[Tiberius Fireskull]

Well, since I will be off for a few days, I decided I might as well pull out another chapter of Shadows Rising here... so viola!


Chapter 24: The Voodoo Witch

The next day, Davy woke up, had a quick breakfast, and went straight to where Sam lay in Davy’s cabin. Davy spent most of his time at Sam’s bed side that day. Occasionally, Meg came in to check up on him. His condition got a little bit better, but nothing significant. His skin got some color back, and he wasn’t sweating as bad, but his breathing was still requiring effort. Davy sat there for hours without moving. Sometime just past noon, Zolina came in and sat with Davy. When she came in, he glanced up at her, gave her a small smile, and then went back to looking at Sam. The two said nothing, but just sat together. After half an hour or so, Zolina left. An hour or so later, Matt came in with some lunch for Davy. He placed in on a desk next to him and left the room.

Davy moved over to it and picked at the food. He was hungry, but he was too worried to eat much. He ate about half of what was on his plate, and then crawled back to where Sam lay. He waited another half hour, and then, Sam stirred. Davy was half asleep at the time, but his little movement woke him up. His head tossed a bit, and he mumbled. Davy bit his lip in anticipation, so hard that it began to bleed, the red blood staining the light blue color of his vest that he had put on. Then, Sam’s eye’s slowly opened.

“Sam…” Davy gasped. “You’re… you’re…”

Sam groaned. “Davy…? What… happened? Where am I? I remember… the Catacombs, with Billy. He, he shot me and I went down… I remember… through the caves and some jungle… all if it is so dim… I wasn’t even half conscious… what happened?”

“Sam, we’re on The Shadow King,” Davy said, a tear sliding down his cheek. “You were shot with a poisoned bullet. You’ve been out cold for the last few days. The venom is deadly. Meg Mcbones gave you some medicine, but it won’t cure it. We’re headin’ to Cuba, to see if we can get help from Tia Dalma, the voodoo lady.”

“Davy…” Sam muttered. “Billy… he’s not… evil… he’s just young and —Sam had a short coughing fit, and then continued— confused… we can help him… I know we can…”

“Sam, I will do the right thing in the end,” Davy said. “Whichever choice that may end up to be. Sam, we’re going to save you. You’ll be fine.”

The truth was that Davy was not sure what would happen to Sam. The fact that he had woken up now, even though it is for just a short time, was an improvement. But would it stay? Meg had said that she couldn’t cure the poison, so this couldn’t be permanent.

No, Davy thought. If I think like this, Sam will never live. He’ll be fine… I know it…

“I know you will Davy… I trust you with my life…” Then with a small smile, Sam said. “Exactly why you’re the one saving it…”

Sam slipped off into sleep again. Davy began to weep. It just wasn’t fair. Sam had done nothing to deserve this fate. Even though Billy was his own brother, Davy was now feeling a rage towards him. The fact that he would do this to Sam, to his friend, made Davy enraged. Billy was confused, as Sam said, but Davy couldn’t just let him get away with something like this.

He sighed, and stood up. It was mid afternoon now. He decided that he had spent enough time in his cabin, so he opened the door and walked outside. As he walked out, he saw Smelly curled up in a corner. Davy had forgotten about the poor dog. When Davy came near him, he looked up with sad, sad eyes. He whimpered a bit, and then put his head next to Davy's hand. Davy scratched his head and said some quiet words to him. The dog was heartbroken. His master had left him, the master that he had known all his life. Davy gave one last sad look to Smelly, and then walked off. He walked up near the wheel of the ship, and looked out at the sea. He took a breath of the cool, fresh, sea air, and felt rejuvenated. Will walked by and stood next to him, looking at his captain.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Will said softly. “We are making good time. There is a good wind at our backs, and we have full colors. We took your advice on using voodoo. We have a couple pirates generating a little extra wind for the sails to catch, and some others that are bending the shape of the water to our will, so we move faster. At this rate, Cuba should be in sight within four or five days.”

“Thank you Will. For everything,” Davy said, and then with a smile, he added. “You were a good pack mule back on Padres, carrying Sam.”

Will chuckled. “And how is the lad doing?”

“Better,” Davy said. “But still very weak. Still… dying. He woke up for a moment when I was in there. He spoke a bit, but he was weak. Lets just hope he can hold off a few more days.”

