“Maybe he’d want to join us?” Patrick suggested.
The two pirates looked at him in shock, and then Bonecrusher burst into a hearty laugh.
“That’s so funny?” Patrick asked. “It’s so ridiculous to think that you’d want to get in on one-third of the treasure that The Blade of the Sea will lead us to?”
“Now just a minute,” Ebin said, face reddening in frustration. “I never said anything about going all the way with you, and if I were to do so, you really think I’d split my share with this buffoon?”
“Buffoon, am I?” Bonecrusher took a step toward Patrick, eyes narrowed. The ship glowed from the light of glowstones placed strategically around the ship, but the sun was threatening to rise and cast pink highlights across the blocky clouds. “I like what this lad has to offer. I accept.”
“Well, wait…” Ebin frowned, waiting for Patrick to weigh in. “You can’t be serious, right, Patty-ol-boy? I mean, let’s defeat him instead. I get his shirt?”
“Sorry, Ebin the Flebin.” Patrick strode forward and shook the large pirate captain’s hand. “The more hands, the merrier.”
“Ye be right there,” Bonecrusher said. “Now if you two would throw on some bone shirts so we can get to sailing and let my skeletons come back, the few you didn’t knock overboard, that is. They have to hide below deck when daylight hits.”
“Not that they did you much good,” Ebin said, offended that Patrick hadn’t listened to him.
“Against you two? No. Which is why I’m glad we’re now on the same side.” He turned to Patrick, one eyebrow raised. “I trust you have a course in mind?”
Patrick had to think about that for a moment. His best bet was to find his old first mate—only problem was, she’d never liked him much. Second problem was he only had a guess as to where she’d ended up. Third problem was that he’d just noticed a speck in the water in the distance, which his gut told him was a pirate ship likely belonging to Selna or Blackheart, in pursuit of him.
“Make for Creeper’s Cove,” he said. “We have to outrun them.”
Bonecrusher nearly choked and Ebin laughed, before realizing Patrick was serious.
“You know that place got its name for a reason, right?” Ebin asked. “And you do know what a creeper is, don’t you?”
“If we get blown up,” Patrick said with a smile that tried to hide his worry, “I’ll take the blame.”
“Better than getting captured by Blackheart,” Ebin said with a shrug before getting back to work. Then Bonecrusher did the same, putting the skeletons on guard at the ship’s bow.
Patrick hoped he was making the right decision, but he didn’t really have a choice. He hoped Gwen wouldn’t try to kill him like she had the last time they’d seen each other.
Chapter 9: Creeper’s Cove
Patrick stood near the main mast, watching the pirate ship approach. The flag was almost large enough to see Blackheart’s sign on it.
“They’re gaining on us,” Patrick called out to his companions.
“Aye,” Ebin said as he stood next to Patrick, squinting to see in the moonlight. “Their wind must be stronger than ours.”
“I’m not sure that’s how it works.”
Ebin glared at him, then walked off, his new shirt of bones rattling. Patrick wasn’t fond of the noise the shirts made, but he was glad they kept the skeletons at bay. If he’d known this would keep off skeletons, he probably would’ve crafted a bone shirt long ago.
The skeletons were starting to look at the sky nervously as it turned from pink to light blue. The ship continued to gain on them. When the clouds turned white, the skeletons cowered next to the captain’s cabin door. If they didn’t hide inside, they’d burst into flames at the first sign of the sun.
But then they saw it—Creeper’s Cove.
Coming around a bend between jagged rocks that stuck up like swords, Patrick was amazed to see an island that sloped back into a jungle. Rocky ground gave way to the cove below, just high enough for a small ship to sail into.
He’d been here once before. On that day, he’d given his word never to return.
“We’ve beat them to it!” Ebin said, his voice cracking with excitement. “Get us in there, Bonecrusher!”
Bonecrusher laughed heartily, and then turned the wheel hard.
Entering the cove was like stepping into a mouth—dark and damp. Even the air was moist. From somewhere deep within, a sad song played on a lute. It cut off the moment the ship was fully covered by the shadows of the rocks above.
