Here we are mates, a fresh chapter, right out of the oven! This one is pretty action packed and dramatic, so prepare yourselves for it! Please note, if you do not like reading epic action scenes with mild blood, then you may not want to read this.
Chapter 25: Battle In The Swamp
By now, it was getting close to evening. The tide in the river had risen greatly, so the Sorcerors had no fear of running aground. The river was the same as before. The sun’s different angle changed the shadows of the trees, making them look even more menacing than before. Even though the group didn’t fear running aground, they still had a feeling of dread, caused by some unknown presence in the swamp. After rowing some more, they arrived at a fork in the river.
“That’s strange…” Zolina said. “I could have sworn that there was no fork in this river. Something isn’t right.”
“This is a bewitched swamp,” Kate called from the other boat. “I wouldn’t expect any less from it to play with our minds.”
“So which way do we go?” Will asked.
“I say we flip a coin,” Davy decided, pulling out a gold coin. “Heads is right, tails is left.”
He flipped the coin, and it landed heads.
“Right it is,” Davy muttered, and then he and Zolina started rowing towards the right waterway. Kate and Will followed in the other boat.
“I hope this is the right decision…” Kate muttered, laughing at her own joke. Luckie glared at her, but they kept paddling. They followed this river downstream for about fifteen minutes, before it opened up into a large, open area. The area was circular, about the size of the main deck of the Shadow King, perhaps a bit larger. The area as the Sorcerors soon found out, the area had very shallow water, and their boats soon ran aground onto soft, wet sand. In the center of the area was a raised area of drier sand. This area took up a good portion of the little part of the swamp. It reminded Davy of that little side area of the Tortuga Swamp, with the abandoned shack and some alligators.
The group got out of their boats, leaving them on the bank of the elevated sand. Sam was left in his boat, sleeping peacefully. Around the edges of the swamp were dirt cliffs several meters high, too high to climb. There was a layer of mist clinging to the ground, and the calls of strange birds could be heard in the trees around them. Then, they heard a splash.
The group whirled around, and Davy gasped. Standing before him, was Billy Fireskull, his brother. He stared plainly at the group. In his belt, he had a pair of sheathed sabers, and a strange looking pistol. Billy sneered.
“Hello Davy,” he said with a smile that was anything but friendly. “I see that you made it out of the Catacombs alive. Jolly was very upset about that.”
“Billy! You scum!” Davy roared. He was about to charge him, but Zolina stopped him.
“Billy, this is your last chance,” she said. “If you don’t decide to come back to us, we will have to kill you.”
When Zolina said the word kill, Davy thought about what he was doing. Would he really be able to kill his own brother? The brother that he had loved so much?
Billy laughed. “I’m sorry my friends, but I do not have time for this. Jolly wants you all dead. He doesn’t have time to deal with you all personally. He is using that nice Sword of Darkness that you got him to raise more dead than before. In fact, very soon he should be resuming his invasions of the islands! And he will win this time. Any who, I have other affairs to attend to, so lets make this fast, savvy?”
Billy drew his two sabers. They each had a black guard on them, with a black hilt and black blade. Just the look of them sent a chill down Davy’s spine.
“How do you like my blades?” Billy taunted. “Jolly Roger gave them to me. They’re called Grave Reapers. They’re the only blades that can do this.”
Billy slashed the blades through the swamp water, cutting the ground beneath them. The water rippled and glowed green. Then, hands came up from the water, and over a dozen skeletons pulled themselves out of the murky swamp. They grinned and then drew their own swords.
“Tear them to pieces!” Billy ordered.
The Sorcerors barely had time to draw their weapons before the skeletons were upon them. These ones must have been specialized for killing. Their swords moved so fast that one barely had time to block it before the next blow came. Unfortunately, they were still no match for the swordsmanship of Davy.
Davy hacked and slashed with his sword, ducking, rolling through the mud. Two skeletons were upon him. Then ran at him with their swords drawn. Davy ignited his sword with green fire, and sent a blast of cursed flame towards the first bonehead. The undead monstrosity went up in flames. The other one, temporarily distracted, was charged by Davy. After ten seconds of fighting, he was down too.
Davy quenched the flame on his blade, and then got an idea. Even skeletons were not immune to poison. Before Davy had left Tia Dalma’s house, he had noticed that she had a small batch of poisons. Davy had snatched one of them, thinking it may come in handy. Now he knew it would. Davy had read the label on it. It was not a deadly poison, but it caused excruciating pain and could stiffen muscles within a few minutes. Davy pulled it out of his pocked, and then pulled out his sword. The sword was simple, with a long, steel, slightly curved blade, and a black hilt with an embellished black guard on it.
