Chapter 9
Stanley released the little box from the catapult. It disappeared away into the fog. Few seconds passed and not a single splash sound heard from beyond... There was total silence. All of a sudden, a ripple crossed the sea. The ship rocked.
No one saw how this happened but the moment the box exited the catapult, it started to turn and twist in form of blocks while bits of frost developed on each block.
And the moment it burst open, the different block pieces scattered away into all directions, but wherever they touched the water, they caused a ripple which shock the ship as well.
Smarya was already on board Holtem ship. And she felt the ripple in the sea. She staggered into a corridor where the rest of the ship's crew were rushing towards the entrance to the lower deck. The captain had left clear instructions that those below deck let no pirate get below deck whatsoever until they cast out the miracle box. This is what she found them doing. Hence, all their attention was diverted from her.
You are right to wonder how and why she was on board Holtem ship. I will not give you the answer direct but I would prefer you kept reading and following the plot.
Nevertheless, why she was on board, I'll give you a little hint, she had secrets not even her father knew. She grew up from behind the great fog. Hidden away from the realities of the outer world. She grew up watching her father part on raids daily and always returning with strange artefact from beyond the fog much of which were Black Project things.
She had an ability to see through the minds of the men her father captured but then, she would only see their last experience the moment they entered the great fog. And what memories they possessed about the rest of their journey and life beyond the fog appeared plain grey and hidden from her reach.
This ability wasn't all she knew. She had no limitations in so many other things but she was advised by her god father, someone she adored and respected so much to keep her abilities a secret from everyone even her own father until when she met the right people who would reveal the truth about her abilities. How and why she had them unlike everyone else.
She was told the right time for her to know will come and that the gift within her will drive her. And she will know but she needed not force it lest it got her into problems she that would regret because beyond the fog such abilities did not work. She did not believe that statement but the same person said her answers lay beyond the great fog with someone she knew. Whoever told her these things knew who this person was? And it wasn't long ago when she came to realize who the person was.
"Cobham?" She was calling his name.
This is when the captain of the lower ship heard a female voice calling unto the ship's former captain from below deck down the corridor. He immediately hurried over to check. She saw him and hurried away back to hide behind the main mast, which passed through the center of the corridor.
When Smarya got onboard, the fight was intense on open deck. She kne2w what she wanted and of course saw no reasoning in her father's fight right now. She had to get what brought her here. Answers! So, the moment she Steps up on deck, she endeavored to remain out of sight behind a set of water barrels and food boxes lining the sides of the ship and avoiding the battleground at the center of the deck.
She saw her father in combat with two Black Project men. He had experience and knew every move they made in their style of fighting. She saw the entrance that led below deck and headed for it in pretense hoping she wasn't being watched. The moment she disappeared below deck is when she heard captain Horrace yell to His men to block the lower deck from the pirates. Meanwhile she was already below deck.
First thing she had when she got below deck was
"Fire!"
Followed by a cannon firing from two guns. The rest seemed to have jammed. Two men hurried past to report to the one who had given the firing command that they had run out of cannon balls. The fella in command of these been below deck looked puzzled. This is when three pirates rushed in on them. He raised his gun and shot two. The third landed in someone's blade. And this is when he instructs his men to rush to the door with strict instructions not to let anyone through.
Behind there was a door slightly open. And when the man came around so slowly to be able to see behind the main must, she swiftly slunk back into the gap behind her. She was in a dining room, which had not been clean up yet. She did not turn but kept stepping back eyes fixed at the entrance. However, something solid stopped her! She turned. It was a long dining table filled with unfinished food and drink. She saw dishes of unfinished Irish, trays of roast beef, omelets and chicken thighs organized across the long table.
At the far head of the dining table where the captain of the ship most probably may have had his meals from, she saw a full platter of what she loved best. Crab with bits of salad designs. A dish only the captain got whenever and wherever he wanted it. It hadn't been touched. She rushed over to it. She hadn't eaten and so she went for it. However, before touching it she remembered her godfather teaching her that certain things aren't what they seem.
This is when she asks her self if this was safe. She hesitated picking up a chicken though from the platter and thought. She raised her eyes and saw the image off the opposite end of the dinning. Immediately she forgot that she wanted to taste this food! Here he was. The man with all the answers she needed!
"Cobham, there you are but..." she spoke to herself hurrying around the table to the large painting, which was set in a golden frame to appear so majestic and Cobham looking so noble and a bit younger than he looked earlier.
