by J. Avarez
“Charlie,” she exclaimed, her smile stretched from ear to ear. “You're alive! How…what happened to you?”
“I'm not sure, Cookie,” he replied, edging his face just and inch from hers. “But I'll always find a way to protect you.”
A pirate snuck up behind Charlie and was ready to plunge a saber into his back. Sarah was nearby and ready. She grabbed the pirate by the back of his vest and slammed him through the wooden floor beneath them. Cookie and Charlie looked at Sarah, who shook her head back at them.
“You should find a way to protect yourself.” Said Sarah, giving Charlie a tired look.
Charlie laughed nervously and was ready to thank her, but his eyes fell to a pain in his chest. Cookie looked down with widened blue eyes, and saw a metal bolt plunged beneath Charlie’s collar bone. The bolt lit up with blue light and sent a huge surge of lightning across Charlie’s body. The electric explosion was contained, but sent small sparks flying in nearly every direction. Charlie fell unconscious at Cookie’s feet, the lightning still danced quietly over his body.
“Good work, Jayden.” Said Blackbeard.
Sarah looked forward and saw Jayden standing beside Blackbeard, his rifle had lightning dancing around its barrel. Sarah didn’t understand it all. She saw the dry blood on Jayden’s face and felt lost. How could a man shoot the woman he loved, and still shed blood to gain her trust?
“It takes a coward to attack a man behind his back.” Said Sarah, glaring at the chuckling captain.
“He's only following orders,” replied Blackbeard. “You see, Jayden and I have an agreement. An agreement that you've been tarnishing from the start. I have no qualms with you, Ms. Dreamstead. You cannot fault a father for doing whatever it takes to save their child. My daughter needs help, she needs to be saved by the curse you let loose upon the world.”
“I never touched the blue moon.” Said Sarah angrily.
Blackbeard showed off the blue pearl inside his coat for a brief moment, and both their wrists glowed with the mark of the curse.
“Well, seems as if it disagrees,” said Blackbeard, putting the blue pearl back inside his coat. “We need the map you took from us, Ms. Dreamstead. Give it to me so that I may end the suffering.”
“It's not here,” she replied. “The map is on my ship, back at Port Ruby.”
“Then take me there,” his forest eyes turned toward Charlotte. “Your crew mate must've brought you here. I have an awakened Secreto, I can sense her power is stronger now. Warp us back to Port Ruby, Ms. Dreamstead, let me fix the mess you've started.”
“I don't know how I got this mark,” said Sarah, her glare as fierce as ever. “But I know who I am. I would never release a curse for anything. Diamonds don't mean that much to me. What I do know is that I don’t trust you at all. The map stays with me, Blackbeard. My caravan will be the one to break the curse.”
With a whistle, Blackbeard sprung his remaining pirates into action. Sarah looked around and realized she was surrounded by about fifty men.
“Looks like those Sky Dancers are dead,” Blackbeard smiled and aimed his pistol at Charlie’s unconscious face. “I’m going to kill that Imperial shit first, and then we’ll see how many bodies it takes for you to bring me to your ship.”
A small metal ball fell in front of Blackbeard with a clank. The ball lit up brightly and flashed Blackbeard and his men with a blinding white light. The men dropped their weapons and grabbed onto their burning eyes, paralyzed by the metallic flash bang. Gizmo fell from the pipes above and landed squarely atop Sarah’s right shoulder. She gave Gizmo a surprised look, the teddy bear merely smiled and pinched her cheek.
“Thank me later, kid” said Gizmo. He turned his bronze diamond eye toward Charlotte. “We better get out of here quick. How about it, girl?”
“Port Ruby’s too far,” she replied. Charlotte tried to imagine the island, but found it fading in her mind. “There’s too much going on here, I need some time to focus.”
Sarah walked past Charlotte and toward the rail of the ship. She bit her nail and drained the merwater from it. The power of the sea began to rummage through her veins, as she could feel the fish swimming hundreds of feet in the waters below. She extended her hand and a massive pillar rose up from the sea, with fish still swimming happily within its walls. The men of the Imperial Fleet all watched with gaped mouths, as the pillar rose like a massive water tower beneath Blackbeard’s ship.
“Take them down there, Charlotte,” said Sarah, nodding her head toward Calow and Charlie, both men laid unconscious. “Focus your Secreto, we’ll be there in a minute.”
Charlotte rushed toward the fallen men and grabbed them both by the arm. In a dark flash the three of them vanished and appeared atop of Sarah's water pillar. Sarah then led Cookie and Mia toward the rail. Cookie’s eyes flashed and broke the rail fence with a kick. The freckled beauty stepped toward the edge and looked down, the water pillar was about a hundred feet below the airship.
“Are you scared?” Asked Sarah.
“No,” replied Cookie, giving Sarah a smirk. “I'm just really glad I left with you.”
The tall red head jumped fearlessly, and landed on her feet onto the top of the water pillar. Sarah turned at the sound of moans. The Black Cloud pirates rubbed their eyes, and began to retrieve their guns from the floor. Blackbeard was the first to approach her, with a pistol in his left hand and a massive red saber in his right.
