Malachi’s moustache twitched. Besides the harsh sun-burn, his cheeks fueled red in frustration. What was it that attacked their ship? It was definitely a person- it was that obvious- or a humanoid being of a sort at the least. Whoever that was, was very powerful. And Amias had somehow gained their alliance. There wasn’t any chance of capturing those thieves now that they had a supernatural god of some sort on their side. He had burnt down the entire ship on his own! In rage, he kicked the meek flower vase at the corner of the patio, letting it crash and crack onto the garden a few steps below. He wanted money, he wanted recognition, and he wanted to be right! He looked up at the sky: maybe if he wished on a star? His children were always babbling about ‘dreams coming true’.

“Tsk!” he clicked his tongue. What sort of grown man wishes on stars? He didn’t want to be seen as weak or desperate because of one single loss. But out of some past instinct, he looked up at the sky. The North Star wasn’t there. Even the supposedly magical star wasn’t on his side. He squatted down to clear his thoughts. Already, he was in debt for using naval artillery on an unsuccessful mission. Trying head on offense again would be another worthless loan- with that freak on Amias’s side, it was very obvious that they would be fighting for an almost zero chance.

“Aren’t you going to come indoors?” Laurel peeped through the door, her hair in rollers and bags hanging from her eyes.

“I’ll be there” Malachi mumbled.

“Is this about Amias?” she asked warily.

“I said I’ll be there!”

Laurel didn’t seem taken aback. She was used to Malachi raising his voice at her. Whenever she was alone, she wondered what her younger-self saw that made her want to marry him. As far as she knew at the present moment, he was constantly hungry for power of some sort, spending his time at dinners with government officials drinking, then coming home to throw horrible tantrums at his children. Luckily, she would always put them to bed right before he would arrive.

And then there was Amias: a pirate, a kidnapper of children. Maybe she had weak intuition for always falling for bad men. . Why had Malachi brought a thief to their house? Maybe, she thought, he was forced to. He had come back to Polperro just to rob the place, possibly forcing those toddlers and infants to do his bidding. “Oh, those poor children!” it escaped her lips with the exhale of her breath. She closed the door behind her, leaving Malachi smiling to himself on the porch.

“Poor children” he repeated to himself. The excitement was enough to projectile him back up and down the garden towards the cellar door, rambling as he went. They were the weak link in Amias’s crew, and he was going to exploit them. He paced down the rows of dusty, unused equipment in the basement and schemed: he would recruit more men, hunt down silently in Amias’s path and wait for them to dock and take the children hostage whenever he had an open chance. Obviously, Amias would come in search for them; when he arrives, the children would all fall one by one, blood dripping from their chests. Why on Earth would he do that? Isn’t he taking things too far? Isn’t killing children illegal? Malachi already had the answers to all those questions. These children were top-tier criminals in the making. They’ve been taking part in acts of thievery ever since a young age so they were very experienced. Letting them live any longer will only give them a chance to learn more- to become a greater threat to the future generation.

Oh how Amias would crumple, he’d probably die on his own heartbreak- two birds with one stone. Unless, the powerful-whoever-it-was could bring people back to life. Malachi would have to put him down before executing the rest. He felt it churning inside him, that maniacal laughter of things going exactly the way he planned.

“In time, Amias” he said to himself coldly. He grabbed a bottle of wine and headed out in search of desperate comrades who would do the deed for less than a hundred pounds. Oh yeah, it was all coming together.