Davy poured the poison on the blade, and muttered incantations. The poison boiled, and then seeped into the blade. The poison was now one with the blade. Every time he would give his foe a cut, the poison would seep into them. Davy grinned, but didn’t have time to celebrate, because just then, a bullet went whizzing by his head.
He whirled around, and saw Billy standing there, with a smoking gun. He was holding a Grave Reaper in his left hand, and a pistol in his right. He put the pistol away, and drew his other blade.
“Its just you and me brother,” Billy said.
“Your not my brother,” Davy said, spitting in Billy’s direction.
“Enough talk. Jolly wants you dead, and I will not fail in his orders this time.”
With that said, Billy ran at Davy, Grave Reapers held behind him, their blades cutting into the ground, raising more undead. Davy pulled up his cutlass, the cutlass of an assassin, and cleaved down on Billy. Billy blocked it, bringing his blades together in an X. The two jumped away from each other, before launching more attacks. Billy brought the two blades from the side, and Davy blocked it. He pushed the two blades away, knocking Billy off balance. Davy brought the sword down on Billy, but Billy did a back flip away from it.
Jolly must have given him some spell for extra endurance and strength, Davy thought. No matter. I’ll defeat him anyway.
The two brothers fought for minutes, neither gaining an advantage. The other Sorcerors were starting to gain the upper hand. Since Billy was no longer spawning skeletons, they were able to fight without having to worry about reinforcements. Will cut the boneheads apart with his broadsword, Luckie cast spells with her staff, and when they got too close gave them a few good smacks. Zolina and Kate fought back to back against two skeletons each. Their battles lasted for a while, but soon the skeletons went down.
Billy saw this, and immediately jumped backward. He gave a few good slashes to the ground, raising even more skeletons. The skeletons charged at the exhausted Sorcerors, and that was the end of their upper hand.
“Billy, please! You don’t have to do this!” Davy begged.
“I’ve told you, you’re fighting a losing war,” Billy said. “Jolly will win in the end, and when he does, he can bring our parents back.”
“So be it,” Davy said. “If you are going to be this foolish, then I will have to face it. If I die in the end, you will come with me!”
Davy ran at Billy, slashing furiously. Billy was tired from raising so many undead, and was slightly slower. Nevertheless, he was still a deadly foe. He attacked ferociously with his dual blades, spinning, making X cuts, doing double stabs. None of them got to Davy. Davy’s anger fueled his power. His Assassin’s Cutlass, as he was now calling it, was a mere blur. He slashed, cleaved, thrusted, rolled, ducked, head butted. Soon, Billy began to grow weaker. Davy noticed that his friends were finishing off the last of the skeletons. It wouldn’t be much longer before they were done. Finally, Billy’s defense collapsed. Davy disarmed Billy of his two blades using a technique that he had learned aboard the Black Swan from Captain Hawk. Billy’s two blades clattered to the floor. While he was still stunned, Davy smashed his brother’s head with the pommel of his sword. Billy stumbled back, dazed, before Davy gave him a shallow slash across his arm followed by one across his chest. Billy cried out in pain, and then Davy gave him a hard kick, sending him flying about a meter and a half.
Billy slammed into a tree a few feet in front of the mud wall that surrounded the Sorcerors and the undead. With his good arm, Billy covered the bloody mark that Davy had given him across his chest. Blood stained Billy’s long, orange vest, and trickled down his face from the wound that Davy had given him from hitting him with his sword. Billy looked up. He looked pitiful. Covered in red blood, dazed and weak. He was defenseless; his two swords laying far away from him in the swamp. The other Sorcerors walked up behind Davy. The last of the skeletons had been defeated.
Davy raised his sword to deal the final blow, that final blow that would end Billy’s life forever. But he hesitated.
“What are you waiting for,” Billy muttered. “Finish me!”
“Davy, just kill him and be done with it!” Kate cried out.
Davy thought, sword raised above his head. Billy was his brother. Even though he was now his enemy, he couldn’t just kill him… could he?
Davy’s grip on the sword grew tighter. He cried out in rage, and then brought his blade down. It stabbed into the ground, a foot away from Billy’s dazed body.
Davy took a few deep breaths, then said, “He’s beaten. Let’s go.”
Will protested, “But he’s—”
“That’s an order Will!” Davy yelled. He picked up his sword, sheathed it, and walked towards the boats.
The Sorcerors looked at each other, and then followed Davy.
“You will regret this brother,” Billy said. “You will regret this choice indeed.”
With that, Billy’s Grave Reapers flew back into his hands. A green mist surrounded him. There was a sound of thunder, and lightning struck around him. When the fog cleared, Billy was gone.
Zolina shuddered, but she got into the boat. Soon, the Sorcerors were rowing their way down the river. Davy didn’t row this time. Instead, he sat in the back of the boat, face turned away from everyone else, so no one could see him cry.
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