[Tiberius Fireskull]

Well, mates, the tension keeps building up in my story! Trust me, I think the tension is hurting me more than you. The more I get closer to the climax of this story (which is only several chapters away, I assure you) the more I want to write so I can get to that climax. Anyway! Enough of my lecturing! Enjoy my next chapter! By the way, I will probably have one or two more chapters from Billy's perspective, to give you a heads up. On we go!


Chapter 27: The Shipwreck

Davy woke up late the next day. After the battle with his brother and the undead, the group had rowed their boats back to The Shadow King. It was late, and the group was exhausted from what happened. They got on board and retired almost immediately. It had been a long and tiring day, and Davy had slept in. Perhaps too much, but he didn’t care, as he was exhausted.

After putting on some clothes, he left his cabin onto the deck. He walked up to the wheel of the ship, and his eyes lit up. Standing at the wheel of the ship, was Sam. Sam turned to face Davy. The world seemed to slow down as the two friends ran toward each other and embraced. Tears streaked down their faces. Happy tears. The two stood apart from each other, and spoke.

“Sam!” Davy cried out. “Your alright!”

Sam chuckled, “Aye, I’m recovering. I still feel weak though. However, Tia Dalma’s antidote seemed to do me some good. I would say that I should be fully recovered by tomorrow. That’s a good thing too, because we should be trying to hunt down Jolly once and for all soon.”

“Aye, your right,” Davy said. “I want to have him on his knees soon. But there is one problem…”

“Billy?” Sam asked.

Davy shook his head, “No. I have made up my mind. If I have to fight Billy to the death to get to Jolly Roger, then I will. The old Billy is gone, and I have accepted that. If worse comes to worst, he will have to die so I can bring Jolly Roger to justice.”

“Then what is it?”

“The Sword of Darkness. Now that he has that sword, he has almost infinite power. He can raise an army of undead faster than ever, and going into battle with him is a death wish. I can’t just charge him and start swinging a sword! I need some sort of tactic.”

“Davy, listen to me when I say this. Just because he has some infernal sword, doesn’t mean he will beat you. Davy, you’re the best swordsman I have ever known, possibly one of the best of any pirate. You can beat that bag of bones. It’s not about your weapon Davy, its about the one who uses it.”

Davy bit his lip. He was still uncertain, but he nodded his head. “I guess your right… either way though, he will be a challenge. I may not survive, but if I do die, well, there’s no family to miss me…”

“That’s where your wrong,” Zolina said, walking up to the two men. “Davy, you may have lost your parents, and Billy is as good as gone, but don’t you dare say that if you die nobody will miss you. And you do have a family.”

Zolina beckoned to the crew, working on the deck. Matt was giving some orders. Kate walked up next to Zolina.

“Nobody will be dying against Jolly Roger,” Kate said. “Want to know why? Because we are fighting for something. Something more than just power. For friendship, for family, and for freedom.”

