What seemed to have dragged on for a day lasted but a few minutes. The crew of the Weather Witch held their ground despite being outnumbered and surrounded. Later the Captain believed it was out of surprise and lack of cohesion from the enemy, due to the prison break in the midst of their triumph. Perhaps if Markus had lost, or even took another minute to slay Mahal, his crew would have been slaughtered. 

Little did he know that Calliope had no small part in that victory. Though he expected just as much. He hadn't seen her, but he knew she was far too unpredictable and dangerous to be among the corpses. The new crew member Reginel had a nasty wound on his shoulder, and one of the triplets had a gash upon his head. But there had been no true casualties. That impressive fact, coupled with the grisly death of the Blood Axe leader had led most of the corsairs to fall on their knees in surrender. 

Those that hadn't had either been stabbed in the back by their allies or they had fled into the twisting cavern system of the vast rock they found themselves in. At Markus' orders, Halvar and Sron had gone off to slay any they found, unless they surrendered themselves immediately. He wouldn't lose potential crew members due to a misunderstanding. For Jim's part, he had made it to Sketti and had given him Calliope's orders, and he had sent Jax back to the Weather Witch along with the wounded to keep it under guard. 

When Calliope stepped out of the shadows, she would see the majority of the occupants of the cavern were dozens of meters up in the 'throne room,' but she found herself face to face with Sketti, who was ordering some of the men to check the Blood Axe ships for loot and hidden foes. The mad Dwarf did a double take when she walked out naked and covered in blood. 

"Somehow I am not surprised!" He said finally, giving a small bark of a laugh as he shook his shaggy head. He pointed his brass stump at some of the loot, where some brown breeches and boyarina's travel top and accompanying jacket was presented. "Ye can put that on, or walk the stairs naked and get back yer sorceress attire. Either way you'll be going up stairs if you're looking for the captain." 

With that he went back to work and dismissed her, needing to keep an eye on everything. They might have won but as far as the Dwarf engineer was concerned, they were still in the belly of the beast and any good Quartermaster didn't relax until the mead was poured. The First Mate still needed to regain her Sarong regardless. Once Calliope was sufficiently dressed and she ascended, she would find the Chieftan's Chamber filled with knelt Blood Axe Corsairs. 

At the center of the backwall, atop the throne of skulls and ivory sat Markus, fine chin resting on a fist as each man approached and recanted an oath of loyalty to him. The Captain's visage was as deadly as his sword, and he heard each litany without emotion, save a measure of his gaze. Upon his shoulders were impressive pauldrons of a praelian lorica segmentum armor, and a black cloak he was told Mahal only wore on special occasions. 

When Calliope entered, Markus betrayed his grim visage with a smirk. It might have been a grin but he likely didn't wish to appear soft, and he gestured for her to come forward.