Sarah grabbed Mia by the arm and pulled her toward the edge. The Royal looked down at the massive drop and began to tremble terribly.
“No, no,” said Mia nervously, “No, please, I can't.”
“Hey,” said Sarah calmly, she grabbed Mia by her face and gave her a kind smile. “It’s going to be alright. Just trust me.”
The Royal felt something in her heart, warm and inviting as she stared into Sarah's emerald eyes. It was strange. She knew nothing about Sarah, had no reason to trust her, but somehow…she did.
“Okay.” Mia whispered.
With that, Sarah tipped them both off the edge. She ignored Mia’s screams as the two fell a hundred feet below the burning Black Cloud. Sarah landed onto the pillar of water with one knee, and had Mia comfortably in her arms. The Royal clutched onto Sarah’s chest, with her eyes shut and her panicked breath beginning to ease.
For a moment Sarah thought they had succeeded. She looked around and counted all the heads of her crew, plus Calow and Charlie. The joy was short lived. With a massive thud, Blackbeard landed onto the water pillar, and swung at Sarah with his red saber. Sarah rolled over the water and dodged his strike, her eyes then found Charlotte’s urgent gaze.
“Grab onto me,” she shouted. “Now!”
Mia and Sarah ran toward Charlotte, and grabbed onto her as Cookie did. Their bodies became as light as clouds, and soon they were all covered in darkness. However, Blackbeard was quick, and grabbed onto Charlotte’s arm before the ladies could escape.
In a shadowy blink, they were sent back to the boardwalk of One Blue. Sarah and the others landed hard on their knees, and scrambled to get up on their feet. Calow and Charlie fell next, and laid unconscious beside each other, the former looked like a child compared to Charlie's eight foot body. Blackbeard was the last to fall on the dark oak boards, the force sent the ladies falling backward.
The pirate captain rose up, with his emerald eyes still as bright as fire, and pointed his red saber toward Sarah’s face.
“You dare to challenge a pirate lord?” Said Blackbeard, each step he took toward Sarah shook the boardwalk beneath them. “Come here you wretched girl, I’m going to gut you like a goat.”
Blackbeard rose his saber to the sky, ready to slice Sarah in two. A loud growl caught his attention, as Rocky lunged for his chest. The wolf sunk his teeth into Blackbeard’s neck, and anchored down with its claws. The captain roared and dropped his saber, trying desperately to shake the beast off. With a massive hand, he grabbed the wolf by the back and
tossed him into a nearby shop.
Blackbeard staggered backward, clearly dazed by Rocky’s attack. Cookie quickly seized her opening and activated her Secreto. The tall beauty leaped into the air, and swung her long leg like a whip across Blackbeard’s face. The blow knocked the captain unconscious, and sent him to floor with a monstrous thud.
“Yeah, you little creep,” said Cookie, standing over Blackbeard. “That’s the way the cookie crumbles.”
She smiled and turned around eagerly, expecting the ladies to join in her boast, but Sarah and the others looked less than enthused.
“No, Cookie,” said Charlotte, giving her a bored look. “Just…no.”
Chapter 16 Blackbeard's Tale
She had waited her whole life for this day, the day she could finally set off into the Red Sea. The sun was surrounded by clear blue skies, with not a cloud in sight. It was a perfect day, even more so when she learned about her surprise. Her love had brought her to the Water Hole, a fantastic restaurant buried deep within the cobblestone streets of Town Square. There was no floor inside the restaurant, and so customers were asked to drink a special potion before they stepped through the redwood doors, a potion that allowed them to walk on water.
As soon as customers entered they were greeted to a cozy scene. The restaurant inside had no ceiling, much like Merla's Oasis, and the walls were covered with bookshelves that carried waterproof books. The young woman and her love stepped inside the restaurant, and her heart raced as she walked on the surface of the water. The waitress led them to one of the many heightened circular pillars that scattered the aquatic surface. The pillars looked like tables made entirely of water. Couples would sit on the pillars with their legs crossed and enjoy a meal, all while colorful fish swam happily beneath them.
"What do you think, Sarah?" Asked Jayden, pouring wine into their cups.
"It's amazing," replied Sarah, watching a yellow fish swim beneath her feet. "I never thought I could get into a place like this, I heard only Royals were allowed in."
"Thankfully being a captain is nearly considered the same thing," Jayden smiled as he passed her a glass of wine. "I'm just glad you agreed to get away from Merla's crazy training."
"I know, I'm not sure why she goes so hard on me," Sarah took a sip of wine. It was delicious, but her joy was short lived. The thought of Merla throwing fireballs from her hands made her shiver. "Seriously, I was thinking I should make a potion that makes me fireproof. Her Secreto is giving me a phobia of flames, yesterday I flinched just watching a guy light a cigarette!"
Jayden laughed and took a sip of wine, a few drops fell from the glass and spiraled like dark blood into the water.
"I was thinking, it'll be a while till the food gets here," Jayden lowered his eyes toward Sarah's black bag. "You think you could show me a few of your potions?"
