The Lost Phantom

[SEAKING23]

Epicness. Pure epicness. 'nuff said.

[Captain Sharktooth]

It wasn't your best chapter, but I'll always follow this story.

[Tiberius Fireskull]

All the action was used up in the last few chapters. I know, its not the best chapter, especially because there wasn't much dialogue used in this one. But transition chapters have to be added here and there.

[Davy_Mcwrecker]

Its still awesome. There are very few books that I like, None the less, give me emotion. Your stories are the first to make me exited, thrilled, made me laugh, almost cry, ect.
Idk why you dont type it, print it, and sell copies to friends for some extra ca$h.

[Tiberius Fireskull]

Here's chapter 17. Its a long one, so prepare yourself for a long read. There isn't much action until the end, but there are important conversations in it. Enjoy!

Chapter 17: The Crumbling Cavern

Two young men had lost their brothers that day. Both Sharktooth and Billy sobbed as they fled from the collapsing tomb of El Patron. When Sharktooth saw his brother fall in combat, he didn’t know what to think. He had screamed and tried to get to him, but he wasn’t able to do anything about it due to all the ghosts. After Guy had fallen, he didn’t see him again. No chance to embrace him one last time. No chance to say goodbye. He was just gone.

Billy was worse off. He come back from the dead with no memory of his brother. He had been with him for less than a few days without memory of him. Even though they were together, it just wasn’t the same since he couldn’t remember him. He couldn’t remember the time that they were reunited ten years ago. The time they sailed together as not crewmates, but two loving brothers. The time that they fought against The Harkaway and defeated Jolly Roger. When he finally remembered everything they had gone through, Davy was gone.

As soon as Billy stepped back out of the tomb, he made one last look at Davy. He could see stone collapsing around his brother. Davy was losing strength and El Patron was closing on him. He tried to go back to save him, disobeying Davy’s wish for him to leave. Before he was able to reenter the tomb; however, Meg grabbed him from behind, tugging him back.

“No!” Billy had screamed. “Let go of me! Damn it, let go! I have to help Davy! I have to help my brother!”

“You’ll be killed too!” Meg cried. With the help of Dog, Billy was dragged back away from the tomb, cursing and screaming at them. His last vision of Davy was that of a column of flame exploding, before he lost sight of him. Billy wanted to stay behind and sob for his brother, but the tunnel was highly unstable around him. He reluctantly followed his mates back the way they came. As they ran, Billy allowed a few tears to stream down his face. He glanced at Sharktooth who was doing the same. Too much was lost this day. He then looked at Smelly, his dog who he now remembered. Smelly, as he ran, looked at his master with a sad expression. Billy thought that he even saw a tear run down the dog’s eye, but he knew that dogs couldn’t cry.

Everyone continued to run for about a half hour, until Dan finally collapsed. He fell to the stone floor, breathing heavily in massive gasps. Everyone else took this opportunity to rest up, catch their breath, and drink something that they had in their packs. Now that they realized it, they had had no food for an extremely long time. The last time they ate was a few hours before they entered El Patron’s tomb.

Zolina pulled out two bottles of rum and four canteens of water. Once the drinks were passed around to moisten their lips, a bit of dried meat was passed around for a bit of nourishment. Nothing was said during the small meal. Everyone was too exhausted to say anything. Finally, after the meal, Sharktooth spoke.

“I can’t believe that Guy is… gone…”

“Davy too,” Billy choked. “Too many lives were lost today.”

“Billy…” Kate said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Why?!” Billy shouted into the still air of the cave. “Why is it that we are always separated!? Whenever it is that we finally are able to find each other, we are torn apart! WHY?!”

Billy was standing up not, tears streaming down his face.

“Billy…” Kate said again. “Everything’ll be all right.”

“No,” Billy said softly. “It won’t be all right, don’t you see!? My brother who I had lost. My brother… my brother that I had never said goodbye to before I died aboard The Harkaway… I never got to say ‘I love you’ to him.”

