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It’s late night…a couple of hours and it will be dawn. The stream has push the ship all the time, moving us away from the vortexes’ area: I have no idea about where we are going and honestly I don’t care so much of it….I had spent all the time holding Horgus’ body in my arms, cuddling him gently, and yes….I’d cry a lot till my eyes become red for irritation. Only the moon is watching us in this last travel we are making together and at the moment, its pale light it’s the only source of light around us. It makes me remember at all the time we went out in the night on the hills around Lord Barton estate to find a moment only for us and at how many times we made love there with the moon as the only witness of those intimate moments, but now, it’s all over….our dreams become just an unrealizable fantasy for me and with my heart torn by pain and desperation, I can’t think about a future alone, again, as I was three years ago.
Suddenly, the ship wobble dramatically, catching my attention. I look around us but I can’t see any vortex….so, why it’s so unstable now!? When I raise my eyes in front of us, I finally understand: merging form the sea right in front of us, I can see stone walls built by humans over the cliff and the stream is pushing us close to one of them. The impact is now inevitable and there are high chances that the structure can’t resist to it, especially if the area where it will happen is the one where the rostrum was planted in the flank of the ship. My first thought is to find a safe place for us, if there is one on this wreck: I stand up and holding Horgus’ corps in my arm, I’ll run to the stern risking many times to fall on the hold because the tablets of the bridge breaks when step over them. When I finally reach it, I lye Horgus on it and I cover him with my body, to protect him by pieces of wood or rocks that can fall from the cliff and ruin all over the ship, making it sink once and for all: just thinking at the possibility I can lose his corps in the deep of the sea after I had lose his presence in my life, make me tighten my grip on him, when suddenly the ship crash against the cliff. Luck wants that the area where the ship is hit, is not the same where the rostrum had seriously compromised the structure and in a way or another, the ship can continue to float even if it’s tilting to the right side, probably because water is now entering by a breach on that flank, but despite its condition, the ship is moving forward surpassing the massive walls. What I see behind them surprise me: we are now entering in an harbor apparently quiet and peacefully but soon, many flames appear on it and they are all converging right in front of us. More we advance, more I can recognize what’s happening on the dock: humans’ guards are grouping waiting us, an unidentified wrecked ship that suddenly enter in their domain.
The ship advance slowly and surrounded by the only sound of the creaky wood, while water copiously continue to enter from the breach, slowing it more. On the harbor, I can approximately count fifty or more guards, everyone of them taking us under control and with their weapons firmly holded in their hands: it doesn’t seems like they want attack us right now, but I’m sure they are ready to jump onboard when we finally reach the dock. And in fact, it’s what happen when the prow smash on the dock, definitively stopping the advance of the ship: soon, ten of them reach me on the stern and pointing their lances to me, surround me while others are looking all over the ship. It takes some minutes before two more guards join us on the upper bridge and whisper something at the others, just to turn to me and looking at me with a threatening eyesight on their faces.
“What happen on this ship!? And who are you!?” one of them yell against me. But he get no answer….all I want in this moment, is to be sure they don’t want to take me away from Horgus: kneeled on his body and holding it tight against my chest, I look around at them, trying to catch any imperceptible movement they make, ready to make my move if needed
“ANSWER ME, MONSTER!!”
Again….another human who see me as a mere monster. I grin at him, ready to react at his next move, barely sure he will attack me right now, when a voice caught the attention of all of us.
“Stop it right now, Mardukas! It’s an order!”
I and the guards, turn to the direction where the voice is coming. I can see the guards between us making a step away, freeing the space between him and me: looking at him, I notice he’s less tall then Horgus or me, but he have a well trained body, judging from what I can see, and I can’t see hostility on his face, something that surprise me. After a minute of silence, he speak again
“This ship….I recognized the blazons around it.” He take a break to look around, then continue “it belong to Lord Barton and you must be the famous Lady Dragon! Am I wrong!?”
I nod at him, uncertain about the fact if I can trust him or not. Without waiting more answer by me, he kneel and start to examine me and Horgus: he’s watching at us very carefully….my wounds, Horgus corps….everything, but he always pay attention to don’t touch us, especially Horgus, like he understand how important he is to me. Then, he stand up and make his man stand back, ensuring them there is no problem they must take care and only when he see they are all obeying him, he turn back to me.
“I’m sorry for the unfriendly actions of my men, Milady, but we were all surprised by your arrival….hope you can understand it!”
