Tales of the Caravan

by J. Avarez

  “You’re Calow, aren’t you?” Asked Blackbeard, lowering his pistol a bit. “Oh, I’d hate to kill a Dragoon, your people are practically extinct as it is. Put the gun down, lad, you don’t want to die for a Royal like her.”

  “Shut your mouth,” Calow snarled, showing the white fangs that grew in his mouth. “Before I shut it for you.”

  “You talk a big game, lassie,” said Blackbeard, his smile slowly faded from his face. “Let’s see whether or not you’re bluffing.”

  The captain aimed his pistol toward Mia again, but that was all that Calow would allow. The pirates saw the flash of Calow’s pistol and stepped back into each other. Another gunshot immediately followed the first. The sound of a loud ping stabbed Mia’s ears. Two bullets had collided in midair and fell in front of her knees.

  She looked up and saw Jayden with his pistol pointed toward Calow. His silver eyes glowed bright, as smoke steamed off the tip of his gun.

  “What in the hell just happened?” Said Boggy, with a bewildered look upon his face.

  “He blocked the bullet with a shot!” Replied Darlan, pointing toward Jayden.

  Mr. Green stepped forward in front of Jayden and Blackbeard, his eyes as bright as flames. He swiped his hand down and forced Calow to the floor. The Dragoon’s body trembled terribly, fighting the invisible force that continued to press against him. His hand reached for his pistol, which dropped and spun between him and Mia. Mr. Green scoffed at Calow’s attempt to retrieve his weapon, and threw a silver dagger into the back of his hand.

  Calow felt the dagger pierce through his hand and impale it to the floor. The Dragoon yelled in pain, letting red flames dance out of his mouth. Mia shut her eyes and damned her uselessness, if only she had her red mist to save them…

  “You thought you'd kill my captain?” Mr. Green flicked his wrist and the dagger slid forward, splitting Calow's hand in half. The first mate raised a hand toward Mia and flicked his wrist. Her face was forced up toward Calow and her eyes snapped open. “I want you to watch, Royal. This is what happens to those who plot against us.”

  Mr. Green raised a pistol toward the Dragoon's forehead, but a whistle forced his smile to fade away. The pirates all looked up toward the steam pipes above, which separated their ship from the war balloon like a metallic spider web.

  “Hey, you yuk mouth bum!” Gizmo shouted.

  Mr. Green looked up and gritted his hole-ridden teeth. Gizmo and Sarah stood above him on one of the metal pipes, with their pistols in hand.

  “Jamie Williker,” Sarah’s voice trembled at the thought of her dead friend. “He wanted you to have this.”

  Sarah let her pistol roar without a thought. Mr. Green reacted quickly, and activated his Secreto to stop the bullet in the air. His chest swelled, the bullet continued to soar toward him, with a flash of blue gleaming off of it.

  “Blue diamond.” He muttered, before the blue bullet tore through his heart.

  The first mate dropped to his knees and let out a dying croak, before he crumpled facedown onto the wooden floor. A smile stretched across Sarah’s face, even as a hundred pirates pointed their pistols toward her.

  “Now, big red!” Gizmo shouted.

  A bright flash was followed by a thunderous explosion. The Black Cloud trembled from back to front, and the wooden boards beneath the pirates exploded into countless flying splinters. Mia held onto Calow as he fell unconscious, and her eyes scanned around at the damage. They were on a spot untouched by the blast, the pirates, however, had all disappeared inside the jagged hole that surrounded them.

  Only Jayden had managed to jump out of the blast in time. He slid backward over the floor till his back hit the rail of the ship. His silver eyes narrowed as he found Sarah's sneer aimed toward him. Before he could react to her presence, his attention was pulled toward two ladies dressed in black armor.

  Cookie and Charlotte dropped from the metal pipes above, and landed on their feet beside Mia. The freckled beauty looked down at Mia’s startled face and blew the Royal a kiss.

