Captain Black Shadow

by Janina Franck

  Black blades reaching out of the water spoke of nothing but doom.

  “Get ready!” Selene shouted.

  His hand over his eyes to shield them from the gleaming sun, Griffin searched the wave troughs for sharp rocks.

  There!

  Had that not been one? And over there?

  “Hard port!” Griffin shouted down to Maco at the wheel. The troll nodded and turned the ship. But over there another dark shape appeared beneath the surface… Another rock!

  “Slightly to starboard!” he relayed to Maco.

  So far, it seemed to be working. Griffin gave further instructions to Maco until they had gone past the first cluster of rocks. Now there was something more difficult waiting for them: the vortices themselves.

  They were enormous. While the Bat did her best to sail straight and follow the map, it was obvious to Griffin from his high point that they were already in the suction of the first maelstrom. First it was only a little, but soon they were drifting rather quickly. Griffin was about to shout to Ayalon and Zero that they should pull the ship out of the suction, but they were already dragging it out again.

  Griffin’s mouth was dry, and he was trembling. It was too much for him. They had not even left the first maelstrom behind and there were still more deadly rocks waiting for them! The Rock-vortex fields were so vast… How could they make it through? Was there even hope?

  He couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t. It was too much.

  Griffin wanted nothing more than to hide in the galley and bury his face in Aestiva’s fur. He wanted to pretend that none of this was real. He was no hero and never would be. He was afraid.

  Courage? His only courage lay in thinking up fantastic adventures and wishing they were real. Now he had to deal with the mess. Be careful what you wish for. The wise old woman from the fair he had visited on the next island had warned all the children when he had been little. Oh, how right she had been. He had wished for an adventure, but now that he had it, he wanted nothing more than to wake up at home in his bed to find that it had all been nothing but a nightmare.

  The thought stuck to his mind like a moth to a spider web. Somehow, he still registered Ayalon and Zero, as a giant eagle, bringing the ship back on course. On course directly toward one of the underwater rocks.

  As soon as Griffin realized, he was paralyzed. The crew on board was powerless. As much as they tried to harness the wind to aid the escape, it was no use. They would die. Now it was certain. They would hit the rock, slit open the hull of the Bat and sink.

  Unless he could warn the others so they could turn before it was too late.

  The thought pulled him from his stupor and he managed to warn Ayalon, Zero and Maco just in time.

  They barely managed to get past the jagged edges.

  This close, Griffin thought they seemed like terrible black claws reaching out from the ocean, ready to drag their prey down. Griffin let out the breath he’d been holding.

  Suddenly, Selene appeared next to him.

  “If you want us all to get out of here alive, then pull yourself together,” she hissed.

  Filled with consternation, Griffin lowered his head.

  “You can’t afford to be afraid, you understand?” she shouted through the winds. “Nobody on this ship can right now! Next time something like this happens, we might not be able to turn in time! Are we clear?”

  Griffin looked down at his feet and mumbled, “Yes… I’m sorry. It won’t happen again…”

  “Don’t look down at your shoes!” she screamed at him. “Look out front! And don’t waste your apologies.”

  With those words, she disappeared again and returned to Maco’s side.

  He had never seen Selene this angry. But she was right. It would have been his fault if something had happened. At least for the moment, he needed to suppress his fear and stay focused on the task at hand.

  The next few hours passed as if he were in a trance. He searched the water incessantly to avoid repeating his previous mistake.

  Finally, they had made it. The last vortex was behind them and the Falicia Islands lay before them.

  Griffin sank to his knees when he realized. They were alive. They had made it through. His heart beat wildly and his arms and legs felt weak. It was over. He was breathing. He was alive. They all were!

  He couldn’t help but cheer. Instantly, the rest of the crew joined in. They, too, had been tensed the whole time. Carefully, Griffin climbed back down to deck.

  Everyone laughed, crowding together, and even Selene smiled while punching his shoulder playfully.

