A Red Sky Has Fallen

by Ryan Gilbert

  “Fire again!” Riggs yelled to the lower decks.

  BOOM BOOM

  Cannons flew overboard as the other ship was caught unaware. The pirates were surprised, but they still brandished their guns and swords. They were not an easy batch to deter.

  Lightning crackled across the sky as cannons continued to fire. Thunder roared almost as loud as the exploding gunpowder. The other ship was still gaining, and closing fast. Riggs was almost ready to go down below to help with the cannons. If they wanted to get away in one piece, then the cannons were their best defensive option, not the muskets and pistols.

  BOOM

  FABOOM

  HuunghSHREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAGH

  The deafening roar made everyone stop in their tracks. Nobody had ever heard anything like it. It was terrifying. It was huge. It was heart stopping. Even the pursuers were scrambling to get away.

  Not one member of the crew knew the direction from which it came, but they all knew that it was not something that they could fight. The only thing stopping them from fleeing was the fact that they did not know where the creature was. Everyone onboard the Red Sky congregated on the main deck, trying to formulate a plan should this mysterious creature decide to show itself.

  Valera leapt back onto the ship, her sudden reappearance giving everyone a jolt. She seemed like a scared little girl. Almost instinctively, she ran to Coral Jack and would not let go of him. She yelled one thing repeatedly as she shook the boatswain.

  “It’s back! It’s back!”

  Riggs asked, “What’s back? What are we dealin’ with?”

  The mermaid’s eyes widened in horror as she looked behind Riggs. She quickly pointed her shaking finger at whatever was behind the Captain. He almost did not want to turn around, but he knew he had to… and he did not like what he saw.

  Towering over the other pirate ship was a gigantic, green and black sea serpent. It had the head of a dragon with the scaled, slippery body of a snake. Its teeth were almost as big as a full-grown man, and its eyes were redder than a bleeding wound. From the vantage point of the crew, the spinal fin itself was just over ten feet high. The entire serpent had to be huge.

  The crew watched as the rival pirates tried to shoot the monster with their cannons, but the serpent was just too fast for them out in the open water. Before they could do anything further, the serpent dove beneath the surface of the raging ocean. Riggs and his crew watched as the pirates started to celebrate like they had just scared it away.

  Everyone on the Red Sky knew that it was not gone.

  As if on cue, the beast’s head burst through the deck of the pirate ship, swallowing a dozen men at once. A tail shot out of the water and smashed into the stern with all of its might, ripping the rudder from the ship.

  The entire ship started to break apart as the men started to leap into the water to try to get away, but the sea serpent was able to still stop some of the pirates. A forked tongue pulled the few surviving men into the monster’s throat.

  Clint desperately turned the wheel as far away from the serpent as possible. Riggs and the rest of the crew watched as the creature reared its pointy head at the storm clouds and let out a mighty roar once again.

  HnghSHREEEEEEAAAAEEEEEEEEEAAAAGH

  Lightning shot out of the sky right above the Red Sky. The creature ceased its roar and stared at the ship with the eyes of an apex predator. Hunching its scaled back, the serpent let out another roar, knowing its prey was going to be fighting a losing battle.

  HuuunghSHREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAGH

  Discarding the remains of the pirate ship, the serpent weaved its way through the water towards the Red Sky. Riggs and the crew held their weapons at the ready, hoping that they could keep the creature at bay for longer than their attackers.

  The serpent reached the stern of the ship and looked down at the meager crew, bathed in the light of their lanterns. It looked to Riggs like the monster was deciding how to eat them all the quickest.

  Suddenly, Valera shouted, “Cover your ears.”

  The serpent prepared to strike. Everyone ignored the mermaid, opting to defend themselves rather than die. They raised their swords, ready to slice at the monster’s head if it tried to devour them.

  SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH

  The serpent cringed and shook as the mermaid’s screeching forced it to halt its attack for the moment. The rest of the crew dropped some of their weapons to the deck as they tried to keep their hearing intact.

