by J. Stone
The pirate was still looking up at her, when she finished pinning it on. “Back to it,” she ordered him in a harsh tone.
He did as she said, and soon the crew had finished unloading the vessel of the stolen treasures and storing them on the Gloomport dock. The crew then assembled on the deck, awaiting orders from their new captain.
“Well?” Wesley asked. “What are you waiting for? I said we’re going to Elythine.”
“What about the haul?” one of the pirates asked. “You want we should just leave it there.”
“My men will come and collect it soon,” the possessed gang leader was made to say.
The pirate who’d asked seemed hesitant to abandon the treasure there unguarded, but regardless, he still followed the order, as did the rest of the crew. In truth, Ruby realized that no one would be coming for it, now that the Underlaw was scattered and hopefully defeated. She’d destroyed most of them with her maelstrom, along with many homes and businesses that were unfortunate enough to be nearby. Though not her intention, she did hope that leaving the pirates’ stolen treasure there would prove to be a way of repaying the people for the damage that she had done. She wasn’t even certain whether or not she had hurt anyone in the chaos. Leaving the treasure there was almost a hollow gesture, as she found herself not caring that much for the innocents of the town. Even the tailor and his daughter had fled from her thoughts.
As the pirates began to leave the docks, Ruby and Scarlett found the captain’s quarters and went inside. She would leave the running of the ship up to her poisoned minion, but the Black Wave was now hers.
Chapter 17. It Was This Big
A storm roiled and thundered outside the windows. Lightning ripped through the black night, and the turbulent seawater splashed against the wood of the ship. The vessel moaned and creaked, as though it was going to give into the crashing waves and the fierce, howling wind, but it persevered nevertheless. Despite sealed windows, the water had somehow found its way into the musty old cabin. The wood of the ship had a distinct smell that had filled her senses since their departure, but it was mixed with the salty smell of the sea as well. The captain of the Black Wave had not kept tidy quarters, and the room stank of his scent.
A seafaring life would not have suited the princess, she realized. With every sway of the vessel, she could feel her stomach shift and lurch within her. If she could’ve vomited like a normal person, she probably would have. Such as she was, the poison inside her didn’t allow for such a purge. She and Scarlett had spent the majority of the voyage in the captain’s quarters, with Wesley stationed at the door in case any crew came by asking questions.
Ruby hadn’t let the Underlaw leader sleep more than a few minutes in days. The princess had allowed him to drink and eat only enough to stay alive, functioning, and playing his part. She was effectively torturing him, and she was not upset at his clear distress. After what he had done and tried to do, she believed him to deserve such a fate. She wasn’t wrong. Regardless, Wesley had lost several pounds over the journey, his eyes were bloodshot, and his skin was greasy and pale. His poisoned and decaying flesh had grown to encompass more of his face since they left Gloomport, and he looked more ghastly than the princess would’ve liked. The smell of the flesh was drawing attention from the crew, but Ruby didn’t find herself actually bothered by it. Her senses were a bit off since the poisoning attempt. She had Wesley use the cloth that had been previously used as an eye patch to conceal as much festering skin as it could, but the endeavor was a bit futile. Too much skin had been infected in the struggle in Gloomport. The crew acted very suspicious of him after he’d killed their captain and brought two strange women on board, but for the moment, they continued to follow his orders.
Worse still, the poison in Wesley’s body continued to eat deeper into his body, and there was little Ruby could do to slow its progress. He was going to die, and her great fear was that it would be before the Black Wave made port in Elythine. What would the crew do then, she wondered. They had no loyalty to Ruby and her demon servant. Surely, they would turn on the pair of women, and the princess had very little capacity to fight them off. Controlling Wesley had been draining to her venomous powers, and she had used up almost all of the toxic reserves they’d brought on board. The last time she had seen it, the poison flask had only but a drop pooled into the deepest curved bubble at the bottom of the glass. Scarlett had been keeping it away from Ruby in hopes of rationing the fluid, but there wasn’t enough left to hold onto at that point. The next swig would have to last her until they arrived in Elythine, where she would have to find another way to poison herself.
She wished for the journey to simply be over and for them to arrive safely in the southern kingdom. A growing pit in the princess’ stomach said that this would not be the case. Ruby and Scarlett both sat in the captain’s stinking and stained bed, leaning against its backboard. Neither was able or needed to sleep, so the choppy journey had been experienced in its entirety. Sniggle, as you might expect did not have any such problems. He slept soundly at the foot of the bed like a loyal hound, oblivious to the chaos outside. The storm that the Black Wave experienced now, however, was different than it had been. The waves were growing higher and more violent, and the sounds of the ship no longer sounded as though they were natural or expected.
A loud crack exploded at what sounded like the center of the ship. It couldn’t be ignored, and the thunderous blast couldn’t have been confused for part of the storm. It was too close. Ruby had to send Wesley out to investigate it. She forced him to open the door, and the sounds erupted into the small room. Thunder roared, and the wind screeched past. The princess thought it sounded like nature simply wanted to destroy something that night, and the ship played the role of its victim.
