing past quickly. Extremely quickly. When they had left Rhytheport, the coast had appeared almost stationary as they crawled past. Now, it was disappearing at a remarkable rate, the trees flashing by.

"Doesn't look like we need those sailors after all."

Talyreina was clinging desperately to the rigging. She held an expression that suggested she stubbornly disagreed, but she kept the words to herself. Madrik soon realised he too was hanging on with all his strength.

"The boat isn't even pointing forwards," observed Talyreina. "Isn't it supposed to do that?"

There was nothing they could do about it. They hung on helplessly as the evening drew near, the sea itself carrying them north while the coastline transitioned from forests to open pasture. Madrik's geography wasn't up to much, but he could tell they were nearing Helen's Peninsula. In fact, they were nearing it far too quickly.

"Time to get wet, Tally!"

Talyreina didn't need the cue – she was already bracing herself as the boat raced towards the shore, grinding quickly to a halt as it scraped over the sand, forcefully throwing both of them overboard. Madrik managed to land head first, and barely managed to throw his hands out in front as he tumbled onto the sand. The waves rolled him over a few more times, helping him to half a lungful of salt water as they washed him ashore.

He stood up and patted himself off, shaking the water from his hair. Talyreina stood beside him, drenched and looking rather miserable.

"We're here!" he said. "Helen's Bay is right over those hills; we'll be there in no time. And I don't even need to pay the sailors!"

Talyreina glared at him.

"I knew you threw them overboard!"

Madrik swung his arms out in defence, but shrugged it off.

"It doesn't matter," sighed Talyreina. "Like you say: we're here."

They set off towards the city, walking quickly and purposefully. Their target was not too far away. It struck Madrik that he had been in a similar position just a week or two back, feet moving faster than his brain could come up with a plan.

"So, what is your plan, Madrik? What are we going to do to Tailfin?"

He was quiet for a while.

"We are going to feed him to the sharks."

Talyreina glanced his way in her stride, unimpressed.

"No wonder he's outsmarted you twice."

Madrik grinned the most evil grin he could muster. Judging by her expression, it was convincing.

"You leave the thinking to me. Tailfin and I go back a long way. I know what he wants. I know how to outsmart him."

"So you aren't interested in hearing my idea?"

Silence.

They stopped in front of a large door, and Madrik shared his evil grin with the seven-foot tall stack of muscles standing outside it. The man eyed them both. After considering for some time, he stood back, allowing them to pass.

They walked through the gambling house, heading straight for Tailfin's office. There was no one standing at the door. Madrik felt his heart racing, and his palms began to sweat as he lifted his knuckles to knock. Talyreina shrugged indifferently. He took a deep breath, and knocked, three solid hits.

Nothing happened.

"Er, Tailfin?" called Madrik as he knocked again.

"Bit of a let down," noted Talyreina.

Madrik sighed, glanced around the room. The tables were full of the usual scum gambling away what little money they had. The strange man with his parchments was sitting quietly in the corner again, scribbling away, but nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.

"Maybe he went to recycle the ale?" suggested Talyreina.

Then Madrik spotted someone he recognised, hastily making his way out. Kyrnrie, the thief. A very talented thief. Madrik wasn't exactly surprised to see him hanging around Tailfin.

"Madrik!" shouted a familiar voice, hovering between anger and surprise. "Again? What the... how the hell?"

Madrik found his grin once again. Tailfin's expression was one he would savour for the rest of his days.

"Tailfin!" he shouted with excited joy. "How wonderful to see you again!"

Tailfin appeared extremely uncomfortable. Then his expression became more confused.

"Tally? What... what are you doing here?"

She smiled.

"I'm here to collect the bounty on Madrik," she said casually. "I brought him back to you in one piece. That should be worth quite a lot."

Madrik's grin vanished. He turned just in time to see the butt-end of her dagger slam into his forehead.

