by David Talon
Captain Thorne swung at the head of Captain Hawkins, who blocked it with the white blade as the Shadowman said, “Your men failed to ask as well.”
Captain Hawkins feinted low then cut high, ripping into the Shadowman’s chest but bouncing off bone as he replied, “We’re pirates: we don’t have to ask.”
Captain Hawkins parried a wraparound blow towards his back as Captain Thorne said, “Then I shall have to teach you some manners.”
They traded a flurry of blows, both taking their swords two-handed as Captain Thorne hammered the Viking longsword down toward Captain Hawkins’s skull, the captain parrying with an upward cut. The two swords met blade to blade...and the steel sword snapped. The Shadowman staggered back with the remnant of the longsword in his right hand as Captain Hawkins thrust forward with the tip of the white sword into Captain Thorne’s chest. “I was taught manners from Sir Francis Drake, sir; I don’t need yours.”
Captain Thorne hit Captain Hawkins across the temple with the flat of his blade. Captain Hawkins dropped like a stone, clutching his head as Captain Thorne grasped the hilt and pulled the blade out with a sucking sound. “A pity he did not teach you better aim,” the Shadowman taking the white sword and throwing it towards the very tip of the Davy’s bow. I ran after it, stepping on the hilt a moment before the sword went over the side as I heard Captain Thorne say, “Next time, captain, go under the breastbone if you want to kill one of dear Roger’s senior captains. He reinforces our bones when he promotes us.” Little Raven and Tiger were begging me to let them draw strength so they could help, since they were spent, and I extended my right arm as I opened my mouth to tell them yes.
Captain Thorne grabbed me by the throat and I feebly kicked the sword away from the edge, the white sword strangely continuing to clatter as I gasped, “Let me go!”
“Little chance of that,” Captain Thorne said. “Olde Roger will make me his lord-captain when I bring you to him,” the Shadowman glancing down at the churning water as the two ships continued drifting apart. “I do hope you can swim.”
“I don’t understand,” I choked out.
“You will,” he replied, his hand tight on my throat as he prepared to jump.
Suddenly the white blade flashed and the Shadowman’s hand fell away from my throat. Captain Thorne staggered back, staring with horror at the dry stump of his hand then at the person standing before him in the darkness of the storm. She was tall and lean, wearing white armor made of rectangular plate overlapping each other all the way down to her thighs, held together by white cords, and her face was the same cast as Master Khan’s. Her hair was white as snow on a Chinese mountain, but she held the white sword in a firm grip as Long-Mu gave him a stern look. “Did you really think I would let you have my son?”
She vanished, and as Captain Thorne gaped at the white sword clattering to the deck I ran forward with my Artifact knife in my good hand and stabbed upwards, under the breastbone, into his chest. Black blood spurted from the Shadowman’s mouth as his eyes went wide, with more coming out in a rush as I pulled the knife out, and Captain Thorne reached for me with the stump of his hand. Then he slumped to the deck as his red eyes began to turn white as his skin.
A harpy’s scream was the only warning I had. I jerked away and claws raked the side of my face as she flew past, missing my eyes by inches. I yelped in pain and dropped to the deck, a lightning flash showing her turning mid-air as she came about to attack again.
The grey eagle slammed into her from above. They hit the deck hard, the eagle screaming as she changed, becoming Pepper again, but this time wearing the bone armor without it being part of her skin. Pepper lay on the deck, panting. “Tomas, I can’t keep fighting.”
I staggered to my feet and ran over to where Pepper lay, blood and water streaming down my face. Around us Shadowmen were being mobbed as the Sea-Witch let loose another cannon volley, the galleon rocking again as I brandished my long knife at the harpy, who was backing up against the deck rail. One of her wings was twisted at an odd angle with white bone sticking through bloody skin, the long gashes on her sides streaming blood as she screeched in a high pitched voice, “Do you think this is over? Terence... Terence!”
