The Pirate's Legacy: New Beginnings

Chapter 24: The Mermaid's Riddle

Em was grateful to the bottom of her heart for whatever Michael had told Roger after leaving the mess hall. Although she still performed menial and hard-laboring tasks; was still subjugated to verbal and, a few times, physical abuse by the other crewmen; and Roger still avoided speaking or looking at her, there was a silver lining between the dark clouds. Em was allowed to keep her cutlass and also slept in her old quarters beside Roger's again. She had better nights of sleep since then, even when on the other side of the wall, Dread Pirate Robin did not.

"LAND-HO!" announced the lookout from the crow's nest three weeks after they had left Silvertide Island. "LAND-HO! SCARLETT ISLAND UP AHEAD!"

Em jumped onto her feet and looked to the bow of the ship, but the men on the main deck already crowded around the sides of the ship. Their heads obscured Em's view beyond the bow. She ran over to one of the stairs that led up to the helm, stopping midway, before practically throwing herself over the railing.

The blood-red island loomed dauntingly ahead of the ship. Everything was shaded with that single coloring—the dirt, the rivers and lakes, and even the plants and animals. The more gruesome myths explained that because so many victims had been lost to or killed by its cannibal inhabitants, the ground soaked in their blood and turned everything on the island red. However, more level-headed people believed that underneath the ground were iron ingots whose rust turned the island its famed red.

As Em's eyes wandered over the strip of crimson terrain between the imaginary line where sea and air met, suddenly, her stomach felt as if it was turning inside out. Nausea rushed over her like a crashing tidal wave.

Michael's head swiveled around at the sound of retching. Leaving his captain's side behind the steering wheel, he walked over to the staircase on his right. His blue eyes widened to see Em's upper body leaned over the side of the ship with her arms straining to keep her in place as she emptied her stomach. Michael was at her side in an instant. He pulled her back and kept her hair away from her pale and clammy face. Her hands grasped the front of his shirt and pulled him close.

"I-It's evil," she said hoarsely. "I feel evil coming from that godless place!"

The hair on the back of Michael's neck prickled. He turned his head to the bow and looked at Scarlett Island. "Just as well," he said. "It's where our fortune lies."

Within three leagues from the island, an underwater current pulled the ship from its fight against the Faethm Ocean's continuous clockwise cycle as if a force from the isle itself was doing it. According to the rewritten version of the map, this current was called Incauta. An X marked a spot on the northern side of Scarlett Island on the map. The ship was approaching its southern side. It had to navigate the natural deathtraps that surrounded the island in order to reach its north side. Not only did they have to worry about shark-infested waters, but the shallower waters closer to the isle housed dangerous coral reefs that made large ships like The Jolly Roger unable to cleverly maneuver around them.

Upon their arrival on the north side, they encountered a few more problems, this time with the island itself. The narrow coast was full of rocks that jutted out into the ocean, forcing the ship to be kept anchored at sea. This position raised much concern since the map indicated with a tiny picture that the treasure was in a hidden, underwater cave.

It was the Twins who, during a minor argument over Daryl's healing arm, discovered the nearly obscure passage between two cliffs. There seemed to be no possible way to avoid the rocks from above or the coral reefs below in the water without damaging the Pirate King's beloved ship. The captain ordered only a portion of the men—after a massive argument broke out as to who should go with him—to get into the three long boats and row into the narrow passage. As a practical matter, Michael was ordered to stay on The Jolly Roger with Joshua as his temporary quartermaster.