  Riggs stumbled toward the steps, all the while holding his ears. On the way, he nudged Coral Jack, motioning with his elbow for him to follow the Captain. He needed help getting something that he hoped might stop the creature.

  Looking back as they hurried down the stairs, the two saw that the serpent was still preoccupied with Valera’s screeching. It was throwing its head back and forth, trying to get rid of the sound, but it just kept coming.

  Below deck, Riggs and Jack grabbed some explosives to see if they would do anything against the monster. The mermaid’s screeches were somewhat muted, so they finally could let their ears rest for a couple seconds. After they had enough explosives, the two pirates clenched their teeth and ran up onto the deck, their ears pounded by the infernal screeching.

  Just as they got back to the crew, Valera’s voice gave out. She tried to screech, but it would just make her cough. Luckily for everyone, the monster was still reeling.

  Riggs and Coral Jack lit the explosives with the lanterns and yelled, “Everybody, get down now!”

  Right when the fuses where about to blow, they both tossed the little balls at the serpent’s head.

  KABOOOM

  A fiery explosion engulfed the creature’s head, hiding it from the crew’s view. They quickly grabbed their weapons from the ground and prepared for another attack… if another would come.

  The smoke gradually disappeared to reveal an extremely angry predator. One side of its green and black head was still smoldering, the burnt areas emitting steam as the rain pounded against them. It looked down at the crew and growled, letting its forked tongue slide out of its mouth.

  With ferocity unmatched by anything the pirates had encountered before, the sea serpent smashed its tail against the side of the Red Sky, tilting the ship just enough to knock everyone off their feet. A second strike bashed against the stern, shattering most of the windows in the cabin and breaking one of the lanterns on the helm. As the creature continued to smash its tail against the ship, Riggs crawled up the stairs to the helm.

  “What’re you doing?” Julia yelled.

  Still crawling, Riggs shouted back, “I’m not lettin’ this monster sink me ship right after I got it back.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “Thought that was a given,” he said to himself as he reached the wheel.

  The monster seemed more interested with prolonging the attack and toying with its prey than eating them. It probably did not help that they had made it so angry in the first place.

  Pulling the wheel towards him, Riggs tried to turn the ship away from the monster. It did not go as well as he thought it would.

  The ship did not move at all.

  He slid himself over to the rail and saw the serpent’s body and tail wrapped around the entire ship. The Red Sky was not going anywhere.

  Standing up, he noticed something strange. Everywhere around him, the rain was pounding against the deck… except where he was. A gigantic glob of saliva dropped onto Riggs’ arm from above. He did not even need to look up. He knew that the serpent was right above him.

  Before he could even start an attack, he was dragged up into the air, the monster’s tongue wrapped around his ankle. He flailed his arms wildly as he came ever closer to being the snake’s dinner.

  Moments before he entered the mouth, he grabbed the dagger from his belt and drove it into the gooey tongue tissue.

  Riggs saw the serpent’s eyes widen in shock and pain. Instantly, it uncoiled its tongue from his leg, dropping him
straight down onto the ship.

  He crashed into the last remaining lantern on the stern of the ship, breaking his fall enough so that he did not kill himself. Now, the entire back half of the ship was dark. No light source at all was left there.

  SCHEEEEEEAAASHHHHHEEAAGH

  The crew ran to Riggs as the serpent shrieked in pain. Several hid behind the wheel, and everyone else, including Riggs, shifted as close to the back of the ship as they could go. Maybe the monster would not see them.

  Everyone held their breath as the beast slowly appeared above them. Its eyes shifted from one side to the other, like it was trying to decide who to eat before it got hurt again.

  Nobody dared to move.

  HnghSHREEEEEAAAAEEEEEEgh

  Still nobody moved an inch.

  The serpent’s eyes kept shifting. To Riggs, it looked like the creature was still trying to find them.

  As quietly as he could, he turned to Coral Jack and asked, “Do ye still have any explosives?”

  Not wanting to say anything, the boatswain slipped a tiny bomb into his Captain’s hand.