I nod at him again, without saying any words. He look at me, probably doubtful about what to say or do, then continue.
“I’m Votan, Captain of the guards of the free City of Libidinis and we are honored to have you here in our city, Milady!” he tell me, holding out his hand.
I’m pleasantly surprised by his manner. He acts in the opposite way of his men and he give me good feeling….something I really need now, the darkest hours I ever experienced in my whole life. I grab his hand and he help me standing up but I don’t let go Horgus’ corps and I’m sure he’s wondering why.
“Milady, I’ll assure you we are going give to your comrades the honor they need….so, please, let’s my men take care of him too!”
No answer from me, again. I look at Horgus then back at the Captain: I can clearly say he don’t have bad intensions, but I don’t want to let go my beloved Horgus….I’m not ready to do it! Any time my eyes lie on his dead corps, I have a lump in my throat and speak isn’t easy….
“Thanks for your kindness, Sir….but he’s special for me and I’d like to take care of him personally….”
“I understand….I don’t think there is any problem for it. Milady, I was hoping you will be so gentle to explain me what happens to you during the sail, but we can talk about it later.” then he turn the one who ad apostrophize me as “monster” and the order he gave him, surprised me “Mardukas, run and call one of the monk, we have a funereal ceremony to do!”
Mardukas, without hesitation, leave immediately the place and soon disappear in the dark of the streets of Libidinis, while Captain Votan call six of his men and give them other orders. After he assigned them their tasks, he turn to me and with a gentle tone, he speak to me.
“Milady, we’ll be honored to take part at the commemoration for the premature departure of this man.”
“The honor is mine, Sir….and thanks for your kindness, I appreciated it!”
“Milady, it’s my pleasure….now, please, would you like to follow me!?”
“Of course….” I simply reply to him.
Sir Votan opens the way to the small group, leading it in the night of the city enlightened just by the feeble flames of our torches. I’m behind him, carrying on my arms the corpse of my beloved Horgus and trying to hold the tears: it’s difficult and few drops fall on Horgus chest. I raise my head to the sky while rain start to fall down, soaking us during our solemn march: even the sky, now, is crying for the dead of my beloved man….
It was so sudden….the enemy’s ship appear, like it’s coming out of a veil of fog, straightly pointing to us: fast and accurate, the rostrum applied to its keel, crashes on the flank of our ship, penetrating it with all its length. The ship tremble visibly, as it never had done before, making us lose our balance and unable to avoid the first wave of shoots: five of our men fall under this first wave and others get injured and are now unable to fight….the situation is turning worst, our resistance is compromised but I can see the determination to survive in everyone of us! And in fact, the second wave, catch us ready: everyone has back to their position, finding a protection and ready to shoot back at our assaulters, who are now jumping on the wrecked bridge of our ship. The noise of the rifles fill the hair and screams of pain follow it soon, coming from both side with blood covering the bridge, the one of our allies mixing with the one of the enemies….corpses are falling, one after the other….we are overwhelmed by our opponents, but no one of us makes a step back in front of them: we fight with all our strength, conscious of the fact we are in inferiority and the situation can only turn worst for us, more the assault will be long, more the chances to survive go down. Just Lord Barton is walking here and there as if nothing is going on around him: probably, he lost his reason and no one of us can help him, he’s now in a too exposed position and even if he is our Lord, we know how high is the risk we can encounter if we try to bring him in a safe place. Even Horgus, who was near him till few minutes ago, had move to the main bridge to stop our opponents and try to push them back to their ship and find an opening to escape soon as possible.
The firepower of our enemies is cornering us. We have few men with rifles, plus I and Horgus are both fighting bare hands, forcing us to advance under the steel’s rain of bullets that graze our bodies at every step forward we make and even if we reach our target, we must move fast to the next one to avoid a more close and intense wave of steel. We are pushing our self to our limits but the situation isn’t turning easy for us: more we advance, more we are easy target for our opponents and our comrades can’t cover us properly, not without risking to expose them self to enemies’ fire. This is one of the few times I don’t regret to have a strong and resistant body but no matter how hard I try, there is not enough space to move freely and this is the biggest gap I have right now and Horgus is in the same situation. We step back, using the fallen main tree as a shelter and we are trying to reorganize our counterattack, when we hear Lord Barton yelling
“I’LL GIVE YOU ALL MY GOLD, IF YOU SAVE MY LIFE….IT’S ALL YOURS….”
