The Lost Phantom
 

Ahoy and welcome me hearties to the realm of, well, me! This is where I post the history of my pirate, the tales of him you never knew, in the form of a story. This is the second book in the Shadow Sorcerors Chronicles, The Lost Phantom.

For those of you who are fans of my story, welcome back! Prepare for another thrill ride full of sword fighting, voodoo, tears, and of course, the infamous crew of the Shadow King, the Shadow Sorcerors! I welcome you back mates, and hope you enjoy the sequel to my original tale.

For those of you that are new, I would wait to read this story, and first read book one in the chronicles, Shadows Rising,

Mates, I promised you a sequel, and here it is. Don't expect it to be as good as the first though ;) Enjoy the beginning to my second book!

Prologue

He felt the gravel beneath him, and heard the cawing of ravens above him. The air was cold, and still. An icy breeze blew through the area, chilling the man to the bone. He slowly opened his eyes.

He saw the sky first. It was almost completely cloudless, with a bright blue sky. It was probably late afternoon, and the sun would be setting in a few hours. Around him were steep cliffs of some sort of black rock. Black birds, the ravens he had heard, flew overhead in massive flocks, cawing at each other.

The man groaned and slowly sat up. He was exhausted, but didn’t know why. Then he realized, he didn’t know anything. He tried to remember how he got here, but couldn’t. The last memory he had was… waking up, just a few moments ago. What was going on?

“What in the world…” he muttered to himself, holding up his hands to look at. His hands were perfectly clean, with cut fingernails, and smooth palms. He slowly stood up, resisting dizziness and nausea. He shook his head, and examined the rest of his body. He was wearing a pair of dark orange suspenders, perfectly clean except for a little dust from the ground he was lying on; a pair of dark black breeches, black boots, and a box belt. He felt his hair. It was long, but it was tied back in a ponytail which stuck upward. He pulled down a strand of his hair to his eyes. It was a dark red, almost brown color. He shook his head again, keeping his eyes from blurring.

He examined his surroundings again, now that he was standing. He was standing in the middle of a large open area, a small canyon between the cliffs. To one side was a small building, possibly a tavern of some sort. To the other side was a small little town. But the town was a wreck. Buildings had their roofs gone, and walls ripped open. It could have once been a lovely little town, a center of commerce and where people would live their lives, but no longer. It was a ruin.

The man took a few shaky steps towards the town. His legs felt like they hadn’t moved for years, and it took a while before he finally got the hang of walking again. After that, he walked normally, but cautiously, towards the ruin of the town.

He walked between a few small buildings, and then through a crumbling stone arch into a small plaza. Laying around the area were skeletons, dozens of them. Some were missing limbs, others had blades stuck through their bodies, and yet others were just piles of bones. The man suddenly envisioned the area filled with skeletons, but animated ones, armed with blades and guns, slaughtering innocent people. And there was a woman. A woman clinging to a small child, screaming out for help as undead closed in on her.

The man cried out, clutching his face, trying to shake the scene around him away. The vision only got worse. More undead poured in, and more were killed. A few fighters bravely fought against the undead demons, but they were slowly killed off. Buildings around him exploded as they were hit by strange, spectral cannonballs. The man screamed loudly now, shutting his eyes as tight as he could to get this horrible scene to go away. He fell to the floor, clutching his ears, trying to mute the sound of screaming people, crying babies, exploding buildings.

The sound faded away, but the man laid face down on the ground, sobbing. Soon he drifted off into a half sleep, and then he went completely unconscious.


He woke up a few hours later. He could tell because the sun had just set, and darkness was closing in. He stood up, shuddering at the memory of the vision he had had. Somewhere inside of him, he knew it was real. That vision, it was real, and he had been there. It hadn’t happened here, but somewhere else, in a plaza much like this one.

He decided to leave the town. He walked back through the crumbling arch, and then realized something. It was deathly quiet. The only sound he had heard before was ravens cawing, but it was gone now. There was no sound at all, except for the distant sound of waves lapping on the shore of wherever he was.

He picked up his pace slightly, even though he didn’t know where he was going. He left the town, and found himself back in the open area inside the small canyon. He glanced up at the sky. It was night; however, this night was not normal. The sky wasn’t a dark, deep blue like it should be, or rather he thought it should be, since he had no memory. It was almost pitch black. Something about this place was not natural. And then he heard the howling.

Not the howling of a normal, earthly animal, no. This was something strange, something not of this world. It sounded like the moaning of a soul that was in pain, was lost, and worse, unspeakable horrors. The man didn’t want to know what was the source of this howling, so he ran towards the ruined tavern. He tried to open the doors, but they were locked. He shook the handles desperately.

God damn it! he screamed inside his head. He let go of the handles, and turned around towards the howling, and he caught his breath. He stared in horror at the source. The sound was emanating from nothing more than a misty red figure. It was shaped roughly like a disfigured circle, hovering two or so feet from the ground. It was something that shouldn’t cause all this fear, but it just did. When the man looked at it, his body filled with an indescribable fear. It slowly moved across the plaza, coming towards the man. It seemed that it hadn’t noticed him yet, but it would.

Cursing under his breath, the man stealthily moved behind a pile of crates, sitting down behind them with his back to the strange being. He could hear more of its pained howling as it came closer to him. He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see it if it noticed him. Time almost seemed to slow down as it came near him. The man couldn’t help but open his eyes as the being moved to the other side of the crate pile. It was facing, or at least the man thought that was the way it was facing, the same way as him, and hadn’t noticed him yet. If the being just turned to its right, it would be staring him, if the thing could stare, straight in the face.

And then, the man did something he regretted. He meant to merely shift his arm, but it ended up knocking down one of the crates. He caught his breath and stared wide eyed at the being. The red mist seemed to shift, as if turning, and then, it changed. The mist stayed, but the form of a man materialized from it. The man couldn’t make out the clothes that the being was wearing, as the whole thing was just a silhouette, but on the face, he could make out two eyes, glowing red with hatred. The being looked him directly in the eyes, and the man cried out in fear as he realized he was about to meet his fate. The being had found him for sure now, and there was no telling what it would do now.

He shut his eyes, preparing for the worst, but it never came. He slowly opened his eyes to see the being walking away from him, continuing on its original path. The form of the man slowly melted away until it was just a blob of red mist, hovering away.

The man laid back, letting out a breath of relief.

“Where am I?” the man asked himself. “More importantly, who am I?”

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If you have a guess at who this character is, keep it to yourself. If you can't bear keeping it in, PM me to let it out :laughks2:

Commentary? And stay tuned for Chapter 1 mates! :psmiley27:

Haha, of course, as soon as I finish Shadow Rising, I see this.

Yes, I know. No, I won't say anything. It's a very good start though, mate. I can't wait to see where you go from here. What piques my curiosity most, though, is the...*ahem* Red Orb. I'm curious as to why it didn't attack. I'll just wait to see how it's explained, aye?

Ah, good! I was gonna be very upset if one of my favorite authors chose to put down the pen :)

Very interesting start, I must say. Very eager to find out what happens next. As to who the person is...? Well, I have an idea ;)

Good intro to your sequel... I hope it turns out better than the first. I have no idea who it could be but I have a guess.

Edit: Ok, I am pretty sure who it is, a couple lines gave it away, assuming I was right.

Hm... Why Didnt The Ghost Attack?!?

Here is Chapter one mates! Remember, if you have any ideas of what may happen or is happening, keep it to yourselves!

Chapter 1: Strange Rumors

Davy looked out at the sea. He never grew tired of looking at it, even though it was almost always the same. That bright, sparkling blue hue. So peaceful and calming. He turned to his crew, and watched them work. This was no ordinary crew, however. This was a crew full of sorcerers, or Sorcerors, as they spelled it. They were able to control voodoo energy, and use it for whatever they pleased. They could lift heavy objects with it, or send fireballs at their foes when they were in combat. They even were able to increase the speed of their ship by controlling wind or currents in the water. This made the crew who they were. It made them the crew of the Shadow King.

The Shadow King herself was a mighty ship. Her hull design was that of a Ship of the Line, one of the most powerful in the seas. The sails of the ship were made of a cloth that was black as pitch. The sails seemed to arouse fear in whatever foe they approached. Only one ship in the Caribbean flew sails of that style, and that was the Shadow King. Then there was her hull. Made of a black wood, the color of wood that had been burnt. The hull was extremely powerful. It would take many broadsides of even the most powerful naval warship before it would break significantly. It had served the crew well when they went to battle with Jolly Roger, the leader of the undead army, and his flagship, The Harkaway.

That was ten years ago, Davy thought to himself, hands gripping to the railing of the Shadow King. So much has happened since then…

“Davy,” a man said, walking up to Davy. Davy turned to face him. It was his first mate, and his best friend, Sam Bladebeard. The two had met on Tortuga a few months before the Shadow King had sunk The Harkaway.

“What is it Sam?” Davy asked.

“Meg, our current lookout, has spotted Tortuga. We should be there in a few hours.”

“Good,” Davy replied. “When we make port, let’s make repair and restock on ammo and supplies. I think we should stay for a few days, to let the crew rest up before we set out again.”

“Aye, they’ve earned it.”

With that, Sam left, leaving Davy alone again. Davy remembered back, ten years ago, to that battle with Jolly Roger. Every time Davy was reminded of it, he shed a tear. He had lost the last of his blood family that day, when his brother gave his life to defeat Jolly and save the crew of the Shadow King. Davy had been separated from him when he was ten, and was reunited with him almost ten years later, when he was nineteen. Then, he was taken away from him once again. Now he was approaching the age of thirty, and he still missed his brother more than ever. Davy took his mind off of it, and walked down onto the deck to assist the crew with their duties.

Davy did this for the next few hours, until they began sailing into Tortuga Harbor. Once they landed, Davy gave each pirate their share of plunder, which he had divided up last night. It had been a good voyage, and they had brought in a good amount of plunder. It would be enough for the crew to give to their families, and they would have enough to feed themselves for at least the next six months, with enough left over to spend on luxuries.

Davy waited behind for some of his friends; Sam, Matt Scurvytimbers, Zolina Crestrage, Meg Mcbones, and Kate Gunhound. They quickly stopped by the shipwright, O’Malley, and made sure that he would keep watch over the Shadow King. As always, he agreed to. The group decided to take it easy for the rest of the night. Or as easy as things can go in Tortuga. They headed over to The Faithful Bride tavern, the best tavern on the island. They could get some drinks there, listen to some new gossip, and then head back to their shacks.

They chatted on the way to the tavern. Davy was mostly quiet, contempt with listening to the sound of his friends laughing, and the sounds of the rowdy town around them. After several more minutes of walking, they arrived at their favorite tavern. Davy opened the door, letting his friends through before following himself.

They walked down the flight of stairs which lead to the seating area. They walked through the crowd of crazy, pirates and found a table.

“You guys sit tight here,” Davy said as they sat down. “Zo and I will get the drinks.”

“Aye, aye Captain Fireskull,” Meg said in her Icelandic accent.

Davy and Zolina left the table to go get the drinks from Carver, the bartender. Davy had become good friends with him several years ago after he put out a fire that nearly burned down his bar. After that, Carver promised him drinks at half price every time he came. He ended up regretting that, because Davy always came with his crew, meaning Zolina as well, who was notorious for being able to beat anyone in a rum drinking contest.

“Ahoy there Davy!” Carver greeted. “Good seein’ you again mate! It’s been a while!”

“Indeed it has!” Davy said, clasping hands with him.

“What’ll it be for you today?” Carver asked.

“The usual please. Got me usual party with me tonight.”

Carver nodded before hurrying back to fetch the drinks.

“I think I need extra rum tonight,” Zolina muttered.

“Why?” Davy chuckled.

“Do I need a reason to drink more rum?” she responded.

“Well…”

Carver came back now, with the drinks on a tray.

“Here ye are Davy!” he said, placing the tray on the bar.

“Thanks mate,” Davy said, sliding down the gold to Carver before picking up his drink. “Zo, mind taking those back to the table? I’ll meet you in a second.”

“Sure, make me do all the work,” Zolina joked. She picked up the tray and walked back to the table with it.

“So Carver,” Davy started, taking a sip from his drink. He had ordered his favorite rum tonight. It was a little more expensive than the others, but he had the money to spare. It was a sweeter rum, aged about ten years, stolen from an East India Trading Company vessel. Davy continued. “Any recent rumors ye’ve heard?”

“None that would particularly interest you,” Carver said slowly. “Except for one.”

Davy raised an eyebrow, and pulled up a stool to sit on. “Do tell.”

“I hoped ye’d say that,” the bartender said with a grin. “There’ve been rumors lately of ships reappearing. Ships that were sunk long ago.”

“Oh dear God,” Davy said wide eyed. “Jolly Roger?”

“Thank the heavens no,” Carver said. “These aren’t the ships with tattered masts and rotten hulls. These ships look almost exactly like they did in life… except… there is something different about them. Nobody knows exactly what, but when they look at them… well, they just give you a strange feeling, you know what I mean?”

Davy nodded, “Aye.”

“The strangest things about these ships,” he continued. “Is that they are there, and then they vanish!”

“Vanish?” Davy said. “Just… poof?”

“Poof,” Carver said with a small smile. “Poof and they’re gone! The same thing has been happening with people all over the Caribbean. Dead people. Don’t worry, not rising as undead, but people claim to see people who died long ago walking around. Then, they just go ‘round a corner, or the person blinks, and they’re gone! Nobody can explain it! Some say that it is just a bunch of crazy people, but I’m not sure. If this many people on this many islands are reporting this, something’s up.”

“Very odd,” Davy said. “Very odd indeed.”

“Also, there are reportings of ships, Navy vessels especially, coming to port and acting, well, strange. The ship itself is intact, but the crew seems… possessed almost. They are different, less responsive, more aggressive, not themselves. I heard a rumor about some Navy sailor coming home like this. A neighbor reported seeing him murder his entire family before vanishing into the woods, never to be seen again!”

“Don’t know what to make of it…” Davy said, taking a sip from his rum.

“Neither do I,” Carver muttered, rubbing his finger across the bar. “We can only hope that it’s a bunch of drunken sailors rambling about things that don’t exist, or if it’s real, then we can only hope it will pass.”

Davy nodded and took everything in.

“Davy!” Matt called to him from the table. “Come on mate, you’re ignorin’ yer crew here!”

“Get over here!” Kate said, waving.

“Must be going,” Davy said. “Been good talking to you.”

The two clasped hands again, and Davy headed back to the table. Zolina passed him his way to the table, intent on getting seconds.


--------------------------------

Comments, praise, constructive criticism?

Love it! its great as usual!

Geez Louise Davy. I come back after 5 days and you've already finished your one story, and started this one!

And I know exactly who said person is. One line in particular helped me realize it.



What? Are you waiting for me to tell you which one? Read it if you don't know!

no comments, praise, constructive criticism...
Just FIREWHISKEY & RUM CAKES

Ugh, sorry I haven't been able to do any writing guys. I've been extremely busy lately. Haven't had time to do much of anything between managing the guild and its new site, school, extra-curricular activities... I'm a busy busy boy...

Chapter will be out this weekend! I promise!

Great job Davy! This is prbably one of my favorite chapters in any of your books, I can't wait until the next chapter, you set this story up so well from where you left off and I can't wait until what happens with the mysterious ships....

hope it will be out quickly...

Sorry it took forever for me to write this chapter... been extremely busy, but here it is! Enjoy!


Smelly the dog barked as Davy, Sam, and Matt entered the shack. This shack was where Davy had met the two, about ten years ago. It was where they, along with Billy, had lived their lives before they met Davy, and started their adventure aboard the Shadow King. Smelly was Billy’s dog. He was one of those shaggy dogs that Navy jail keepers kept around, putting the keys for the cells around their necks. The dog was very affectionate, but was aggressive when his masters were in danger. During the battle with The Harkaway, his chest had been slashed by a skeleton. The wound had healed, but it left a large white scar beneath his fur. After Billy had gone, the dog went into a state of depression that lasted a few weeks. He had known Billy since he was a puppy, and losing his master after that much time was traumatizing for him. He finally adjusted, and chose Davy as his new master.

After they had finished their drinks, the group separated into two groups, the ladies going off to their place, a few minutes walk from Davy’s. This shack was his home on land. Whenever he arrived at Tortuga, he looked forward to seeing the little shack, with its simple design, small set of cozy beds, warm fireplace, and no-privacy privy. The three men walked in, shutting the door behind them. Matt went to greet the excited dog, and went in the back to go fetch him some meat.

Davy sat on a chair by the fireplace, and Sam sat next to him. Davy yawned.

“Big day,” Davy said quietly. “Let’s just rest up for the next few days. I told the crew to meet back at the Shadow King in three days. That should be plenty of time.”

“Aye,” Sam said. “We need the rest. I’m exhausted. I feel like I could sleep through the sound of a broadside.”

Davy chuckled. The two sat in silence. Smelly trotted over with a steak in his mouth. He sat next to Davy, chewing on it quietly. Matt came in a few moments later, and took a seat next to Sam.

“So Captain,” Matt said. Whenever he said ‘captain’, he always meant it jokingly. Him and Davy were on a first name basis, but he liked to call him that anyway. “What is our plan for our next voyage?”

