The Black Ships
I do not own any characters they are owned by Christopher Paolini
"Barzul" the dwarven curse was not often heard by soldiers working for the empire. Especially ones on a mission like this. We have been trusted with the task of pursuing Roran Stronhammer and the rest of Carvahal. The problem is that if we fail we'll be killed or worse, tortured by the dark king Galbatorix. My name is Joad. Everyone always mistakes me for that idiot trader Joed. The last one to do that got a sword through the gut. I didn't get to be the second in command on the leading sloop by sitting around looking at clouds.
The reason for my language is that we just received the news that Stronghammer is going to tempt fate by attempting to run the boar's eye. I'm surprised that the captain hasn't shown himself yet. Then, as if on cue, he appeared, drunk on his own rage, swinging at anyone who would dare come near. It is always best to wait until his moods abate before trying to talk. While I waited for him to calm I occupied myself by trying to decrease the space between us and the dragon wing.
After a few hours, when we had closed some of the distance and the captain had calmed down somewhat, he called me over. When I went into his quarters to talk he closed the door behind me.
"What should we do" he asked
"About what?" I asked
"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M TALKING ABOUT?" he roared. "THE BLOODY BOARS EYE!"
"What about it?" I asked the corners of my mouth tilting up in a smile. There wasn't much entertainment on the boat and the magician on board was making things much worse. All of the men didn't like him and his presence made them all uneasy, a problem only magnified by the rocking waves caused by the monstrous storm.
"You think you're funny eh? I'LL SHOW YOU FUNNY!" He roared and lunged at me. I easily ducked the blow and dispatched him with a quick blow to the side of his head.
"Oh and by the way captain" I said, pausing for no reason, "I say we run the eye".
I walked out of the cabin and resumed my duties. A few people asked what had happened inside with the captain, and why he had not come out. When I told the story they smirked.
"Serves 'im right, the way he's been yellin' and swingin' like he owns the place. I bet the other boats don't have to deal with it".
"Aye" I said. Not that we would know, being that our only way to communicate with the other boats is the magician and it would take the king himself to get more than five words out of him. "The sooner we get off the boat the better" one man said. I nodded in agreement.
Two days later, when the storm ended, we were days away from the eye. I haven't spoken to the captain since our "talk" in his cabin but we seem to have an unspoken agreement about what to do. It's run the eye or die. We are a day away from catching the village.
"Everyone, get in your positions! The eye is upon us!" we were all frantically scrambling around the deck of the sloop. We were about to attempt to run the eye after Stronghammer and catch him and the village
"We want to be as close to him as possible or else" I yelled. Everyone acknowledged me in some way.
Hours later we were there. The wind was howling. The whirlpool was roaring. Hearts were beating. Things were looking up, we might actually make it past alive. Then we passed the center of the whirlpool. Everything was going wrong. The eye was expanding too fast, our rowers were running out of energy too fast, and worst of all, the Dragon Wing was getting away. If this monster didn't get us Galbatorix would. Our rowers were struggling to move the boat. Our captain was nowhere to be seen. Then we started slipping. The boat started to be sucked in to the bottom of the sea. The magician was struggling to try to help. Then, with his last breath, the magician launched a flaming arrow in the direction of the enemy barge. Then he collapsed no beat in his chest. I gulped and realized that we would end up like that soon the last thing I saw was the sunlight refracting through the sea spray. The image took my breath away. Then the water did that. And the other two boats soon followed us into our watery graves.