“’tis a cruel world Billy,” Dan said. For a moment, people looked at him wondering if he was being sarcastic, but his expression showed that he meant it. “But just because one person is gone, doesn’t mean that you are too.”

“Davy once said that family is not just blood,” Sam said. “But those that you care about, and those that care about you. Davy was just as much my brother as yours. I served with him for something like ten years. His loss is affecting us all. But we’re here for you. Don’t consider yourself alone.”

Billy looked at Sam. Between them passed a deep look of understanding that only brothers could share.

“You’re right,” Billy said. “Thank you. All of you.”

Billy sat back down, looking at the ground. Smelly whimpered and laid his head on Billy’s lap. Billy gently scratched the dog. Zolina cleared her throat, getting everyone’s attention.

“Well now that we know our original mission was a failure,” she said. “What are we going to do next?”

“We get the hell out of here, that’s what we do!” Sharktooth said. “This isn’t our battle anymore. It wasn’t our battle to begin with. Let’s not get stuck in something that isn’t our business. I’m sure El Patron is just going to stay in this hole, and even if he escapes I’m sure that he can be taken down by the Royal Navy. After all, he’s just one ship against an entire armada.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Dan snapped. “El Patron is trying to get out of this place, and he’s going to succeed. In fact, I doubt that we have much time before he and his crew can get out of these mines. Days probably. And then what is he going to do when he’s free? I’ll tell you, he has two things. He’s going to want revenge. He told us! He wants to destroy Tiberius’s descendants, meaning that even though Davy is dead, he still is going to go after Billy. He’ll chase us across the globe if it takes that, but he wants any Fireskull dead.

“Not only that, but before he was defeated by Tiberius Fireskull, he had gone on a mad sinking spree where they had sank probably hundreds of ships. When he comes back, him and his crew will probably do the same, or worse. Every ship in the Caribbean will be at risk of attack by his ships! Remember that ghost ship that attacked us on the way in? That’s proof of everything that’s going on!”

“How did I not realize this before?” Zolina gasped. “All those strange happenings, its because El Patron has grown power. He’s got so much power that he is raising other ghosts with him, explaining all the rising dead! That ghost ship that we encountered, it was a regular ship once that was attacked by ghosts that were under the command of El Patron!”

“He’s forming an armada,” Dog said with a combination of awe and fear.

“An armada that will be unchallenged by any other,” Dan continued. “All these ghosts that have been raising, he has control of them. That’s why he was able to raise Billy. He’s forming an army… but why?”

“So that he can get control of the Caribbean?” Sharktooth interjected.

“I doubt that,” Meg stated. “El Patron was never interested in that kind of power before, why would he want it now?”

“He could be forming this armada of the dead for any reason,” Billy said. “What we need to worry about now is how we stop him before he succeeds. If he succeeds, no ship will ever be able to sail our seas again. Not to mention that he’ll be after the Shadow King anyway because of me.”

