[b]Southern Coast of Barcea[/b]

"Dead men walking!"

The crier led the four captive prisoners toward the town's gallows. Dalious walked at the rear and was the only of the pirates to have his head up. He was looking at all the faces in the crowd for one specifically, the traitor dwarf that got him captured in the first place. One who was once called a loyal friend, though he was nowhere to be seen.

A rock flew by and cracked Dalious in the temple, causing him to drop to a knee. "Thieves!" one older man yelled while raising an angry fist in the air. "Pirate scum!!" came another voice.

"Piss on you, you meesley vagrants!" Dalious spat, which welcomed a fist to his gut from one of the guards. He was then tugged onto the platform and forced under a noose. He turned his head to see his comrades under the same fate. They were some of the newer members to his ship crew and probably the only ones that could have been trusted, though he found that little bit of information out a little to late. "An easy job he said. In and out, he said. That fat treacherous dwarf! If I ever see him ag--"

His words were muffled by a wool bag being placed over his head. Everything went dark and it became immediately harder to breathe. He then remained silent, as he figured he would rather be hung with a bit of air than none at all.

The crier began to speak of their crimes to the ever angered mob of people, all waiting in anticipation for the ropes to let go. Dalious tried to ignore all of that and instead focused his thoughts on the last woman he had lain with. Her name was....actually he forgot her name, but her smell was of peaches and lilac. She was just another whore, and he didn't know why he thought of her specifically, but it helped calm his nerves given the current circumstance.

Suddenly, the first of the trap doors opened up, and his former crew member fell quickly. The poor bastards neck snapped him dead near to immediately. As the crowd cheered, with a few surprising jeers, the next pirate got hung. His name was Gref, somewhat of a good man, at least in the sense of being a pirate and all. He struggled for a good while before his body became stiff at the rope.

"Dalious," the man next to him said, finding the time to speak a few last words before he met his demise. "I want you to know, I had nothing to do with what happened. I want you..."

"It matters not, mate," Dalious calmly spoke through the bag. "Die well, I shall be there very soon."

"We had some fun though," his comrade said with a slight laugh. "It was an honor to..."

All Dalious could hear was the floor slam as it gave way, then applause. Some of the people were sickened by the act and tried to leave, though curiosity led them to stay. Their noise was muffled when it was his turn next, as all the man could hear now were the hangman's footsteps as he approached.

"Never trust a fucking dwarf..." he muttered to himself and took one last breath.

"Run!!" "They're coming!" "H'kelans!"

Madness ensued. An arrow flew by Dalious' face and struck the hangman behind him dead in the heart. The large man fell to the pirate's feet, as the roaring of the crowd quickly turned into panic and confusion.

The H'kelan soldiers poured out from the treeline of the small village. Screams began to fill the air as they caught their enemy off guard. They slaughtered everyone in their path, and burned every structure they came upon.

Dalious used his toes to pry the arrow from the dead hangman's chest as the chaos erupted around him. Once he finally had it, he lifted it up to his bound hands and began snipping the rope away with the arrowhead. The villagers began to fight back with whatever weapons they could find, though the H'kelans were too large a force to be reckoned with. Luckily, none paid much attention to the pirate as he finally freed his hands and took off the noose and bag.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire," he said to himself. "Bloody great."

He ran alongside the mayham until he noticed himself about to be cornered. He then quickly went into the burning stables where a single stallion was, prisoned by the gate it was in. The horse was wailing and panicking, but it calmed down once the pirate opened the gate.

"There, there love," he spoke to the animal. "We have to work together on this, savvy?"  The horse seemed to understand after a brief moment, as it let the stranger approach it. "Save me now, and I'll pay back the favor."  He jumped onto the horses back and gave her a tap.  

Together, they rode out of the smoke filled village and galloped through the battle. One of the H'Kelans noticed him and loosed a few arrows his way, all but one missing. The one that struck him hit him right behind his left shoulder. Though it was too late, the horse had sped off while Dalious hung on for dear life.

They rode day and night to the north, not even thinking about stopping.  He managed to pull the arrow from his flesh successfully on the first night without it being much of a problem, but the loss of blood would slowly drain him as he went on. Unaware to him, he passed the capital some time ago, traveling parallel to it when he did.  He was now lost, weak, and weary from thought of mind.  His eyes began playing tricks on him as the sun beat down on his skin.  Eventually, he collapsed, not even feeling his face smack hard against the ground.  

What felt like moments later, his eyes barely opened up and he saw shadows approaching.  With all his strength, he could but utter one word to whomever they were.  "Rum..."  He blacked out again.