Stories of the Spiral
The Serpent and the Raven
A/N: This takes place right after the Duck of Death.
As I was writing in my journal in my quarters, a knock came from the door. "Come in."
Old Scratch pushed the door open, and he looked very worried. "What's wrong, Old Scratch?"
"Captain my Captain, my spirit be very troubled. A chill touched me heart, the shadow of dark mojo." Old Scratch said.
"Papa Legbones, the witchdoctor who taught me my art when I still lived, I fear him be in danger – I must go to him! Papa Legbones live in a cave on the Isle of the Pyramid, where the Scurvy Dogs live."
An hour later, we sailed north to Tradewinds Skyway, where we dropped anchor at the unguarded Scurvy Dogs' hideout, and Old Scratch led us to a cave on the beach on the Aquila's starboard side.
We entered a large cavern, which was lit by candles of various heights and colors, and scattered on the sandy floor around a black cauldron were skulls, shards of broken glass jars, and herbs.
"What has happened here? My master… gone? Taken by whom? I and I must have answers. Let me work me art." Old Scratch said as he waved his staff. Suddenly, evil spirits burst forth from the cauldron with an unearthly scream, and they circled above our heads.
Recovering from his surprise, Old Scratch pointed his staff at the closest evil spirit, and he zapped it with purple lightning, which jumped from evil spirit to evil spirit.
As the evil spirits swooped in to attack us, we shot them with our guns, and drawing our swords, we began to slash at them as they got close.
Unfortunately, we weren't expecting them to be able to electrify their skeletal hands, the metal of our swords conducting the electricity, leaving our bodies weak and numb after the initial pain.
Old Scratch was the only one unaffected, as he had no sword, leaving him to fend the evil spirits off with his hoodoo.
Old Scratch summoned bones from the sandy floor to reassemble themselves into skeletal pirates armed with cutlasses, and they surrounded us while Old Scratch hurled curse after curse.
Feeling my arm become less numb, I slowly reached for my pistol, and I aimed it with a shaky hand, pulling the trigger just in time to stun an evil spirit about to attack Old Scratch from behind.
I concentrated, and I heard the screech of an eagle, and I opened my eyes to find a glowing blue eagle circling above our heads, leaving behind a trail of blue mist, and the feeling in my body began to come back faster.
We slowly got up and began reloading our pistols, and by the time we were finished, almost of all the feeling in our bodies had returned. With one final volley, the evil spirits were no more.
"What be this? Never before, have I seen such frightful backlash to me art! Something terrible is happening, Captain." Old Scratch said. "I and I must learn the fate of my master. Madame Vadima – she will know what we must do."
We went back to the Aquila to sail to Skull Island, and after we dropped anchor, we went to the Witchdoctor's Sanctum.
"Story is most troubling. Dark portents and dire omens have hung over me like shadow for days." Madame Vadima said as Old Scratch finished telling her what happened. She waved her hand over her crystal ball, and blurry images began to appear inside.
"Finally I see what is happening: it is Skreech! Raven sorcerer killed your master, and is building powerful magic."
"You must find Skreech and stop him – but how? I will try to call spirit of your master – he may tell us. Papa Legbones! Hear me!"
A spirit seeped out from the cracks in the cobblestone floor like a light blue gas, and it formed the shape of a one-eyed Water Mole witchdoctor wearing a carved wooden mask. "Help me… You must take back the Eye of the Serpent! Call Sister Snake. Isla de los Muertos… go now!"
As the spirit of Papa Legbones faded away, we thanked Madame Vadima and went back to the Aquila, where we sailed back to Flotsam Skyway to the Stormgate to Cool Ranch.
As the Aquila neared the Stormgate, I pressed the Windstone in the center of the pilot's wheel, and the Aquila was surrounded by a transparent force field that protected the ship from the winds of the Stormgate.
But even with the Windstone's protection, Stormgates presented difficult circumstances for a sailor to work in, so a sailor's first time on the top deck in a Stormgate was like an initiation rite.
Rena issued orders for tacking to the men, while I constantly adjusted the Aquila according to the winds. As we reached the bottom of the Stormgate, we all tied ourselves to the Aquila, and she leaned forward as we entered, so that the deck was nearly vertical while the winds howled in our ears.
My eyes were closed and my heart was beating rapidly, as if it were trying to achieve a lifetime's worth of heartbeats before what could be the end, but then the Aquila suddenly righted herself.
As I opened my eyes, it was as if we were traveling through a dark tunnel illuminated by the light at the end and the sky blue auroras surrounding us like a loose glowing braid.
