Dawn of a Red Sky

by Ryan Gilbert

  The two could see the hunters interspersed throughout the crew, adding their own brand of violence to the mix. Chains rattled as fishhooks flew through the air, catching some of the skeletons and yanking them off their feet. The scythe of Grim slashed through the necks of Every’s crewmates unlucky enough to meet him. An otherworldly howl emanated across the deck as the largest hunter pummeled his attackers against the deck.

  Riggs’ own crew was holding their own as well. At the helm, Clint fought against one of Every’s monsters. Catching the creature by surprise, he reached through the wheel, grabbing his enemy by the arm and pulling it through. A swift turn of the wheel cracked the bone in half, giving the navigator enough time to steady his sword.

  At the rail, a skeleton was dashing at Ripper, trying to catch the Jamaican by surprise. The master gunner did not even flinch. With a loud roar, Ripper hoisted the skeleton over his head, dropping him over the side of the ship. At his side, Coral Jack loaded and reloaded his guns, trying to keep the helm from getting overrun with Every’s crew.

  On the deck, Ororis fought alongside Hades’ hunters, using every bit of her fighting abilities to defend herself. Even without her magic, she was proving that she could be quite the formidable fighter. Leaping over one of the skeletons, she drove her foot into the monster’s leg, shattering it into two sharp pieces. Without any hesitation, she grabbed the broken leg, driving the sharp end of the bone straight through another skeleton’s skull.

  As another eager member of Every’s crew tried to attack Riggs, the Captain heard a loud noise, followed by a flash of green energy. Bashing the skeleton against the rail behind him, Riggs looked up at the helm just in time to see Hades stumble back against the edge of the balcony.

  Every had overpowered him.

  As the god tried to regain his footing, a blast of intertwining yellow and purple energy shot over his shoulder, just barely missing him. Hades ducked before another beam of light could strike his head.

  KEBOOM

  A cannonball shot through the stern, careening through the wall of the captain’s quarters. Hades vaulted over the railing, landing on his feet on the deck just as Riggs tackled Julia to the ground.

  KEBOOM

  Another one of Every’s attacks hit the exact place where the two lovers had been standing. With the battle raging fiercely around them, Riggs knew that he needed to rethink his strategy. If only he had been patient and not split away from the Flying Dutchman, then he and his crew would not have been in this mess.

  “Hades!”

  “Aye, Riggs?”

  “I think it’s time to come up with a better plan.”

  As beams of light shot through the helm of the Red Sky, Hades twirled his sword and said, “I might have a few tricks up me sleeve.”

  “Whatever it is, would ye care to tell us?” said Riggs, dodging the blade of a skeleton.

  Trying to get away from Every’s magical assault, Hades led Riggs and Julia closer to the center of the deck. The fighting was growing more intense with each second that passed. The three were stuck between the ferocious fighting on the deck of the Red Sky and the relentless cannon fire pelting the stern of the ship.

  “I’d rather not right now, Captain,” Hades said, seizing the hilt of his sword and tearing his weapon free of its scabbard.

  “Not right now? When are ye plannin’ on tellin’ us? When we’re dead?”

  Riggs ducked underneath a skeleton’s attack, popping up behind his attacker and kicking him in the spine. The kick sent the bony monster straight towards Hades, but the god made quick work of the stumbling bag of bones.

  “Be more careful, Riggs,” Hades snarled, starting to lose his composure.

  “I’ll be careful when you start helpin’ me,” Riggs snapped.

  Turning his full attention to the Captain, Hades said, “You don’t want to feel my wrath, Riggs. You really don’t.”

  “Oh, I think I do,” said Riggs, his signature grin on his face.

  Without another word, Riggs rushed at Hades, with supposedly neither of them noticing that they were standing next to the stairs to the lower decks. As the pirate captain tackled the god, the two fell head over heels down the stairs, crashing hard against the wooden boards below.

  It all happened far too quickly for Julia to react.

  A flash of green came from the lower deck. Tiny strands of lightning crackled in the air around the stairs as skeletons were drawn toward the flashy display of power. Julia tried to get closer, but she was soon drawn into combat with another of Every’s crew.