At least the skeletons didn’t have to worry about the sun in here.
“You’re sure about this?” Captain Bonecrusher asked, maneuvering the wheel with caution, eyes straining in the dark to look out for stray rocks that could ground them.
“Not at all,” Patrick replied. “But you got a better plan for escaping the federation and finding the Blade of the Sea before them, now’d be a fine time to tell me.”
Bonecrusher continued to steer in silence.
“What is it about this Blade thing, anyway?” Ebin asked.
“You ain’t heard of the Blade of the Sea?” Bonecrusher asked with disbelief.
“Come on,” Ebin said. “Of course I have. The legendary Blade of the Sea, said to be the key to a legendary land where resources are infinite and the weapons are out of this world.”
“So then you know it’s a big deal.”
“Yeah, with it no one could resist PB&J.” Ebin rolled his eyes. “I get that. But what I don’t get is why we care.”
“You were running away from them, no?” Patrick asked. “You never wanted any part of PB&J ever again.”
“I mean, yeah. They’re ruthless…And being part of them, it’s like you’re stuck. No freedom, no sailing the open seas like a pirate should. It’s do what they say when they say it.”
“That being the case,” Patrick said, slowly to make sure Ebin was following, “imagine if they had unlimited resources and weapons that were unbeatable. They’d conquer the entire world! Burn every village to the ground that didn’t submit to them. You think you’d ever be free then?”
“He has a good point,” Bonecrusher said, eyeing Patrick with a new level of respect.
Ebin seemed unconvinced, but he shook it off and said, “Yes, yes, of course,” and then went to the side of the ship to stare off into the darkness.
Patrick took the stairs up to stand next to Bonecrusher. “Thanks.”
“For what?” Bonecrusher asked. “I wasn’t trying to help you or anything. You’re making some good points is all.”
“Well thanks anyway. It’s good to hear I’m not crazy, sometimes.”
“Sometimes you’re crazy?”
“Not what I meant, but…I’d have to be crazy to be standing up against PB&J and Captain Blackheart, right?”
Bonecrusher laughed and slapped him on the back. “That you would, crazier than a thousand creepers.” His expression grew suddenly serious. “Which, by the way, we’ve got.”
“Huh?”
Patrick turned to the rocky shore and, sure enough, yellow glowing eyes were staring at them, thousands of eyes. Dark shapes, barely visible as they moved around, tried to get as close to the ship as possible without touching the water. A surge of panic went through Patrick like a bucket of cold water poured over his head—he’d always dreaded creepers. He hated the idea that you’d be standing there chopping a tree and minding your own business when BOOM! He shivered and wrapped his arms around his chest.
“Is it cold in here?” he asked.
“Freezing,” Ebin replied as he walked up the stairs to join them. “Think your skeletons there can shoot a few of ‘em and clear a spot for us to land?”
“It’s our best bet,” Bonecrusher said, he motioned to the wheel and smiled at Patrick. “She’s yours. Treat her well.”
Patrick looked at the wheel but didn’t move. He hesitated, watching Bonecrusher and Ebin descend the stairs and prepare for the attack that would throw
them all into a creeper-fest. The whole plan relied on him simply taking the wheel and steering them toward shore. But the last time he’d held the wheel of a ship, he was her captain and had been leaving the sea-life for good.
Now he’d been sucked back in, somehow.
“Steady!” Bonecrusher shouted, and Patrick saw they were coming in at the wrong angle. If he didn’t act, they’d crash and be blown to smithereens.
Taking the wheel didn’t mean he had to be a pirate again, he told himself, and he leaped forward, turning the wheel hard to the left. He pulled the ship parallel to the land as twangs sounded and arrows filled the air.
There was an opening among the creepers, so he pulled the ship to the right and shouted, “Now!”
All three ran and jumped into the opening the skeletons had created. More arrows flew into the creepers, clearing a small area around the group, and Patrick pulled out his sword to lead the charge toward the back of the cavern, their only hope of escaping the creepers.
