There was nothing but silence. She had stopped fidgeting with the treasures around her long ago. Her hands now laid on top of her chest, while she rested against a pile of gold. The loot around her could last her a lifetime and buy her a villa on some remote island… yet she barely paid any mind to it.

No, her thoughts kept drifting to the trinket she most wished to grasp, and the one who still held it. She felt anger and apprehension, knowing well he was in the right while fleeing; as well, he had been in no obligation of reaching for her hand when she fell.

I should just walk over and run him through with my cutlass.

She told herself that for hours, but she did not stand or grasp the handle of her sword to do so. The only thing she did was keep still and quiet, battling her own rage and bitter appreciation. In her life as a pirate, she had killed many goodhearted sailors, and he should not make her feel any doubt. Somehow, he did.

Be it due to her pride, concealed sense of respect, or the perception that the two had suffered many common burdens… she was postponing his fate. She would not admit it, but if her crew did in fact reach them, she would simply seize the trinket and abandon him unharmed.

That would be enough, a life for a life. He’s lucky, after all.

At least, she hoped that he was. Maybe some luck of his would rub on her. Gods knew they needed such fortune, for danger lurked in the ruins. If she was right, they had spent more than a day trapped.

The heat was bearable but exhausting. A few hours ago, he resigned to open his shirt and reveal his bare chest to cool down; it was something she did not comment on, but she almost did bark on how she lost her dear coat thanks to his foolish venture.

The magma flowed deeply all around the ruins, fueling its mechanisms and guts. From time to time, the ground would rumble, affected by the constant shifting of the earth below. Things swam in those flaming rivers, and when a bigger quake struck, they could not avoid flinching.

The two tensed, hearing stone shift and the ruins moan. It was an echo that felt distant, yet all too close. Perhaps it was due to a lizard digging by the door they came through, trying to find where they went.

As the sound faded, they relaxed slightly, yet they kept eyeing the door warily. He was the one to break the silence, reminded of how those maws had been open over him until she shot at the beast.

“It surely was not your intention, but I owe you my thanks for saving my life.”

Her green eyes opened more when she heard his reluctant whisper. She leaned to glance in his general direction, scowling as she replied coldly.

“You are correct; a mere necessity to save the necklace.” She let out a faint sigh, crossing her arms and wiping her long black hair pridefully. “Still, I did save you from being eaten alive. So, I hope you are aware that we are even. I do not owe you anything for saving me from the lava back there.”

“Pirates do not pay their debts, so I would not expect much in any case.”

She raised an eyebrow, wondering if that was an insult or an attempt at a joke. After a few tense seconds, she guessed it was the latter, judging by his small contemplative and resigned smirk. Her next words were taunting, but she tried to hint no malice.

“I do not hold any debts, you know? All who could ask me for payment are eager to overlook it due to my beauty, or rot in the depths of the sea instead.”

“Better not save you again then, you could send me six feet under to avoid paying up.”

“You are so cute, thinking you could possibly escape that fate after all the trouble you’ve given me.”

He leaned his head and nodded at the big treasure that surrounded them; he did it quite calmly, considering that they were hungry and thirsty, drained by the long hours they passed in the ruins.

“Hey, I’ve led you directly into a huge trove of loot. If your crew does come down here, you can fill up your ship and forget all about this damn necklace. These piles surely are worth much more and-“

She interrupted him, with a half-singed tone that almost seemed to be a warning.

“I want the necklace, and I will have it.”

He frowned again, losing all sense of possible cordiality.

“You are so pigheaded, woman.”

She never really liked men much, and if another had said that she would have cut them open right then. However, she overlooked those words, knowing that his comment was not really based on her gender.

“One to talk, aren’t you, boy?”

That did it. He never thought that he would surrender his name to a pirate, but being called boy was not any better.

“Name’s Olve; and my determination is well-founded, not based on greed like yours!” He crossed his arms at her, and both seemed to partake in a glaring duel. “Wearing this trinket won’t make you royalty. If you ever set foot on the mainland with it, you will not magically stop being a bastard or pirate, and they will hang you on sight.”

“For all I care, they can shove their vain opinions and regards right up. I do not wish to form part of their disgusting hierarchy. I want to shame them, mock them by sinking their vessels while wearing their most sacred heirloom. All shall see me as a pirate queen, the one who-“

Her passionate words were interrupted, plainly and with a sigh.

