Calliope struggled uselessly as the escaped soldiers pulled her to her feet. She tried to shout but all she managed to do was make a muted groaning sound. Something cold and sharp pressed up against her throat she quieted at one. 

“We should just cut her throat now,” one of the soldiers urged, his eyes were very wide, obviously terrified. The man with the knife shook his head.

“Nah a dark haired piece like this is worth real money, to the Inquisition if no one else, besides unless we can sail this ship ourselves we need some hostages,” the knifeman retorted, his fellows were searching her room pulling out clothing and wine, one of them drew her rapier, setting aside the broken bottle he had been clutching as a weapon. Unfortunately for the looters most of her valuable possessions were in the ensorcelled chest. One of the men heaved at the chest but couldn’t move it. He looked around the chest looking for some sort of catch but there was nothing save the handplate.

“Forget it!” the knifeman snapped. Correctly surmising that securing the witch was more important than looting her quarters. 

“Lets find the captain! You two,” he commanded pointing to two of the soldiers seeming at random, “Stay here and guard her, if she gives you any trouble, kill her.”

The soldiers not on guard rushed out of the room leaving Calliope alone with her captors. With her arms bound behind her back and her mouth securely gagged there was little she could do other than seethe. One of the soldiers leered at her unpleasantly revealing several blackened teeth. Calliope only glared back at him which seemed to encourage him.

“Well there is no reason we can’t be friendly while we wait,” the soldier laughed and shoved Calliope back onto the bed before flopping atop her to pin her with his weight. His companion voiced some half hearted protest but the first soldier was already mashing his tongue against her lips, she turned her face away in disgust.

“Ohh playing hard to get you uppity bitch?” the soldier mocked before taking hold of her night shirt and ripping it open. 

“Not bad, hmmm what have we here…” the soldier said as his eyes fell on the amulet that Markus had given her, still hanging from the chain around her neck, glinting just above her bared breasts.

“Who says you can’t have fun and profit at the same time,” the brute chuckled as he reached down for the amulet. As his fingers touched the silver his chuckle transmuted to an agonized scream. Hot blood spattered across Calliope’s chest as the soldier snatched back his hand, or at any rate what was left of it. Rags of bone and tendon hung in ruin as though some great maw had savaged the man. Calliope was on her feet in an instant, driving her foot into the man's crotch, he doubled over and tried to catch himself on his ruined hand, eliciting another scream of agony. His partner, shocked to inaction by the sudden and unexpected turn of events, finally managed to pull the knife he had stolen from one of the other crew members. Calliope crashed into him, sending him toppling to the ground, she spun and drove her heel down on the back of the maimed man's neck with a satisfying crunch. The second soldier, having regained his feet, hit her from behind and they both crashed into wall, hard enough to rattle the glass cased lantern that hung from one of the cross beams. Calliope slipped around the man, keeping her footing with some difficulty, and ran out the door and down the short corridor onto the deck.

The deck was ominously deserted save for one of the soldiers crouching behind a cannon. He looked up at the half naked woman, clearly unsure of whether to shout and raise the alarm but before he could decide the soldier who had been guarding her hit her with a flying tackle that sent them both sprawling, without her hands to balance Calliope tumbled hard on the deck, rolling desperately to try to get back to her feet. She just managed to straighten up in time to see a heavy oar sweep towards her head she staggered back to avoid the blow, hit the rail and tumbled over, plunging into the ocean below.