Davy took that in. Then he spoke. “You guys are right. Nobody will be dying other than Jolly Roger… then again, he’s already dead. Well, you know what I mean. He will be brought down, and I will have avenged my parents. Now, lets get back to work. Tomorrow, I want to get to Tortuga. We may be able to get a few leads from pirates there.”

~~~~~~~~~~


Sam had recovered by the next morning, just as he predicted. He was able to resume his full duties onboard the ship, whether it was tying knots in the rigging, or practicing his swordplay or voodoo with the crew. In fact, things seemed almost back to normal aboard The Shadow King. The ship had set a course for Tortuga, and they were making good speed. All was going quiet and smoothly. Until they saw the ship.

It was late afternoon, just a few hours before the crew would have dinner. The crew was finishing up their duties at the time; tying those last few ropes, scrubbing off those last few barnacles, making those last few adjustments to their course. Suddenly, came a shout from the lookout. She began ringing the alarm bell. The crew came aboard deck. Smelly the dog ran around frantically barking like he was rabid. Finally, Davy came up onto the deck, and pacified the dog. At the time, the lookout was a girl by the name of Lizzy. She was timid, but a loyal crew mate, and Davy was glad to have her.

“What did you see Lizzers?” Davy asked.

“Over there Captain!” Lizzy said, pointing starboard. “It’s a navy ship, I think. The sun was in my eyes, so I wasn’t able to get a good look at it. For some reason, though, it isn’t moving.”

Davy raised an eyebrow. “Alright crew! Looks like we have a vessel off the starboard side! Lets go check it out! If they live, we beat the dogs down, and raid their vessel! If they are all dead, we check out the scene… and then we take what’s left!”

The crew cheered, and then ran to their duties. After a half hour of sailing, The Shadow King pulled up next to the ship. Or what was left of it. The ship looked like it had once been a naval war galleon, a powerful ship, but it had been destroyed. The main mast lay on its side in splinters, with a shredded piece of cloth for a sail. The hull was torn apart, exposing the insides of the ship. It was slowly sinking, but it would take a few days before it fully submerged.

Matt whistled. “That’s one shredded ship. I wonder what got to her. No normal ship can do that to another ship, unless this ship here had tanks of gunpowder lying in the open, which no ship has.”

“Hmm…” Davy muttered. “I say we check it out. Matt, Zolina, Kate and I will check the wreck out. Sam, your in charge. Just sit tight for a bit. Tell the crew to do what they please, but to be ready to return to their stations at a moments notice.”

“Aye, aye, Davy,” Sam said. The three that Davy had called followed him onto the dingy that would take them to the shipwreck. They rowed the boat, and in no time they were climbing the torn hull of the naval ship. Unfortunately, they couldn’t climb all the way to the top deck of the ship, as there was too large of a hole in the hull blocking their way. Instead, they clambered into the opening. Davy turned around, examining the hole. It was massive. An entire section of the hull had been blown off, revealing at least a third of the inside of the ship.

The inside was no better. The place had been ruined. There were holes in the floor, walls were torn apart, and crates and barrels lay open, broken, or on their sides.

“Ooh la la…” Kate said. “Whatever happened here was not pretty…”

“I’m with you there Kate,” Zolina said.

“Mates!” Matt called from the other side of the room. “Look at this!”

Davy, Kate, and Zolina joined Matt, and looked at his find. It was a Navy sailor. He had been impaled through the chest with a sword. His eyes were open, glassy and unmoving. Blood stained his red shirt. So much blood that it was actually noticeable.

“He hasn’t been dead long,” Davy observed. “No more than two or three days I’d say.”

“Exactly,” Matt said. “That’s what I noticed. Also, look at this sword.”

Matt yanked the sword out of the sailor, sending blood flying everywhere. He muttered a quick apology to the dead navy soldier.

“Aye, thank the dead one,” Zolina muttered. “And not my nice skirt for staining it with blood…”

Matt took no notice. Instead, he held up the bloody sword, showing it to everyone. It was clear what was wrong with it. The sword was rusty and old.

“Now who do we know that uses rusty swords?” Matt asked the others.

“Skeletons…” Kate said. “This ship was raided by skeletons…”

“And here’s our proof,” Davy said. He had moved to another side of the room. Slumped against a wall was an inanimate skeleton, dressed in rags. Just like the ones that they had had to fight.

“Nobody can rot into a skeleton that fast,” Davy said. “This ship was obviously attacked by skeletons… but something still bothers me. Even one skeleton ship wouldn’t do this much damage to a ship and just let them live…”

The group stared at the skeleton for a little longer, and then moved on. The group walked up a flight of stairs that had been torn to shreds, barely climbable. They emerged on the main deck. The main deck looked exactly like what it looked like from The Shadow King. It looked even worse than the lower decks. There were massive holes in the floor, and the Shadow Sorcerors had to be careful not to fall.

“Lets check the captain’s quarters,” Davy said. “Maybe the captain wrote down exactly what happened in his log.”