  “It could’ve been worse,” she said.

  Griffin grinned. High praise, coming from Selene. Ryo poked him in the rib. “Hey, can you make some food? I’m starving!”

  Skip laughed next to them. “Not just you Ryo! We all could use some!”

  Griffin gave a salute and rushed to the galley: his domain, where he knew his way around and felt comfortable. A place where the biggest danger was cutting his finger.

  As soon as he opened the door, an anxious cat jumped into his arms. Reassuringly, he stroked Aestiva’s back.

  He was about to close the door when he was knocked off balance. The ship was thrown to one side with an ugly scraping noise. Griffin fell into the doorframe and everyone grabbed on to whatever they could reach. Maco’s quick reactions brought the ship back under control.

  Griffin looked around agitatedly. Had there been one last rock in the water? He followed Selene under deck to look for the damage while Zero jumped into the sea and turned into a shark to check under water. Selene and Griffin looked through the whole ship, but luckily, they found no damage from the inside. Zero returned on board after a few minutes and reported that the hull outside the library was damaged.

  Griffin decided that he would get Zero’s help for the urgent repairs outside and to reinforce the inner side of the library’s wall himself. But they still had to last until they got to the island.

  Zero and Ayalon did their best to pull the Bat toward land. Griffin stayed in the library with Balthasar to keep the spot in question under supervision. He hoped desperately that the ship would hold. At the moment, he couldn’t evaluate the exact damage since he had to see it with his own eyes, but that there was no leaking yet was definitely a good sign. The constant creaking was worrying nonetheless. Griffin imagined it was only a matter of time before water would spew through the weakened wood. Once there was any kind of hole, the pressure would instantly widen it and cause a fracture that might not be easily repaired and could sink them. The image of the Bat in a watery graveyard of abandoned, sunken ships was frightening.

  While they waited anxiously, observing the wall, Griffin glanced over at Balthasar. He spent most of his time in here. Griffin had seen how he treated his books. They were precious. Even now, Balthasar had grabbed one and was clutching it tightly. He probably wasn’t even aware of it. Worried, the two of them remained there until the Klabautermann came down and announced, “We’ve arrived.”

  They could breathe again.

  Balthasar remained in the library for the moment while Griffin followed the Klabautermann on deck. They were lying in an azure blue, stagnant bay. A jungle stretched almost to the edge of the water, a million shades of green mixed together. It was a fantastical place, as if taken right out of a fairy tale. Birds soared above their heads and fish swam beneath them. It was a place where Griffin could imagine spending the rest of his life comfortably.

  Selene interrupted that peaceful thought.

  “Alright guys! I’ll go up front with Zero, Joe, Skip and the Klabautermann. Everyone else, protect the ship and help Griffin with damage control. If you haven’t heard from us in two days, we’re in trouble. But if possible, we’ll send back a message tomorrow morning. Griffin, do you need something specific to repair the Bat?”

  Griffin shook his head. “We should have everything we need on board, and if we need more wood, well, ther
e’s more than enough around here.”

  Selene gave him a short nod, then she turned away and gave further instructions to the rest of the crew. In the meantime, Griffin rushed to the galley and let Aestiva out. She prowled purring around his legs immediately, and as always, she followed his every step while he went to find his tools. In his mind, he went over what they would need to do in order to make wood suitable for a ship. Normally, preparations would take about two years, but his father had once taught him a method that only took a few hours, using a dragon’s breath and tallow. He was itching to try it out, but perhaps they wouldn’t need it this time around.

  “Can you go a bit lower, Ayalon?” Griffin asked from the dragon’s back. Ayalon was one of the few dragons that had been able to master the art of hovering in one spot in the air. But it was also a lot more difficult and tiring for him than gliding or flying normally.