“Aye, let’s worry about his motives later,” Kate said. “For now, we should sleep. I’ll take first watch.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, laying down. Billy was unsure what to think. Davy was gone, and a foe that was probably more powerful than Jolly Roger would stop at nothing to kill him.

~~~~~~~~~~

The group woke up early and had a brief breakfast. They quickly got moving again, hopefully towards sunlight. They had been in this mine for days now, and they hadn’t seen sunlight for far too long. Not to mention that they had no idea what was going on onboard the Shadow King.

It was hard to tell if they had been in a certain place. It was as if the mine was messing with their heads, not letting them know if they were heading towards day or heading towards death. They walked for almost the entire day, stopping once for lunch and twice to rest for a few minutes. They encountered no ghosts, much to their surprise.

After many hours of walking, they came to a familiar site. They were in a large circular cavern with a dome-shaped ceiling. In the middle of the cavern was a totem. The burial place of one of El Patron’s enemies.

“Impossible,” Sharktooth said. “It can’t really be this easy! We walked for much longer than that getting down there!”

“El Patron is making it easy for us,” Billy said. “He has so much power, I’m certain that he can control the mine a bit, making it easier for us to get around. He wants us out of the mine as fast as possible so that we are easy targets.”

“Well I certainly want to breathe some fresh air,” Meg muttered. “Come on! We’re not far from the exit!”

The Sorcerors picked up their pace a bit. When they were halfway across the cavern; however, they heard a voice. Smelly started barking viciously, and everyone turned around, expecting the worst. Instead, they were greeted by someone they had met before.

“We meet again,” Dr. Bellrog said, grinning. “I’m surprised you made it out of there alive! Kudgel and I were worried about you.”

“Kudgel smash!” Kudgel said, swinging his sword.

“Bellrog, you scum!” Billy accused. “You knew that El Patron lived! You knew we were heading straight into a trap!”

“Well of course I did!” Bellrog said, clasping his hands. “El Patron hired me to lead you all to him. That way he could kill you all in one sitting! Although now that you have escaped, he is furious. I have one last chance to prove myself. SHOW YOURSELVES!”

About a half dozen ghosts of El Patron’s crew materialized around Bellrog and drew their blades. Bellrog cackled and said, “Kill them all, except for the Fireskull. Capture him and let El Patron have him.”

With lightning speed, the ghosts charged at the Sorcerors, who barely had time to draw their swords before they were upon them. Kudgel had joined the fight too. He was a deadly fighter. Not only was he merciless with his heavy blade, but his strength was enough to shatter even one of the best forged swords. Billy approached him with his own broadsword, careful to avoid his blows.

“Hey! Stupid!” Billy taunted. Kudgel turned toward him and roared.

“Kudgel not stupid!” he bellowed.

“Right…” Billy muttered before charging him. Kudgel’s swings were enough to cleave a mast in two, which was why Billy stayed far back. What he did notice, though, was that every time Kudgel swung, the momentum made him lose just a bit of balance. Billy took note of that.

Billy let Kudgel swing a few times, allowing his foe to tire out a bit. Meanwhile, he fought a few other ghosts that were battling him. Finally, he saw his opportunity. Kudgel made a powerful swing that was meant to decapitate Billy. Billy ducked, and as the swing finished, Kudgel lost just a bit of his balance. Within half a second, Billy leaped at his foe, bringing his sword down vertically and running a deep gash down Kudgel’s chest. Kudgel bellowed in pain and stumbled back. Billy took this opportunity to throw a fireball at him, which exploded a few centimeters away from him.

Kudgel flew back, slamming against the wall and crumpling to the floor. The chamber shook, and everyone froze.

“Get to the exit tunnel!” Billy ordered. Nobody waited, because right then, rocks began falling from the ceiling. The impact of Kudgel slamming against the wall had made the room unstable. Even the ghosts looked ready to flee.

“Fools!” Dr. Bellrog bellowed. “Yellow bellied cowards! Destroy them! I will not allow them to esca—”

Billy winced as he saw a rock a bit smaller than his head slam down on Bellrog, who immediately crumpled to the ground. The ghosts hissed, and ran towards the escaping mortals. Kudgel had dizzily gotten up and was dazedly following the ghosts. But before they could continue their advancing, there was the sound of a large crack.

Everyone froze, and slowly looked up. A massive crack was spreading across the ceiling, loosening up a massive chunk of rock.

“Time to go,” Dog whispered. Smelly whimpered and the Sorcerors made their getaway as the massive slab of stone dislodged from the ceiling and crashed down on the crowd of ghosts.

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