The others followed him to the door. They tried it, but it was locked.

“Son of a gun...” Davy muttered. “I’ll break it down.”

Davy pulled out his staff that he kept strung to his back. He cast a quick spell, and then shattered the door to pieces. Then he raised an eyebrow.

“Did anyone hear someone scream?” Davy asked.

The others nodded.

“Unless my ears deceive me, then yes, I heard a scream,” Zolina answered.

The group cautiously walked in, swords drawn. The captain’s quarters was a wreck. The windows in the back were all shattered, and an evening breeze blew into the room. The Arabian carpet on the floor had been shredded to pieces, and the various bookshelves and cabinets had been tipped over or broken. Various holes were in the walls from cannonballs. The place was once lovely and lavish, but was now a wreck.

Davy walked over to the desk in the center of the room. It was intact, other than a splintered leg. Just then, Davy heard a bump from under the table, and a slight gasp. Davy, using his voodoo powers, lifted the desk and sent it flying into a corner of the room, smashing open the wall.

Cowering in fear was a Navy sailor. The poor man’s clothes were torn to shreds, and he had various cuts and wounds. His hands were cut up and covered with grime. Davy, being a pirate, had no mercy for Navy sailors, who wanted to kill all pirates. He grabbed the sailor by his torn shirt and made him stand.

The man looked pitiful, so pitiful that Davy almost felt sorry. His face was covered with grime, and he wore an eye patch. His lips were chapped so badly that they bled, and his hair was burnt on the edges. The grime on his face looked even worse due to the fact that he had been sobbing.

Davy pulled out his dagger and held it to the man’s throat, and spoke. “Speak sailor. I have no patience for Navy scum like you, so make it quick. What happened to your ship here? And tell the full story!”

The man eyed the blade cautiously, and said, “Why should I tell you pirate? I’m dead anyway.”

Davy chuckled. He had dealt with this before when he served on the Black Swan. “I can always make your death slow and painful, while I wait for you to tell…”

Davy slowly moved the blade down, and gave the man’s wrist a quick cut. Enough to make him hurt, but not enough to be fatal.

“Fine! Fine! I’ll tell you!” The sailor cried out. He licked his bleeding lips, and spoke. “Three days ago, our lookout raised the alarm. It was close to midnight. A storm had randomly spawned, out of nowhere! We all came on board, and the men cried out in terror! Around us, out of nowhere like the storm, were hundreds of ships! Ships that had already sunken! Ships with torn masts, and rotten hulls! We were so surprised that we didn’t see the first one come from behind us! The ship hit us with a full broadside of a dozen shots, shots of a strange, spectral cannonball! The fear that we had! We barely had time to fight back before the skeletons boarded us. The stuck us all, leaving none alive! They took all of our belongings, all of our supplies, and all of our lives!”

“Why didn’t they sink the ship?” Matt said. “And why are you still alive?”

“There was one of them that was not of bone,” the sailor continued. “He was muscular, and carried two black sabers of some sort. He told the men to leave the ship floating for now, and to leave me alive. To give someone a lead of some sort. Someone named Davy Flameskull I believe. He wanted this person to know where he was going, so he would know that it is too late to help.”

It didn’t take a genius to know that Davy Flameskull was really just Davy Fireskull. The sailor had obviously gotten the name mixed up while he had been drifting in the sun. Billy had been here. He had left this man alive to carry on a message to Davy. Billy wanted Davy to know where he was going, so that Davy would be able to see something. Chances were, that wasn’t good.

“Where were the ships headed?” Davy demanded.

“Due east if my memory serves,” the sailor responded.

“The closest island of any significance that is east from here is…” Davy faded off.

“Port Royal,” Kate said.

“You’ve been a help sailor. Now I will put you out of your misery,” Davy said. Before the man could respond, Davy slit his throat, and the man crumpled to the floor. Even though Davy could be sympathetic, he did have an inner barbarian to him. He continued:

“Billy is leading that fleet, I’m sure of it. If Jolly were in charge, he wouldn’t have allowed Billy to do this. And if they are heading to Port Royal, that has to mean that—”

“Port Royal is about to be invaded,” Zolina finished.

“And with this much power and forces, they will succeed,” Matt said.

“We have to get there as fast as possible. They have a few days start, but maybe we can make it there fast enough to help,” Davy said.

“It’s unlikely, but we can’t let Port Royal be destroyed,” Kate said.

The group climbed back down to their dingy, and rowed back to The Shadow King. Once they were back on board, Davy ordered the crew to sail a little farther from that Navy vessel, in case there were any other survivors on board. After that, the crew retired for the night, and Davy went into his room to write in his log. He soon went to sleep. At dawn, they sailed for Port Royal.


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Yeees maybe I was a little mean to that Navy fella, but he deserved it... chances are my next chapter will come sometime over the weekend, but I may be able to squeeze one in sometime tomorrow or Thursday...