Tales of the Caravan

by J. Avarez

  Esmond watched as his friend collapsed onto the sidewalk. He released Cookie and spun around, but felt a punch to his gut. He lowered his dark eyes and found Sarah, her brows clenched over her angered emerald eyes.

  “Wrong move, indeed.” Said Sarah, coldly.

  She lunged her head forward and head-butted Esmond in the nose. Her strike sent the gunner into the brick wall behind him. There was a loud smack as he hit the wall, which stretched cracks across the building. Cookie had a look of satisfaction on her face, as Esmond collapsed beside his fellow gunner.

  “Damn, that freakin hurt!” Said Sarah, with a hand clenched over her forehead.

  Cookie was left stunned. She looked down at the two unconscious gunners, shocked at how easily Sarah had defeated them both.

  “You saved me.” She said, her voice between joy and disbelief.

  “Of course I did,” replied Sarah, she gently pushed Cookie’s face toward her and smiled. “I'm not just your captain, Cookie…I'm your friend.”

  Before Cookie could say a kind word, a loud honk tore her gaze away. Her vision was blurred from the smoke of a black motorcar speeding toward them. The vehicle swerved and crashed into a parked motorcar nearby, tilting forward before slamming back down against the street.

  The impact sent its driver, Gizmo, through the glass of the front window. The oracle skidded till he landed on his back near Cookie’s foot.

  “Gizmo!?” Sarah shouted, looking around to make sure no Imperials were near. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Charlotte,” replied Gizmo breathlessly, smoke from the motorcar still steaming off his body. “She's in the back…something's wrong…stone faced…big red, hug me…I'm hurt.”

  “You poor thing!” Said Cookie, picking the teddy bear up and pressing him close to her chest.

  From the corner of her eye, Sarah could see the perverted smile on Gizmo’s face. She couldn't be bothered with her oracle, instead she rushed to the back of the motorcar. The vehicle was larger and boxier than the other motorcars she had seen. Two seats were in the front with ample space in the back. She opened the two back doors and found Charlotte on the floor.

  “What's wrong?” Asked Cookie, slowly walking toward the back of the motorcar. “Is Charlotte alright?”

  Sarah carefully pulled Charlotte by her legs, and stood her stone body upright. Cookie let out a gasp and dropped Gizmo to the floor, her blue eyes went wide with fear.

  “It's the curse,” said Sarah, her eye twitched from the pain of her own deceit. “The blue moon turned her to stone.”

  “The moon?” Said Cookie, looking dumbstruck.

  The freckled beauty tilted her head up, but Sarah quickly pulled her face down.

  “Don't ever look at it,” Sarah's eyes were tense in front of Cookie’s panicked face. “You understand me? No one looks at the moon until we figure this all out.”

  “You knew about this?” Asked Gizmo, looking outraged. He saw Sarah's eyes shift toward the floor and found his answer. The teddy bear shook his head in disappointment. “Bad move, kid. I told you, didn't I? Number one rule, don't hide anything from your caravan. Now look, your vice-captain’s a freaking garden statue!”

  “I know,” replied Sarah, with the deepest frown. “I'm sorry, but I didn't know for sure. I wanted to speak to Merla first, get her opinion before I caused a panic.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Just save it, kid,” Gizmo waved a paw toward Sarah and looked up at Charlotte’s stone face. “You're only sorry you got caught red-handed. Now we're one member less.”

  Cookie approached her petrified friend, the difference in their height was glaring, with her head about two feet higher than Charlotte's. Tears fell down her face, as Cookie knelt down to look into Charlotte’s blank, grey eyes. She remembered their vice captain’s words, how excited she looked to have joined their caravan. Her heart swelled in her chest…thinking of the life Charlotte had lost…all of her dreams that would go unrealized…

  “Charlotte,” Cookie whispered. “We're so, so sorry…”

  Sarah looked away from her caravan. She clenched her fists till her knuckles cracked, angered by her own incompetence. She didn't have a caravan anymore…a true captain wouldn't have allowed such a thing to happen to her crew.

