The Nekromancer - 83. Chapter 83

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Swords clashed and parted, Jeremy grinning at the other fighter. They stood in a circle of crewmembers, a raucous chanting filling the ship as the crew cheered on their champion.

The cleric took a swig of ale from his mug, swaying in time with the ship. It was always more fun to fight drunk, and as the ship rolled under his feet, Jeremy’s grin widened. He was out of his element, but that didn’t matter. A hundred silver rode on the outcome of this bout, but that didn’t matter either. All that mattered was he was having a great time.

Well, and not losing a hundred silver. He had no doubt Amnor Sen would be pissed if he lost. And pissed if he won. He was in trouble as soon as he had agreed to the duel, but Jeremy didn’t really care. The elf would be happy again once the man blew him a couple times. Besides, Jeremy wasn’t about to let some sailor tell him he couldn’t fight on the ocean.

He wasn’t even using spells; that would have ruined the spirit of the duel. Sure, it made the fight more uncertain, but what was life without a little risk?

The sailor used the ship’s rolling to dart forward, Jeremy stumbling slightly as the deck fell. A rapier slid past him, the stumble saving him from defeat. The crowd jeered at the cleric, silver coins already passing hands as more bets were cast. He had the feeling they were surprised he was still on his feet, but to be fair, so was Jeremy himself.

“Come on, is that the best you got?” he slurred, taking another drink.

The man grunted, adjusting his grip before lunging again. Jeremy swayed to the side, then back around, the flat of his blade aiming for the sailor’s ass. It met the man’s rapier, and leapt off the other blade, Jeremy taking a step back to reassess his position. The ship rolled again, the deck pitching him forward into one of the onlookers, and the cleric ducked aside as fast as he could, hearing the man cry out in alarm. It sounded like he’d be doing some healing later, but for now, he had a duel to finish.

“Oh for the love of the gods…”

And there was the uptight buzzkill, pushing his way through the crowd. Jeremy let out a sigh, turning his attention back to the charging sailor. The deck rose, Jeremy ducking forward around another stab. He staggered slightly, blade rising to ward off a blow that never came.

Frowning as he lowered his blade again, Jeremy stared at the panting sailor. Was… was he really that tired? Or was it a trap to lure him in?

“Come on Kito! You can do it!” someone called.

“A hundred silver Kito, come on!”

Jeremy stood back, waiting for the man to come at him again. He was having too much fun to stop this now.

“Damn it Jeremy, just end it,” Amnor Sen demanded. “We don’t need to lose a hundred silver because of your stupidity.”

It was probably a bad time to mention to the elf that it was a hundred silver to each crewmember who had bet. Yeah… Jeremy wouldn’t mention that to the paladin unless he won.

“Are you done?” he asked, taking a step forward.

His arms opened, a gesture of peace… and an invitation. Kito took it as the latter.

Lunging forward with a sudden yell, the sailor tripped over a swelling wave, stumbling past Jeremy yet again. The cleric rolled his eyes, swinging his rapier. The blade slapped the sailor’s leg, before catching Kito’s side and drawing blood.

There was a moment of silence, and then the crowd started dispersing frantically.

“Hey! You all owe me a hundred silver!” Jeremy yelled incredulously, swaying slightly as the boat rocked.

Amnor Sen stepped forward, catching the drunk cleric as he fell.

“Gods damn it Jeremy, what is wrong with you? We don’t have that kind of coin to be throwing around,” the paladin hissed. “This wasn’t even stupid, it was just flat out lying.”

“Yeah, well they didn’t have the silver either,” Jeremy grumbled. “Damned sailors won’t pay up…”

“I doubt Nihm will let it go. And I doubt he’ll let us go either. Gambling on a ship fight Jeremy, what in the Nine Hells is wrong with you?”

“I was bored,” the cleric slurred.

“So play a board game. Don’t fight sailors with money we don’t have. While near black out wasted.”

“Come on, I’m not that bad,” Jeremy frowned at the paladin. “Besides, it was fun.”

“Yeah, it’s all fun and games until you’re back at the mast for breaking a rule against gambling.”

“They don’t have that… do they?”

“Probably not, considering at least a quarter of the crew was joining in, but come on Jeremy, you have to think before you act,” Amnor Sen sighed, helping the cleric below deck.

“Yeah, but I won and they didn’t pay. Bunch of cheaters… I didn’t even use my prayers…”

“So you want applause for fighting fair when you shouldn’t have fought at all?”

“It would be nice,” Jeremy muttered.

“Fine, congratulations on not losing us a hundred silver-”

“Two thousand silver.”

“Excuse me?!”

“A hundred silver each. There were twenty people. Two thousand silver.”

Amnor Sen stared at his husband in horror.

“What the fuck? Two thousand silver… two hundred gold?! First of all, what makes you think sailors would be able to pay that? And where the fuck were we supposed to get the money if you lost?!”

“We still have a hundred gold left from the caravans. Besides, I have a wand left I could have used. And they are an entire crew. They could have chipped in together.”

“Jeremy, that’s like a month of wages for each of them. You’re drunk and they were trying to scam you,” the paladin snapped. “I can almost guarantee he had spells cast on him. I saw the way he moved. You got lucky more than once.”

“So go smite them and get our money…” Jeremy mumbled, stretching before crawling into their berth with his sword still in hand.

“What money? Jeremy, they have no money. You were supposed to lose and make them all rich. How are you not getting this?”

Amnor Sen pulled the rapier out of his husband’s hands, sighing as he heard a snore escape the cleric. This was going too far. As much as Amnor Sen hated doing it, he needed help with this.

Sheathing the sword, he set it next to the cleric before heading off to find Nihm.