I had not mentioned but she was keen to realize that the entire interior of Holtem ship is not what they saw from through spyglasses from across the waters. The interior of this ship was splendid and noble like the painting itself. The wall were somewhat plastered. The only problem was age and time which wasn't friendly to the designs and splendidness of the interior because it was clear that no one cared to clean.
The dinning was had dusty French design chandeliers hanging above the table. The candles on the walls had long burnt out.
"Mr. Cobham, are you still alive?" she asked herself while she placed her palm on it but it was as dead as Cobham was assumed to be.
"Where can I find you, I've many questions for you... I'm confused and need answers for-" She thought to herself while eyes shut in trial to meditate!
It is as if she thought she could link to Cobham himself wherever he was through his image, an art inspired by her earlier attempts on many captives her father always brought back in chains form his looting. The only difference here was that this was not a real human but a mere painting and there was need for her to get in contact with moistness or water.
She turned and saw a pail of water at the entrance. She turned to fetch it. Nevertheless, hardly had she touched it when the captain in charge of the cannon guns saw her and turned his gun in her direction. He fired at her and the bullet caught the table causing a few dishes to topple to the floor.
She did not allow him space to get at her a second time. She rushed forwards and they clashed. He was slow. Nevertheless, she did not wish to kill him. Why? She was not in complete agreement with the way her father dealt with the others from beyond the ancient fog. And she wasn't to be like him at this moment. Not yet!
Where she stood now the rain from the upper deck trickled down reddened by blood. She glanced down at the unconscious man. The water was tripping right into his ear. She kicked at him to get a side.
"Cobham? She called to him until she started realizing that she was wrong. Nevertheless, where exactly when her father took him captive leaving no trace of him for anyone from the world beyond the ancient fog. Well. She knew everything that happened. I will not say it all from here but I will take you through in an orderly manner until then.
It is here when she realized that whatever she did with the panting, would not work coz an image had no memories as the living did. She hurries out into the corridor. Runs straight for the study room somewhere in front of the main mast.
She thrust the doors open with a kick. The doors swung back on their hinges and she walked into the largest room there is in the ship. Also old fashioned but of noble design! She drew her two daggers and started in slowly.
"I know you know everything I'm going through. If you are here please come out. Only need to talk..." she spoke as if she felt his presence on board this ship.
The lamps in this chamber were twice splendid compared to the rest elsewhere on the ship. Moreover, they never ceased glowing with dull fire light. However, they were hanging with bits of cobwebs here and there making the study chamber that was lined with book shelve and a curving wall on the left comprising small dead sea species in glass.
Now anger gripped her and she added with much force, "I want to know who I am, what the necklace is and why it lead me here... everything. I want to know!" she spoke reaching up and touching the greenish necklace she wore around her neck.
She harried back to the main room and stared at the portrait again. Drawing closer, her mind seemed to travel a little back to the past. This man...? She would never believe that he died a dead the rest beyond the great fog heard through tales because she was present and witnessed what happened.
Truth is he did fall into the sea in the middle of nowhere but the sea has not presented her any memories of his death! The rest she never found for all the thousands of times she has tried to connect with him. In addition, if he was still alive, he was somewhere. Nevertheless, where exactly. If not on this ship then where else? This is when it came to mind that only the captain of this ship knew where to find Cobham. Moreover, her presence on board this ship was the only chance she had left to find out for herself.
Captain Alsahim was defeated Captain Stanley's Project guards who had rushed up to defend their captain while he reset the miracle box catapult. They endeavored to stand their ground long enough until he pulled the trigger back.
The moment the last of the three guards fell, Alsahim glanced out into the fog and related the catapult's angle with the location f his ship.
He did not hesitate another second but started forwards at once! Whatever captain Stanley planned to release from the catapult in the direction of his ship worried him at once. Nevertheless, he wouldn't not stop him n time because even the gun he had he's used its final bullet to put the last of the Black Project guard out of his way a few seconds back. He cast the gun aside and drew another blade.
The miracle box disappeared away into the fog beyond Holtem ship but not a single sound was heard from the moment it left the catapult nor when it landed.
The grand captain halted with a terrified face. He followed the little thing fade away into the fog...
Here was not a blast but what he released from the Catapult was more than a cannon ball within its silence.
He starts towards Stanley who was tuning the final gear on the catapult saw the grand captain rushing towards him as though with a plan to interrupt the move.
The pirate tried to stop him but he wouldn't reach Capt. Stanley in time.
The miracle box was gone and Captain Stanley hurried to pick up a sword from a collapsed comrade next to his leg but the moment he touched its hilt, is the same moment when the grand pirate's blade touched his throat.
