Here's another chapter. Kinda long I think, but its a good one.
Chapter 11: Into the Maw
Billy, even though he had spent the night with the Sorcerors, was still quiet. Davy decided it would be best if he just let him be with his friends, or former friends, and see if eventually he opened up. For the time being, there were other things to worry about. They had left the tavern before dawn, so that they could hopefully reach the mines before the Rage Ghosts came back out. For the first few hours, a dead silence hung over the group. Nobody wanted to speak; out of anticipation for what was to come, out of nervousness, and simply out of nothing to say. Until Davy decided to voice what had been nagging at him for a while.
“Dan,” he said. His friends jumped at the sudden noise that was different from the cawing of crows and crunch of black gravel. “You know a lot about these ghosts and all, correct?”
“Ghosts and the dead are not exactly my specialty, but I know some. Why do you ask?”
“So, from what we know, El Patron is rising here on Raven’s Cove, so there are many ghosts rising here and in the surrounding area, correct?”
Dan nodded, and Davy continued.
“Then why is it that there are strange happenings outside The Cove. Several ships being ‘possessed’, dead rising, and all that.”
Everyone stopped walking and looked at Dan. Davy supposed that Dan was in a serious mood, because he had a real thinking face on. For a moment Davy thought that he had stumped the Witchdoctor, but the little man slowly spoke.
“I’m not completely sure,” Dan said. “But here’s a guess. El Patron is likely so powerful, that since he is stirring, the dead around the Caribbean stir as well. Granted, it isn’t enough to raise an army of the living dead, but just one or two people rise here and there. Its like a disturbance in the natural way of things, get what I’m saying?”
“Somewhat,” Davy said.
“Then why is it that there are those sailors acting weird? I recall a rumor about some crew of sailors acting all strange,” Kate asked as they resumed walking.
“Ahh, that I think I know the answer to,” Dan said thoughtfully. “You see, in my many studies of the dead, they always want to be in the form of someone living if they are on this Earth. This means that they will, if they are not directed by a master otherwise, try to take control of a living body. That explains all the strange people. They were possessed by a ghost.”
“Err, mates,” Billy said. “I think that we’ve come to the place to go up.”
“The elevator,” Davy said. “I used it about ten years ago when I got stranded here and met Joanna.”
“How do you expect us to all fit into that tiny thing?” Dog asked. “It can barely hold two people!”
“We’ll go two at a time,” Davy said. “Billy and I can go first.”
The two of them approached the elevator. Billy stepped in next to him, and Davy turned the key. The elevator began its climb to the top of the cliff.
“See you at the top,” Davy muttered.
Davy and Billy stood in silence as the elevator rose above the ground. They could see Smelly down below barking and jumping in circles as his masters escalated.
“Ready for this, brother?” Davy asked forcing himself to give a small smile.
“No way I can’t be ready,” Billy muttered. “So I suppose I am ready by default then. I am just hoping we can come out alive.”
“I hope so too,” Davy mumbled as the elevator came to a stop. They stepped out of it, and Davy pulled the lever from the outside, sending it back down. The group slowly came up, until they were all standing on the edge of the cliff. From there, they headed into the small canyon that stood atop the cliffs of Raven’s Cove.
The group navigated through them, simply going where they thought was the most sensible way to go. They stopped for lunch at one point, eating some dried rations that they had packed. Billy seemed to have an extra large appetite when it came to meat, but nobody really paid much attention. After they sat and rested for a few minutes, they began their walk again. Unfortunately, night was going to fall in just an hour. The group picked up their pace. After a few minutes, they arrived at the massive bridge that joined the two tips of the cove, and spanned across the water that ships entered through.
As Davy stepped out onto the plank bridge, with ropes for sides, he took a glance into the cove. He could see the dark form of the
Shadow King floating far beneath him, and then a bit deeper into the cove. He could make out the forms of some of his crewmates doing the last duties of the day before they sealed themselves up down below.
“Do you remember the
Shadow King Billy?” Davy asked.
Billy shut his eyes tight, trying painfully to remember something, anything. After a few moments, his eyes opened.
“Some memories are coming back,” he said. “Nothing full though. I told you, just feelings, maybe brief images, but nothing full.”
“Come on guys,” Sharktooth said, waving to them. He was already moving across the bridge. “The sun’s about to set, and I don’t want to be stuck up here in the dark.”
Davy glanced at the sun on the horizon. It was just a silver now. Night was about to fall, and time slowed down all of the sudden. Davy tried to move, but it felt like he was moving through molasses. Everything was slow. And a voice in his head counted off the last seconds of daylight.
Five…
Four…
Three…
Two…
One…
The sun dropped, and darkness fell. Time returned to normal, but the world had just done the drastic change from day to night. And then the howling started.
Everyone’s eyes grew wide as they realized that they were now in the middle of a rope bridge, on Raven’s Cove, at night. Not the safest place to be. But then Billy noticed something.
“That howling is… different…”
“It sounds more like… taunting?” Zolina observed. “And do I hear…?”
“Swords being drawn,” Meg said, drawing her own. The Sorcerors all went back to back, each with a sword in hand, except for Billy, who was using a dagger he had gotten from the town. And then the ghosts arrived. Figures surrounded by an orange mist with glowing red eyes, and swords drawn.
“Can they hurt us?” Pirate Guy asked. “I mean… they’re ghosts. Aren’t they intangible?”