Wesley shut the door, as he walked out into the storm. He was drenched to the bone within seconds. Grabbing the first pirate he saw, he asked, “What was that?”
Pointing to the cracked mast at the center of the ship, the pirate answered, “See for yourself!”
The man then frantically ran off, joining the rest of the crew in attempting to somehow save the ship. It was doomed, however, Ruby realized. The thought didn’t come a moment early, as Wesley saw something otherworldly rush by. It wasn’t just a storm. There was something else out there, something that was, in part, causing this destruction. Then he saw another of what could clearly be identified as a tentacle. The sea merchants told tales of terrible beasts roaming the waters, attacking and devouring unlucky vessels. Survivors were rare, and she could see why, being trapped in its grip. The beast, apparently ready to attack in earnest, raised its large, suckered tentacles up from the depths of the sea and began wrapping them around the hull of the ship. Several of the pirates were yanked off the deck, while others were crushed under the weight of the slamming limbs.
While the crew was being picked off, a loose board of the ship’s hull ripped away because of the intense winds. The plank flung toward the Underlaw leader and pierced his chest, pinning him to the wall leading into the captain’s quarters. He was dead almost instantly. Ruby shivered suddenly, contorting in pain, from the shared experience of his death.
“What is it?” her horned demon asked.
“Wesley just died.”
“What’s going on out there?”
“The ship isn’t going to make it,” Ruby said, standing from the bed. “We need to find a way out of here.”
The ship roared again, as shattering wood fragments and glass from the windows exploded all about the room. The ceiling ripped off, and the vessel cracked in half. Both women were knocked to the floor and rolled toward where the center of the ship used to be. Each was thrown painfully into furniture of the small room. The door leading out to the deck swung open and the princess saw her purple imp fall through the nearly horizontal opening. He was the least of her worries in truth.
Scarlett was upright before the princess could manage such a feat, and she braved the slanted path over to Ruby
, jumping the distance of the doorway, which led down toward the mouth of the enormous beast. The demon then helped her master up from the floor, but neither knew where to go from there. The ship had been snapped in half, and either side was arched toward the creature’s terrible maw, open and devouring everything that fell into it. Everywhere else, there seemed to be slapping, swarming, and twisting suckered tentacles threatening to grab anyone that tried to escape. She could smell a scent of decaying flesh permeating from the beast’s mouth, and it made alternately slurping and crunching sounds as it ate and swallowed parts of the Black Wave and its crew.
“Give me the flask!” Ruby yelled at her demon over the cacophonous roar of the storm, the sea beast, and the cracking of the ship.
“What are you going to do?” she asked, wary of what her master was planning.
“Get us out of here!” She held her hand out to Scarlett, palm up.
Softly biting her lip, her demon servant soon agreed, retrieving the flask from the folded layers of reality. The shaped piece of glass looked like hope to the princess. The sickly sweet smelling liquid had become a vision of life to her, rather than the death it would mean to everyone else. Scarlett handed her the flask, and uncorking it, she raised it to her lips, sucking out the very last drop of poison and restoring herself. She felt energy flow through her system, and though it was only a small bit of toxin, it was enough to rejuvenate the poisonous lever hidden in her chest.
The beast took another chomp of the ship, and its tentacle swiped at what remained of the cabin. Most of the walls were gone, torn off just like the roof had been. Overhead, Ruby could see a tentacle preparing to slam down directly on them. She had one last gambit to save them. The princess mentally searched for Sniggle, who she suspected was inside the beast’s stomach. Though her powers were rather weak, Ruby found her imp exactly where she thought he would be. Despite the purple imp’s disobedient, lazy, and generally worthless ways, she was still rather fond of the poisonous creature. Squelching any feelings toward him, Ruby knew that she had to sacrifice the imp. The princess focused on the toxin that constituted Sniggle’s oozing form. She mouthed a silent goodbye to him, as she caused the venom inside him to explode, destroying him and spreading his vile poisons throughout the sea beast’s vast, dark stomach. Her gambit worked. The beast lurched in pain, and all the tentacles came to a momentary stop. The one that had threatened to slam them was paused right next to the ship, wrapping slightly over the edge of the deck. The princess then spit some of her venom into her good hand, while she held the weakened one out to Scarlett.
“Hold my hand!” Ruby shouted.
Her demon took it, and the princess guided them away from the center of the ship. She’d tried to judge which direction was closest to the shore, but Ruby wasn’t completely certain of her decision because of the fierce nature of the storm raging overhead. Stepping over the shattered wood of the former wall, Ruby quickly glanced around to the rest of the ship. From what she saw, there were no pirates left, having either been devoured by the beast or lost to the sea. She was determined to not be among their numbers.
Approaching the hovering tentacle, the princess reconsidered her plan, but there was nothing else she could do. She had been left with little choice, and if she didn’t act, the sea beast would swallow the entire ship along with her and her demon.
“Don’t let go!” she yelled back to her servant, who nodded in return.
