"Tino!" I gasped. "What's going on? What are you doing here? Where's Bondvik?" I clasped my hand over my mouth, forgetting that I'm in front of his crew and I'm supposed to address him as Captain.
"No need to apologize, Commander." Tino lamented. "He doesn't deserve to be called Captain."
"Why are you locked up on your own ship? Who are those pirates?"
Tino sighed, his face crestfallen and his eyes downcast. The rest of the crew was just as gloomy. Were they all ghosts like Bondvik who were drowned and brought to Davy Jones' locker? Without facing me, he said, "They are immortals."
"Obviously. Aren't you all immortals?"
"No, we're not. That's why Lukas Bondvik locked us in here. He said our mortality was mutiny to him."
"But where are the ambushes? The ten thousand men he promised?"
Tino snorted. "There are no ten thousand men or ambushes. It was all made up to use your crew to get rid of the other pirates."
"Bastard." I mumbled. "Where's he off to now?"
"He's gone to take the treasure and then he'll be after you. However, I guess now the latter is accomplished."
"After me? Why?"
"I don't know, Commander. That's why you must get out."
I swore in Portuguese and continued to shake the unbreakable bars of the cell. Tino shook his head to tell me it was no use. Infuriated, I kicked the bars and ended up hurting my toes when I saw a shade of crimson red stain on my boots. What was Bondvik going to do? Kill me? I wondered why he hated immortality so much. I thought if I told Tino about what I assumed Bondvik's reason for kidnapping was, he'd tell me why he hated immortality. "Tino…the reason why-"
I was cut off by the alarming sound of a cannon. The cannon ball shot through the wood of The Unsinkable Ghost, leaving a prominent hole on the wall. The rest of the prisoners and I backed away as a second cannon shot through the wall again, making the hole bigger. It miraculously broke the locks of the chains. I was startled to see blood dripping from the upper deck. What had happened up there? I, as well as the other prisoners, hurriedly escaped. None of them, not even Tino, wanted to go stop Bondvik or give him a piece of their minds. I rowed my longboat back to my ship as I climbed on with Arthur's help.
"What happened?" He asked.
"The crew got locked up by Bondvik. He made everything up! He's after the treasure and…" I couldn't tell Arthur Bondvik was after me. He wouldn't let me leave.
"What? Why?"
I ignored Arthur and brisk-walked to my cabin, grabbed my weapons and climbed back onto the longboat. Before I rowed away to the shore of the island, Arthur yelled, "Where are you going, Rio? You're supposed to stay on the ship! Captain's orders!"
I had to disobey Niall. I might not be able to stop Bondvik on my own, but if I met Niall on the way, I could get backup. Without hesitation, I ran into the green area of the island, pushing through the plants and killing anything in my way. I was running out of time. It was a long march to the treasure, but I'm sure Bondvik was caught up as well.
After three hours of marching, or hiking, I was so lethargic that I couldn't think straight. I couldn't fall asleep, of course, with Bondvik and his ghost pirates on the loose and predators roaming around the island. Then, I saw a white, translucent thing. It reminded me ghosts. It was translucent and there was a shade of tan orange behind it. Not risking anything, I swung my sword across it as if I was crossing out a word on a sheet of paper. The line was a scar and blood burst out of it like lava from a volcano. The figure collapsed and I realized it was a human. Not just a human, but one of the sailors in my crew.
Niall, Lars and the other sailors turned around and saw the collapsed sailor with a bleeding scar on his back and their commander holding a blood-stained sword. I was ecstatic to find them, but I was in trouble with Niall. He walked towards me with a serious face. "Rio, I told you to stay on the ship."
"That's not important! I have to tell you something!"
"What about the ship? Have ever seen a ship with a crew getting attacked without a commander? It's chaos!"
"Bondvik lied, Captain! He doesn't have ambushes around the island, he doesn't have ten thousand men to battle the pirates! He's using us to get rid of his enemies so he can take the treasure and run!"
"Isn't that the deal, Rio? We're supposed to be getting rid of the pirates."
"But we've no backup! A small group like us will be eliminated by the thousands of pirates that have yet to come!"
"All the more you should go back."
"No!"
"That is an order, Commander Carriedo and you will follow it!"
I groaned and ran off. I didn't hear what Niall said, but he probably thought I was going back to the ship.
"This mission has failed. We have to go back."
"But sir…Bondvik…the pirates…" A sailor said timidly.
"We will end up like the Spanish if we stay on."
XXX
"Rio! Rio, are you here?" Arthur shouted as he searched the crowd that returned.
"Isn't she supposed to be with you?" Niall asked, his face pale with anxiety.
"Isn't she supposed to be with you?"
"Bloody hell." Niall cussed. He turned to his crew. "Lars, Johnson! Back me up, but not closely." He turned to Arthur, the seriousness in his face sent shivers down the boy's spine. "Arthur, listen, if any pirate ship starts attacking you, pull up the anchor and leave immediately. Do you understand?"
"But what about…"
"If we manage to get out of there, we can take the longboat and locate you easily. It'll be fine."
XXX
My second day of marching. I barely slept the previous night. There were dark eye circles surrounding my eyes and I barely had the energy to fight. But I had to move on. The tranquility of the night was shattered when more pirate ships anchored in, firing cannons at enemy ships and shouting commands so loudly that I could hear it that far from the shore. I was rushing again. I began to fear what I would encounter when I found the chest, but no treasure. I could get killed, raped, or kidnapped by the other pirates. Worse, by Bondvik himself.
It was the second time I injured a human when my eyes saw a blurry blue colored uniform back in front of me with a white sash slung over it. It was by accident, of course I wouldn't do it again on purpose. The back of this person looked very familiar and he was nothing like a pirate. I heard his familiar voice when he cried at the pain of my sword cutting his back. He took out his sword, ready to attack the attacker but dropped it when he saw me. It was Antonio.
"Rio! Is that you?" He said as if he was seeing things.
I burst into tears and embraced him out of the blue, my hands clutching his bleeding back. "Irmao! I'm so glad to see you!"
He pulled away slowly and scanned me from head to toe. He frowned when he recognized my uniform. "Y-You're a British privateer?"
I nodded as I wiped away my tears. "What are you doing here?"
"The same reason as you. But you must leave now. Find your crew and leave."
"Why? I need to keep marching on."
"You don't understand. There's this pirate…he's after you…the both of us, technically."
"I know who is! Lukas Bondvik! I need to get to the treasure before him!"
"He will-"
"I don't care! I'm not letting him take it after deceiving us! He doesn't deserve it, even his crew thinks he doesn't deserve to be called captain!"
"He will kill me, but you…he has another purpose…"
"If I leave, will you leave with me?"
He didn't answer. His eyes were downcast and my brows furrowed.
"I have a duty to serve, and that is to destroy whatever that is in that chest!"
