The Crossing of Blades (FIOLEE)

Chapter Three

Fionna obediently followed Marshall on deck. "This is a nice ship— what can it do, seven, eight knots?" She asked.

He turned. "Nine, actually. It's one of the fastest ships on the water currently, besides the—"

"Captain!" One of his crew members yelled. Both Marshall and Fionna turned their heads immediately. "I see a ship ahead!" The crew member continued.

"Avoid her." Marshall ordered.

"She's not one of yours?" Fionna asked.

Marshall seemed to decide something. "Look... demons don't do that well with moving water or salt, and vampires don't do that well with prolonged sun exposure. Because of this, the demons and the vampires only made one ship like this for the entirety of both kingdoms— the Shadow. So no, not one of ours."

"Captain! It's a Valleyhale ship!" The crew member said, fear seeping into his voice. "They're raising their colors!"

"Valleyhale?" Fionna asked as Marshall cussed.

"They're on the same island as us, but not a part of our alliance." Marshall explained briefly. "Remember those faster ships I mentioned? That's them."

"So we're all going to die?"

"We might. Remember your expectations for what would happen when I got my hands on you? Valleyhale will do that to you, we won't."

"Are we going to try to outrun them?" Fionna asked.

"No point. No point in talking to them either, especially if it's Eldridge."

Fionna nodded. "Standing our ground and taking some of them out with us isn't such a bad way to die."

"I already told you... wait. Why would you want to die with us? If you let them take you, maybe... maybe you'll get out of this okay." Marshall said, as if he was trying to convince himself.

"I'd never be okay. I'd rather die brave than let them take me like a coward."

Marshall looked at her for a minute, before shrugging. "To each their own. Got a pistol, Fi?"

"I've got a sword."

"That'll have to do, then." Marshall agreed.

"Why aren't you going to fire any shots at them, though?"

"One, because that would require getting close to them. Two, my cannons are outdated and in bad shape because it's hard for us to get steel for new ones, or even really fix them, since Duine doesn't particularly like us at the moment. If I want to go down in flames, I'll use my cannons."

"Alright. So it's down to steel and lead." Fionna said, nodding. "And they'll sink the ship afterwards?"

"After relieving us of our cargo, probably." Marshall agreed as the other ship began to get close to them. Fionna drew her sword, and a battleaxe appeared in Marshall's hands out of nowhere.

"I've got to say, Fi. It was nice knowing you for the thirty minutes or so that we had."

She smiled. "You too."

Soon the other ship swarmed over the edges of the Shadow. Fionna and Marshall ended up fighting back to back.