Hues of orange and yellow surrounded the fifteen-year-old girl as she found herself trapped by a raging fire.
The pain felt excruciating when the flames licked at her delicate skin. Endless tears leaked down from her stinging eyes as she curled up into a ball, trying any means possible to escape from the never-ending inferno that surrounded her.
Her throat itched, and she coughed, gasping for fresh air. With each passing second, she found it harder to breathe as her lungs filled with ash and soot, choking her to death.
She was going to die, and she knew it. There was nothing she could do to save herself; she was trapped and would burn to death. The entire town was on fire, and no matter how many times she screamed and cried for help, no one would come.
She let loose a heart-piercing cry as the flames started to burn through her clothing.
Would the pain ever end?
The girl sobbed, curling her body tighter into the small ball, but to no avail. The flames had already won. All hope was gone.
Footsteps approached her, and the heat of the flames died down. The girl uncurled from her ball and through blurred vision, she could see the silhouette of a man standing above her, and he reached his hand down for her. She couldn't see his face or sense whether he was an enemy or not, but the sound of his voice when he said three simple words made the girl trust him instantly.
"Take my hand!"
Jessica awoke from the nightmare, a cold sweat spreading across her body. She slowly sat up from her bed, her trembling hands running through her long red hair.
She hadn't had that particular nightmare since Kirk had arrived on the island, and she had almost forgotten about the mystery man who had saved her life two years ago.
This was the reason why she had ventured out to sea; it was in the hopes of finding her saviour. She wanted to find out who he was and why he had saved her. Not only that, she wanted to thank him, whoever he was.
After she had taken the man's hand, she had blacked out, allowing the smoke of the fire to consume her consciousness. She awoke on the beaches of the neighbouring island, her burns healed, her belongings, which she'd had on her the day of the fire, had been placed neatly into a bag next to her.
Jessica tucked her knees to her chest as a form of comfort and warmth against the chill in her bedroom. She lived in the attic of a house a mile northeast from the tavern. The rent wasn't too bad, and it was all she could afford in such a wealthy town. The attic was small, dusty, and in dire need of repair, as water would leak into it whenever it rained, and a cold draft would always keep her up at night.
Jessica sighed; this was the first time this week she hadn't stayed on Kirk's ship. She remembered the morning after her drinking contest with his crew. She had awoken from a dreamless sleep, the first one in a long time, to find herself in Kirk's comfy double bed. The captain was hunched over his desk in an awkward position as he slept. She had stayed at his ship every night since in preparation for when the navy would attack.
So why had she returned to her rotten home? Her landlord had argued with her that if she didn't stay the night, he would lease it out to someone else who paid their rent on time. As a result, she wasn't surrounded by her new friends, who she knew would keep her safe at night, and the nightmare of the fire had returned.
She reached for her dresser and grabbed her golden locket, which was tinted with honey-coloured hues. Her thumb ran over the bee engraved into it, a smile forming on her lips. She hadn't worn it in a very long time; she was scared she would lose it. This locket was her prized possession.
She opened up the oval contraption with a click, and her thumb stroked over the picture of her father. He had the same red hair and cheeky grin she had. But unlike her honey gold eyes, he had bronze ones.
Her smile slowly faded, and she wiped a stray tear from her cheek. Jessica hadn't seen her father in seven years, the last time being back when she was ten years old and before her life fell apart. She wondered where he could be at that moment.
Her mind wandered over to the picture of the woman in her locket. She was beautiful, with long raven hair, a delicate smile on her kind face, and her honey-gold eyes gleamed at the camera. The woman could only be Jessica's mother.
However, Jessica couldn't remember her, and nothing about her seemed familiar, yet here she was in the locket alongside her father. Maybe she'd never met her mother when she was born; perhaps the woman died in childbirth. These were the only explanations as to why she couldn't remember her mother; she didn't even know her name.
The sun shone through the skylight of the attic, indicating daybreak. She couldn't help but smile as she placed her locket in a small black pouch attached to the sheath of her sword.
Today was the day of the ambush.
☠️
Kirk scanned the room of the tavern. His shipmates were all in place and ready for the attack, their hands itching to grab at their weapons. Some of his crew was already overly excited and impatient, their bloodthirstiness getting the better of them, and they had started to attack some of the locals that were in the bar, scaring them off.
As usual, it took Cain to calm them down. Kirk didn't mind too much. If civilians got in the way, it was their problem for getting in the way in the first place.
He grumbled as he looked over at the vacant purple silks hanging loosely from the ceiling above the stage area of the tavern. The only person who hadn't arrived yet was Jessica. She was late, and the navy was to arrive any second now. Already, he could hear their marching footsteps heading towards the pub.
"Don't worry, she'll be here," Elena said from behind the bar, placing a pint of ale onto the counter for no one in particular.
"She'd better be," Kirk grumbled back at the woman, finding her too cryptic for his liking.
"Oi, Big Red."
Kirk snapped his head to the right, finding Jessica sitting at the bar with her legs crossed, the same pint of ale Elena had just poured in her hand and a playful smirk on her tanned face.
"I'm heading to the roof now." She downed her drink and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Kirk frowned and grumbled in annoyance. When did she arrive, or had she been there that entire time?
Jessica stood up and smiled up at Kirk, and his thoughts instantly vanished. He didn't care; she would always be mysterious to him. He was just glad she was there. The girl walked off in the direction of the stairs leading to the roof.
"Oi, Little Red!" he called after her.
She paused in her steps. "What?"
"Be careful."
Jessica didn't respond but merely smirked to herself. It was nice having someone to look out for her, even if he was a pirate. She promptly made her way to the thatched roof of the tavern and sat, waiting for the sailors to approach the pub from the harbour.