I hope you enjoyed this one! Looking at what I have, this story may be a lot longer than Shadows Rising. Hard to say how much longer, but it will definitely be longer. Please post comments!

[Captain Sharktooth]

That was awesome! I'm eager to see what happens with Davy, (I don't think he is dead) and I wonder if Tiberius will be a factor soon.

[Jack Shipsteel]

So Pirate Guy is dead? Or is this a part of the story that will be revealed later on?

[SEAKING23]

Pretty much what i said last time

[The Stealthy Pirate]

Epic. Great chapter mate!

[Davy_Mcwrecker]

they heard a voiceSmelly started

Not to be the grammar police, but i think you left out a period and a space.

[John Wildcutter]

Love the story, just read the whole thing so far plus the first one.

[Tiberius Fireskull]

Glad to hear that John! Always happy to hear it when new readers come by.

Sorry I haven't been able to post too much. I've been really busy, but I was able to get another chapter in. Hopefully its alright for all you picky ones.

Chapter 18: Lost Souls

“What have we here?” a deep, metallic voice rasped. “A mortal has come into my realm? Why have you brought this to me?”

“He was found injured in the secret tunnel, my lord,” another voice hissed. “He’s powerful, able to get all the way to El Patron’s tomb. No mortal has accomplished that. He may be of some use… He was armed only with these.” Davy heard the sound of his dagger clattering to the floor next to him.

There was a pause before the first speaker responded, “Keep him here. I will question him myself. Leave me with him.”

Davy felt himself roughly thrown onto the ground. His head bumped the ground and a little cut opened, oozing warm blood. He was only half conscious, but he became a bit more aware of his surroundings when he noticed light. He was too weak to open his eyes much, but he weakly took note of some of the noises. Now, his eyes fluttered open, and after blinking out the stars, he was able to make out his surroundings.

He was in a sizable cavern, lit by several torches around the perimeter. To his side, he saw a wooden platform about two and a half meters high, although Davy couldn’t tell exactly. A small staircase led to it. Scattered throughout the cavern were mining tools of different sizes and purposes, ranging from pickaxes and shovels to what looked like explosives. Davy couldn’t see his captor, who stood a meter or so in front of him. Davy was too weak to sit up to look at him.

“What are you…?” the voice asked curiously. There was no sound of threat in the voice, as dark as it sounded. “How can a mere mortal find his way into this place?”

Davy groaned and shifted a bit, trying to get up. Davy felt the figure shift and grab his shoulder. He was lifted up and was now able to look his captor in the eyes.

Little to Davy’s surprise, the captor was indeed a ghost. Strangely, he had the white glow, similar to El Patron. He had glowing red eyes, with a tall hat in the shape of an arc—a chapeau, was it called? He had a sleeveless tank with a vest over it, showing off his ghostly muscles. He wore a pair of buttoned breeches with a pair of black boots as well. In his belt were two large, double-edged battle knives and quite a few smaller throwing knives. The two red orbs in his head looked back at Davy, but without hostility. Curiosity, was it? Or was he analyzing him, seeing what use Davy could be of for him?

“What is your name, amigo?” the ghost said. The metallic voice was powerful, and Davy noticed a tinge of authority. Even though his captor’s intent was not to do him any harm just yet, he was not to be disobeyed.

Davy thought for a moment about what to do. He did not know who this person could be, and whether he meant him harm or not. Did he serve El Patron? Davy couldn’t tell, but he knew that in his weakened state, he couldn’t afford to not say anything. And he could see in this man’s eyes that he would see through a lie.

“Davy Fireskull,” Davy reluctantly said.

For a moment, he saw his captor’s face change, but before Davy could process it, he regained his former expression and spoke.

“Davy Fireskull?” the ghost said, raising an eyebrow. “That name… how did you get here? No, why are you here?”

Boldly, Davy didn’t answer his question, but posed his own, “Who are you? Where am I?”

The man before him looked a bit shocked, but replied nonetheless. “You’ve got a lot of courage, mortal. The only reason I am so forgiving is because… never mind. I have gone by many names, but the name I have gone by for the last two centuries or so is Foulberto Smasho.”

Davy couldn’t resist but interrupt. “Foulberto Smasho? One of El Patron’s—”

“Yes, yes, I was in that scum’s crew once,” Foulberto said. Then, a bit more quietly. “Never again will I sail with that bloody backstabber.”

Davy was curious now. He was certain that Foulberto was his own little faction now, but he wanted the full story.

“What happened?” Davy asked. “I know that there was a bit of a civil war between the crew, with half of them backing you and the other half backing El Patron. You were defeated and your four lieutenants were executed before your eyes… but we never learned what happened to you.”