  Hades and Riggs crawled up the stairs, barely able to stand as their bearings returned to them. As Julia watched, she saw the skeletons set upon them like rabid dogs, pouncing on them both. Hades had better luck fighting them, swinging his sword like a madman.

  Poor Riggs seemed to have taken the brunt of the fall. Before long, the skeletons had ripped his sword from his hands and had beaten him down, punching him across the face. In terror, Julia watched Every’s crew drag Riggs towards the captain’s quarters.

  Breaking away from the skeleton with whom she was dueling, Julia tried to run after the skeletons that were carrying her love, but Hades caught her before she could reach them.

  “What are you doing? I have to help him!” she exclaimed.

  “Julia, you must stay here,” Hades ordered.

  “I will not!” she said, her pulse quickening, “He’s the man I love. I have to save him.”

  “Riggs will be fine.”

  For a moment, Julia succeeded in freeing herself from Hades’ grasp, but the god of death just caught her by the hand, pulling her back to him.

  “Julia Hamond, do ye trust me?”

  “No,” she said bluntly.

  “You should.”

  The skeletons hauled Riggs over the bowsprit as he tried to get free of them, but it was to no avail. Within mere moments, he was stumbling across the deck of the Fancy, forced along by two of his enemy’s crew. Silently, he hoped that Hades’ plan would work.

  It was literally the difference between life and death for the daring, young pirate.

  As the cannons of the Fancy blasted away at the Red Sky, Riggs watched Henry Every make his way down the center of the deck. On his face was written an arrogant look, almost like he always knew that he would win. The Captain would have given anything to wipe that look from his face at that very moment, but it was not the time.

  “Look what we found, Cap’n… a failure of a pirate,” one of Riggs’ captors laughed, kicking him in the back of his legs to make him fall to the ground.

  Riggs almost felt like reaching for his sword, but when he looked, he saw nothing. He just had to remind himself that it was all part of Hades’ plan.

  Every stood just across from his foe, a devilish smile spreading across his lips. He just could not contain his glee. At last, the key to his immortality was kneeling in front of him, unable to run… unable to hide… unable to escape.

  “You know, Captain, this is not the grand battle that I was expecting from you,” said Every, chuckling.

  “Ye’ve got a lot to learn about me then,” said Riggs.

  Every shook his head.

  “There is nothing left to learn about you… except for how long it takes you to bleed out on this very deck.”

  The Arch Pirate ripped his sword out of his scabbard, nimbly placing the tip of the blade against Riggs’ chest. The pirate captain flinched a bit but recovered his breath just as Every stood over him.

  “Do you wish to know exactly what I plan to do to your crew once you are gone?” Every asked, confidence exuding from him.

  “You’re not goin’ to kill anyone, Henry,” said Riggs.

  Every flicked his sword across the pirate captain’s cheek, cutting into the skin and drawing blood.

  “Such disrespect, boy. I will disembowel each and every one of your crewmates, right down to the pathetic wench that you call a lover. I will rip her head from her corpse and hang it with my flag. O
h… if only you were able to live to see that.”

  With blood running down his face, Riggs brought his hand to the cut from the Arch Pirate’s sword. To Every’s surprise, a grin was appearing on the Captain’s face, rather unlike his other victims. Their faces had been filled with terror. They had begged for mercy before their deaths. Riggs was just laughing.

  “What do you think is funny?” Every asked, confused by his captive’s response.

  Riggs looked up at the fearsome King of Pirates, his grin widening as the time passed. Wiping the blood across his cheek, the Captain looked unafraid, motioning for Every to step closer.

  Once the two pirates were at eye level with each other, Riggs gave his answer.

  “You.”

  Once he heard that, Every bashed his forehead against Riggs’ skull, knocking the Captain to the deck. Standing up, he drove his foot into his captive’s stomach again and again. Try as he might, he could not get Riggs to stop his maniacal laugh. He did not even notice a loud splash come from the side of the Red Sky.