We turn to him, just in time to see his body being hitted by three shoots and fall on the sea, with a chocked laugh who disappear in the deeps of the sea….we stare at each other for an endless moment, then turn to the remaining sailors who are visible proved by the continuous attack.
“Listen to me, men!” Horgus thunders them “I know you have put all you have to survive, as I know we are all at our limit….”
Horgus take a break and look around, at every one of us. The determination still in our eyes but on our faces he can read the sufferance for the fallen comrades and it’s clear from the hard breath many of us have, how exhausting the fight was till now. He look at every one again, then continue
“We have only one chance….I and Lady will try to attack directly the enemy’s ship and you will cover us with the rifles! Who is with me!?”
After a moment of silence, the voices of all the men rise high in the air and all are now screaming his name, a clear sign of the trust they have in Horgus, plus I can see that the determination in their eyes is now more visible then before. Proud of my beloved man, I turn to face him just before he put his left hand on my nape and push my face closed to him, placing his lips on mine for a passionate kiss: no more words are needed between us, our goal is to survive and realize our dream, it doesn’t matter how hard we have to fight, I know we are both going to do our best for our own sake! When our lips are finally away, we nod at each other and jump out of our shelter, running to the enemy’s ship before they can open fire upon us again: they were surprised by our sudden action and we reach the prow without any problem, but what expect us now is the most difficult part of our plan. The sailors on our ship opens fire on the main bridge of our enemies’ one, trying to bring their attention away from us or, at least, to prevent they can aim at us easily, in a desperate chance to don’t make us an easy target for their rifles. While Horgus engage a fight with the men who has jumped on our ship, I’ll try to collect all my strength and looking at him, I can’t avoid to think at the high risk we are about to run but at the same time, I know this is the only available option we have: push the rostrum back till it’s completely out of the flank! Indeed, it sound like a desperate plan but thanks to my demon’s legacy, it’s not an impossible task, even if the probability to realize it are against us….
I’ll take a deep breath and after have look around me to be sure no one is approaching, I place my back against the rostrum and start to push on it with all I have: no matter how hard I try, it seems like it’s not moving….the wood of the bridge crept under my claws as I increase the pressure on it. I’m so focused on what I’m doing to completely forget about the fight who is running all around me: the sound of the rifles and the scream of the two factions look so far now….my whole self is absolutely concentrated on my objective, no matter what….I must do it! And I try and try till the whole wood of the flank crept and the rostrum barely tremble, finally making a little step back: I can feel every cells of my body near to collapse, but I can’t give up….not now that my hard work is finally showing us a light of hope. I focus more my power and push harder and harder, giving all myself in reaching my goal, till I’m able, at last, to make a complete step back, releasing partially the rostrum from our ship. Then a second one follow it, then a third….more the rostrum move back, more it’s easy, for me, to free the flank from it. And it’s finally done, when one of our opponents jump down to our ship….It all happen in a wink: while their ship is caught by a vortex, he jump down of it and immediately run to me, with his sword pointed directly at my heart: I, unstable on my legs, stare at him, unable to react fast at his action and while I’ll try to bring back some strength, I can see the blade getting closed to my chest. Instinctively, I close my eyes, realizing that this time I can’t avoid a direct hit: my last thought is now for Horgus and for the promise I can’t accomplished, but I’m sure he will survive thanks to my sacrifice. I have accepted my fate but looking back at the last three years, happiness run thorough my body and I can’t hold a smile. It’s like the time has stopped, the blade seems so close to me but it didn’t reach me….it’s taking long, too much maybe….I wonder if this is what you feel when you know your life is about to slide away from your hands and you can do nothing to avoid it!
Those thoughts are now pounding in my mind, till I heard a scream. Suddenly, I open my eyes, just in time to see blood’s drops landing on my face and chest, but what really shocked me, is what I see a moment later: in front of me, there is Horgus back and from it, emerges the tip of a bloody blade. Breathless and immobilize by that view, I just can babbling Horgus name, while his body is falling back with the blade sliding out of that deadly wound.“Horgus….why….why….” I babble with a feeble voice, catching him in my arms “you don’t had to….you….”
Unable to speak, I fall on my knees. Tears are now flowing from my closed eyes, they run through my cheeks till they reach my chin, just to land over Horgus face: I can’t stop them, as I can’t stop holding tight Horgus to me, in a desperate try to don’t let his life leaving that mighty body he have. I’m grinning my teeth, while something warm start to graze my left cheek, gently. When I open my eyes, the blurred vision of Horgus face, in front of me, with the gentle and cute smile he always show me when we are alone.