Will nodded. “These will be a long few days indeed…”

~~~~~~~~~~


For the rest of those four days, Davy spent his early morning with Sam, left the cabin right before noon, and then reentered towards evening. Even though Davy cared about him, he couldn’t spend all his time at his bedside. He had duties. The four days were quite uneventful. Sam woke up two days after he had woken for the first time. He spoke. He asked how the ship was, and Davy replied. He told Sam they were almost at Cuba. Sam thanked Davy, and then he went off to sleep once more. However, on the fourth day, Sam’s condition deteriorated. No matter how much medicine Meg gave him, it didn’t improve Sam much. His breathing worsened slightly, and he was drenched in a cold sweat. His skin paled, and he tossed and turned and mumbled in his sleep. Davy clung to his bedside for that entire day. His condition only worsened.

Finally, on the morning of the fifth day, they came upon Cuba. Davy was relieved. He left Sam with Meg to go look at the island. It was a lush island of swamp and marsh. The Pantano river flowed out into the sea from an area inside of the island. That was where Tia Dalma was. The one person who may be able to save Sam. Once they came close, Davy ordered two boats to be prepared for them. Matt was to be in charge of the ship while they were gone again. Davy left with the group he had gone to Padres with: Luckie, Kate, Will, Zolina, the unconscious Sam, and they decided to bring Meg as well.

The two boats were boarded. In Davy’s boat was him, Sam, Meg, and Zolina. Him and Zolina paddled the boat into the mouth of the river. The current wasn’t strong, and was easy to row against with the strong muscles of pirates. The two boats paddled side by side into the dark river. Even though it was sunny out, as soon as they entered the river it got dark. The trees formed a roof above them, and strange birds and insects made their chirpings and buzzing. The hairs on Davy’s neck stood up, but he ignored it. He didn’t expect anything different from the realm of Tia Dalma.

After an hour or so of paddling upstream, they rounded a bend in the river, and up ahead a house was visible. It was small, and built on stilts to avoid rising tides. There were several lights on inside of it. Strange objects dangled from the roof. When they got closer, the Sorcerors realized that they were shrunken heads. Several times, a member of the group would spot natives peering at them through the brush. They ignored the tribal people, and kept going. Within minutes after spotting the house, they were standing on its doorstep.

Davy looked at his friends, and they beckoned for him to knock. They had all changed clothes into something more appropriate for a swamp. Zolina wore a beige long sleeved shirt with brown pants and tall, brown boots. Will was in a green sack vest with a pair of brown pants, and simple boots. Kate, Luckie, and Meg wore similar clothes to Zolina. Davy himself was wearing a green vest with a brown shirt underneath. He had a green bandanna tied around his head, and a pair of pants that were green and brown. Slowly, Davy raised his hand to knock.

Before he could even touch the door, it opened, revealing a strange looking woman.

She had dark skin, and reddish eyes. Her hair was brown, and tied into long locks. She wore a long, brown dress. She was studded with jewelry. Tia Dalma. The Voodoo Witch of Cuba. She raised an eyebrow at the strangers.

“Hmm… I do not normally get strangers in my river,” she said in a strange accent that Davy couldn’t recognize. “What brings you here?”

“Tia Dalma, my name is Davy Fireskull. I am a weak voodoo user. I beg your help,” Davy said, then beckoned to Sam. “My friend, Sam Bladebeard, has been injured with a poisoned bullet. We tried to help him as best we could, but it was to no avail. He grows weaker by the day. We have come to ask for your help. You’re a powerful voodoo user after all. Can you help him?”

Tia looked at Davy. Right in his eyes. They bore into him, driving deep into his mind. Davy felt something unearthly about her, but he didn’t do anything.

“You,” Tia said to Davy. “There is a touch of destiny in you… You are destined to be something great Davy Fireskull. I feel it… come inside. I will take a look at your friend.”

Davy was puzzled at first, but decided it was best to just go with it. He followed the Witch inside, and laid Sam onto a bed that Tia had set ready for him. She took a look at the wound. She examined it for a few moments, then looked up.

“Leave the room,” she said. “I call you to come back in a few minutes. Give me time to work on ‘im…”

Davy nodded, and his friends followed him outside. They sat on the porch for what seemed like hours, even though it was only fifteen or so minutes. The water below them was dark, and fog hovered right above it. Birds chirped eerie melodies, and insects buzzed about them. This place was not natural. Just as Davy was about to point something out, Tia called them back inside.

“Well?” Davy said.

“T’was not easy my friends… but it worked,” Tia Dalma said. The poison is gone. It took a lot of effort. It is a potent venom. It requires the best voodoo skills, as well as some very, very rare potions. He will likely be asleep for another day or so. When he wakes up, he will be tired and weak, but fear not about him dying. And he cannot stress that area of his body. The bullet still has damage done there.”

“Thank you Tia Dalma,” Kate said.

“Indeed. Thank you,” Davy said.

“Now about my payment,” Tia said.

“Payment?” Davy said surprised. “Arg, alright, how much gold?”

“I do not want gold,” the Witch said. “It is of no use to me. I need something valuable. Something that is usable for me.”

“We have nothing though!” Luckie said. “Just the clothes on our backs! And we surely are not giving those up.”

“Silly girl,” Tia Dalma said. “Everything has something of value… some’s are more valuable than most…”

Davy’s eyes widened. He understood now. Tia wanted a soul. But he couldn’t do that. There had to be a way around it… Then, Davy figured it out.

“Tia Dalma, I’ll make you a deal,” Davy said.

“Speak,” she stated plainly.

“In return for you saving Sam, I will defeat Jolly Roger,” Davy said boldly.

Tia smiled. “And if you fail, and he defeats you?”

Davy gulped. “Then my soul is yours.”

“Davy!” Will yelled.

“Don’t do something like that!” Kate cried out.

Davy ignored them. “Is it a deal?”

“Yes Davy Fireskull, it is. If you defeat Jolly Roger, then consider the payment made. Return to me if you finish. If I do not see you back here in six months, then your soul is mine. That gives you more than enough time.”

“Agreed.”

“Now take your friend,” Tia said, beckoning to Sam.

“Davy, you can’t do this…” Will said.

“Will, I know what I’m doing,” Davy said. “Now please, get Sam.”

Will obeyed. Within minutes, the group was rowing down the river, back to the sea.


__________________________________________________ _____________


What do you think? Comments sil vous plait.