  Anxiously, Griffin inspected the damage in the ship’s hull. It wasn’t as bad as he had feared but still nothing to be taken lightly. If the ship received any further shocks, it might fracture the hull, but it wouldn’t happen from sailing normally. All he needed, he had on the ship; it would just take a little time. He ought to ask Ryo or Balthasar to reinforce the inner wall.

  By the time he was done with the assessment, the sun was setting, so he decided to do the actual repairs in the morning when he had better light.

  After they had all eaten something, everyone who wasn’t on guard went to sleep right away, exhausted as they were from the long, arduous day.

  CHAPTER 9

  Despite starting the repairs at the crack of dawn, by the time the most important work was done, it was already afternoon. The sun was beating down mercilessly, and Griffin decided to allow himself a break.

  Everyone stuck to the shade like bats, be it in the shadow of the mast, the wheel or even barrels. Ryo went around to all of them, handing out cups of water. Griffin leaned against one of the barrels that had been brought to deck to catch water should it rain and stroked Aestiva’s hot fur while she snoozed in his lap. It was a lot warmer in these waters than it had been in the Eastern waters of his home.

  Maco was in a worse state than any of the others. His thick skin seemed to absorb the heat and he looked like he was about to overheat. He was yearningly watching as Ayalon cooled himself down by diving into the water.

  Griffin felt pity rise in his chest when he saw the troll hang his head. Carefully, he lifted Aestiva from his lap and walked over to him.

  “What do you think about a little swim, Maco?” he asked, smiling. The troll only looked back at him with big, sad eyes and brushed a greasy streak of hair out of his face.

  “I can’t fvim,” he replied after a moment. “Twollf aren’t made for… vat… We velong in cold and moun…mountainf.”

  Griffin stared at him, concerned. He had not spoken to many trolls and had never thought about their ability to swim. He was ashamed that in all the time he had spent on the Bat, he had seldom approached the quieter members of the crew. Suddenly, he realized that Maco was one of the first crewmembers he had met, but barely knew anything about him. He ought to change that, but first he should help the troll with his heat predicament.

  “Right. I have an idea!” Griffin exclaimed, pulling the troll after him. He picked up a loose plank and with Maco’s help, he threw it overboard. Then he grabbed some empty waterskins and blew them up with air before closing them. He tied them together along a string and knotted that around Maco’s upper body.

  “With this, you can’t sink!” Griffin explained. “Now come on. We’ll ask Ayalon to bring us down to that plank.”

  It was floating right by the ship like a little lifeboat and it was big enough to support Maco’s weight. Ayalon carried him down to it and helped him to sit on the plank so he was straddling it with his legs in the water. Then, with Griffin still on his back, the dragon dived down beneath the waves. The cold water rushing past Griffin’s body felt amazing. Before he could even adjust to the sudden coolness, they were back in the air. Griffin spread his arms, laughing euphorically. It felt like freedom. After Ayalon had done this once more, Griffin jumped from his back into the ocean himself and paddled over to Maco.

  “You can come in properly, you know. I promise that you won’t sink!”

  Maco looked at him a little uncertainly, but nevertheless gradually immersed himself in the water.

  “I’m in ve vater!” he gasped. “I’m fvimming!”

  He giggled and threw some water into the air. A few drops splashed Griffin and Ayalon, and the situation swiftly turned into a water fight. Ryo joined without hesitation, announcing his presence by jumping from the railing and splashing them all. It was fun. Griffin had never had the chance to play like this as a boy.

  Later, after drying themselves off, Griffin and Maco sat contentedly in the mast’s shade, thinking quietly. Ayalon and Ryo had gone to shore “to see if any of the others are close,” as Ryo had put it.

  “Hey, Maco,” Griffin said eventually. “How did you end up becoming part of the crew?”

  Maco grunted and closed his eyes. He tilted his head slightly away from Griffin.

  Had he said something wrong? Was it too personal a question?

  After waiting a couple of minutes without an answer, Griffin made a decision. “I’m sorry Maco. I shouldn’t have asked. You don’t have to tell me, it’s alright!”

