The trip to the Dry Lands was uneventful for the most part.  Crane sat dormant for much of the trip, reflecting on the past, and the future.  The consequences for failure would be big, immense even.  Crane shook his head to rid it of the thought of a second Shattering.  In the back of his head it remained, a cruel taunt, a severe warning of events to come.  But what if he did fail?  What if<span style="font-style: italic">She</span>got what she wanted?  What if...<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Stop.</span><br/><br/>There it was again.  The mysterious voice of reason.  Crane lifted his head and opened his eyes.  Rubbing his temples, Crane stood from his perch, walking over to the large hole in the side of the boat.  For a few minutes he sat there, dangling his arm outside of the hole.  The salty sea spray danced around the ship as if it were alive, swirling and gushing, back and forth.  Crane stared at the shallow water below.  The boat navigated through the rocky, shallow ocean very slowly.  Too slowly almost.  Crane stood, realizing for the first time that he could see the coasts of land ahead.  They were a mere mile away, but even still, the boat slowed quickly and ominously.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Oh no..</span>, thought Crane, as he rushed to the small staircase leading to the deck.  Peeking through the cracks, Crane was able to make out three figures on the deck, Feral by their stance.  One carried a hammer, while the other two held rapiers.  On the other side, stood five crewman of the boat, each was strapped to the rails of the ship.<br/><br/>"Give us all yer loot!" Cried the first Feral, the one with the hammer.  "Or we'll bash your 'eads in and leave you to the sand sharks!"  Crane could hear the diabolical snickering of the beasts.  Each of which looked dreadfully malnourished from his point of view.  Crane turned to Osbourne and Celris, each of which looked to be sleeping.<br/><br/>"Get up Celris!  Get up Osbourne!  We've been boarded!" Whispered Crane harshly, "I'm going to go up there, see if I can work this out, if not... Well it may turn violent.."  Crane turned back to the staircase, pushing the hatch open.  Each of the Feral pirates jumped in surprise when he arrived.<br/><br/>"Hey!" Called Crane, "What's going on he-" Crane didn't finish, for one of the Feral pirates jumped<br/>him, pinning his arms to the deck.  The Feral seemed to be the second in command, as he turned to the hammer-bearer for orders.<br/><br/>"Tie him up like the rest of 'em" The captain Feral replied.  Crane tried to reach his blade, but was stopped by the other Feral pirate.  Both creatures pinned his arms behind him, and threw him roughly to the rails, where they tied his arms behind his back with some sort of tough rope.<br/>He knew the binding well, it was a combination of dry weeds found out on the Dry Land's coast.  He also knew that when wet, they softened considerably, to the point where he would be able to escape.<br/>Crane closed his eyes as the Feral captain began to threaten each member with death.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Breathe</span><br/><br/>Like a snakes, tendrils of magic seeped off of his wrists, latching onto the binding around his wrists.  Slowly the bindings softened, as magical vapors moved in and out of it.  Carefully, Crane pulled his left hand from its hold, and then his right.  The steaming binding slipped stealthily into the ocean below.  No one along the rails noticed it, nor did the Feral attackers.  Crane smiled, but not before pulling his sword from his waist.  He had hoped he could've come to a peaceful resolution, but it was evident by the sheer brutality of the pirates, and their mangled and diseased appearances, that they were not looking to negotiate with him.<br/><br/>Two of the Feral pirates had started to unload the front cargo storage.  This meant that they, at least for the time being, wouldn't be able to notice his escape.  The third stood with his back to the crew, glancing over the rails.  Crane silently slip-footed over to him, drawing the eyes of many of the captives.<br/><br/>"Hey!" One of the captives shouted, "He's loose!"  Pinching his nose-bridge, Crane had time to give the tattling crew member an annoyed look before the pirate had him by the neck.<br/><br/>"Hey there!" Spoke Crane in mock enthusiasm.  The Feral pirate snarled, and threw him to the deck.<br/>Standing up, Crane swung his sword threateningly.  the feral pulled it's own rapier from it's sheath, and slowly advanced on Crane.  Soon they were on each other, swinging and parrying as steel met steel in a loud but elegant dance of death.<br/><br/>After a good two minutes of continuous sparring, Crane took a step back to think.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">How, </span>he thought,<span style="font-style: italic">do I kill this thing?</span><br/><br/>Crane's sword hummed silently in response, magic emanating from it's tip.   The pirate seemed to notice this as well, and with a single questioning look, lunged forward, swinging his sword over his head.  The rapier slammed against the magical sword as if it were stone, shattering it to pieces.<br/>The Feral stared, open mouthed at the remaining handle of the sword.  He couldn't believe his eyes.  In fear, the creature made an attempt to leap to his allies' place of residence.  Crane, sensing this move, dashed forward, grabbing the Feral by it's neck hair.  The beast only whimpered in response.<br/><br/>"You know," Crane began, "You are one ugly fella'"  The Feral only stared at Crane, his look was that of a child that had been caught stealing candy.  Crane smiled warmly, and sincerely in return.<br/><br/>With a quick gesture, Crane had the beast slumped over the rail, blood gushing from a massive wound in it's neck.  The once clear ocean had turned to a murky, rust colored liquid, dotted with the dyeing embers of the magical fire that had accompanied the execution.<br/><br/>Crane turned to the captured crew members to free them, but realized he'd probably be better off clearing the ship of pirates first.  Of course, he didn't want to take all the fun, so he decided to wait until lat least Celris had made it to the top deck.