“Not sure,” Davy said. “If I don’t think of something, we will probably end up plundering some merchant ships, or reminding the Navy to fear the Shadow King.”

“Hmm,” Matt said, not amused. He was someone that was always looking to try something different, and fun. Raiding Naval vessels did get boring after a while.

“Aww come on Matt!” Sam said, slapping him on the back. “It’s a new adventure every time!”

“Ehh,” Matt said. “I’ll bear with it. Maybe we could find a Navy fort to raid on some island in the middle of nowhere…”

Sam and Davy laughed.

“Well mates, it’s been a long day!” Davy exclaimed. “Time for me to get some shuteye.”

“G’night mate!” Sam said.

Davy climbed into his bed, pulled up the blanket, and shut his eyes. He fell asleep within seconds.



Davy woke up in the middle of the night. Immediately he wondered how the hell he could wake up when he was so exhausted. He glanced out the window, to see the moon high in the sky, signifying that it was somewhere just past midnight.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He lit a candle, providing the shack with a dim light. His two friends and the dog were all sleeping peacefully, undisturbed by Davy’s waking, or the lighting of the candle. Davy yawned, and looked out the window again. But this time, the path that lead by their shack was not empty. Davy caught his breath. He couldn’t see the source, but just out of his view was something emanating a blue light. Davy rose an eyebrow, sliding out of bed. He quickly threw on some clothes, and slid on his boots. He thought for a moment, and then decided to strap on his sword. You never know who or what will wander Tortuga at night. After glancing back at his sleeping friends, he quietly opened the door, and slid through. The cold night air woke him up immediately. He didn’t expect it to be warm, but it was colder than it should be. Something was not right. He shut the door behind him, and walked down the path.

He had been walking for about a minute when he caught sight of the light again, but this time it seemed to be moving. It slid between a few trees, and disappeared. Davy bit his lip nervously, and began jogging towards the Wildwoods of Tortuga. His hand instinctively moved towards his sword. He walked through some trees, following the blue light in the distance. After a few minutes, he lost sight of it, but kept going in the general direction.

He drew his sword now, cutting through ferns that blocked his path. His sword was not any ordinary sword. He had put spells on it so that anything that it slashed would become poisoned with a powerful venom. It didn’t kill unless it got a lucky hit, but it caused excruciating pain. The ferns wilted as he cut through them. Davy took note of a swarm of bats flying overhead. Why did he get the feeling that they were not moving toward something, but moving away from something?

He shrugged off the thought, and continued through the bush. He finally came to a small clearing. Floating in the middle of the clearing, was a blue, misty orb.

Davy took up a fighting stance, holding out his sword. He didn’t know what this thing was, but it rang a bell in his head. He couldn’t remember; however, if it was friend or foe.

The orb began to change, and it was then that Davy remembered. Out of the orb, the form of a woman materialized. She was silhouette-like, but Davy could make out her features enough to recognize her. He lowered his sword.

“Joanna…?” Davy asked.

“Yes, Davy Fireskull. It is I,” the ghost said. When Davy had been stranded on Raven’s Cove, he had encountered a ghost that had tried to kill him, and almost succeeded. He managed to overpower the ghost with his mind, destroying the rage within it, and changing the ghost back to its original form. This ghost was the one that stood before him. But how could she be here? Ghosts were locked on Raven’s Cove, and weren’t able to leave it.

“How did you get here?” Davy asked, sheathing his sword. “I thought ghosts couldn’t leave Raven’s Cove.”

“They couldn’t before,” she said, in her misty, echoing voice. “They can now.”

“Care to explain?”

“I cannot stay for long…” she said nervously, nervousness appearing on her ghostly face. “I am assuming that you have heard those strange rumors? The ones about the dead coming back?”

Davy nodded.

“They are not rumors. They are real.”

“Continue,” Davy said, intrigued.

“Strange magic is at work in the Caribbean, Davy Fireskull. Dark magic. The dead are rising. They were restricted before, but they are slowly growing power. As does their patriarch. He will soon be at full power, and will rise again from his imprisonment, and will take revenge on the living.”

“Patriarch? Who?” Davy asked.

“I cannot stay any longer,” Joanna said. “Davy Fireskull, you must sail to Raven’s Cove as soon as possible. Your questions will be answered there, and you may find more than just the answers to your questions there. Hurry! Time is short!”

“Wait!” Davy said, running towards Joanna. But it was too late. By the time he had gotten to her, she had disappeared. He cursed, kicking the dirt at his feet. He stood in the clearing, taking in everything that had happened.

The dead are rising? Davy asked himself. How can this be? Why now? And who is this patriarch? Something is amiss… and what was she referring to as the other thing that I will find?

Davy gritted his teeth. He hated having unanswered questions.

I’ll just have to go there and find out, Davy thought. He headed back through the jungle. In ten minutes, he was coming back down the path to the shack. The sun wouldn’t rise for another few hours. He could still get a bit of sleep before he needed to wake up. He opened the door and snuck inside. Smelly was still sleeping in the corner, next to Sam, who was snoring deeply.

Davy looked at Matt, who had shifted positions. He opened an exhausted eye to look at Davy.

“Mate, where were you? It’s the middle of the night for God’s sake,” he grumbled. “Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Davy looked at him wide eyed. “You’d never guess…”

-------------------------------------

Doez you feelz tehh suspense? I sure hope so... because I feel it myself. By the way, if you are reading this and you haven't read my former story, I would read it, because this one has a lot of reference to it.

Comments, praise, constructive criticism? Rum?

Great as usual!

Yay, hats off to another great chapter! I cannot wait until the next one comes out.... Hurry!

have to agree with shark tooth there, but can ye make some people ( like me ) into the story as well?

Ah my goodness...

Okay guys, here's the deal. I have limited room for placing characters in my story. Chances are, most of you won't even end up being major characters either. There are a lot of people out there that probably want to be in it, but since I cannot do all of you, I am going to limit myself to people I know in game, mainly because I know them well, and I can use their personalities. I'm very sorry to any of you who want to be in, but I cannot take everyone.

As for my next chapter, which I know you are all waiting for, I have the next three or four chapters planned out in my head, its just a matter of putting it on paper... or rather in a Word Document. I can hopefully get one out this weekend.

Is it same characters as last time? 0_o

And... YAY I can't wait, this story is so good!

Here we are my friends! Chapter three! I hope you enjoy it!



Davy didn’t tell his friends about his encounter with Joanna in the woods. Something held him back. He knew something was wrong, and he didn’t want to frighten his crew. Pirates are a superstitious bunch, and even simple ghost stories can cause even a loyal crew to become a group of mutineers. He didn’t want to tell them, but deep down he knew it would have to be revealed sooner or later. He just was trying to avoid it, but he knew it was inevitable that it would be found out.

The days after that were simple, consisting of Davy and his friends resting up, stocking up, and of course, drinking up. The officers of the Shadow King had filled it with all of the necessary supplies for a several month voyage the day before they left. All was ready by the time the crew started boarding again. As they walked up the ramp onto the deck, Davy greeted each one of his crewmates, and thanked them for joining him for yet another adventure. They had been his crew for ten years now. Most crews would have moved on to other captains, other ships, and other adventures by this time. Not Davy’s crew though. They were a loyal bunch, and they were all his brothers and sisters in all but blood.

Right before dawn, the Shadow King left the docks once again, on a brand new voyage. Davy was at the helm, steering the mighty ship out of Tortuga Harbor, like he had so many times before. Finally, the Shadow King was out of the harbor, and sailing into the open sea. Davy, like he always did, addressed his crew.

“Ahoy Sorcerors!” Davy yelled out to his crew.

The crew yelled back, cheering and throwing hats.

“Well my friends,” Davy said. “It is time for yet another adventure! Now, I am sure you have all gotten bored of raiding merchants, and challenging ourselves against the Navy, aye?”

“Aye!” the crew cried out. Davy couldn’t help but laugh. He continued on.

“Well my friends, we are going to be doing something… different this time around. I recently, erm, had a feeling. I’m sure many of you remember my stay at Raven’s Cove after one of our unsuccessful battles with The Harkaway? You do? Good. Well, I recently had a feeling, that something awaits us back at Raven’s Cove. I’m not sure exactly what it is yet. Perhaps an infinitely valuable treasure, or an exciting adventure! Either way, we have our heading! Set a course for Raven’s Cove!”

The crew cheered, throwing up hats. As always, they scattered after about a minute and went to their regular duties. Davy stood by the stairs, up near the wheel of the ship. Kate came up to join him.

“A feeling?” she asked.

Davy gulped, “Aye… you could say that…”

“What else could you say then?”

“Kate, now’s not the time… I’ll explain everything when the time is right.”

“And when is that time?” There was now a stern tone in her voice.

“When I see fit,” Davy replied firmly.

Kate raised an eyebrow, and walked off. She knew something was strange. Kate was not stupid. She could see that Davy was hiding something, and he knew that she would try hard to find it out.

Can’t worry about this now, Davy thought to himself. Right now, I need to worry about who this patriarch is that Joanna mentioned, and what is going on with all the dead rising…

The sun had risen now, illuminating the ship, and making the sea sparkle. The sky was a bright blue, with a few wispy clouds scattered across the sky. The sea was sparkling, glowing with beauty and light. Davy looked behind him, and saw the lush island of Tortuga. By now, the town would be just waking up, and starting its daily routine involving cursing, gunfire, and the consumption of enough rum to kill the average man.

“Amazing how the world can be so beautiful in such dark times,” a voice said.

Davy whirled around, and came face to face with the ship’s doctor. His true name was unknown, but he went by Witchdoctor Dan. He was not too tall, sort of short in fact, but his personality made up for his small size. He was extremely clever, able to figure out how to get out of almost any situation without any problems. He was also a powerful user of voodoo. He didn’t use it to fight as much as he used it to heal, see current events, and predict future ones. Most of all, he was a grump. Whenever the strange man smiled, it always meant he was up to no good. The first time Davy had seen that smile was after he had put a worm in Zolina’s rum (her reaction was priceless, but that was another story). His usual expression was either one of annoyance (he always had something to be annoyed at) or completely neutral. Davy had asked his crew secretly, and nobody had ever seen him happy or satisfied before.

Matt had found him one day on Tortuga, drunk in one of the smaller bars. He wouldn't have paid any attention to him, if it weren’t for the fact that his drink was floating three inches above the table. Matt immediately knew that he would make a good recruit for the Shadow King, and took him, much to Dan’s protesting, to Davy. After he was able to talk sense, Davy found out that he was a Witchdoctor, and asked him if he wanted to join the Shadow Sorcerors. He had accepted, for better or for worse.

“Oh, hello Doctor,” Davy said. “I didn’t see you there.”

“Of course you didn’t ,” the man said, not making eye contact with Davy. Normally Davy would find that disrespectful, but he knew that if he brought that up to Dan, he would be turned into a frog in a heartbeat.

“What was this that you were saying about dark times,” Davy asked nervously. He knew too well that Dan could read into the minds of people. It was something Davy found irritating.

“Please Captain Fireskull,” Dan stated, yawning. “I know what happened to you the day we arrived at port. I see all you know.”

Davy didn’t know what to say, but Dan didn’t wait for a response. He kept going.

“You met a ghost, Joey Anne was it? Strange name for a girl—”

“Joanna…” Davy said, but he didn’t notice.

“—She said something to you about some big bad person rising from the dead, with a bunch of his other dead friends. I have felt something too. Something has been stirring in the Caribbean lately. I’m not sure what it is, but something is just… wrong. You understand right?”

“Not really, but go on.”

“Captain Fireskull, dark works are going on right now in the Caribbean. You’ve been to that hell hole known as Raven’s Cove before, and you know what its like to an extent, aye? I’ve never been there, thank God, but I know that strange things happen on that island. That ghost you spoke to knows that, and now you are leading us into something, and you have no clue what this something is.”

“Do you?” Davy asked, trying to hide a small smile.

Dan paused for a moment, then spoke, “No, I do not. But anything that involves Raven’s Cove cannot be good. That island is not natural, and I would stay away from it if I were you. You could easily get us killed in horrible ways by doing this. I really should tell the crew exactly why you’re doing this.”

“But you won’t.”

“Exactly! For several reasons. First and foremost, I like watching people fail, and if you end up regretting this choice and we all die, at least I will be able to have a good laugh at you knowing that you have failed miserably in your quest. The second is that I too am quite curious as to what is going on in our lovely Caribbean, and with things like the dead rising, Raven’s Cove is a good place to start. The third, is that that ghost came all the way from Raven’s Cove to speak with you. Joey wouldn’t do that unless it was very important, so I think that we might as well do what she wishes for now.”

“Very well then,” Davy said, nodding. “Well Dan, you have succeeded in your mission.”

“What mission?” Dan said, puzzled.

“In making my head hurt. I assume that the crew can perform their duties without me for a while now, so I believe I shall head into my cabin and take all this in. If you need me, you know where to find me.”

“Unfortunately I do,” Dan mumbled. “I shall see you soon.”

Davy headed down the steps, into his cabin, wondering why in the world he hadn’t marooned Dan yet.


Davy stayed in his cabin, writing in his log for a bit. After that, he pulled out some maps and took note of any reefs, trading routs, or islands that they would come in contact with on their voyage to Raven’s Cove. The trip to Raven’s Cove would be about a week, assuming there were no delays, such as storms, fights, or bad currents. He continued working in his cabin for a few hours on whatever needed to be done. Will Seaeagle knocked on the door once and asked about something on the ship, but it didn’t take very long.

By now it was early afternoon. Most of the crew had just eaten their lunches, and were chatting a bit, as their jobs were mostly done until evening. Davy had dozed off a bit on his bed, and had just gotten up. He was still stretching when he heard a knock at the door.

“Come in!” Davy said, rubbing his eyes.

The door flew open, and Meg looked in with wide eyes.

“Davy, you had better come on deck,” she said urgently. “Navy Ship of the Line approaching us with full colors!”

“A Navy ship?” Davy asked, puzzled. “Impossible! We’re nowhere near their patrol routes!”

Sam ran into the room. “It's there alright. Not just any Navy ship either. it’s the HMS Invincible, and you had better take a look at her.”

----------------------------------------------------

There you are mates, are you feeling the suspense yet? Questions, comments, concerns, praise, rum? Especially the rum.

Wow! I love the ending so much! Another great chapter Captain Fireskull...

Rum is on me for this chapter mate. It is as good as ever

Epic, and stealth can pay for the rum XD

:psmiley22:I might have to sink a few hundred ships for all the rum people are gonna drink...

Thats not going to cover it... i'm going to get me guild!

uh oh - sees angry horde of pirates approaching... -

I resent that summary of me, Cap'n Fireskull. Everyone knows I would not give you information unless you gave me quarters, food, and a barrel of rum.

^^^^^^^ Typical Dan, anyways, hurry up Davy! Please

Oh Dan, everyone knows that you are just like that. We still love you though. :D

Aye, aye mates... not sure when I can get the next chapter out. It's half way done. I may try tonight if I have time.

Here you guys go. I hope it is nice and suspenseful, because I like it when you pull out your hair in anticipation for my next chapter.



“Good God,” Davy muttered. “It’s the HMS Invincible! It’s said to be the strongest ship in the Navy’s War Fleet!”

Davy couldn’t see it too clearly. It was still a good distance from the Shadow King. All Davy could see was the front of its massive hull, and its mighty masts, flying full colors. It looked majestic, but deadly. The Shadow King was a tough ship, but it looked like the Invincible could pack a punch.

“Davy, this isn’t all,” said one of the lookouts. She was one of the younger crewmates, probably in her twenties. Her name was Lizzy. She handed him a spyglass. “You may want to see it.”

Davy put the spyglass to his eye, and aimed it at the Invincible. What he saw almost made him stop breathing. The Invincible, crown of the Navy’s Armada, was a wreck. The masts seemed to be intact, but the hull was ripped apart. The sides were almost gone from what Davy could see. Flames and smoke poured out of spots everywhere across the hull. Davy couldn’t see much more, but he didn’t need to. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the Invincible truly was not Invincible.

“It’s a… wreck,” Davy said slowly.

“Aye,” Lizzy said, nodding. “That leads me to two questions. The first, is what in the world could do something like this to the Invincible? No ship has ever defeated it before. The second is something I find stranger. If it is damaged so badly, why is it coming at full colors towards us? That is the stupidest thing a Navy captain can do.”

“Well I think we should worry about their motives later,” Sam said. “But we have a crippled Naval warship coming towards us. I think that we should ready the guns!”

“Aye,” Davy said, nodding. “TO THE CANNONS!!!”

Davy heard one of his crewmates ring the alarm bell, and all of the crew quickly started heading to their assigned battle stations, eager for battle. Davy looked back towards the Invincible. It was starting to get closer now. The fact that it was here, right now, badly damaged, but still sailing at full colors towards the Shadow King bothered Davy. It was too late to think about it though. For now, it was time for battle!

Davy grabbed the wheel of the Shadow King and turned her so that her course was directly parallel to the Invincible’s. Once the two ships were aligned, the Shadow King would fire everything she had. In the Invincible’s crippled state, it wouldn’t take more than just a few broadsides to sink her.

“Davy,” Matt said, walking up to him. “Gunners are ready for yer orders.”

