The Tale of Davy Fireskull

[Tiberius Fireskull]

Chapter 22: The Hidden Village

The Sorcerors passed through the short tunnel in less than five minutes. In no time, they were on the outside of the canyon housing the hidden jungle. Davy had a strange feeling that he may go back there eventually, but he hoped he was wrong. He never wanted to go back into those places again. Especially those horrible, horrible Catacombs. The memories of those past few days were painful and frightening. More than several times he had come less than an inch from death, and the worst part was that it was at his own brother’s hands. Only then did Davy realize how long they had been gone from the ship.

“Good grief!” Davy exclaimed as they exited the tunnel. “Its got to have been at least three days since we landed on this island! The crew will be wondering where we are! We have to get back soon, or they may just decide to leave. After all, Matt won’t be able to keep them happy for too long.”

Zolina nodded. “Not to mention that Sam here is on death’s doorstep. If he isn’t back onto the ship in safe hands soon… well, lets not think of that.”

The group walked several meters more. In front of them was a small group of charred trees, and just a meter or so past them was a huge pool of lava, and on the other side of that was a steep wall of black rock that rose and joined into the volcano. A large flow of lava trickled into the molten lake at a steady pace. It was extremely warm, almost hot. Small mounds rose from the ground, and smoke shot out of them every once in a while.

As they continued walking on, the path took a bend, about at the charred trees. As they followed the path, they arrived in what looked like it was a group of shops. The little shacks were poorly built; some slanted to an angle, and others were completely burned down. However, it was clear that these buildings had been recently visited. When the Sorcerors examined the area more closely, they noticed that there were little footprints in the sand next to the shops and houses.

“This place is givin’ me the creeps,” Luckie said. “Can we please move on?”

“Aye,” Davy said. “Lets go.”

They turned around, and took a step back. Facing them was an old woman. They hadn’t heard her coming. It was as if she had appeared from thin air. She had white hair, and an aged face. Her grey eyes seemed ancient and all knowing. She wore a long black dress. Her skin was pale and thin looking, but that was not the strangest feature of her. Right below her collar, was an X shaped scar, colored a dull red. The woman watched the Sorcerors, showing no sign of emotion.

“We mean you no harm,” Davy said, holding up his arms.

“I did not assume that you did David Fireskull,” the woman said emotionlessly. “The people of this village call me Heartless Rosaline. I am the town’s gypsy, and I deal with anyone that comes to this village.”

“We just came through The Catacombs and the jungle on the other side of this cliff,” Kate said. “Please, we just need to get through.”

“I know where you came from,” Rosaline said. “However, I cannot let you leave.”

“But…” Davy stuttered.

“We live in secret. Anyone who leaves this place can ruin this secrecy for us.”

Zolina stepped forward, “Please madam, our friend is dying, and we cannot let him just die. Please, we swear on our graves that we will not say anything about this place.”

Rosaline looked at Sam, who was slumped over Will’s back. For a moment, her eyes seemed sad and depressed rather than cold. Then they snapped back. She simply stood and stared at the group for several moments. Then, she spoke.

“It is against my ways to let a man die,” the old woman said. “And unfortunately, the only way I can allow him to live in peace is to allow him to go with you away from here; however, I cannot let you leave just yet. I will make you a deal pirates.”

“Anything,” Davy pleaded.

A cruel smile appeared on her lips. “I had hoped you would say that. The quest I have for you is simple. Somewhere in our village, there is a large band of skeletons. Perhaps several dozen. They should not be a problem for you if you were able to come out of the Catacombs and El Sudoron, that jungle you just came out of, with only minor injuries. They have a leader too. He is a voodoo gypsy… an old friend of mine in fact, from many years ago. His name is Timothy Dartan. He is a powerful gypsy, don’t underestimate him.”

Davy looked at his friends. They all looked at him, giving him the same look. Lets do this, it said. Davy turned back to Heartless Rosaline.

“We’ll do it… but what about our dying friend?”

