Crossbones: Episode 1

by Stefan M. Nardi

  Contents

  Title Page E1

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Half Title

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Review

  Keep Reading

  Join The Crew

  About The Author

  Mystic Inkwell

  Published Worldwide in 2015

  by Mystic Inkwell

  PO Box 760, North Lakes QLD 4509

  www.mystic-inkwell.com

  Copyright © Stefan M. Nardi 2015

  This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be stored or reproduced by any process without prior written permission.

  Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

  For my darling, Kat & my awesome brother, Jacob. Without your support and feedback, I’d probably still be on chapter one.

  And for my loving parents who read to me every night and gave me my love of stories. Dad, I’ll know if you skip that page in ‘It’s the Bear’ again!

  Lightning crashed through the sky, illuminating the ocean below. Curtains of rain fell on the little ship, hammering down upon the wooden deck. The ocean surged, great waves rising from its depths, threatening to engulf the ship. The Black Phoenix bounced around in the ocean, thrown from one wave to the next.

  Eldric Whittaker was perched in the ships rigging, attempting to stow the sails in order to regain some small measure of control. He was soaked from head to toe, his long black hair hung in clumps around his head, streaming water down on to his bare chest. His wet trousers weighed him down making it even more difficult to keep his balance. Eldric tied down the last sail and breathed a sigh of relief. He had warned his brother that they needed a crew from the start, that something like this would happen. But Dean had insisted that they could do it themselves and find a crew on the voyage. Bad idea.

  He held tight to the mast as he clambered back down to the deck; one wrong move would send him sliding across the ship, possibly to his death. He stood on the deck, gripping the mast for support as the wind and rain tore at his skin and clothing. At the stern he could see his brother, wrestling with the ships wheel; he couldn’t tell through the rain but he could swear the idiot was grinning. Yep, he was definitely going to kill him for this.

  Suddenly the ship pitched to one side and Eldric tightened his grip on the mast, holding on for dear life. Dean was sent flying across the deck, caught moments later by the lifeline tied around his waist. Eldric watched with bated breath as his brother scrambled around on the deck. Dean managed to roll over and pull himself back to the wheel.

  They had both survived until now but they needed to get off of the deck before one of them got killed. He checked that his own lifeline was secure and then let go of the mast. He staggered along the deck, heading for his brother. He slipped over a few times but managed to make it to where Dean waited.

  Eldric stood glaring at his brother through the curtains of rain. ‘I told you we needed a crew,’ Eldric yelled, ‘But no, “we can do it ourselves” you said, “we’ll find a crew along the way,” you said. Sure Dean, great idea. Now look where we are!’

  Dean turned towards Eldric and flashed him a gigantic grin. Dean’s short brown hair hung down like a wet mop, just above his eyes. A steady stream of water had formed at the bottom of his goatee, flowing down on to his shirt. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Eldric would have burst out laughing at the sight.

  ‘Where’s your sense of adventure, little brother?’

  Eldric glared at him for a moment longer, wondering if he could punch him without falling over. He decided to let it pass.

  'It fell overboard, right before I almost did. Now hurry up and tie off the wheel, we need to get below deck before one of us follows it.'

  Deans face fell. ‘Killjoy’ he muttered.

  Dean grabbed some rope from the railing next to him and tied the wheel in place.

  ‘There that should do it’ Dean yelled.

  ‘Good, let’s get out of here then.’

  There was no railing for them to hold onto between the wheel and the stairs to their quarters so they had to drop to the deck and crawl along to avoid being thrown over board. The ship rocked violently as they slowly made their way across the deck. They slipped and slid as they moved, Eldric prayed that the ship would not roll again and send them overboard.

  Eldric was slightly in front of Dean when he heard his brother let off a string of profanity. He turned to look at his brother questioningly.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ he yelled.

  ‘My rope won’t reach, I forgot to change it.’

  Eldrics mind raced, they had to think of something quickly. They certainly couldn’t stay here, there was nothing to hold onto within reach. Suddenly Deans face lit up.

  ‘Have you still got your knife on you?’

  Eldric was puzzled. 'Yeah, why?'

  ‘Move back this way, I have an idea.’

  Eldric did as he was told and the brothers scrambled back the way they had come. After a few metres Dean stopped, Eldric slid up next to him and pulled the knife from his sash.

  'Okay, that should do, now pass me your knife and grab onto the rope around my waist. Whatever you do, don't let go.’

  Eldric did as he was bid and handed him the knife. Dean quickly gathered up the ropes slack and then sliced through it.

  ‘Now turn over so I can tie it to yours.’ Eldric rolled over and Dean lashed the two ropes together.

  ‘Good, now go. Quick before this storm gets any worse.’

  Minutes later they fell through the door leading to their cabins. Eldric cut off the ropes, threw them back out onto the deck and slammed the door shut, locking out the harshness of the storm.

  The brothers collapsed onto the floor next to each other. Eldric rolled over to face his brother.

  ‘As soon as I have the strength to get up off of this floor, I am going to kill you.’

  Dean put on his most innocent face, ‘ Hey don’t blame me, you agreed that it’d be a good idea too.’

