The Tale of Davy Fireskull

[Tiberius Fireskull]

Ok guys, going to try to finish my next chapter tonight, but no promises. And thank you again for the kind words.

[Tiberius Fireskull]

finally, I am able to roll out another chapter.... this one is slightly longer, so prepare for a long read.


Chapter 13: The First Battle


Several hours after the Shadow King had set sail from Tortuga, Tortuga was far behind them. The seas were that bright blue that only the Caribbean Seas have, and the reflecting light was dazzling to the eyes. The sea wasn’t the only thing that was bright; the crew was happy to be sailing again, and there is nothing better than a happy pirate.

Davy walked around the ship with the aid of his new first mate, Sam, and they helped to check up on the crew, and make sure everything was “ship-shape”. The crew seemed to know what they were doing, as Davy expected. Most of them had pirated before.

But this is a different kind of pirating… the average pirate doesn’t fight the undead, and use voodoo magic. Davy thought. He hoped that this would all work out in the end.

Several hours later, even though it seemed like a much shorter time to Davy, the crew stopped for the night. They had done well. They were in the middle of the sea, with no land to either of their sides. It was going to be a clear night, much to Davy’s relief. He was sick and tired of seeing fog, as he was starting to really connect that with Jolly Roger’s appearances. As Davy went below deck, he ran into a fight along the way.

“It’s my rum!!! And ye can’t have it ye scurvy dog!” A young woman was standing with a small knife in her hand, up against a larger man. “Get lost before I bring this knife through yer ribs!”

“Oi, if I be wantin’ the rum, then it be mine! So hand it ova!” the man said. Davy ran in.

“Excuse me, is there a problem here?” Davy asked.

The woman went up to Davy, sheathing her knife in a waste carrier. “Yes Captain Fireskull, there is a problem. This… man -the woman spat towards the man- thinks that he can just be takin’ me rum! With no reason at all!”

“What be so special about yer rum that ye can’t just get another?” Davy asked.

“This is not the ship’s rum, it be me infamous rum. Anyone who knows about it is after it! Including this bilge rat!”

Davy looked at the man, “Leave her alone sailor. If I see you picking on any crew mate again it will be hull scrubbing for a week.”

The man gulped and nodded, before rushing off to get some food. Davy turned towards the woman.

“What be yer name sailor?” Davy asked.

“Zolina Crestrage, but I go by Zolina.”

“Ye have quite an attitude for a woman such as yerself.”

Zolina looked at Davy. “Well, if you will excuse me, I will be going to have some dinner before all of the other crewmates get to it first. Thank you for helping sort that mess out.”

Davy thought for a second, wondering what in the world had just happened, before heading into the dining area himself to get some food. After his meal, he went into his quarters, wrote in his journal, and went to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~


In the morning, the whole process started over again. The crew went to their stations, and began work. There was a wind today, so the ship was able to make good distance, to wherever they were going. The ship was getting good speed, and stayed that way for several hours, until about noon. That’s when they spotted it.

It was a ship off in the distance. The ship had dark wood, and black and white sails. A lookout alerted Davy about it, and he climbed into the crow’s nest with a spyglass and took a look. What he saw was an EITC ship. It was a war ship, and it looked tough. Davy lowered the spyglass and climbed to the deck.

“ALL HANDS ON DECK!!!” Davy yelled out, ringing the alarm bell. It worked. In a few minutes, almost all of the crew was in front of him. Some were hung over from too much rum last night, some were confused, and some were looking at the ship in the distance. Davy spoke.

“There is an EITC three leagues in front of The Shadow King. Before I give my orders, I would like to consult my crew. Would you like to attack this ship, and show me your abilities? Or would you like to flee, and not take risks? The choice is up to you. All in favor, say aye!”

Not a single person didn’t yell out aye. Davy gave his orders, and the crew went to their battle stations. They charged the EITC ship. As they got closer, they saw that it was a frigate of some sort, probably a war class. If you used a spyglass, you could see the enemy’s crew frantically running around the deck, trying to load cannons.

They don’t stand a chance, or so I hope, Davy thought.

After several more minutes, the ships began to close in on each other. The two broadsides began to line up.

“FIRE!!!!!” Davy yelled at the top of his lungs. Matt Scurvytimbers and Billy repeated his order even louder, and then even louder than that, was the sound of the cannons being fired. The Shadow King had fired slightly before the EITC ship had expected, catching them by surprise. Several of the cannonballs hit the cannons of the enemy themselves, disabling them, and some of their crew.

However that didn’t stop the EITC ship from firing. They fired, but less shots were able to be fired due to the surprise timing on the part of The Shadow King. The cannons of the enemy rammed into the Shadow King’s hull; however, the tough hull that the ship had made many cannonballs do nothing but dents, and very few penetrated the hull.

Another round of broadsides was exchanged. The Shadow King hit a small gunpowder stash, blowing apart the deck with all the broadside cannons, and crippling the ship. Then the boarding began. Davy grabbed the Sword of Darkness, and unsheathed it. The blade seemed to glow with its eerie darkness. First in the boarding party went the broadswords-men, tear apart any rigging left in the way. In this party included Billy and Matt. Then, Davy and the rest of the boarding party swung on. Davy was immediately engaged in a swordfight with a crew member.

