The wind had arisen from out of nowhere and worse, so had the inky black clouds. One moment it was clear skies, the next, Neptune’s wrath had unfurled. Paeter could hear the someone screaming to cut the sails. The clamor a myriad of cures that would make any pirate about the vessel blush.
The rope which Paeter used to keep upon the crow's nest, was being tested by the wind and rain with all its fury. To his left he heard a rope snap and saw a fellow crewman whisked away like a leaf in the autumn wind. It seamed that everyone about the ship named orders or howled in fear.
“Cut those sails or I will cut you!” growled a voice in the growing storm. Paeter did not need to look down to know the source. It was the Commodore a villainous man named Houk, the lord and ruler of the ship called the Lorelai. He was a pirate most feared and one who had survived his own mutiny. Legend stated that his previous crew had gotten him drunk with laced rum. the concoction contained a flower that made one hallucinate. When the deed done. The crew had tossed Commodore Houk to shark infested waters off the coast of a deserted island.
Later that night as the crew reveled in killing their own leader, they feel into a drunken sleep. When Commodore Houk climbed aboard, he was missing a hand and looked liked a fiend. The young cabin boy, Smeethe had not taken part in the mutiny. When he saw Houk emerge from his own death sentence. He did exactly what his Commodore ordered.
After the Commodore had downed a flagon of untainted rum and tied a dagger to his bloody stump. Commodore Houk went below deck and though it was never spoken about in detail. The Commodore butchered several men. When he was sure that he had the loyalty that he required from his crew. After that night none dared betray Commodore Houk again. The Commodore had saved his hand from the beast that had severed it. The rotting flesh removed, and the skeletal hand dipped in metal and finest gold. Commodore Houk wore his hand as both reminder and warning. As a way to deter any that may to seek to double-cross him. The Commodore also work some of the shark’s teeth on a necklace, the very one who had tried to eat his hand. The crew to show their loyalty wore a single shark’s tooth, which they hung about their necks. Smeethe for his loyalty became the Lorelai’s First-mate. He became the Commodore Houk’s most feared companion. That was many years ago, long before Paeter had joined the Lorelai. It now appeared that this storm may be the death of them all and the Lorelai's journey was at an end.
It took some time but the crew was able to cutdown the sails and stow them below deck. After securing all their supplies. The Commodore ordered each man to tie himself down to something and prepare to face the storm head on. It was an order none refused.
Paeter had tied himself to the mast of the crow’s nest, with another thick rope. He held the rail of the nest with white knuckled hands. He was afraid, but puffed out his chest, the rain hid his tears. After all he was a boy of only 11 years, he could help his growing sadness at the thought of an early demise. In battle against a foe he could not win with any dignity.
Soon the storm was all around them. It churned like great supernatural monster as it threatened to rip the ship apart. Commodore Houk screamed at the storm taunting it by daring it to challenge his prowess as a sea captain. A few ropes began to snap upon the deck, as crew members screamed, when they became victims of the storm. Yet Houk would not stray from his course. From Paeter’s vantage, its appeared the ship was heading to the storm’s exact center.
Paeter looked down when he heard the door to the ship’s lower deck slam as it opened and the wind took it. A shadow made of writhing robes, emerged on deck. It was the witch…Aneasthea. She glided over to Houk’s side and whispered in his ear.
“Look alive you dogs…fate has not claimed our souls yet!” Houk screamed to his crew. Paeter could only assume the Commodore’s soothsayer had given him, a prediction of sorts.
The witch hated by the crew and in part do to her strange hold over Commodore Houk. Despite their relationship. Paeter hoped that she was right and they would survive.
The storm continued it attack upon the ship as it cut through angry foam tipped waves. The Lorelai groaned under the strain of battle with elements. Paeter half expect to hear the ship crack in half and meet his doom. Somehow the ship under Commodore Houk’s control, stayed on course. It sliced through the water like a cutlass.
As the ship coursed through the waves, terrible wind and rain. Paeter swore that he heard a growl and using a spyglass sought its origin. The wind and clouds masked the source of the growl. But then lighting flashed west of the ship and Paeter something most unexpected.
He had only seen such creatures on the edges of maps and in books. His mind fought in recognize the distant shape…then it became clear. Paeter’s lips parted in a desperate scream.
Note from Author: I hope you have enjoyed this episode. Your comments and feedback are always welcomed. Don’t forget to subscribe and support this story and all the ones I create here. ~Cathalson
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