'Remember when we—?'
Sebastian stopped talking as a great brutish snout ploughed through the water towards him. He remembered Cornelius's advice and aimed a punch at one of the kelfer's eyes. The creature gave an eerie shriek and lunged aside, its great tail churning the water. And then it was gone. Sebastian remembered to breathe and continued with what he had been saying.
'– when we first met on the great plain? When you turned up carrying that javralat? Max tried to convince me that you weren't to be trusted, but luckily I didn't listen to him.'
'I would advise anyone not to listen to Max,' said Cornelius. 'That creature has a habit of opening his mouth before his brain has—'
Suddenly the little warrior was pulled beneath the surface by a prodigious force.
'Cornelius!'
Sebastian didn't hesitate but snatched a breath and dived down into the clear water. He saw to his horror that his friend was being dragged down by a young kelfer, which had grabbed him by one leg. He was struggling helplessly in its grip and trying to punch at it, but could not even reach its head. Sebastian kicked out frantically and drove himself closer to the kelfer. He pulled back one arm and stabbed his index finger deep into one of its empty black eyes, feeling it sink to the knuckle in what felt like cold jelly. The kelfer's jaws snapped open, releasing Cornelius, and it swam off, twisting and thrashing in agony. Sebastian grabbed Cornelius and kicked back towards the surface, horribly aware that the little warrior's leg was torn open and releasing a thick cloud of blood. They came up together, gasping for breath. Cornelius's face was a white mask of pain.
'Is the leg off?' he asked through gritted teeth.
'No. But it's a deep wound,' Sebastian told him. He glanced around desperately, aware of more fins approaching from every direction.
'Make for the land,' Cornelius advised him. 'Maybe my blood will draw their attention away from you.'
Sebastian shook his head stubbornly. 'I'm not leaving you,' he said. He threw an arm around his friend, aware that the nearest kelfers were cruising about, seeking an opening.
'You must!' snapped Cornelius. 'There's no hope for you here. Get away, you fool! Escape while you can!'
'I know you wouldn't leave me in a fix like this,' said Sebastian. He glanced down, aware of a shadow below him; an immense white shape that seemed to be rising up from the depths to claim them. He steeled himself for the impact and hoped that the end, when it came, would be quick.
Cornelius had not noticed anything. 'It's my fault,' he groaned. 'I got us into this mess. If I hadn't bought that map, we'd be back in Keladon now, living like kings.'
The shape was getting closer and Sebastian began to appreciate how huge it was. He caught a glimpse of a fishy body, dappled by sunlight.
'I don't regret anything,' he said. 'And whatever fate comes now, I go to it content that I have known great adventure.'
Something fleshy pushed against Sebastian's legs and he closed his eyes, waiting for the teeth to tear into him.
'Farewell, old friend,' he said quietly.
And then something grabbed his shoulders and pulled him backwards. It was so unexpected, he cried out. An instant later, two pairs of hands were lifting him in over the side of a boat and he collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath. A familiar face was grinning down at him.
'That was a close one,' said the Kid. He turned aside and helped his father lift Cornelius into the boat which, Sebastian could now see, was made from a hollowed-out log. Cornelius slumped down beside him and the two of them looked at each other and laughed incredulously.
'I don't believe it!' cried Sebastian. 'We're alive!'
The makeshift boat shuddered as a heavy shape bumped against it, and Jack Donovan leaned over the side, wielding a homemade oar, and gave whatever it was a hearty whack.
'They keep on trying,' he said, 'but I made this boat good and strong.' He glanced at Sebastian. 'Well, had to pass the time somehow, didn't I? Thing was, I could never get up the courage to take it out into open water. Seemed like every time I thought about giving it a go, I'd see that big old kelfer cruising by the beach, looking for me, and I knew there was no boat I could make that would stand up to the likes of him.'
'He's not around, is he?' whispered Sebastian.
'Not yet, young sir. But that's only a matter of time. No, I kept this boat way up the coast in a little bay, where only small creatures could get over the reef. Used it for fishing, mostly.'
The Kid was examining Cornelius's injured leg. 'You're losing a lot of blood,' he said. 'We've got to try and slow it down somehow.' He shrugged off his jacket, then tore off a sleeve and tied it as tightly as he could above the injury, making Cornelius grimace with the pain.
'How's that?' asked the Kid.
'Better,' hissed the Golmiran.
'But . . . I thought you two were going back to the Sea Witch,' said Sebastian. 'For a rest.'
'That was the plan,' said Donovan, 'until we approached the beach and happened to see the Marauder waiting in a little inlet further along the coast. So we dropped back into the trees for a bit, and after a while we saw a landing party leave the Marauder and set off after you lot. Well, it wasn't too hard to work out what was happening. I could see the Marauder was listing really bad – only a matter of time before she went down. So it was clear that Trencherman needed another ship.'