“Don’t cry, Lady….” he say, with blood spilling from the corner of his mouth “I don’t like to see your face covered by tears….”
I look at him, trying to hold the tears but I fail….I experienced this feeling before, it was long time ago and I always prayed to don’t have to feel it again, not after I lose my mother.
“Sorry….they don’t want to stop….not till I know you are safe….”
“I wish I can swear you I’ll be better….but I can’t….I feel the breath of life leaving me….” he reply, with a forced smile. He cough some blood, then continue “I’m the one who must be sorry….I gave you a dream yesterday….and now….”
I interrupt him with a light kiss. It taste salty, and thinking about it can be the last one we exchange, it gives me a strange shiver all over my body: I can feel it clearly, it run free on my spine and it’s expanding in any single cell of my body and it makes my blood boil with increasing intensity at any moment and more Horgus body is getting cold, more my blood burns. And the words that are coming from our opponents who are surrounding us, makes it burn more.
“Look….kissed by an ugly monster….how disgusting!” “He sacrifice his life for that! Pout!” “It sucked out his soul….that beast!” “He must be insane to love that thing!”
And many laughs follow their words. More the sound of their laughs increase, more my blood burns: a new and unexpected power has start to born in me and more I hear their voices, more it increase, filling my whole body with a strength I never had before. But I’m trying to take it under control, most for Horgus, who is now holding my hand.
“Don’t listen at them….you are the most beautiful girl I ever seen….” he say, with feeble voice and trying to comfort me. And more laughs follow his words….again!
I stare at him, the only man I’d ever love, but now his life is sliding away from him and a hole is opening in my heart. A hole who has start to be filled by hate….hate for the men all around me and for what they do to the most important thing I had in my whole life. I hate the fact they are staring at us, fooling Horgus for is sweet soul: I don’t care about how they can treat me, but I can’t let them continue to treat my beloved Horgus as a pathetic man. My grip on his hand become tighter, while the light in his eyes is slowly disappearing: I hate then, but I hate myself too for not being able to react at a simple attack….simple but at the same time able to destroy my whole world and happiness. I know it….I will never forgive them and me for what happen….
“You have no fault, my love….” Horgus say smiling, like he was reading my mind “i was ready for this….every man on our ship was….”
“But I’m not ready to lose you….you are everything for me!”
He smile at me again, then reply “I’m honored by your words and I can tell you the same….but trust me….this world is big enough and I’m sure you will find someone else who will love you!”
After saying this, he close is eyes and lean his head back. His whole body is now relaxing in my arms and the last breath of life leaves him, at last: the desperation for losing him is now turning into hanger and at this point I can barely take it under control. I was gently lying Horgus body on the bridge when I heard a voice
“He goes first…now, it’s your turn, monster!”
At those words, I reach my limit: with a sudden movement, I jump on him and without leaving him the time to react, I’ll grab his face and slam it on the bridge breaking his neck: shattered pieces of wood are thrown around us, lightly scratching my skin, and the sound of his cracking neck echoes in my ears really exciting me, till I instinctively lick my lips, just before looking at the rest of my opponents. It take a minute at them to understand what’s going on. They all turns to face me, determinate to kill me: I see it in their eyes, no matter how hard they try to hide it, there is fear in them….fear for the beast they are now facing! And I must admit it….that scared eyesight they have, pleased me! Maybe they didn’t realize it, but their legs are trembling and even if it’s imperceptible, they a moving away from me. Looking at them, I can’t hold an evil smirk….a smirk that turn in a grinning expression soon! They are there, in front of me and behind them, lies Horgus body….
“Mere humans, what have you done!?” I growl at them, making a step forward, while they take one back.
“GRRROOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!”
My roar of rage fill the air, overwhelming any other sound all around us and it’s the last thing I remember….