Smasho grunted, “That figures. El Patron wanted me out of the story. He wanted me forgotten. Only a few minutes after he executed my lieutenants, I managed to escape from El Patron and his men. A few of my followers, the ones that weren’t killed, escaped with me into a side cavern. Furious, El Patron sealed the entrance… and cursed it so that we would be trapped here as long as he would be trapped in there. Me and my followers, the ones that brought you here (Forgive their brutality, they did not know whether you were friend or foe.), have been trapped here since. This cave has become known as The Cave of Lost Souls to us. We are just a few trapped souls, lost from the rest of civilization. I want nothing more than to ring the neck of that swine El Patron.”

“Wait a moment,” Davy said. “You’re not one of El Patron’s followers?”

“Well what the Hell do you think?” Foulberto bellowed. “He tortured me, executed my men, and trapped me in this bloody Hell hole! I despise that dog! Now, explain yourself before I take my rage out on you.”

Davy reluctantly told Foulberto about who he was, where he was from, and why he was here. He didn’t have much of a choice. Saying no would mean that he may get to see how well Foulberto could wield his daggers. Foulberto was a good listener. Him and Davy sat down on the stone floor, and Foulberto made no interruptions. He occasionally would raise an eyebrow or nod, but he seemed to understand everything. Finally, Davy finished and was silent.

“Well then Fireskull,” Foulberto said. “If El Patron truly has gained enough power to escape his imprisonment, then that means that my crew and I should be able to escape as well… Fireskull, I’ll cut you a little deal. You’re strong. I can tell that. Alone, I don’t think that we’re going to be able to defeat El Patron, but together! Together we will crush him and send his bloody soul to the deepest pit of Hell! In return for helping me bring him down, I’ll not leave you in this cave to rot, savvy?”

Davy thought for a moment. It wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Smasho could easily leave him here and Davy didn’t have a chance. He had no food, water, or rum and no weapons, other than his dagger, which wouldn’t be much use if he were stuck in a cave. On the other hand, if he went with Smasho, there was no guarantee that he would actually spare him at the end, or if he was simply toying with him. He was, after all, a former member of El Patron’s crew.

“How can I trust you?” Davy inquired. “How do I know that you’ll really do what you say you’re going to do?”

“You don’t!” Smasho said. “But what choice do you have? Take a chance at death by coming with us, or actually die staying?”

Davy considered this, and nodded. “What’s the plan then?”

“I’m glad you warmed up to me,” Smasho said. “Now, you look horrible, amigo. Go get some rest. Clean out your wound. We’ve a few stashes of mortal food that you can nibble on, and there’s a barrel or two of water. Not the nicest tasting, but its water nonetheless.

Davy nodded and slowly got to his feet, picking up his dagger too. Smasho beckoned in the direction of a small side cave and Davy slowly made his way inside. It was dimly lit by torches, but there wasn’t much to see. There was, as Foulberto said, a few barrels of water with a dusty drinking glass on the top. Beside it were a few crates of what looked like some dried meats. Davy opened the top of the barrel and greedily drank the dusty and warm water as if it were rum aged ten years, then moved on to opening the crates of food. He ate as much of the stale meat as he could, until he couldn’t eat anymore.

After stifling a large belch, he glanced around the room again and saw a pile of sacks, probably containing flour or some other grain. Davy made his way to the sacks and immediately flopped down on them and went to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

Once he was sure that Davy was asleep, Foulberto called in his first mate. He walked into another separate side cave, across the main cavern from Davy’s. In life, he was a slender man, and retained that same form as a ghost. He wore tight breeches with tall boots that were issued to high ranking conquistadors. He had a yellow and red striped shirt with a closed, black vest of silk over it. Atop his head was a bronze helmet. Strapped to his side was a straight sword of Spanish make with a ruby in its hilt. His features were sharp, giving him the look of a person who was both witty and powerful. His waxed moustache and short goatee made him look like some sort of assassin, although stealth missions were not his specialty.

“You called for me, Captain?” Francisco Black said, saluting Foulberto in respect.

“Indeed I did Mr. Black,” Foulberto said, pacing his room. “It’s about the mortal that found his way here.”

“Davy Fireskull, yes,” Mr. Black said, stroking his goatee. “What about him?”

“I’m not sure what to make of him yet,” Foulberto said. “One thing’s for sure though, and that is that he is indeed the descendent of Tiberius Fireskull… the dog that locked us up in these caves. That worries me a bit, but we need him.”