'And the only other one around was the Sea Witch,' finished the Kid. 'That was when Dad told me about his boat. We knew it was a long shot, but we had to give it a go.'
'Trouble was, we needed to go all the way back up the coast to get it. Then we had to paddle it back down to the Marauder. Half killed ourselves doing it.'
'We had this idea about trying to climb aboard her,' said the Kid. 'Grab a couple of weapons and take her captive before the main party got back. But they was already returning when we got closer, so we pulled into shore and decided to wait till dark. Only then the boat started moving along the coast and we could see what was going on – them making you walk the plank and everything. We came after you, but you was a good way out and we were half dead already.'
'You did brilliantly,' Cornelius told them. 'But there's more work to be done. We must get back to the Marauder. My guess is they'll slow right down when they come up to the Sea Witch. If we can sneak up behind them, perhaps we can climb aboard and turn the tables on them.'
Donovan looked doubtfully at the little warrior. 'No offence, sir, but I doubt you'll have the strength to go climbing anywhere.' He pointed to the gathering pool of red in the bottom of the boat. 'You've lost an awful lot of blood.'
'Nonsense,' growled Cornelius. 'You just get us there and we'll see what's to be done.'
There was another abrupt thud as a kelfer's snout thudded against the ship's hull.
'Get away, you fiend!' snarled Donovan, and he thrust down with his oar, causing another great commotion in the water. 'If only I'd had time to pick up some weapons! One of these beasts will have us over in a moment.'
'Then let's not waste any more time,' Sebastian urged him. He grabbed another oar, and he and Donovan began to row, thrusting the oars deep into the water. The boat moved slowly at first, but then, as they fell into a rhythm, it began to pick up speed. Far ahead of them, dwarfed by distance, the Marauder was moving briskly across the water, and beyond her they could just make out a tiny speck on the horizon that was undoubtedly the Sea Witch.
Sebastian put his head down, and he and Jack Donovan rowed with every ounce of strength they could summon, propelling the makeshift boat across the surface of the water.
CHAPTER 38
LAST HOPE
It seemed to take an eternity, and their arm muscles were screaming in protest by the time they'd narrowed the distance, but the Marauder gradually grew in size, until at last they were slipping in beneath the great towering stern of the ship; luckily nobody up there seemed to be keeping watch.
Donovan steered the boat expertly in the ship's wake and hung onto a wooden strut.
Sebastian stood up and helped his friend to do likewise. He noted how pale Cornelius looked and how he was gritting his teeth against the pain in his injured leg.
'Perhaps you should wait here,' he whispered.
Cornelius's eyes widened into a glare. 'You are joking, I hope,' he hissed back.
'We're coming too,' said the Kid. He glanced sharply at his father, who stared at him for a moment and then nodded his agreement.
Sebastian shrugged and reached up to grasp the ornately decorated timbers of the stern. He pulled himself upwards and began to climb. Cornelius followed as best he could, blood still seeping from the wound in his leg. The Kid came next, climbing with all the agility of a boobah, and Donovan brought up the rear, stepping off the boat and allowing it to drift away on the wake behind him. A moment after he'd let it go, a huge white snout suddenly lurched up out of the water and turned the boat over like a child's toy. Donovan stared down into the water in absolute hatred as a long white shape sank back into the depths.
Sebastian told himself that with their only means of escape abandoned, they really would have to make this work. He glanced doubtfully down at Cornelius, half expecting him to lose his grip at any moment and plunge back into the water. The Golmiran was still climbing gamely, but even if he made it up to the deck, he wasn't going to be at anything like his best if it came to a fight. Which meant that the others would have their work cut out.
It was hard enough just trying to climb up the stern. The trickiest bit came when he reached the windows of the captain's cabin, but a quick glance inside assured him that the room was empty and he was able to shuffle along sideways until he found more handholds and ropes to the side of the glass. As he moved past, he glimpsed two familiar-looking backpacks and a jewelled sword and scabbard lying on the captain's table. For a moment he considered smashing the glass and going in after the treasure but discounted the idea. The weight of a pack would only hinder him.
He glanced down a couple of times and saw that Cornelius was still following, but moving at a fraction of his usual speed. The little warrior looked up at him at one point, breathing heavily, his face as white as parchment. Sebastian began to worry that his friend had lost too much blood: he might just faint and fall into the water, where the blood seeping from his leg would soon lure kelfers. Behind him, the Kid was not even out of breath, but his father, thin and weakened as he was, was struggling to keep up.
At last Sebastian reached the rail along the ship's poop deck and was able to peer cautiously through the gap. What he saw gave him fresh hope. Trencherman and his entire crew were gathered in the forecastle, right at the other end of the ship, as it rode at anchor within hailing distance of the Sea Witch. Sebastian could see that Jenna was with them. Trencherman had an arm around her and was holding a dagger to her throat. Sebastian fought down a powerful urge to rush straight over to her and directed his attention instead to Max, who was still lying bound and chained on the main deck.