Ruby reached out with her poisoned hand, grabbing one of the suckers and infecting it with a noxious strain of her venom. As she had hoped, the beast wrenched the entire appendage away from the source of pain, but the princess held strong to the slimy tentacle. She and Scarlett were pulled off the boat, through the air, and toward what she hoped was closer to land. The suckered limb moved so fast that Ruby lost sight of how far they had traveled, but it didn’t matter. Her fingers couldn’t take the pressure anymore. She had to let go.
She and her demon continued forward, while the tentacle slapped hard against the water and slithered under its surface. The women were moving incredibly fast, and Ruby feared the hard splash landing they were going to make. In the distance and at the crack of a streak of lightning, she thought she saw tall trees illuminated, but she couldn’t be sure. Maybe she had been too hopeful, and she only saw what she wanted to. They were close to the water now, and she grimaced just before they hit.
The impact may have been against water, but Ruby’s recollection of the pain made it feel more like hitting a hard stone. The air was knocked out of her, as both women crashed into the sea and lost each other’s hands. Black waters surrounded her, and the princess sank into its darkness.
Chapter 18. Washed Up
Scarlett was getting stronger. She suspected that it was due to all the time alone she and her princess had spent on the Black Wave. Maybe it was the events in Gloomport. She wasn’t certain, but then again, it didn’t really matter. Her bond with Ruby had increased, and that in turn meant that her demonic powers and magics had increased. This was good news for both her and her princess.
After the hard splash landing in the sea, she and Ruby had been separated. Scarlett, however, was not terribly injured, and she was able to find her master in those dark depths. Her princess had either been knocked unconscious by the landing or simply drained of the last bits of her poisonous powers. The last drop in that flask wouldn’t have been much to sustain her, so it was up to her now.
The horned demon dived underwater and grabbed her princess’ limp frame, dragging her back to the surface. Her demonic eyes were able to see surprisingly well despite the bleak, grey surroundings, and she could see that Ruby had done well. Land was indeed very close now. Using one hand to hold her princess above water, Scarlett used the other to slowly paddle toward the shore.
Rain continued to pour down overhead, with lightning splitting the sky and thunder cracking angrily from the dark clouds. Behind her, the demon could hear the giant sea beast continue to devour the Black Wave, having recovered from Ruby’s poison. Though the princess hadn’t said anything when she did it, Scarlett knew what she had done to Sniggle. The demon wondered if it had been a difficult decision to make. He had certainly been useless, but the purple imp was loveable in a pathetic, pitiable sort of way. Scarlett also wondered if sacrifice came easy to Ruby. Would she sacrifice her too if that became necessary? If she wanted to remain in the physical realm, the horned demon would have to continue to be valuable to her princess.
She continued to paddle, but looked back once more at the enormous sea beast behind her. Despite her greater knowledge and experiences than a mortal, Scarlett had never seen anything quite like that. There were horrible things in the nether world, but in Nabiria, the thoughts had terrible, monstrous forms. The violence of the beast amazed her, and she found herself more in awe of it than afraid, but that’s not to say she wasn’t terrified. Regardless, she knew it would easily consume her without a second thought, so she hurried toward the shore. She occasionally looked back, as she was swimming to check on its progress. The demon wasn’t sure if it would come after her or not, but she suspected that it was more than a little possible.
When she’d made it about halfway to the land, the storm began to dissipate and move farther out to sea. After continuing a little more, the rain overhead stopped completely and the clouds began to part with the light of morning. The calm smell of the sea filled her nostrils. She’d acquired a taste for the scent after days of sea travel on the pirate vessel. Scarlett was eager to discover what the beach ahead of her smelled like. Something about its potential struck her as uniquely wonderful.
She looked behind her once more to check if the sea beast was done eating the Black Wave. To her horror, it was gone. There was no ship, no monstrous form, and no tentacles flapping in the air. She hadn’t felt such fear since her arrival in Nabiria, as when she saw nothing on the distant seas. She swam faster, while continuing to look back, refusing to turn toward the land. Scarlett watched for any strange waves
in the water, not that detection of the beast would prevent it from attacking and eating the pair of women.
Something hit her foot. She lifted her leg past whatever it had been, still not turning to look in front of her. Another bump. She panicked but kept swimming. Then it was her knee, causing her to finally turn around. They were on the shore. She’d been scraping past the ground. She smiled at herself, realizing how silly her fear had been. The beast was gone now, and she and her princess were safe.
Despite the chaos further out in the waters, the waves of the tide were very minor. Scarlett was able to stand on the sandy ground and carry her princess inland with ease. When she made it out of the waters, she laid Ruby down on the beach to examine her. Her skin was pale, but the demon didn’t think that meant much. Ruby had always been rather pale, since she’d been poisoned. She was breathing. None of her venom was seeping out, and even her weak hand looked to have held its recent stitching. This all seemed good, but despite that, she wouldn’t wake. The horned demon knew that she had to collect some poison for her princess.
She finally looked up to examine her surroundings. The sandy beach was barren of any life but was covered in fallen branches, leaves, and the fruit of nearby trees. She took a moment to breathe in the beach air and smell the fragrance it had to offer. The scent was not quite what she had imagined, but she could see the appeal. Her all-time favorite thus far was probably still the old crone’s apothecary back in Gloomport. That combination had struck her as utterly unique.
