If you hadn't figured it our already, book 3 is now available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.

https://mybook.to/corsairsandcataclysms3

What you'll be getting for the next few weeks is a novella that takes place between books 3 & 4 from Jackson's perspective. It'll be 30-40k words when it's finished.

Chapter 1

 

 

I awoke to a light nibbling on my ears and two sets of soft hands that roamed and teased the lower portion of my torso.

“Morning, Jackson,” Britney whispered in my ear when I stirred and made it clear I was awake.

She followed her honeyed-tone greeting by stroking my face tenderly.

The curvy redhead threw her leg over my breadbasket and pressed her naked chest against me when she lay down. Britney’s twinkling green eyes hovered over mine and she grinned impishly before kissing me deeply on the lips. Despite the distraction, I felt Celeste, her athletic blonde companion, shuffle down our shared bed. She pulled the coverings back, crawled over my lower body behind Britney, and mounted me.

Any further verbal greetings disappeared into the ether while we got lost in the mutual bliss of one another.

What a way to start the day.

 

***

 

 

“I need a shower,” Celeste announced suddenly and disentangled herself from our post-coital embrace.

I sniffed my armpit quickly and concluded she was not the only one. “Do you want some company in there?”

“Rain check,” she called back to us, already turning on the shower that had been converted to operate using mana. “I’ve got a meeting with Susan about the placement of a new colony in half an hour. Showering together always results in a hot threesome which then requires more showering. Gotta be all business, or I’ll be late. You two talk.”

“Didn’t we just have a hot threesome?” I asked the ceiling in confusion and lay my head back on the pillow.

“She means another one,” Britney giggled and kissed my shoulder. “Your muscle definition is really filling out.”

“No longer the weedy nerd,” I harumphed a little. “Magical stats will do that.” Self-consciously, I reached over to the bedside table and scrabbled around with my free hand until I found the frames of my glasses and put them on.

I’d pushed out the lenses the day the Framework changed the world because they were no longer necessary, but the presence of the frames gave me an almost unquantifiable comfort.  A connection to the world that was lost and everything that was lost along with it. I couldn't help but glance reflexively across the bedroom to my desk with the locked drawer. The drawer contained a report on the fate of my mother and sister in Florida. I’d not read it.

The sombre and hesitant expression on the compiler’s face told me everything I needed to know about the findings. They were gone, like so many others.

I pushed those darker thoughts to the side and concentrated on the happier times of the present.

“You were never weedy,” Britney assured me. “Nerdy, for sure, but that’s what we like about you. We just want to see you put your best foot forward when you speak with Captain Carter later today. Perception is important.”

Celeste’s parting phrase of ‘you two talk’ took on a new frame of reference. “Is this why the morning started with sexy fun? Was I being put in a good mood before the start of a discussion I might not like?”

The flash of guilt in Britney’s expression spoke volumes and I swung my legs out of bed. Before I could stand, her arms wrapped around me from behind and her head rested on my shoulder.

“Don’t get mad,” she mumbled into my collar bone. “We’re just worried that you’re not being proactive enough and putting yourself out there. Making sure people know how important you are. How important to the captain you are.”

“Britney,” I sighed. “It’s not a competition. Torin doesn’t pit us against each other like that. You have nothing to worry about.”

That wasn’t precisely true. Torin didn't play us against one another, but the Darkwyrlds was very much a competition. One in which I’d started to struggle to keep pace with. My gamer background had given me a leg up in the beginning, but the natural aptitudes of others had allowed them to catch up and overtake my early progress.

The redhead released her hug, shuffled to sit on the side of the bed with me and took my face in her hands. “You silly goose. You are too naïve for your own good sometimes, do you know that. We know the captain trusts you, but that is not who you have to impress. The problem is that the Shattered Storm is growing and growing rapidly.