When I get conscious again, there is a deep silence surrounding me. Looking around, I can see nothing moving except me: I can see the corpse of our enemies near the one of our comrades and everyone of them is clearly lifeless: no matter how hard I try, I can’t put back in my mind how it happen….it’s like I wasn’t here during the fight but there are clear signs I was! Most of our opponents’ body are covered by the signs of claws and I had seen theme before….they are mine! But how I was able to do that!? Just few minutes ago, I felt my body drained by all its energy and then….I’ve done this all by myself! I can’t explain it rationally….but it happen! For a moment, the smell of the blood around me and on my clothes and body, make me sick …. it's stinging and it fulfill my nostrils, covering any other smell in the area. I must lie on the broken main tree to try to rest a little bud suddenly, I remember it: Horgus body! I turn around, trying to find it, but all I can see is the shattered main bridge: there are signs of my claws and the one left by the cannons….all the damages it got, make walking on it not easy and at any step it crept under my weight. I look everywhere, but I can’t see my beloved Horgus….desperation is now gripping my heart and my eyesight is getting blurred because of the tears, when suddenly the ship wobble caught by an intense stream over the sea. It makes me lose my balance and I end rolling on the bridge for nine or maybe ten feet, till I can finally stop and try to stand up to continue the research for him. But then it happen: near me, I can see Horgus body with no traces of blood, except the one over the mortal wound, fallen on her body, even no pieces of the ship has hit him and looks like he’s simple sleeping, with a smile on his face. I wonder how it happen….the whole structure of the ship looks compromised, except the area where hi lies: a miracle maybe, I think in my mind, or just a cruel joke of destiny for me. Sitting on my knees, I hold him in my arms, holding his head close to mine in a last desperate hope to see him opening his dark purple eyes….
Late morning…. the ship is on its way for Libidinis and the coast where the City of Rhoonas lies, now is three hours away. The two cities are not so far, but the Berin Sea is usually crossed by several vortexes that makes the sailing difficult and slow, forcing the ships to proceed at a reduced speed and often changing their routes. Even sailing along the coast isn’t a solution to make the travel safe and short, in fact the internal area of the sea is the territory of a gang of pirates well-known for causing many trouble to merchant’s ships who have the disgrace to fall in their aim. No one know how many of them are there, but everyone know they have their cove long the coast and many sailors, who escape from their attack, swear to had seen their ship coming out from a vortex, while others swear to had seen the vortexes following their ships and attack the merchants and this legends has raise their worst reputation, till the point they are considered like a curse by all the nearest kingdoms. Even reach Libidinis by land is not a so available option….an extended mountain range, force any traveler to turn around it, losing even four days during winter season, plus, they are forced to cross the frontier of two different realms, paying high taxes for their goods and this is not acceptable if they want to obtain some profitable business.
And now, from what I understand, we should be in the middle of our journey for Libidinis and it’s going quiet well, even if it’s a little boring. Fortunately, I can use this time to stay with my beloved Horgus even if it’s just to learn a little more about my opponents: some will be mercenaries hired by local families, other scions of the nobility that rules the city and at last, of course, others who are in my same situation, forced to fight against their will for the prestige of their Masters. Not that I care to fight against my will, because I know what it means this time, plus, I must admit it, I don’t dislike so much when my blood burn for the excitement of the battle but I know very well I must restrain my strength when I fought against humans or I can seriously injured them easily and this will mean I can be disqualified, ruining mine and Horgus dream forever. And even if most of the contestants are humans, sometime happen that mercenaries can be from other races, like elves or felinx (creature half human and half feline) who both have granted many victories to the ones who request their services and this makes them very requested during the tournament that usually is running with the Summer Festival. I know I have good chance to win against them, but I know there can be surprises waiting me: knowing I’m going to take part at the tournament, the nobles are probably hiring strongest fighters then usually and others will move to Libidinis to have a chance to fight against me once in their life and I know they can be expert opponents ready to put all they have to win against me!
But I’m not less motivate then them: I’m self confident enough about myself to be sure I can win the contest and finally realize our dream, plus Horgus is putting all his hopes in my hands and I don’t want….no, I can’t disappoint him! I stare at him while he tries to put my attention back to his words, failing in it.
“Come on, Lady….you must pay attention!” he thunder me, but the tone of his voice didn’t hide so much his impatience, probably biggest then mine.
The desire to hold him in my arms and kiss him is strong, but I know I can’t do that right now, with everyone around us on the main bridge. I’ll try to put my attention back to his words looking at his face, but all I obtain is to have my eyes glued on his lips: the memories of the day before are now filling my mind and shivers begin to run over my body while I daydreaming of being alone with him and having his rod right between my tits, just a moment before he let his tasty seed land over them and on my face. I feel the heat rising, running from my belly to my face….it’s intoxicating me! I close my eyes and cover my face with my left hand, trying to push away those images, but now they are carved too deep in my mind.
