Chapter 7
It had been a chaotic couple of hours for me after the pirates dragged us away. I didn’t have any energy left to run so I shakily stood my ground and accepted my fate. Five of them surrounded me; mean looking brutes covered in tattoos and the scars of war. One carefully placed his razor sharp cutlass under my chin, forcing me to look up at them. It wasn’t difficult to figure out what they intended doing with me. It would have been so easy to slit my throat on that empty beach and watch the blood mingle with the ocean waves but I saw one of them pointing to the gauntlet on my arm. They seemed fascinated by it as they studied the intricate runes carved in the metal. It pulsated in a silver blue light as they turned my arm over a few times, trying to figure out how to loosen it. A stringy looking pirate with scars cut deep into his body, reached for his sword as he went to hack off my limb. The others grabbed him and I could hear the now familiar refrain of the words “witch” and “demon” being thrown around. Though these men held no fear in the world, they were cautious around me; unsure of what to make of this strange girl. Finally, they reached an agreement, one of them picking me and Adelmar up, slinging us over his massive shoulder. With my last bit of energy left, I bit deep into his flesh; my teeth sinking into his exposed shoulder. He screamed like a banshee, throwing me to the ground while his friends laughed their heads off. A brutal slap across my face silenced me, ripping my head backwards in the sand; the warm trickle of blood running down my cheek.
“Totally worth it.” I mumbled incoherently as they carried me away from the beach, deep inland. We headed straight through a mangrove forest, the sounds of strange and wondrous animals filling my ears. The jungle folded its leafy arms around us, swallowing us whole in its all embracing confines. The pirates seemed to know where they were going, carefully moving through well trampled paths, checking constantly over their shoulders for anyone behind us. Eventually, after what felt like ages we broke through the jungle barrier and arrived on an overlooking cliff. My jaw dropped to the floor as the pirate lowered me down to the floor. Far below me was a sweeping vista of an ice blue cove set before an imposing volcano. I could see a small settlement at the foot of the mountain and grey smoke escaping from a myriad of chimneys.
“Welcome to Port Royale. You had best behave yourself down there girl or you will find yourself with a slit throat very quickly. This is not a civilized place. Now walk.” He pointed down a steep mountain path while I quickly gathered Adelmar in my arms. Stumbling forward in a semi haze from lack of food and water, I somehow managed to find my way downwards. I nearly went over the edge before the big pirate dragged me back from the precipice. The sounds of raucous shouting and fighting loomed up before me as we entered the town. It was complete anarchy and chaos inside. People were fighting all over in the streets, the smell of stale alcohol stinging my nose. A drunken lout was unceremoniously thrown out of the local tavern, landing before our feet. He wiped the blood and dirt off his clothes, then charged back inside for another go. A couple of the local whores, their faces pancaked white with makeup walked over to us and started flirting suggestively with the sailors. They just laughed and roughly pushed them out of the way before entering the tavern. It was a dingy and smoke filled place, the ideal spot to drown your sorrows or take refuge from the world outside. A string band was playing off key in the back and the alcohol was flowing as the crowd jeered each false note loudly.
Ignoring the fetid mass of humanity, the pirates quickly escorted me through the main room and to a private room in the back guarded by two squat looking guards. After they let us through we found the captain sitting behind a thin gossamer veil with two of the local whores by his side. He was a rakish looking man with a square face and long black hair covering one side of his face. His bodyguard was standing nearby, a monster of man with nightmare black skin and a massive curved sword on his hip. I could see the muscles rippling under his torn white clothing. This was not a man to be treated lightly that was for sure. He grunted once and the captain looked up lackadaisically at us, instantly studying me from head to toe. He nodded silently for the whores to leave him and they quickly made their exit.