Both fought well, but an explosion from behind caused Davy’s opponent to stumble, and Davy ran him through his heart with his sword. Immediately, the crewmate seemed to be drained into the Sword of Darkness, until all that was left of him was a smooth skeleton lying on the floor. Davy stood in horror, looking at what he had done, but he didn’t have time to admire his handy work, as an explosion from behind forced him to move forward. He found himself face to face with the EITC captain. Davy readied his sword, and the battle began. The captain was an amazing swordsman, and he would have defeated Davy, but then he looked at his blade. He froze in shock, and Davy could see the fear in his eyes, as he had felt before. He took this opportunity to finish off his opponent, who’s essence drained into the sword, leaving a skeleton. Then, behind him he heard one of his crewmates yell out.

“Dear Lord! What was that!?”

Davy turned to see Sam staring at him, and the skeleton laying at his feet. Davy looked him in the eye, giving him a message that stated that he would explain later.

The battle raged on for another hour. Davy suffered few injuries, other than a bruise on his left arm from a piece of flying debris. Finally, the enemy crew was defeated. They were gathered up in the center of their ship, which was blown to smithereens. The sides of it were ripped off from the broadside fire, and the lucky gunpowder shots. Two of the three masts were down, and the third one’s sails were badly burnt. The deck was torn apart. The ship that they stood on was merely a skeleton of what it once was.

As the crew was rounded up, Davy told them exactly what he had planned to tell them. “We have defeated you, and therefore, we demand that you turn over your valuables to meself and me crew. If you deny us, you will be killed, and we will take it anyway. If you give it to us, you will be spared, only if you decide to join the crew of my ship, The Shadow King…”

“We’ll never join you!” shouted out a sailor, spitting in Davy’s direction.

Davy gave a little smile, “To the sharks with him then.” Some crew members grabbed him, and threw him overboard, much to his obvious protest.

In the end, they had to tie up all the enemy crew to their last standing mast. They looted the cargo, and then fired several explosive cannonballs at the ship. The last of the ship’s gunpowder exploded, sinking the ship. The crew gathered on the main deck, for Davy’s speech.

“A job well done mates. Very well done for our first go, and I am proud of each and every one of you. Now, I would like you all to get some shuteye, you have earned it. Sam, Matt, Billy, I would like to see you in my quarters please.”

As the crew headed off to their bunks, Davy and his friends moved inside his cabin. Davy shut the door behind them.

“Now, I have some explaining to do,” Davy started. When he knew he had all of his friend’s attention, he told them everything he knew about this sword that he possessed. He said it must just be a power of the sword to drain his opponent’s essence at a single cut.

“Strange blade there brother,” Billy said, and Smelly nodded beside him.

“Aye, strange indeed…” Sam mumbled.

“Now, there is something else I would like to address,” Davy said. “I believe that I should be teaching you all to use voodoo magic. Who knows, you may need it in the future some time. Not tonight of course, perhaps in a few nights we can start.”

The others agreed, and then Matt brought out something that caught Davy’s attention. He pulled out a small journal, one that had EITC printed on the front.

“I wanted to show this to ye Davy,” Matt said. “It was a journal I found in the captain’s quarters of the ship we plundered. I wanted to wait ’till we had some time alone with Billy and Sam to show it to you. There is a recent section that may catch your eye…”

Davy began reading it, starting at the most recent. Nothing was too interesting, until four days ago. The pages were stained with blood and water, so it was hard to read, but Davy was able to pick out that they had spotted a mysterious ship sailing nearby. A ship with a rotted hull, and tattered sails.

[Crestshot]

Ooh, a cliffhanger! As much as I dislike it, I also love it, haha. And who is that savvy pirate Crest? Sounds like an interesting young woman to say the least.

You make the fight seem very real mate. It's like it's an actual sea battle that happened... minus the skellie sword, haha. I really like where you are taking this. Keep going mate!

[Charlotte Truebonney]

Wow, great Davy! Love the ending, once again can't wait for the next chapter!

[Slouyx]

Nice job on it Can't wait till the next chapter!

[Tiberius Fireskull]

Yay! Chapter 14! Enjoy......


Chapter 14: The Hunt

Davy looked up at Matt. Matt’s face showed almost no expression. Davy passed the journal to Billy and Sam to look at. When Sam read it, a small smile appeared on his face.

“Looks like we have a lead mates. There be one of Jolly Roger’s ships near us!” Sam said beaming.

“True,” Davy said. “but we have no idea where it is now. If we go looking for it we could be going in the complete wrong direction. We know that there was a skeleton ship nearby, but knowing their speed, its probably too late to catch it. Not to mention their teleportation abilities. Chances are we are too late.”

“Not necessarily,” Matt stated. “We can easily assume that as soon as the EITC ship we just fought saw that ship they went in the opposite direction. Therefore we can safely say we are going in the right direction, unless the ship altered its course. Now, if they are not after something, they are probably going at a leisurely pace, and are not going to fast. If we show full colors we can possibly catch them in a week or so.”