As we neared the light at the end and entered the Stormgate on the other side, the deck went almost vertical again as the wind howled in our ears, but then the Aquila righted herself, and as we were out of reach of the Stormgate, I breathed a sigh of relief.
As we drew closer to Cooper's Roost, a town built atop flat plateaus, our gunnery officers, the Clutterbuck brothers, David and Richard opened the bulkhead doors at the base of the main mast, and the men poured out from below decks to resume their posts.
We sailed to Santo Pollo Skyway, where we dropped anchor and headed to the cave behind the waterfall to see Sister Snake.
"Now, Sister Snake come forth and speak to me." Old Scratch said, and the dark red head of a giant snake then emerged from the pool of water behind the waterfall. "I see you. And now you see me."
"I know you, Dead Walker. I knew your teacher. To him, I gave a great gift: the Eye of the Serpent, but now your teacher is no more."
"The Thief of Spirits, a Crow Witchdoctor named Skreech, destroyed your teacher and took my Eye. He is a wicked soul, twisted and evil."
"If you would avenge Papa Legbones, go to the place the Clawfeet call Boot Hill, and seek Skreech in a dark cave there. Beware, Dead Walker – Skreech is powerful. You will be tested, spirit and bones." Sister Snake said as she sank beneath the surface of the water.
We headed back to the Aquila to sail to Boot Hill in Big Sky Country, where we stood outside a dark cave near a stone obelisk.
"I feel the wicked mojo, Captain – Skreech be within. He knows we are coming. Prepare yourself for battle." Old Scratch said. We drew our swords and guns and entered Skreech's cave, where an old Raven wearing black robes and a purple cowl was waiting for us while holding up his staff.
"Ah, Old Scratch is come to me, eh? First, I take your master's mojo, and now I and I take yours!" Skreech said as he waved his staff and summoned evil spirits. Old Scratch ran to duel Skreech while the rest of us dealt with the evil spirits.
Old Scratch summoned bones to reassemble themselves into cutlass-wielding skeletal pirates, but Skreech blasted them back into bones with black fireballs.
Skreech then looked a skeletal pirate in the eye with a blue crystal one, and the skeletal pirate turned on Old Scratch, and chopped off his left hand with his cutlass, and Old Scratch howled in pain.
Rena hurled a striker at the skull of the skeletal pirate, breaking a large part of it into pieces, and the skeletal pirate fell down onto the sandy floor.
As Old Scratch clutched at the stub of his arm, he looked up to see Skreech's eye glowing blue, and now Old Scratch clutched at his right eye, smoke pouring out of his empty eye socket.
In a last throw of the dice, purple lightning arced towards Skreech from the tip of Old Scratch's staff, and green lightning arced from the tip of Skreech's staff.
As the lightning connected, there was a huge bang, and both combatants were slammed against the walls, groaning. Old Scratch recovered first, and running towards Skreech, he seized him by the throat and clubbed him over the head.
He then reached for Skreech's still-glowing blue eye, and we looked away as he plucked out the Eye of the Serpent from Skreech's eye socket.
"We did it, Captain! Papa Legbones, I and I avenge you! Sister Snake, your Eye is recovered from shadow!" Old Scratch cheered as he held up the Eye.
"The Thief of Spirits is cast down. You have done well." Sister Snake's voice resonated throughout the cavern. "Return to me at Isla de los Muertos."
We headed back to the Aquila to sail back to Isla de los Muertos, where Sister Snake was waiting in the cave behind the waterfall.
"Your master is avenged, Dead Walker, and you have recovered my Eye. You may keep the Eye for yourself, if you wish. But there is a price." Sister Snake hissed. "I ask of you what I asked of your teacher: your hand, and your spirit."
"Mighty spirit, I give both freely." Old Scratch said as he bowed. Sister Snake nodded.
"The Eye is yours. It will show you much that is hidden. Beware, Dead Walker – you had another patron before me, and he will not be pleased…" Sister Snake said ominously as she sank beneath the surface of the water.
"All is done. Now, my Captain, you look thirsty. Let us go to a tavern and celebrate!" Old Scratch said as he turned to face us. An hour later, the entire crew was drinking at the Gallo Loco Cantina in Santo Pollo.
"I have passed through the ordeal, my Captain, and I have been transformed." Old Scratch said as we sat at the same table. His face now had tribal tattoos and he now wore a hook on his left hand, and the Eye of the Serpent had been planted in his right eye socket.
"The Eye of the Serpent has passed to me – now all her power I shall use to help you win your destiny."
