The Duck of Death
Chapter One"Don Rodrigo said we could find Tonka here." I answered Eagle Caller as we stood outside his tent.
"It is good to meet you, Tamer of Angry Spirits. You come for Tonka? He is not here. That one has always been a little crazy." Eagle Caller said.
"Forever he runs with men who wear masks. In his youth, it was a horse in black, and now a bird in blue. The Free Ranger, he is called."
"Go back to Cooper's Roost and hunt the sky for a great white canoe carved to look like a horse. You will find Tonka there."
I nodded, and we left for the Aquila. We sailed southeast to Cooper's Roost Skyway, where we soon spotted a ship painted white with its name, "Silver Stallion," in brass letters and a carved stallion figurehead being pursued by six Darkmoor ships with their hulls painted black.
"What be this, oh Captain my Captain? An evil fleet is after the Stallion – we got to fight them off!" Old Scratch called as he readied his staff.
"Beat to quarters!" I shouted as one of the men rang a bell on the quarterdeck. The men hurried to their battle stations and began loading their cannons as we neared the closest Darkmoor ship.
Richard Clutterbuck, the starboard gunnery officer, shouted as he pointed at the Darkmoor ship, and his men opened fire, sending sparks and splinters flying all over the undead crew.
"Make ready, boys!" Richard shouted, and while the men hurried to reload their cannons, the undead crew sent a boarding party aboard the Aquila by swinging on ropes.
David, Richard's brother and the port gunnery officer, ordered his men to repel the boarders as he drew his pistol and shot the closest skeleton.
While the skeletons were occupied, the starboard guns fired another broadside at the Darkmoor ship, sinking her and leaving Richard's men free to help David's.
The skeletal boarding party was quickly defeated, and Old Scratch revived them to help us as we approached two more Darkmoor ships.
We squeezed in between the two Darkmoor ships, and fired a dual broadside, exposing the powder stores in the bows of the Darkmoor ships. The swivel guns quickly fired upon them, causing the Darkmoor ships to explode.
Two of the remaining three Darkmoor ships had come about to attack us, while the third was boarding the Silver Stallion, leaving us with no choice. "Prepare the heated cannonballs."
As the heated-shot furnaces roared to life, the men began heating the cannonballs. Great care had to be taken loading the heated cannonballs into cannon to ensure that it didn't prematurely ignite the cannon's charge of gunpowder.
A reduced charge of gunpowder was used with the heated shots to cause the cannonball to lodge in the wood of the target ship to catch on fire and to increase the splintering of the wood to act as shrapnel.
Once the charge was in place, moist cloth was rammed down against the bag to shield it from the heated shot, which was loaded next before firing.
As we fired the heated cannonballs, the cannonballs lodged themselves into the wood of the ships, and the burning Darkmoor ships fell out of the sky as we approached the Silver Stallion.
We drew to a stop with our port side facing the Silver Stallion's starboard, and Rena drew her sword and pointed it at the Silver Stallion. "Hook us in! Bring her close!"
As David's men threw grappling hooks onto the railings and rigging Silver Stallion, Richard tossed each of his men a musket while David fired his pistol and shouted: "Man the swivels! Cover from the quarterdeck!"
The men fired their muskets at the boarding party, consisting of monsters similar to the one I and my trusted associates fought in the Cave of the Crescent Moon, and they were led by a black-feathered Duck with black clothes and glowing red eyes wielding two revolvers.
As the electrical charges came close to the Duck, a purple energy shield went up, similar to my Valor's Shield that blocked them.
"Beware, my Captain! That Duck, him has powerful mojo! Evil spirits protect him – he cannot be harmed!" Old Scratch warned me as he pointed at the Duck.
Old Scratch, along with the rest of the boarding party and the skeletons leapt onto the railings of the Silver Stallion, where we pulled ourselves up onto the quarterdeck.
"What's this? Squash them, lads!" The Duck shouted as he aimed one of his revolvers at me. I managed to dodge the electrical burst.
"Quench those fires quick, or we are doomed!" Old Scratch cried as he pointed at four large ghostly fires on the quarterdeck that threatened to engulf the ship in flames.
I stretched out my arm to summon a ghostly eagle to fly over the Silver Stallion, leaving a trail that landed onto the flames, causing them to die out.
I focused on guiding the eagle with the movements of my arm while the others covered me. As the last fire died out, I looked to see two of the monsters dragging a struggling Bison onto their ship, with the Duck hopping onto the railing and gripping the rigging.
"And now that I've taken my prize, I bid you adieu, Free Ranger." The Duck said as he tipped his hat to an injured Rooster amidst the bone piles. The Rooster wore a cowboy hat, a black domino mask, a red scarf, a blue jacket over a white shirt, and denim trousers were held up a belt with holsters.
But before we could help the Free Ranger, there were still some skeletons to take out. I drew my sword and decapitated a skeleton, grabbing its skull so I could throw it at another skeleton near the port railings, sending him overboard.
The skeletons fired their revolvers at me, but they were blocked by a Valor's Shield. I quickly ran over to one skeleton and swept his feet out from under him, allowing me to stab his skull.