  ‘My mistake.’ Eldric replied flatly.

  The brothers looked at each other for a minute and then Dean burst out laughing. It was only the second day of their voyage and already they were in trouble. Now they both sat on the floor of their ship, they were completely soaked and the ship was being tossed about in the storm like a toy. It was the adventure they had dreamed of and as Eldric lay facing his brother he couldn't help it, they looked ridiculous and he began to laugh too.

  They lay there for a few seconds longer, laughing. Dean sat up and got to his feet; he staggered around a little until he got his balance and then held out his hand to Eldric.

  'Come on little brother, we aren't out of the woods yet. Lets get in to some dry clothes.'

  Eldric grabbed Deans hand and pulled himself up. They staggered down the hall heading for their rooms.

  In his room Eldric looked out the small window, the storm was getting worse. Much worse. A fork of lightning illuminated the night.

  ‘Oh crap, thats not good. Dean....’

  That was as far as he got before he was sent flying across the room and everything went black.

  The First thing Dean noticed when he woke up was the throbbing pain in his head where it had smacked against the edge of his bunk. The second thing he noticed was considerably more worrying. He was not alone in the room. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up.

  ‘Well good morn
ing sunshine!’ said the shaggy figure standing above him.

  The last thing he saw was a fist flying towards him, there was a burst of pain and then darkness again.

  Dean was surrounded by darkness. He was sure his eyes were open, yet he could see nothing. Two tiny glimmers appeared in front of him. Slowly, the glimmers grew into small fiery balls, the one on the left glowed blue while the one on the right was orange. Dean stretched his hand towards the blue ball and then quickly withdrew it as the flames licked out and brushed the end of his fingers. He had expected it to be warm but, instead the flames had been ice cold.

  A deep laugh echoed out across the void. The sound enveloped Dean, shaking him as it filled the darkness.

  ‘Poor, foolish boys. If only you knew who your fathers really were. What would you do then?’

  A second voice cut in, over the first. This one was a shrill, female voice, yet it still sounded just as sinister as the first.

  ‘Yes little Dean, whatever will you do?

  Dean began to shake even more as the laughter of the second voice joined the first.

  His eyes snapped open.

  He looked up and found Eldric leaning over him, shaking his shoulder.

  ‘Welcome back.’

  His head was pounding and his nose felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer.

  Dean looked around, the room they were in was small and damp; It had low wooden ceilings and curved walls. They were in the hold of a ship and they weren’t alone. They were surrounded by a mass of faces; many of them were dirty and disheveled, as if they hadn’t seen clean water in weeks and their clothes looked almost as torn and tattered as their spirits. He realized they were slaves and was suddenly grateful that he couldn’t smell anything through the blood in his nose.

  ‘Wha..? Where are we?’

  Eldric held up his arms and showed Dean the chains that bound them.

  ‘Slave ship’ he said grimly.

  Dean looked down at his own arms and realized that they were similarly bound.

  ‘How?’ he queried.

  ‘Dunno, I got knocked out in the storm and woke up to the lovely site of a pistol being leveled at my head. Judging by the bump on your head I’d say you got knocked out in the storm too and judging by the rest of your face I’d say they didn’t wake you up with a pistol?’

  Dean grimaced ‘No, not quite.’

  Just then a head popped out from behind Eldric. The newcomer peered strangely at Dean.

  ‘How is he?’ the stranger inquired.

  ‘He’s fine’ replied Eldric, ‘ Dean, this is Erasmus Santiago, he’s a mage.’

  The man stepped out from behind Eldric, Dean looked him up and down. Erasmus was a giant of a man, he had to crouch so that he didn’t hit his head on the ceiling; he had a shaggy black goatee and wore a dirty bandanna on his head, a few stray clumps of his curly black hair had escaped from beneath the bandanna. He was dressed in trousers and a loose fitting shirt. Although they were dirty and ruined, his clothes were clearly those of a highborn.

  ‘Here, eat this.’

  Erasmus pulled a wad of leaves from his pocket and handed them to Dean. Dean sniffed at them before remembering that he still couldn’t smell anything.

  ‘Put them in your mouth and chew, they’ll help with the pain.’ Erasmus instructed.

  Dean did as he was told, they didn’t actually taste too bad. After a few moments he began to feel the pain in his head ease. He smiled appreciatively at Erasmus.

  ‘So, you’re a wizard?’ Dean asked through his mouthful of leaves.

  ‘Yes. An Elemental to be exact.’ Replied Erasmus.

  The brothers exchanged a glance. Elemental mages were rare and usually held positions of great importance. That explained the clothes.

  ‘How’d an elemental like yourself, manage to end up on a ship like this?’ Queried Dean.

  ‘I was on board a diplomatic vessel, we got stuck in a fierce storm and our ship was wrecked. I managed to cling to a piece of the debris and washed up on a beach. I made the mistake of flagging this ship down and I’ve been here ever since.’

  Dean’s face lit up at his words. In his head, the beginnings of an idea fell into place.