  “Sorry?” Said a dazed voice. “Sorry about what?”

  Sarah's eyes snapped open, her head turned so fast she thought her neck might break. Cookie edged back, her wide blue eyes darted about to scan Charlotte’s breathing face.

  “Tyserra’s tits!” Said Gizmo in awe, the teddy bear rubbed his bronze diamond eye, to be sure what he saw was real.

  Charlotte looked at all their stunned faces and gaped mouths, looking utterly confused herself.

  “Why are you all looking at me like that?” She asked.

  “We thought you were a goner.” Replied Gizmo, looking at the girls for clarity.

  “Your body was made of stone.” Said Cookie, placing a hand on Charlotte’s face.

  The vice-captain blinked and gave Sarah a bewildered look.

  “It was my fault,” Sarah admitted. The ladies noticed the glowing mark on her wrist and gasped. Sarah kept calm and fought the urge to sway…a captain should never sway. “I should have told you all what I knew, the blue moon in the sky is cursed. Don't stare at it, Charlotte! It's a curse that turns everyone who looks at it into stone.”

  “How did she come back, though?” Asked Gizmo, scratching the back of his ear.

  How did she come back? Sarah squinted at Charlotte, as if the answer were written in small letters across her face. The curse of the blue moon was infamous for being permanent, and only reversed by returning the pearl back where it belonged. So…why was that not true for Charlotte?

  “I…,” said Sarah, struggling to find her words. “…don't know.”

  “Alright. So, we have a killer moon…that Charlotte's immune to,” said Gizmo, pacing between the ladies. “How do we fix it?”

  “The map I took from that Grey imposter,” replied Sarah. “It leads to a temple to bring back the blue moon treasure, a blue pearl.”

  Charlotte felt her eyes widen, remembering Blackbeard, and the flash of blue she had seen on him before.

  “I think I saw it,” Charlotte told her captain, straightening her glasses with a finger. “Inside of Blackbeard’s coat.”

  A brief look of admiration swept across Sarah's face, impressed that Charlotte was so observant. That look of admiration quickly swayed for sadness…she had to tell them the truth.

  “That's why we were supposed to fight him,” said Sarah. “Not just to save the Chancellor’s daughter, but also to get the treasure back. Not that it matters anymore.”

  “Why not?” Asked Cookie.

  “The Chancellor got word from the Imperial Fleet,” Sarah explained. “They’re going to attack Blackbeard in a few hours. Even if we left now, we wouldn't make it there in time.”

  Cookie spun toward Charlotte, looking at her quite eagerly. “Couldn't you just poof us there?” She asked.

  “Poof?” Charlotte laughed softly. “No, I can only poof to places I can see.”

  “So it's over then,” said Gizmo, throwing his small paws in the air. “That’s a damn shame. Saving the Chancellor’s daughter would have sealed your title as captain. Greymore’s sure to get in your way now.”

  “This sucks,” said Charlotte, stomping her foot. “I wish my Secreto was stronger. The Imperial Fleet doesn't need this as much as we do, Greymore just wanted us to fail.”

  “That's it!” Cookie exclaimed.

  The others watched in surprise as Cookie sprang into action. The tall beauty ran up toward the red bricked sphere behind them. Her blue eyes flashed as she threw a punch that shattered a portion of the wall to rubble. Inside the wall was the rhyming man, with a gaped mouth and his hands pressed against his shirt. Cookie grabbed the man by the collar and threw him toward the center of the group. He rose to his feet, scanning ev
eryone with his yellow eyes and giving them a shaky smile.

  “Woah, woah! I'm sorry, alright?” Said the rhyming man, with his hands in the air. “I only hid to save my life!”

  Cookie shook her head and slowly walked toward the man, her hand coolly moved toward something silver at her waist.