“So, royalty. Just more bloodthirsty and lowlier.”

She shut up, staring at him blankly but with the intensity of a million suns. If looks could kill, her eyes would have torn a hole through him.

“Fine, royalty. If I am not granted what should have been mine at birth, I will rip it from their lifeless hands and make it my own. No longer shall I be the captain of La ostra roja, but Barbara, blight of the seas and-“

He would have mocked her silly words of grandeur again if something had not taken their attention. Both forgot about their conversation when another huge rumble echoed, strong enough to make the chamber shake. As a few coins rolled down a pile, causing them to pale. It was not flowing magma, nor a hungry lizard prowling for their flesh. That sound came from the mechanisms of the ruins, which moved and twisted above. Someone had entered them.

While he dreaded that it was her crew, she feared that it was the natives. He did not have as much knowledge about this tribe as her, and so, he had been sure that they would have starved in the sealed chamber.

Something was definitely nearing the depths where this room laid, and she was quick to determine that it was not her dear comrades. She knew them all personally, and their ways and mannerisms were engraved into her memory. Where there should be valiant shouts through the dark and preventive shots at the lizards that lurked… there was only an eerie silence.

Barbara scowled, much more when she saw Olve dash towards the only door that could possibly be opened. He was sure that it was her crew that was approaching the chamber, and he did not wish to be at its far end when they opened it. She saw things differently, prompting her to warn him.

“Hide.”

As soon as that word left her, he glared back furiously. In his eyes, she was trying to fool him, prevent him from having a chance at bolting past her comrades while they did not expect it. If he kept his distance from the door and hid as she suggested, he would be cornered and stolen from any chance of escaping.

“I’m not going to wait for them to make the first move!” He tensed and listened to the faint steps that echoed in the outer tunnels, grabbing the nearby pickaxe again. “You will do your best to leave me to rot, remember?”

Barbara cringed, recalling how she did indeed reaffirm her murderous intentions, even if she was reconsidering it all deep inside. Those words would not help her gain his trust, but she still tried, knowing that he would suffer a fate worse than death otherwise.

“Idiot, do as I say! What you’re hearing is not my crew!” She was forced to stop looking at him, in order to hide behind the biggest pile of loot. Her next calls were quieter due to fear, but he interpreted it all as deception. “I’m trying to give you a chance of survival! If those savages see you, you’ll wish I had gutted you! I’m not trying to aid my crew in cornering you! I could just jump you right now instead!”

For a second, there was a glint in his blue eyes. He almost decided to trust in her… but then he recalled the sinking of the ship, the death of his mates, and the loss of his captain. Any hints of goodwill were ignored, for malice had been factual.

“I can’t be sure of what I will face once the door opens, and one possibility presents certain death if I hide! Whoever stands upon me, they will need to stop me!”

“No, you don’t understand. My crew-“

She shut up, unable to tell him how her crew would have not pieced together how to activate the upper mechanisms to open the ruins. If they found them, they would have done so by force, tearing any walls or doors with gunpowder.

Barbara shook her head and made herself small against the pile of metal, her figure shadowed in a corner where the light of torches did not reach. The steps drew closer, and instead of retreating, Olve only readied himself near the door. She would have cursed and wished him a good death, but she knew she should stay silent.

Like the very animals that crept in the darkness of the island, the approaching figures grew quiet. It only meant one thing. They now stood by the door, listening in warily, waiting to expose the chamber and what intruded in it.

Olve wanted to rush out as soon as the door opened, in order to surprise his possible attackers. Sadly, he had to recognize that his anxious breathing was not doing him any favours, adrenaline coursing fiercely through his veins already. Part of him knew that the ones outside probably had heard him.

Still, he had made a choice and he could not change it now. His hands gripped the pickaxe even more tightly, for the figures lurking outside finally made a move. Two faint clicks echoed, and the mechanisms inside the walls began to twist and moan.

As the door rumbled open slowly, he soon realized that no glimmers entered the dimly lit trove. In fact, the torches by him were the only thing that offered light to the outer tunnel. To his horror, she was right; not even her crew of fiendish scoundrels would creep in the darkness like the ones he saw.