Her mind was trapped, thinking about Dom and how every day at lunchtime, they would be on his balcony, waiting hear any news of incoming vessels. Dom was a good friend to Jessica, but he was starting to come across as too friendly for her liking.
The sound of the navy captain giving out orders took her out of her thoughts. Their marching steps were loud and clear as they made their way along the cobbled streets of the town.
Jessica watched with fascination as the sailors lined up outside the tavern, their swords pulled out and ready for use, waiting for the enemy to come to them. Jessica had anticipated that they wouldn't run straight into the bar, as that would only weaken their forces.
Bang!
An explosion went off, sending the sailors flying in all directions. Panic soon commenced, and the navy was no longer in a strategic formation as they ran away from the pursuing flames and black smoke.
However, there was nowhere to run to but in the direction of the tavern. Jessica had made sure to surround the area they would most likely arrive at with kerosene so that when her timed explosion went off, it would surround them in flames, making it impossible to escape.
It was why she was late arriving at the tavern; she'd been preoccupied with this task. The idea had come to her that morning in her dream. She remembered on the day she was caught up in the fire that she had heard an explosion and had smelt kerosene everywhere.
As the last of the terrified sailors ran into the tavern, Jessica jumped down from the roof and locked the only door that lead in and out of the bar, now making it impossible for the navy to escape. Already half injured from her explosion, the Navy found themselves trapped with the pirates. She already knew Kirk would win this battle without her help. She would only be a burden and get in their way.
She took her rapier sword out of its black sheath and looked at the flames, her face deep in concentration as she thought back to her sword training with her father from many years ago. Now she finally had a chance to use one of the unique spirit techniques he had taught her.
"Air trap!"
With a swing of her sword, she sent her attack flying towards the fire, depriving the flames of oxygen and extinguishing them in a second flat, leaving nothing but a black, charcoaled mess of what was once a cobbled street. Smiling proudly, she sheathed her sword and skipped towards the navy ship.
The gangplank was still leaned up against the navy-blue painted ship, and she made her way up without making a noise. Only two people gathered on deck: a naval officer and the merchant with the 20 million joules worth of jewels.
The officer instantly saw her and took out his sword and prepared to attack. Jessica scoffed. She had no time to fight such a weakling of a man; he was barely older than she was. She marched towards the merchant, who scurried towards the back of the ship. His entire body trembled as he ran away.
"You have no business with him. Your fight is with me, pirate," the officer declared.
Jessica spun around on her foot to face the officer once again. She squinted as she stared darkly towards the man. Her look was all it took for him to start quivering in his boots, and his sword began to rattle in his shaking hand.
"I am no pirate..." She pulled her sword out from its black sheath and walked towards the scared officer. "...yet!"
All it took was the tap of her hand against his sword, and it dropped to the ground with a loud clatter. He froze in fear. She placed a hand on his cheek and whispered into his ear as she walked past him.
"Heart Sting."
Click!
Jessica sheathed her sword back into its black scabbard.
A second later and the naval officer choked up blood and collapsed to his knees. The scarlet liquid spouted out from a sharp, stab-like wound to his heart. The impact had gone through the entirety of his most vital organ. He was dead before his body slammed against the floor. A pool of blood swarmed around his lifeless body and soaked through to his once-crisp white sailor shirt.
She had no remorse for the navy, not after the life she'd lived.
Jessica found the merchant quivering in the captain's quarters and dragged him out to the deck along with his box of jewels. She pushed the fool to the ground.
"The key, please." She tapped her sword under his chin. "Or do you wish to end up like him?"
Jessica nodded her head towards the dead officer. His lifeless eyes stared up in the direction of the merchant. His lips trembled, and he soon started to sob and fumbled at the chain around his neck, which had attached to it a small grey key.
True to her word, she released the man as soon as he gave her the key. She watched amused by the man as he made his way off the ship, tripping as he did so and landing flat on his ass.
Jessica unlocked the box of jewels, only to find it wasn't jewels that were shining back at her, but gold tinted with honey hues. Her heart strained at the sight, and venomous anger boiled its way through her veins.
"Hold it!" she called after the merchant.
Jessica walked towards him; she looked darker than ever before. "What is the meaning of this?" she growled.
The merchant stepped back, feeling the aura of her wrath.
"W-what do you mean?" he stuttered
"How did you get your hands on this ore?"
He swallowed nervously. "The black market at Halfway Point."
Her hand tightened around the hilt of her sword. She shook violently and felt sick to the stomach. Horrible memories flashed before her, and her body trembled in anger.
"I bet you don't even care how many people died for this ore," Jessica said through gritted teeth.
"Why should I?" he sneered.
Jessica's throat tightened, and her blood boiled. "You'll wish you never said that!"
The spirit within her sword started to vibrate and buzzed like a bee.
"You said you wouldn't kill me if I gave you the box."
"The circumstances have changed." Jessica lifted her sword up towards him.
"Bee wing slash!" She sent her spirit attack hurtling towards him.
Hundreds upon hundreds of deep cuts appeared across the merchant's body. Red liquid oozed out everywhere. The man clutched onto his throat as he choked on his blood and collapsed to the ground, slowly dying and pleading for her help.
She breathed in deeply, her chest unsteadily rising up and down. A cold, vengeful hatred ran throughout her body. Killing the merchant wouldn't be enough to atone for the many lives that had died for this honey gold. She wouldn't be satisfied until she killed the man that had ruined her life and her home, the man that had taken everything from her.
PLEASE READ THE SERIES CROWN OF GODS FOR FREE