“Can we take a break, Horgus!? I can’t focus in this situation….” I ask him, trying to stay composed in front of him.
“I think it’s a good idea….” he reply, standing up “we both need a break….”
And then I notice it….a perfect bulge right in the middle of his pants is growing to the point he can’t hide it any longer. I want to jump on him and free that growing thing from the leather, just to trap it with my lips but I must resist, for our own sake, even if now it’s really hard to control my instinct. We both know our dreams is getting close and this complicate the situation, more then we expect, and here on this ship we can’t have a single safe corner just for us….we can sense the pressure of our feeling but we can’t allow them to take control of us as it happened the day before. I look at Horgus moving to the upper desk, where he can finally take a deep breath. I hate to don’t have him near me but at the moment, I recognize this is the only way to don’t cause any trouble that will push us away from each other.
I stand up too and move in the opposite direction, watching at the sea that is surrounding us. Till three years ago, I wasn’t used to this salty air….my home were the mountains and the forests around Rhoonas and I never went so close to the sea, to don’t risk to met soldiers or simple citizens. But now, I must say it’s not that bad even if that salty smell itched my nose sometimes….not that is a big problem for me, it’s just a little boring to deal with it. But the view of the sea and sky mixing at the horizon, is incredible….it’s like if two entity are fusing into one, creating a vast and endless space, too big for any creatures to explore it by itself, but big enough to let any of them live free in it, without any restrictions! The breeze is nice and fresh on my skin and the summer sun burn it a little but I don’t dislike this feeling who makes me feel alive and I must say, breathing it helped me a little to calm my body.
*sniff, sniff* a strange smell hitched my nostrils after a little.
*sniff, sniff, sniff* it’s getting a little more intense but I can’t recognize it at all.
*sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff*
“GUNPOWDER!!!” I yell out loud, turning into the direction of the Captain “SOMEONE IS FIRING AT US!”
“There are no other ship here….what the hell are you saying!?” he reply me upset, just before a cannonball miss the stern just by few feet. The ship wobbles dramatically while other two shots are approaching threatening but they miss us again, even if they are getting more close to their target.
“More are coming!” I shout again to the Captain and pointing my finger in their direction. He suddenly makes the helm turn and the ship immediately change its direction, avoiding the cannonball again for the third time.
“Mr. Cord, all the men in their position…..NOW!” the Captain shout to his second in charge.
“Aye aye, Captain!” Mr. Cord reply, just before ringing a bell. Hearing it, all the sailors leave their activities and holding their rifles, take their places, ready to engage the fight with our unknown enemy. They are fast and well trained and it takes no time for them to prepare the two cannons, one for each side, to fire but first of all we must find their position or we are defenseless against them and at the moment, I’m the only one who can have a chance to recognize where they are. I’ll try to focus all my sense on the smell of the powder: it’s more intense now and I’m sure it’s coming from one direction but it’s difficult to estimate how far the enemy’s ship is without eye contact. Last chance I have, is to use my fine hearing but all around me is full of noises: the cannons, the sailors shouting at each other and the Captain giving orders to all of them….all those sounds distract me and localizing the enemies is getting difficult with the increasing nervousness that is filling our ship. I close my eyes and try to concentrate on the explosions of the cannons: I can barely hear them at the begins but more I focus on them, more I can clearly figured their position and now I’m near to determinate it, when someone shout loud.
“VORTEX! CAPTAIN, THERE’S ONE RIGHT IN FRONT OF US!”
The Captain turn the helm faster as he can to make us avoid it and the ship start wobbles visibly while sailing on the edge of it, making everyone lose balance and forcing us to find a support to don’t fall on the sea.
“MAN OVERBOARD!” Mr. Cord yell, pointing his finger into the direction where one of the sailors is trying to stay afloat, while another vortex attracting him to it. One of the sailor throw him a rope, trying to save him: he reach the rope and grab it, holding it with all the strength he have but the stream is strong, too much for a single man and on the bridge of the wobbling ship, most of the sailors can’t move properly and land a hand to save him from the fury of the sea. Everyone turn to Mr. Cord, waiting for an order.
“Cut the rope, we can do nothing for him!”
“But….Mr. Cord, we can pull him back onboard!” retorts the one who is holding the rope, looking at Mr. Cord and then to his comrade caught but the stream.