  “Those were too many sticky bombs.” said Charlotte irritably, with her arms folded across her chest.

  “Oh, whatever,” Cookie snapped back. “You just don't want to admit I actually shopped for something useful.”

  “How did you all get here?” Asked Mia, her eyes darting between Cookie and Charlotte.

  A set of black boots landed behind Mia, with a small thud. The Royal turned her head and saw a pair of emerald eyes staring back at her.

  “Mia Rose,” said Sarah, extending a hand toward the Royal. “My name is Sarah Dreamstead. Your father has sent me to bring you home.”

  Chapter 15 A Woman’s Strength

  Mia was unsure how to feel. She struggled whether she should take Sarah's hand or slap it away. A series of memories began to flash wildly through her mind. She remembered that Sarah had released the curse of the blue moon, she remembered the sad state of Blackbeard's daughter, and Javana's promise that more would share her petrified fate. However...she also remembered glowing green eyes, and Blackbeard's demonic Secreto, which defied even the power of blue diamonds!

  The Royal bit her tongue, and grudgingly took Sarah's hand...better to trust a caravan than a pirate.

  Sarah pulled the Royal up to her feet and scanned her body for injuries, her eyes then glared intensely over Mia's right shoulder. "If I were you I’d keep still.”

  Jayden straightened himself and stared back at Sarah, his face more tense than frustrated.

  "You shouldn't have come here, Sarah." Said Jayden, wiping the shards of wood off his shoulders.

  "You can't be serious," Sarah stepped toward the edge of the broken floor. The former lovers were separated by the jagged hole between them. "Why would I let the empire take your death from me?"

  "You're not listening," His voice became more urgent at the sound of pirates scurrying upstairs. "I promise you, things aren't the way you think."

  "You're nothing but a liar," Sarah raised her pistol, trying to match the spot where he had shot her. "You tried to kill me in front of your crew, you sent those Grey imposters after me, tell me why I shouldn't kill you for that right now?"

  "I didn't send those men after you, Sarah," replied Jayden. He waited for a brief moment, hoping for her to see reason, but sighed when the moment never came. He had no other choice. He took a dagger from his hip and swiftly sliced his face, straight from his left eyebrow down to the corner of his mouth. Both Sarah and Mia's eyes widened, for they had seen such an act before, the most honorable act of trust within the Nine Seas. "I give you my caravan pact," He stared at Sarah with his one silver eye. "I swear to the gods, to Tyserra and Unaqlus both. I didn't have anything to do with what happened to you on Crescent Island."

  "Wow." Said Cookie in awe, watching Jayden's blood trickle off his chin.

  "So," Charlotte looked at Jayden, her expression between surprise and confusion. "If you didn't send those men after her, who did?"

  His one eye darted about, till finally it centered and softened upon Sarah's face.

  "Alright," replied Jayden. "It was the..."

  The answer was lost in yet another blast. Sarah, Cookie and Charlotte were sent backward by the force of the explosion. The ladies flew over the rail of the main deck and landed on a wooden wing, one of many that protruded off the sides of the pirate ship. They all skidded over the smooth wood and were quickly on course to fall off the tip of the wing.

  Sarah bit her thumb nail, and drained the bull’s blood from it. Her muscles were set ablaze, as she grabbed Cookie and Charlotte by the back of their collars. Sarah continued to skid over the ship's wing, and left two tracks into the wood with her feet. With all her might she halted to a screech, just inches from the edge of the wing, and tossed her crew safely behind her.

  Sarah stood with shaky knees, as her heart bounced in her chest. That was close, she thought, realizing they were mere inches from diving two thousand feet into the sea.
Sarah's eyes shifted around to scan her surroundings. The wing stretched far enough that they stood out of the shade of the war balloon. Feeling a kind warmth, she looked up and felt the sun dry the sweat from her face.

  "What the hell was that?" Charlotte demanded, as she and Cookie wobbled up to their feet.

