As I was moving towards the dock, I heard the hoof beats of a horse. I ducked behind a barrel, trying to keep out of sight, just in case it was a stupid soldier. The soldiers at Fort Mercy had it out for me, most likely because they thought I had committed a murder. I held my breath until I heard it gallop away. I sighed with relief.
I got up to my feet and started walking again. I thought everything was at peace until I heard an extremely loud noise. It clicked with me, though, that the sound was of a ship's cannon. I looked - more like glanced - around, looking for where it was coming from.
I couldn't see it. I gave up after a while; it just wasn't worth my time. I was about to be on my way when a cannon ball flew right by me. Instinctively, I turned around to see where it was coming from. It was a rather large boat. I suppose you could've called it a ship. Its sails were black and destroyed.
From what I could tell, it was moving towards the island . . . to where I was. I looked around for an escape. There was no way I was going back into town. Soldiers would be swarming the streets and I personally didn't want to face the gallows. The only way out was to jump into the icy, black waters surrounding me. Gallows or icy waters. Either one would end up killing me. The gallows would be easier to do because you would die faster. The waters would have to enter your lungs and it would hurt as you gasped. The gallows would bring me humiliation. The waters would make me have a somewhat silent, but completely spectator-free death. Since, I hated humiliation so much, the waters were the best choice.
I stripped myself of my weapons and my . . . wealth and I dived into the pitch black waters. The salt water stung my eyes as soon as I opened them. The water slid down my throat (yeah, that was a pretty stupid decision to open my mouth and try to breathe underwater). I kicked as hard as I could to find the surface of the sea.
I knew I had failed completely at that task seeing as how I banged my head on a rock and dirt began to fill my vision. I blinked and tried to gasp for air, because I couldn't hold my breath any longer. I tried to look around for a way out and quickly but I couldn't seem to move. I felt paralyzed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw darkness coming closer and closer towards me. I couldn't do anything so I just waited until the darkness filled my whole vision.
