The Tale of Davy Fireskull

[Tiberius Fireskull]

Chapter 4: Encounter


The battle began, and a storm with it. Storms seemed to always follow these ships. The two ships began to circle each other. The crew of the Black Swan could see skeleton crew. They were horrible sights: hardly any flesh left on their bodies, and any that was left was rotten and falling off. They yelled horrible battle cries in horrible unearthly voices. The crews of both ships prepared the cannons, and finally the first broadside was fired by the Black Swan. The sound off the cannons was almost muted out by the storm. The crew watched the cannons fly towards Jolly Roger’s ship, and collide. The side of the ship blasted open, revealing some of the interior.

The skeleton ship was next to fire, but instead of firing round shots like all natural ships do, it fired shots that were a bright blue that seemed to have a face on it. A face that should be dead. They almost seemed to scream as they flew towards the Black Swan. The crew stared at them, terrified of this strange new object. Then it hit. The ghostly cannon ammo seemed to tear apart the hull of the Black Swan far more than normal round shots. When it hit, it destroyed all the planks within about a 5 foot radius, also sending broadside cannons flying backwards, some crushing the crewmates.

As soon as Captain Hawk saw the damage that the enemy’s first broadside did, he knew it was over. But Hawk was a fighter, he would never give up.

“COME ONE CREW!!! KEEP ON FIRING!!! WE HAVEN’T LOST YET!!! LETS SHOW THESE BONEHEADS WHAT WE ARE MADE OF!!!” Hawk cried at the top of his lungs.

More rounds of shots were fired; the round shots of the Swan seemed to do little damage compared to the mighty cannons of the skeleton ship. After about a half hour of fighting, boarding began. The skeletons swung from their ship onto the Swan, catching the crew off guard. Most of the crew just stood in shock, staring into the empty eye sockets of the skeletons before getting ruthlessly slaughtered. After about a minute, the crew got their act together and started to fight off the skeletons, but it was still no use. They were incredibly powerful fighters, and had no mercy or fear.

Davy pulled out his sword, uttering a battle cry. Then he charged at a skeleton. He and the bonehead exchanged blow after blow at each other, none of them getting past the other’s blade. Davy finally head-butted the skeleton sailor, stunning him. Then he took his sword and brought it down on his head, shattering the skull. Davy was known amongst the crew to be one of the best swordsman; he could beat any one of the crewmates on board, but this was different. These skeletons had an unearthly strength. However, this wouldn’t stop Davy from cutting down every last one. He attacked another, and they battled for a few minutes, before Davy managed to give him a stab in the stomach. Davy left the battle with a rather large cut on his arm, going from his left shoulder down to his elbow.

Davy soon found himself back to back with Gill, each of them fighting off a skeleton.

“Well Davy ol’ buddy, this could be the end of us matey,” Gill said between sword strokes.

“Aye, it very well could be. It was nice knowin’ ye,” Davy said with his teeth together.

Davy did a roll and got behind is skeleton foe, then he brought his sword up and sliced the skeletons spine. As the skeleton dropped down, Davy saw a ghost cannon ball flying towards the deck.

“GILL!!! LOOK OUT!!!” Davy cried.

Gill and his skeleton foe looked up and saw it, but they were too slow, and the cannon ball exploded at their feet. The last Davy saw of Gill was of his lifeless body flying across the deck, and into the sea. Just then, Davy noticed Captain Hawk walking through the battlefield, holding his sword above his head, with a white cloth on top of it. It was over, Hawk had realized that it was no use letting his crew die. The skeletons stopped fighting, and grinned, showing off their rotten teeth.

One of the skeletons came up to Hawk and said, “Abandon this ship. Get onto ours and speak with our captain. If he is merciful, perhaps he will let you join his army!”

Hawk nodded sadly and said to the crew, “Very well crew, follow them. It was a pleasure serving with you all, and I’m sorry I let you down.”

~~~~~~~~~~


The crew of the Black Swan lined up on the skeleton ship, facing towards their sinking vessel. Captain Hawk, or perhaps just James Hawk now, as a captain needs a ship to be called a captain. The skeletons fired one last broadside of cannons, explosive cannon balls this time, meant to finish off the Black Swan. The crew watched sadly as the Swan exploded into pieces, sinking quickly. Soon, all that was left was several floating planks of wood, and a black flag with a skull and crossed swords. Some say that former Captain Hawk teared up at the sight of his ship sinking. The skeletons laughed as they watched the Black Swan sink into the depths. Then they all became silent, as a door opened on the ship. Then, out of the door, a terrifying figure walked out. He too was a skeleton, but much larger. He had a few dreadlocks that were underneath a large captain hat. He was wearing some tattered clothing, and he had a look of authority to him. In place of one of his legs, was a skeletal donkey’s hoof, and on one of his hands was a strange contraption that looked almost like a pistol with a blade attacked to the bottom.

Jolly Roger.

He looked at each of the survivors of the crew and spat. Then he spoke with a rasping voice that chilled the souls of all humans who heard it.

“Why have ye brought me these dogs? I told ye to show no mercy! I have no need for more pirates aboard this ship! Kill them all immed…” Then he looked at Davy. His empty eye sockets bored into Davy’s mind and soul. Davy felt like he was dying. His whole life flashed before his eyes in only a few seconds.

“I know ye…” Jolly Roger said to Davy. “Ye were on that ship that I attacked ten years ago! The one with that man… Henry Phillips… yer his son! David Phillips! AH HA HA HA!!! Now ye can join my ranks like yer father did!!!

Davy stood in fear, his eyes wide. What could he do against such a mighty foe? Jolly grabbed Davy by his neck, and thrust his strange appendage up near his throat. “Tell me Davy, how would ye like to join my ranks?” Jolly said laughing. Then a strange green fog came from the gun part of Jolly Roger’s gun on his arm, surrounding Davy.

He struggled, but Jolly’s grip was like steel, and he couldn’t move.
“GAAAAHHH!!!!” Davy cried out. He felt Jolly Roger’s skeletal hand on his throat; Davy had never known such fear. Then he looked down, and saw his body slowly transforming into a skeleton. He looked up into Jolly Roger’s empty eye sockets, and again had that feeling of pure fear.

Then Davy heard someone yell, and next thing he knew, Jolly Roger had let go of him and was on the deck with James Hawk on top of him. Hawk punched Roger’s face, causing Jolly to cry out in pain. The he looked up at Hawk and sent him flying back into one of the masts using some unseen force, knocking the wind out of him. Then Jolly lifted him again without touching him, and sent him flying onto the deck, and then back onto the mast. Finally, he drew his sword, brought Hawk right in front of him, and stabbed him through the heart.

Hawk looked at Davy one last time. His head had a big gash on it, and his nose seemed broken. Blood trickled out of his mouth. Then he uttered his final words.

“Davy… run…”

Davy didn’t hesitate, he dived off the ship while Jolly was distracted. Once he was in the water, he swam towards the wreck of the Black Swan. He didn’t turn around, and he grabbed onto a floating plank of wood as the storm propelled him away from Jolly Roger. The last thing he heard before going unconscious was Jolly Roger crying out in frustration, ordering his crew to kill the survivors.