  As soon as the serpent moved its head to the side of the boat, Riggs crawled down the stairs as inconspicuously as he could. Hiding behind the mast, he lit the explosive with one of the remaining lanterns and tossed it past the monster’s face.

  Once the tiny light passed in front of its eyes, the predator’s attention was diverted, and it followed the light until it exploded right in front of its head. Riggs was right. The serpent could only see through light. Without it, it was lost.

  “Douse those lanterns. Use whatever ye can, just put out any light you can see,” Riggs ordered.

  Using the butts of their muskets and pistols, the crew ran frantically throughout the ship, smashing the glass in the lanterns and exposing the flames to the pouring rain and biting wind.

  With its main source of vision gone, the serpent was fighting blind… but it was still hungry. It had put too much effort into destroying this specific prey for it to lose its dinner. A menacing growl let the crew know that the fight was not over just yet.

  It could still feel the ship, so it tried to squash the pirates with its head and tail. Ripper was almost caught underneath one of its blows, but he jumped below deck just in the nick of time. While there was no light, the crew had the advantage. The only thing that could be a problem for them was the horrendous weather.

  Again, lightning flashed above the ship, illuminating the deck and showing the monster where everyone was. Without wasting any time, the beast draped its body over the deck, splitting the crew in half. The only way to get to each other was over the creature’s body.

  Before the monster could get to him, Riggs grabbed onto one of the longboats and shoved it next to the rail.

  “You’re not leaving us, are ye, Captain?” asked Clint, scared out of his wits but still trying to fight back.

  “Of course not. I’m not leavin’ anyone. It’s all a part of a plan.”

  “And what plan be that?” asked the navigator.

  “Get Ripper to make a gigantic bomb with this boat. We’re goin’ to drop it off the ship and hopefully get this damn snake off our backs.”

  The serpent was still whipping its body around the ship, trying to find the crew.

  “How’re ye going to get that beast off the ship first?” asked Clint.

  “Leave that to me.”

  “Aye,” said Clint, rushing to get the Jamaican.

  Riggs needed to get to the bow. That was the only place that his plan could work.

  Taking a running start, he jumped onto the serpent’s body and slid straight over to the other side. Waves crashed against the side of the Red Sky and blasted foam and water onto the deck, catching the Captain off-guard and blinding him for a moment.

  He heard a hiss growing louder and louder, and then it turned into an annoying squeal. Brushing the sea foam out of his eyes, Riggs saw a sword embedded in the creature’s cheek. Behind him stood Julia, poised like she had just thrown it.

  “On your feet, Captain. I can’t have you dying on me.”

  “Thanks, love,” he said, tossing her his sword.

  Regaining his footing, Riggs dashed to the anchor. As he slid behind the coiled ropes, he nearly crashed into a hiding Valera.

  “Got yer screech back yet?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t tried it,” she croaked.

  “I’m goin’ to need to ye to try it once I let this anchor loose. Got it?”

  “But I don’t know…”

  “Got it?” he asked emphatically.

  The mermaid nodded nervously, rubbing her throat to relieve the tension in her vocal chords.

  Over the sound of the serpent’s roars and the thunder claps, Riggs shouted, “Everybody grab onto somethin’! Hold on no matter what.”

  He grabbed the lock for the anchor mechanism and yanked it out, letting the anchor fall into the water and sink to the ocean floor. On the other side of the gigantic snake, Riggs could see Clint and Ripper finishing the boat bomb.

  Riggs quickly looked to Valera, but nothing was coming out of her mouth. She was trying to do it, but she needed more time. While she was trying, the serpent thrust its head to the sky and roared.

  HunghSHREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAGH

  The Captain pulled Valera to the rail just as the rope for the anchor reached its end. He held onto the wood of his ship for dear life as Valera kept a death grip on his coat.

  SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH

  It finally came out, and right when the Red Sky needed it the most. The serpent tensed up and tried to shut out the obnoxious noise, forgetting its prey for the moment.

