by Ryan Gilbert
“You murder in cold blood,” Riggs spat.
“Are you not guilty of the same crime? We are not as different as you think. We both have killed many people, and you cannot deny that. While you strive to earn a higher notoriety than the other puss buckets of the world, I am already able to say that my name is etched in history. I am nothing less than a legend…”
For a brief moment, the voice paused like it was thinking. Every had a plan.
“… a legend like your mermaid friend there.”
The voice shifted its focus, saying, “The once great and mighty Ororis… feared by all men who sailed the seas. How is it that you have seen yourself sink to such a demeaning level after all of those years of destruction?”
Baring her fangs, Ororis said, “I chose this, Every. I did it to survive.”
The voice let out a hearty laugh once it heard the mermaid’s response. The crew was still no closer to finding Every.
“You’re lying. I can feel it in your voice. Power is the key to survival, and you have no power… not anymore.”
Again, the voice shifted its focus.
“And speaking of power, I have the god of death hunting me… and yet, I have eluded him on every battlefield.”
“You have yet to even fully face me in this realm, Every,” Hades snapped.
“If you really were so powerful, then you would have ended this already, Hades. What are you trying to prove? That you can be just like these pathetic creatures unworthy of even being called pirates?”
Riggs shouted, “I’ll show you what it’s like to be a pirate, ye worthless, old…”
Every interrupted him, saying to Hades, “Ignore what they say to you. They are conniving scoundrels, unworthy of a god’s help.”
“I am no god,” said Hades.
“Ah, but you are. You are the ruler of the dominion of death itself. You have power unmatched by even me in your realm. Surely, you can see what will happen after you destroy me.”
“Do tell,” said Hades, trying to creep forward without making a noise.
As the god stepped forward, footsteps could be heard coming from the opposite side of the chamber. With Hades’ sword bathing him in light, Henry Every stepped on top of the highest rock in the room. The golden sword rested in his hand as a yellow glow surrounded his arms.
“You will be next, Hades,” said the Arch Pirate with a sly smile on his face, “These people that you call your friends will betray you, leaving you with the one thing that you know better than any of us...”
With his face bathed in yellow light, Every sneered and said, “…death.”
Having heard enough, Hades threw a ball of flame at Every, trying to silence him before he said anything further. The King of Pirates slashed at the flames with his magical sword, sucking each half of the flames toward his hands.
Cackling, he held the flames suspended in the air above his hands, looking down at the crew of the Red Sky. Even with his crown destroyed, Every was still more powerful than any of the group had imagined.
BANG
Every’s head snapped to the side, and he fell to one knee, the flames disappearing instantly. Still holding the golden sword in his hand, he jerked his head back towards the crew. Riggs hastily reloaded his pistol, seeing the line of red from where his shot had grazed Every’s cheek.
“I guess you do still have some fight in you, boy.”
Standing, Every raised his arms from his side and continued, saying, “Let’s see how well you handle a change of environment.”
Yellow energy spiraled around Every’s arms as the entire chamber started to shake. Cracks started to form in the walls and the ground, running directly underneath the feet of the crew. The stone crumbled, sending some of the fallen rocks hurtling down to the precipices below. The ground gave way beneath Coral Jack and Ororis, almost dropping them to their deaths. The quick reactions of Riggs and Julia saved the two.
“Get me out of here!” Ororis screamed in panic as her legs dangled in the air.
“We’re trying,” said Julia, trying to pull the mermaid back onto the rock.
The chamber shook even more as Riggs and Julia grabbed onto a handhold, just barely keeping their crewmates from falling down into the abyss.
“Riggs?” asked Coral Jack, panicking just as much as Ororis.
“Didn’t ye hear, Julia? We’re tryin’, mate.”
“Not that,” said the boatswain, “What’s going on down there?”
As he and Julia hauled Coral Jack and Ororis back onto the rock, Riggs looked down into the cavernous hole as the room shook. He could see an orange glow rising up from the darkness, but it was not the glow of magic.
It was lava.