He slashed one down, jumped over another one when it tripped, and then sprinted.
The creepers moved in, hot on their tails. A flashing light came from behind and Patrick knew it was too late when—BOOM—the first one exploded, then those around it—BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—and then more, and more, and Patrick and his companions were thrown forward as everything went black.
Chapter 10: Gwen
Something was zipping around them, pushing back creepers, and then Patrick’s companions began disappearing in flashes. What was happening?
He pushed himself to his knees, trying to get his bearings. The explosion had blocked off half the cove, as cobblestone and dirt had rained down on them. But there were still plenty of openings for the creepers to work their way in.
Another moment and a creeper fell back, dead. Patrick looked around, confused, alone now.
Then the flash came close, and he saw red—Gwen. She paused in front of him long enough for him to see her glare, then feel her slap him across the face as she said, “You don’t belong here.” But then she was pulling him along, faster than he could comprehend, and they were away from the creepers, in a bit of a cave.
Gwen spun, slammed the doors shut behind her, and lit a torch.
“You!”
Patrick noticed Bonecrusher and Ebin the Flebin there too, lying on the floor and bound, staring up at him and Gwen with confusion. Their weapons were tossed in the corner, along with their bone shirts. Gwen stared at him, waiting.
“I can explain,” he said, hands up to show he meant no harm. He carefully took off his bone shirt and threw it in the pile with the others.
“Explain?” she said, storming forward. She took a glass vial and threw it at the wall. So that’s how she’d done it, Patrick realized. Speed potion.
“Just give me a—”
“NO!” she yelled. “Last time we saw each other, you promised our paths would never cross again. Yet here you are, blowing up my cove and making me kill my pets so that you could what…what? WHAT? I’m really asking, because I have no idea why in the world you’d show your face here.”
“Jeesh,” Ebin said to Patrick. “She really doesn’t like you.”
“Thanks for stating the obvious!” Gwen said, spinning toward him. “I don’t know who you are yet, which means I haven’t yet decided whether you live or die, so I’d advise you keep your trap shut.”
“Whoa, whoa!” Bonecrusher squirmed until he was sitting, hands still tied behind his back. “First of all, what? Second, you keep creepers as pets?”
“They keep me safe, from people like you,” she said. “Usually…And unless my eyes are failing me, aren’t I talking to pirates who had skeletons on their ship?”
“Fair enough,” Bonecrusher said. “But hey, you were yelling at Patrick. Don’t let us distract you.”
“Thanks a lot,” Patrick said.
Gwen turned to him, but this time just folded her arms and waited.
“We need your help,” Patrick said. “We need to find the Blade of the Sea.”
“And what makes you think I have any clue where he is?”
“I figured you’d know something of the Blade…That you were—” He paused, mid-sentence and did a double take. “Did you just say ‘he’?”
“Yeah, I mean...” She with confusion. “You don’t know?”
It was Patrick’s turn to fold his arms and wait.
“Oh, this is too rich!” She laughed, looked at him to see if he was kidding, then laughed again. “Patrick, you two were best friends, you big idiot. The Blade of the Sea is your old pirate buddy, Aziz!”
The news hit Patrick like a pile of cobblestone to the gut. He staggered back, and held his hand out for the wall, but didn’t find it. He was lucky the ground was sand here, so it didn’t hurt so bad when he landed on his butt.
“How…?”
“The Blade isn’t an item, it’s a title,” she explained. “Aziz became the Blade of the Sea after he found some treasure hunt, but he never wanted it. I don’t know more than that, because I only sailed with him on one voyage, and he refused to talk about it. You want answers, you’re going to have to find him.”
“But, I wouldn’t even know where to start looking,” he said.
“You and me both. That’s as much as I can offer, I’m sorry to say.”
Patrick shook his head, unable to believe it. If she didn’t know where Aziz was, no one would. The idea of searching the world randomly was simply ridiculous, it could take a lifetime. Several, actually. He hated to admit what this meant, but he knew it as plainly as the other’s expressions showed they knew it.