  Only Riggs saw the blur of a purple fin launch out of the water on its way to the helm.

  “I am your better, you vermin. I am the King of Pirates. No one controls me. I can take whatever I want whenever I want,” Every screamed as he lost his temper.

  Taking his golden sword, he planted his foot on Riggs’ chest and pushed his leg downward, nearly crushing the pirate’s sternum. The breath was driven out of the Captain’s lungs as he struggled to breathe.

  Holding his sword high in the air, ready to bring it down like an executioner’s blade, Every said, “Say goodbye, Captain Riggs.”

  At that moment, the grin on Riggs’ face began to falter.

  BANG

  A portion of Every’s shoulder blew outwards in a red mist of blood. He immediately grabbed his wounded limb as the sword stabbed into the deck, just barely missing his captive.

  “Stop t-this at once.”

  Every, Riggs, and the rest of the crew looked to see who had taken the shot, their eyes scanning the deck. In seconds, they could see Maggie standing on the deck, free from her cell. Both Riggs and Every were surprised to see her. In her hand, she held the smoking gun.

  Even more surprising was the small group of skeletons that flanked her on each side. Ben stood directly behind the girl, his bony fingers resting on his belt.

  After muttering the healing spell, Every shouted, “What are you imbeciles doing? She is supposed to be in the brig.”

  “We’re aware o’ that… Captain,” said Ben.

  Sensing his crewmember’s disobedient tone, Every lifted his foot from Riggs’ chest, snatching his sword from where he had rammed it into the deck. Riggs rolled onto his side, gasping for air.

  “I order you to drag her back down to her cell, you filthy git,” Every growled at Ben.

  “You heard the Captain. Go do it,” jeered Johnson.

  Maggie and her band of the crew did not back down. Instead, Ben stepped forward, even closer to his terrifying leader.

  “I ain’t gonna bow to ye any longer,” he said, his courage evident from his voice.

  “Fool! I am your…”

  “You are nothing to me,” said Ben, “Ye manipulated every one of us, and, thanks to yer daughter, I can see what is really going on.”

  His fingers gripping his sword tighter than before, Every said, “I am trying to regain our rightful place on these seas.”

  “No!” said Maggie, walking up to her father and standing directly in front of him. There was genuine fear in her eyes, but she fought against it as best as she could.

  Pointing to the skeletons behind her, Maggie said, “These men h-have told me all t-that you did. It was n-never for them. It was a-all for you.”

  “Why, you traitorous little…”

  “Tell us she’s wrong, Every,” said Ben.

  As Riggs finally caught his breath, he could hear Every’s crew starting to quiet down. The reality of their situation was hitting them. Ever since they had been resurrected, their whole voyage was to restore their captain’s position atop the world.

  It was not about them.

  It had never been about them.

  It was all for Every.

  Behind him, Riggs heard a loyal crewmember shout, “When the Captain wins, we win, Ben. Shut yer yap about all o’ that hogwash.”

  Another skeleton replied, “You mean you never thought it strange that he never said nothing about changing us back to our old selves?”

  “He has his reasons, ye wretch.”

  “Care to tell ‘em to me?”

  In the large crowd of skeletons behind Riggs, a brawl suddenly erupted. Bone collided with bone and steel met steel as Every’s crew turned on each other. The Arch Pirate could do nothing but stand and watch as his crew broke apart from the inside.

  Turning his attention to Maggie, Every growled, “You did this to me. How could you do this to me, wench?”

  “You killed my mother, you bastard,” Maggie responded, her stutter temporarily leaving her speech.

  Every was nearly shaking from the sheer amount of anger that was overwhelming him. Using his magic, he blasted Ben away from his daughter, holding his hand in front of him as his fingertips started to drip with red sparks.

  With a wretched scowl on his face, Every yelled, “Acer Mo…”

  “Every!”

  His concentration broken, the King of Pirates whirled around just to see a sword materialize out of green smoke right in Riggs’ hand. Before he could even think of a spell to counter an attack, Riggs sliced his sword through the air, shattering the crown resting on Every’s hat. Shards of the thin silver fell to the ground as the red sparks disappeared from the Arch Pirate’s hands.

