Havoc in Hawksburg (The Crossbone Chronicles) P1

    It was a typical warm humid night in Hawksburg as four sea faring scaly figures dashed stealthily across the rooftops. The streets below lied empty for the most part, except for the groups of feathery guards patrolling below making sure no one remained outdoors after the curfew. Scar Scales the gray burly crocodile stopped momentarily to cough as his body rejected the polluted air of the city.

    “Haven’t these scurvy birds heard of environmental regulations?” grumbled Scar Scales. “How is one supposed to breath?”

    “It’s called trying to stay on top of competition, Scars,” explained Red. “It’s General Woodstock’s idea of 'progress.'”

    “Progress my scars!” growled Scar Scales. “Industrialization be great and all, but so is breathin'!”

    “Stop lollygagging and get movin'!” scolded Cutlass from ahead. Scar Scales rubbed the end of his crocodilian snout before resuming his pace. Eventually, the reptilian pirates reached the end of the city block where a large brick manor sat at the end of the market square.

            “That’s the place, men!” exclaimed Cutlass peering through Red’s night vision binoculars.
    
              Scar Scales gazed ahead through his binoculars as well.

            “Quite thee manor the colonel’s got!” he said observing the centuries old stone architecture.
    
            Skew quickly climbed up Scar Scales back attempting to snatch the binoculars from his hands.

             “Ooh! I wanna look! I wanna look!” .

              Scar Scales shoved Skew off his shoulder with his left hand. “Bug off, Skew!”

            “Shall I proceed?” asked Red as he began aiming his crossbow above a window.

            “Not until Rapscallion tells us the coast is clear!” answered Cutlass sternly, pushing Red’s crossbow down.
             Red sighed. “What is taking that winged lizard so long?”
    
            Suddenly, the attention of the pirates was distracted by the sound of the whooshing of wings.

            “Just soaking up another beautiful night in the filthy city of Hawksburg!” said the loud obnoxious voice of Rapscallion.

            “Well?” said Cutlass impatiently with his arms crossed.

            “Coast is clear, mates!” announced Rapscallion. “Just normal incompetent guards patrolling the streets. They make their rounds by the hour so as long as you’re in and out like the plan, you should be good for exiting the way you came!”

            “And indoors?” further questioned Cutlass.
            
             Rapscallion scratched his head.

            “Well, from what I can see, you only have a couple of butlers to worry about.”

            Scar Scales felt Rapscallion nudge him. “But, if worse came to worse, ol’ Scaly Scars here should be able to put them to sleep, if ya know what I mean!”

             Cutlass sent Red a nod.  “Good! Then let us get this party started, mates! Like we planned, I want you, Scar Scales, to accompany Red and Skew to help them pull off this plunder.

            “Aye!” replied the pirates.

            “Rapscallion, I want you to continue patrolling, but make sure ye continue to avoid drawing attention to yerself!”

            “Aye, sir!” replied Rapscallion saluting him.

            “And best ye not forget, the main objective here is to recover the Zebah tribe’s stolen ancestral jewelry. After having recovered that, fill yer sack to the brim with whatever else ye may find as our payment!”

       
            “Aye!” replied the pirates again with stronger enthusiasm. Helping the Zebah tribe and ticking off the lily livered birds was payment enough for Scar Scales and his pirate comrades, but additional loot would merely be 'icing on the cake.'
    
            After all, the Crossbones pirates held a deep friendship with the Zebah tribe. A race of equine's from a the small island of Hoovoa located among the Paradise Islands. The friendship began when the Crossbones became ship wrecked after having been crippled from a battle with an Avaynian warship. Although distrustful at first, the Zebah's eventually took pity on the unusual 'rough skinned' creatures as they struggled to feed themselves off the land. Spending many months trapped on the island, the reptilian pirates became close with the Zebah's when both were forced to band together to fight off an Avaynian invasion. After nearly a year, the Crossbones eventually managed to build a sea worthy vessel to carry them off the island, back to the nearest sea port.

            The Crossbones never forgot what the Zebah's did for them and still visit from time to time, bringing gifts in exchange for the privilege of partying on their beautiful, lush island.
            
            None of the crew thought twice when Chief Zebaar asked them to recover valuable heirlooms stolen during a raid by the Avaynian military.

            Cutlass nodded his head retaining his typical serious demeanor amidst the rest of the crew.

            “And best ye make sure this mission is a quiet one. The last thing we need is fer this place to be swarmin' with feathers.

            “Aye!” the pirates again replied in unison.

            Cutlass waved his sword. “Let’s step to it, men!”

             "Aye, aye!"

             "I have two eyes, see?" interjected Skew, gazing through his curled hands like they were binoculars.
              "Shut up, Skew!" scolded Scar Scales, slapping the frill lizard on the head while the rest of the Crossbones released a groan of annoyance.
              


Illustrated by AndrewMartinD 

  Thanks for reading!
 


Havoc in Hawksburg Part 2 (The Crossbone Chronicles)