In seconds, the entire chamber was lit with the orange glow of the magma. On either side of the crew, Every’s loyal skeleton minions began to show themselves, their bones creaking as they stood high atop the rocks.
Pointing his sword at the crew of the Red Sky, Every shouted, “Kill them.”
Immediately, the skeletons leapt from their perches to attack the pirates, their swords swinging wildly in the air. Morrison slashed at Riggs, missing the pirate captain entirely. The Captain drove his sword forward, but the skeletal navigator blocked the strike with an attempt at an attack. As he pushed forward, Riggs launched his fist into Morrison’s jaw.
He immediately regretted the decision.
Morrison just reset his jaw back in place, laughing while Riggs shook the pain out of his hand. The bony navigator kicked the pirate back against a rock, trying to weaken Riggs even more. The Captain just rolled to the side, avoiding Morrison’s blade as it scraped against the rock.
Before Riggs could ask Hades for assistance, the god of death flew through the air, bounding over the crew and the skeletons to attack Every. Extinguishing the light coming from his sword, Hades brought his sword down on the legendary Arch Pirate, still unable to break through his defenses. With their minds focusing on the battle, neither could use their power to its fullest extent. Hades blasted a green beam out of his hand, but Every countered it just in time with some magic of his own. Forming a shield, he deflected Hades’ attack into the ground, opening a gigantic crater filled with lava.
With Riggs barely holding his own against Morrison, he looked around to see if any of his crew could help him. Coral Jack and Ororis were stuck battling three of Every’s crewmates. They were fighting back to back, blocking as many attacks as they could. The mermaid’s fangs could do little against the skeletons, as they soon discovered when she tried to bite one of her attackers.
“I could use a weapon, Jack,” she said, just barely dodging the skeleton’s sword.
“Knives on my belt… take ‘em,” said Coral Jack, swinging his sword at one of the bony duelists.
One of the skeletons swiped his sword at Ororis, but she rolled backwards with plenty of time to spare. As quickly as she could, she snatched two knives from Jack’s belt, dodging another attack and blocking a swinging blade at the last possible second.
Julia was taking a different approach, opting instead to try her best at hiding from Johnson. If she could find a way, then she could sneak up on him and destroy him.
So far, it was proving to be unsuccessful.
Each stone that she would try to climb, Johnson was right there behind her, gaining on her with each move that she made. The first mate swung his sword at the girl, cutting through the fabric of her dress, but only barely nicking her skin. Julia tumbled down the other side of the rock, fortunately widening the gap between herself and Johnson.
Stuck in his battle with Morrison, Riggs spun his body around, swinging his blade at the navigator’s head. The skeleton blocked the strike, but the Captain reached his hand around the swords and grabbed the back of Morrison’s head. As quickly as he could, Riggs bashed the skeleton’s skull into a rock. Morrison pushed Riggs away, but the pirate captain could already see a crack starting to form on the top of the skull.
Before the navigator coul
d recover further, Riggs snatched a rock from the ground. It was slightly larger than his fist, more than enough to incapacitate a normal human being. He swung his sword upward, knocking Morrison’s arm out of his defensive stance. Holding the rock steady, he drove it against Morrison’s skull, crushing the navigator’s head between the rock in his hand and the massive rock at his side. Yellowed teeth and chips of bone flew everywhere as Morrison’s skeleton went limp.
Looking up at the duel between Hades and Every, Riggs could see that the fight had balanced itself. Bolts of magic shot from both the god’s and the Arch Pirate’s hands as their powers overtook the duel.
With one powerful blast, Hades shattered Every’s shield, knocking the imposing captain to the ground. Switching his grip on his sword, Hades raised the weapon above his head, ready to drive it straight through his enemy’s heart.
The devilish smile on Every’s face told Riggs that something was wrong.
Just as Hades was about to stab the King of Pirates in the chest, Every threw his arm up in the air, yellow mists pouring out of his fingers. A stream of magma shot out of the ground directly in front of Hades. The scalding hot lava hit the god of death in the left side of his face. He screamed in pain, dropping to the ground and reaching for his head. His body shook with uncontrollable trembling as the skin on the side of his face melted away. Half of his lips peeled away, exposing blackened teeth. His yellow eyes darted back and forth as they flooded with tears of pain.
