by Ryan Gilbert
A pulsating light started to grow at the end of the fairy’s wand with each twirl. The colors were constantly changing, flickering in front of her eyes. When she thought the spell was strong enough, she drew her arm back before blasting the ball of light straight at the ship with the least damage.
SKEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeee
With a loud crash, it smashed through the glass windows and flew all the way out to the main deck before it exploded in a giant ball of fireworks. The deck lit up with all kinds of light as sparks flew everywhere, nearly blinding the sailors.
As the one ship started to turn back to face the Prize, Sapphire said, “Now that’s got their attention.”
K-BOOM K-BOOM
Cannon fire rocked the deck of Kidd’s ship, nearly knocking the fairy to the ground. Another round of blasts sent several pirates flying across the deck.
“Ye might want to use some of that magic to speed up the ship,” shouted Ward, clearly in a panic.
The crewmate pointed to the side of the ship, trying to direct the fairy’s attention.
Once Sapphire saw what he was pointing at, she could feel the dread overtake her as well.
The HMS Salvation sailed out from behind a smoking pirate ship, blasting away at it. As the vessel of criminals sank, the flagship had its eye set on a new target, and that target was the Adventure Prize.
“Fire back with all that we’ve…”
K-BOOM
A barrage of cannonballs cut off what Sapphire was going to say. One cannonball even smashed into the deck in front of her, the force throwing her back toward the rail. Thankfully, she was alert enough to fly into the air before impact.
As quickly as she could, Sapphire twirled her wand once again, building up a giant attack. The pulsating lights glowed at the end of her wand as she glared at the Salvation.
K-BOOM
A shot blasted a section of the railing into the fairy’s arm before she could get out of the way, knocking off her aim. The ball of light flew into the air, ascending to a tall height.
KIBOOM
KIBOOM
SHAPOW
The light exploded in midair, sparks flying everywhere. Even as the light spread, the sparks kept exploding, like someone had lit a match at the end of a long string of colorful grenades. The fireworks shot back and forth in the sky, bathing the battle in showers of every color imaginable.
K-BOOM
“Sapphire! We need… AUGH!”
K-BOOM
A sudden attack from the Salvation sent Nathan tumbling across the helm deck as a crewmember’s corpse flew over the wheel and hit him square in the chest.
The Prize was without a navigator for the moment.
As Ward tried to free himself from the dead body and debris that had come raining down on him, Sapphire weaved through the air, trying to reach the wheel. Of all times to lose control of the ship, now was definitely the worst, especially with the most powerful vessel in the English Navy bearing down on them.
As she reached the wheel, she dared to look to the side of the ship, fearful of what she would see. All of the cannons on the port side of the Salvation were aimed directly at the pirate ship.
And they were all ready to fire.
The fairy tensed, closing her eyes for a brief moment, waiting to hear the deafening sound of the cannons.
KEBOOM KEBOOM
GERUUUUUUUNNNNK
Sapphire opened her eyes as she heard the sound of ships creaking and wood splintering. Instinctively spinning the wheel to the side, she watched as a ship rammed the Salvation, forcing it away from the Prize. The exploding fireworks overhead lit up the blue scales that were sewn into the sails of the attacking pirate ship.
The Blind Justice had joined the fight.
Holding on to the rail to keep his balance, Admiral Carter could do nothing but watch as the strange vessel assaulted the Salvation. He had never seen such ill-advised battle tactics before.
“Lieutenant, I want a status report,” he ordered, yelling down to the main deck.
Just as hooks started to ark through the air and fasten onto the Navy flagship, the lieutenant yelled, “Several dozen cannons are incapacitated, sir.”
“Well, then get them functional again.”
BANG
The lieutenant fell to the ground, blood spurting out of his head. To the horror of the soldiers, the skeleton crew of the Justice started to pour onto the deck, attacking whoever they saw first. Some of the more inexperienced men leapt overboard in terror, but the hardened soldiers stood their ground. With swords raised, they fought back against their bony attackers, trying their best to comprehend what exactly was happening.
Thus far, they had no clue.
As the ship righted itself, Carter noticed a skeleton break away from the boarding group. Carefully readying his pistol, he watched as the supernatural creature rushed toward the stairs, a sword in his hand.
Unfortunately for the skeleton, he did not even make it halfway up the stairs.
BANG
The attacker’s skull shattered, and he crashed to the deck below. Carter watched the creature fall, the motionless bones coming to a dead rest at the foot of the stairs.
It was then that he noticed someone standing mere feet from where the frightful skeleton had fallen. He could see a woman standing on the deck, a bandana barely keeping her wild hair at bay. Her gray eyes glared at him as she held a sword in a clenched fist.
“Who in God’s name are you?” asked the Admiral, slowly removing his sword from its scabbard.
“I’m your w-worst nightmare,” she said.
Confident that he could fight her, Carter took a step down the stairs, his weapon pointed directly at the girl.
“You seem awfully familiar, my dear.”
“I s-should be. I am Maggie Stephenson, your s-son’s fiancée,” she said through gritted teeth.
The Admiral was flabbergasted.