  “Vhy do you… vant to know?” the troll asked quietly, still without glancing at Griffin.

  The boy shrugged. “Honestly, I was just curious and thought it’d be a good way to get to know you better, but it’s alright. Don’t worry about it! I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.”

  There was another pause after Griffin’s apology in which Aestiva stretched and then moved from Griffin’s lap to Maco’s. The troll sighed.

  “It’f alright. I vill tell you.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to if you don’t feel comfortable with it!” Griffin interjected.

  Maco waved his objection away. He spoke slowly and deliberately. This was a story so important to him that he didn’t want to make a single mistake telling it. Griffin listened attentively, without interrupting even once.

  As Maco spoke, his gaze seemed distant, staring into a world that wasn’t really there, haunted by the nightmares that plagued him back then, back when all he knew was darkness, the pressure and chafing of the ice-cold shackles against his ankles and wrists, and pain. Those were his earliest memories. Then, his life got worse: he was put on a slave ship. There, his only purpose was to row day and night. Food was scarce, floggings plentiful, and the other slaves – convicts serving out their punishment for their crimes - found him an easy victim to take out their frustrations. Maco let it happen. He merely existed, drifting through the hours, accepting his fate. After all, he had never really known anything else.

  However, his life changed when a little boy was put on the ship, too young to realize what was going on and why. Too frail. Too innocent. The other convicts saw this as a welcome opportunity to take their aggression out on something that would give them more satisfaction than Maco’s silence, and they began beating the child. Upon seeing this, Maco, for the first time in his existence, felt something other than dull loneliness. He felt fury rise up inside him and fill his entire being. He roared and charged at the men. They were lucky he only intended to protect the child. Otherwise they would likely not have lived another hour. Finally, they realized how dangerous the troll could be, and they mostly left him, and more importantly, the little boy, alone. From then on, the boy was Maco’s shadow. He never left his side, when his rations were stolen, they shared, and the boy gave Maco the first friendly smile the troll had ever seen.

  Griffin’s heart almost broke as he listened to the troll’s story. Maco’s black eyes were tearing up as he paused and let his gaze wander across the deck. The child… Skip. They had been through so much together already… But Maco’s tale wasn’t over ye
t.

  It could have almost been nice, if it hadn’t been for the attendant, who had a greater prejudice against trolls than most people did. The more he saw Skip and the troll together, the more mistakes he blamed Maco for and, as a result, the troll was punished more and more often, until the whip and the floor were tainted red. One day was particularly bad, and Skip stepped in the way. The attendant went mad with rage and whipped blindly at both of them, savage strikes that might have easily killed them if they had gone on for long.

  Something must have been smiling down on them, for that was the day Selene’s father, Karim, and his crew attacked the ship, interrupting the cruel scene. After the pirates had slain the crew and many of the convicts, Maco carried the little boy to them, begging them to take him in, to raise him as one of their own, so that he might know how to defend himself and have a better life than as a slave. They agreed. They escorted both of them onto their ship, gave them food, treated their wounds and clothed them.

  Then they offered Maco the opportunity to join them, or, alternatively, promised to bring him and Skip somewhere secluded where they could live peacefully for the rest of their days.

  That was the day they decided, without a single doubt in their minds, that Karim’s side was where they belonged.

  “Vif eatf day vat paffed he helped me to love veing alive and truft in fingf like like my friendf.”

  For a few minutes, Griffin and Maco sat next to each other in silence. Griffin didn’t know what to say. Maybe there was nothing to say. It was the most Griffin had ever heard Maco say at once. In fact, it was probably more than he had ever heard him say at all.

  What a past… Griffin felt guilty for having asked. It must be gut-wrenching to relive those awful memories. He wasn’t surprised that Maco was such a loyal part of the crew. He had nothing else in the world. Everything else in his life had been full of pain and hatred.