“I say we kill the scoundrel now, Captain,” Black suggested. “We’ll be avenging ourselves.”

“Not entirely, Mr. Black,” Smasho responded. “There’s still El Patron to worry about. Once he escapes we won’t have much time to destroy him. If he is able to get his hands on what we think he’s after, he’ll be unkillable, and we’ll be done . We can’t allow him to have that power for himself. We need Fireskull to help us defeat him, and perhaps we can claim it for ourselves.”

“This is true… but how do you plan to go about this?”

“You’ll see. Play along with me and it will be ours, and El Patron will be killed for real. Fireskull must live. He is of use to us… for now.”

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

Oooooh mystery! What will happen next?

[Captain Sharktooth]

What will happen next? Well, obviously...

Actually, I have no guess. 0_o Now be quick at posting the next one, so I can figure out!

[SEAKING23]

Nice chapter!!

[Tiberius Fireskull]

This chapter's one of my more lengthy ones... there isn't quite as much action in it, but it is a good chapter that moves the story along and will help explain a lot of stuff. I actually finished this chapter Saturday or Sunday, but didn't post it until now since POF was down and I kept forgetting... Anyway, here you go! I think this is a pretty good chapter, but don't worry. There'll be a lot of action in the coming chapters.

Chapter 19: Darkness of Day

Thunder boomed in the distance as Billy stepped out onto the black rock cliffs of Raven’s Cove. He turned around to watch the rest of his comrades emerge from the darkness of El Patron’s Mine. Storm clouds swirled overhead and fog blocked out the view of the ocean beyond Raven’s Cove. Flashes of lightning could be seen in the clouds, raising the hairs on the necks of Billy and his group. Billy’s long hair blew in the icy wind, and it began to drizzle. Not a ray of sunlight shown through the black clouds.

“Look’s like El Patron’s found his way out of his hole, eh?” Dan said over the howling wind. Zolina nodded as everyone sat down in a slightly sheltered area to rest a bit.

“So I’m assuming we’re going to make our way back to the Shadow King?” Kate asked.

“What about Davy?” Billy demanded. “We’re just going to abandon him? He’s my brother! What if he’s alive? What if he’s on his way out as we speak?”

“We can’t deal with ‘what if’s’ Billy,” Sam said, putting a hand on Billy’s shoulder. “Davy was as much you’re brother as mine. It pains me to say it, but we have to get out of here. You saw him, mate. He was trapped in that chamber as it collapsed on top of him. He’s gone.”

“No… he’s not,” Billy murmured. “I can feel it.”

The group sat in silence after that for a few moments, the wind blowing, but nothing moved. All there was on Raven’s Cove was barren cliffs and stone. Zolina pulled out the last rations of food and water and the canteen around along with strips of dried meat. After it was consumed, they were on the move again. After walking twenty or so meters they came to the bridge that they had crossed to get to this part of the island. Meg gulped as she crossed the flimsy bridge, shutting her eyes so she wouldn’t need to see the drop below to the choppy seas. Through the fog, Billy could see the dim lights of a ship. The Shadow King.

“Billy, let’s go!” Sharktooth said, beckoning to Billy. Him and the others were already on the other side of the bridge. Billy hadn’t noticed that he had stopped to look at the ship. Realizing how much the bridge was swinging in the wind. Billy made his way to the other side of the cliff and continued onward with his friends. Before long they reached the elevator, or at least where it had been. Something, perhaps one of El Patron’s ghosts, had destroyed the lever that pulled the elevator up. The group all peered down the drop. Billy suddenly remembered when he had tried to come up here and he had fallen and lived. He suddenly remembered his invincibility. Before he could tell his crewmates, Dog spoke.

“Look’s like we’ll have to climb down this thing now…” he said. “I suppose we can climb down one at a time using the rope.”

Without another word, the company one by one grabbed hold of the rope and climbed down, the rain pouring now from above them. Dan went down first, stepping down on the roof of the motionless elevator and climbing down to the platform on which it rested. Zolina followed Dan, then Kate, Sharktooth, Dog, Meg, and Sam. Smelly was carefully slung onto the back of Sharktooth as he descended. Billy went last.

Billy looked down the cliff and gulped. Sam was just stepping down, and Zolina waved upward to him. “Come on Billy! Hurry down so we can find some shelter from this rain!”

Billy had never been a fan of heights, and especially since this was the same place where he had been attacked by a ghost, only to survive. Nervously, he grabbed a hold of the rope and began to slowly climb down. The wind blew his hair in front of his face, stinging his eyes. The wind moved the rope a bit too much for Billy’s comfort. Suddenly he felt something wrong with the rope, and before he could react, he heard a snap and felt himself falling through the air.

