[center][i][b]Bthamz island surface[/b][/i][/center]
[hr]
Valen's aim was true. His arrow found the assailant's neck, impaling a good distance through the netch leather. Blood seeped out from where the arrowhead went in, and the poor fellow dropped dead in front of Hargjorn. The latter had to shove the fresh corpse off his front, but despite that and the blood splattering onto his clothing, Hargjorn's reaction to Valen was one of approval. The knife that nearly slit his neck was now in Hargjorn's possession. He spun it in his hand, examining the darkened bone grip and the curved metal blade. It was foreign like its former owner's armor. That armor was the next thing Hargjorn investigated. He peeled off a tangle of hood and mask, revealing an androgynous dark elven face filled with tribal markings. 

"Doesn't look like anyone familiar, eh?" Hargjorn asked Valen, crouching beside the corpse to better examine it. "Oh well, nice shot anyways. It was this one or me; you whacked the right chum." 

A quick pat around the body revealed nothing significant. In fact, the Dunmer had nothing saved for outfits and the knife. Several buckles were even loose, which probably meant they geared up without time to spare. Pushing the body to one side, Hargjorn continued forward with Valen rounding up the rear. With his trusty falchion in hand, Hargjorn methodically went from cabin door to cabin door on both sides of the passageway. The next pair of cabins turned out uneventful; one was full of barrels and another hollowed out for bunks. Familiar Morrowind spices, along with unfamiliar, but similar fumes filled the storage room. The bunks, on the other hand, gave off the typical musk of sailors. There's little signs of occupation, however, Hargjorn did find some sort cargo manifest on a barrel, though he could not make sense of the Dunmeris writen in Daedric characters. 

"Hatch up ahead, it's open." Hargjorn pointed out for Valen. "You're handy with the bow, I've seen it, but something shorter works better in tight quarters." 

Continuing forward, there was a door beyond the hatch. The door was ajar, and when Hargjorn got closer to it, he saw something behind it. That something looked like a head. "You see that?" Hargjorn confirmed with Valen. On his second look, the head was gone. There were shuffling noises, the door swung ever so slightly and Hargjorn realized what was happening.

"He's invisible!" Hargjorn blurted out. Ducking below shooting height, the sailor called out. "Running on the steps now, shoot it!"

Now Hargjorn regretted telling his buddy to switch off the bow earlier, because no matter how fast Valen could put out that arrow, only air and bulkhead awaited. His heart pounded in urgency, his steps did not wait to carry him to the ladder leading up the hatch. Nothing more than a cloudy sky sat above it. Hargjorn ordered Valen to watch his back, while he kicked the ajar door wide open. A galley full of dried ingredients in sight, no signs of anyone else.

"Ashav, on your guard now, you have company!" Hargjorn ran back to the hatch and shouted up. Without waiting for a reply, the sailor started scrambling up the ladder as fast he as could.

"Up you go, we gotta chase him topside." He beckoned for Valen to follow.