Getting to his feet, Every stood over Hades, savoring the sweet taste of his victory over the god. After years, his pursuit had ended as a fruitless labor. Red sparks started to drip from the tips of Every’s fingers as he held his hand over Hades’ shaking body, soon to be unconscious from sheer shock.
“Say goodbye, you fool. Acer Mor…”
Before Every could finish the spell, a rock struck him in the face, cracking a tooth loose. Jerking his head to see who had thrown it, he was met with an invigorated Riggs. The Captain jumped over Hades and slashed his sword at Every. With barely any time to react, the King of Pirates ducked to the side as his foe’s sword sliced through thin air.
“You will join your friend in the afterlife,” Every said, taunting the young pirate.
“That ain’t my plan, ye scum,” Riggs snarled.
Seeing a yellow glow starting to appear around his enemy’s hand, the Captain thrust the tip of his sword at Every, forcing the dastardly captain to parry the strike. As long as Riggs kept Every guessing, the Arch Pirate would be unable to use his full power.
Ducking underneath the swiping blade of Every, Riggs drove his foot into his foe’s kneecap. He could almost hear the bone pop out of place.
As Every tried to catch his footing, he drove his sword down to the ground, the sharp blade cutting into Riggs’ coat and running across his shoulder. The Captain dropped his weapon to the ground, cringing as his foe’s sword cut into his flesh. With his good leg, Every kicked Riggs backward, hoping to drive his blade even further into the pirate captain’s arm, causing even more damage. Fortunately for Riggs, his momentum caused the golden sword to rip out of his shoulder, skittering across the stones.
Overestimating the pirate’s wound, Every tried to step over Riggs but was pulled to the ground. The Captain dragged Every down to his level, twisting the Arch Pirate’s leg as far as it could go. Riggs clambered to his knees, lifting his enemy by the leg.
“Repellandum,” Every blurted.
A bolt of yellow light struck Riggs in the chest, knocking him off of Every. He shook the stars out of his vision as he watched his foe stand on shaky legs. His enemy was still flustered, turning the tables in the Captain’s favor.
What was not in Riggs’ favor was how close Every was to reaching his golden sword once again.
Scrambling to his feet, Riggs rushed at the Arch Pirate, tackling his enemy to the ground. They both rolled across the stone, brushing against the sword as they rolled closer to the cliff, overlooking a pit of magma. Every’s fingertips grasped at his sword, but only for a second. The Captain stood up, his arms still locked around his opponent’s waist. A sharp elbow greeted Riggs, but the Captain was not giving in to the exhaustion wearing down his body. Gathering his strength, he lifted Every off the ground only to drive his back straight into the unforgiving stone. The pain intensified for both men as Riggs’ shoulder bashed against the stone and Every flipped over, cracking his legs against the ground as well. The impact also further displaced the Arch Pirate’s kneecap, making it even more difficult for him to stand.
To Riggs’ surprise, Every hobbled back to his feet, still barely able to use his crippled leg. Hurriedly trying to get to his own feet, Riggs saw the yellow glow starting to appear around Every’s hands again.
“You have been a real pest, Captain Riggs,” said Every, pointing his finger at the pirate.
“I’ve always been one,” Riggs replied.
As Every started to say a spell, Riggs grabbed him by the hand and let himself fall backwards. At the last possible second, he dropped to the ground, right at the edge of the cliff, letting go of Every’s hand. The Arch Pirate stumbled forward, unable to stop himself. Every reached out, grabbing onto Riggs’ coat just as he fell over the edge of the precipice.
“Oh, bollocks…”
Riggs was yanked over the edge of the cliff, grabbing onto the jagged rocks at the last possible second. Twenty feet below him and Every, a pool of magma was waiting to devour their bodies in its hellish heat. As Riggs’ body dangled in the air, he could feel the heat beating against his skin.
He did not have time to worry if Every had fallen or not.
He needed to save himself.