"What was that you just released into...?" Pirate Alsahim inquired with such a heavy tone.
At this point, the fight was ceasing across the deck! The first thing they experienced was a ripple through the sea the likes of an earthquake! Many lost their footing. They staggered and tripped over their dead comrades but no one understood the cause.
What followed this was confusion and total silence across the deck and beyond.
Before the remaining men could charge again, the Grand Pirate sneered at Stanley commandingly.
"Instruct your men to cease fighting immediately...!" Captain Stanley neither moved his lips nor moved a muscle.
"Tell them -your men, because today I did not come to loot you but in search for...!" Hardly had he completed his sentence when there came a number of terrific screams from beyond the fog unmistakably from the pirate ship.
"What -tell them yourself..." Stanley managed to utter the word though he was totally out of breath.
It is around the same incident when Smarya reached the entrance to the lower deck. She was swift in avoiding the rest of her father's men searching the rest of the lower deck from spotting her. She hurried up on deck and peered around. When the screaming came, her father turned to look away into the fog.
The screaming worried him. The moment he turned away is the same moment Smarya used to exit the lower deck.
She saw her father holding his blade up against the young B.P captain's neck. The young Captain had his back at the lower entrance and dared not let her father spot her. This is the moment Smarya heard the screaming from beyond the fog.
The captain immediately motions to several of his men to start back to the ship to find out what was going on. Immediately the pirates left. Four men started down immediately into the rowing boat leaving the two thirds on board Holtem ship!
"What have you done?"
"Exactly what I was instructed to do..."
"What...?" the pirate barked pressing his blade on his neck and kicking the catapult's muzzle out of angle.
Stanley laughed once and his face-hardened, his stubbornness taking the best of him as usual again.
"Answer me fool unless you prefer parting with your worthless head!" At that Capt. Stanley laughed.
"Cobham sent you? Is it...?"
"Cobham...? You know the tales best..."
"Cut the crap boy and...!"
"Father –watch out!" The grand pirate heard a very familiar female voice yelling to him somewhere behind Capt. Stanley. He shifted a side so slightly and saw her moved. Well, she was already in motion.
Capt. Horrace was badly wounded! He had arrows and blades protruding out of him back ad front. He bled. He was badly hurt and he was down on his knees facing the grand pirate. He saw his men lying dead across the deck spattered in blood. Others had no libs. The pain he had was unbearable!
Jhamil the grand Pirate's right hand man's instructions were to keep him alive until he answered to the grand pirate. However, a few minutes earlier, Horrace had a goal. His agony, hate and regrets awoke the moment he set eyes on Captain Alsahim once again! He had two daggers in his back and an arrow in his sides but he fought like a tiger trying to clear his way towards the pirate.
He limped but a number of pirates collapsed dead in a trail towards the captain who had his back on him against three Black Project guards.
He had his own pains and grudges. But the grand pirate wasn't here for him this time. The grand captain had another and grandeur mission. He had his focus on the young Black Project's captain.
His fight was countered by the grand pirate's right hand. A young man known as Jhamil. She thrust his blade right through him from the front and watched him bend his knees slowly and in great pain.
The captain looked in the young man's face. Reached out and touched his thigh as if he wished to say, he did not have to stand between. It wasn't his fight but of two captains. Like it was the last honor he wished to have. To die like a captain.
The young man left the blade in him and took out the captain's little dagger. That's when the screaming began from the pirates ship.
Captain Horrace knew what the cries meant. He looked down and laughed while he tried to support himself from falling. He bled from all sorts of deep cuts. His clothes were wet, tattered and soaked wet in rain and blood... Nonetheless, the screaming across the fog distracted everyone's attention, -but not his.
Failure and shame were not going to cross his way twice. This was his golden chance -now or never again! His spirit dreaded the pirated and his blood grew cold now. Nevertheless, he had some strength left to finish this! Smarya was still in hiding when he took up a discarded blade from the floor just inches under his handing arm unseen. The screaming from the pirates' ship grew tense and then total silence.
He gathered his strength and leaning back, he thrust the blade forwards! However, before the sword could even leave his hand like a wet hawk Smarya yelled out to her father!
Alsahim saw her, but even in his surprise that she was, onboard Holtem ship when he had instructed her not to leave did not affect his steadiness. He turned quickly spotting the approaching blade. He leaned a side so slightly with a surprising swing of his blade outwards!
The two blade clashed heavily with a spark! Capt. Horrace's blade bounced off into the boxes behind Stanley. Smarya saw the blade coming her way and jumped out of its way too as quickly as she could! However, this too became Stanley's chance to move!