Dawn of a Red Sky

by Ryan Gilbert

  Riggs shifted in his chair, almost causing Julia to fall. Deftly, he reached an arm around her back and caught her, sweeping her off her feet as he stood up. She laughed gleefully as she again wrapped her arms around his neck, still planting kisses all over his cheeks.

  As gently as he could, he laid her down on the bed, taking off his coat and letting it just drop to the floor. Looking down at the starlight dancing in Julia’s eyes, he laid down on the bed next to her, giving her his hand and intertwining his fingers with hers. With his other arm, he pulled her closer so their bodies touched. They breathed in unison, quickened breath and rapid heartbeats abound.

  At long last, both Riggs and Julia felt comfort. They felt it in each other’s loving embrace. Neither of them wanted the moment to end.

  As Julia wrapped her arm around Riggs’ shoulders, the pirate took her hand and brought it to his lips, letting her feel his ravenous kisses on her delicate skin. He could feel her shudder underneath him as he slowly worked his way up her arm, savoring each second.

  When he reached her shoulder, Riggs could feel Julia’s fingers flex against his back as she shivered. As he brushed his lips against her neck, she let out a slight gasp, latching onto him.

  The two pressed their lips together again as Riggs sat back and pulled his shirt out from underneath his belt. They broke the kiss only for a moment as he pulled the shirt over his head, exposing his muscular, scarred upper body to Julia.

  She sat up in the bed, her fingers dancing over the white scar tissue of wounds from the past. Her fingernails traced the toned muscles, outlined in the moonlight. It gave Riggs a ticklish sensation as Julia peered into his eyes. The girl carefully took the pirate’s arm, the same arm that carried the painful reminder of his father, and brought his hand to her exquisite cheek so he could feel her smile. In that moment, the jagged scar running up his forearm did nothing to faze him.

  He felt invincible.

  Playfully, he fell down onto the bed with Julia, laughing with her as he lay draped across her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the bare skin of her leg peeking out from the side of her dress. The light shone against her precious body like it would a sculpture of a goddess.

  As Julia kissed him again, Riggs let his hand slide down her waist and across the underside of her thigh. He stopped at her calf, gently and meticulously massaging it. He continued to run his fingers across her calf as she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him so that he was fully on top of her. Julia’s nimble fingers caressed his shoulders as he felt her pointed toes poking against the backs of his legs.

  As another passionate kiss came to an end, Julia said, “Riggs…”

  “Aye, Julia?”

  “… I love you.”

  Riggs gave her another kiss before saying, with his signature grin on his face, “And I love you. I love you so… damn… much.”

  Sensuously biting her lip, Julia teased, “Isn’t this where you’d ask if I was glad that you captured me?”

  “Oh, I already know the answer to that, sweets,” Riggs laughed, locking lips with his lover once again.

  Rolling over on the bed, the two began a night of unbridled passion and love, a night of which they had only dreamed. It was blissful. It was wonderful. It was breathtaking.

  It was their night.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  In the morning, fog covered the sea, blanketing the port and everything around it in a dull gray color. The pirates crept around the ship, just waiting for something to appear from the fog. They always had their weapons at the ready, prepared for the Fancy to appear.

  At least, that is what they hoped.

  Ororis watched them from the rail, scoffing at their actions. With magic on Every’s side, they would need to be more than just prepared. They needed to have everything planned, everything ready just in case the Arch Pirate showed his face in New York. Even though Riggs had been the one to destroy her magic emerald, the source of her power, the mermaid knew that he did not have an inkling of a plan when it came to fighting Every and his magic.

  Looking out into the fog as it blotted out the light of the sky, Ororis was not even sure if she had a plan. She looked down at the tattoo of the sea serpent encircling her arm and ran her finger across it. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the water.

  As she did so, she heard footsteps come alongside her, stopping at the rail right next to her. She turned to see who it was, meeting Thomas Jones’s eyes. He was just standing there, staring at her like a strange person would.

  “Do you mind?” she asked.

