Glad to hear that John! Always happy to hear it when new readers come by.
Sorry I haven't been able to post too much. I've been really busy, but I was able to get another chapter in. Hopefully its alright for all you picky ones.
Chapter 18: Lost Souls
“What have we here?” a deep, metallic voice rasped. “A mortal has come into my realm? Why have you brought
this to me?”
“He was found injured in the secret tunnel, my lord,” another voice hissed. “He’s powerful, able to get all the way to El Patron’s tomb. No mortal has accomplished that. He may be of some use… He was armed only with these.” Davy heard the sound of his dagger clattering to the floor next to him.
There was a pause before the first speaker responded, “Keep him here. I will question him myself. Leave me with him.”
Davy felt himself roughly thrown onto the ground. His head bumped the ground and a little cut opened, oozing warm blood. He was only half conscious, but he became a bit more aware of his surroundings when he noticed light. He was too weak to open his eyes much, but he weakly took note of some of the noises. Now, his eyes fluttered open, and after blinking out the stars, he was able to make out his surroundings.
He was in a sizable cavern, lit by several torches around the perimeter. To his side, he saw a wooden platform about two and a half meters high, although Davy couldn’t tell exactly. A small staircase led to it. Scattered throughout the cavern were mining tools of different sizes and purposes, ranging from pickaxes and shovels to what looked like explosives. Davy couldn’t see his captor, who stood a meter or so in front of him. Davy was too weak to sit up to look at him.
“What are you…?” the voice asked curiously. There was no sound of threat in the voice, as dark as it sounded. “How can a mere mortal find his way into this place?”
Davy groaned and shifted a bit, trying to get up. Davy felt the figure shift and grab his shoulder. He was lifted up and was now able to look his captor in the eyes.
Little to Davy’s surprise, the captor was indeed a ghost. Strangely, he had the white glow, similar to El Patron. He had glowing red eyes, with a tall hat in the shape of an arc—a chapeau, was it called? He had a sleeveless tank with a vest over it, showing off his ghostly muscles. He wore a pair of buttoned breeches with a pair of black boots as well. In his belt were two large, double-edged battle knives and quite a few smaller throwing knives. The two red orbs in his head looked back at Davy, but without hostility. Curiosity, was it? Or was he analyzing him, seeing what use Davy could be of for him?
“What is your name, amigo?” the ghost said. The metallic voice was powerful, and Davy noticed a tinge of authority. Even though his captor’s intent was not to do him any harm just yet, he was not to be disobeyed.
Davy thought for a moment about what to do. He did not know who this person could be, and whether he meant him harm or not. Did he serve El Patron? Davy couldn’t tell, but he knew that in his weakened state, he couldn’t afford to not say
anything. And he could see in this man’s eyes that he would see through a lie.
“Davy Fireskull,” Davy reluctantly said.
For a moment, he saw his captor’s face change, but before Davy could process it, he regained his former expression and spoke.
“
Davy Fireskull?” the ghost said, raising an eyebrow. “That name… how did you get here? No, why are you here?”
Boldly, Davy didn’t answer his question, but posed his own, “Who are you? Where am I?”
The man before him looked a bit shocked, but replied nonetheless. “You’ve got a lot of courage, mortal. The only reason I am so forgiving is because… never mind. I have gone by many names, but the name I have gone by for the last two centuries or so is Foulberto Smasho.”
Davy couldn’t resist but interrupt. “Foulberto Smasho? One of El Patron’s—”
“Yes, yes, I was in that scum’s crew once,” Foulberto said. Then, a bit more quietly. “Never again will I sail with that bloody backstabber.”
Davy was curious now. He was certain that Foulberto was his own little faction now, but he wanted the full story.
“What happened?” Davy asked. “I know that there was a bit of a civil war between the crew, with half of them backing you and the other half backing El Patron. You were defeated and your four lieutenants were executed before your eyes… but we never learned what happened to you.”
Smasho grunted, “That figures. El Patron wanted me out of the story. He wanted me forgotten. Only a few minutes after he executed my lieutenants, I managed to escape from El Patron and his men. A few of my followers, the ones that weren’t killed, escaped with me into a side cavern. Furious, El Patron sealed the entrance… and cursed it so that we would be trapped here as long as he would be trapped in there. Me and my followers, the ones that brought you here (Forgive their brutality, they did not know whether you were friend or foe.), have been trapped here since. This cave has become known as The Cave of Lost Souls to us. We are just a few trapped souls, lost from the rest of civilization. I want nothing more than to ring the neck of that swine El Patron.”