He clambered quickly over the rail and then leaned back to reach a hand down to Cornelius. Not a moment too soon, for the little warrior looked to be on the point of collapse. Sebastian hauled him unceremoniously over the rails and onto the deck. Cornelius tried to get up, but Sebastian pushed him back down again.
'Stay here and rest,' he said. 'You can barely stand.'
'I'm strong enough to carry a sword,' protested Cornelius, 'if I can only get my hands on one!'
'No. Leave this to us!'
'But . . .' Cornelius's eyelids fluttered and he sank back with a soft groan. It was as Sebastian had feared. He couldn't expect any help from his friend.
Now the Kid climbed over the rail and settled himself beside Cornelius's still form. He looked anxiously at the Golmiran and then leaned back to help his father over. Donovan crouched down, gasping for breath. He too looked pretty exhausted, Sebastian thought. A fine boarding party they made.
'You two stay with Cornelius for now,' he told them.
'What are you going to do?' whispered the Kid.
'I'm going to try and even things up a bit,' said Sebastian.
He turned away, assured himself that the attention of the crew was still fixed on the Sea Witch and then, on his hands and knees, crossed the poop deck, descended the short flight of steps and, pressing himself against the rail, crept towards Max. On the way there, he picked up a discarded carpenter's axe with a sharp blade. He froze for a moment when he heard Trencherman's strident tones bellowing at somebody, but the captain was simply hailing the Sea Witch.
'Crew of the Sea Witch! I have your captain as my prisoner. Throw down your weapons and raise your arms where I can see them . . .'
Sebastian ignored this and continued on his way. As he neared the tethered buffalope, he heard an unfamiliar snuffling sound and realized with a sense of shock that Max was crying.
'Max, what's wrong?' he whispered.
'What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong!' grunted Max, his head turned away. 'My master – the finest master a buffalope could have – is in the belly of a kelfer . . . and my best friend in the world, a plucky little Golmiran, is in there with him. And shortly I shall be ending my life as a meal for the scurviest bunch of sea dogs you have ever seen—'
'Max, it's all right, it's me,' hissed Sebastian.
'You? Who's you?' Max tuned his head and regarded Sebastian in silence for a while. Then he started snuffling again.
'What are you crying about now?' Sebastian asked him.
'Why wouldn't I cry? My own tortured mind has conjured a phantom to come and haunt me!'
'I'm not a phantom!' Sebastian glanced nervously towards the forecastle. 'And keep your voice down! We don't want to lose the element of surprise.' He laid a hand on Max's head. 'See? I'm real. I managed to escape the kelfers with the help of the Kid and his father. And now—'
'Oh, master, it really is you!' Max's eyes widened in amazement.
'Yes, now shush! I'm going to need your help.' Sebastian took the sharp-edged axe and began to saw at the ropes around Max's legs.
'But . . . where's Cornelius? Don't tell me that the kelfers ate him!'
'No, but they had a damned good try. He's lying at the stern unconscious. If anything happens to me, you must try and help him, do you understand?'
'Of course, master, of course . . .' The first strands of rope came apart and Max flexed his front legs with a sigh of relief. Sebastian looked towards the forecastle, where Trencherman was still shouting his demands; his crew's full attention seemed to be centred on the Sea Witch. Sebastian transferred his attention to the ropes around Max's back legs. After a few moments' furious sawing with the axe he had cut through those too.
Max clambered to his feet. 'What about the chain?' he asked hopefully. 'Did you find a key?'
'I'm afraid not,' Sebastian told him.
'Well then . . . perhaps you could pick the lock?'
'I doubt it.' Sebastian fixed Max with a disbelieving look. 'Are you trying to tell me that the mighty Max is going to be rendered helpless by a mere length of chain around his neck?'
Max frowned. 'It's not a mere chain,' he protested. 'It's solid metal.'
Sebastian shrugged. 'Metal or not, there was a time when it would have been no problem to you. Perhaps you're getting old—'
'Old? I'm not old!'
'Well, I tell you this, Max, with or without you, I'm about to attack that rabble up in the forecastle.'
'You can't go up there alone!' cried Max. 'They'll cut you to pieces!'
'Maybe they will, but I have to do it anyway—'
'Wait!' Max flexed his huge shoulders, lowered his head and began to walk backwards, exerting a huge pressure on the chain. The thick timber rail to which it was fastened began to creak in protest. Max continued to pull, his expression one of grim determination. Suddenly the timber snapped in two with a loud crack, and several members of the crew turned to see what had caused the sound. There was a long, terrible moment while Sebastian stared up at them and they stared down at him. The
re was no time to be wasted. He vaulted up onto Max's furry back and raised his axe aloft. 'Let's go!' he yelled.
Sebastian Darke: Prince of Pirates Page 27