The group trudged through the forest, keeping their eyes on the darkness. Gibbs took a nervous swig from a flask, and offered it to Will, who was next to him. Will gladly took some, and Gibbs offered it to Savannah on his other side.

"No thank you," She whispered, almost silently, "I do not wish to die a painful death by the hand of a beverage. I'd rather die on the end of a blade." Gibbs shrugged, with this new piece of information. For some one who did things by the book, and followed the code word for word, Savannah did not drink? There were parts of the pirates code that should only be followed if the pirate was drunk.

Suddenly, their almost silent steps were interrupted by a sound like a stick snapping. The crew stopped and became alert. Then, as if from no where, an enormous… well, what looked like a bird, only it wasn't, it had to be some kind of mammal, swept down with an owl like screech, and headed directly for Rosaline.

She screamed, and felt herself being pushed roughly to the ground. She blacked out momentarily, and the next time she looked up, she was being dragged to her feet.

"Jack?" She could hardly see,

"Come on luv, move yer feet," Jack grunted, "And don't look up." Rosaline ran alongside him, with her arm linked tightly in his, but she couldn't help looking upwards. What she saw horrified her.

There must have been at least twenty, nearly twenty five maybe, of the winged beasts circling them and swooping down. They were like enormous eagles, but with legs, like those of a wolf. Their faces looked almost hound like, but with a deadly looking beak. The crew had scattered.

"Will!" Elizabeth screamed out, as she saw her husband fall to the ground after taking an unsuccessful swing at a beast. The creature's talons grasped wildly, but did not grip him, and it flew back up into the air, circling again, and making ready for a dive at some one else. "Will," Elizabeth sunk to her knees beside him, and Will hissed in pain as he pulled himself up to her level. The creature's talons had shredded his shirt, and torn the skin on his chest. It wasn't deep luckily, but enough to produce plenty of blood, which the beasts circling seemed to be able to smell. Elizabeth half dragged her husband into the thicker forest, where she prayed that they couldn't be seen.

She kept her eyes on the way they had come, where as Will's head turned to what was behind them. His eyes grew wide,

"Elizabeth, run!"

"Elizabeth, run!" Elizabeth spun round, and felt her world shift for a moment. Her head was spinning, and all she could here was Will's screams of agony.

"Will!" She yelled, desperately, "WILL!" She screamed, and couldn't see where she was stood. Her eyes focussed, and she tried to listen for her husbands voice. She couldn't hear him. Her vision returned, and her face widened in horror when she saw Will laid on the ground, not moving. There was a puddle of deep, red blood around him, and it was spreading. "No! Will!" She slid to the ground at his side, her face stricken with grief and disbelief. Will wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing. And his heart wasn't beating.

Clay was backed up against a tree. He was pinned there by one of the beasts, and could see Marti having trouble. He had braced himself for the pain of being ripped to shreds, but it had never come. Instead, the creature seemed to enjoy keeping him pinned there, helpless.

Marti was flung backwards as her attacker slashed her face with it's razor like talons,

"Marti!" Clay struggled, but felt a shooting pain and realised that he now had been pinned to the tree literally. The more he struggled, the worse it got. There was nothing he could do but watch.

Marti fought as hard as she could, but every time she got away, the beast swooped down and attacked her again. It seemed like the fight had gone on for an age, and she was tiring.

Clay could see it happening, could see her tiring. Don't let her die, he begged, please don't let it kill her.

The attacker grabbed Marti in it's claws and flapped off the ground. Marti yelled out in anger, and tried in vain to get loose. Then, Clay saw exactly what was about to happen and cried out before Marti did.

She was thrown back, and landed against a tree. But she didn't slid down to the ground. She stayed there. Clay thought he was going to vomit. Marti was dead, or he hoped she was. She was impaled on a tree branch, her back tight to the tree trunk.

Clay's eyes closed, but all he could see was the horrific image. He felt his own body grow cold, and he started to shiver all over. When he opened his eyes, nothing changed. The darkness over took his entire mind… his entire body…

Well, what a lovely review 'Alex'.

I don't know if maybe you are bitter because you can't write, have never got reviews yourself, or if you are just big headed because you can and you have. Then again, I'll just have to leave that question in the air because I can't be bothered to waste my time finding out.

Every one has their own opinion I suppose, but I personally believe that if you had enough time to waste to send malicious reviews then you must have far too much on your hands.

For the sake of saying, folks, I do love reviews. I love what people think of my story, and what ideas they might have about it. And honey, if you had any idea of my involvement with 'the art' then perhaps you'd think twice about reviewing in future. Or perhaps not, maybe that's the kind of person you are. If so, I would ask you kindly not to honour me with your words of wisdom again, and to get on with your own life, as my memory of you will surely fade after this chapter is posted.

Every one else, dum dum DUM! Could it be the end? Tune in next time guys!

Savvy Z.