  The rope for the anchor snapped tight, forcing the entire ship to spin to the side. With the enormous force of the spin and the slipperiness of the serpent’s body, the creature was thrown right back into the water.

  Hanging onto the rail, Clint and Ripper kicked the longboat into the water right next to the serpent. Nobody had any clue if the plan was going to work, but it was the last chance that they had to get rid of the monster.

  As the ship righted itself, Riggs tried to make his way to the stern, which was where the monster and the longboat now lay. On his way, he grabbed two pistols from the ground that had been discarded in the attack.

  Just as he reached the back of the ship, the serpent’s head shot out of the water. It looked incredibly disoriented and angry. Peering around and trying to find its food, it bared its teeth and hissed in rage.

  The longboat was floating away from both the beast and the ship.

  Riggs lined up his pistols with the bomb and waited for the ship to stop moving so harshly. He only had one chance to make this shot. If he missed, then he and his crew might be sleeping in the belly of a sea serpent from then on.

  The creature made its way toward where it thought the ship was… which was unfortunately where it actually rested. Everybody except Riggs watched as the serpent weaved ever closer to the Red Sky.

  It reared its head, baring its bloody teeth.

  BANG BANG

  SHBOOOOOOM

  The longboat went up in flames, drawing the serpent’s attention at the last minute. The entire crew held their breath, waiting to see if the monster would take the bait and leave.

  With a curious look on its face, it slithered over to the burning wreckage and tried to see if anything was there. At once, Riggs ran to the wheel and turned the ship so that the howling winds would fill the sails and get them as far away from the serpent as possible.

  The crew gasped as the rain quickly extinguished the fire from the bomb. None of them knew how much longer they could keep fighting. Confused, the serpent looked to the sky and roared.

  HnghSHREEEEEEAAAAEEEEEAAAAAAAAGH

  After the roar ended, the sea serpent disappeared below the surface of the water and did not return.

  All of the crew dropped to their knees and sighed with relief. Riggs looked up at the sky, letting the rain pour over his fa
ce.

  Nobody had the energy to cheer. With everything that had just happened, not one person on the crew felt like doing anything. Even Riggs just wanted to lie on the deck and let the feeling of safety seep into his mind.

  “Weigh anchor, ye mangy dogs,” Riggs laughed, hauling himself to his feet.

  Calmly walking down the helm stairs, he dropped the empty guns on the deck and sat down on the last stair. His heart was still beating fast. Everything was going by so quickly. He just wanted it to slow down.

  Beside him, Julia nearly collapsed from all of the action that had just occurred. He could even hear her heavy breathing.

  “Rum, sweets?” he asked.

  She shrugged and accepted the flask. Taking a sip, she shivered and shook.

  “Really hits you at first, doesn’t it?” she said, handing it back to Riggs.

  “Don’t rightly know… sort o’ runs through me like water.”

  As the crew secured the anchor, Riggs excused himself from the conversation and made his way below deck. There was something he had to do.

  Ducking underneath bunks and hammocks, Riggs called out, “Valera? Valera, are you down here?”

  “Right here, Captain,” she said.

  She was sitting in the dark, alone, much to Riggs’ surprise. As his eyes adjusted to the lack of light on the lower decks, he saw the massive red mark on the mermaid’s chest from that musket. It still looked like it hurt.

  Riggs sat down on a hammock and cleared his throat.

  “I just wanted to thank you,” he said, “Without ye, we wouldn’t ‘ave survived that fight.”

  Even in the darkness, he could see her sitting there nervously. She wrung her hands, much like she had when she was in the brig.

  “What is it that ye want, Valera?”

  There was no answer for a while, but the silence had a way of making the mermaid think.

  “I… I want to stay… forever. I don’t want to leave Jack. I know that… that some of your crew doesn’t trust me… and I can understand that. I just can’t leave Jack again. It’d break his heart… and I’ve already broken that once before.”

  Riggs stood up and said, “Funny how you say it’s my crew ‘cause after what ye just did… helpin’ to save us ‘n all… I’d say you’re a part of it.”