He forgot to bolt as he had planned, prey of shock and dreadful astonishment. Like nocturnal animals, the men he discerned in the shadows inched closer while the door slid open. They seemed to twitch as they laid eyes on him, their stances turning even more hunched.

Barbara did not hear a valiant dash, but a dreadful step back. She closed her eyes with a mental curse, because the sound of his instinctive reaction was followed by the lunge of the natives. She did not dare peek, afraid of revealing her presence, but she knew what was happening.

A pickaxe was swung, there was an attempt at fleeing. Sadly, his determined and fiery yell was silenced. Olve’s makeshift weapon was hit and thrown away as he tried to strike, countered by a rudimentary yet very sharp staff.

His blue eyes widened, not only in fear but pain. He only had a second to ponder the appearance of the natives, but it was enough. Before another staff hit his middle section and stopped his impulsive run, he got a good look at them.

They truly looked like beasts. Some appeared to have stony skin, while others seemed to have an insect-like exoskeleton. Before he was struck on the back of his head and fainted, he wondered if he was witnessing the arrival of demons, unknowing that the tribe simply donned what nature provided.

There was some rustling, but all struggles were soon silenced. Barbara opened her eyes warily, noticing how all grew silent even if the natives were still there. When more steps echoed, she held her breath. A long painful minute passed, in which a figure lurked into the chamber, eyeing all the piles of treasure.

A pirate was no stranger to near-death experiences. After many years of sailing, she had learnt to hold her breath for far longer than others; storms had taken her down into the cold waters more than once, almost drowning her in the process. This was much worse.

After what felt an eternity, the figure crept away, almost having laid eyes on her hiding spot. She exhaled softly, hearing them toss multiple trinkets and ores onto their hoard, unaware of her presence.

She only knew that they left due to the sound of something being dragged along, a body. A faint groan was the only hint that death had not swept its scythe. He was alive, but beaten unconscious and taken.

After a few minutes, she dared peek, making no noise as she leaned to do so. She flinched when she accidentally knocked a few coins down the pile, but relaxed once she saw no figures in the outer tunnel.

The door was open, exposing the pitch blackness that engulfed the ruins. Those savages had come to leave more metal inside this trove, and they were not glad to find an intruder in it. She was lucky that they had not seen her.

“Dioses…”

She was pale, her mind knowing well what would happen to him. A few statues stood in the dark tunnels ahead, and it was sure that was his future fate.

You should have listened to me.

Part of her whispered back, reminding her that he had no reason to do so. It did not help her feel any better. With slow steps, she passed by the piles of treasures, nearing the door. Her green eyes examined the ground where he had stood valiantly, expecting to have faced her crew.

The savages had torn from his hands the pickaxe, and they had managed to cut a small bandana that had been tied around his arm. Both things laid on the ground by the gold now, added to the trove to burn in their rituals.

Many things had been thrown and added to their hoard, and she could not avoid but contemplate it, crouching to brush it all with her hand. With a scowl, she stayed there for some minutes, knowing her quest had come to an unexpected end. They had taken him away, where no outlander ever escaped alive.

All ever slowly, she stood, straightening her rugged clothes. Her eyes pierced the darkness warily, still dreadful of the natives lurking far ahead, much more dangerous than any man-eating lizard. Their ways were much more brutal than the ones of pirates, and that was saying something.

Her next steps were tired, and her hand struggled to maintain a grip on the handle of her sword. She felt like if she was dreaming, unable to believe it was over. There was no satisfaction, no fulfilment, all that she had hoped to feel once the chase ended.

The tunnels were long, she waited for another trap to trigger at any moment. When she found stairs heading up, she knew that they led out, for there was a small trail of blood on them. After a while, she stopped hearing the strong flow of magma, the depths slowly left behind.

Her green eyes opened more as light brushed her, the sun breaching some arcs ahead. She finally let go of her sword, to rest inside her pocket instead, trying to feel reassurance and comfort with the coins and treasure she managed.

The jungle greeted her once more, offering her a way back to the sea, her life. In any other circumstances, she would have not thought twice. It would be foolish to chase; there was no reason to risk her life. However, she found herself looking away from the paths that led to her ship, glaring into the guts of the island instead.

A huge volcano crowned the island. Smoke tangled high in the sky, black as the night. It was the most ominous sight she had ever seen, the home of those savages… yet she strode towards it, bound to her determination and will.