Old Scratch and Emmett, who was also a member of the boarding party, ran to help me fight off the skeletons while the men formed a firing line. As we heard the crack of muskets, several skeletons fell stunned onto the quarterdeck.
"You there – need your help." Free Ranger called weakly as we finished off the last skeleton. Emmett, Old Scratch, and I ran over to him to hear what he had to say.
"English Bill… he's taken Tonka hostage! Can't… chase him like this. I'm hurt… Take me to Thunderbird Temple in the Bison village… Hurry…" Free Ranger said, coughing.
"Something strange is here. These are no normal wounds. Dark mojo been laid upon this Ranger, I and I can see it." Old Scratch said as he examined the Free Ranger's wounds.
"Then we must go quickly to the Bison village." Emmett said. We moved the Free Ranger on a stretcher to the sick bay aboard the Aquila, and we sailed back to the Bison village in Big Sky Country.
We dropped anchor at the Bison village docks, and as we hurried the Free Ranger's stretcher, the Bison, seeing the urgency of the situation, led us to Thunderbird Temple.
The interior of Thunderbird Temple had running water bordering the path leading up to the altar between two totem poles, where a Bison wearing a feathered headdress stood up to greet us.
"Bring Masked Bird here, quickly. What has happened?" The Bison asked. We set him down on a mat, and the Bison, who introduced himself as Dancing Stars, listened to our story while he examined the Free Ranger's wounds.
"This claw foot, Masked Bird, is a friend of the Big Sky Hunters. My heart rages to see him badly hurt." Dancing Stars said.
"These are no ordinary wounds – a shadow hangs over his spirit. Dark magic is at work here. I must rally the spirits to break its power."
"I need raw mandrake from our burial ground, the Bloodbat teeth warriors of the Black Storm tribe wear, and the sun pollen that blows through the skies, so hurry!"
We ran back to the Aquila, where we sailed to the Bison burial ground in Cooper's Roost Skyway. As we dropped anchor, a Bison hunter walked to meet us at the bottom of the gangplank.
"You come for Mandrake? It is gone. The Black Storm Raiders have taken it all. Go find them in the great canyon the Clawfeet call Arroyo Grande." The Bison hunter said.
We boarded the Aquila and sailed to Junction in Arroyo Grande, where we took the lift down to the bottom of the canyon.
I and my trusted associates soon found a camp near the river filled with black Bison wearing Bloodbat teeth and wielding tomahawks and bows.
Rena brought out a striker, and she threw it at the head of one Black Storm Raider, knocking him out and sending the others after us.
As we met in the middle of the river, I grabbed some silt from the bottom of the river, and threw it into a charging raider's face before delivering an uppercut to his jaw.
A raider fired an arrow, but I leapt out of the way just in time to see it hit the water before I drew a pistol and returned the favor, stunning the raider.
With the raiders distracted, I ran back to their camp, and I searched their tents to find bags of mandrake roots in each one, and grabbing a burning stick from their fire, I proceeded to set their now empty tents on fire.
Drawing my sword with my right hand, I parried a tomahawk before setting the attacking raider's pants on fire, forcing him to stop, drop, and roll before being knocked out with the flat of my blade.
The skirmish with the raiders ended quickly, and we took the bags of mandrake roots and the raiders' necklaces made of Bloodbat teeth back to the Aquila, leaving the unconscious Black Storm Raiders and the burning camp behind.
As we sailed back to the Bison village, we came across a stretch of the sky filled with sun pollen, and we sent the men out in rowboats to catch the sun pollen with nets.
As the last of our sneezing men returned to the Aquila with their bags of sun pollen, we continued onwards to the Bison village.
We returned to Thunderbird Temple, where Dancing Star was waiting for us. "I see you have brought all that I asked for. It is good, and the winds have borne you well. You are not too late. The Masked Bird will live, but his strength will be slow to return. Where is Tonka? He should be here."
"English Bill's taken him hostage. He's the one who attacked the Free Ranger." I answered.
"Tonka is taken captive? Your news fills my heart with dread. Who is this dark soul, who uses both the Claw Foot's guns and the darkest magic?" Dancing Stars asked.
"If we are to save Tonka, you must learn the secrets of our shadowy foe. Go to the top of Elder Bluff and make an offering at the great totem."
"I cannot go – the totem spirits are angry with my tribe. Thunderbird will not hear my words. But if you call, Thunderbird will answer."
I nodded and we headed back to the docks to board the Aquila. We sailed south across the skyway to Elder Bluff, where we walked up the trail to the great totem.
"So… do I just touch it?" I asked as we stood at the base of the great totem, which was carved into the shape of a wolf. The image of a snake was carved above the wolf, and the image of an owl was carved above the snake, and at the top was the image of an eagle.
I hesitantly touched the wood of the great totem, and suddenly, we were all knocked back a few feet. I sat up to see a giant eagle with black feathers crackling with thunder standing in front of us.
"I am Thunderbird, mother of wind and storm. Mine is the breath that fills your sails, mine are the tempests that hurl your ship between worlds."