Captain Black Shadow

by Janina Franck

  Later on, Griffin wandered around deck to just smell the sea and feel the wind. He found Ayalon curled up toward the prow of the ship. Griffin was surprised that the dragon hadn’t chosen his usual spot up in the crow’s nest, but he tried not to disturb him. He turned to walk to the other end of the ship, but Ayalon moved his tail to obstruct his way. When Griffin looked over his shoulder at the dragon, he saw his golden eyes staring directly at him. Apparently, he hadn’t been napping after all.

  “Is everything alright?” Griffin asked. He hadn’t properly spoken to Ayalon so far, mostly because the dragon seemed tense around him. The only dragons he had seen in the past had flown by in the distance, and they had been saddled by the Marine Corps. He’d never had a chance to actually talk to one.

  “I like your food,” Ayalon rumbled, still not averting his gaze. Griffin turned around to him and smiled.

  “I’m glad! I wasn’t really sure what dragons usually eat, so I tried to always include meat.”

  “Meat is good. And fish.”

  “Noted!”

  Ayalon appeared to relax a little, though he still kept watching the boy. For a moment, neither of them acted.

  Then Griffin decided to pose a question.

  “Ayalon, why did you become a pirate?”

  The dragon made a rattling noise, which Griffin interpreted as dry laughter.

  “Do you realize that feral dragons are hunted down mercilessly? I didn’t have a choice unless I wanted to become a farm animal.”

  Griffin didn’t know how to reply. Of course, he had known about this. But somehow, he had forgotten how harsh a reality that was for those who were affected by it. He looked to the ground.

  “I’m sorry.”

  The dragon blew out a bit of steam and closed his eyes.

  “You’re a good kid,” he said, before he began snoring. Griffin was surprised at how quickly the dragon had fallen asleep. He was a little bewildered by this encounter, but as far as his current life went, it wasn’t any stranger than the rest of it. After observing the emerald serpentine body in front of him for a moment, he set himself in motion to return to the galley.

  Selene was waiting beside the door.

  “Have you decided?” she asked, stone-faced.

  “What do you mean?” Griffin asked innocently.

  Selene’s expression didn’t change. She only watched Griffin, remaining mute. After a while, Griffin gave up.

  “Yes.” He sighed. “I’m coming along. What else could I do?”

  “You could go back home. You have a family, don’t you?”

  Griffin was slightly taken aback by her comment. She was right; he could go home. He wasn’t a prisoner; that much had become clear to him. He could return to his parents. But why did Selene care either way? What was her motivation for asking? Her green eyes were fixed on him, watching carefully. Somehow, he got the impression that she didn’t understand him any more than he understood her.

  “I’m coming,” Griffin stated. He himself didn’t even understand why he’d made that choice, but it felt right. Based on what he had learned about them, the pirates would still let him leave at a later point, should he change his mind. As things were right now, he wasn’t ready to go home yet.

  Selene merely gave a nod and disappeared. Griffin shook his head. What had he gotten himself into?

  The next days passed without incident in the same manner as most others. Aestiva followed Griffin everywhere, Selene appeared occasionally, only to leave him with cryptic commentaries, and Ryo and Skip joked around with him. For once Griffin observed the Klabautermann play a trick on Ryo instead of the other way around, although the colossus only reacted to the fish in his shoes with laughter. But then the storm came.

  The storms in Tempest were fierce, and many sailors avoided making any but the most necessary of journeys during that season. Storms could evolve anywhere and anytime and destroy all that lay in their way. They were unpredictable and dangerous. But they only existed over water; on land they dispersed within seconds.

  Griffin hadn’t realized that so much time had passed. In his mind, Tempest wasn’t meant to happen for several more weeks. He had never been at sea during Tempest, and so he had only ever watched the storms from the safety of land. His mother had taught him that the storms evolved because of the warm air currents – which only appeared during this time of year – and the cold air just above the water mixing and creating turbulences.