“I will take care of him while you are gone,” Rosaline said. “I will keep his state from deteriorating; however, I shall not cure him. That is for you to do.”

Davy and his friends nodded. Will set Sam down to where Rosaline had gestured to.

“Do you have any leads on where these boneheads may be?” Will asked.

Rosaline nodded, “They are probably camping out in our central plaza. From what our scouts have told me, they are all there, right next to our blacksmith and gunsmith. Just head deeper into our village and you can’t miss it.”

The group left quickly. The village was fairly small, and they moved through it efficiently. Occasionally, they would see a face peek out through an ajar door, or a cracked window. Other than that, though, the place was lifeless and desolate. The ground was a fine gravel, made of ash. It looked like it had once been a prosperous village, until something happened. Davy decided he would ask Rosaline about it when they were done taking down Dartan and his boneheads.

After a few more minutes of walking, they heard chattering. The chattering of skeletal mouths. A wooden fence with a large opening in the center opened up to a small little town square, and in it, was at least three dozen skeletons. Off to the side, was a much larger, more authoritative looking skeleton. He held no weapon, but he fingered with a strange, evil looking doll.

A voodoo doll. A deadly weapon when used correctly.

“What’s the plan?” Luckie whispered.

“Well, if I may state my opinion,” Will said. “I would say that it would be best to take down Timmy first. He’s probably the biggest threat. Unfortunately, getting to him will not be easy. He’s farthest from us, and he is facing us, so he will see us first. So, I guess that the best thing to do would be to do what we did to skellies in the Catacombs.”

“I would love to do that,” Davy said. “But sadly for us, we don’t have a roof to cave in on them.”

“I got it!” Zolina exclaimed.

“Spill it Zo!” Kate said, chuckling.

“Well, if one of us makes a little distraction, like throwing a rock onto something, that could get their attention, while we all cast some spells with our staffs. While they are distracted, we hit ‘em, and then we go in with our swords for the final kill.”

“I like it,” Will said. “Short, simple, easy to remember.”

“Sounds like a plan…” Davy muttered, picking up a rock. He glanced at his friends to get ready to cast a voodoo spell, and he climbed to the top of the fence. He barely stuck his head above it, so he wasn’t easily visible. He carefully aimed his rock at Timothy Dartan’s large skull. Then, he threw the rock. It soared through the air, but just before it hit, it stopped. Dartan looked directly at Davy, filling his body with fear, and then Dartan grinned.

“Go!!!” Davy yelled.

The group launched a blast of voodoo spells, but Timothy Dartan was able to block almost half of them using his own voodoo powers. The plan was failing, and it had barely started. Davy pulled out his sword, and sprinted towards the nearest skeleton. He cut through it before it knew what was going on. After a few seconds, the other skeletons got their act together, and were able to fight back.

Then, Davy did something very bold. He openly charged Timothy Dartan, an undead voodoo gypsy. Dartan, startled by the open attack, was completely open to attack. Davy was able to slash one of his legs and his chest each once, before Dartan attuned his voodoo doll to Davy. He thrust the doll forward, and Davy was sent hurtling backward. He rolled on the ground, and then got back up, dazed. Timmy pulled out a needle, and before Davy could do anything about it, he poked the doll. Davy cried out in excruciating pain. It wasn’t as bad as a sword stab, but it still felt agonizing nonetheless. Davy ran towards Dartan, but he cast him aside again. Davy slammed into the wall of a shack, and slumped to the floor. Dartan was too strong.

The undead gypsy grinned. Davy wondered if this was the end. But then, he got up. He was through with this.

“I’m not going to let some damn bag of bones kill me! Not yet!” Davy cried out at Timothy. “My friend is dying, and I will not let him down!!!”

With that, Davy ran at Timothy Dartan. The skeleton tried to use voodoo spells to attack him again, but to no avail. Right now, Davy was too powerful. He resisted every voodoo attack he sent at him. Davy was closing in on him. Once he was just a little over a meter away, he jumped up, sword raised above his head. In one last attempt to save his life, Dartan held his doll into the air, suspending Davy just out of reach of his head.

