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.
Chapter 13: Whispers in the Dark
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.
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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.