“Wait a moment,” Davy said. “You’re not one of El Patron’s followers?”
“Well what the Hell do you think?” Foulberto bellowed. “He tortured me, executed my men, and trapped me in this bloody Hell hole! I despise that dog! Now, explain yourself before I take my rage out on you.”
Davy reluctantly told Foulberto about who he was, where he was from, and why he was here. He didn’t have much of a choice. Saying no would mean that he may get to see how well Foulberto could wield his daggers. Foulberto was a good listener. Him and Davy sat down on the stone floor, and Foulberto made no interruptions. He occasionally would raise an eyebrow or nod, but he seemed to understand everything. Finally, Davy finished and was silent.
“Well then Fireskull,” Foulberto said. “If El Patron truly has gained enough power to escape his imprisonment, then that means that my crew and I should be able to escape as well… Fireskull, I’ll cut you a little deal. You’re strong. I can tell that. Alone, I don’t think that we’re going to be able to defeat El Patron, but together! Together we will crush him and send his bloody soul to the deepest pit of Hell! In return for helping me bring him down, I’ll not leave you in this cave to rot, savvy?”
Davy thought for a moment. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Smasho could easily leave him here and Davy didn’t have a chance. He had no food, water, or rum and no weapons, other than his dagger, which wouldn’t be much use if he were stuck in a cave. On the other hand, if he went with Smasho, there was no guarantee that he would actually spare him at the end, or if he was simply toying with him. He was, after all, a former member of El Patron’s crew.
“How can I trust you?” Davy inquired. “How do I know that you’ll really do what you say you’re going to do?”
“You don’t!” Smasho said. “But what choice do you have? Take a chance at death by coming with us, or actually die staying?”
Davy considered this, and nodded. “What’s the plan then?”
“I’m glad you warmed up to me,” Smasho said. “Now, you look horrible, amigo. Go get some rest. Clean out your wound. We’ve a few stashes of mortal food that you can nibble on, and there’s a barrel or two of water. Not the nicest tasting, but its water nonetheless.
Davy nodded and slowly got to his feet, picking up his dagger too. Smasho beckoned in the direction of a small side cave and Davy slowly made his way inside. It was dimly lit by torches, but there wasn’t much to see. There was, as Foulberto said, a few barrels of water with a dusty drinking glass on the top. Beside it were a few crates of what looked like some dried meats. Davy opened the top of the barrel and greedily drank the dusty and warm water as if it were rum aged ten years, then moved on to opening the crates of food. He ate as much of the stale meat as he could, until he couldn’t eat anymore.
After stifling a large belch, he glanced around the room again and saw a pile of sacks, probably containing flour or some other grain. Davy made his way to the sacks and immediately flopped down on them and went to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~
Once he was sure that Davy was asleep, Foulberto called in his first mate. He walked into another separate side cave, across the main cavern from Davy’s. In life, he was a slender man, and retained that same form as a ghost. He wore tight breeches with tall boots that were issued to high ranking conquistadors. He had a yellow and red striped shirt with a closed, black vest of silk over it. Atop his head was a bronze helmet. Strapped to his side was a straight sword of Spanish make with a ruby in its hilt. His features were sharp, giving him the look of a person who was both witty and powerful. His waxed moustache and short goatee made him look like some sort of assassin, although stealth missions were not his specialty.
“You called for me, Captain?” Francisco Black said, saluting Foulberto in respect.
“Indeed I did Mr. Black,” Foulberto said, pacing his room. “It’s about the mortal that found his way here.”
“Davy Fireskull, yes,” Mr. Black said, stroking his goatee. “What about him?”
“I’m not sure what to make of him yet,” Foulberto said. “One thing’s for sure though, and that is that he is indeed the descendent of Tiberius Fireskull… the dog that locked us up in these caves. That worries me a bit, but we need him.”
“I say we kill the scoundrel now, Captain,” Black suggested. “We’ll be avenging ourselves.”
“Not entirely, Mr. Black,” Smasho responded. “There’s still El Patron to worry about. Once he escapes we won’t have much time to destroy him. If he is able to get his hands on what we think he’s after, he’ll be unkillable, and we’ll be done . We can’t allow him to have that power for himself. We need Fireskull to help us defeat him, and perhaps we can claim it for ourselves.”
“This is true… but how do you plan to go about this?”
“You’ll see. Play along with me and it will be ours, and El Patron will be killed for real. Fireskull must live. He is of use to us… for now.”
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Oooooh mystery! What will happen next?