“Margaret? No, that is impossible.”
“Here I am s-standing right in front of you. I t-think it’s very possible,” she said.
“You were blind,” he said, still pointing the tip of his blade at the female captain.
“My s-sight is the one thing my father gave back to me… and now I’m going to use it to kill you!” Maggie screamed.
She slashed her blade through the air, but Carter was surprisingly quick for an old man. His years of training still stuck with him, but Maggie was powered by pure vengeance. She kept pushing forward until the Admiral ducked to the side. His move was just quick enough to send her falling off balance into the stairs to the helm. Thankfully, she was able to get her sword up just in time to block a strike from Carter.
Leaning down and glaring at the girl, Carter pushed his sword even closer to her. The blade was inches from her face as she strained to push it away.
“My son seduced you to the side of a pirate, didn’t he?”
“Eli did n-nothing to me,” Maggie spat.
“If that were true, we would not be in this situation, Margaret.”
“He did n-nothing… but you did.”
She kicked the Admiral in the gut, forcing him backward.
“You killed him. You killed your only son and the man I loved… and now I know your true colors, you wretched bastard,” she said, not stuttering once.
BOOM
BOOM
With a Navy ship burning beside them, Riggs and his crew were still fighting their hardest. A sailor swung his sword at the Captain, but Riggs ducked underneath the man’s arm, catching him by the shoulder. As quickly as he could, he knocked the man’s legs out from underneath him while driving his back straight down to the deck. The impact forced the breath out of his attacker’s lungs, giving him just enough time to drive his sword into the sailor’s chest.
“Riggs! Riggs!” the Captain heard Coral Jack yelling from the rail.
“Oi… what is it?” he asked as he ripped his sword out of the sailor’s bleeding body.
He rushed over
to Jack’s side where the boatswain quickly held up a spyglass to his good eye. Pointing through the frenzy of smoke and flashes of cannon fire, his friend directed his attention to something rather fortuitous.
“It’s the Salvation. She’s stuck to Maggie’s ship,” said Jack.
“How’s the Justice holdin’ up?”
“Can’t really tell, but I can’t imagine it’d take much for Carter to blast them out of the water.”
Throwing the spyglass away, Coral Jack asked, “What are your orders, Captain?”
Now came the time for Riggs to choose, and he hated it. Staring toward the bow of the Red Sky, he could see the Flying Dutchman easing its way into the fray. Unfortunately, they were already starting to see the effects of the supernatural ship. One of the pirate ships was already being overrun with death and destruction, smoke billowing out of the portholes.
Riggs looked back at the Salvation and the Blind Justice, watching as the flagship of the English Navy hauled Maggie’s ship alongside it like a heavy bit of flotsam. With the hooks tangled in the rigging of the Navy ship, there was no way for the Justice to pull away. He could see that the vessel of skeletons was hindering the turning of the Salvation, but it would still be risky to attack it.
“Captain?”
Flying Dutchman or HMS Salvation?
For the moment, Riggs could not decide.
“Riggs?” asked Jack, needing an answer.
Flying Dutchman or HMS Salvation?
Onboard the Salvation, Maggie’s inexperience was clearly showing as she battled with the Admiral. Carter’s years of training gave him a clear advantage over the female captain. Slashing his sword at her, he drove her backward. Unable to watch where she was headed, Maggie clipped her heel on the wheel of a cannon, sending her falling to the ground.
It just barely saved her from one of Carter’s strikes.
“Come now, Margaret. We need not prolong this any further,” said the Admiral, “Surrender to me, and you will have a fair trial.”
“I d-don’t want a trial,” she spat, scrambling to her feet. Desperate, she grabbed one of her skeleton crewmates by the collarbone and pulled him over to help her.
“I want vengeance,” she said.
As she hurried around the Admiral, he took little time in taking the fight to the skeleton. A mere three swipes of his sword resulted in his blade piercing the bony crewmate’s skull.
The instant that Maggie spun around to face him, she felt a sharp, burning sensation running across her thigh. With a quick swipe of his sword, Carter had cut deep into her leg, crippling her. Reaching down, she felt her own blood seeping out of her leg, its warmth coating her fingers. As she started to limp backwards, she held her sword out in front of her, trying her best to fend off Carter’s attacks.
The Admiral’s blade slashed through the air, bashing Maggie’s weapon to the side. Luckily for her, she did not let go. Reaching the stairs to the helm, she slowly started to climb them backwards, her injured leg starting to ignite with pain.
“Look at the depths that you have stooped to,” said Carter.
He slashed at her sword again, but she still kept it right in front of her.
“You had your whole life ahead of you only to throw it away,” he said.
Another slash.
Her grip on her sword was weakening, but she still held on to it.
“You threw it away for the life of a criminal.”
Another slash.
“You truly are despicable,” he said.
As he raised his sword to strike once again, Maggie thrust her blade forward, slightly off-balance from the cut on her thigh. The blade of her sword cut the Admiral’s cheek, causing blood to trickle down to his collar.
To Maggie’s surprise, he did not seem very fazed by it. Instead, he just kept fighting through the presumed pain.