Everyone stared at Matt in shock. Nobody would have guessed that he of all people could have figured that out.

“What?” He asked. “I can be smart sometimes!”

“Indeed you can,” Davy said, still in shock. “Tomorrow at dawn, full colors.”

~~~~~~~~~~


Davy didn’t get much sleep that night, he was too anxious for the next day. He wanted to find and defeat Jolly Roger as soon as possible. Finally morning came, and he got up. The first of the crew was starting to get on deck. Davy yelled out to them, ordering full colors. They obeyed. After another hour and a half the rest of the crew was up and working, and after another hour, The Shadow King was moving at over fifteen knots. Billy, with Smelly at his side, stood next to Davy, watching over the crew.

“If we are lucky, we should be able to catch up to that ship in a week or two,” stated Davy. He looked at Billy, and saw him nodding.

“Aye. At this rate we should catch up soon. Then we can avenge the death of our parents, our friends, and rid the Caribbean of that scoundrel Jolly Roger.”

Davy walked over to the side of the ship, and stared at the sea. It was getting cloudy, but it wasn’t surprising. Yesterday, Davy had, before battling the EITC ship, realized that it was hurricane season. He had hoped for descent weather, but he knew it couldn’t be perfect.

“Looks like a storm may be brewing up Billy boy. Lets hope for the best,” Davy mumbled.

Billy nodded, before going onto the deck to help the rest of the crew.

~~~~~~~~~~


More days passed, with nothing but a blue sea slowly turning grey due to the coming storm. The crew wasn’t tiring yet. Many, if not most, of them were used to going weeks, even maybe months on end without any action. However Davy was getting impatient. He was desperate to find and destroy Jolly Roger. If he didn’t find him soon he would likely go mad. However, he was trying his best to look good in front of the crew. He decided that in the monotone of the days, he would get to know some of the crew.

He met the ship’s cook, Kate. She was a good cook, and her specialty was waffles. She was also a deadly fighter. Her dagger abilities were as good as Davy’s swordsmanship. She always carried a battle dagger in her belt, as well as a set of throwing knives. Davy remembered seeing her in the battle against the EITC ship slicing through the enemy crew, and throwing knives everywhere.

Another crewmate that he got to know well was one of the broadsword users, Will Seaeagle, getting the name because of his eagle like abilities. He was clever, and extremely powerful. When it came to battling with his broadsword, he was almost unstoppable. He also had a mysterious craving for animal brain…

Davy met many other members of the crew, and he was glad to start getting to know people better. He felt that it boosted morale aboard the ship, and he hoped that it would encourage the crew to get to know each other. He figured it was working, as he saw more interaction between the crewmates aboard his ship.

More days passed, and more fog started to roll in, and the water was no longer a dull blue, but a deep grey. Waves lapped against the ship, and wind was starting to blow harder. The good news was that the ship was now moving faster than ever with this strong wind at her back; the bad news was that that was a sure sign of what a pirate feared most. A hurricane.

But Davy knew that The Shadow King could face anything. If she could survive a battle against an EITC warship without any serious damage, then a puny little hurricane couldn’t do anything to harm her.

The Shadow King kept going for even more days. Finally, almost a week and a half after the battle with the EITC warship, success. Far in the distance, there was a concentrated thunderstorm, with a tinge of green fog. Davy peered down from his spyglass, and looked at the lookout next to him.

“Good job matey, looks like we’ve found ‘em. Now, lets get down from here. Its time to do battle.”

“Yes Cap’n!” the lookout saluted. Davy and the lookout climbed to the ground, and the lookout began ringing the alarm bell.

“ALL HANDS ON DECK!!! PREPARE TO DO BATTLE MATES!!! WE HAVE FOUND HER!!!” Davy yelled out at the top of his lungs. Within minutes the crew was out on the deck. Davy gave them their orders, and they went to there duties; loading the cannons, preparing the sails, and of course, hoisting their Skull and Crossed Swords flag. The ship sailed towards the thunderstorm, and in just over half an hour, they were only a league away.

“COME ON MATES! TO YOUR BATTLE STATIONS! LETS SHOW JOLLY ROGER WHAT WE’RE MADE OF! FOR FREEDOM!!!” Davy cried out.

Davy went to the front of the ship, and pulled out his spyglass. He looked through it, onto the ship. It was The Harkaway for sure. It was larger, and Davy remembered its image clearly. Then he saw a skeleton larger than the rest walk onto the deck. Jolly Roger. He looked around and barked out orders, before turning to look directly at Davy.

Even though Davy was still over two miles away, he could tell that Jolly was looking directly at him. His gaze bore into him, sparking fear inside Davy.

It doesn’t matter. Before the day ends, I will have defeated him once and for all, Davy thought. He put away his spyglass, and pulled out the Sword of Darkness. Then, holding it up into the air, yelled out, “TO THE CANNONS! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!!!”

[Charlotte Truebonney]

Wow, loved it Davy, another great chapter!

[Slouyx]

Specialty is waffles? Haha
Another great chapter, Davy

[Charlotte Truebonney]

When is Chapter 15 coming out?