From the galleon I heard a creature roar, Victoria’s name mixed in with the sound, and as I watched the Shadowmen crowding the bow were suddenly bowled over onto the corpses littering the deck or into the sea as the beast-man pushed them aside and leaped onto the very tip of the bow where it curved upwards. Terence didn’t hesitate but leaped across the water onto the Davy’s deck rail, the claws on his misshapen feet digging into the wood as he scanned the mobs of men hacking the few remaining Shadowmen into pieces. Terence wore only the pair of trousers he’d had when he’d been handed over to the shaman, his fur stuck to his body by the rain as his gaze fixated on me. Then he snarled and leaped for my throat. Time slowed and I desperately pushed against it, Terence’s claws extended as I pushed past time and prayed my speed would be enough to let me survive as he floated towards me.
Then a spear floated past my shoulder. It hit Terence mid-chest and I leaped out of the way as he twisted, his bestial face howling in a low rush of sound...quickly becoming a roar of pain as time returned to normal. Terence flew past me, bouncing once on the deck then sliding to a halt as he struggled, blood mixed with water streaming from his wound as Master Khan strode up beside him and ripped out the spear.
Blood sprayed from his chest in froth like red sea-foam, but Terence still struggled to rise as Master Khan stood over him with the spear dripping onto the deck. “I do not know if you understand, yes? But honor is returned to both of us.” Then Master Khan stabbed him through the throat.
Terence gripped the shaft of the spear with his clawed hands, his legs flailing about as he choked for a moment then went still. His arms flopped to his sides as Master Khan pulled the spear out once more, Pepper rising to her feet to stand beside me as the rain bedraggled harpy tried to do the same. “I don’t need a dead beast to have my vengeance,” she screeched, using her good hand to pull herself up. Her eyes locked on mine as she took a step forward.
But she stopped as Jeremiah walked up beside me with an Artifact pistol in his hand, the hammer cocked and pointed at her head. The little manikin held another in its hands as Jeremiah said, “Take another step and your brains get blown all over the deck.” He raised his voice without looking away. “Captain Hawkins, Tomas is safe...finally,” his gaze flicking over to me then back again, and I knew I’d hear about this later.
“The harpy’s the last of them,” Mr. Smith said in his deep rumble as he walked up beside Jeremiah.
From the Sea-Witch’s stern there was a boom and a moment later an explosive shell hit the main deck of the galleon, Shadowmen yelling to each other as the reddish quickfire changed to a ghostly blue, and small tongues of ghostfire began searching out the bodies of the dead. The harpy watched with the rest of us for a moment before turning back with a sneer. “The Dark Sisters will make short work of the little dragon-ghost controlling the bodies of the dead.”
“I fear they shall not,” Jade’s voice said from above me, “for I made short work of the Dark Sisters when I let the dragon-golem fall into the sea.”
The harpy stared at the spot Jade’s voice was coming from in shock as Captain Hawkins walked up beside us. He had a large, purple-black bruise on the side of his head but otherwise looked unhurt as he gave the harpy a dark look. “Then the ghost-shell will finish off the remaining Shadowmen.” He glanced at Jeremiah. “This is going to be a war without mercy on either side...execute her.”
Before Jeremiah could respond, Pepper held out her hand to him. “I’ll do it.”
All of us looked at her in surprise, Jeremiah asking, “Are you sure?”
Star had the little manikin extend the other pistol to her; Pepper took it, and pointed the Artifact pistol at the harpy’s chest. “Before we were taken, Victoria was my closest friend...which
makes this my responsibility.” Pepper cocked the black hammer all the way back. “I don’t know if you’ll understand this or not, but I still love you and I’d cure you if I could.”
“If you could I wouldn’t let you,” the harpy screeched, flapping her remaining good wing as she jeered at Pepper. “Go ahead, pull the trigger. I know you haven’t got the guts to kill me.”
“I’ve changed too, Victoria,” Pepper said as she took aim, adding, “And you’re right: if you could cure me, I wouldn’t let you either.” Pepper pulled the trigger.
The pistol roared as it spat blue fire. The harpy was thrown back against the deck rail, her body flailing about a moment as bones broke and reformed, flesh flowing like water as the harpy changed back to a woman’s nude frame. Victoria drew one last, agonized breath...and went still, her eyes open and staring. Blood flowed from the gaping hole in her chest, mixing with water as the rain continued coming down, and with a sob Pepper dropped the pistol and ran to her. She dropped to the deck and pulled Victoria’s head into her lap, crying with her head sheltering the dead woman’s face.