“Good,” Davy said. “Tell them to load their cannons, and aim for the interior of the ship. With luck, we’ll hit their gunpowder stash and sink them in one or two broadsides.”

“Aye, aye Captain!” Matt saluted, before running back down.

“Just think Davy,” Sam said. “Very soon, the whole pirate world will know that the Shadow King has sunk the Invincible!”

Davy grinned. “Aye, but first we have to sink her! Prepare for battle!”

The two ships got closer and closer. In just a few minutes, the two ships were close enough that the Sorcerors could see the panicked crew of the Invincible. Some were running around, trying to figure out what to do. Others were on their knees, praying to their angels that good may come to them in the afterlife. Some just stared at the Shadow King in disbelief. But none of them were doing what Davy expected them to do.

“None of them are loading their broadside cannons…” Davy muttered.

“They have none left,” said a voice. Meg walked up beside him. “I saw from the crows nest. Looking through their hull, which is torn open so bad that you can see half of the lower decks, they have no cannons left, and any that are still there are too damaged to use.”

“They’re defenseless,” Davy breathed.

“Captain!” a voice called. “Broadsides lining up in less than twenty seconds!”

Davy thought for a moment. What could possibly do this to the crown of the Navy fleet? The once powerful and majestic hero was now a crippled old man, waiting for death to come.

“Captain!!!”

“OPEN FIRE!!!” Davy bellowed. He watched as the cannons from below fired. He heard screaming from the Navy ship. The cannonballs flew into the hull of the Invincible, tearing apart what was left of the Navy ship. The upper hull, with its once majestic staircases and masts was blown apart as well. A cannonball flew into a mast, knocking the massive pole down onto the deck. One more broadside was fired, destroying even more of the ship. This time Davy could see that it was beginning to sink. A cannonball had hit low enough that water was now pouring into the ship. It wouldn’t be long before it was at the bottom of the sea.

“FIRE ONE MORE!!!” Davy ordered. They had one more chance to fire a broadside before the Shadow King passed the Invincible’s crippled body. The last broadside fired, and a few cannonballs got the lucky shot. Right as the Shadow King cleared the Navy Ship of the Line, the Invincible exploded, its explosives hit. Davy watched from the deck of the King, the Invincible now an exploding fireball. The deck of the ship exploded upward, sending Naval Sailors flying in all directions, their searing bodies flying into the sea. Windows on the back of the ship shattered as the explosion tore throughout the rest of the ship. Masts fell, the hull ripped open, flaming sails hit the water, and finally, it stopped. All explosives on the ship ignited, the destroyed ship sank below the waves, into the depths, where it would rest for eternity. The unsinkable had been sunk.

The crew of the Shadow King cheered, slapping each other’s backs and complementing each other on their shooting. Davy felt one of his crewmates slap him on the back and said something. Davy nodded towards him and gave a small smile, but he didn’t join in the celebration. It wasn’t that he felt guilty about sinking a defenseless Navy vessel. He would do that any day, as he hated the Navy. It was the fact that they were able to do it. The Invincible was a tough ship. Davy thought it impossible that something like that could happen to such a powerful ship.

“Something is strange,” said a woman, walking up to Davy.

Davy turned to see Zolina. She had a strange look on her face. He couldn’t tell if it was her thinking face, concern, nervousness, or even anticipation.

“The Invincible was crippled,” Davy said to her. “Something like that… I thought would be nearly impossible.”

“Not just that,” Zolina said. “But it was sailing at full colors towards us. That’s asking for death. The captain must not have been in his right mind. It’s almost as if… as if it was not sailing towards something, but…”

Zolina trailed off, but Davy completed her sentence.

“But sailing away from something else…”

---------------------------------------------

Mmmhmmm. Feeling the suspense yet? Are you afraid? Of what is to come? I promise you, it will be very interesting. I have everything planned out already.

Oh gosh! I was wondering what all your commotion about the suspense was all about.... Then I read the last few sentences. You must hurry up and write the next chapter!!!!

i should probably get the rum again...

Something tells me this story is about to get scary........

Oh, don't worry. You'll get goosebumps soon. It will be scary. Unfortunately, I can't get the new chapter out soon. Very busy.

Darn..... Try to hurry mate :P These last few chapters have left me on the edge of my seat!

Okay, I think I'm gonna try to get out another chapter later tonight...

Hey davy, i pmed you about my story leading off where you last left me. i was think that my story line may be inter twined with yours a bit, like jolly getting defeated and all the skeletons disappearing.i'm going to have nothing to do with the ghost stuff, maybe i will go after the eitc/navy. maybe if i can be in the story i could stop mine where i join your crew.. anyways there are 100's of possibilities

Thats alright SEAKING... I think that it would be better to have our stories separate. You can leave off where you were in the previous story, but lets keep them separate. I write mine, you write yours.

Alight, thats NP. maybe the first chapter will come out on sat. mourning.

YES! More chapters, it's bad and good you leave us hanging on the edges of our seats, because it makes the story better... But then it makes me want to punch a wall because I don't know what will happen next and I want to find out. And I thought that the SOTL was going to be a ghost ship instead, since I thought you foreshadowed that you were going to have an encounter with a ghost ship/pirates really soon.

Here you are!


The rest of that day passed. Fifteen minutes after the Invincible had been sunk, the crew finished their celebrating and returned to their duties. They had gone slightly off course from Raven’s Cove, so they had to reset their course, which was done quite quickly. After that, it quieted down to normal, and the crew continued their work as if they hadn’t fought a Navy Warship just before.

But while most of the crew was simply happy that they sunk a legendary Navy ship, Davy and Zolina seemed the only ones that were concerned. Something had to have done that to the Invincible. Something very powerful, and they may be sailing directly towards whatever this was. This was bugging Davy a lot, as it should, for he feared for the safety of him and his crew. For that reason, he called a meeting of some of his higher officers aboard the ship into his cabin that night.

Sam, Matt, Kate, Zolina, and Meg all came into his room right after sunset. By now, the crew was finishing up their duties, and was going to head down to get some dinner before going off to sleep. They all sat down on a free chair or on a bed, and Davy spoke.

“Well mates, we did the impossible. We sunk the Invincible!”

“Aye,” Sam nodded. “A job well done mates. Who would have thought that one day, we would take on that Naval Vessel?”

“None of us, I’m sure,” Kate said smiling.

“Order, mates, order!” Davy said, calming his friends. “I for one, am actually slightly concerned.”

“Concerned?” Meg asked. “But we just sunk her! She’s gone now, to Davy Jones’s Locker! What’s to be concerned about?”

“The fact that we were able to sink it,” Zolina said firmly. This got the others quiet. “Davy and I were talking right after she was sunk. Think about it! This warship was crippled, with its hull ripped open and cannons completely gone! What could do that to it? And then it was actually sailing towards us at full colors! No captain in their right mind would do that! We came to the conclusion that something nasty did that to it, and that the Invincible was running away from it.”

“Why does that matter?” Matt asked.

“Because that would mean we would be sailing right towards it,” Davy stated.

“Could it be…” Sam gulped. “The Kraken?”

The room seemed to go quiet for a few moments, but Davy broke the silence.

“No, I highly doubt it,” he said. “If it was the Kraken, it would have finished the job, and it probably wouldn’t have let it run. The Kraken is not something to worry about right now…”

There was a sigh of relief from the group, but it didn’t change Davy’s thoughts. Zolina spoke next.

“Mates, whatever did that to the Invincible, well, it was strong. Very strong. I’m worried that we may encounter it soon, and if we do, I doubt that we stand a chance.”

“Why are you telling this to us?” Kate asked.

“So that you are ready,” Davy answered. “I just want to tell you all to keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary. We need to be very careful now. And with that, I bid you all a good night.”

They all filed out the door, but Sam stayed behind.

“Aye, Sam?” Davy asked, walking up to him.

“Davy, I get the feeling something bad is going to happen,” he said slowly. “Something that may be far worse than Jolly Roger.”

Davy heard a whimper in the corner, and turned to see Smelly. He had forgotten that the dog was there, sleeping peacefully.

“I guess Smelly does too…” Davy muttered. “I know what you mean. Maybe we can avoid it… just keep your eyes peeled.”

Sam nodded, “I’ll do just that. Good night!”


Davy was woken early by a frantic rapping on his door. He looked out the window, and saw that the sun was just a few minutes from rising. He groaned and got up. The frantic rapping continued.

“Shut it!” Davy snapped. “I’ll be out in a few minutes! I don’t want to come out in my underwear!”

Davy grumbled and walked to his wardrobe. He was a pirate that did not like to wake up earlier than he had to. He threw on a brown and black tank, and slipped a long, red shop vest over it. He put on a pair of brown breeches, and slipped on some of his simple, brown boots. Over his head, he tied a red bandanna, with a golden skull gleaming on the front. He buckled his sword to his side, and came out on deck.

“This better be good to wake me up this early,” Davy bellowed.

“Oh its good alright,” said the current lookout, Marina Darkskull. “Look out onto the ocean.”

Davy looked, but it was still dark. The sun was rising as they spoke. Davy squinted to see the ocean, but couldn’t make out anything other than black waves and couldn’t hear anything but the lapping of the water against the hull of the Shadow King. And then the sun spread its bright rays across the water, and Davy saw it.

Thousands of planks were scattered across the water. They must have covered an area of at least a square mile, but probably much more. In some areas, small sections of a ship were floating. The wooden planks littered the ocean. The Shadow King could not go through that section of the ocean without plowing through hundreds of the wooden boards.

“What… happened here?” Davy asked to nobody in particular.

“I have no idea,” Marina said.

“It must have been a shipwreck, where else would you get all the wood?”

“Judging by how many planks there are,” said Will, walking up from behind them. “I would judge that this would be a frigate, by how much wood there is.”

“Well, anything could sink a frigate, correct?” Marina asked.

“Aye, but not many ships can completely obliterate it!” Davy said in response to her question.

“Captain!” someone shouted. It was one of his veterans, Dog Gunmorgan. “Lifeboat spotted directly ahead!”

Davy ran to the front of the ship and scanned the sea before them. In the midst of the thousands of planks was a lifeboat. Possibly with some survivors in it who may be able to tell them what happened.

“Let’s set a course for it!” Davy ordered. The sails were lowered, and the Shadow King started sailing through all the planks and towards the boat. In almost no time, they had arrived right alongside it. Davy could make out the forms of two men in there.

“Bring ’em up!” Davy commanded. Two men went down to retrieve the two figures in the life boat. Davy waited patiently as they were brought up and laid down on deck. By now, for better or for worse, Witchdoctor Dan had received news that there were possibly hurt people coming aboard the ship. Davy wasn’t sure if he wanted to heal them or perform tests on them.

Dan grunted, “They’re ugly.”

“I’m not surprised that you would say that…” Davy muttered. “They appear to be brothers.”

“Ugly brothers.”

“Shut it!”

Dan grunted and began picking his filthy nails. Davy examined the two men. They were definitely brothers. Davy couldn’t tell at the moment who was the older one, as they were both covered with filth and looked as if they had been in a major battle. One of them was wearing a short, purple coat with a purple shirt underneath. He had black boots and black breeches, as well as a black hat with a skull and feather. The other was sleeveless with a long black vest, black pants, black boots, black hat, black everything. They had both clearly just woken up, but the look in their eyes made it clear that they had been at sea too long.

One of the Sorcerors held out his arm to the one in purple, but he swatted it away, looking out into the distance and muttering gibberish. The other was rocking back and forth, not paying attention to anything around him.

“Can you diagnose them, Doctor?” Davy asked Dan.

“Humph. I thought you wanted me to shut it,” he muttered.

“Dan!”

“Can’t be too sure of the cause, but looks like a medium to severe case of insanity.”

“Can you fix them?”

Dan grinned evilly. “Insanity is my specialty.”

“Of course it is…” Davy muttered, too quiet for him to hear.

“Alright ye dogs,” Dan grumbled. “Come with me. Let’s see if we can fix their insanity without killing them too bad.”

A few men helped to get the two brothers heading down into Dan’s room, leaving Davy alone, until Zolina approached him again.

“I think that these planks and the Invincible are connected,” she stated.

“Could it have been the same thing that attacked them?” Davy asked.

“Whatever it is, I think we’re getting closer.”

----------------------------------------------------

I'm sure that now you will whine about me keeping you in suspense for so long. Go ahead, whine away. You stil have to wait :piratetongueor4:

Ugly brothers? 0_o I don't know whether to feel offended or glad to be in the story :laughks2:

Anyways... Another good chapter. You are great at keeping us on the edge of our seats eh? I will be waiting eagerly for the next chapter :D

Your starting to keep everyone waiting... and whining.

rum is on me mate!!! Excellent Chapter!!!

yay i'm in the story! whose my brother though 0_0

just kidding!

great as usual davy!

*lets out silent sigh of relief*
thank you that seaking didnt want any rum this time...

Actually SEAKING... that isn't you... I hate to break it to ya. :P

I know i'm just kidding... lol. I'd probably enter with all the females on the Shadow king drooling and bowing, and everyone else bowing down and handing rum bottles. :D

i take it your not going to tell us who it is? 0.0

Okay mates, I have another chapter ready for you... I don't feel that it is all that great, but I hope you enjoy anyone. For those of you that are bad with setting changes, this one goes back to the mysterious man in the prologue. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Fearing the Impossible

It had been several days since the man encountered the strange, red orb. After the encounter, he had found a way to climb onto the roof of the building that looked like a tavern, and he slipped through a hole in the roof. He had spent the last week or so hiding in there, surviving on the food rations stored in the tavern. That strange being had traumatized him, and it had taken a while for him to recover from it. He dared not venture outside, in case he met with that thing again, and perhaps it wouldn’t be as neutral next time.

He did; however, end up leaving, but only because the food supplies in the tavern had been used up by him. Before he left, he looked around the tavern for a weapon of some sort, so that if he did encounter those beings again, he wouldn’t be unarmed. Although a regular weapon may not work on them, it was better than nothing. After a bit of digging around, he was able to equip himself with a long butcher’s knife and a pistol. He did a few practice moves with the dagger, and instantly he knew that he had used one before. He jumped around the tavern, slicing imaginary enemies, getting the instincts back into the front of his head. Cut, swipe, eviscerate, coup, gouge, backstab, stab, and then finally, spinning around, he threw the knife directly across the room, so it was spinning on its side, and sliced off the top of an unlit candle.

The man smiled as he retrieved his dagger. He double checked that his gun had ammo. It was a tri-barrel, and he couldn’t find extra ammo. That meant he had three shots with it. Hopefully those would be enough.

He stood in front of the door, leading to the outside of the island. He backed away from it, and took a deep breath.

“Ahhh!!!” the man cried as he charged the locked door. He slammed into it, letting out a massive grunt, and the doors flew open. He collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. He stood up and moved his arm, expecting it to hurt agonizingly. But too his great surprise, it felt just like it did before. He remembered feeling the contact when he smashed into the door, but now that he thought of it, it hadn’t hurt, and it wasn’t hurting now.

“Very odd…” he said worriedly. He took a look at his arm, and then started walking. He wasn’t sure where he was going quite yet, but he just had a feeling inside of him, telling him where to go. He walked across the island, through ruined towns and rocky wastelands. He passed a few little shacks that had been destroyed, like most of the buildings he had seen before. He walked for quite a while, stopping a few times for a few minutes to make sure he wasn’t being followed, and once or twice more for food. Eventually, he walked through a little natural rocky archway, and found himself on another stretch of beach.

He walked out onto this little back beach, and looked at his surroundings. He was on a slightly elevated area, perhaps fifteen or twenty feet from the ocean below. Lining the little cliff was a picket fence, mostly untouched. Behind him was a massive cliff of black stone, just like all the other rock on this island. Looking out at the ocean, he could see massive flocks of ravens flying out above the sea a distance away, but there were so many that he could faintly hear their cawing. The beach stretched a ways down the island, before making a slight bend, making the rest of the beach hidden behind the cliff.

The man started walking down the beach, taking precautions to make sure he didn’t get snuck up on. He looked at the sky, and gaped. He was sure that when he had left, it had been close to noon. He couldn’t have walked more than two hours, and the sun was getting close to setting.

That’s very strange, he thought. But then again, everything on this island is strange. Time must work differently on this island, with days shorter and nights longer.

He began to pick up his pace, even though he didn’t know where he was going. His hand tightened around the hilt of his gun. All of the sudden, he heard an animal’s shrieking from behind him. He whirled around with his gun drawn, and fired a warning shot. Everything became quiet all of the sudden. And then, the shriek came again, as a massive fiery object charged at him from the sky. The man hit the ground and the object flew over him. He quickly got up to face whatever it was. Staring him in the face was one of the most unnatural things he had ever seen.

It was a bat. A simple looking bat, even though it seemed to be enraged at the man. Its little eyes burned with hate, but that wasn’t the only burning part of it. The bat’s whole body was engulfed in flame, but it seemed almost natural for the bat. It seemed to normally have this inferno around it. The man would have stared at the strange creature more, but he didn’t have time. It shrieked and charged at him again, faster this time. Before the man could raise the gun to fire, he was slammed in the chest by the bat. Now that he thought of it, it was much larger than a regular bat, and much stronger too.