  Watching the pieces of one of his magical artifacts fall in front of his eyes, Every jerked his head up and glared at Riggs.

  “Do you know what you have done?”

  With his signature grin on his face, Riggs said, “I know exactly what I’ve done, mate. I’ve weakened ye.”

  As his body started to shake, Every thrust his hand forward, shooting a beam of purple light at the pirate captain. It hit Riggs in the side, sending him spinning through the air, but still very much alive. Before the Captain could hit the deck, a cloud of green smoke enveloped him, causing him to disappear into thin air.

  Every did not even have time to scream in frustration before the magic of the crown began to seep out of his body.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Riggs landed hard on the deck of the Red Sky as the green smoke transported him back to his ship. Even as he lay disoriented on the deck, he could see a purple glow emanating from the Fancy as Every’s powers began to wane.

  Julia, Hades, and Ororis rushed to Riggs’ side, ready to help him in any way that they could. Once Julia saw the gash running across her lover’s cheek, she immediately dropped to her knees and started cleaning the wound with her dress.

  “Riggs, what were you thinking? You could’ve been killed,” she said, dabbing at the bloody cut.

  Giving a slight chuckle, Riggs said, “You of all people should know I’m not that easy to kill, love.”

  “She should know?” asked Ororis, “What about me?”

  “Of course, ye would,” the Captain laughed.

  As Riggs tried to sit up, Hades extended a hand to his comrade, offering him his assistance. For a moment, the pirate hesitated, even though he was almost certain that he could trust the god of death now. He ultimately relented, grasping Hades’ hand and letting himself be pulled to his feet.

  “Thanks for havin’ my back,” said Riggs.

  “Anything to help get rid of Every,” said Hades.

  Above their heads, the sky started to form a spiral, sucking a column of purple mist from the deck of the Fancy. An unearthly groan seemed to come from the ship itself, even as the sounds of a crew battling with each other reached the pirates’ ears.

  “Brace yourselves!” Valera shrieked.

  Clint spun th
e wheel of the Red Sky to the side just as the mermaid shouted her warning. Everyone felt the balance of the ship shift quite a bit, nearly knocking some of the crew off their feet. The end of the Fancy’s bowsprit snapped as the Red Sky broke away from its pursuer.

  They needed to make this quick.

  GRRRRUUUUUNNNNNK

  Everyone could hear and feel the underside of the ship scraping against the patch of sand that jutted out from the island. The Red Sky barely made it over the obstacle, even with its navigator’s quick reaction. As it slid over the sand in the shallow water, the pirates could see the glorious appearance of the open sea. It was waiting for them, beckoning for them once they took care of their enemies.

  FUGRUNK

  An instant later, the bow of the Fancy crashed headlong into the sand. With the chaos that was unraveling on the deck, it would have been impossible for any of the skeleton crew to know to turn the ship.

  A mere millisecond after the legendary ship ground to a halt, a flash of bright light shot down from the sky. Riggs and his friends knew exactly what was happening.

  It was signaling the Arch Pirate’s dream crumbling before his very eyes.

  “Clint, bring the ship about. We need to end this once and for all,” Riggs ordered.

  “Aye, Captain.”

  As his navigator turned the ship around, Riggs could not help but watch the Fancy as it sat in the water, helpless to resist the coming attack. Ending the King of Pirates would be easy.

  KEBOOM KEBOOM

  Apparently, they were still quite able to fight.

  The cannons of Every’s ship fired at odd intervals, keeping the pirates of the Red Sky guessing. Even from the attack patterns, Riggs could tell that the mutiny that Maggie had incited was going quite to his liking. Most of the cannonballs missed their mark, even as the Sky turned back toward its enemy.

  BWOOM

  The green flash of a cannon appeared from inside the maze of islands. The attack tore into the Fancy, crippling one of the cannons that had been firing at the pirates.

  BWOOM

  The figurehead of an angel slowly came into sight. The Flying Dutchman had arrived.