“There has been a huge influx of new people in the last few months alone. They don’t know what the situation was like before when it was smaller, and most of the people were on a first name basis. All they can see is what is shown to them today. And what they see is Kristoff captaining Storm Raider. LT as the top raid leader. Brant commanding the militia and Danny, well, Danny is an ogre and simply looks very imposing and stands out. What they don’t see is the humble, young sorcerer standing amongst them who has been with the captain since the beginning. The first and most trusted member of the crew. Perception can be more important than reality.”

“If that’s what people think of me then I’m not sure how you expect me to change that. I can’t change who I am.” I had to pause for a moment and rethink my argument. Things were different from before “Okay, I’ll accept with the Framework we can do that, but I’m not becoming an ogre. It would wreck my character build,” I snorted out the half-joke, but deep down I sincerely hoped this was not what Britney was trying to suggest. Puffing out my chest with self-importance had never been my style.

Britney clapped her hands and folded her legs under her. “You don’t need to change what you look like. Just be a bit more assertive. Ensure all the new faces get a chance to see you shine.”

“How…”

Britney interrupted me. It was clear she and Celeste had already come up with a plan of action. “For starters, you’ve got to stop trying to pretend that you’re not in a relationship with Celeste and me.”

“What? Wait, I don’t do that,” I protested and flushed red with embarrassment.

“Jackson, when we’re out in public you won’t even hold our hands, let alone anything a bit more intimate.”

“Not true, I’ve kissed you both, you know, before heading off on a mission. Loads of times.”

“On our cheeks and only if we happen to be below deck on the ship. And every date night takes place in the palace. Where we already spend most of our time.”

“It’s got the best facilities…”

“And is mostly off-limits to everyone but Torin and his harem,” she interrupted. “Nice and private. No chance of us being spotted by somebody that doesn’t already know.”

“Alright, maybe I’ve been a bit uncomfortable…being public about being together with the two of you,” I confessed. “I’m not ashamed of either of you.” I was quick to add in case that was where this was headed.

Britney laughed lightly. “We know that Jackson but is still smarts a little when you shy away.”

“Okay, I’ll work on that. But I don’t see why people knowing about us matters so much.”

“How many women is Torin with?” she asked me unexpectedly.

“Six.”

“You’re forgetting the new consorts.”

“Okay, technically nine then. But that’s Torin. I mean, he’s the Captain. You’ve met him, it's almost like he can’t help but gather up more women.”

“True, and if the women of Stormblade Harbour had their way, it would be closer to ninety not nine. But those at the top set the trends for those below to inevitably follow. If people are to associate you in the same breath as the mighty Captain Carter, then they need to see you as his contemporary. And that means measuring up with him as best you can. A display of how many lovers you’ve got clinging to the crooks of your arms sends a powerful message. You had a head start in that arena and you’re falling behind the others on this front.”

“Ummm, really?”

“Jackson, this is what happens when you try and hide your love life away. You miss out on the details. Kristoff has at least three women living with him already. Bridget and Carla dote on Danny, and it’s rumoured he has a third paramour he’s seeing at the Storm Cellar.”

“Fine, I can take the hint. I need to take you and Celeste out on the town more.”

I already started to make some plans in my head for slightly more adventurous date venues. There was a new dressmaker in town, I could get them a couple of gowns which ought to earn me some brownie points. The bout of internal planning meant I missed what Briney said next or at least, I thought I had. She couldn’t have just said what I distractedly heard.

“Pardon, could you repeat that?”

“I said that we would both appreciate that as a good first step, but you need to be on the lookout for a third and potentially a fourth. I don’t think the girls from the Storm Cellar would be a good fit for you, too forward. You’re already a bit leery. Celeste and I had to practically hunt you down in the beginning. Somebody a bit more on the shy side perhaps, oooh, or another sorceress. A girl you have something in common with would work well.”

I sat there in dumbfounded silence. My jaw slightly ajar in shock.

Britney grinned and lifted my chin up with her forefinger. “You’ll catch flies,” she giggled.

“You’re serious,” I asked.

“Like a heart attack,” she responded.

“Celeste too?”

“Yes,” she called out and emerged from the steamy bathroom a second later wrapped up in two large white towels. “Sure, I was a bit wary when Britney suggested teaming up at first,” she admitted. “But I can’t deny it’s worked out well so far. The world has changed, and we need to change with it.