  “Since you like rhymes, here's one, okay?” Cookie pressed her silver pistol against the man’s forehead and smiled. “Make my friend stronger before I shoot your face!”

  "That doesn't even rhyme!" He snapped back.

  Cookie raised her eyebrow, and with a flick of her thumb, released the click of her safety lock. The rhyming man laughed nervously and looked toward Charlotte, gesturing her to come closer with a trembling hand.

  “Come, come,” said the rhyming man, his eyes glowing like two yellow flames. “It won't be long till I'm done.”

  Charlotte stood in front of the man, who stretched his hands in front of her face. A bright yellow flash blinded them all, devouring the street in a sea of light. As the light faded away, nothing seemed to have changed. They all stood around dumbfounded, and Charlotte stood with her shaky eyes toward her hands.

  “What a freaking coward!” Cookie shouted, noticing that the man had vanished. “I can't believe he was lying the whole time!”

  Charlotte knew better than that, she could feel something inside her had change. Her Secreto usually made her blood warm, but this…this was more like liquid fire in her veins…

  So many places flashed through her mind. She saw Kyla resting on the docks at One Blue…the Chancellor’s daughter sobbing near a black cat…a kind faced woman with red hair, laughing in a field of golden roses…and a man with shining white eyes, sitting on a throne as tall as a mountain! So many places…all of them within her reach…but only one place she wished to go.

  “Well, Charlotte,” said Sarah cautiously. She kept a good distance from her vice-captain, whose eyes seemed to dart about wildly. “How do you feel?”

  Charlotte’s mouth stretched to the widest of smiles. She looked up at her captain, with amber eyes as bright as gold. “I feel like punching that bearded punk in the face!”

  Chapter 14 The Battle of Skulls

  Would she die in the morning or in the afternoon? Would Blackbeard wait till the night, and laugh as he forced her to stare into the blue moon? Would he take one of his many pistols and shoot her, or would he simply poison her to death? Mia spent hours in Blackbeard’s den, wondering how he might end her life.

  She had no choice. The fear of death was too much for the young Royal to bear. Strangely, she found comfort in trying to contemplate the different ways her execution could go. It gave her some strength to play it out in her mind…imagining her death…the only act of free will she had left.

  Mia wiped her cheek, trying to rub the tracks of dried tears from her face. She sat up on Blackbeard's bed, and held her trembling knees, praying to the gods that it would all be over soon. Her fingers clenched her white dress at sound of the door, her hazel eyes shifted upward and found Mr. Green had stepped inside.

  “I'm to take you to the main deck, Royal,” said Mr. Green. “The captain has decided to slaughter you in front of the crew. I for one can't wait to see him take your Secreto from you.”

  “I don't care,” said Mia bitterly, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. “I'm at peace knowing the Imperial Fleet is on their way. I hope they kill every last one of you.”

  “Aye,” Mr. Green nodded with a sly smirk. “They're past the horizon as we speak, but death be no fear for the men on this ship. We've long since abandoned such things. Our Queen has showed us the way. Once you've peeked through her Golden Door…you realize how big the world really is.”

  “Jayden told me the same thing,” Mia scoffed. “The world is bigger than you know. So what, is that some sort of pirate saying?”

  “No, Royal,” With a tense face, Mr. Green swiped his hand up as his eyes flashed. His Secreto forced Mia to stand up on her feet, her body as stiff as a board from his power. “That be no play of words. Your emperor has kept so much from you all. If you think you know everything about this world, than you'd be a fool. There's so much more to the Nine Seas than you know.”

  Mr. Green whistled for two pirates to enter the room. The husky men grabbed Mia by her arms and dragged her out to the main deck. The smell of rum and body odor assaulted her nose. She tried to avoid the eyes of the hundred or so pirates that gathered to watch her die, she refused to let them bask in her fear.