  Griffin looked up from scrubbing the deck. He was taking over for Skip, who had caught some sort of bug and needed as much rest as possible, according to Joe. The wind was growing colder and ripped at his clothing. A gust knocked over a bucket next to him and almost toppled him, too. The sky was clearly darker than only a few minutes ago.

  Not far away hung dark, heavy, foreboding clouds that promised an oncoming storm. With the wind, the waves grew, too, making the Bat rock sickeningly.

  Frightened, Aestiva pushed herself against Griffin’s left leg. He watched her for a moment.

  “You feel it too, don’t you?” the boy mumbled.

  Aestiva meowed gingerly. He knelt down and Aestiva jumped into his arm. He looked around, trying to figure out what to do with the cat. He couldn’t leave her on deck; she might be thrown overboard or get hurt somehow.

  Griffin cursed. His mother would probably have fainted, had she heard it, even though it was one of the more civil curses Griffin had learned on the Bat.

  Perhaps she could stay below deck somewhere, but if they capsized, that would be a worse place than the deck. The ship oscillated wildly from side to side. It wouldn’t take long for the storm to hit. Every second counted.

  The rest of the crew was in the process of keeping the Bat horizontal and securing the sail while trying to control the rudder.

  Nobody showed any signs of fear. Griffin admired them. Even the small Klabautermann clutched on to his rope doggedly. Skip came from below deck and immediately got to work. Even Ryo wasn’t spared, in spite of his injury.

  Griffin pondered for a moment whether he ought to be worried that his friend’s wounds could open up again, but then he stopped himself. Ryo was a pirate who had survived worse. A trifle such as a reopened wound wouldn’t keep him from further snoring, roaring, and laughing.

  The ship swayed violently. Aestiva clung on to Griffin with all her might. He could feel her claws bury themselves into his flesh.

  A ship’s deck during a storm was definitely not the right place for a cat. Then an idea struck him. He rushed to the galley, but just as he was about to open the door, Selene stormed toward him. She looked slightly concerned but decisive at the same time. After a moment of confusion, she grabbed the anxiously hissing Aestiva with one hand and threw her into the galley.

  Selene slammed the door shut and grabbed the befuddled boy, pulling him behind her. She pushed him toward the others and shouted over the roaring of the wind, “The cat’s safe! Just help already!”

  Without another word, she turned around and grabbed a rope to furl the sail. Griffin nodded curtly and helped Joe and Balthasar to do the same on the other side of the sail.

  The ship heaved from side to side more and more, and giant waves splashed over the deck, which almost caused Griffin to lose his balance. If he hadn’t latched onto the rope and Joe hadn’t been behind him to brace against, he would surely have fallen in an instant.

  “Everyone, pull!” Selene shouted.

  With tremendous effort, Griffin tried to shut out everything apart from the rope in his hands: Aestiva in the galley, Ryo’s injury, Skip’s illness, his fears about the near future and everything it entailed. The cold, sharp winds blew through his clothing while the first raindrops attacked his eyes in an alliance with the spume, blurring his vision. He could barely hear anything over the thunderous banging of the sail in the winds. Yet he tried to ignore it all, concentrating fully on the rhythmic pulling on the rope.

  Griffin used all of his strength
, but his hands burned after only a few seconds. Another gust of wind, in combination with a heavy wave, tore the rope from the sailors’ hands. Griffin still tried to keep holding on, but it ripped through his numb hands and left a track of blood. Griffin screamed when at the same time the end of another loose rope whipped across his back.

  It felt as if he had been struck by a sword.

  “Are ya a’right, boy?” Balthasar asked, rushed. Griffin nodded miserably.

  Even if he was hurt, and blood ran over his back and hands, he didn’t want to be useless or in the way. He didn’t want to be a burden on his friends in this terrible situation. In this moment he’d do anything to help them. Those little scratches probably wouldn’t kill him.