A woman’s voice shrieked and I knew the Dark Sister had left her to face Jade, and from the scream abruptly cut off, I also knew her fate. I took a step to join Pepper, but an enormous hand on my shoulder kept me where I was. “Leave her be, lad,” Redbeard said. “She’ll be finding you when she needs you.”
“We’ve more important matters to deal with,” Captain Hawkins said, motioning with the white sword he’d evidently recovered towards the port bow. The Sea-Witch was pulling up alongside us with her gun ports open and bronze cannons out, while much of her crew were staring at us over the sights of a musket barrel.
Standing among her men with Karl the Hammer beside her, Captain Cholula looked like a cat about to lap up a bowl of cream. “Captain Hawkins, have your men stand down.”
Redbeard lifted his double-bladed axe over his head. “If it be a fight you want, we be happy to oblige.”
Much of the crew yelled defiance back at the Sea-Witch, as Arabella came up beside Captain Cholula. “Harry,” she called out, “if you make a fight of it you cannot win. Be reasonable and at least let us talk.”
More jeers and catcalls followed, and under their cover I hissed, “Jade, are you here?”
“I am.”
“You need to draw from me...and don’t argue,” I said quickly. “If we don’t get the upper hand now then I’m going to become Cholula’s apprentice, or dead.”
“Tomas, if I draw from you then death may occur anyway.”
“I said don’t argue. Besides, if I can’t trust you then I can’t trust anyone. Draw from me, animate the golem and attend to the captain: that’s an order.”
“As you wish,” resignation clear in her voice a moment before twin fangs like longswords pierced my shoulders. I gasped, coldness growing inside of me as she continued feeding, and I knew I truly was drawing close to death as she went on drinking my life.
Suddenly the ship seemed to spin and I dropped to my knees, the fangs withdrawing at once as Jeremiah dropped down beside me. “Tomas? Bloody bones, he’s cold as ice, worse than I’ve ever seen!”
“Then we’d best be getting him down below,” Redbeard said. A moment later I was scooped up in arms like hairy tree branches, and he carried me towards the hold with no more effort than if I’d been a child.
But then the Davy began to shudder, and everyone including Redbeard stopped what they were doing and looked around as the cold rain continued to wash over us. A moment later two great paws dug in their claws to the main deck on the starboard side, and the dragon-golem hauled itself up on deck. The deck rail splintered with a wooden crunch as men yelled and ran away while others turned their weapons on the golem. Jade ignored them, carefully walking across the main deck until the dragon-golem stood in front of Captain Hawkins, who’d turned to meet it. “Tomas said I am to serve you,” Jade said in a voice that carried across the water.
Captain Cholula and all of her crew except Karl stared at the golem with shocked expressions, the dragon-golem towering over Captain Hawkins as it sat on its haunches next to him. Captain Hawkins gave me a satisfied smile before turning back towards the Sea-Witch, the usual stern expression returning to his face. “I believe both sides need to stand down. Have your men lower their weapons, we’ll lower ours, and then you and I will talk.”
Karl spoke in Captain Cholula’s ear before she could speak. She glared at the mercenary looking back at her with a neutral expression, but then turned to her men with the expression of someone biting into a piece of sour orange. “Stand down...all hands, stand down.”
Captain Hawkins turned to the crew and motioned for them to do the same. Both sides’ grounded pikes, put up muskets, and slid cutlasses back into scabbards and sashes, all the time glaring at the other ship as Redbeard chuckled in my ear. “Looks like all’s going to be well, thanks to you, lad. How do you be feeling?”
Darkness was pulling me down as I whispered, “Cold...so cold.” Icy fingers were dragging me down as Redbeard bellowed Master Khan’s name, but I paid him no heed as I drifted down like a man drowning in the bitter black of a raging sea...and I knew no more.