He gritted his teeth and got up. He held out the gun, and before the bat could charge again, he shot it, square in the head. The inferno around the bat flew outward a few feet as the bat fell to the ground dead. The man looked at the dead bat. The bullet had gone through its head and out its backside, a clean hole straight through it, blood pouring from either end.

All of the sudden, he felt a little tingling on his chest, and looked down to see that his clothes were slightly burnt. He cried out in shock, but not in pain. For some reason, it wasn’t hurting, just like when he had busted down the door. He dropped to the floor, depleting the little flames of air, and putting them out. He stood up, now completely confused. He wasn’t feeling pain, and when he took a look at his bare chest, he realized he hadn’t even gotten a mark!

“What the hell is going on here…?” he muttered to himself as he walked away from the bloody bat. After walking for another few minutes, he ended up right next to a very strange little mechanism. He observed it briefly, and realized that it was an elevator. A cable stretched from the roof of a little box, big enough for one or two people, all the way up to the top of the cliff, at least a few hundred feet up.

He walked inside the elevator box, and saw a little lever. He pulled the lever, and the box jerked, and started moving upward along the cable. The man grabbed hold of some railing and waited as the elevator took him upward. He gulped and gripped his gun tightly. It was dark now. The days really were short on this island, just as he had thought. After about a minute, the elevator stopped at the top of the cliff, and the man carefully stepped out onto the rocky ground. Before him was another small path, winding through massive stone cliffs and into the distance.

A loud noise broke the silence. The man turned around to see that the elevator was heading back down, hundreds of feet below him.

“No, no, no, no, NO!!” he screamed. He watched helplessly as his only means of getting back down left him behind. Soon, it was all the way back down at the bottom, motionless.

“Damn it!” the man cursed, he angrily turned around and cried out again. Standing in front of him was a person, somewhat. He looked like what the red orb had looked like when the person materialized out of it, except this one was orange, not red.

Ghost. That’s what the man’s mind told him. He slowly backed away, but stopped quickly when he realized that he was just inches from the cliff. He pulled out his gun, and before the ghost could do anything, he shot it square in the chest. The ghost doubled over, with his hands clutching his chest. He held that position for about a second before standing back up. The man tried to fire a second shot, but he was out of ammo. He cursed as he threw his gun aside and drew his knife. He cried out and brought the knife down on the ghost, but before it landed, the ghost grabbed the man in a grip like steel.

“Ahh!!!” The man cried out. The ghost twisted the knife from his arm, leaving the man without a weapon. He couldn’t go anywhere now. In front of him was the ghost, straight behind him was a fall to certain death. The ghost grinned evilly, his red eyes glowing with hate. Then, he thrusted the knife straight into the man’s chest.

He grunted with the shock of the blow, and watched as the ghost walked away, moving through a rock and out of sight. The man stumbled backward from the shock of the stab, clutching the knife. He took a step back, but didn’t touch the floor. Before he could regain his balance, he fell, and plummeted down the cliff, to the rocky ground, hundreds of feet below him.

The world seemed to almost slow down around him as he fell. All he remembered was fear, and all he thought about was why he had to die like this, in some strange place, not knowing who or what he was. He could feel the ground getting closer, until finally, he slammed into the ground. His eyes were sealed tightly shut, bracing for death. It never came.

He opened his eyes, and sat up. He had fallen, and he was at the base of the cliff, but he was unhurt.

Impossible! he thought to himself. A fall like that should have broken every bone in my body!

He felt his body parts, and to his astonishment and relief, they were all still present and intact. He ran his hand down his chest, and jumped as he felt the dagger buried in his chest. All of the sudden, he realized that he still wasn’t feeling any pain at all. He pulled the dagger out of his chest, and watched as the gouge it made healed up in just a few seconds. He had been stabbed in the heart, and fallen hundreds of feet onto stone, but he hadn’t gotten a scratch. Something was out of place. What was the cause of this?

“All this time I’ve been so close to death,” he said to himself. “When it looks like I can never die…”

-------------------------------------

There you have it mates! Don't worry, just a few more chapters of that horrible suspense. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Praise? Rum? Rum would be nice.

Yay! Another great chapter! :D

Woot!
epic chapter!

Great Chapter Davy!

Okay okay guys, no more suspense... well, there is a bit more... but you get some questions answered now!



Witchdoctor Dan had been “working” on the two brothers for about a day and a half now. It was currently the afternoon of the day after they had come across the floating planks that had littered the sea. He had taken the two brothers under the deck and they hadn’t been seen since, although some crewmates talked about strange screams and noises coming from the room. God knows what Dan was doing to the two.

The voyage continued on as regular. The seas were clear as far as the eye could see. Nothing but that beautiful blue tone that the sea always had in the Caribbean. That afternoon, Witchdoctor Dan came up to Davy as he was watching his crew work. The man looked exhausted, grumpy, and hungry, but accomplished.

“Well Captain,” Dan said. “It wasn’t easy, but I may have fixed them.”

“Very good!” Davy said, clasping his hands. “How did you do it?”

Dan grinned, “Some things are better left unknown… would you like to see them?”

Davy nodded, and Dan took him down into his room. His room was strange, to say the least. There were strange bottles and jars littering the furniture everywhere, leaving no place to sit except a little chair in the corner. There were several shrunken heads hanging on the walls, glaring at Davy with their evil, beady eyes. The place was in complete disorganization. He noticed that there was a little bookshelf in the corner, with several very thick books. He couldn’t read the titles, but he figured they probably had to do with voodoo and other witchdoctor-like topics. In the back of the room, on the floor, were the two brothers. They had been cleaned up, but they were tied up with ropes and gagged in the corner.

As Davy and Dan came in, they started making noise through their gagged mouths and attempting to hop up and down. Davy raised an eyebrow.

“Dan,” Davy said carefully. “Why are those two bound and gagged?”

Dan shrugged, “Why not?”

Davy shook his head and chuckled, then approached the two brothers with his battle dagger. At the sight of it, the two brothers’ eyes grew wide with fear, and started shouting as if they were being murdered.

“Shut it!” Davy snapped. “I’m going to cut the ropes ye dogs!”

Instantly the two brothers calmed down, and let Davy cut the ropes. In a few seconds, they were standing up, breathing normally, and stretching.

“Good God!” said the one in the purple jacket. Now that he was cleaned up, he looked older than the other one. “What the hell was that?!”

“Gentlemen, or pirates if ye be,” Davy said politely, as was his way when meeting new people. “I am Captain Davy Fireskull, and you are currently aboard the Shadow King, a pirate vessel manned by the mighty Shadow Sorcerors crew. We are a crew that is unlike most other pirate crews that sail the Caribbean. We are able to harness the powers of voodoo and use them to our will. I will have Dan here explain it to ye in further detail very soon. We found you two floating in a lifeboat in a sea littered with planks of wood that were once a ship, and we are curious as to what happened to you and your ship, your names, and what you were doing in this area, so close to Raven’s Cove.”

“Wait a moment,” the younger one said. “What’s Raven’s Cove?”

Dan grumbled something, probably insulting the young man’s ignorance. Davy paid no heed and continued on.

“Raven’s Cove,” he said. “Is a strange island. It is where the dead rise in the form of ghosts. It is a mysterious island that is on few maps, and that those that do know about it try to avoid. We; however, are on a straight course for it. The reason will remain unknown to you until you have officially joined our crew, if you do that is.”

“Well, to answer your questions,” it was the older one that answered. “I go by Sharktooth.”

“Aye,” the younger one said. “And my name is Vingshiblomayorgen.”

“Beg pardon?” Davy asked, puzzled.

He repeated the name, and Davy’s frown grew bigger.

“Pirate Guy!” Sharktooth interjected. “Just call him Pirate Guy…”

“Very well Sharktooth and Pirate Guy,” Davy said monotonously. “Now, could you tell us what happened to your ship?”

“I don’t remember exactly…” Pirate Guy said slowly. “It’s all just a blur in my memory. I just remember some strange ship attacking us, with lots of fog. It was really powerful…”

“Our ship was a regular frigate, a good ship,” Sharktooth added. “But I remember it taking us down in just two or three broadsides! Incredibly powerful. I don’t remember at all what it looked like, though. I just remember lots of fog, and screaming, and this strange howling.”

“Howling you say…?” Davy said. He scratched his small beard.

Is it possible that… Davy thought to himself. No, impossible. It can’t be. I’m over thinking this…

“Thank you mates,” Davy said, lost in thought. “Dan, give them the lecture on voodoo. Try not to do anything to them.”

“I’ll try my best Captain Fireskull.”

With that, Davy left the cabin, and headed back above to help the crew out. It was currently early January, so the days were slightly shorter, and the nights were longer, so by now the sun was only about two hours from setting. As soon as he stepped outside, Dog Gunmorgan approached him.

“Davy,” he said. “Raven’s Cove is in sight.”

“Is it now?” Davy answered, pulling out his spyglass. He walked to the front of the ship, where he had a clear view of the sea ahead. Sure enough, the form of a black, rocky island loomed in the distance. If Davy looked carefully through the spyglass, he could see little dots moving around the island, the ravens the island was named for.

“We should be there in a few hours,” Dog stated.

“Good, I suppose,” Davy muttered. The truth was that Davy was quite nervous. He knew about Raven’s Cove at night. It was a very dangerous place. He had been hoping that it would come in sight tomorrow morning, but apparently the wind at their backs had been a bit stronger than he expected.

Should we turn back? Davy wondered. No, I’m being paranoid. We’ll be fine.

“Onward then!” Davy announced. “Once we enter the cove we can send a small party of us on foot.”

“Aye, aye Captain Fireskull!” Dog said, before walking off.

The rest of the afternoon passed, and Raven’s Cove got closer and closer. Davy all of the sudden was filled with a feeling of dread and fear. He could sense that something was not right with the island. Something stranger than usual. He couldn’t tell what though. He shifted his vision away from the black island, and looked out westward, opposite the direction of Raven’s Cove. He noticed that the sun was just about to set. He always loved to watch the sun set. He didn’t know why, but it was just something he enjoyed doing. Perhaps the reason was that he and Billy used to love going down to the docks when they were young children to watch the sun set with some of their sailor friends. Davy smiled as the yellow orb dipped beneath the horizon, ending the day, and beginning night. And then everything went wrong.

All of the sudden, Davy realized that it had become quiet. He turned around to look at his crew. They were still working, but it seemed as if they were in a different world from him. They were silent, and were moving as if they were moving through water, in slow motion. Davy looked at the water beneath him, and it too seemed to be moving very slowly. Puzzled, he looked over towards Raven’s Cove, and what he saw he would never forget.

A little less than a mile away from the Cove, was a small patch of fog. Not regular fog that hung over the water naturally, or the green fog of Jolly Roger, but a red fog. The small patch of fog slowly grew until it was a massive cloud of it, menacingly hanging over the water. But that wasn’t it. As soon as it grew, Davy could see a shape emerging from it, and then he figured out what had attacked the Invincible, destroyed Sharktooth and Pirate Guy’s frigate and left all those planks.

The form of a ship slowly emerged from the red mist, but no ordinary ship. It was a massive Ship of the Line, possibly even larger than the Shadow King, but it wasn’t exactly solid. It was misty and cloudy, not a solid ship of the Earthly world. When Davy looked at it, it reminded him of Joanna in her Rage Ghost form, when he had been stranded on Raven’s Cove. Except this was an entire ship, like a ghost ship. Its tall masts held long, tattered sails, and its figurehead was that of an undead Conquistador.

Once it was about halfway out of the mist, it felt like a massive gust of wind blew by, and time seemed to return to normal, and sounds returned to the world, but not for too long, because once the crew saw what was emerging from the fog, they’re chatter died down once again. That was when the howling began. It was the howling of tortured souls, cursed to be trapped on this Earth forever. The screaming and howling from the ship, likely coming from a ghostly crew, made the hairs all over Davy stand straight, chilled his bones, and made him clench his teeth and seal his eyes.

Davy cried out, putting his hands to his ears, but it was no use. The sound was in his mind, not his ears.

“Davy!” Sam cried, running towards him. He was wincing, but was determined to speak. “What the hell is that thing?!”

“That,” Davy said, between clenched teeth. “Is what wrecked the Invincible. What destroyed that frigate. It’s a ghost ship. Something that seems so horrible and dangerous that even Hell couldn’t keep it!”

“What are we going to do about it?!” Sam cried out in fear. “We can’t fight it!”

Davy looked at the horrible ship. It had fully emerged from the original cloud of fog, but another cloud of fog still followed the ship’s ghostly silhouette. It had set its course, and was coming straight towards the Shadow King. Fear welled up inside of Davy as he looked at the massive ship sail towards them at speeds that could leave a Navy War Sloop far behind. He glanced towards his crew, who were now frightened. They all were pointing at the ghost ship and talking to each other with nervous looks on their faces. Davy had to get control of this soon.

“Davy,” Kate said. She had come up to him. “Those rumors we’ve been hearing. The ones about strange ships. I think they’re true, but I think there’s more to it than just this one ship. We need orders if we are going to survive this thing. Now.”

Davy snapped out of his trance and nodded.

Fighting that thing is impractical, Davy thought. It’ll kill us too fast. At the speed it’s going, we can’t outrun it. And there’s nowhere to hide… unless…

Davy looked towards the opening to the cove of the island. It was just big enough for the Shadow King to fit through comfortably. Looking at the approaching ghost ship, it may just be too wide. It was risky, but it was their only hope.

Davy turned back towards his crew. They were bickering now, and starting to yell at each other in fear. It was complete chaos. Davy held out his hand towards Sam, who handed him his gun. Davy fired three shots in the air in quick succession, and the crew fell into silence.

“ALRIGHT MATES!!!” Davy bellowed. “Looks like we have a major problem here! But I have an idea! Full sail to the Cove!!!”

-----------------------------------

Comments please! :D

Haha, some suspense and questioned were answered. But I must know more! :D Hurry with the next Chapter mate haha!

"Vingshiblomayorgen."

That was priceless!

Excellent as usual Davy, although, why your sailing full speed towards Raven's Cove, I can't possibly tell...

... Did you read the story Jack?


Great Chapter Davy!!

I read it, but how is he supposed to have time to hide and/or dock with the island with a ghosty ship after him?

Thou shall findeth out.

Woot! EEEEEEEPPPPPPIIIIIICCCCCC

I'll be working on some of my story tomorrow on my plane ride... I have five hours of flying... I'll try to use maybe two of those hours to write. Expect one to two chapters in the next few days.

Maybe the mysterious man is Dan's sucessor? Uh-Oh.

Ehh... not my best chapter, but here it is anyway...



The sails were lowered, and the Shadow King began sailing straight towards the Cove, straight towards the ghost ship. Within a few minutes, their broadsides would be lined up. Davy knew that it was going to be extremely risky, but it was their only chance. Staying to fight the thing would just get them destroyed. Davy only hoped that the hull of his ship was strong enough to survive one or two broadsides from the ghostly monster. Davy bit his lip as Sam and Matt came up beside him.

“Davy, what the hell are we doing?!” Matt cried out. “You’re going to get us killed!”

“We’ll probably be killed anyway,” Davy commented. “But this is our best chance.”

“What’s your genius plan then?” Sam asked.

Davy gulped, “The Shadow King is slightly narrower than this ghost ship. See the entrance to the cove there? I think, if we move fast enough, we can get past that ship and only be hit with one broadside, which we should be able to survive. Once we are past it, she’ll not have time to turn around before we are out of range of her broadsides. By the time she has turned around, I’m hoping that we will almost be in the cove. We can get through the entrance to Raven’s Cove, but I think that our foe is too wide to fit through the narrow opening. We’ll be safe inside Raven’s Cove, and this ghost ship won’t be able to follow us.”

“This had better work Davy,” Matt muttered.

“Or it’ll be the end of the Shadow Sorcerors,” Sam finished.

“Captain!” someone shouted. “Ghost ship closing in fast! We’ll be lined up in about two minutes!”

“Not much time…” Davy said worriedly. “Matt, take your men down below and ready the broadsides!”

“Aye, aye Captian!” Matt said. He jogged off, yelling to some of his men to follow. They disappeared under the deck, to the broadsides.

The ships were getting closer to each other. Davy pulled out his spyglass, and looked towards his enemy. It was as he expected; a massive Ship of the Line. On board, he could see red orbs moving about, acting as if they were regular crew aboard a regular ship, but they weren’t.

Rage Ghosts… Davy thought. A ship full of Rage Ghosts. No wonder this beast is so powerful.

Davy examined the crew for a few more seconds, and turned his attention to a particular orb that was standing near the steering wheel, probably the captain. He examined it for a while, but after a few seconds, the form of a captain like figure materialized out of it. He saw him give an order, waving his ghostly arm, and then he turned to Davy. Davy caught his breath. He could feel the ghost looking directly at him. Into his eyes, into his mind, into his very being. His eyes glowed bright red, and instantly Davy felt the effects.

He cried out, dropping the spyglass, and falling to his knees. Fear flew through his mind, a fear with no particular source, but was worse than any that had one. Horrible pain went through his whole body, that maddening pain. It was just like what happened to him when he had been attacked by Joanna ten years ago on Raven’s Cove. He bit his lip so hard that it bled, trying to overcome the horrific effects of looking the ghost in the eye.

“Davy!” Sam said, kneeling over. “Are you okay?”

Davy groaned and sat up. The effects were gone, but he knew that if he looked at the ghost much longer he could have been hurt badly. He felt a wet object moving across his body, and looked up to see Smelly regarding him with a worried expression. He smiled weakly at the dog.

“I’m fine,” Davy muttered. “Just made the mistake of looking at that ghost in the—”

“CAPTAIN!” Dog Gunmorgan shouted. “BROADSIDES LINING UP IN SEVERAL SECONDS!!!”

Davy stood, and shouted, “FULL COLORS! GET TO THE COVE! WAIT FOR MY ORDERS TO FIRE A BROADSIDE!”

The two ships came closer. And closer.

“Davy!!!” Sam shouted.

“FIRE!!!” Davy roared.

The Shadow King fired her broadsides. Time seemed to slow down, and Davy watched as the cannonballs flew from the King and into the Ghost Ship. The cannonballs hit, but they didn’t penetrate. Not exactly. Once the cannonballs touched the hull of the enemy ship, they were instantly absorbed into the ship, not delivering a scratch.

“Good God,” Davy breathed. “This can’t be happening.”

Davy looked back at the ship, and then heard a horrible, ghostly howl, but this one wasn’t just moaning. It seemed to be giving a command. A command to broadside. Davy watched as cannons emerged from little holes in the side of the ship. The cannons were a horrible sight to see. They had a long, narrow tube, lined with spikes, varying in size. At the head of it was a large skull, its mouth open, where the cannonball would come out.

“TAKE COVER!!!” Davy cried out. The crew barely had time to react before the sound of the cannons firing was heard. The cannons firing sounded not like a boom, but like the screaming of a tortured soul. The sound was so horrible, that the crew of the Shadow King dropped to the deck with their hands on their ears, crying out in pain.

And then came the cannonballs. Even Jolly Roger would have feared the broadside that was fired. The cannonballs were bright red, glowing like miniature suns. They sparked with energy as they flew across the sea, leaving no trail behind them, and Davy could have sworn that he saw faces in them, the faces of the dead. And then they hit.

The damage was catastrophic. When they hit, they seemed to explode, obliterating a large chunk of the hull, and then releasing large bolts of red lightning, which flew in all directions. The ship shook violently, and Davy could feel that they couldn’t take another broadside, but Davy saw that they may not be able to get away before another was fired.

He could see his crew was quite scared, but they remained at their stations. They knew that they would follow orders until death. Davy looked quickly at the ghost ship, and saw his only opportunity. It might just buy them enough time to get away before they were sunk. He grabbed a nearby musket, and aimed directly at the figure at the helm of the ghost ship.

“This had better work,” Davy muttered. He had never been the best shot, which is why he preferred swords to guns. Guns were what Billy had been good at. He aimed as carefully as he could, and fired. He heard a screech of pain from the other ship, and he knew that he had hit the captain of the ghost ship. That would distract them, and buy them just enough time to get out of there alive.

“FULL SPEED AHEAD!” Davy cried. “PROPEL US WITH CURRENTS AND GET US INTO THE COVE!”

The crew lowered any last sails that hadn’t been lowered already, and another group of them used their voodoo powers to control the currents, pushing the Shadow King even faster, leaving the ghost ship behind them. By the time it had turned around and begun sailing towards them, the Shadow King was already entering Raven’s Cove.



The damage was significant. As they entered the Cove, Davy peered off the side of the ship and at the side where they were hit. The hull had been ripped open, exposing at least half of the interior of the deck. Davy guessed that the Invincible had stayed and tried to fight this ship, which is why they ended up taking far worse damage. Either way, the Shadow King would need major repairs before they left for the open seas again, or they would be sunk by the first hostile ship they passed.

“At least we lived,” Zolina said to Davy. “We should be grateful for our lives. A ship can be repaired, but a life cannot be.”

Davy nodded. The Shadow King had fully entered the Cove now, and they would soon be dropping anchor. The whole crew was celebrating their escape of the Ghost Ship, and crewmates were coming to slap Davy on the back for his good plan. Davy was starting to feel happy again, when he saw a group of men come up from below deck, carrying a body.

“Oh no,” Zolina said. Davy, Sam, and Zolina rushed towards the group. The rest of the crew slowly gathered around. The Sorcerors were holding the broken body of one of his cannoneers, Basil Blastdavis. With tears in their eyes, they set him down. Davy was speechless. Basil had been one of his best cannoneers, and a very good friend of Davy’s. He had saved them on a number of occasions from sinking by hitting the enemy in just the right spot. The whole crew owed him their lives. Davy kneeled over, examining the body.

He had been badly burnt on the right side of his body from the cannonball’s lightning after they hit, turning his clothes into rags and leaving horrible burns across his body. His face was streaming with blood from a wound in his head, and his left arm was badly mutilated. He was covered with dirt and grime, and a piece of wood about a foot long and four inches wide was penetrating through his stomach.

“Oh my God,” Davy said, a tear streaming down his face.

Basil moaned lightly, and everyone gathered even closer. Everyone was silent now, as Basil moved slightly. Then he spoke in a weak, damaged voice.

“Davy…” he muttered.

“I’m here Basil,” Davy choked.

“Did… did we make it?”

Davy nodded. “Aye, we did.”

“Is… is the crew safe? Is everyone safe?”

He nodded again.

“Good,” he muttered. “Have… have I served well…?”

“One of the best aboard this vessel,” Davy said, choking up.

“Then I die in peace,” Basil said. He winced a bit, but gave a little smile before his head fell back limply, and he gave out his last breath. The crew was quiet for several moments, before one took off her hat. The people around her followed suit, and soon, the whole crew had their hats held to their chests, tears in their eyes. Basil had been well loved by the crew, and it was horrifying to see one of the crew’s most beloved simply go.

Davy put his hand on Basil’s forehead, and muttered some incantations. The body dissolved into mist, which floated towards the figurehead of the ship, absorbing into it, to become one with the ship forever.

“He was a good man,” Matt said with tears in his eyes. The crew mumbled their thoughts, and after a few more minutes, they began to disperse. Tomorrow morning, they would set foot on the dreaded island of Raven’s Cove.

--------------------------------------

Here it is... *poof*

Good Chapter Davy! Poor Basil...:sadmh9:

Omai! The ending was very good! Also, that ghot ship would be very. very frightful to fight! No, not the Shadow King.. I could take that floating piece of junk down in one broadside! :P I can't wait for the next Chapter! But take your time in Hawaii.....

Your in hawaii? Get us some of there rum! :D Anyways, great chapter!

On a completely random note, that would be funny if you put in a rage ghost with constipation :D

Anyways Davy, can you specify if you can put me into the story? :D :D :D

Well mates, sorry I haven't gotten you a chapter. Been extremely busy lately. But, here is the next one, and it may be my best one yet!



Davy put together his team. He decided to choose Sam, Meg, Dog, Zolina, Dan, and Kate for the expedition. He had planned that it would be just them, but Sharktooth and Pirate Guy demanded that they tag along.

“Please Captain!” Sharktooth had pleaded. “If what destroyed our ship is hiding somewhere here on Raven’s Cove, then we must find out what it is! Please, Captain, please!”

Davy decided that he would let them come along, after all, the more the merrier! It was midmorning now, and Davy was finishing getting ready. He decided that he would wear dark colors, to blend in with the dark cliffs of Raven’s Cove. He put on a pair of black boots, black breeches, a sleeveless black tank, and a simple belt. To top it all off, he pulled out one of his favorite hats: a large black tricorne with a white skull and crossed swords on the front, and a grey feather sticking out the back. He went to his weapon chest and pulled out his best weapons. He chose a large dagger, forged for war, and his trusty Assassin’s Cutlass, which he had laid spells on so that it would poison any enemy that it slashed. He finished strapping his sword on, and left his cabin when he realized he had forgotten the most important thing.

What do I plan to do? Davy wondered to himself. He just knew that he needed to get to Raven’s Cove, but he didn’t know what to do now that he was there.

Well, Joanna wanted to tell me something, so perhaps I need to find her? he wondered. Aye, I’ll see if I can find her, and then she can probably give us a good lead.

He met up with his team on the beach of Raven’s Cove. The Shadow King had dropped anchor right next to the half sunken dock that was once part of the majestic harbor of Raven’s Cove. He had gotten off the ship and walked to the beach, where he now waited as the last of his team arrived. Right as the last person stepped foot on the beach, Davy heard a barking, and looked to see Smelly running towards them.

“Smelly?” Davy said, confused. “Hello there boy. Listen Smelly, I need you to go back to the ship, okay?”

Smelly barked at Davy, and sat, as if saying I’m not going anywhere except where you’re going.

Davy sighed. “Fine, ye can stay Smelly.”

Smelly barked happily and wagged his tail.

“Alright,” Dan said. “Now that you have been beaten into submission by this dog, what’s our plan?”

“Quite simple actually,” Davy said. “But first I must explain something to all of you. You see, before we left Tortuga for this expedition, I met with… an old friend. A ghost, named Joanna. I met her here ten years ago, when I was stranded here. I didn’t want to tell you all until now. She told me that I must come here. She told me that strange voodoo is at work, and that the dead are rising, and they have some strange patriarch that resides here. She told me to come here so she could answer all my questions… and that we would find something more than that too.”

“So,” Sam said, processing everything. “You want us to come to the most dangerous island in the Caribbean, and hunt for some ghost you met, so that we can find out about some insanely powerful ghost person, and try not to die along the way?”

“That’s the idea,” Davy said.

“Count me in,” Sam said, nodding. The others nodded in agreement, and then they began heading up the beach, and into the small little canyon that would take them to the ruined city of Raven’s Cove.



They walked for ages, or so it seemed. Time always worked strangely on Raven’s Cove. You would walk for what seemed like ages, but night seemed to fall extremely fast and last for a longer period of time than what should be normal. The group of Sorcerors walked at a normal pace for most of the day, and stopped once to have lunch. Davy hoped that they would be able to find some shelter before night fell. He remembered when he had encountered Joanna as a Rage Ghost. He had been lucky to escape alive. There were probably even more Rage Ghosts out there now that all the dead were rising.

Night began to fall, earlier than it should, as it always did on the Cove. Davy’s hand was always on his sword now. He did not want to be caught by anything off guard. All of the sudden, Smelly started to growl.

“Easy boy,” Zolina said, patting his head. He didn’t stop. Soon he began to aggressively bark.

“Smelly!” Davy snapped. It was no use. Smelly started barking ferociously, and ran into a group of buildings.

“Damn that dog,” Kate muttered.

“Come on!” Davy said. “Let’s go after him! No pirate or dog left behind!”

The group ran after Smelly, who they saw disappear behind a building. They rounded the corner to see Smelly standing in attack stance, barking at Joanna the ghost. She stood with a small smile on her face, looking at the dog.

“Good thing you had him with you,” Joanna said. “You may have never found me otherwise.”

She examined Smelly, who had calmed down a little bit, but was still in his attack stance, growling and baring his teeth.

“He’s an old dog,” Joanna examined. “I’m surprised he is still so active.”

“I laid some spells on him so that he would age half as fast, so he’ll live longer,” Dan said. “Ha ha, perhaps I used him as a bit of a lab rat, but Davy here can’t live without ‘im!”

“Smelly, heel!” Davy commanded. Smelly gave one last growl to Joanna, before coming back to Davy and sitting at his side. “Joanna, we’re here. Now please explain everything.”

“You have come here, so I shall explain,” Joanna started. “You already know about the ghosts that are rising, but they are not independent. They have a leader. A leader, known as El Patron. El Patron was a Spanish Captain over a century ago, leading a mighty crew of Conquistadors through the Caribbean. He originally served Spain, but through a series of events, he found himself in the cave of a mysterious island far from here, where he discovered his first Cursed Blade.”

“Cursed Blade?” Meg asked.

“There are only a handful in the world,” Joanna said. “They are extremely powerful swords that contain great power, and are said to be the most deadly weapons in the world. Any who, El Patron found one of these blades when he was raiding a cave. It was hidden in the very center of it, guarded heavily. He took the blade, and charged the foes that were closing in on him and his crew. He destroyed everybody in the cave that wasn’t his crew on his way out. Since then, he began hunting for more Cursed Blades, equipping himself and his crew with a wide assortment of them over the next few years.

“Soon, his crew became more than just a crew of Conquistadors. They became a powerful crew that could use these cursed blades and could destroy anyone in their path. But these Cursed Blades had another side effect. They made the possessor hungry for power, more aggressive, and almost took control of the user. He started to sink every ship he came across, be it Navy, Spanish, French, Company, or pirate. Among one of the pirate ship’s he sank was a dear friend to a very powerful pirate of the time, named Tiberius Fireskull.”

“Wait a minute!” Davy said, holding up his hands. “Tiberius Fireskull? Did I hear you right?”

“Aye Davy, you did,” Joanna said. “Tiberius Fireskull was your great-great-grandfather, on your father’s side. He was one of the most well known pirates of his day. When news reached Tiberius of his friend’s death, he was enraged. He vowed vengeance on El Patron, but his crew made him realize that they could not fight him and win. He pondered this for a long while, and realized that the only way he could defeat El Patron was by using something equally as powerful as a Cursed Blade. He searched many islands for someone that could give him something like this, and he finally ran into a gypsy.

“The gypsy said that to overcome the dark powers of a Cursed Blade, he would need the powers of light to help him. The gypsy forged him a Divine Cutlass, one that had the powers to overcome El Patron and get his revenge. Tiberius then sought out El Patron, and after much searching, he found his ship docked here on Raven’s Cove, with the crew searching deep in the mines for more Cursed Blades. Tiberius ported his ship, the Riptide Warrior, in the main dock of Raven’s Cove and took his crew to help in his raid. They headed into the mine, and soon encountered El Patron.

“After a long battle, Tiberius slew El Patron and much of his crew. Tiberius’s crew fled, and sealed the entrance to the mine they came from. They then sailed around the island and came to the area where El Patron’s ship was ported. They sealed off the entrance to the mine there, and then, using the power of Tiberius’s Divine Cutlass, closed off the little port that El Patron’s ship had sailed into, trapping El Patron and his crew’s souls forever.”

“Why would they trap them if they were already dead?” Pirate Guy asked.

“Because using Cursed Blades for extended periods of time will allow your soul to stay on this Earth,” Joanna responded. “By sealing the crew in the mine, they sealed their souls there as well, including El Patron’s. There they were trapped for over a century, until now. The crew has been stirring much lately, and some of the ghosts have escaped. Very soon, they will be able to fully escape from the mine, with El Patron. When he does, he will take revenge upon the world that threw him into his prison. He will be even more powerful than ever, too. In ghost form, he will be almost invincible.”

“And so what do you want us to do about this?” Davy asked.

“You must go into El Patron’s Mine, and see if you can strike him down once again,” Joanna said. “We haven’t much time. He is still weak right now, but very soon he will gain power and be able to fully rise and escape his prison. You must go into the mine and find where he lies, likely in a tomb somewhere deep inside of it, where his bones lie with his soul inside them. When you find him, you must slay him once again, keeping him dormant for a long time to come.”

“Hold up!” Sharktooth said. “So you want us to go into some hellish mine, filled with the ghost crew of El Patron, all of them extremely powerful and wanting to kill us, find what is left of El Patron, and destroy it, and then just walk out?”

“Yes,” Joanna said.

“How come you were unable to do this yourself?” Dog asked.

“I was not a part of El Patron’s crew. I dare not venture into the mines. I doubt that I even can.”

“Very well then,” Davy said. “I suppose that we have no choice. It’s either this or let this phantom rise and destroy us all. Chances are he’ll be after me in particular, considering I am the great-great-grandson of the person who slew him…”

“Good then,” Joanna said. “The entrance to the mine is on the upper level of Raven’s Cove. If you go to the opposite beach from here, there is an elevator that will take you up. Follow that path and you will find the cave entrance.”

In the distance, a howling was heard. Rage Ghosts.

“Go! Find shelter!” Joanna said. “Go for the mine tomorrow morning! I wish you good luck!”

With that, Joanna faded away, leaving the group of Sorcerors alone.

Smelly began to growl.

“Shush, Smelly!” Davy ordered.

Smelly became silent. The group slowly made their way out from behind the building back onto the path through the little town. They continued on their original path for a little while, trying to find a descent building to take refuge in. Eventually, they came to a building that looked like it had been a tavern. Davy thought he remembered seeing it when he was here ten years ago.

“Let’s head in here,” he whispered. The door wasn’t locked, but it was shut tightly, and the door was at an odd angle, so it was tough to open. After a bit of force, it was pushed open, and the group headed inside.

It looked quite like some of the smaller taverns on Tortuga. There was a bar at the far end, with several bottles lining the shelves, most empty and some broken. There was a dead fireplace on one wall, and throughout the interior were tables to sit at. It had probably been the main tavern on Raven’s Cove before it was destroyed.

The Sorcerors walked in, and shut the door tightly behind them, pushing a table against it to block anyone trying to get in from the outside. Just as they were about to get comfortable, Davy heard the sound of shifting boxes coming from a back room.

Everyone froze, and turned to Davy. Davy held his finger to his lips, and quietly took out his dagger from its leather sheath. He slowly moved towards the back room, and entered. There was a pile of boxes, forming a wall between Davy and the back shelves of the room. Davy stealthily moved in a little bit closer, and then sprung. He threw the boxes forward, onto whatever was hiding behind them. He let out a battle cry, and held out his dagger, but what he saw was the last thing he would have ever expected.

Davy turned pale, and his dagger cluttered to the floor, as he fell to his knees, gaping in disbelief at the figure before him.

-------------------------------------------

Next few chapters will be pretty action packed, with some real fighting and all that. The story will be getting pretty epic lol.

Yay another Chapter! Gracias!

I have an idea of who is hiding behind the boxes!

Great Chapter Davy!!

And i think i know who it is... but im not going to say.

LOL davy jones vs jolly roger

Here you are guys. Got another chapter out. This chapter is mostly dialogue, with about no action. Next few chapters will be pure action, I promise haha.



“Davy? What’s going on in there?!” Zolina yelled.

“I’m coming mate!” Sam said.

Davy heard the footsteps of his friends approaching the back room, where he lay on his knees, still staring in disbelief. The figure before him stared back, in a mixture of expressions. Davy could see shock, fear, and curiosity.

It can’t be… Davy thought to himself. His friends had gotten here, and gathered at the entrance to the room. Davy didn’t look, but he could hear some of them gasp and mutter.

“B-Billy?” Davy asked.

“Who?” the man before him asked, who Davy had found was his lost brother. His brother who had died saving him and the Sorcerors ten years ago. Davy ignored what he said and tackled him in a massive bear hug, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“I thought I lost you, brother,” Davy said through choked sobs. “You were dead though, I saw you die. How are you here?”

“Wait a minute!” Billy said, pushing Davy away. “What’s going on? Who are you people? How do you know me? I don’t even know myself!”

Billy stood up and walked past Davy. Davy sat on the floor in shock, not knowing what to think. His brother couldn’t have just forgotten him. What was happening?

“Billy,” Sam said, stopping him as he walked out. “You remember me, don’t you? It’s Sam Bladebeard! You lived with me. We were best friends. Remember?”

Billy looked down, as if straining to remember. He bit his lip, and just stood for a moment.

“Ahh!” Billy yelled in frustration. He stormed outside of the room and into the tavern, kicking over a stool on the way. “Just… ahh! I don’t remember anything! Who are you?!”

“Billy,” Zolina said softly. “I’m Zolina, this is Sam, and Kate, Meg, and your older brother Davy. You remember us, right? We’re the Shadow Sorcerors, your friends and crew.”

“Don’t you remember the Shadow King?” Meg asked. “Our ship?”

“I don’t remember anything!” Billy cried out, waving his arms. “I just woke up here one day, a while ago. I… I don’t know what happened. Who I am, who you are, how I got here, anything!”

“Billy,” Davy said, putting an arm on his brother’s shoulder. “You’re name is William Fireskull, but you go by Billy to us. You’re my younger brother. You served aboard the Shadow King, our ship. You saved us all when you sacrificed yourself to destroy Jolly Roger. And —”

Davy was interrupted by a whimpering. He had completely forgotten about Smelly. Everyone’s attention turned to the dog, who was staring in disbelief at his long lost master. His ears went down and his tail began to wag.

“Who’s dog is tha—” Billy never finished his sentence, because just then, Smelly jumped on him and began licking his face. Billy struggled, and pushed the dog off of him. Smelly whimpered, and trotted off into a corner, where he sat down sadly.

“You don’t even remember your dog?” Kate asked.

“I don’t remember anything, I told you. I just woke up here on this island with no memories of anything. The only memory that came back to me was when I walked into this plaza, and saw this horrific battle scene…”

“Complete memory loss, eh?” Witchdoctor Dan stepped forward. Everyone had completely forgotten he was there. He had been watching from the back, seeing what was going on and waiting to come out. Everyone stepped aside as he came to examine Billy.

“Hmm… very strange…” Dan muttered. “You just, woke up! Poof!”

“Aye,” Billy said carefully, eyeing Dan carefully.

“Now what none of you fools have commented on,” Dan said. “Was the fact that Billy here should be dead. Dead. Laying at the bottom of the ocean with the shipwreck of The Harkaway. Now I can’t help but wonder, why are you here now?”

“I told you, I don’t know,” Billy said.

“Mmm, aye, you’ve said that,” Dan muttered. “Let’s make a hypothesis, shall we? Billy here died ten years ago, aye? Well, we all know about all the dead rising and end of the world and such, well, I think that the fact that Billy was a strong user of voodoo in life made it so he would be more probable to be resurrected should something like this ever happen. So here he is today. The fact that you have no memory left is probably due to the fact that you were dead for ten years. Bring a man back to life after that long, he won’t remember anything unless it was particularly scarring, such as that scene you remembered.”

“Alright then,” Billy started. “Since your so well acquainted with the dead, then explain to me why that strange red orb, which I am now guessing is a ghost, didn’t attack me when it approached.”

“Interesting,” Dan said. “Rage Ghosts are normally very aggressive. Hmm… aha! Of course! Rage Ghosts have a grudge on the living! They didn’t attack you because you are dead!”

“I suppose that explains me being unkillable,” Billy muttered. “Wait a minute, I’m dead?”

“Aye, it’s a disturbing thought, isn’t it? One day I thought I was dead, but then it turned out that—”

“Dan!” Davy said. “Is there a way we can cure his memory?”

“It can be done,” Dan said. “But I would need a lot of time, which we don’t have. I understand that it is important for us to get Billy’s memory back, but we have to get to the mines.”

Davy nodded, “Aye, you’re right. Billy, trust us. We’re your friends.”

Billy was silent for a moment, and then nodded.

“Well,” Sam said, clasping his hands. “Now that that’s settled, I say we get some sleep and some food. We have a long day tomorrow.”

The others nodded in agreement. People pulled up stools and grabbed some of the remaining drinks in the bar, and Dog was able to find some food in the back. The group had a good meal, and after a little bit of talking, everyone found a spot on the floor and went to sleep.



It was late now, but Davy couldn’t sleep. There was too much on his mind. He was still in shock that his dead brother was back. He had mixed feelings. His first was obviously joy. His long lost brother who he had loved so much was back after being taken unfairly. Was there reason not to be happy? There was. Another part of Davy told him that the fact that his brother was back was simply not natural, and it partially scared him that he was back. It wasn’t like Jolly Roger raising the undead, who were mindless and served him without any objections. This was just… different.

Finally, Davy couldn’t take it anymore. He slowly crawled to where Billy was laying down. He could see that Smelly had moved closer to his returned master, but Billy hadn’t noticed. The dog lay sound asleep. Billy turned over to see Davy coming to him. He made no sign of any kind as he approached. Davy sat next him, and offered a small smile.

“Ahoy Davy,” Billy whispered, trying to offer a smile back.

“Ahoy Billy,” Davy responded. “Billy… I… I know this is hard for you. Your memory gone and all. But we’ll fix it. I promise.”

“You know,” Billy said softly. “Sometimes I remember things. Little things, like senses, sounds, those things, aye? But never anything full… like seeing only the colors of a painting, the raw material… but I can’t put it together to make the full picture. When you stumbled upon me, well, I felt something.”

“And what was that?”

“Love. I guess part of me, somewhere, remembers that you’re my brother.”

A small tear streamed down Davy’s face. He couldn’t help but smile. Part of his brother was still there in his mind. Trapped, but still there.

“Where are we going tomorrow?” Billy asked Davy. “That Witchdoctor said something about a mine?”

“I’ll tell you in the morning,” Davy said with a small smile. “Until then, we should rest. Good night brother.”

“Good night…”

Davy moved back to his sleeping area. The borders of death, separating the two Fireskull brothers had been broken.

------------------------------------

I hope that chapter answered some questions you guys had, haha.

I knew it! Poor Billy boy, lost and dead. You should give him some... erm, meat to cure his memory or something!

Hit him as hard as you can with a sledge hammer.

Works for me...

Great chapters davy! :D:D

Well, as much as it bugs me to admit it, Witchdoctor Dan has to be my favorite charcacter in the story! I could 100% imagine him saying those lines!

Great Chapter Davy!

Is he going to turn into the Monster on us?

Here's another chapter. Kinda long I think, but its a good one.



Billy, even though he had spent the night with the Sorcerors, was still quiet. Davy decided it would be best if he just let him be with his friends, or former friends, and see if eventually he opened up. For the time being, there were other things to worry about. They had left the tavern before dawn, so that they could hopefully reach the mines before the Rage Ghosts came back out. For the first few hours, a dead silence hung over the group. Nobody wanted to speak; out of anticipation for what was to come, out of nervousness, and simply out of nothing to say. Until Davy decided to voice what had been nagging at him for a while.

“Dan,” he said. His friends jumped at the sudden noise that was different from the cawing of crows and crunch of black gravel. “You know a lot about these ghosts and all, correct?”

“Ghosts and the dead are not exactly my specialty, but I know some. Why do you ask?”

“So, from what we know, El Patron is rising here on Raven’s Cove, so there are many ghosts rising here and in the surrounding area, correct?”

Dan nodded, and Davy continued.

“Then why is it that there are strange happenings outside The Cove. Several ships being ‘possessed’, dead rising, and all that.”

Everyone stopped walking and looked at Dan. Davy supposed that Dan was in a serious mood, because he had a real thinking face on. For a moment Davy thought that he had stumped the Witchdoctor, but the little man slowly spoke.

“I’m not completely sure,” Dan said. “But here’s a guess. El Patron is likely so powerful, that since he is stirring, the dead around the Caribbean stir as well. Granted, it isn’t enough to raise an army of the living dead, but just one or two people rise here and there. Its like a disturbance in the natural way of things, get what I’m saying?”

“Somewhat,” Davy said.

“Then why is it that there are those sailors acting weird? I recall a rumor about some crew of sailors acting all strange,” Kate asked as they resumed walking.

“Ahh, that I think I know the answer to,” Dan said thoughtfully. “You see, in my many studies of the dead, they always want to be in the form of someone living if they are on this Earth. This means that they will, if they are not directed by a master otherwise, try to take control of a living body. That explains all the strange people. They were possessed by a ghost.”

“Err, mates,” Billy said. “I think that we’ve come to the place to go up.”

“The elevator,” Davy said. “I used it about ten years ago when I got stranded here and met Joanna.”

“How do you expect us to all fit into that tiny thing?” Dog asked. “It can barely hold two people!”

“We’ll go two at a time,” Davy said. “Billy and I can go first.”

The two of them approached the elevator. Billy stepped in next to him, and Davy turned the key. The elevator began its climb to the top of the cliff.

“See you at the top,” Davy muttered.

Davy and Billy stood in silence as the elevator rose above the ground. They could see Smelly down below barking and jumping in circles as his masters escalated.

“Ready for this, brother?” Davy asked forcing himself to give a small smile.

“No way I can’t be ready,” Billy muttered. “So I suppose I am ready by default then. I am just hoping we can come out alive.”

“I hope so too,” Davy mumbled as the elevator came to a stop. They stepped out of it, and Davy pulled the lever from the outside, sending it back down. The group slowly came up, until they were all standing on the edge of the cliff. From there, they headed into the small canyon that stood atop the cliffs of Raven’s Cove.

The group navigated through them, simply going where they thought was the most sensible way to go. They stopped for lunch at one point, eating some dried rations that they had packed. Billy seemed to have an extra large appetite when it came to meat, but nobody really paid much attention. After they sat and rested for a few minutes, they began their walk again. Unfortunately, night was going to fall in just an hour. The group picked up their pace. After a few minutes, they arrived at the massive bridge that joined the two tips of the cove, and spanned across the water that ships entered through.

As Davy stepped out onto the plank bridge, with ropes for sides, he took a glance into the cove. He could see the dark form of the Shadow King floating far beneath him, and then a bit deeper into the cove. He could make out the forms of some of his crewmates doing the last duties of the day before they sealed themselves up down below.

“Do you remember the Shadow King Billy?” Davy asked.

Billy shut his eyes tight, trying painfully to remember something, anything. After a few moments, his eyes opened.

“Some memories are coming back,” he said. “Nothing full though. I told you, just feelings, maybe brief images, but nothing full.”

“Come on guys,” Sharktooth said, waving to them. He was already moving across the bridge. “The sun’s about to set, and I don’t want to be stuck up here in the dark.”

Davy glanced at the sun on the horizon. It was just a silver now. Night was about to fall, and time slowed down all of the sudden. Davy tried to move, but it felt like he was moving through molasses. Everything was slow. And a voice in his head counted off the last seconds of daylight.

Five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

The sun dropped, and darkness fell. Time returned to normal, but the world had just done the drastic change from day to night. And then the howling started.

Everyone’s eyes grew wide as they realized that they were now in the middle of a rope bridge, on Raven’s Cove, at night. Not the safest place to be. But then Billy noticed something.

“That howling is… different…”

“It sounds more like… taunting?” Zolina observed. “And do I hear…?”

“Swords being drawn,” Meg said, drawing her own. The Sorcerors all went back to back, each with a sword in hand, except for Billy, who was using a dagger he had gotten from the town. And then the ghosts arrived. Figures surrounded by an orange mist with glowing red eyes, and swords drawn.

“Can they hurt us?” Pirate Guy asked. “I mean… they’re ghosts. Aren’t they intangible?”

“I don’t think so,” Witchdoctor said. “Ghosts are actually able to touch the living, and vice versa. Unfortunately for us, its bloody difficult to actually harm something already dead.”

“Let’s test that theory then,” Davy said smiling as the ghosts closed in. “Attack!”

The battle commenced. Davy was a good fighter, but he wasn’t used to fighting in such cramped space. He was used to being able to roll to the sides, jump around and such. Here he barely had space to parry and strike. He was not as good as he could be, but he was still good.

He cleaved down at the ghost, but the ghost, who had the form of a Spanish Conquistador, blocked it and gave Davy a hard kick in the ribs. Davy stumbled back, wincing in pain. Aye, those ghosts could touch the living. Davy decided to change his tactics. He pulled out his large dagger and held it in his left hand, his sword in the right. He attacked the ghost with both of the weapons. The ghost was strong, but he was soon overpowered. Davy slashed the ghost’s arm with the dagger, causing the figure to drop his sword, and then he followed through with a thrust from his sword, straight into the chest of the ghost. The ghost made a horrible sound in pain that sounded like a shriek mixed with a roar.

Davy ripped the sword out of the ghost, and turned around to go help his friends. Before he could get too far though, the hairs on his neck stood up. Davy whirled around to do an X-block with his dagger and cutlass, blocking the strike from the ghost that had assaulted him.

“You just won’t die, will you?” Davy sneered.

The ghost hissed in reply, and delivered another strike at Davy’s legs. Davy parried it with his dagger and made a slash with his sword. The ghost blocked it too, but Davy knew what he was doing. As the ghost had its sword down, Davy lunged in with his dagger, slitting the ghost’s throat. He screeched again and stumbled backward, clutching his neck. Davy for sure thought he had him now, but the ghost merely stood back up, retrieved his sword, and began advancing again.

“Just die you infernal monster!” Davy roared. He sheathed his dagger, and while the ghost was still a bit dazed, he charged it. Davy roared a battle cry as he leaped into the air. The ghost looked up, too late to defend itself against Davy’s jumping slash. The sword cleaved down the ghost’s chest, sending him stumbling backward again. This time; however, the ghost hit the rope railing of the bridge a bit too fast, and with a yelp, it did a flip and plummeted to the sea below. Before Davy could take a breather, he heard the clashing of more swords, and remembered his friends.

“Little help here!” Dog yelled.

Davy looked around. He could see that they were losing the fight. Meg had taken a bad cut to her arm, and was fighting with one arm. Dog was holding off, but he was getting tired, like the rest of the Sorcerors. Davy desperately thought of something. He looked at the rope bridge, and got a desperate idea.

“Smelly! Run to the edge!” Davy yelled. Smelly was involved in helping Billy fight off one of the ghosts. Billy kicked the ghost back, and gave Smelly a quick nod of approval. Smelly ran to the opposite end of the bridge, and waited on the stone, giving a few barks of worry.

“Mates!” Davy cried out. “Grab hold of something!”

It startled everyone, but they all wrapped a leg and an arm around the rope, defending with their other arm.

“If this doesn’t work…” Davy muttered. He wrapped his arm around one of the ropes of the bridge, and lifted his sword. In one fluid slice, he cut the opposite rope, and the floor beneath them shifted. The ghosts, not aware of what was going on, plummeted to the sea below. The Sorcerors were left clinging to the broken bridge, slanted so that the wooden planks that were to be walked on were perpendicular to the sea beneath them.

“Great Davy,” Sam said. “Ye saved us from the ghosts, but now we’re left hanging here, hundreds of meters above the sea.”

“Would you rather have been skewered?!” Davy snapped, annoyed.

“Mates! Shut it!” Zolina said. “No problem, lets just climb to the other side.”

“And what about me?” Meg said through gritted teeth. She was obviously in pain from her arm wound. “I can’t get to the other side! My arm is useless!”

“Alright, alright!” Davy said. “Here, I may be able to repair the bridge.”