Panic and adrenaline coursing through his body, he tried to pull himself over the ledge, but even that was proving to be difficult. The gash running across his shoulder was quickly growing in pain, making it a struggle to move. Gathering every bit of strength that remained in his body, Riggs hauled the upper half of his body up to the edge.
The first thing that he saw was a shoe coming straight toward his face.
Johnson kicked Riggs in the head, catching the Captain by surprise. Luckily, the pirate was able to keep his grip on the jagged rocks.
“I won’t let ye steal this victory from us,” the skeleton shouted down at Riggs.
As he fought to keep his handhold, the Captain had no response. All of his focus was on what the bony crewmate was going to do. Whatever it was, Riggs had to be prepared for the worst.
With a quick slash, Johnson tried to drive his sword through his foe’s fingers, but the pirate captain was just a bit faster than him. The first mate tried several more times, always reaching the same result. Riggs moved his hand away just in time, the sword clashing against the rock with each slice.
“Just die, ye bastard,” groaned a frustrated Johnson.
The skeleton raised his weapon, ready to drive his blade into Riggs’ skull. The Captain could do nothing, hanging in the air by one hand.
All of a sudden, Johnson flew forward as something bashed him in the back. Every’s crewmate tumbled over the side of the cliff, his arms flailing as he fell through the air. The echoing scream rang in Riggs’ ears as he watched Johnson fall. Once the skeleton hit the surface of the magma, flames consumed what was left of his body, destroying him once and for all.
Mesmerized by the deadly power of the magma, Riggs felt a hand grab onto his wrist, steadying his grip on the rock. He looked up, the ash and embers filling the air.
It was Julia.
Dropping her sword at her side, the girl said, “Riggs, give me your hand.”
As a shot of pain rushed through his back, the Captain pressed his feet against the rock wall, trying to get a foothold. Pushing his toes off of one rock, he reached up, grabbing onto Julia’s hand just as his foot slipped. The sudden movement pulled her forward, right to the edge of the pit.
“Come on, Riggs. You’ve got to climb up. You’ve got to,” Julia pleaded with him.
&nbs
p; “I’m tryin’, love.”
As he tried once again to pull himself up, Riggs heard a sound right next to him… a sound like rocks crumbling. Turning his head, the pirate saw Every slowly climbing up the side of the cliff, his hands glowing yellow as they bore into the rock. Another segment of yellow covered his knee, gradually healing it with each second that passed. Unfortunately for the pirates, Every was still focused enough to use his magic.
“Julia, I need ye to get out o’ here,” Riggs said hurriedly.
At that moment, she noticed the Arch Pirate scaling the wall, just seconds away from reaching the top. Still, she did not let go.
“I’m not leaving you, Robert.”
As Riggs stared up into Julia’s eyes, he could only see one thing.
Love.
The thumping of boots replaced the sound of crumbling rocks as Every crawled out of the pit. As she held onto Riggs’ arm, Julia tried to kick her sword away from their enemy, but Every just stomped his boot against the girl’s leg, keeping her from even reaching her weapon. With her foot stuck between Every’s boot and the ground, Julia was helpless to stop the Pirate King from leaning down and picking up the sword.
Glaring down at the two pirates, Every held the sword in his torn and bloodied hands. After the weeks of pursuit and battles, one of them would finally meet their end.
“Time to die, Captain Riggs,” Every snarled.
Riggs’ and Julia’s eyes grew wide as their enemy raised the sword over his head.
The blade cut through the air.
“AAAAUUUUUGH!”
The attack never reached them.
At the last possible moment, the golden blade of Every’s own sword pierced through his chest. Blood spurted out of the wound as Ororis pushed the sword even further though the Arch Pirate’s heart. A red splotch appeared on their foe’s shirt, rapidly growing as he screamed in pain. No spells could come to his mind as he stood there, quickly dying.
Suddenly, as Riggs and Julia watched, tendrils of yellow energy started to ooze from Every’s wound, flowing out into the air around him. As he bled out, he peered down, a terrified look on his face. Something did not seem right. During every other time that the Old Magic had been destroyed, it had appeared as smoke. What was happening?