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.
Chapter 4: The Invincible
“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…”
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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.