Starting to panic, she turned around, darting up the stairs as fast as her limp would allow. If she was not going to be able to beat Admiral Carter, then she needed to put at least some distance between herself and him.
BANG
Pain shot through her shoulder just as she reached the top of the stairs. The suddenness of it sent her stumbling to the ground. Her sword went flying out of her hand, skidding across the wooden boards of the deck.
Crawling on her hands and knees, she knew she had to reach the sword. It was her only means of defending herself.
Behind her, she could hear the footsteps of Carter as he walked up the stairs. She could see the pulsating blue lines in her eyes as he stalked her.
She was so close to her weapon.
“I gave you a chance to surrender to the English Navy, Ms. Stephenson.”
As Maggie reached for her sword, she felt herself get yanked to her feet. The first leg that she put weight on was the injured one, forcing her to stumble a bit.
Carter did not let that second go to waste.
The Admiral spun the girl around, driving his sword deep into her gut. Maggie let out a sickening noise from deep in her throat, feeling the blade burst through her back.
Nearly falling forward, she pushed Carter against the rail, all the while feeling her life draining from her body. Still holding on to the blade with his one hand, the Admiral rested his other hand on the rail to steady himself, watching as his son’s pirate fiancée fell to her knees, slowly dying right in front of him.
“Do you have any final words?” he asked.
*splash*
At that moment, Valera burst out of the water, propelling herself into the air right behind where the Admiral was standing. Before Carter could react, she drove a knife straight through his hand and the rail. The tip of the blade stuck out from the bottom of the wood, not budging one bit.
The Navy officer let out a shriek of pain, trying to pull his hand free.
He could not.
He was pinned to the rail.
For one of the first times in his life, he was actually starting to panic.
Directly in front of him, he could do nothing but watch as a mortally wounded Maggie reached behind her and picked up her sword with feeble hands. With Carter’s weapon still protruding through her back, she struggled to hoist herself to her feet, barely succeeding as blood started to spurt from her mouth.
The normally calm officer frantically tried to yank his hand free of the mermaid’s knife, but it barely budged. His hands were starting to get sticky from his own blood.
Raising her sword as high as her dying body could handle, Maggie drove it downward, piercing Carter’s chest just below his shoulder. The man screamed as the pain coursed through his body, moreso than ever before.
Weakly grabbing the Admiral’s collar, Maggie stammered, “I-It’s… C-Captain Stephenson… t-to you.”
For a moment, it seemed like her magically gifted eyes seemed to wander off into nothingness. It was like she had seen something past her bleeding enemy.
Reaching out her hand, she weakly whispered, “I’m c-coming… Eli…”
Once her love’s name slipped past her lips, Margaret Stephenson crumpled to the deck, the fire of her life having been extinguished forever. Her gray eyes faded to a milky white as her blood seeped onto the wooden planks that rested beneath her lifeless body.
Just beside the corpse, Carter tried to save himself by yanking Maggie’s sword from his body. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to budge it.
He was already losing strength.
“Someone help me!” he shouted.
None of his men could hear him. They were too busy fighting the skeleton crew… and dying.
Frantically, he tried to pull his hand free from Valera’s knife, but the blade had been sunk straight through the rail. His skin and the wooden rail were dripping red as the blood oozing from his pierced hand.
BOOM
The blast of a cannon drew Admiral Carter’s attention to the other side of his ship. Once he saw what awaited him, he knew that he was finished. Vengeance had found him, and it was hungry.
It was the end.
BOOM BOOM BOOM
The cannons of the pirate ships lit up, blasting away at the flagship of the Navy. Carter could hear the glass windows of the stern shatter. Chain shots ripped into the masts, sending them tumbling to the deck. Soldiers flew across the deck, flailing their arms like rag dolls. Those who were stuck on the lower decks could barely even defend themselves as the cannons were blasted apart by the pirates. In seconds, the HMS Salvation was turned to a husk of what it had formerly been.
Carter could do nothing but watch.
BOOM
KABAM
A blast from the Red Sky caused a powder keg to explode, raining down fire all across the deck. As the sails above him started to burn, the Admiral tried once again to wrench his hand free from the knife pinning him down. Trying his best to ignore the sword sticking out of his shoulder, he pulled his hand against the blade of the knife, tearing his hand in half and severing muscles.
His freedom was only brief.
As he fell to his knees, holding his destroyed hand, the burning sails let loose, falling directly on top of him. The burning canvas pinned him to the deck, scorching his body and killing him in mere moments.
BOOM KIBOOM
Two well-placed shots from the Red Sky and the Prize blew holes in the hull of the Salvation, letting the ocean rush into the massive ship. Those that were able to abandon the ship leapt into the sea as the waters rose from deck to deck. Even onboard the Blind Justice, the skeletons started to leap over the side. In all of the destruction, the hooks holding the ships together had gotten hopelessly tangled. The sinking flagship would take Maggie’s ship down to the depths with it.
As the fire spread to the Union Jack, the pirates that were looking on could finally say that it was the end of Admiral Edward Carter.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN