Chapter 1
The pain was almost unbearable. It was throbbing from the back of his head. The sand made soft, almost pleasant crunching noises as Solo’s body shifted. A groan escaped from his lips. Solomon forced his eyes open. He was staring up into a blue sky, not a cloud in sight, not even the sun. Solomon had no idea where the light was coming from. He sat upright. He seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. White sand stretched out in all directions. Solo had heard this place described in tales that were only murmured among close friends. This was Davy Jones Locker. Then Solomon noticed something he had missed. A ship, his ship was there, leaning on its side in near perfect condition. Solomon got up, the pain was excruciating. He limped over to the ship. The name Blue Dawn proudly on its stern as if nothing had happened. A rope hang from the side. He climbed up the rope, slowly but was making progress. He finally got aboard deck. Unlike the hull of the ship, it wasn’t quite so nice. Dark red-brown patches had stained the deck, splinters, destroyed cannons and weaponry lay scattered.
Solomon gingerly picked his way across deck, taking in the sight from the battle that took play not so long ago. Solomon was hungry, but above all thirsty, thirsty for revenge on his murderers. Solomon sat down on a step leading to the helm. The ship was a war frigate but had stood no chance against the skeleton ships. Solomon glanced up, a flash of movement on the horizon caught his eye, it was a normal sloop. Sailing across the sand. Solomon thought he must be loosing it. Surely ships cant sail across the sand, could they?
Solomon made his way into the captain’s cabin. There lay his dinner, on the table. His chair lay on the floor where it had landed when he flew up. His stomach rumbled as his eyes fell on the dinner again. He dug in, but it wouldn’t satisfy his hunger, neither would the rum satisfy his thirst. He heard commotion outside, almost like a marching sound. He glanced out the cabin window. Outside he saw battalions of navy men marching across the sand, not even paying attention to the ship, they were all staring blankly ahead. All of the had wounds, gunshots to the head, sword through the heart, representing how they had died. Solomon touched the back of his head to find it coated in blood. The navy all marched into the direction of where he had seen the ship. Solomon had a crazy idea, so crazy he had to try it. He ran out of the cabin and quickly scaled the masts, letting the sails down. Sure enough, even though there was no wind his ship started to move. Faster and faster it went, pushing navy scum out of its way. Solomon glanced down from the deck, eager to see the sand woosh by. He was amazed when he saw crabs. They seemed to be carrying the ship. They were no ordinary crabs, they walked forward instead of sideways like he had seen at Tortuga, or maybe the crabs at Tortuga were different? Eventually the ship mounted a hill, on the other side was blue water, the most beautiful blue he had ever seen.
The sound of waves surrounded Solomon, almost embracing him in their familiarity. The smell of salt water also assaulted Solomon. Tears filled his eyes as he realized he’d never see the real ocean again. Solomon also saw the sun. It was low over the horizon and seemed to be mocking Solo. His ship finally entered the water. The beach was littered with shipwrecks. Shipwreck cove itself was nothing compared to this. Solomon also saw fellow pirates staring at his ship in disbelief. He wasn’t going to help them, dead or not they were enemies of Solomon, he had fought them years previously. The ship rocked gently in the water. Solomon sat there lost in thought.
***
A day prior to his last voyage
Solomon sat in the bar at Tortuga, drinking rum. He was sent here cause a friend had a hunch that his enemies were plotting on killing him. Now it was his job to spy on them.
“You got the money” Said the first pirate
“Aye, you got the knowledge” Said his friend
“I experienced it first hand, matey”
“But how could I know ye be not lying?”
“Here” The pirate pulled something out his coat, out of view of Solomon, “Prove enough for ye?”
“Fine, now tell me” he said, placing a bag of money on the table.
“Its simple. Ye need only 1 man, so if ye go down yerself ye can get out again”
They mumbled something that Solo could not make out.
“Just rock the boat says I, but a warning, ye would always be hungry and thirsty, nothing will satisfy you again, savvy?”
“Aye, like todays food does that already?”
The rest of the conversation was nothing but a fools tale. Nothing stated anything about trying to hunt down his friend.
***
Solomon was wondering, could it be, might they have been talking on how to escape this hell?
“Ye only need 1 man” Solomon was alone and it seemed like a good place to start. After several attempts, he finally got the boat rocking, cargo was shifting down in the hold and the sun was busy setting, but that wasn’t important. With a groan the boat tipped over, Solo took a gulp of breath and hoped he wasn’t wrong. The ship was barely upside down when it seemed like the water fell away, or flew up was it? Solomon was lying on deck. It was a foggy day. Solomon savored the breathes he took, it smelt fresh and everything had a happy aura to it. The sun had just risen.
According to the morning star, he should be just north of Cuba. This area was heavily patrolled by Navy and EITC ships. He was alone aboard his ship. He stood in no condition to fight a fully armed warship. The wind was picking up and the ship had already started to sail again. Luckily it headed straight for Cuba. Solomon had one hand on the wheel, he was deep in thought. What would he tell the locals if he sailed the ship in alone into port.
BOOM! There was a loud crash, the whole ship shuddered. Solo lost his balance and fell backwards. He stood up again, the wind was blowing fiercely, but the ship was not moving. Solo glanced over the railing, the water was a light blue. Crystal clear and Solomon could see a reef. He had run aground. Solomon cursed aloud, Cuba was on the horizon and he had no ship to sail anymore. He glanced about the deck. There! among the wreckage lay a rowboat, still in good condition. Solomon eagerly got the boat in potion, tied to the ship by a rope. He slowly walked across the deck, sad to see a great ship in ruins like this.
That night Solomon finally landed upon shore, he had no troubles in the rowboat but now he was greeted by many angry locals. They did not take lightly to strangers, especially pirates. They all had weapons of some sort and look ready to kill.
---------------------------------------------
What do you think, help would be appreciated.