Davy closed his eyes, and willed the two ends of rope that he had cut to come back together, reforming the bridge. Slowly, the bridge began to level itself, and the group was able to stand up, and Davy forced the two strands of rope to come back together. Nothing was said, and the group walked quickly but carefully to the other side of the bridge, where Smelly waited. As they reached the other side, Smelly began to bark aggressively again. Davy turned around to see glowing, orange figures at the side of the bridge they had just come from. More ghosts.

They started moving across the bridge. There wasn’t much time. Davy instantly cut the bridge’s ropes again, but both this time. The bridge fell away from them, and swung to the cliff on the other side. The ghosts fell to the sea.

“Let’s hope we can find another way across,” Davy said. “Because I’m not sure I can move the bridge when its that far away.”

The Sorcerors nodded, and they all began walking. They were at the rim of something that looked like a bowl structure. The path spread all around the “rim” of the bowl, and at the far end was the entrance to a cave. Davy looked down below, and in the darkness, he could faintly see the outline of a mast, but he couldn’t be sure.

“Come on mates, let’s get a move on,” Sam said, waving to the group. They all followed the path until they reached the entrance of the cave. Davy, when he stepped near it, instantly felt the urge to simply run away. Cold air seemed to come out of it, and the sense of fear emanated out of the area. Davy could swear that he heard strange whispers coming from the cave. They weren’t understandable, but they were there. He was sure of it.

“Well my friends,” Davy said, gulping. “Here we go, straight into the maw of this hellish mine.”

---------------------------------------------------

Time for the action to really speed up. Any questions, comments, constructive criticism,and praise are appreciated.

I like it Davy! Very good! I think Raven's Cove is a bit more spooky now. 0_o

More death! XD

Epic George the Noob moment right there. ^^^

It wasn't that bad mate. It seemed a bit rushed, but who cares! More chapters! :D

Have to admit, besides the Kudgel/Bellrog banter, I wasn't very fond of the chapter. As Sharky mentioned, it felt rushed, but it also lacked the sense of forboding. It seemed a tad.. predictable, as well. Charge through the mines, meet the klutzy pair, fight off some ghosts, go and see El Patron. Not much surprises.

However, it was nessecary to move the story along, and I wait in anticipation to see what epic bout we look forward to!

I was quite distracted while making this chapter. I'll tell you what. I'm going to get rid of that, and post a new chapter. I agree, this one was crummy. I'll see if I can get a better one out soon.

You should publish this Davy and make some money! (real money)

Here is the rewritten version of the previous one, which I will be deleting.


The first thing that was noticed was the dark. If it weren’t for the torch that Sam held, and Smelly leading the way through the dark, they would have been hitting their heads on walls, tripping over tiny cracks, and getting completely lost. The second thing noticed was the chill. Not the regular cold that emanates from a cave that never sees the sun, but an unnatural chill, saying that there was something unnatural about these mines.

Not only was it dark and cold, but it was completely quiet. Other than the sound of the Sorcerors’ boots stepping onto the stone beneath them, there was absolutely no sound coming from the cave. Any water that was within these tunnels was still.

“This place is dead quiet,” Sharktooth muttered.

“Don’t use the word dead please,” Zolina responded.

Davy was quiet himself. He decided to examine the tunnel they were going through for what felt like the hundredth time. It wasn’t very wide; perhaps three people could stand side by side in it. It was probably about three meters high, with some small stalactites dangling from the roof of the tunnel. Occasional stalagmites stuck out of the ground, but they were less than a meter high. There was very little of anything in the area that showed signs of life, or living death, in the tunnel other than the occasional torch. Oddly enough, most of the torches were still burning. The group noticed, but didn’t comment or ask questions. They all knew the answer to how they were still burning deep down.

The tunnel that they had been following for the past five or ten minutes suddenly made a bend, and the group emerged into a large, circular cavern. The roof of the cavern was far above them, with massive stalactites looming overhead, some big enough to impale an elephant. There were three other tunnels leading to other parts of the mine at each side of the cavern. In the center was a large slab of stone with a wooden totem standing on it.

“What have we here?” Davy murmured as he walked towards the totem. He examined it, rubbing his hand across the strange object. On the face of it was a skull carved out of bone, attached to a diamond shaped piece of wood. Bits of straw poked out of the sides, giving it almost a mane like a lion. It was attached to the stone beneath it by a thick piece of wood.

“This looks like a grave,” Dan observed.

“This whole place is a grave…” Kate muttered.

“That be true, but this grave is a wee bit more special!” a voice said. Smelly growled and bared his teeth, and the group turned to see who intruded them.

Two ghostly men stood before them. They had a blue mist, meaning they weren’t too hostile. Either way, the Sorcerors kept their blades handy. The one that stood on the right wasn’t too tall, and was a bit heavy set. He wore a straw explorer’s hat, white suspenders, and loose fitting pants that would be easy to walk for long distances in. He looked like an explorer of some sort, someone with some brains. The person that stood next to him was the exact opposite. He wore similar clothes, except he had a Spanish Conquistador helmet upon his head. Probably the former’s bodyguard, he had scars across his face, signaling that he was not one to mess with. Strangely, the two figures carried no weapons.

“Who are you, and what is your purpose here?” Billy demanded, hand on his dagger.

“Who are we?” the explorer asked. “My name is Bellrog. Dr. Bellrog actually. This here is my bodyguard, Kudgel.”

“Kudgel destroy!” the bodyguard exclaimed excitedly.

“Shut up you nincompoop!” Bellrog said, smacking Kudgel across the face. Davy thought for a moment that Kudgel would beat the daylights out of Bellrog, but Kudgel just looked down, ashamed. “Ahem, anyway, long ago, and by long ago I mean hundreds of years ago, our purpose here was to map out these mines. That’s who we were. Explorers, trying to get a map of this area to give to our government. Unfortunately for us, we were smack dab in the middle of the battle between Tiberius Fireskull and El Patron. You do know the tale, yes? You do? Good. Well you see, when Captain Fireskull sealed the mines, he not only sealed El Patron and his crew in here, but he sealed us in here too! We survived off rations we had for a few weeks, but we eventually starved to death, and our souls were sealed here forever.”

“Wait a moment,” Meg said. “You said that you’ve been trapped here for centuries? That means that you know the location of El Patron!”

“Of course I get no sympathy,” Bellrog muttered. “Bloody pirates. I do know his rough location. I have not dared venture into the depths of this mine, even with Kudgel here.”

“Then you could tell us,” Guy said.

“Ehh, I suppose I could,” Bellrog said. “You should turn back though. He’s not as weak as you may think. I can’t remember the exact tunnels, but find the tunnels that take you into the deepest areas of the mines. El Patron’s tomb is in one of the deepest areas.”

“Thank you Dr. Bellrog,” Davy said, politely bowing. “We owe you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind…” Bellrog muttered. “Come Kudgel! We must be off exploring! Even though we’ve already seen everything here…”

“Yes mustard!” Kudgel excited replied.

“ITS MASTER YOU IDIOT!” Bellrog boomed, slapping Kudgel again.

“Wait!” Zolina said, holding out her hand.

“Yes, young lady?” Bellrog asked.

“You said this tomb is a bit more special, what did you mean?”

“Ahh yes,” Bellrog grinned, rubbing his hands together. “Well you see, after El Patron’s crew was locked in here, there was one crewmate of El Patron's crew that blamed him for what had happened. He went by the name Foulberto Smasho. He rebelled against El Patron (Much good it would do them! Either way, they're stuck in this hell hole!) along with about half the crew. For about a week, the two sides, each with about thirty men, fought each other. Kudgel and I watched from the sidelines you see. El Patron; however, was too powerful and was able to capture the rebels. He tied up Foulberto and made him watch as he beheaded his four officers. Each one was buried in a tomb such as this one, with this totem to prevent them from rising from the dead.”

“So there are five of these tombs?” Dog asked. “One for each officer, and another for Smasho?”

“Actually, Smasho’s fate was quite different…” Bellrog said. “You see, he—”

Dr. Bellrog was interrupted by the sound of clanking coming from one of the tunnels. The sound of clanking was soon joined by what sounded like the unsheathing of swords.

“T’was a pleasure!” Bellrog said. “But now its time to go!”

“Wait!” Davy yelled.

Bellrog gave a smile, waved his hand, and dissipated into nothingness.

Smelly started growling, and soon erupted into loud barking at the mouth of one of the dark tunnels. The Sorcerors drew their swords and waited to see what was coming. Suddenly, the tunnel wasn’t so dark. An orange glow filled the tunnel, and out of it emerged about twenty ghosts, weapons drawn. Instantly, Smelly’s barking was replaced with whimpering, and he hid behind Billy.

“Should we…?” Sam started.

“RUN!” Sharktooth bellowed. They needed no persuasion. The Sorcerors ran down the nearest tunnel as fast as their feet would carry them. Behind them, the ghosts sprinted after them, howling in their horrible, unearthly voices. Some of the ghosts were armed with throwing knives, many of which were thrown at their fleeing prey.

“Look out!” Sam warned, deflecting an airborne knife, saving Davy’s neck.

“We can’t run forever! They’re gaining!” Dan said.

“Then I suppose we’ll need to turn and fight!” Davy exclaimed. “Go!”

The Sorcerors whirled around, each instinctively bringing down their sword. Most of their blades cut down a ghost, sending it straight to the floor. The other ghosts, caught off guard, were quickly charged upon. From there, the fight commenced. Each Sorceror had at least one ghost on them, but most had more. They were good sword fighters, but they were outnumbered. Smelly assisted Billy in the fight, barking and biting the ghosts that was attacking him. However, there was just one problem. The ghosts couldn’t be destroyed by a regular blade.

Sam lit his sword ablaze and gave a few good slashes to one of the ghosts that was attacking him, sending it to the floor. It got right up. Kate stabbed a ghost in the face, sending it stumbling backwards. It shook the wound off, and came right back. Sharktooth stuffed a grenade in the mouth of a ghost, and when it exploded, the ghost flew backward. It stood up as if nothing happened, and got right back into the fight.

“We need a new tactic!” Dog said between sword attacks.

Davy stabbed his sword into the ground, sending the three ghosts around him flying backward. He quickly took a glance up, and got an idea. Above them were loads of large stalactites. If these stalactites could impale an elephant, they would more than suffice for what he needed.

“Sharktooth! You’re grenade pouch!” Davy ordered. Sharktooth cut down the ghost that was on him and threw his grenade pouch to Davy. “This’d better work…”

Davy formed a ball of fire in his hand, and lit a small flame on the pouch.

“ARE YOU MAD?!” Kate screamed.

“FALL BACK!” Davy boomed. The Sorcerors ran back, away from the ghosts. Quickly, Davy threw the flaming grenade pouch upward, giving it an extra boost with some voodoo. It lodged itself in a crevice on the roof of the cave. The ghosts looked up, confused, giving the Sorcerors just enough extra time to get a little farther back before the grenades in the pouch exploded.

The mine shook with the force of the explosion, and stalactites and rock rained down from the roof of the tunnel. The ghosts screamed in anger. Some of the ghosts armed with knives threw a few in a desperate attempt to wound the crew before the stone sealed them off, but Davy didn’t see any knives get through. Most were deflected off falling rock.

After a few moments, the rock stopped falling, and everything was silent.

“Look’s like we’re not going back out that way,” Witchdoctor Dan said, raising an eyebrow.

“Everyone all right?” Sam asked.

“Ahh…” Pirate Guy said through clenched teeth. “That’s a negative.”

Zolina kneeled over the body of Pirate Guy. Davy approached and examined him with worry. One of the ghost’s knives had made it through after all.

--------------------------------------

Sorry that my last chapter was crummy. Note that this one is REPLACING it, so I will be removing the old post. Anyway, give comments on this one. Hopefully it is better.

Now that's an amazing chapter! First, I'd like to thank you for revising the chapter. You didn't have to adhere to our complaints, but you nonetheless responded. Second, I loved the way this chapter panned out, and how the battle played out differently from the other one. Then of course, you put in your twist-cliff-hanger... Just, excellent.

I just hope Guy is alright!

Woot! i hope Guy is alright. He owes me rum!

Sigh... fame and forutne appeal's to almost everybody, aye?

I'm finding it difficult to recall people who have commented on this thread and DIDN'T want to be a part of the story.

Okay guys, here's the deal about me adding you into this story. I understand that many of you think my writing is very good, and want to be a part of it, but I just don't have room for all of you. Writing my story and adding characters in at random is just not the way I like to write. I do not plan to add more than one or two more people into this story, and I already have a few in mind. Therefore I will not be giving any guarantees if you ask to be in the story.

Again, I'm sorry about that, and I know many of you wanted to be in the tale, but I just don't have room for all of you.

Aah just go where your story takes you. As i've said before, I'd like to be in it, but its your story. As long as i can read it i'm okay :)

To the followers of my story,

I'm sorry I haven't posted a new chapter. I've been quite buys lately, and I just haven't had too much time. And when I do have some time, I don't have the drive to write it, and if I don't have the drive, then I can't write a good chapter. Please forgive me for not writing for a while. I'll try to shoot for next weekend, alright?

Here's the next chapter. Its not as long, but it is critically important. Keep your eyes out for some foreshadowing of what is to come.


Not only was the wound deeper than they had expected, but the knife had hit Pirate Guy right at his left collar. He was strong, and the knife had luckily severed no arteries or important tissue, but the arm couldn’t move more than a little bit.

“Damn it,” Guy cursed through gritted teeth. Dan was wrapping some bandages around the wound, probably trying to make it more painful than necessary. “That was my sword arm too… what the hell am I going to do now?!”

“Just stick close to us,” Davy said, chewing his lip. “Since you can’t use that sword of yours, give that to Billy and maybe you can use a dagger in your left hand.”

Guy nodded, and traded blades with Billy. Billy swung the cutlass around a few times, getting a feel for the balance.

“Feels a tad light,” Billy examined. “I’m guessing that before I died I was more into broadswords?”

Davy nodded, and then Zolina muttered under her breath, “And nasty old Grave Reapers…”

“Well, I don’t think that those ghosts will be getting through there any time soon,” Sam said, standing. “Perhaps this is a good time to make camp? I’ve no idea if the sun’s gone down, but I need rest.”

The others nodded and began setting up camp. Some pulled out blankets, while Dan collected a bit of scrap wood around the area for a fire. Dog distributed rations of food for everyone, consisting of a bit of salted pork and a small piece of bread. Dan started up a small fire, and the group sat around it for a little while, nibbling their food. Smelly stood lookout on the edges of their camp, acting as a good guard dog.

“So, what’s the plan going to be?” Sharktooth asked. “Just keep going deeper? I think that we got set off course a little bit from those damned ghosts.”

“I suppose so,” Davy said, twiddling his thumbs.

“Now’s a good time to piece together everything that we know,” Kate said.

“Aye, from what we knew earlier and from what Bellrog told us earlier,” Meg added.

“Alright,” Davy started. “So we knew before from Joanna that El Patron was rising, and that one of my ancestors, Tiberius Fireskull defeated him and imprisoned his crew here in the mines. He had a special divine cutlass that allowed him to ‘kill’ a ghost, so to speak.”

“And while he was locked in here, Foulberto Smasho lead a rebellion of about half the crew against El Patron,” Zolina added. “Smasho lost, and his four officers were executed and buried in different parts of the cave.”

“But what about Foulberto Smasho?” Dog asked. “I don’t think that Bellrog ever got to what happened to him.”

“I’m sure that he was executed right after he got to see his officers die,” Sam responded.

“Probably the case,” Davy said. “Anywho, its probably not important. Its El Patron we’ve got to worry about. He’s, well, the Patron.”

“Well, if we can get to his grave and destroy his lifeless body, we can get out of here and not need to worry about any of this,” Dan said. “Let’s get some rest so we can be strong enough to battle a few ghosts tomorrow. I’ll also change Guy’s bandages again in the morning.”

“Joy…” Guy grumbled.

“I’ll take first watch,” Davy said. “Kate, I’ll wake you after three or so hours to take over, and then you can wake Dan about three hours after that.”

“Why me?” Dan whined.

“Because only humans need sleep,” Davy responded with a chuckle, before getting up and walking next to Smelly.



No matter how much Davy tried to ignore it, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched. Once or twice he could have sworn that he had heard a rock move, or the sound of faint footsteps, but every time he looked, he saw nothing. Smelly was taking no notice at all, which was strange, as he knew the dog to have a better sense of those things than most humans.

Whispering echoed in Davy’s head. He tried to shake the sound, but it wouldn’t go away. It wasn’t in his ears, but his mind. Meaningless sounds, as if someone was trying to understand another person while they were whispering at a distance from them. The chill didn’t make anything better. It was everywhere, and no matter how much Davy wrapped the blanket around him, and how tightly he bundled up, he still felt the chill. And then he heard another whisper, but it was different. It sounded stronger, more powerful, and older. It sounded meaningless at first, but slowly became more clear. Davy raised an eyebrow, and grabbed his sword, which lay sheathed next to him on the stony ground. He quietly unsheathed it, as not to wake his friends. He silently tiptoed down the tunnel. After he was about ten or fifteen meters down the tunnel, a deep, booming voice spoke in his mind.

Fireskull, it whispered. You know who I am.

Davy held up his sword. “El Patron.”