  Jones didn’t bother to answer the question, the look on his face conveying that he was thinking of something.

  “Are you deaf?” she snapped, “I would like some time to myself.”

  “Unfortunately, I can’t give that to you,” he said, finally saying something.

  “Well then, you actually do speak. Do tell your dear captain that I don’t need one of you pirates following me all around the ship.”

  Grabbing onto the rigging and hoisting herself onto the rail, Ororis readied herself to dive into the waters below, desperate to be alone for even just a minute.

  “Tell Riggs I’ll be taking a swim.”

  Just as the mermaid was about to jump, Jones said, “Ororis… daughter of Fortio and Aterna.”

  Immediately, Ororis froze. It had been so long since she had heard those names. They sent a chill down her spine with each syllable.

  She spun around, dropping onto the deck and demanding, “How do you know those names…”

  “… Jones… Thomas Jones,” he said, standing his ground.

  “I don’t care. I want to know how you heard of my parents.”

  Thomas crossed his arms, obviously enjoying the moment as the mermaid fumed in anger.

  Face to face with her, he said, “I know them because of what I do. I hunt monsters, and I bring them to judgment. I must say, they did raise quite the feisty lil’ mermaid, didn’t they?”

  “You have no business talking about my parents,” Ororis snarled under her breath.

  “I’ll talk about whatever I want to talk about. How did you become like this? In all of my years of hunting, I’ve rarely seen anyone more monstrous than you.”

  He uncrossed his arms, pointing straight at her as he finished the sentence. Ororis shot him an inquisitive look, thankfully remaining somewhat calm.

  “Was that supposed to be a compliment?” she asked.

  “Take it whatever way you wish.”

  “That still doesn’t answer my question. How do you know of Fortio and Aterna?” the mermaid asked, starting to calm herself.

  Jones looked out into the fog in a seemingly random direction, saying, “When you know as much as you can about a monster, it tends to make finding them a whole lot easier.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, still not happy with the answer that she had received. It would have to do. Perhaps, if he would not answer that question, he might answer a different one.

  “You’re new to this crew, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “Aye. Second only to you.”

  “I didn’t think I recognized you from my first encounter with this ship. Turns out that instinct was right.”

  Ororis snapped her fingers, suddenly realizing where she had seen him.

  “You were the pirate I saw arguing with Riggs a little while ago. Care to tell me what it was about?” she asked, tapping her index finger against her bottom lip.

  “It was about trust,” Jones replied with a knowing look on his face.

  “That does seem to be sorely lacking when it comes to Captain Riggs.”

  “Already aware o’ that. He trusts me just as much as he trusts you…”

  “… which is not that much,” said Ororis, finishing Jones’s sentence.

  Looking out at the fog and then back at Jones, the mermaid said, “I already know why he doesn’t trust me, and I can’t really blame him. However, I am curious why he doesn’t t
rust you. You’re helping him fight Henry Every.”

  Thomas leaned in a bit closer to Ororis so that his eyes were level with her. He peered into her eyes, his dark eyebrows emphasizing the whites of his own eyes.

  “Let’s just say the way I went about helping him was not the way he would have preferred.”

  For a split second, Ororis could have sworn that she saw a glint of yellow appear in his iris. Before she could even react, Jones stepped past her, finally leaving her side.

  She was not about to let him get away that easy.

  Something was not right.

  As the mermaid began to chase after Thomas, she spotted movement in the fog. It looked like a large mass of black and brown. Hurrying back to the rail, she saw the black sails of the Fancy gradually getting clearer as it sailed ever closer to the Red Sky.

  Gathering her breath, Ororis shouted as loudly as she could, “The Fancy is here!”

  As soon as Ororis sounded the alarm, the entire ship fell into chaos. Pirates rushed all over the ship, quickly trying to weigh anchor and drop the sails. Below deck, all of the crew could hear Ripper bellowing at the top of his lungs, trying his best to get the gunners to ready the cannons even quicker. Riggs rushed out of his cabin, still pulling his shirt over his head.