[Tiberius Fireskull]

I'm going to see if I can get it done today... in fact, while I have some free time, lemme see what I can get done now. If not today, then definitely over the weekend, but I have a really awesome plan for the story and I don't want to lose it!

[Charlotte Truebonney]

Nice Davy! Can't wait.

[Tiberius Fireskull]

Ye called for Chapter 15?


Chapter 15: The Battle in the Storm

Jolly Roger turned to his first mate. His first mate was a larger skeleton, but not as large as Jolly. He was wearing a torn bandanna, and an eye patch. He had a sword at his belt, and was dressed in pirate-like attire, torn as it was. He was chosen as first mate for his intelligence, and the fact that he had been a notorious pirate captain before Jolly got to him.

“He lives!” Jolly Roger shouted, slamming his hand against the railing of the ship in rage. “How can he live!? Its been two months since I sank the Black Swan! He jumped overboard! I saw it! He should have drowned!”

“Captain,” his first mate, whose name was John Darkhart in life, said. “Even if he lived before, that was the past. This is the present. For now, I see it fit to worry about taking him down now. I am confident that we can defeat that ship.”

“Ye be right. Go below and make sure the crew is prepared for battle. He will not be gettin’ away this time.”

“However there is always that one sly chance that the unthinkable will happen. We need a backup plan.”

“Arrr… pray we don’t be needin’ it. If that happens, we can take his brother, Billy. He is the last family that Fireskull has left. I have a plan in my head for what to do for that… now go! I want those cannons ready! They are almost upon us!”

“Aye, aye Captain!” Darkhart said, before running off.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright mates! They are almost here! Ready the cannons!” Davy shouted out. “Remember! After we do some major damage, I will give the order to board! And prepare for a nasty fight!”

There was a loud yelling of “Aye aye!” from the crowd. Right as the ship’s were within 500 meters of each other, the first drop fell. From then, the rain began to pour, and the winds kicked up. Davy could now see Jolly Roger staring at him from the helm of his ship without his spyglass. Roger did nothing, just stared into Davy, sending a chill down his spine; unless of course, that was just the icy rain.

The ships began to get closer together.

100 meters…

75 meters…

50 meters…

20 meters…

“OPEN FIRE!!!”

The cannons of both ships fired, sending the cannonballs flying directly towards their opponents. The Fury shots from The Harkaway didn’t bounce off the hull of The Shadow King as Davy had hoped, but they didn’t do much other than causing a few dents, which was still good. The cannons of The King slammed into the hull of The Harkaway, but did roughly the same amount of damage. The Harkaway had stronger cannons, but The Shadow King had a stronger hull.

The two ships began circling each other in a duel of death, and fired broadside after broadside. After the third of fourth broadside, the ships both began to take some real damage. The hulls on both ships began to splinter, slowly but surely. The ships exchanged broadsides after broadsides, and yet still, nobody made a critical hit. Davy moved to take the wheel from Sam, and when he grabbed it, he watched a cannonball from the enemy slam into the deck, sending crewmates flying.

“SAM!” Davy shouted through the storm and cannon fire. “GRAB MATT AND GET THE WOUNDED BELOWDECKS!”

“AYE, AYE SIR!” Sam replied.

Davy steered the ship in a circle, with The Harkaway directly across from The Shadow King. He watched as cannonballs flew from both ships, and slammed into both ships. It was a horrible sight to watch as his crew was killed, but he knew it couldn’t be helped, and at this slow rate, the battle would last forever.

Unless… Davy thought. Davy called upon the voodoo stored in his body, and then used it to harness the power of the storm, for a small enough amount of time to send a giant wave slamming against The Harkaway. He saw skeletons fly off the ship and into the sea, as well as several cannons. Davy also figured that it wet their gunpowder supply, so they wouldn’t be able to fire their guns.

“QUICK MATES! WHILE THEY’RE DOWN! FIRE AWAY!” Davy cried out.

The Shadow King’s cannons fired, and slammed into the weakened Harkaway. The Shadow King fired two more broadsides, each seeming to do more damage than the first. The enemy was losing strength. It was time to board.

Davy gave the boarding order, and the crew switched from round shots to grapple hooks. They hooks were fired at the enemy, and most of them succeeded in landing. From then, the boarding commenced.

Using their swords to zip line across the ropes, the broadsword, including Billy, went in. Using their broadswords, they tore apart the rigging of the ship, and then followed the rest of the crew, Davy leading them with the Sword of Darkness. With this sword and its almost unlimited power, he was confident that he could beat Jolly Roger.

Davy landed, and used the Sword’s power to become invisible. He snuck up behind several skeletons and killed them silently. Instead of becoming skeletons again, like living enemies did, they merely turned into a pile of ash. Davy ran around the deck, an invisible killer, slicing the crew of The Harkaway to bits, but soon, the invisibility wore off, and Davy got into the real fighting.

He defeated skeletons one by one, until you could easily find Davy by following the trail of ashes. Unfortunately, nobody did that, as they were too preoccupied fighting for their lives. Davy conducted voodoo through the Sword of Darkness, sending bolts of lightning into his enemies, or igniting them using cursed fire. He even was able to freeze them in place using cursed ice abilities.