  Ayalon managed to catch the rope and returned it to Joe’s and Balthasar’s hands. Griffin ignored the pain in his hand and grabbed it as well. They needed to furl the sails before they ripped or the ship capsized. At the edge of his vision he saw Maco fighting to keep the rudder straight. He was attempting to fasten the wheel with ropes so he could help the rest of the crew, but that was proving to be more difficult than expected.

  Joe, Balthasar, and Griffin hung on to the rope and leaned backward, using their body weights to draw in the sails. While they pulled the rope bit by bit, Griffin looked into the sky. It was a deep black, darker than the coal left behind in the fireplace after a frosty Ise night.

  Towering, imposing clouds rolled across the sky. Their monstrous forms reminded Griffin of ancient stories about furious gods. Now, the first thunder rolled over the sea, accompanied by dazzling lightning and icy, whipping hailstones. The thunder’s roaring made his eardrums throb and the flashing webs of lightning left him almost blind. Shards of ice pelted down on him as if the sky wanted to beat him to death.

  Griffin bit his lip. They had to persevere! His face was sore and the pain in his back and hands wasn’t getting any easier to deal with. He concentrated on pulling the rope toward him.

  Bit by bit.

  Pull by pull.

  The rope was frayed and ragged. The single threads were stiff and stung in his wounds.

  Tasting blood, he unclenched his jaw.

  The roaring of the wind and flapping of the sail drowned out all other noise.

  Griffin’s gaze became hazy. He felt sick, but he had to hold out – his crew was counting on him! He heard someone – It sounded like Skip – shout his name, but before he could react, Griffin was pulled into the sky and thrown aside. In shock, he let the rope go and watched almost indifferently from the air as the Bat nearly capsized.

  The icy water engulfed Griffin. Everything was black. The cold paralyzed him and made it impossible to move. But then the water began to flow toward his lungs.

  At once, he woke up from his paralysis. Like a berserker, he flailed helplessly just to get back to the surface. His eyes were wide open, though the saltwater burned like fire in a forest during a drought. Everything was black.

  He kicked blindly with his legs, but it was in vain. His heavy clothes pulled him down.

  Should he just give up? Was it perhaps easier to just leave it at that and walk peacefully through the gate of life?

  A light shone through the darkness. It shone down at him and appeared to lure him.

  Don’t go to the light, said the rational part in him, which wanted to live. But the melancholic part of his soul ignored this.

  With all his might, he kicked himself into the direction of the light. He did his best to call upon any drop of energy left in his reserves, but it was no use. He couldn’t do it. The water kept him prisoner. Panic took hold of him once more. He swallowed water, and breathed water, and nowhere was the surface to be found.

  Suddenly, something held him at the waist. An arm. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no! That couldn’t be!

  Was it one of the sirens who would drown inexperienced seamen? Was this his fate? Should it be over this soon?

  Never.

  He wouldn’t give up without a fight! Wildly, he lashed out, desperate not to drown. But all he achieved was that the grip on his waist got tighter. Before he realized what was happening, air streamed through his nose. The arms around his waist hit him in the stomach, causing him to spit out the water he had breathed in. Distraught, Griffin gasped for air while still punching around himself.

  “Stop, you idiot!” a voice screamed into his ear.

  Confused, he stopped for a moment. He had never heard of a siren who brought their victims back to the surface to talk to them.

  A wave crashed over Griffin and pushed him down under water again. The hand on his waist brought him straight back up.

  Griffin’s thoughts became slower, but clearer. His movements became more controlled and he only tried to keep above water. The black clouds moved aside to let the sun through for a moment. The water seemed like it was pure silver. He looked around himself. The Bat was nowhere to be seen. Without warning, he was hit hard in the back of the head.

  “Idiot!” someone shouted.

  Griffin looked around. Selene. Furious.

  “You almost drowned both of us! And why did you hold on to the rope?”

  She didn’t wait for his answer but began to swim in a seemingly random direction.

  “Come on! I hope you’re a good swimmer!”