  “How long until that walkin’ bag o’ bones reaches us?”

  KEBOOM

  A cannonball smashed into the side of the Red Sky, sending bits of wood flying into the water.

  “I think he already has, Captain,” Clint yelled.

  “Hard to starboard. We’ve got to cut him off before he reaches the port,” Riggs ordered.

  As quickly as he could, Clint spun the ship towards their fearsome foe. With the black sails bearing down on them, the pirates could see the black eye sockets of Every’s crew staring back at them. Their laughs carried across the water as soon as the sound left their bony jaws.

  “Let ‘em have the bow cannons,” Riggs shouted down to the gunners.

  “Fire!” Ripper yelled.

  BOOM BOOM

  The two cannonballs did not even make it to the ship. Riggs could see Every standing on deck, effortlessly deflecting the shots.

  Suddenly, a blue beam of light blasted across the water, hitting the Pirate King square in the chest. He staggered backwards, shaken by the attack. While Every was recovering, Riggs searched the deck of his ship, seeing bits of glowing blue light swirling around Sapphire’s wand.

  “Hit him again, Saph.”

  The fairy let loose another stream of magic, sending it hurtling through the air.

  KEBOOM

  A barrage of cannonballs forced Sapphire to duck, whipping her attack across Every’s head and knocking him to his knees.

  “Give it all ye got, mates,” Riggs shouted to his crew, “We might just be able to defeat him this time.”

  Rushing to the rail, Sapphire tried to summon as much power as she could. An orb of magic appeared at the end of her wand, ready to burst with destructive force once she unleashed it. As Riggs watched, he saw the determination written on the fairy’s face. She was going to destroy Every.

  Thrusting her wand forward, Sapphire shot another beam of blue light straight toward the Fancy. Riggs’ hand rested on his pistol, ready to fire his weapon once the fairy’s attack reached the weakened King of Pirates.

  As the beam of light reached the enemy ship, it was met by a yellow burst of energy. Hastily, Riggs grabbed a spyglass, needing to see exactly what was happening.

  Every was blocking Sapphire’s attack. He was blocking it with his golden sword.

  “Bloody hell,” said a shocked Captain as he ripped his pistol out of his belt.

  As steadily as he could, he aimed it at the skinless figure of Every. He knew that Sapphire could only keep her stream of magic going for so long before it gave out. He had to make his shot count.

  BANG

  The shot struck the sword, knocking it out of Every’s hand just as the beam of blue light disappeared. Riggs could see the golden weapon fall down the stairs to the Fancy’s helm.

  However, that is not where his attention should have been.

  A blast of Every’s magic flipped Riggs into the air, driving him down on top of the wheel. The weight of the Captain’s flailing body ripped the wheel from Clint’s grip, sending the entire ship into an uncontrollable turn.

  Riggs crashed into the ground, mentally scolding himself for losing focus on Every. The resurrected pirate still had his crown from which he could siphon magic. With Clint struggling to keep hold of the spinning wheel, Riggs scrambled over to the stairs.

  “Valera! Ororis!”

  The two mermaids turned to face their captain, narrowly dodging a cannonball.

  “Screech,” he shouted, hoping that they heard him over the cannon fire.

  Their devious smiles let him know that they had.

  Riggs shouted to his crew, “Cover yer…”

  SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH

  They did not even give time for a warning. Valera and Ororis let out their horrifying screeches, pounding the sound into the pirates’ eardrums. Riggs had barely had time to clap his hands over his ears. Positioning himself on the stairs, he looked over at the Fancy, expecting to see the ship crippled by the mermaids’ combined attack.

  To his horror, none of the skeleton crew seemed to be affected by the screeching of the mermaids. Ironically, the only one who felt pain from the attack was the most powerful man on the ship… Every. He was doubled over at the top of the helm stairs, trying to get back to his golden sword.

  As soon as the mermaids ceased their screeching, Riggs shouted down to the gunners, “Fire!”