  "The Imperial Fleet," replied Sarah, as she stepped toward the edge of the wing. Her eyes slowly scanned the waters below, and noticed dozens of ships firing cannons toward them. "They're attacking the ship!"

  Charlotte stood by her captain and analyzed the situation below. She counted forty massive steel vessels, all of them firing wildly toward the airship. Some of the pirates had recovered from the blast, and were already manning the cannons onboard. The result was a show of fireworks from the cannon fire across the sky.

  "What are they playing at," said Charlotte. "Don't they know the Chancellor's daughter is still onboard?"

  "Umm...Sarah," said Cookie nervously, turning to look behind them. "I'm not sure if she's onboard anymore."

  Sarah's heart dropped as she turned to see Mia was nowhere in sight. Charlotte looked up at the main deck, and focused on the black smoke that slowly rose up along the war balloon.

  "She's still up there." said Charlotte, focusing on the image from her Secreto. "I can see her, she's still on the main deck. We have to hurry though, the ship is starting to come apart."

  "Then we're going back for her," said Sarah. She then turned toward Charlotte, her eyes slightly drifted toward the ships below. "Go down to the fleet, Charlotte. Find out who’s the nutcase leading this attack, and tell them to hold their fire till we get Mia off the ship."

  Charlotte nodded and activated the powers inside of her. She still felt the fire from the rhyming man's Secreto. Her mind focused her power and pushed away all the places of the world from her thoughts. Only one place remained, the battleship of the captain in charge of the attack. With a clenched fist, Charlotte disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke.

  Another dark cloud appeared over a group of Imperial soldiers, just above the front their ship. The soldiers onboard toppled and stepped backward, save for one, who stood calmly with his pistol pointed. Charlotte landed her black boots over the steel platted floor, and realized she was surrounded. She rose up slowly, with her hands in the air, and found herself counting each silver barrel pointed toward her face.

  "Don't move," said the brave soldier. "Are you one of the Black Cloud pirates?"

  Charlotte rose her head, surprised at how unnaturally tall the young soldier was. Her eyes widened, as she gratefully recognized the young man's face.

  "Charlie?" her eyes darted about, as she tried to explain his freakish height.

  “Charlotte,” Charlie lowered his gun, recognizing the face of his longtime friend. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’ve found a caravan,” she replied, her voice still in awe. She wanted to ask what had happened to him, but her curiosity would have to wait. “We’re here to bring back the Chancellor’s daughter, who’s leading this attack?”

  “That would be me.” Said a smooth voice.

  Charlotte looked behind Charlie and recognized the Imperial Captain, Francis Drake. The captain wore his white uniform with pride, the vest decorated with dozens of colored medals from his previous victories. The captain stood just as tall as Charlie, about eight feet, and had dark eyes with hardly any light in them.

  “Captain Drake,” said Charlotte, with a clenched jaw. Drake, like most captains, took the emperor’s stance on the low status of women. She fought the urge to say something disrespectful, this wasn't the time to anger an ally…no matter how much she disliked him. “My captain is aboard the Black Cloud, she request that you halt your attack until we get Mia Rose off the ship.”

  “She?” Replied Drake through a chuckle. “That must be a mistake, there’s no chance the emperor would approve a female to lead a caravan.”

  “Julius Rose is considering…”

  “Julius Rose is a delusional man,” Drake interrupted Charlotte with a smug smile. “A dreamer who dabbles in the senseless rights of women, while the world continues to spiral into chaos. It’s because of Julius that we’re in this war with the pirates in the first place.”

  “What did you just say?” Asked Charlotte, taking a threatening step toward Drake.

  “Hold on,” said Charlie, stepping in front of Charlotte. “A female captain…is there someone named Cookie with you?”

  “Y-Yeah,” Charlotte blinked. “She’s up there right now,” her amber eyes than turned toward Drake. “That's why you need to stop this attack, Drake. If not, you’re going to end up killing everyone onboard.”