“I don’t think so,” Witchdoctor said. “Ghosts are actually able to touch the living, and vice versa. Unfortunately for us, its bloody difficult to actually harm something already dead.”
“Let’s test that theory then,” Davy said smiling as the ghosts closed in. “Attack!”
The battle commenced. Davy was a good fighter, but he wasn’t used to fighting in such cramped space. He was used to being able to roll to the sides, jump around and such. Here he barely had space to parry and strike. He was not as good as he could be, but he was still good.
He cleaved down at the ghost, but the ghost, who had the form of a Spanish Conquistador, blocked it and gave Davy a hard kick in the ribs. Davy stumbled back, wincing in pain. Aye, those ghosts could touch the living. Davy decided to change his tactics. He pulled out his large dagger and held it in his left hand, his sword in the right. He attacked the ghost with both of the weapons. The ghost was strong, but he was soon overpowered. Davy slashed the ghost’s arm with the dagger, causing the figure to drop his sword, and then he followed through with a thrust from his sword, straight into the chest of the ghost. The ghost made a horrible sound in pain that sounded like a shriek mixed with a roar.
Davy ripped the sword out of the ghost, and turned around to go help his friends. Before he could get too far though, the hairs on his neck stood up. Davy whirled around to do an X-block with his dagger and cutlass, blocking the strike from the ghost that had assaulted him.
“You just won’t die, will you?” Davy sneered.
The ghost hissed in reply, and delivered another strike at Davy’s legs. Davy parried it with his dagger and made a slash with his sword. The ghost blocked it too, but Davy knew what he was doing. As the ghost had its sword down, Davy lunged in with his dagger, slitting the ghost’s throat. He screeched again and stumbled backward, clutching his neck. Davy for sure thought he had him now, but the ghost merely stood back up, retrieved his sword, and began advancing again.
“Just die you infernal monster!” Davy roared. He sheathed his dagger, and while the ghost was still a bit dazed, he charged it. Davy roared a battle cry as he leaped into the air. The ghost looked up, too late to defend itself against Davy’s jumping slash. The sword cleaved down the ghost’s chest, sending him stumbling backward again. This time; however, the ghost hit the rope railing of the bridge a bit too fast, and with a yelp, it did a flip and plummeted to the sea below. Before Davy could take a breather, he heard the clashing of more swords, and remembered his friends.
“Little help here!” Dog yelled.
Davy looked around. He could see that they were losing the fight. Meg had taken a bad cut to her arm, and was fighting with one arm. Dog was holding off, but he was getting tired, like the rest of the Sorcerors. Davy desperately thought of something. He looked at the rope bridge, and got a desperate idea.
“Smelly! Run to the edge!” Davy yelled. Smelly was involved in helping Billy fight off one of the ghosts. Billy kicked the ghost back, and gave Smelly a quick nod of approval. Smelly ran to the opposite end of the bridge, and waited on the stone, giving a few barks of worry.
“Mates!” Davy cried out. “Grab hold of something!”
It startled everyone, but they all wrapped a leg and an arm around the rope, defending with their other arm.
“If this doesn’t work…” Davy muttered. He wrapped his arm around one of the ropes of the bridge, and lifted his sword. In one fluid slice, he cut the opposite rope, and the floor beneath them shifted. The ghosts, not aware of what was going on, plummeted to the sea below. The Sorcerors were left clinging to the broken bridge, slanted so that the wooden planks that were to be walked on were perpendicular to the sea beneath them.
“Great Davy,” Sam said. “Ye saved us from the ghosts, but now we’re left hanging here, hundreds of meters above the sea.”
“Would you rather have been skewered?!” Davy snapped, annoyed.
“Mates! Shut it!” Zolina said. “No problem, lets just climb to the other side.”
“And what about me?” Meg said through gritted teeth. She was obviously in pain from her arm wound. “I can’t get to the other side! My arm is useless!”
“Alright, alright!” Davy said. “Here, I may be able to repair the bridge.”
Davy closed his eyes, and willed the two ends of rope that he had cut to come back together, reforming the bridge. Slowly, the bridge began to level itself, and the group was able to stand up, and Davy forced the two strands of rope to come back together. Nothing was said, and the group walked quickly but carefully to the other side of the bridge, where Smelly waited. As they reached the other side, Smelly began to bark aggressively again. Davy turned around to see glowing, orange figures at the side of the bridge they had just come from. More ghosts.
They started moving across the bridge. There wasn’t much time. Davy instantly cut the bridge’s ropes again, but both this time. The bridge fell away from them, and swung to the cliff on the other side. The ghosts fell to the sea.
“Let’s hope we can find another way across,” Davy said. “Because I’m not sure I can move the bridge when its that far away.”
The Sorcerors nodded, and they all began walking. They were at the rim of something that looked like a bowl structure. The path spread all around the “rim” of the bowl, and at the far end was the entrance to a cave. Davy looked down below, and in the darkness, he could faintly see the outline of a mast, but he couldn’t be sure.
“Come on mates, let’s get a move on,” Sam said, waving to the group. They all followed the path until they reached the entrance of the cave. Davy, when he stepped near it, instantly felt the urge to simply run away. Cold air seemed to come out of it, and the sense of fear emanated out of the area. Davy could swear that he heard strange whispers coming from the cave. They weren’t understandable, but they were there. He was sure of it.
“Well my friends,” Davy said, gulping. “Here we go, straight into the maw of this hellish mine.”
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Time for the action to really speed up. Any questions, comments, constructive criticism,and praise are appreciated.