  The pirates forcefully threw Mia into the center of a pirate's circle. She panted from her knees hitting the damp wooden floor. The pirates laughed at her pain, all of them waited eagerly for their captain, all of them excited to see an untouchable Royal meet her end. Hastily, Mia's eyes searched the crowd, hoping to find Calow among them. Her heart dropped, she saw no red eyes among the drunk and joyful pirates.

  “Clear the way!”

  Mia looked up and saw the pirates obey Jayden's command, and made a path for him to step through. Most of the pirates looked like children compared to him, standing just a foot above his waist. The tall pirate stared at Mia with his piercing silver eyes, it was a look she had once loved…but sadly it now only brought her fear.

  Mia wanted to rise to her feet, but her body felt too numb to move. She remained on her knees, hands pressed against the wooden boards, savoring every shaky breath she took. She felt her fingers trembling, as heavy stomps brought the floor to shake. Her eyes widened at the sight of Blackbeard, as he stood beside Jayden with a wicked smile on his face.

  His black leather armor was polished, and the fuses on the side of his face sent sparks to dance across the floor. He took one of the seven pistols strapped across his chest and held it near his hip. The pirates in the back leaned over those in the front, all of them excited to get a look at their captain.

  “What do we have, Darlan?” Asked Blackbeard, the kind pirate jumped before craning his neck to look up at his captain.

  “The Black Cloud is surrounded, sir,” said Darlan, looking quite concerned. “I count forty ships, with cannons at the ready. It be unclear how many soldiers are onboard.”

  “Forty ships,” Blackbeard let out a low and deep chuckle. “The Imperial Fleet has ten thousand ships in the Red Sea alone. The Lost Prince has got the entire empire on a wild hunt, it would seem. How fortunate for us. Forty ships isn't enough to take my Black Cloud. Unaqlus has smiled down on us today, laddies.”

  “Forty is still more than one,” said Mia, her voice shook with each word. “All it takes is one good shot to bring your ship down.”

  “Aye,” said Blackbeard softly. “Seems the emperor would like us to drift with the tide…thank you, Ms. Rose,” He turned away from Mia to address his crew. A hundred pair of eyes stared at him under black bandannas, all anxious to hear from their captain. “Alright, laddies! This is what we've trained for, it's what our beloved Queen wants done. All of us have a home in the ninth sea because of her. It's the might of her Secreto, that we dare not speak, which keeps the Royals in line. Now it's our turn to defend ourselves. They've come to send the Black Cloud to the depths, to take your plunder and spend the diamonds where they may. I say they’ll have what's mine when the light leaves my eyes, what say ye laddies?”

  The collective roar from the pirates nearly popped Mia’s eardrums. She angrily waited for the stomps and cheers to die down. To her surprise, only Jayden had chosen to stand silently among the blood thirsty men.

  “Alright, on with it then,” Boggy shouted, tightening the back of his bandanna. “You should kill her now, captain, before the fighting starts.”

  “Boggy!” Darlan looked at his fellow pirate in disgust. “The lady's been nothing but kind to us. We should keep our word, captain, keep the pretty Royal as a hostage instead. She's the Chancellor’s daughter, we could hand her back in exchange for our escape.”

  “Aye, that be the cleaner way, true,” Blackbeard took a step forw
ard and aimed his pistol between Mia’s eyes. “But the clean way has never been the style of your captain. I’m sorry, Ms. Rose, but this is the end for you.”

  “Or the end for you,” said Calow. Blackbeard and his crew looked around wildly for the voice that spoke. The Dragoon lifted his dark hood, revealing himself to be one of the pirates at the front of the circle. He aimed his pistol toward Blackbeard’s chest, his finger calm and slightly hovering over the trigger. “Make another move and I’ll shoot you where you stand.”

  The captain let out a hearty laugh. His anxious crew remained silent, all of their eyes were on Calow’s pistol. Through his anger, Calow accidentally let some of his dragon powers surface. He exhaled orange flames from his mouth, the brief display of his strength forced Blackbeard’s eyes to snap open.