Right as Davy sliced the head off of one of a skeleton foe, he felt a slice on his back, and he fell over, clutching his Sword. He cried out in pain.

“Not so tough now, are we Davy Fireskull?” a voice said.

Before Davy could react, his back began to tingle, and all of the sudden, he felt the wound close, leaving nothing but a small white scar. The Sword of Darkness healed the user!

Davy got up and turned around. In front of him stood John Darkhart, the first mate of Jolly Roger.

“That didn’t hurt much,” Davy said.

“Do ye want it to, mortal?” Darkhart taunted.

Davy grinned, “Lets dance.”

The two began to swordfight. Darkhart was a powerful swordsman, and even with the extra powers of the Sword of Darkness, Davy couldn’t beat him. He was too fast for Davy to cast anything. After a few minutes of back and forth fighting, Darkhart managed to get Davy to trip backwards over a plank of wood sticking up out of the floor. Darkhart grinned.

“Any last words…” Darkhart didn’t finish his sentence, because right then, he was tackled by a figure. Davy got up, and saw Will Seaeagle, part of his broadsword brigade, pulling out his sword to battle with Darkhart.

“I got him Davy!” he said, “Now go and get Jolly Roger. He is at the helm of the ship battling Sam, and it isn’t looking well for Sam either.”

“Thanks mate, I owe ye one!” Davy said before running up.

~~~~~~~~~~


Davy climbed the stairs of the ship, battling his way through other skeletons. Half way up, he looked at The Shadow King. She had taken heavy damage, and a huge portion of the broadside cannons were exposed. Skeletons had boarded her in greater numbers than the Shadow King had sent to The Harkaway. Davy had to defeat Jolly Roger now or order a retreat, as it was not looking good for The King. He decided that his ship could hold for a little longer, and he raced up the stairs.

He found Jolly Roger and Sam Bladebeard battling. Sam was an amazing swordsman, but Jolly Roger was just too powerful. Roger knocked Sam onto the ground, and raised his sword to do a finishing blow.

Davy quickly aimed his sword at Jolly, and right before his sword began descending into Sam’s heart, Jolly was struck with a bolt of lightning sent from the Sword of Darkness. Jolly flew to the back of the ship, and slammed against the wall. He slumped over, dazed.

Davy ran to Sam, and said, “Sam, get back to The Shadow King, and take the crew with you. She can’t take much more damage, and our crew is outnumbered. It will be a massacre if we don’t retreat and help our crew. I can take Jolly Roger.

“I can’t just abandon you! You could die!” Sam cried out.

“Mate, ye have to. I can take Roger. If I die now, I bring Jolly with me, and if he dies with me, then I will die complete. The Shadow King needs you right now. Please.”

“Davy…”

He looked into Sam’s eyes, and a message passed between them.

Sam sighed. “Aye, aye captain…”

“Thank you Sam. And Sam, if I believe it is too dangerous, or if you believe it is too dangerous, retreat! If I am still on this ship, then I will send a ball of lightning into the air, and that will be my signal.”

Sam nodded. “And lets hope that you won’t have to do that.”

“Aye, lets hope. Now go!”

Sam ran off, his sword in hand, towards the ropes.

Davy turned towards Jolly Roger. He was getting up now, and picked up his fallen sword, a rusted cutlass, but Davy knew it was anything but weak. Jolly Roger walked towards him, sword in hand. Davy drew his sword, and held it out.

Jolly Roger grinned menacingly. “The Sword of Darkness? Ah hahaha! I am surprised ye found that mighty weapon! I have been hunting for it in fact, for the past several years now! Ye know why there have been so few of my lovely little invasions in recent years? No? It is because I have been using all my forces to find the very sword you hold. With it, I shall truly become invincible!!!”

Davy glared at Roger. “I don’t think so!”

Davy and Jolly charged at each other and slammed their blades together. The two sword locked, and the two opponents held them together, each trying to overpower the other. Davy sent a current of lightning up the blade, and it conducted onto Jolly Roger’s blade, and then onto him. He staggered backwards, and Davy swung his sword at Jolly’s belly.

Jolly Roger jumped backwards, then responded with an overheard cleave, which Davy blocked. The two fought together in a dance of death, neither gaining any advance on the other. Davy sent voodoo curses flying at Jolly Roger, and Jolly Roger sent others flying back. One minute, a bystander would have thought that Jolly was about to be killed, the next, that Davy was going to lose the fight. The two couldn’t gain any advantage over the other, and so the battle continued. Davy sent Jolly flying backward using an invisible force, and quickly turned to look at his ship.

The fight was not going well for The Shadow King. He could see that most of the skeletons were defeated; however, the hull had taken severe damage, and the entire broadside deck was exposed. One of The King’s masts was destroyed, and there was a large gash in one of the sails of another. Davy realized that The Shadow King would sink if it didn’t retreat.

With reluctance, Davy looked upward, and fired a ball of lightning into the air. When it was above the masts of The Harkaway, he detonated it, sending lightning bolts flying in all directions. Immediately, he saw grapple lines being cut, but he didn’t have time to see more than that, because just then, Jolly Roger lifted him up using voodoo magic, and slammed him against a helm mast. Davy looked up, dazed, to see Jolly grinning.