You are wise, Fireskull, El Patron whispered in his head. Much like your Great-great Grandfather, Tiberius, who imprisoned me here. You shall pay for what your ancestors have done to me David. You shall pay in blood.

“No El Patron, it will be you who will be destroyed, not I,” Davy replied. “Soon, we will be at your grave and you will be destroyed forever. I will complete what Tiberius started. You will not rise.”

David Fireskull, you are a fool. Perhaps wise, but you are a fool nonetheless. There is a little detail that you have overlooked that will be your and your friends’ downfall. You will not live to see the light of day!

Davy could feel the presence of El Patron’s soul leave.

If he was powerful enough to speak directly to me, we must not have much time, Davy thought to himself.

Davy headed back to the camp and sat down again. Nothing else happened. Even the whispers had gone away, and now everything was dead silent. The rest of Davy’s shift passed, and he woke Kate to take her shift. Davy grabbed his blanket and wrapped it around himself, laying on the cold, stone ground. As he fell asleep, he could have sworn that he heard the cackling of El Patron echoing in his head. Davy was now certain that he was being watched.

---------------------------------------------

Notice anything? If you want, you can share any foreshadowing things I put in there here if you wish. Also, here's a minor spoiler if you're interested. Questions? Comments? Praise? Rum?

Tiberius, Davy's great-great Grandfather, will likely be large part of the story later on. Right now, it is just mentioning him... but he'll become big soon.

I get back, and see 2 more chapters, yay. :D Good job David Fireskull.

Oh i just wanted to point out a mistake. i have a really good long term memory and i remember that you said Fireskull is a nick name you got when you drank a potion that set your hair on fire. How did your grand father get that nick name to??

Anyways, great as usual. :D Keep writing!!

Yeah, I know. I plan to go and change that to actually make my last name Fireskull. Just too confusing otherwise.

Thats good one mate!

SEAKING, maybe everyone in Davy's family drank that potion:P

Here's my next chapter. I know you'll have questions at the end, but don't ask them. They'll be answered in the next coming chapters.



After everyone was awake, a quick, cold breakfast was eaten before the team got moving again. Smelly lead the way, bounding ahead of his human companions, and then waiting for them as they caught up. The Sorcerors walked at a quick pace, Davy setting the pace. He hadn’t told anyone about El Patron last night. There hadn’t been time, and telling them and answering all questions at the end would just waste vital time. He would tell them later.

They were progressively heading deeper into the mines. Not just farther in, but literally, deeper into the earth. There was no sound other than the sound of their footsteps, and the occasional drip of water. After lots of winding tunnels, the group came to a tunnel that didn’t turn, but went directly downhill.

“How deep are we going?” Meg asked with astonishment.

“Deep alright,” Dan said, nodding. “By now, we are probably below sea level.”

“Are you telling us the town is above us?” Sharktooth asked nervously. “And there are millions of tons of rock above us, crushing down on us as we speak?”

“Yes,” Dan said plainly.

“Ow!” Zolina cried out. “A rock just hit me in the shoulder! Those millions of tons of rocks may not be too stable…”

Before Davy could comment, his eyes widened with fear. The whispers were back. There were ghosts, and quite nearby. The others heard it too, and everyone drew their weapons. The whispering was no longer a whispering, but rather a chatter, with an occasional cackle thrown in. The sound of swords unsheathing was heard.

The Sorcerors instinctively condensed their group into a little circle, each member with their sword drawn outward.

“Where are those fiends?” Davy snarled.

“Err…” Zolina said, pointing her free hand. “I think that’s what dropped that rock on my shoulder…”

Everyone followed her finger, upward at an angle to a sizable rocky ledge several meters above them. Standing on the ledge, swords drawn, was the crowd of ghosts that had attacked them earlier, and they had friends. There were at least eight more ghosts with them. The Sorcerors backed away from the ledge in fear as the ghosts leaped down and landed on the same level as the Sorcerors. They hissed and taunted the group as they advanced, thirsty for blood of the living.

“What now, Davy?” Dog asked nervously.

Davy felt himself bump into the side of the tunnel behind him. They were trapped against a wall. His sword felt heavy in his hand as he realized that he would not win this battle. But then, from beside him, he heard Sam yell out a battle cry, and he turned to see Sam charging at the crowd of ghosts. That was it. The rest of the Sorcerors charged, crying out with their swords ready. Even Pirate Guy, weak as he was, made an effort to give the ghosts a few good cuts.

Davy followed his instincts as he always did; slashing, stabbing, swashbuckling, and rolling. As he expected though, none of the ghosts went down. In fact, he thought that they seemed stronger.

It’s because they’re near El Patron, he thought to himself. He dodged the blow of a ghost and cleaved its head. The ghost crumpled to the floor, but got right back up. He smashed a ghost across the face with the flat of his blade, sending it flying to the side. That was followed by doing a low spinning kick and tripping another ghost. Davy stabbed the blade into the heart of the fallen ghost, and it screamed in agony. It got back up. He lit his sword ablaze with a green fire and gave a few good slashes to the ghosts, but they acted like the were being pricked by a little needle.

More ghosts closed in from around them, and before long, they were being assaulted by something around forty ghosts. The battle was being lost. The Sorcerors were being pressed in the center of a large crowd of ghosts, and they were closing in fast.

“Well,” Kate muttered. “It was nice knowing all of you. A good ten years its been serving under the Shadow King.”

“Its not over yet,” Davy said. “I’ve got one last straw to pull… or rather, chain to pull.”

With a loud bellow, Davy plunged his sword into the stone floor beneath them. The ghosts stopped advancing and looked at him in confusion. Suddenly, there was a massive rumbling from the floor beneath them. Massive chains sprung up from beneath ever ghost, trapping them in their tight grip. The ghosts squirmed and cried out in frustration, but it was too late. The chains had already wrapped completely around the ghosts, imprisoning them in an iron cocoon. The chains dragged the ghosts down, into the earth. Soon they were gone.

Davy gave a small smile. “Grave Shackles. That’ll take care of ‘em for a while… but they’ll be back.”

“Why didn’t you do this before?” Billy demanded. He was answered right away by Davy falling over unconscious.


Davy awoke with a sore head, and a horribly empty stomach. Someone was shaking him. His vision was blurry, but it cleared up after a few seconds, revealing Billy in above him, shaking him.

“Davy, you awake brother?” he asked gently.

“Ahh,” Davy grunted, rubbing his head. “That’s why I never use Grave Shackles. Too much energy required. I’m lucky I didn’t die. What happened?”

“After you blacked out, Billy slung you over his shoulder and carried you,” Meg explained. “You’ve been out for two or so hours. We walked all the way here. We woke you up, because we thought that you should be awake for this.”

Davy groaned and sat up. They were all sitting near the base of a staircase that ascended upward. It wasn’t too long of a staircase. The stairs were cleanly cut into the stone. On the walls were carvings of battle scenes, with Spanish Conquistadors slaughtering the Aztec and Inca civilizations, as well as conquering Caribbean lands. Davy slowly stood.

“We’ve arrived at the tomb I see,” Davy said with astonishment.

“Just up the stairs,” Dan said, nodding. “Take it slow. You’re still weak.”

The group ascended the stairs. It was, as Davy had noticed, a short flight of stairs. In about a minute or so, they had reached the top, and stood at the entrance of El Patron’s tomb.

It was a massive, circular room, the walls lined with carvings similar in subject to the ones on the walls of the staircase. The ceiling was a large, stone dome, bare of any decoration. Lining the sides of the tomb were torches, long burnt out. Countless stone sarcophagi lined the sides of the tomb: the crew of El Patron. A bare path lead through the dead crew and to the front of the tomb, where a larger sarcophagus lay, made of black granite, and embedded with precious gems.

“There he is,” Davy said. He slowly made his way over to the embellished sarcophagus of El Patron. It was mounted on some sort of a stand, so that it was almost completely upright. The front was carved to look like a person, arms crossed with a large sword in one hand, and a pistol in the other. The eyes of the carving were blood-red rubies, their gaze boring in to Davy.

Davy was weak, but he had just enough energy to ignite his sword on fire once again. He held the flaming blade before him, pointing towards the sarcophagus of El Patron.

“This ends now,” Davy said. “He should still be weak enough to die from a sword stab.”

He plunged the sword into the sarcophagus, and twisted. The stone around his blazing sword bubbled and melted. Davy yanked the sword out of the sarcophagus and sheathed it.

“Is that it?” Dog asked. “No big explosion, or scream of a dying ghost?”

“Something isn’t right…” Kate said.

They were interrupted by the growling of Smelly. Confused, the group looked around them to see what he was growling at. Then they heard the laughing. Davy’s eyes widened. It was El Patron.

“SHOW YOURSELF!” Davy boomed.

Very well then, David Fireskull, the voice of El Patron said. The group turned to the entrance of the tomb, and standing there was a lone ghost. He was glowing white, completely different from any other ghost that Davy had seen. He was wearing a metal conquistador helmet, and a full suit of conquistador armor. At his side he had a broadsword strapped, as well as a musket on his back. It was hard to make out his features, as the body itself was a black color, too dark to see any specific colors of clothing or small details, other than those red eyes, glowing with evil.

There is a little detail that you have overlooked.

Davy now realized what that detail was. After El Patron was sealed in this mine, nobody ever was able to kill him and imprison his soul!

Err, did anyone read that chapter? I usually get comments haha.

Anyway, I'll hopefully be able to write and post the chapter tomorrow or Sunday. I've been quite busy lately. Sorry about that. I have whats going to happen all in my head, so its just a matter of getting it down on paper (or a word document I suppose...).

0_o I never knew this chapter came out. I'll edit this and put in meh comment.

EDIT: Awesome as usual! Can't wait for next chapter... could this be the epic battle?!?!

I've been working on this for the last hour or so.

Chapter 15: The Burning Tomb

El Patron laughed menacingly, glaring at each mortal in the cave with the glowing red orbs in his head. Davy couldn’t make out the details of his face, but he felt that his mind was creating the face for him. A cruel face, with several scars from his battles and a glint in his eyes that said he would kill someone innocent without caring.

“Yes Fireskull,” the ghost captain sneered. “I was never killed. I died in this tomb, yes. But my soul was free to roam around this cave. Free to bide my time, grow power, and plan my escape. After over a hundred years, I have finally gotten strong enough to escape this prison.”

“Why have us come here?” Billy asked. Then more angrily he said, “And why bring me back?!”

“You were the bait,” El Patron said. “Without you, your brother would have had no motivation to come here. Joanna would have told you of me, but she wouldn’t have been able to tell you that there was something on this island waiting for you, and you would have forgotten about it.”

“But why do you want us here?” Guy asked. “We just are going to cause damage, correct? Aren’t we making it hard for you?”

The ghost laughed. “It’s not you that I want,” he explained. “It’s them.”

El Patron pointed at Davy and Billy. “Tiberius Fireskull imprisoned me in this Hell. They are the last known Fireskull’s on this earth. As revenge for imprisoning me, I will destroy Tiberius’s family line, and the Fireskull’s shall be forgotten.”

“Wait a minute,” Billy said, stepping forward. “If it really was you who raised me from the dead, then you have my memories!”

“Ah yes, your memories,” El Patron said. “I suppose you can have a few moments of them before my crew and I destroy you all.”

He stepped forward quickly, and before Billy could react, he put his ghostly finger directly between Billy’s eyes. Smelly growled loudly and tried to pounce on El Patron, but Dog held him back. An a bright light emanated from El Patron’s finger, and Billy’s eyes rolled back into his head. He suddenly let out a cry of pain, and he was sent flying backward. He slammed onto the floor and rolled for several meters before coming to a stop.

“Billy!” Zolina screamed, running towards the crumpled figure.

El Patron did nothing but watch as the Sorcerors huddled around their fallen friend.

“Billy, speak to me!” Davy urged.

Billy laid still for a few moments, but soon let out a groan. “I… I remember.” He sat up slowly, shaking his head to clear the stars in his vision. “The Shadow King, the battle with The Harkaway. It’s all coming back!”

“Unfortunately, you won’t have time to cherish it,” El Patron said, drawing his sword. It was a strange looking blade; thick and rusted, probably a broadsword. Even though it was rusted and looked delicate, Davy was more than sure that it was one of his deadly cursed blades. Davy looked around him to see that the other sarcophagi were shaking, and slowly the forms of El Patron’s ghostly crew emerged, all drawing their weapons. They made their way behind El Patron, awaiting his orders. The Sorcerors drew their swords, preparing for the worst. Davy turned around to check the area they had come from, but more ghosts were creeping up from there, blocking their exit.

“Well Davy Fireskull, are you ready to die?” El Patron taunted.

Davy thought about his response. “I am always ready for death, which is the very reason it will never come to me.”

Davy charged at El Patron, his crew following behind him. Davy raised his sword and brought it down on El Patron, cutting him across the chest. Davy slashed through his armor, stabbing into the ghostly form. Davy ended with a slash to his face, sending him stumbling backward. He had done all that and the ghost had shown no resistance. Davy breathed heavily, smiling. That was until he saw El Patron get back up, without a scratch on him.

El Patron laughed again, before charging at Davy with his cursed broadsword. He raised it above him and brought it down on Davy, who barely had time to block it with his sword. Then the unthinkable happened. The two swords clashed, and Davy’s cutlass shattered.

Impossible! Davy screamed in his head. I hexed it so it couldn’t break!

Before Davy could continue to wonder how El Patron was strong enough to shatter his sword, he was forced to duck and jump to the side as El Patron swung his blade at him. He drew his long dagger, hoping that it would suffice. He jumped back, away from El Patron, slashing at a few ghosts that got near him. As he expected, they fell back for a few moments but kept coming at him.

Davy heard a scream from another part of the tomb. He gave a quick glance to see Pirate Guy fall, and have his fallen body be swarmed by ghosts.

“NO!!!” Sharktooth screamed. He charged at the place where his brother had fallen. Davy couldn’t see anything else, because El Patron was on him again, swinging his sword and slicing off Davy’s small ponytail.

“You put up a good fight,” the captain said, forcing Davy against a sarcophagus. “But there is no escape.”

Davy looked around. It looked like all the ghosts in the mine had congregated to this one room. There were too many to defeat. They had to try to escape. Davy had to create a diversion of some sort, but he couldn’t do it with El Patron right on him. He stepped back a little bit, and felt his lower back touch the sarcophagus. He also felt his foot step on something. He quickly glanced down to see a broken fragment of his sword.

“Enough of this waiting! Your time comes now!” El Patron bellowed, raising his sword. Davy immediately ducked down, grabbing the broken steel. He could feel the sharp edges cutting his fingers, and warm blood trickled down his hand. Right before El Patron could bring down his blade, Davy gave out a loud battle cry, and plunged the blade deep into El Patron’s head.

El Patron dropped his blade and stumbled back with his hands on his face, screaming in agony. Even though he couldn’t be killed, a broken sword in the face must still hurt. While he was distracted, Davy bellowed out to his friends.

Davy turned to his friends. He could see that they were on the brink of death. There was too much going on to see the individual wounds, but they had all been beaten up. He didn’t have much time. He summoned a massive column of fire from the center of the room, which was about a meter and a half wide, and stretched from the ground to the stalactites far above. It was so bright that the ghosts covered their eyes and shrieked in pain. Some even fled the area, running through walls or into the exit.

“GET OUT OF HERE!” Davy yelled through the chaos. “I CAN’T HOLD IT FOR MUCH LONGER!”

The Shadow Sorcerors ran to the exit, but Billy stayed behind. “DAVY! I CAN’T LEAVE YOU!”

“GO!!! I’LL FIND MY WAY OUT!” Davy screamed. By now the cave was shaking, and massive rocks were falling from the roof of the tomb. Smelly barked at Billy, urging him to follow. Billy reluctantly followed the others as they ran out of the collapsing tomb.

“No!” El Patron said with frustration. He picked up his sword and advanced toward Davy, who was losing strength. With one last heave of effort, Davy willed the column of fire to explode, sending blasts of heat everywhere. Davy felt a large, sharp object fly into his leg and other small objects hitting his body. His leg exploded in pain, but he didn’t pay much attention to it due to everything going on around him. El Patron flew back and slammed against his own sarcophagus, blowing it to pieces. He staggered upward. El Patron flew back and slammed against his own sarcophagus, blowing it to pieces.

“I suppose you’ll be sparing me the duty of killing you,” El Patron said as massive stalactites and rocks fell around him. “And if you survive, you shall be sealed in this mine forever!”

El Patron walked through a wall behind him and disappeared and the ceiling itself began to fall. The column of flame that Davy had summoned had exploded, and anything in the tomb that could burn was burning. Davy had burn marks on him, and his clothes were singed. He was extremely weak. The exit that his friends had taken was blocked by massive rocks. Davy was trapped.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of crumbling from behind him. He slowly turned around to see that the wall had fallen, revealing another tunnel. Without a second thought, Davy stumbled towards it as a stalactite slammed down on the spot where he was before. The tomb was crumbling and soon there would be nothing left of it. Davy was able to limp inside the tomb, right as a boulder fell behind him, sealing the tunnel and leaving Davy alone in complete darkness.


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There you are mates. I'd appreciate feedback. You know how I love to hear from my readers. :)

Nice chapter as always Davy.

Keep it up! :D