  “I know that.” Said Drake, coldly.

  “Sir,” said Charlie, looking offended. His eyes turned quickly to his crew mates, but they all shuffled their feet, none of them dared to defy their captain. “I thought we were sent by Greymore to rescue the Chancellor’s daughter?”

  “The emperor has changed his mind,” replied Drake. “We’ve been hunting Blackbeard for years and now here he is, away from the protection of his precious Pirate Queen. I would’ve thought you, Charlie, of all people would understand the severity of the situation. You saw what his crew did to Crescent Island. He crushed the place like it was nothing, but a frail leaf in his hand. Blackbeard is an abomination, he's killed thousands of men, and if we allow him to escape he’ll kill thousands more.”

  Drake turned away from them and walked back to his command tower. The frightened crowd of soldiers stumbled and made a path for their captain.

  “Captain, please,” Charlie called out. “We should listen to her. This isn’t the way we do things, the Imperial Fleet doesn't kill innocent people.”

  Drake stopped at the foot of the metal staircase and turned toward Charlie. “Then you best get her friends out, or fish their bodies out of the sea.”

  The soldiers returned to their posts, and left Charlie and Charlotte to stand alone at the front of the ship. A loud explosion pulled their gazes upward, a cannon made contact with the Black Cloud and severed one of its wings. The explosion left a hole which spat out a few of Blackbeard’s pirates. The poor men were left to fall hundreds of feet toward their watery grave.

  A loud collective cheer soon followed. Sailing from the east were three caravan ships. The Jolly Roger on the ships were of a skull, with flames coming out of its mouth, a symbol that Charlie recognized.

  “Are those more of Blackbeard's goons?” Asked Charlotte.

  “No,” replied Charlie. “They’re the Sky Dancers, Captain Calow's caravan.”

  The Sky Dancers were magnificent, it was the only word Charlotte could use to describe them. They had enchanted boots that lifted them up with each step, as if small explosions underneath their feet propelled them into the air. Dozens of them looked to be flying toward the Black Cloud, eager to save Calow from the pirates. Charlotte clenched her fist and began to focus, she would need to be quick to save her captain too.

  “I need to go,” said Charlotte, her eyes shining brighter than gold. “Before your ass of a captain kills my friends.”

  “Wait,” said Charlie. “Take me with you. If Cookie’s in trouble then I want to help her.”

  Charlotte’s tense face softened, she was glad to see the Imperial Fleet had not tainted her friend.

  “Alright,” said Charlotte, with a nod. “Grab my shoulder.”

  Charlie took hold and felt his body become light as air, pure, as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. His vision was clouded by darkness, for a moment he panicked, thinking something had gone wrong. A beam of light appeared to shine the path forward. Soon the light stretched the darkness away, and Charlie felt the weight of his body return to him. He and Charlotte fell from a cloud of black smoke, and landed on the main deck of Blackbeard's ship.

  The Black Cloud had been turned into a hectic battlefield. Blackbeard's crew and the Sky Dancers clashed their swords,
both sides fighting vigorously throughout the ship. Charlotte turned her head and found Mia wedged between two wooden barrels. The Royal’s fingers were hard at work, pulling desperately to yank the blue diamond choker from her neck.

  Charlotte moved to assist her, but Mia pulled off the choker herself and lunged her hand forward. Her hazel eyes flashed and a cloud of red mist shot out of her hand. The mist flew over Charlotte’s shoulder, and knocked a pirate backward attempting to attack from behind. Charlotte thanked the Royal and took her by the hand, both of them ran toward the rail, away from the battle between the two crews.

  Charlie took a long saber from his hip, and used it to knock back a pirate that lunged for Cookie. The tall red head tilted her head up slightly, as Charlie turned to face her. Her heart fluttered. It wasn't only because Charlie was alive and well, but in all her twenty-two years of breathing…she had never looked up to a man she liked before.