The end of the tunnel was before him. Red hadn't been certain until he finally glimpsed a faint trickle of natural light. That sight brought elation to his heart, and Red nearly shouted for joy. That was until Derrin shut off the lighting device, and he almost yelled in surprise.
"Shhh," Derrin hushed, "This leads right outside, and we have no idea what is out there right now.
"You could have given me a warning," he hissed. Red stumbled over his own breath as he tried to catch himself.
"The light going out should have been your warning," Derrin whispered.
Red grunted, but didn't reply. They had reached the cave wall. There were a few tiny holes in the stony wall, letting in some natural light. They stepped up together, both peering out into the daylight. Red had to stand awkwardly with his load, but managed.
It was hard to get a good look at their surroundings with such a small peephole. They were clearly in some cave mouth. Despite this, Red could see the daylight shining inside and the trees of the jungle. It had only been ten minutes, and the sight still left him excited.
His gaze caught on a strange object blocking the sunlight. The object moved, and he almost cursed at what he saw. A group of pirates were lounging near the entrance of the cave. They were a good distance away, perhaps enough for them to sneak out of the tunnel unseen.
However, Red knew that if they went out there, the pirates would have to die. Leaving them alive would alert them to this secret tunnel and the potential for more. He didn't know if there were any, but chances were high there was.
Stepping back a few paces in the darkness, he whispered, "That's not good. Do we even have time to deal with them? It has already been almost thirty minutes since the first explosion."
"It's fine," Derrin murmured as he turned, "They 'll be taken care of in a minute."
Red opened his mouth to ask, but Derrin moved past him. In the darkness, it was nearly impossible to make out his friend's actions. There were a few almost inaudible clicks near the floor. Then, Derrin rose and did something near the ceiling. With that done, he finally turned.
"Leave that here. I just need you to cover me in case anything unexpected happens."
He nodded before realizing Derrin couldn't see the gesture, "Alright."
Setting the bomb gently on the ground behind himself, Red carefully drew one of his shockblasters. They were not as full as he would have liked, but they were enough for this. They needed to be enough.
Without any other words, Derrin pushed on something. The rocky wall in front of them slowly slid to the side. There was no scraping, no grinding, no noise at all. The pirates didn't even turn as they snuck out of the tunnel. Why would they?
The faint trickle of light lit up the area around them and the tunnel mouth. Derrin moved forward like a serpent, silent and deadly. Red followed behind at a more measured pace. Each step he took filled him with anxiety. If the pirates noticed their approach, they would likely be able to alert the others on the island.
"...even know what that was?" One of the pirates was saying.
"I haven't heard anything."
"I overheard a bit of something."
The other pirates turned to him, "What?"
He laughed, "Apparently, the King went to check on the explosion. If he went out there, well, we can guess what sort of event took place."
"Do you think it was those renegades?"
"Likely, no one in the fort would make a move that far away and leave themselves undefended."
They paused briefly behind a massive ledge. The pirates continued chatting above them with no notion of the two renegades about to strike. Derrin patted Red on the shoulder and motioned upwards. Nodding, Red stepped back ever so slightly, his gun trained on their enemies.
Derrin didn't hesitate. He grabbed the edge of the overhang and vaulted upwards. Even as he flew through the air, his sword appeared in his hand. The weapon had been drawn so fast that it seemed to simply manifest itself from thin air. Red didn't fire. A shockblast would likely give them away. It was better to only shoot if absolutely necessary.
One of the pirates turned at the sudden motion. The look of shock and horror that overcame him made Red want to cringe. He didn't have to cringe for long. The man died without even making a sound; Derrin's blade passed seamlessly through the pirate's throat.
Blood poured from the fallen man, but Derrin was already upon the others. They had jumped back in surprise at his sudden appearance. However, they hadn't moved fast enough, and Derrin's blade planted itself in another one's chest. The pirates were caught completely off guard. Any semblance of retaliation failed as the sword master dashed towards them.
The pirate who had been giving out the information seemed the most seasoned. He stepped back behind his fellow and drew a shockblaster. This would have been a good strategy. Leaving his friend in front with a mist blade would leave him open for clean shots. This strategy never manifested.
Derrin grasped the wrist of the pirate in front of him. The man had been attempting to summon a mist blade. Derrin's knee slammed into the man's chest, causing him to double over, and any attempts to summon were disrupted. The other pirate's shockblaster flew upwards, poised to shoot.
Red's friend was faster. At the same time, he had been dropping the pirate who was about to summon the mist blade; he had also been freeing his sword from the dead man's chest. His blade whirled out in a clean arc and came down on the remaining pirate's wrist. The hand holding the shockblaster dropped along with the gun. A scream nearly escaped the man's lips, but he was dead before he got the chance.
Derrin drove his blade downwards into the pirate at his feet before turning back. Red lowered his gun. The entire fight had happened in less than ten seconds. Red was still trying to process the massacre before him when Derrin spoke.
"We need to go. I doubt they will find these guys for a while, but if they do, we will have to fight our way back to the tunnel, and that will give away our position."
Red nodded, still staring at the dead pirates before him. He had to shake himself to take his eyes away from the bodies. Derrin flicked his blade to clean the blood, but Red paid no heed. They had a mission that they needed to do, and besides, it wasn't him that killed these men anyway. He hadn't raised a finger against them. Well, that wasn't really true, but he hadn't done any damage to them.
He forced himself to focus on the upcoming event. They had a bomb to plant and explode. Red turned and ran back to the tunnel. His fingers wrapped around the wired device. He held it tight against his chest as if it would protect him from seeing any more corpses.
It didn't.