Chapter 23: Vengeance
Kenwick heard the explosion from the Black Devil. He smiled grimly as he heard the startled shouts of the Deviance's crew. He raised a hand. His men, pirate and RN alike, moved silently to the rail of the ship. Marja's Memories drifted alongside the Deviance.
Kenwick dropped his hand. Boarding ropes were flung over the side and the clamped onto the smaller ship's side and drew her against the Memories. The crew of the Deviance froze as they watched shadowy men climb aboard their ship.
"Who dares board the Deviance of the Fleet of Dawg?" a sailor cried into the fog.
"We do," Kenwick sneered. "Dispose of them."
The pirates and RN sailors lunged forward. Swords sought the soft, human flesh of the opposing side. Feral shouts pierced the air and gunshots cracked the still darkness.
Dawg froze. "Gunshots?" he hissed. Was his fleet under attack? He quickly walked out of the storage room, where he had gone to get a flag. The flag was the mark of the Slave Trade. It was cream colored with a blood red triangle with an S in the center of it. The triangle was super-imposed over an hourglass, to signify that time was running out.
He rushed to the flag hoist and began to drag it up. It would signify to the other ships in his fleet that something was wrong.
He had to know what was going on!
The fog was slowly drifting around the now wounded Deviance. Her once wood colored deck was now a deep blood red.
Kenwick stood silently on board the Deviance. His crews had gone and cleared the ship of her crew. He shifted, and the blood under his shoes made a funny noise. He looked down and frowned. He didn't really like doing this, all this killing…
But it was for Morgan, and he would do anything to save her. She was like the daughter he'd never had. No, he had to get stuck with that idiot boy for a son.
He frowned. Where was the boy anyway? Since Jake had left, he hadn't heard a word from his fleet. They were (hopefully) still searching for Will and Elizabeth.
Kenwick frowned. With Morgan being kidnapped by the slave trade, he almost totally forgot that was what her original intent had been. Now, perhaps because of her searching for them, she was a captive of the Triangular Trade.
Kenwick looked out over the deck of the silent ship. She rocked slowly under his feet, causing the blood to run off the sides of the ship.
"Commodore…we have a problem…" one of the RN men said. His name was Travis.
"What is it?"
"Three of our men were killed…Johnson, Bradley, and Oscar."
Kenwick's face closed up. "Any of the pirates?"
"No sir, but Gunnar, the one from Morgan's ship, got hurt trying to save the three of them."
Kenwick nodded and closed his eyes. Three of his men were dead. He opened his eyes and looked around. Gunnar came up, supported by a pirate and a RN. He nodded.
"Everyone back on the Memories. Travis, you and Kyle light the powder magazine. Let's blow this ship."
He turned and followed Gunnar and the two helping him onto his ship. How could he have let this happen? He turned and waited impatiently as Kyle and Travis rushed back aboard.
"All set, Commodore." Kenwick nodded and the ship began to pull away from the Deviance as quickly as possible. The fog curled around the bow, and an ocean shattering explosion settled over the water.
"That's two."
Dawg strained his eyes to see through the heavy fog. He could barely make out the flags being raised. He did a quick count. He frowned. "Not possible…" he was missing two ships.
His impenetrable fleet was being torn apart right in front of his eyes.
Andrew waited patiently as the ship he was on (he already forgot her name, the Morning Star was the only one that actually mattered to him) sailed up beside his ship. She looked as good as the day she was made.
"This is her," he whispered to his crew, "Kill the crew, but don't harm her."
The men nodded and boarded her silently. Startled shouts rang out. For the third time, blood flowed like a raging river. Andrew walked over to the flag hoist and lowered the slave trade flag. He unfurled a jolly roger and hoisted it up.
"Dispose of the bodies," he said softly. The crew complied, taking the bodies and dumping them over the side. They floated silently by the ships. Andrew raised his pistol and shot a hole through the slave trade flag. He dropped it down with the bodies.
That made three.
Silently and efficiently the pirates destroyed Dawg's consort ships. Dawg was terrified. Never before had anyone done anything like this to him!