Sarah looked a bit startled at first, she hadn't ever been asked about her potions before. The practice was a form of Magi magic and, like most things Magi, was seen as unnatural by the Royals around Port Ruby. Sarah looked around nervously to make sure none of the Royals in the restaurant were looking their way. Carefully, she laid out five vials over an enchanted silver platter, which floated over the water between them.
"This one's bull's blood, it's my favorite," said Sarah, holding up a vial of red liquid. She started to point out the other vials from left to right. Each vial was filled with a different colored liquid, one blue, one black and one white. "Merwater, golem's juice, cloud wine and...Well," she took the last vial filled with gold liquid and drained it with a syringe. "This one doesn't have a name."
"Why not?" Asked Jayden, as he watched her stick the needle underneath her pinky nail.
"Because I made it myself and I suck at coming up with names," replied Sarah, her eye twitched slightly as she injected the gold liquid beneath her nail. "It's a special potion, pretty dangerous once it gets in your veins. I don't use it at all if I don't have to."
Jayden couldn't help but look impressed. Potions were a difficult thing to master, even just one could easily take someone years to learn. He watched her hastily put all the potions back into her bag, when she was done he reached over and gently grabbed her hand.
"You're an amazing woman! You know that, right?"
"So are you," she looked up at his silver gaze, and tried to hide her blushed cheeks by taking a sip of wine. "Amazing man, I mean. Heh, it's not usual to take a girl onboard a caravan ship."
"Yeah well, I was never a fan of the emperor," said Jayden. "I only wish more women like you would stand up to him."
"It's hard," said Sarah, she looked down at her red wine and stared at her saddened reflection. "I mean he's the emperor, he can do whatever he wants."
"It's just a title," said Jayden, with a finger he gently lifted her face toward his. "It doesn't mean anything."
"Titles do mean something, though," She calmly retorted. "You can't lead a caravan if you're not a captain, right?"
"But sometimes the captain isn't the best person to lead," his eyes shifted to the left as he nodded toward the bookshelves. "It's like those books over there, all of them have titles. Some tell you what the story is about and some don't. The title is just meant to draw people in, only by opening the book do you understand what it's really about. A captain is no different. The title is just meant to draw people to your ship, only by fighting a captain will you learn who they truly are."
Sarah wanted to ask more about captains, as she secretly wanted to become one herself, but their conversation was interrupted. One of Jayden's crew mates scurried across the restaurant and approached their water pillar, with a small scroll tucked firmly in his grip. The young man whispered something in Jayden's ear and left without another word, the scroll he had now rested in his captain's hands.
"What is it?" Asked Sarah. She tried to read the scroll from where she sat, but the letters were too small and scratchy.
"It's an invitation to parlay," replied Jayden. "From Captain Blackbeard."
"The pirate warlord?" Sarah's eyes went wild, edging closer to make sure the Royals couldn't hear. "But parlay is like a meeting, right? To negotiate?" She looked at Jayden's grim face and felt her stomach sink. "Wait...are you making deals with the pirates?"
"It's not that simple," replied Jayden, tucking the scroll into his navy vest. "I've angered someone quite powerful, someone that even the pirates answer to."
"Still," Sarah grabbed Jayden's hand and gave him a concerned look. "You shouldn't be making deals with Blackbeard. I've heard the bounty for his head is a thousand gold diamonds!"
"Two thousand," said Jayden. "He's been taking the hearts of people with Secretos and selling them on the Black Market. You already know how the emperor feels about Secreto powers, he's not too happy that commoners have access to them."
"Then why meet with someone that dangerous?" Asked Sarah. "Caravans and pirates are enemies, the Chancellor could have your head for it. Sure, Julius is a good guy, but Greymore isn't. That bastard would send you to the guillotine without a thought."
The guillotine was a crafty device that received enchantments from the Magi. A tall, arched obsidian machine, with a long blade that hung fifty feet in the air. Those that faced the guillotine would have their souls stripped from them, to spend eternity in small black crystals where they would suffer unfathomable pain. Only the lucky ones would escape such a fate, and serve as oracles for caravan captains.
The thought of the guillotine brought Jayden no worry, he merely shrugged his shoulders and finished his wine.
"I'm not afraid of dying," Jayden set his glass down on the platter and gave Sarah a smile. "Don't worry about me, alright? There's nothing anyone can do to hurt me anymore. I love you, Sarah. Your safety is all that matters to me now."
"Sarah!" Daisy shouted.
The voice snapped Sarah out of her dream almost instantly, her eyes darted about as she slowly returned to reality. She was in one of Merla's bedrooms. Daisy
was by the door and stared at her with wide eyes. Sarah sat up on the edge of the bed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her lips muttered a curse to herself as her fist clenched...why can't I stop dreaming about him?
"You were tossing and turning, Sarah," said Daisy. "Are you okay? You were really freaking me out!"
"Yeah," replied Sarah, as she rubbed the crust from her eyes. "I've just been getting bad sleep lately."
To her surprise, and admittedly her delight, Daisy did not query her about the dream. Instead, Daisy quietly sighed and brushed her blonde hair back.
"I see," said Daisy softly, tilting her head toward the door. "Well, you should hurry downstairs, I suppose. Charlotte’s waiting for you. Julius invited you both to join him interrogate Blackbeard."
