Eventually, the sky grew darker and darker, and the waves more erratic, until finally the rain began to fall, forcing me to retreat below deck. I huddled in the far corner of the cabin I was to share with a merchant lady. Her name was Odarra, and she too was down here. She idly flicked through the pages in her book as the boat rocked back and forth.
Occasionally, the boat would lurch, sending objects skittering across their surfaces. Still, Odarra read on. I could admire her ability to remain so calm. I was about to have a heart attack, really. It felt as though the boat was going to tip over any moment, and that would be the end to our adventure just as quickly as it had began.
~
Eventually, though, the storm did die down. I thought that was going to be the end of our problems until I started to hear shouting coming from above deck.
"What are they saying?" I asked Odarra. She shh'd me, craning her head in an attempt to hear what was going on above.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnXILks065
"...Pirates." Odarra snapped her book shut, and moved to retrieve a sheathed scimitar she kept near her bunk. She unsheathed the blade with a quiet hiss. "Prepare yourself to fight," she told me. Little did she know, I didn't even know the first thing about fighting.955Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigth4SH7CG
Marius's Point of View
The moment I saw the white flag replaced with the black skull banner, my heart sunk. I drew my scimitar, watching in horror as a trio of cannon balls flew towards our ship.
One missed, but the other two hit their target, jarring the ship, and filling the air with the intense sound of splintering wood. My first thought was of Zaraline. She was still down there.
"Veran!" The archer glanced down at me from the upper deck. He had his bow, ready to fire as soon as they were in range. "Get Calavius to take the helm. Remind him of the battle of Crystal Bay!" I knew my plan would have been clearly articulated. In this case, it was very risky. Too few people who knew how to wield a sword were on this ship, and no reinforcement on the bow other than a half-naked, half-fish woman.
My focus right now was getting Zaraline. She had to be protected.
I made my way below deck, and down the tight hallways. I shoved past other passengers until I got to the cabin where I knew Zaraline stayed with a Gerahkki woman. I burst in, a flash of steel catching my eye.
Out of sheer instinct, I raised my scimitar to deflect the blow. I was preparing myself to retaliate, only to find that a second blow did not come. It was simply the Gerahkki merchant protecting herself.
"Come on! If you lot stay do-" I was cut off as the whole ship rattled again as another cannonball smashed against her hull. "We'll get torn a part by cannonballs!" Thankfully, they didn't need much convincing. The deck would be dangerous too, but I could protect Zaraline from a pirate. I could not protect her from a flaming ball of flying lead.
Once we were above deck, I saw that Calavius managed maneuver us close enough without getting completely ripped to shreds. Arrows rained down on the pirates, though not enough to be a serious threat to them. Now all we needed was to taunt them, - my train of thought was interrupted as another trio of booms echoed through the air. I glanced up as smaller cannon balls smashed into the mast, and as it began to teeter right above us.
I snatched Zaraline's wrist and ran, narrowly avoiding the mast crashing down on us. Her screams were background noise as I glanced over at the ship. If Calavius were to steer left just a pinch, that would-
"Steer left!" He shouted to Calavius, before releasing Zaraline. I sprinted to the lower deck as the ship slowly began turning left. I pointed my scimitar at the Gerahkki woman, Kaeso, and one of the hired guards another merchant brought along. "With me!" I didn't look back to see if they followed, I only kept running. I hope they did too. The window of opportunity would be small.
I made it to the bow of the ship just as it reached the perfect spot. Letting my momentum carry me, I planted my foot on the head of the siren at the head of our ship and leapt.
The immediate world around me slowed as I fell. A sensation of familiar calm settled over my mind like a veil. The moment I hit the pirate's deck, I tucked my body into a roll. As I came up, I slashed my scimitar along the knees of a pirate reloading their rear chase cannon. He collapsed, and I planted my blade in his back, twisted, and then pulled free. As an afterthought, I unsheathed the dagger the pirate had at his waist, pivoted, and threw it at the first unfriendly individual I can find, which happened to be the fat fellow steering the ship. I glanced back to see the Gerahkki woman and Khaeso both fighting along side me. The hired soldier was no where to be seen.
I turned my attention to the stair well down to the lower deck. Pirates were on their way up to slaughter us. The first of them was pierced in the eye by a familiar red-plumed arrow. He fell, and quickly got trampled by more pirates.