  BOOM

  BOOM

  BOOM

  The cannonballs ripped through the hull of the Fancy. Without Every’s power to diffuse the attacks, the ship was just like any other vessel. The Red Sky’s cannons blasted through the wooden sides of the Arch Pirate’s ship.

  Riggs watched each destructive shot with glee. Finally, they had found a way to overcome Every. Hopefully, the attack would weaken him enough for the pirates of the Red Sky to destroy him for good.

  It was then that the Captain noticed the smoke billowing out of Every’s body. It blanketed the deck of the ship, working its way up the sails and over the hull until the pirates could no longer see the ship.

  “Keep firin’, ye mongrels. Don’t stop until I tell ye to,” Riggs ordered frantically.

  BOOM

  BOOM

  BOOM *splash*

  Once they heard the cannonball hit the water, the gunners stopped. The cannons were silent as the smoke drifted away, revealing nothing but a couple bits of wood floating in the water.

  “Damn it,” Riggs cursed, “We were so close.”

  Ranting like a crazy person, the Captain grabbed onto the nearest crewmate and said through clenched teeth, “If we had only had several more seconds, the Fancy would be at the bottom o’ the ocean by now.”

  Riggs pounded his fists against a barrel, angry at himself for letting Every get away again. The only thing that he could do was try to convince himself that the Red Sky would destroy Every the next time they met.

  “The next time our lil’ friend shows his face, we’re goin’ to blow it off o’ his shoulders,” Riggs growled, starting to head back to the helm to pursue his enemy.

  “I wouldn’t be too sure o’ that.”

  Stopping just before he reached the stairs, Riggs turned to face Thomas Jones. As the crewmember stepped out of the crowd of pirates, the Captain glared at him as he started to pace back and forth.

  “You’re not too sure of it? Care to tell me why?”

  Before Jones could answer, Riggs raised his hand, saying, “Actually, no. Answer me this question… do you know anythin’ better that we can do? I ain’t hearin’ any suggestions, so if ye have any, then bloody tell me.”

  To the pirate captain’s surprise, Thomas remained calm throughout the entire tirade. When Riggs shut his mouth to let hi
m talk, all Jones said was, “Do ye want me to show you how I can help, Captain?”

  “Bollocks, I thought ye already were helpin’,” Riggs said sarcastically.

  “You don’t even know what you’re dealing with.”

  “Well, you are right about that. I don’t know a single thing about Every’s…”

  “No,” interrupted Jones, “Not Every…”

  A serious look replaced the calmness on Thomas’s face as his piercing gaze met his captain’s eyes.

  “… me.”

  Riggs was not even sure he could take Jones seriously now. He had surely lost his mind, deluding himself into thinking he was some sort of monster hunter.

  “Jones, do us all a favor and tell us what you really are. Clear up all o’ these mysteries for us once and for all,” Riggs laughed.

  Pushing through the crowd, Ororis stood at the Captain’s side. She, like the rest of the crew, had her eyes fixed on Jones.

  “For once, I agree with Captain Riggs, Jones. You’re not who you say you are… and I’ve known my fair share of people like that,” she spat.

  Jones did not move from his spot on the deck, even as some of the crew stepped closer. He looked around at all of them, observing their movements carefully.

  “So you want to know who I am?” he asked, his eyes resting on Riggs and Ororis.

  “Aye,” said Riggs.

  The mermaid just nodded her head.

  With his hands open at his sides to show that he meant no harm, Jones said, “As ye wish.”

  Without any more hesitation, he raised one arm in the air, just above the height of his shoulder. Spreading his fingers like he was grabbing at something, he held his arm out over the sea. Jones closed his eyes in silent concentration as his fingers started to shake. Riggs and the crew took a couple steps back, just in case something happened.

  Nothing did.

  There was no loud noise. No flash of light. No act of destruction.

  Thomas Jones was just crazy.

  Quickly growing tired of the theatrics, Riggs pulled his sword out of his scabbard and walked over to Jones’s side. He needed to put a stop to this nonsense.