“I’ve been talking to Quinn, Susan’s fairy, and what’s happening in the Shattered Storm isn’t unusual for the Darkwyrlds. The way the Framework operates inadvertently created a noticeable gender imbalance in the population. Men are still more likely to take combat classes and go out fighting mobs to level up and protect their communities. Which means they end up dying more often and earlier on average. Which is not much different to how the world used to work before the modern age. However, because there is no longer a corresponding risk of mortality during childbirth for the stay-at-home mothers, women have ended up outnumbering men almost three to one on most planets. Just don’t fall for some stuck-up bitchy cow.”

“Yeah, we’ve got one of those already,” Britney quipped and then dodged behind my back as Celeste whipped one of her towels at her in mock anger.

I shook my head at the surreal situation. “Any other ideas while we’re talking about it.”

“As a matter of fact, yes,” Britney said. “You’re meeting up with the captain later.”

“Yeah.”

“You need to ask him for a more visible job role or volunteer for one. Quartermaster is an important position, but nobody outside the crew knows about it. We’ve got to raise your profile with the people.”

 

***

 

“Earth to Jackson, you alright there, bud,” Torin asked.

The question shook off my distraction and I refocused on the meeting. We’d met in a well-furnished sitting room in the palace. The table beside us had a fancy tea set made of fine china with a floral pattern of roses and violets. The vapour from the brewing pot rose into the air almost hypnotically.

Torin picked up the pot, poured out two cups and then added a dash of milk from a small matching jug.

“I’m fine,” I replied. “Just something the girls said to me this morning has got me thinking.”

“Trouble in paradise? Do you need me to set Shana on them?” he joked.

Or at least I hoped he was joking. Shana could be intense and was much stronger than either Britney or Celeste who had non-combat classes.

“Nah, nothing like that. The opposite really. They think I need to make more of a splash with all the new arrivals. Stand out from the crowd more. I think they’re concerned I’ll fade into the background and let others hog the spotlight.”

I tried to say it in a jokey manner, but Torin’s cup of tea halted halfway to his mouth.

“I might be able to help you with that. It’s actually why I asked you to join me here today.” He sipped his tea after speaking and then put the cup down with a satisfied expression on his face. “Ah, it’s been ages since I’ve got my hands on a good cuppa. No offence to the land of your birth, Jackson, but your tea is shit. Thankfully, somebody’s opened a Darkwyrlds market in Yorkshire, and we can get some of the proper stuff. Good tea is going to be worth its weight in gold soon enough.”

I was more of a coffee guy myself and didn’t really care for the tea, regardless of where in the world it came from. “No offence taken. What is this all about then?”

“Pandaemonium,” Torin replied simply. “The rededication ritual is complete, and we are ready to reopen the portal. I’ve got a quest chain waiting inside, but I’m stuck avoiding combat while I shake off this damn healing debuff I’ve been lumbered with. It’ll be a few more weeks before it clears, maybe a month or more. So, do you fancy having a crack at the quest in my stead? Be the first to map and explore Pandaemonium?”

This was exactly what Britney and Celeste had been talking about. An opportunity to distinguish myself, but my first reaction was to revert to form. “Are you sure? I thought the quest chain was something gifted by the Shattered Goddess. Don’t you want the rewards for yourself?”

Torin shook his head. “Nah, I’ve got more than enough on my plate. I got Dean to make the arrangements which will allow me to transfer the chain to another. This is definitely something I should delegate to a trusted and capable deputy. Naturally, my first thought was you.”

“Maybe LT would be better. He’s got a much better character aptitude. I’m just a Pyromancer.”

“Jackson…” Torin squared his shoulders. “Stop being a modest prick. If I wanted LT to have this opportunity, I would have asked LT. I want you to have it. Now close your trap and say thanks.”

“How am I supposed to say thanks if I close my mouth?”

“See, it’s that kind of situational awareness that makes you the right man for the job.”