“There is no choice….it’s too late for him and we are under attack! Cut the rope, I’m not going to repeat it again!”
Despite his determined expression, I can see the desperation in Mr. Cord eyes for losing one of his men and I can say the same about the sailor that had taken his knife and it’s now ready to execute the order received, when I heard him whispering few words.
“I’m sorry, brother….”
And after said them, he drops the knife cutting the rope in one go. The screams of his brother are overwhelmed by the uproar of the vortex and soon, I can’t hear him anymore and even if I understand the reason of that sacrifice, I can’t understand how he was able to obey to an order like that without any hesitation.
This remind me to the time when my mother died to save me. I was six or maybe seven years old when it happened but those images are deeply carved in my memories and heart: we were leaving in a small village and at that time hiding my true nature was easy because I was looking like any other children of my age but soon, my body start to change and my half demon’s blood was revealed, shocking all the villagers. From that moment, our life start to fell into hell: all my friends leave me alone and anytime something strange happened, the villagers came to knock at our door, pretending I was the cause of all the disgraces and even if my mother swear them I wasn’t, the villagers start to look at us with suspicious eyes, till one day they call some soldiers from a nearby outpost. That day, I was playing in our house, when suddenly she slammed the door and after collect few essential things, she bring me to a nearest forest, hiding me inside a small natural hole between some rocks. And then, it happened….the soldiers found her and when she refuse to tell them where I was, they don’t hesitate to hit and torture her to death: from my hideout, I was able to hear her scream….it last for hours, till silence filled the area again and for the following two days, I stayed there in perfect silence, waiting for her return and crying softly to avoid to be caught by soldiers who can be nearby, looking for me. But she never came back to me….and that was the first day who changed my whole life, till I met Horgus three years ago, bringing back some light in my existence.
I stare at the sailor, then at the vortex that swallowed his brother….I can imagine the pain in his heart but at the same time, he know that was a sacrifice needed to save the whole ship and now it’s my turn to find a way to save everyone! I’ll try to focus my senses again on the explosions of the cannons and look straight in the direction I’m barely sure they are coming. Slowly, I can finally start to see something similar to a thin layer of fog moving over the water and I’m barely sure about the fact it’s following us without getting close to our ship: more I focus on it, more my eyes caught some little details like spray of water or some light trace of smokes probably coming from the cannons.
“Captain, over there!” I yell loud, pointing my finger into their direction “They are around two hundred and twenty feet far from us!”
“Perfect!” the Captain reply, just before turning to his second in charge “Mr. Cord, open fire following Lady’s instruction!”
“Aye aye, Captain!”
Mr. Cord, trying to don’t lose his balance, reaches me and leads me to cannon location on the right side of the ship. Here, two sailors are preparing it to fire at the enemy, aiming at the direction I pointed my finger just a minute ago but without any visible reference, they are having several difficulties. After talked with them, Mr. Cord turns to me.
“Lady, we can set the distance of the shot easily, but you have to aim it!”
I look at the cannon, then back to the empty sea.
“I can do that….but let me do it by myself!” I told him, looking back at the cannon “set the distance, they are moving on a parallel route at the moment….around two hundred feet!”
They all stare at me, then Mr. Cord order to the sailor to do as I ask. The two sailors look at me then at each other: it’s clear from their expression they have doubt about my request and after murmuring something between them, they turn again to the second in charge.
“That cannon is too heavy for one person, Mr. Cord….she can’t do that! Not alone!”
“I can’t do that, you said….” I think to myself, while they arguing with him, without carrying of the situation. I push them away, firmly, and grab the cannon basement, moving it into the right position to aim at the mysterious ship that is attacking us.
“Here we go!” I yell them, when the cannon is ready “now set the distance and fire!”
“How….how cold her….” they babble, unbelieving.
“No time for question….get ready to fire!” I yell them back, just before an enemy cannonball hit the main tree of our ship, breaking it in half. The smoke caused by the explosion cover all the bridge and shattered pieces of wood are thrown in any direction, hitting some of the sailors and even Mr. Cord can’t avoid one of them that hit him on his left leg, making him fall down. After few moments of chaos, I can finally take a look around: many men are wounded by the debris, other are trying to help them to reach a safe area and again, others are trying to go back to their position before a new shot can hit the ship but the enemies are faster than us: a second cannonball hit the flank, right down the area where our cannon is placed, making the bridge collapsing and bringing the cannon and the two sailor with it.