“Ye have been a worthy opponent,” Jolly Roger sneered, “but unfortunately, it is time for you to die. And it is time for me, to take what is now mine!” Jolly Roger picked up the Sword of Darkness, and held it up. He showed no signs of it attacking his mind like it had Davy’s. It began to glow with that strange black light.

Jolly Roger took the blade, and sheathed it in his belt. Then he turned to Davy, and lifted him up. He brought him close to his face.

“Any last words Davy Fireskull?” Jolly Roger asked in mock politeness. But then, he yelled out in pain, dropping Davy. He staggered to the side, with his hand on his left shoulder. Davy and Jolly both turned in confusion to the stairs of the ship.

“Get away from my brother!” Billy Fireskull said, holding out a musket. He threw it aside, and drew his broadsword. He yelled a battle cry, and charged towards Jolly Roger.

“This won’t be hard!” Jolly cried out.

Using his strange flintlock blade on his right hand, Jolly attacked Billy. The two clashed for about a minute, and Davy, still dazed, could do nothing but sit there helplessly. He turned and saw The Shadow King sailing away.

Good, at least they are getting away… but Billy, I can’t let him die… Davy thought groggily.

Davy turned to hear a cry of pain from Billy, and the sound of a sword clattering onto the ground. Roger had sliced Billy across the chest with his blade, and now lifted him into the air. He tossed Billy around like a rag doll, slamming him into the mast, and then the ground. Billy, slumped against some railing, and looked up. His face was covered with blood, and his nose may have been broken.

By now, Davy was on his feet, and was standing near the edge of the ship.

Billy looked up at Davy, “Brother… run…”

Billy drew a pistol, and fired it near Davy’s feet, Davy jumped backwards and, not realizing how near he was to the edge of the ship, fell backwards into the lifeboat. He got up and looked at Billy.

“BILLY! NO!”

“I’m sorry Davy…” he said. Then took his pistol, and fired it at the ropes holding the lifeboat up. The bullets hit the ropes, proving Billy’s perfect aim even in his weakened state. The ropes snapped, and the lifeboat began falling towards the water.

“NO!!!!!” Davy cried out at the top of his lungs.

The last thing he heard was of Jolly Roger cursing him that he got away. Then, the lifeboat hit the water, and Davy knocked his head, rendering him unconscious.

[Charlotte Truebonney]

Wow, excellent Davy, but I'm a kinda sad, what's going to happen to Billy! Okay, you can't leave me hanging like this for long!

[Tiberius Fireskull]

Here is Chapter 16, hope you enjoy it, its a bit of a lengthy read.


Chapter 16: Ghost Town

Davy heard the cawing of crows.

No, not crows. Ravens.

Davy opened his eyes. He was lying on his back in gravely black sand, and it appeared to be midafternoon. He put his hand to his head. He felt dry blood on his head from when he hit it on the dingy. He slowly got up, but immediately regretted it. A wave of nausea and dizziness swept over him. He doubled over and threw up on the ground. He collapsed in the gravel and laid there for several minutes, breathing deeply.

That storm must have blown me and the dingy here, Davy thought groggily.

Finally, he got the energy to sit up. He still felt dizzy, and extremely weak. He looked to his left side and saw the dingy he had used to get off The Harkaway upside down, lying on the gravel. It was broken in several places. He looked to forward, and gasped. There were hundreds, if not thousands of ravens flying in flocks around this island. He could hear their cawing in the distance. He slowly stood.

He was now able to see his full surroundings. He was in a deep cove. Black rock formed the walls of it, giving Davy a feeling of dread. He felt trapped, even though he could easily sail right out if he could find a ship. He looked back at the ravens and noticed a rope bridge spanning the distance of the cove. Immediately Davy figured that it would be best to get up there, as he would be able to see anything coming to the island.

Davy took a wobbly step. He was still extremely weak from his fight. He grabbed a charred stick from beside him and used it to help him walk. He saw a sunken dock to his side that he hadn’t noticed before, and then he saw a path leading up into the heart of the island. He slowly but surely began to walk up the path.

What happened here…? Davy wondered. As he walked up the path, he saw what seemed to be blown apart barricades. He saw long dead skeletons strewn about the place, in unnatural positions. He moved over to one to examine it. Part of the skull was blown off, likely from a gunshot. Next to the skeleton’s limp hand was a cutlass, and Davy noticed a sheath on his belt.

Strange, it looks like there was a battle here, Davy thought as he tied the sheath to his belt, and put the sword into it. and not too long ago. These skeletons don’t look more than a few months old. Arg! What happened here!? And where am I!?

Davy continued up the path. He walked for about a quarter mile into the island, passing more areas like this along the way. He also saw homes that had been burnt down, reduced to the framing of it. He passed even more skeletons. The place was a wasteland. A ghost town. What must have once been a battlefield for a huge battle.

Davy kept walking, and soon found himself in what must have once been the courtyard of a little town. To one side was a building with a tavern sign on it, to the other was a little cluster of buildings. Davy walked cautiously to the buildings. He tried to picture the town as it was before whatever destruction happened, and what he imagined was a small town similar to one on the island of Padres Del Fuego or Port Royal. He moved over to the door of what may have once been a blacksmith, and opened it.