Davy struggled, but Dartan was strong. Davy then changed his tactic, and repulsed everything around him. Dartan stumbled back a step, and dropped Davy. Davy continued his decent downward, and brought down his sword on Timothy Dartan’s head. Dartan never got the chance to look up.

When Davy turned around, he saw the last of the skeletons being finished off by his friends. Davy picked up Dartan’s doll. It seemed to glow with an evil life. Davy shuddered. He decided to keep it. As frightening as it was, it could be handy. It was bluish in color, with a purple fuzz on its head, like hair.

Banshee Doll, something whispered in Davy’s head. He put the doll away, and walked to his friends.

“Come on mates, lets go,” he said. “I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

There was no arguing, and they walked back through the village back to where Heartless Rosaline waited with Sam. The whole quest was fairly short, far shorter than Rosaline had expected.

“Are they destroyed?” Rosaline asked emotionlessly.

“Aye, they are.” Davy said.

“Then I will let you leave in peace with your friend. But on your word, you must swear that you will never speak of this place. To anyone!”

“Very well,” Davy said nodding. “But, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened here…?”

Heartless Rosaline was silent, but spoke anyway, “Over a year ago, Jolly Roger’s forces from the Catacombs escaped. A large group of them, a hundred at least, came out of the caves into El Sudoron. From there, they arrived into our village here. We used to be a prosperous little village. The main part of Padres would trade us goods, and we would give them ours. We made a living, and were proud of ourselves.

“However, when Jolly’s forces arrived, that all ended. As soon as Jolly realized his minions were free, he came to them, by that strange way of teleportation he does. He threatened us, telling us to join him and let this be one of his strongholds, or he would destroy us all. I, being the elected leader of our little village, declined him, and so he did the worst. He led his skeletons through our village, burning everything. He killed anyone in his path: men, women, even children. He was heartless and merciless. His raid only took a day or so. In the end he piled up all the bodies and burned them in our public square.

“He ruthlessly slaughtered dozens of innocent people, people who didn’t mean him any harm. Lucky for us, a few of us escaped the village while the massacre was going on. Just two or two and a half dozen of us survived. After several days of hiding, we came back, to find our village in ruins. There were several skeletons staying here, patrolling. We managed to sneak past them. No matter the danger, we will stay here, and continue to live in our homes. This is where we live, and always shall be.

“Because of the choice I made that doomed us all, I symbolically carved this gash on my chest, and became known as Heartless Rosaline to myself. The villagers say that it wasn’t my fault, but I blame myself for the dozens dead. And why we cannot be known to the world? If we are known, word will get out to Jolly that there are survivors, and he will come back with more forces, and kill any survivors. That is the story of the Hidden Village.”

The Sorcerors took that in. Davy, realizing that there was nothing more to be said, looked up.

“Thank you, Rosaline. Thank you for everything. I’m sorry for your losses. And madam, what you did for us, letting us through even though you didn’t want to, that was very kind. Perhaps you aren’t so heartless at all.”

A ghost of a smile twitched on the old woman’s lips. Davy blinked once, and when his eyes opened, she was gone.

“Am I the only one who saw that she just…” Luckie said.

“No, your not,” Will said. “Come on, lets go! I want to get Sam back to the ship quickly!”

The group walked down a different path, this one leading through another small canyon. It was a narrow path, but it soon opened up onto a large beach. The beach was covered with small crabs, and on the sand, near the water, was a dingy, just big enough to fit the six Sorcerors. And about a mile from shore was a large, black ship. The Shadow King.

Davy breathed a sigh of relief as he stared at his ship. Finally, he was done. Then he realized how wrong he was. He had just started. He had a long way to go before his ordeals were actually done.

“You comin’ Captain Fireskull?” Kate teased.

Davy smiled, and hopped into the dingy. “Lets get on board that ship mates!”