~~~~~~~~~~

There were muffled voices shaking. Billy felt his body being shaken by someone, and then the voices became more clear. Light began to filter through his slowly opening eyes.

“Billy, are you alright? Billy?”

Billy replied with a groan, and he heard a sigh of relief and felt the warmth of another human body hugging him. His eyes fluttered open to find himself being hugged by Zolina. When she noticed his eyes open, she drew back. “Thank God you’re alive, Billy.”

“Yes, thank God for it,” Dan said, scratching his chin with curiosity. “But I want to know how you survived that fall. That should’ve broken every bone in your body, mate. Wait a minute… didn’t you say something about being unkillable back at that tavern?”

“Yes, I did,” Billy remembered. “I don’t know why though. Perhaps because I am truly undead.”

“It’s because you are a ghost of Raven’s Cove,” a voice said. Joanna stood several meters away from them. When everyone turned to look at her, she walked forward to the crew and kneeled down to look at Billy.

“No sign of any damage,” she said as she nervously looked over him. Smelly whimpered.

“A ghost of Raven’s Cove?” Sam inquired. “What do you mean by this?”

Joanna raised her head to look at everyone. Billy sat up, and she explained, “You see, when a human soul is resurrected on Raven’s Cove, that soul is invincible so long as they are on Raven’s Cove. It is their one spot where they cannot die. Likewise, if a person is resurrected as a ghost, they will no longer be in the form of a ghost when they leave Raven’s Cove, except during the night, when they change back to their ghostly form. Night has special powers, you see, similar to Raven’s Cove. It is the time when evil things reveal themselves, so naturally it is when a dead person’s true self shows, and they turn from flesh and blood to a ghostly silhouette. During the day when they are human, they can be harmed as if they were a normal human, but come night, they will reform as a ghost in the spot where they were slain. At night, as ghosts, they are extremely hardy and difficult to kill, but it is possible. Their strength is incredible and one slice from one of their cursed blades will be fatal to most, unless they have a protective charm, which is rare. They are also able to take control of another mortal's body. There is only one known item that is capable of taking down these ghosts easily and resisting their powers. Either way, these ghosts are very difficult to defeat, no matter how you approach them.

“I’m going off topic, aren’t I? I’ve probably said more than I should, but I suppose you could use that knowledge. Billy is technically a ghost here on Raven’s Cove. The reason he is flesh and blood is most likely due to the fact that he was a heavy voodoo user in life and that meddled with El Patron’s resurrection of him. Billy, when you leave Raven’s Cove, you will be mortal and just as killable as a regular person. I doubt that the night time will affect you, seeing as you are flesh and blood right now.”

“So all the ghosts that we have fought now will be vulnerable during the day?” Meg asked.

“Yes, that is true,” Joanna replied. “But at night they will be almost as strong as they are now.”