As soon as he pushed on the door, the whole door collapsed. He froze, waiting for something to come out and attack him, but nothing moved, save for several rats that had taken refuge in the building.

Davy stepped inside, and took in his surroundings. The place was ransacked. Where swords once hung proudly on walls now was merely an empty sword holder. The back wall and part of the surrounding roof was completely blown apart. Davy moved in, and found a desk with a skeleton slumped over it. He poked the skeleton, and it fell to the floor, losing its head in the process.

“Sorry mate,” Davy mumbled, with a small smile. He looked on the desk, and saw a journal, likely belonging to the blacksmith. Davy sat down on the chair and started to read the most recent entry, dated on the twelfth of February that year. It was sometime in June now. The journal read:

Jolly Roger and Lord Cutler Beckett have been fighting for three days now. It is uncertain over which side shall win; they are equally matched it seems. From what I have heard, Widow Threadbarren, our gypsy, has been killed by Jolly Roger, or Beckett, whichever one it was. The Clubhearts, the owners of our tavern, have been killed a while ago as well, and my dear friend Thomas was tortured to death by a group of skeletons. Without him, we are out of fish to eat. I am not unsure how I shall die; at the hands of Jolly Roger and Beckett, or by starvation. The Undead Army is outside of my house battling with the forces of Beckett as I write… I fear that this will be my last entry before they find and kill me. Roger is merciless, he spares nobody, regardless of who they are.
If there is anyone reading this, then I am assuming Jolly Roger has left Raven’s Cove, and has taken what he wanted. If you value your life, then leave this island immediately. Jolly Roger left a curse on it, so that the townsfolk will stay as ghosts on this island for eternity! Leave this island, and beware the Red Ghosts that stalk the island when the sun goes down!
~ Senior Fañitifico, blacksmith of Raven’s Cove

Davy reread the journal entry again. Then he put the journal down.

Raven’s Cove, so that’s where I am, Davy thought. And it looks like Jolly was here a while ago too. I have to get off this island, it gives me the creeps… and what are these Red Ghosts that Senior Fañtifico talks about?

Davy looked through the hole in the wall. It was getting dark. He had to try to get to that bridge soon. He didn’t want to meet any of the Red Ghosts.

Davy walked out of the blacksmith. He threw his walking stick to the side, as he felt that he didn’t need it anymore. He jogged and a steady pace towards a rock archway that lead to another beach of the island. As he walked along the stretch of gravely beach, he noticed that the ravens had stopped cawing. The sound had been replaced by something that brought a chill to his spine, and sparked the worst fear in his mind. In later years, he said that it was so scarring, that he could still hear the noise echoing in his mind whenever he walked along a beach in the dark.

The sound was an unearthly howling. Not howling like a wolf, but the howling of a soul calling out in despair and rage. Davy drew his sword, and looked around him, terrified. The noise continued, and it seemed to be getting closer. Davy couldn’t contain himself any longer.

“Show yourself!” he cried out, turning around in circles. Then, from where he came from, he spotted something strange. It was a red orb of light, hovering about a foot above the ground, and slowly drifting towards him. Davy realized that the howling was coming for it. Davy couldn’t help but watch the strange orb get closer to him.

Once it was several meters away from him, it stopped. Davy slowly saw the shape of a young woman take form from it. The howling stopped, and Davy lowered his sword. Davy met her eyes, and then all the sudden felt a mental attack on him. The young girl’s mind drove into his, and started inflicting horrible agony on Davy.

He screamed, but there was nobody there to hear it. He could do nothing but try to resist. For several minutes, the two stood there, minds battling each other. After a few more minutes, Davy was able to defeat the mind of the girl, who Davy now figured out was the dreaded Red Ghost.

The ghost stumbled backward, then looked at Davy, and her form changed from a pretty young girl to a twisted old hag. The Ghost screamed out in a voice that was so horribly indescribable, that Davy covered his ears and shut his eyes as tight as he could just to get away from it.

The Red Ghost, now flying towards Davy, had its fangs bared and its hands stretched out. Davy ran away from her as fast as he could, not wanting to get in contact with it again. Davy sprinted as fast as he could for about two minutes, racing across the beach.

Soon, what looked like a wooden elevator came into view. Davy spotted a lever on it, and he prayed it was working. But the ghost was gaining on him. He wouldn’t make it in time. Unless…

As he was sprinting, Davy grabbed a rock on the ground. He began backpedaling, and then, when he had a perfect shot, threw the rock as hard as he could at the ghost. It didn’t pass through the ghost, strangely enough, and hit her square in the head. No blood came out, but it stunned her, and she fell over. Davy ran onto the elevator, and looked for the key to start it.

Then he heard a shriek, and he looked next to him. The Red Ghost was right next to him. Before Davy could cry out, the ghost slashed her hands across Davy, and sent him flying backward onto the gravely beach. Davy’s vision went red, and he could hear the beating of his heart. His whole body burned with pain, and he couldn’t think straight.

“I ssssmell death…” Davy heard the ghost say. The voice was raspy and cold, and made the hairs on his next stand up. “Prepare to die Davy Fireskull!”