SEXTUS
I awoke feeling warm. My dreams had been cold fragments filled with concerned faces but now I was warm, my body naked but covered by a soft blanket as I lay in a hammock gently swaying to the rhythm of the ocean waves. I also realized there was a woman lying naked beside me as well. A thought struck me and I said aloud, “Please tell me you’re Pepper.”
I heard a familiar giggle and opened my eyes. Pepper was lolling beside me with the thin wool blanket covering her as well, gazing at me with eyes blue as the sky I could see through the porthole behind her. “Welcome back, Swamp-rat. You’ve been out a couple days, but Khan said he was going to keep you alive and he’s kept his word. We’re in his workroom so he could keep an eye on you.”
I nodded as I looked around. The table had been moved to accommodate a hammock, and most of his equipment had been put away somewhere. Beside his hammock was his sea-chest, with a familiar set of bone armor draped over it, and I turned back to Pepper. “I thought you were going to absorb your bone armor.”
“As I keep telling everyone,” her jaw set as if ready to fight, “I’m not going to permanently wear armor. I’ll wear it when we’re going into battle, as you’re going to wear the set I’m having made for you when we reach Tortuga, but I won’t have anything keeping us separated when we’re like we are now.”
I chose my words with care. “As long as you’ll wear it when we’re going into battle, I won’t say a word. Besides,” I added with a smile, “I like the idea that it’s only you when we’re like this.” Pepper’s satisfied smile turned wicked, and I wished my body felt like taking advantage of her nakedness. But I could only muster a faint stirring, so I contented myself with soaking up her warmth as I yawned. “So what happened after I passed out?”
“Captain Hawkins and Cholula worked out an agreement. Neither one’s happy, because Captain Cholula’s agreed to leave off going after you, at least for now, and Captain Hawkins has agreed to stand for Cholula in the council of captains on Tortuga, so she and her men will be accepted there.”
“But I thought Captain Hawkins wasn’t a member.”
“He’s not,” Pepper answered, “But Captain Black and the others respect him. Anyway, Arabella did a lot of back and forth between the two ships between the ships, working the agreement out.”
“I can imagine. So what happened to the galleon...and Haven?” I added as an afterthought.
“The people of Haven have abandoned their village,” Pepper said in a quiet voice. “A few of their women are travelling with us to Tortuga, like Jeremiah’s Maria and Claude’s woman Panther, but by the time we’d sailed back there, everyone was fleeing for their lives in canoes...well, not everyone. They left behind the old and the sick, and when the captain hai
led him, the headman Isaac claimed they didn’t have enough room for all the villagers.”
I asked gently, “Except they did?”
Pepper shrugged. “The canoes looked pretty full of people and provisions, so I don’t know. Captain Hawkins did tell Isaac what Olde Roger has planned, and Isaac said he can ride out the coming storm either way.”
“Because the villagers are going to establish their next home somewhere else and live simply?” Pepper nodded and I asked, “Did their shaman go with them?”
Pepper shook her head. “It’s strange how Fate works in the world. The Davy pulled in close to shore as the canoes were leaving, and the shaman was standing with the old and the sick, berating those leaving as cowards when Black-leg Bart and the rest of his new crew showed up and attacked her while the old people fled.” Pepper shuddered, and I clasped her hand as she went on. “They did look almost human, but the way they tore her apart, laughing while she screamed...” Pepper shook her head as her voice became more matter-of-fact. “When they’d finished, the others went after the old people without even bothering to look for valuables while Black-leg Bart carried the shaman’s head with him to the edge of the shore. He called out to Captain Hawkins that it wasn’t over, that someday the captain would be forced to drink the same potion he had, and on that day Harry Hawkins would become the most fearsome pirate captain that had ever sailed the seven seas.”
“What did the captain do?”
“Ordered Claude to have his sharpshooters’ kill Bart, but the creature strolled out of range before they could prepare. He didn’t lose his wits in the change, that’s for sure.” She took a deep breath. “As for the galleon, part of the agreement was splitting up the gold, and when both sides had their shares, the ship was fired and burned. We laid Victoria’s body on it and Terence’s, as well as Captain Thorne’s and the rest of the Shadowmen... those who didn’t escape back to the island by sea, anyway.”
“So that’s the end of the Black Narwhale and her crew.”