The first one to face me, a large fellow with a long black beard. He was slow. I deflected his blow and easily gutted him. The next pirate, a scrawny little lad, managed to get one cut in on me, before managed to cut his throat open.
Beween the three of us, and the well maintained choke point we had of the only stairwell up into the upper deck, with Veran covering us from where he'd repositioned himself in the crow's nest, the pirates stood no chance. They were disorganized, and fought with pure rage and adrenaline, rather than their heads.
Eventually, the pirates did stop attacking once their comrades had piled up on and around the stair case up, and we were covered in their blood. My breathing came ragged now. I took a moment to catch my breath before I yelled out, "lay down your weapons, and you may yet live!"
One by one, their weapons clattered to the deck. I glanced over at the Gerakki woman, nodding at her. Khaeso stepped by us, descending the stairs, and began kicking the weapons away from the pirates. The Siren's Call creeped up alongside the pirate ship.
Just as Khaeso was moving to kick the last one away, one of the pirates darted forward, revealing a glint of steal from her coat as she plunged her dagger into Khaeso's spine, and twisted, before shoving him down. The bear of a man yelled out as he fell to his knees, and toppled over. The pirate woman quickly snatched up her blade.
"We fight!"
My shock quickly turned to rage. Just as I stepped forward to rush down the stairs for her, her men ran forward, snatching up their blades. Relief came as a plank was slammed down from the Siren's call, connecting the two ships. Hired guards came across, drawing most of the pirates' attention.
The few that came for me and the Gerahkki woman were easily cut down, and then I carved a path through the fight on deck until I finally made it to the female pirate, just as she was removing her cutlass from the stomach of one of the hired guards.
She pivoted, swinging as though she were drunk and angry, which in all honestly, she most likely was. I deflected her blows with calculated precision, keeping on the defensive. She would tire herself out, eventually, and then that is when I would carve her to pieces.
Zaraline's Point of View
I watched in horror as the fiery haired pirate rammed her dagger into Khaeso's back. The man fell with a shout of agony. It was after that moment that the hired guards brought up a gangplank from below deck and used it to connect the two ships to cross over. I chewed on the edge of a fingernail as I watched the female pirate fight. She was a whirlwind of fury and steel.I hoped that Marius and Odarra were going to be okay.
Veran dropped from a lowhanging mast just next to me, startling me. He didn't even offer me a sideglance as he unsheathed his own blade and charged along the Gangplank to join the fight. He must have ran out of arrows.
Before I knew it, Marius met the red-haired pirate in combat, and they began to trade blows. Or, really it looked like Marius was blocking her every move. I could barely breath as the feeling of anxiety weighed my chest down.
I cringed when she finally got a hit in on him, landing a slash across his upper chest. He retaliated with a flurry of his own slashes, until finally Marius was presented with an opening, and the blade of his scimitar was driven across her throat, spraying him with a great gout of red. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Soon enough, the last pirate was dismantled. I spotted Veran walking amongst the deck, plucking his arrows out of bodies. Odarra crossed the gangplank back to our ship, and approached me.
"That was one glorious fight," she stated with a large grin. She sheathed her scimitar. "You've missed out, truly." Odarra then moved past me, going off to do whatever it is she planned on doing.
I looked back to Marius. He was clutching his chest, where blood oozed beween his fingers. He staggered over to Khaeso, falling to his knees next to his fallen comrade. I decided to go to him, making my way across the precarious gangplank, and rushed to Marius's side. He was knelt in a pool of Khaeso's blood, half-slumped over. He looked ready to pass out.
One glance at the wounds on both his chest and his arm told me they were much deeper and much worse than what they'd appeared to be from the deck of the Siren's Call.
"Someone help!" I shouted, reaching for Marius's shoulder. "Stay awake," I told him. Thankfully, one of the hired guards came along and helped me lift him, and together we half carried, half dragged Marius back to the Siren's Call, and below deck.
"Bring me some clean cloth and some water to clean his wounds with, along with some thread and a needle." I told the hired soldier. He nodded, before leaving to get what I requested. Marius stared up at the ceiling, his expression devoid of emotion.
A little voice in the back of my head told me he deserved it. He led the army against my home, and it was his soldiers that killed my family. I immediately felt bad after that thought though. I reminded myself that Nautilus was the real enemy. We were merely pawns.
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