Davy made out the image of the ghost standing above him while he was lying on his back, and then felt another mental attack. He fought back with all his might, but he was weak now, and couldn’t fight back.

Is this the end? Davy thought miserably. Am I to die here, by the hands of this demon? Without being able to avenge the deaths of my parents, and of the crew of the Black Swan?

Davy was losing the fight, and he wasn’t going to last much longer. Then, something sparked. Perhaps it was his life flashing before his eyes, showing that he was about to die. Or perhaps the ghost had triggered some sort of memory. All of the sudden, he was sent into one of his memories.

He and Billy, or William at the time, were playing outside their house together. They had a pair of wooden swords, and were fake sword fighting, laughing jubilantly, without a care in the world. Their father was sitting and watching them, smiling, and happy with watching his children play. Their mother came outside with a pot of tea and sat down beside her husband. It was a happy family. And Jolly Roger had torn it apart. Davy couldn’t die now, not without bringing Jolly to justice.

Davy came back to reality, and got a sudden surge of energy. Using it, he blasted the ghost out of his mind, and drew his sword. He brought the sword back, and then thrusted it through the ghost. The ghost cried out as it was stabbed, and stumbled backward. Lightning struck the ghost three times, and then it dropped on the ground, motionless.

Davy felt the pain in his body go away, and his vision returned to normal. He took several deep breaths, and then moved over to the ghost. She was back as a young girl, and the red was fading, and being replaced by an aqua blue tone. Davy stood and watched the transformation for about a half minute, before the ghost opened her eyes. She stood up, and looked Davy in the eyes. This time, there was no invasion of his mind.

“Thank you for saving me Davy Fireskull,” the girl said. “My name is Joanna.”

“What happened to you?” Davy asked cautiously.

“When Jolly Roger invaded Raven’s Cove, he gave us the option of joining him to help fight Cutler Beckett, or to be killed, and forever walk this island as ghosts. We weren’t afraid of him, and we decided not to join him. Some of us even fought as a third faction, and battled Roger and Beckett, including me. Those of us that fought against him, Jolly Roger cursed specially so that we would walk the island at night, our minds filled with rage. We became known as Rage Ghosts, or Red Ghosts. We are almost invincible, but that is our one true weakness. Love. The power of love can defeat us. When you saw the vision of your loving family, it gave you the strength to defeat me.”

“I see now. I’m so sorry for what happened Joanna.”

“It is not your fault, but you have the power to make it right again. Bring Jolly Roger to justice. You will succeed. I can tell. Now, take this elevator key, and go to the cliffs of Raven’s Cove, so you may see your friends when they arrive.”

Joanna held out a rusted key, and Davy took it from her hand. Her hand was as cold as ice.

“And another thing,” the ghost said. “Us ghosts know all, and see all. However, we don’t share it with mortals unless they have done us something great in return. For saving me, I can tell you one piece of information, anything you want, but I warn you, the truth is not always what is the most pleasant thought.”

Davy thought for a moment. Then, he spoke, “I want to know where my brother is. Billy Fireskull. He saved me from Jolly Roger when my ship was fighting his. Its because of him I’m here. I need to find him and rescue him.”

The ghost closed her eyes, and then a minute later, opened them, and looked into Davy. Instantly, the word around him began to twist into strange forms, and colors warped. Soon, everything came back into focus. He was in a cave. There was a flow of lava several meters to his side, and it was very hot.

Davy looked in front of him, and tied by chains to a wall, was Billy. He had been badly beaten and tortured. His hair was a mess, and his clothes were torn to shreds. One of his arms was badly cut, and his chest was covered with cuts, likely from a blade. His head was hung down, and his long hair covered his face. Jolly Roger walked into the cavern, and looked at Billy.

Davy drew his sword, but then realized that Jolly couldn’t see him. Davy was only looking at what was happening, not actually there. He turned to his side, and noticed that Joanna was there beside him. She beckoned for him to watch and listen.

“You’re pathetic brother has escaped me, but he will come back for you. It is only a matter of time before he comes and finds you, and walks right into my trap,” Jolly said, with an evil grin on his face.

Billy looked up. His face was badly cut, and one of his eyes was bruised. He looked as if he had drank too much, then been knocked unconscious. Billy spoke.

“Davy will defeat you, you son of a bilge rat. You will be defeated, and your reign of terror will end.”
Jolly Roger cackled, “We shall see.”

The world around Davy warped again, and he found himself back on Raven’s Cove. He looked up and into Joanna’s eyes.

“Now go,” she said. “Wait on the cliffs. You shall be able to spot your friends from there, if they come.”

Davy thanked her, and then walked into the elevator. He looked back, but Joanna was gone. He sighed, then put the key into its slot. He turned it, and he felt a clattering of gears. He pulled the lever on the elevator, and it began to move up to the cliffs of Raven’s Cove.

[Charlotte Truebonney]

Whoa, fantastic! I love the way you brought Ravens Cove into the story. Really enjoyed it.