He raised the whistle to his lips and gave three deft tweets. A small, single masted ship emerged from the fog. The one man on it climbed up and held the rope ladder steady for Dawg.
Dawg looked at the man. "You will be rewarded in the afterlife." His voice was higher than usual. His face was white and his eyes were wide with fear.
The man just stared at him, not saying anything; not that he could.
The sun crested the horizon sending orange light bouncing across the water. Sin stood on the deck of the Nebuchadnezzar and watched as the fog slowly dissipated.
Out of the fog a monstrous shape appeared. She was huge, with four masts and 112 guns. She was the Grim Reaper, the fear of Africa. He felt a surge of anger just looking at the ship.
Something appeared from behind the derelict ship. A much smaller boat, steered by one man was making quick time away from the massacre. He could barely hear the startled gasp as the man in the boat saw the bodies of the crew from the Morning Star.
Sin saw the Black Pearl swing up next to the Grim Reaper and throw boarding ropes on board. His own ship was much too small and didn't even reach halfway up the Reaper's side.
The Lost Innocence sailed up along the Reaper's other side and threw her own boarding ropes on. Sin turned to his crew.
"Come up along side the Pearl. I'm getting on board that ship." The crew complied silently, shocked into silence by the sheer size of the ship.
The Nebuchadnezzar came up within feet of the Pearl. Sin leapt easily across the small gap and landed with a slight thump at Jack's feet.
"Let's go, mate," Jack whispered to the large black man. Sin nodded. They stared at the hull of the Reaper, feet above the rail of the PearlJack gestured violently with one hand and the boarding plank was brought up and laid across the gap.
Jack put one foot on the plank and tested it. He walked up the plank and appeared for the first time on the deck of the biggest ship he had ever been on.
Sin came up quickly, followed by most of the crew of the Pearland the Nebuchadnezzar. The crew of the Lost Innocence dropped in from the other side. The two crews looked at each other and nodded.
"NOW!" someone shouted. Suddenly, Dawg's tongueless crew leapt out from hiding places and charged the pirates.
Jack smirked. "Now really, mates. You didn't think we weren't expecting that, now were you?"
He raised his pistol and fired. The first man fell hard as the shot slammed through his body. Jack shoved his pistol down the front of his pants and drew his sword. He leapt into the fray.
The tongueless crew fought much more valiantly than the crews of the consort ships had. However it just made for much more bloodshed.
As the sun continued to rise, the decks ran with blood. Jack's brown boots were soaked through. The sounds of ripping flesh and the cries of the dying filled the air.
Orange light fell over the ship, drowning the scene in a surreal light. Jack stopped hacking and glanced up at the sun. All of the sounds drifted away from his mind. He was only focused on the rising of the sun…
"STOP!" he shouted suddenly. Everyone froze, pirate and slaver alike. They looked at Jack in surprise. Jack stalked forward to one man; he still had his tongue.
"Kill the rest," he hissed. Blades ripped through tender flesh with a vengeance.
"So…" Jack whispered softly. "Who are ye?"
"Rogers."
"And would that be the key to the holds?" Jack asked, picking up a set of keys with his sword.
Rogers nodded soundlessly. Jack smiled, "Good, very good."
He turned and looked at his men. "Chain him to those blockades; I'll deal with him in a minute." Gibbs, Jones, and Andrew bodily dragged Rogers screaming to the blockades.
Jack sheathed his sword and quickly reloaded his pistol. He took the keys and walked over the entrance to the hold. A terrible stench was wafting though the planks. His nose wrinkled.
He slowly placed the key in the slot and turned. There was a soft click and the door swung open. Jack stepped back and reflexively covered his nose. His eyes watered with the smell.
He took a step down the ladder and paused. He was scared of what he would find. He could hear the cries of despair from the thousands of people in the hold. Would Morgan be dead?
His heart thudded loudly in his chest, and he descended the rest of the way into Hell.
AN: Okay, yes, it's been forever, but it's out now. Thank you so much for all the reviews. I really appreciate them. Please keep them coming. Standard disclaimers apply. Thanks again.
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