  ‘Ah, so you would’ve seen the ship when you were brought aboard then?’ he said with a grin.

  A puzzled look flitted across Erasmus’ face.

  ‘Well, I saw a little of it.’

  ‘Excellent, we need details then. How big is it? How many men? What kind of weapons did they have?’

  Deans mind began clicking over as he thought, he’d need all of the information he could get if his idea was going to work. Some of the other slaves gave him odd looks as a grin spread across his face. How could any man, who had just been placed in chains in the belly of a slave ship, have such an expression on his face? The same look of confusion was spread across Erasmus’ face as well.

  ‘Uhhhh, well it was a large ship, I saw maybe fifty men on the deck but I guess there could’ve been more. The only weapons I saw were pistols and swords and maybe a few muskets.’

  ‘Excellent’ Dean beamed.

  ‘Dean...What are you planning?’ Eldric knew his brother well enough to guess that whatever he was planning was going to be both incredibly spectacular and incredibly stupid. It’d probably be quite fun too. Dean turned his manic grin towards his brother. He was practically bouncing with excitement.

  ‘Why, our escape of course.’

  ‘Oh, by all means, proceed then’ Eldric said wryly.

  Erasmus looked from one to the other, bewilderment painted on his face.

  ‘You heard me correctly when I said fifty men right? How are you two, going to fight fifty men and then escape? We’re in the middle of the damn ocean.’

  Deans grin grew even wider.

  ‘Oh I don’t plan to escape…I plan to take over the ship.’

  Eldric burst out laughing. Erasmus sat there stunned, lost for words.

  ‘Close your mouth Erasmus, the rats will crawl in if you leave it open like that,’ Dean said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘ And we’re not going to fight fifty men by ourselves, the other slaves are going to help us. Plus we have a wizard.’

  Erasmus raised his hands in protest. ‘Firstly, I can’t perform magic without my staff to focus, if I try I’ll probably kill everyone here. Secondly, say we do take the ship, then what?’

  ‘Well the ship has to already be on a course for some place, we continue on to that destination, set the other slaves free and sail off into the sunset. As for your staff, did you have it with you when they brought you aboard?’

  ‘Yes, I did, but they took it and I have no idea what they did with it after that.’

  Eldric continued to watch the exchange with amusement.

  Dean beamed, ‘Fantastic. It’s settled then, we get the wizard’s staff, beat up the slavers and it’s all high seas and happiness.’

  ‘Great plan.’ Erasmus’ voice was dripping with sarcasm. ‘Aren’t you forgetting one thing though?’ He held up his hands and shook the chains that hung there.

  ‘Ah, of course. Hold that thought.’ Dean pulled himself to his feet and gripped his chains in his hands. The chains were made of iron, they didn’t seem to be particularly strong but strong enough that a man would not be able to break them with brute strength alone. They consisted of two manacles and a long chain that ran from one prisoner to the next, binding them together. Dean cleared his throat and looked at the crowd of hopeless faces before him. The slaves all turned to face him, many of them eyed him warily. One mother pulled her children closer to her.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Dean Whittaker. I am the captain of the pirate ship, The Black Phoenix. I am also the man that is about to set you all free. You may feel a slight chill in your chains, but if you bear with me, I’ll have you all out in a moment.’

  A wave of puzzled looks and murmurs swept across the room. Erasmus lent towards Eldric.<
br />
  ‘Is he mad?’

  Eldric grinned ‘Probably, yeah. Just watch.’

  Dean closed his eyes, his hands still gripping the chain. Erasmus felt the chains grow cold, he looked down and saw frost forming on them. His eyes grew as wide as saucers. Gasps of astonishment filled the room.

  Dean let go of the chain and then swung it against the wall, it shattered and fell into a pile of tiny shards at his feet. He turned to Erasmus and held out his hands.

  ‘See, no problem at all.’

  Erasmus just stared at him.

  ‘Tha...That...That was Fae magic. That’s impossible.’

  Eldric grinned at Erasmus. He snapped his fingers and flames sprang up in his hand, dancing across his palm. Dean laughed at the look of disbelief on Erasmus’ face.

  ‘Right, now how many decks did you say this ship had?’

  Janos Salt slouched against the door frame, he hated guard duty. It was boring and it wasn’t like the slaves were going to go anywhere. They were chained up and apart from that, they were in the middle of the ocean. They literally had no where to escape to.

  He let out a sigh, he would’ve much preferred to be on that new ship they’d captured from those two idiots, it seemed much nicer and there was hardly anyone else there to annoy him. Plus there were no slaves to guard either. At least it was a nice warm night, even if it was cloudy. A full moon hung in the night sky, casting it’s light across the deck of the ship as it ducked in and out from behind the clouds.

  He had just closed his eyes when he heard a strange knocking sound. He jumped up straight, suddenly alert. He peered around the deck of the ship, no one else seemed to have heard it. Or at least they weren’t giving any indication they had.

  Knock Knock.

  There it was again. He turned as he realized it was coming from the door to the slave hold. He leaned closer to the door. Nothing. He decided calling out was the safest option.

  ‘Hello? Is someone down there knocking?’