As it’s not enough, without the main tree the ship is losing its speed and with it, the possibility to sail faster between the vortexes that surround us: now, the risk to be caught by their violent stream is high, to don’t mention the fact that the enemies’ cannons are shooting continuously at us, increasing the number of cannonballs who reach their target, thanks to our actual low speed. The whole crew is now in panic: one third of them are injured and the bridge is seriously damaged in three or four different point, plus the Captain can barely control the hem now and let the ship stay on its route. Horgus is now at his side, trying to help him with the hem, especially when we are close to vortexes and thanks to his strength, sudden changes of direction are a little easy.
“Captain, what about the situation!?” Lord Barton ask, coming out on the upper bridge.
“We are having serious problem, Milord….most of the sailors are injured and can’t help with maneuvers plus, most of the structure of the ship is compromised!”
Lord Barton look around: wherever his eyes are looking, he can see wounded men and missing parts of the ship, plus we are barely moving now and the stream of the vortexes around us make the ship advancing now turning left, now right, risking to get caught by one of them anytime. Lord Barton take a deep breath, then look back at the Captain and Horgus.
“What we can do to escape them, Captain!?”
“Nothing, I suppose….just try to resist as long as we can….”
“So, this is the end!? I can’t allow it….” Lord Barton reply with a big sigh
“We will fight till the last man, Mi….lor….d….”
Blood start to spill out of his mouth and his body tremble….Horgus and Lord Barton are both staring at his chest with a stunned expression: the Captain look down at his chest too, just to discover blood spurting conspicuously from a hole right in the middle of it. He try to stop it pressing both his hands over it, but it have no effect: he can sense the last feeble breath of life leaving him, just before his dead body fall on the hem and then on the upper deck. Horgus, instinctively, grab the hem to prevent it to spin to the point the ship will definitively lose control and get caught by one of the nearest vortexes but not being practice about navigation techniques, he must proceed with various try before he can put the ship back on a safe route.
“What can we do now, Horgus!?” a frightening Lord Barton asks, staring at the corpse of the Captain.
Horgus takes a look all around him, then he take a big breath
“Milord, our chance are low….too many men are injured and the ship is getting uncontrollable minute after another….”
Lord Barton turns to face him.
“You mean this is the end!? Am I going to die!?” with a hysteric smile on his face, Lord Barton grab Horgus shirt, trying to shake him but failing in it “I’m your Lord….you must save me….”
Lord Barton release his grip on Horgus and turn to the main bridge, with his eyes wild open, and shout all around
“I will cover all of you in gold if you save my life….yes….I made you rich….” and a hysterical laugh follow it, filling the air. All the sailors look at him: their Lord is pathetic now, no more than a scared man only worried for his own life….no one is paying attention to his words now, everyone of them know how difficult it will be to survive in our situation and I can feel the nervousness running all over the ship. But no one of us was expecting what’s going to happen in few minutes….
Aaaand done! all the Chronicles updated………what a hell of a work!
Looking at a 3d pic, I got an idea……false identity!
Sorry, Jinger, but it's me, HB!
LovingSir maybe will be the next one!
Yes and he is so pissed off by the interruption to call the other NSPD officers to take you at the Department for corporal examination!
Lol, Woody……I think you need to stop drinking all that coffee!
Hey Sexiiiii! bring him some tea!
then grab my
Well, at the moment I'm pondering about where and how to move Phylia after she woke up and proooobably, her adventure are going to run in the same places of Lady Dragon. But maaaybe, there can be surprise about them!
Well, Alan…..it's all up to your fantasty to insert the same picture in different stories and this is where a good writer can show his/her best!
aaaanyway, it's too early to talk about it, first of all we must start the poll for the theme
Good evening, folks!
I know I know, this is a daaaamn old topic, but I got a pm who pushed me to give a look at this old project, so I take the decision to rework it a little.
And I had done it literally! The story posted is barely new, with more details (the Chronicles is a good platform to work on details), so now the first chapetr is now twice the old version.Hope you want to give it a try!
And now, i'll ask for your help…….where are the two girls!?
- In the hold of a ship
- In a cell of a slave market
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Poll will close next sunday!
Edit: poll closed, with 6 votes for a cell of a slave market! Soon, the next piece, i hope!
One word to describe them: LOVELY!
Keep doing this wonderful works, Elena!
or not, maybe
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