When he came to, he found himself tied to a chair, his wrists already in pain from the bindings. His head was throbbing too, but above the sound of his own blood pumping through his eardrums, he could hear the sweet sound of Talyreina's voice.

"You could use someone like me," she said. "Someone with more than half a brain and less than half a pair of peas in their trousers."

Her eyes were fixed on Madrik as she said it. She looked happy.

"Very well," agreed Tailfin. "I have a job for you. Somebody stole something from me recently. A thief named Kyrnrie. Track him down, and find out who the client is. Then bring him to me."

Talyreina was nodding as she listened.

"In any particular condition?"

"One that would allow me to speak to him. I am not a murderer," he said, glancing at Madrik. "I prefer to let nature run its course, even if it occasionally requires a little encouragement."

"Very well. I will need a few days to get settled, of course," said Talyreina. "What about Madrik?"

Madrik had just about shaken off the dizziness, and he finally found his tongue. He didn't want to hear what Tailfin had in mind.

"Wait!" he shouted. "Kyrnrie? He's a friend of mine. Good friend. We go back a long way."

Well, he had run into him once or twice.

"I can help!" he insisted. "Tally and I can find your man!"

"You expect me to let you go?"

"Where am I going to run? We're on a bloody island! Unless you happen to have seen the mainland recently, there's nowhere I can go!"

Tailfin was quiet for some time, his fingers rapping against each other, but Madrik could see his eyes lighting up.

"You have a rather large debt to pay, Madrik. For the tables, and for your stupidity. I guess you are more use to me working that debt off."

"What?" shouted Talyreina. "No. He will try to kill me the second we walk out of this door!"

Tailfin's man was already cutting the binding ropes, and Madrik's arms were free to move.

"As I said. I let nature run its course. Besides, I only need one of you to bring me the buyer."

The henchman stepped aside, allowing Madrik and Talyreina to walk out of the office and back onto the street, tentatively eyeing one another.

Madrik was about to say something when the sky lit up. The two of them gazed as the star fell, burning a scar through the night sky, and seemingly landing in the forests to the south. At that moment, it didn't seem of particularly significance.

"Only one of us has a blade right now, so don't try anything stupid," said Talyreina.

She spun the crude dagger on the end of her fingers, nearly dropping it in the process.

"So where do we find this Kyrnrie?"

"Kyrnrie? Not a clue."

Talyreina sighed and shook her head.

"You lying bastard."

"It's late," said Madrik, holding off his smile. "And it's been a long day. What say we head to a tavern and get something to eat and a good night's sleep? I hope you were paid well for my head?"

"Luckily, one of us had a good strategy going in to see Tailfin."

She shook a purse, poured some coins into Madrik's hand.

"Seems all the risk was on my side."

"Don't complain. You got your fair share."

"What you don't see is that your plan was flawed all along. Going one up on Tailfin is a death sentence, not a victory. You are holding his coins now, and he won't forget. He needs to die, Tally. You know that, don't you? It's him or us."

Her expression soured. The girl had the taste for the gangsters' life, but she was in too deep far too early.

They soon arrived at The Spotted Seahorse, one of the few taverns that Tailfin didn't have a greedy hand or ear in. If Kyrnrie was hiding from Tailfin, it seemed like a good place to start.

"Alright, Deklow?"

The barman tilted his head in greeting.

"Two?" he asked, glancing nervously at Talyreina's back as she made her way to find a table.

"I'm looking for someone," said Madrik as he nodded his response. "Gentleman named Kyrnrie. Seen him?"

"Kyrnrie? Yes, nice chap," he said nodding thoughtfully. "Not seen him for months."

It was a long shot – worth it, but ultimately unimportant. Taking their drinks, Madrik met Tally at the table in the corner, eyes open to the room.

"Let's stay here for a couple of days," said Madrik. "I have an idea."

Talyreina rolled her eyes, but didn't argue. Madrik grinned confidently.  He did have an idea, after all. The perfect plan to get his revenge.

Madrik's Tale continues in Third Time's Revenge part 2 >>>