“Wait a minute hold up,” Billy asked. “If I am supposedly invincible here on Raven’s Cove, why is it that during the fight in El Patron’s tomb I got a few burns from him when he gave my memory back?”

“El Patron is… special, to say the least,” Joanna said. “He has special abilities that I do not know very much of that allow him to still bring harm to ghosts of Raven’s Cove. He would have the power to kill you while you were here, Billy. Or at least destroy your physical body.”

“That’s a happy thought,” Billy muttered.

“I must go now,” Joanna said. “El Patron has escaped, and should he see me helping you I would be killed.”

She began to walk away, but turned around. “One last thing.” The crew turned to face her. “Davy Fireskull is not dead.”

Everyone stared at her in shock.

“Impossible!” Kate stuttered. “He was killed in the collapsing cavern! I’m certain! I—”

“I am not sure what happened to him, but he has found a way out,” Joanna said. “If he found who I believe he did, then we may be in far more trouble then we think…”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Sharktooth asked. Joanna merely shook her head and materialized.

“She has a nice habit of poofing away when we try to ask her something important,” Dan said sarcastically.

“Well she did tell us one very important thing,” Billy said. “Davy’s still on this island. Somewhere. He’s probably still underground. We can’t leave without him.”

“Agreed,” Sam said. “But we have no idea where he is. I think that our best option for now is to head back to the Shadow King. Once we get there we can alert the crew of the situation, and show that Billy is back, as well as give us time to rest and reenergize. We can send in some other crewmates to go in and help Davy with us, so we have some strength in numbers in case trouble arises. What Joanna said about someone who he may have met up with makes me uncomfortable.”

“Well first we need to find some shelter,” Zolina said, looking around through the pouring rain. Everyone’s clothes were completely drenched and they needed to find some shelter and start a warm fire. “I know its only midday right now, but we should rest and just wait until tomorrow. I’m not going out a night with El Patron on the loose.”

“Aye, there’s a few shacks over there we can go to,” Dog said, pointing to a cluster of buildings. The others made a few mutters of agreement and everyone began to jog to the shacks through the pouring rain. The crew began to enter a shack that they had found, and at the same time, the sound of a loud booming echoed in the distance.

“That didn’t sound like thunder…” Dan muttered as he headed in.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rock flew off the mountainside, flying into the sea below. The booming of the explosion shook the island, lightning flashing in the air. Thunder boomed and rain poured in sheets, soaking any fabrics that would be out. Lucky for the emerging figures of the newly made hole in the mountainside of Raven’s Cove, they had no clothing made of any thread. The ghosts quickly assembled onto the cliff outside, until there was a crowd of almost fifty of them. Once they were all assembled outside, a final figure emerged from the mountainside. A glowing white ghost wearing the armor of a Conquistador.

“MEN!” El Patron bellowed, holding up his sword. “We are free!”

The crew of ghosts cheered in response, a sound as loud as the thunder that was constantly rumbling in the sky. He looked below into the chasm below him and his crew. Dimly, he could see a mast protruding out from the chasm, almost at level with him. He followed it down and could see the form of a ship sitting in the shallow waters at the bottom of the chasm.

“You ten,” El Patron said, pointing to ten of his crewmates. “Come with me. There is one last order of business that I must attend to before leaving this prison of an island. The rest of you work on blowing open that rock wall that separates our ship from the open sea.”

The crew obediently went to their duties, the ten El Patron selected following him across the ledge. “Now let’s see if you’re still on this island.” El Patron boomed through the thunder of the world that he had been locked away from for so long. And then he stopped and held his sword to the sky, bellowing mightily, his crew mimicking him. El Patron cackled, unleashing a blast of lightning from his blade into the sky. The clouds lit up and a deafening blast of thunder tore through the sky. “Let the whole world tremble in fear in the darkness of this day, knowing that the mighty El Patron has risen once again!”

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Ooooh dramatic ending! What will be happening next? Am I leaving you with suspense? No? Okay. Questions? Comments? Praise? Rum? Rum would be nice. I worked hard on this!