They had lost.
And as if that wasn’t enough, that’s when the thunderous explosions started.
Chapter 11: Nice to Meet You
The walls shook and Patrick steadied himself, looking at Gwen for answers.
“I should’ve figured you would lead someone here,” she said, opening a chest and starting to don her armor and equip her weapons. She prepared two potions in her pouch. “Pretty typical.”
“You don’t know that,” Patrick said, defending himself.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Ebin said. “It’s pretty likely that would be PB&J.”
Gwen turned to Patrick, eyes wide with fury. “You pissed off PB&J?!”
“Well…” Patrick scratched his head. “They had me prisoner. They thought I’d be able to lead them to something they want.”
“So your instinct is to bring them to your old friend Gwen’s house, is that right? Typical, Patrick. Typical.”
“What do we do?” Bonecrusher asked. “I need to get to my ship, I need—”
“We do nothing,” Gwen said. “I scare them off while you three make it out the back entrance. But that ship? Might as well consider it gone.”
Bonecrusher groaned at that answer, then turned to let her cut him free. She pointed to the back wall where three blocks were made of sandstone, unlike the rest, which was cobblestone and dirt.
“Knock down those three,” she said. “Take the tunnel, and don’t look back. Unless you want me to personally introduce you to the pointy end of a sword.”
Patrick and Ebin were already breaking the blocks, and the third was almost done when they turned to see Bonecrusher at the door.
“Good luck to you all,” Bonecrusher said. “But I’m not leaving my boys behind.”
He ran, and Gwen cursed, running after him.
“He’s as good as dead,” Patrick said, finishing off the block with a punch. “Our best chance is that they’ll distract Selna.”
“Tell me you didn’t…No…” Ebin’s face paled. “Not Captain Selna.”
“You want out now, you can still run after them.”
“Too late for that.” Ebin motioned for Patrick to lead the way through the tunnel.
They ran along in darkness, glad to find that the tunnel barely turned at all, then stopped at a spot where a set of doors led back out. They were largely hidden by a strategic plac
ement of planted flowers and low-hanging tree branches.
Patrick stepped into the fresh air and turned to the sound of a ship’s cannon fire.
“Good,” Patrick said, turning to scramble up the hill behind them. “At least they’re distracted, for the moment. Bonecrusher must be giving them hell.”
“Maybe,” the other guy said. “If he made it.”
“Either way, we’re free.”
Patrick turned back to look as he ran. With a thud, he slammed into someone, knocking the man to his butt. He was a tall man, as Patrick saw, after helping him back up. When the man stood, his red cloak billowed about him in the salty wind.
“Sorry about that,” Patrick said.
The other man was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, then consulted the paper in his hands, looked around, and smiled.
“Not a problem at all,” the man said. “The name’s Carmine, and you must be…?”
“Um, Patrick. Sorry, but we really gotta—”
“No, it’s I who must do the apologizing,” Carmine said as a man and a woman stepped up behind him. “You have something we want. It seems one of you is in possession of the Blade of the Sea.”
The man and woman pounced before Patrick or Ebin could do anything, and before he knew what was happening, he found himself captured.
“Hurry and search them,” Carmine said. “We need to let Captain Blackheart know we’ve succeeded.”
“Do we tell them?” Ebin hissed, but Patrick simply shook his head. “I mean, if they knew about the actual Blade—”
“No!”
“What was that?” Carmine said, poking his blade into the back of Patrick. “You’re refusing to cooperate?”
“We’ll go along,” Patrick said, mind racing. “But…” he took a piece of cobblestone from his pocket that he’d picked up earlier. “You’ll never get your hands on this, the Blade of the Sea!”
He tossed it over the side of the cliff. The guy pirate lunged for it, but missed.
“Get up, fool,” Carmine said. “If that’s the Blade of the Sea, I’m an epic guardian. Now, empty your pockets.”
Blade of the Sea Book 2: A Children's Survival Unofficial Minecraft Book Page 4