  CHAPTER 6

  Exhausted, Griffin lay on the white, sandy beach. He felt beaten like never before – in tatters. The sun burned into his face. The sand beneath him was hard, but silky in his hands… Oh, if he could just be at home in his bed or at least on the Bat! But he was far from home and the Bat had left, sailed on without him.

  Selene… Why had she been overboard, too?

  Griffin turned his head to one side to be able to see the girl. She looked dead: closed eyes, lying on her back, her hair sandy and wet. Only the rising and falling of her chest showed her to be alive. She was asleep.

  Griffin wondered if she’d had an accident like him and that it was only coincidence that they had both landed in the water at the same time, or if, maybe, she had…

  Was Selene, Captain Black Shadow, really the kind of person who would jump into the wild currents just to save an insignificant part of the crew? She had killed so often without wasting a thought, so why should she risk her life for him? She couldn’t even stand him!

  And yet… Griffin was sure that she would do it for any other member of her crew. They were her family and for her family Selene was ready to give everything, as Griffin had realized on the day of the attack on the Coinbaron.

  He averted his gaze and watched the clouds in the sky. They seemed so fluffy and soft… Where were they floating to?

  When he had been small, his mother had told him fairy tales about the cloudships. A long time ago, there had been ships in Jianlah that had been able to fly. The cloudcaptains had governed Jianlah justly and it had been a time of wealth and peace. But then something had happened, and one by one, all cloudships had disappeared. Nobody knew where or why because the ships were never seen again. Alongside the disappearance of the ships, their secret, the mystery of their ability to fly, had been lost as well.

  Griffin sighed. How he would love to be able to fly like the ships back then. Naming traditions were still kept from those times. Ships generally received names of avian creatures, mostly birds. Still, the most famous ship was the Bat.

  Where was she now? What had the crew done after Griffin and Selene had gone overboard? Were they searching for them?

  Stupid question. Of course they were. Selene was their captain and they all cared for her wellbeing; it was obvious that she would be looked for. The question was only whether they would be found. And if the stranded pair could survive until then.

  With great effort, Griffin sat up. He flinched when he was forced to remember the injury the ropes had given him. One glance over his shoulder proved that it was about as bad as he had expected. Blood had stained his shirt, but it wasn’t fresh. There was no time to deal with th
is right now. Before he could rest, he needed to get himself a view of the island. He could probably leave Selene on the beach for a while without any harm coming to her. She seemed to be sound asleep and she probably needed the rest while she could get it. No point in waking her up just yet.

  Griffin got up and looked around. In front of him there was a sort of jungle. Forests usually held fruit and other edible things, which was reassuring. Perhaps he should gather some supplies to make a fire and a hut… After all, he didn’t know how long they would have to stay here.

  He decided to march on, but a hand grasped his ankle.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Selene mumbled. Her eyes were open, fixed on Griffin. She sat up and let go of his foot, but didn’t let the boy out of her sight.

  “If you intend on going into that forest, I’m coming,” she said. “I know this island better than you.”

  With those words, she got up and walked past Griffin toward the trees. Perplexed, he stood still for a moment, but then rushed after Selene. Before the two entered the thick undergrowth, Griffin dared one last look out to the ocean. Hopefully, the crew of the Bat would find them soon. And take care of Aestiva until then.

  Selene moved with such certainty, grace, and speed through the entangled brush that Griffin found it difficult to follow. Leaves and branches battered his face as he tried to push through. The ground was uneven and earthy, with many roots and rocks scattered in his path. The forest was thick, and Griffin lost much of his sense of direction quickly, but he still did his best to follow Selene as closely as he could. Even when he couldn’t see her, he could still hear her only a few steps ahead, just after the next fern or tree. Occasionally, the forest cleared up slightly, and there she was, in sight again, still striding on, unwavering and certain. Griffin found it difficult to keep up, and soon he had to slow down just to catch his breath, certain that he could always catch up by following the sounds she made. But when he picked up the pace, the inevitable happened: Griffin could no longer see or hear her.