Chapter 21
The Execution Cave that was situated only a mile away from the Bermudan Prison had the ability to send a ghastly chill running down the spine of anyone who so much as glanced at its haunting appearance. The height of the structure stretched so far up that the jagged and deformed pieces of rock that shot up from the ground completely covered the sun, casting an ever-present shadow over the area of land that surrounded it. The front of the cave sported huge gashes and holes that seemed to form the shape of the face of a screaming ghoul; something that seemed darkly appropriate. The land at the tip of what could be considered the mouth abruptly stopped, giving way to a body of water, which seemed out of place at the center of a landmass. On the surface floated a few longboats, which were moored to the sandy land; these longboats were obviously the means of transportation that were used to take the doomed prisoners, along with their executioners, inside the cave, where their fate awaited them.
As the small congregation of pirates approached the cave in a steady procession, the sunlight that had been beating down upon them only moments before abruptly ceased, shrouding everyone in a gloomy shadow. Elizabeth glanced up to see a sharp-looking spit of corpulent rock blocking the sun's rays of light. She then looked over at Will, who had his head down and his eyes occupied with the mixture of sand and grass. At the moment, Elizabeth needed comfort and confidence to soothe her overpowering feelings of fear and regret and she silently pleaded Will to lift his head and gaze deep into her eyes with his. She needed Will to give that same reassuring expression that calmed her nerves every time he gave it to her.
Finally, Will did look up. But instead of giving Elizabeth the expression she was expecting, he grinned at her, almost as if he was rather enjoying the situation. Elizabeth gave him a confused expression and in return after Will winked slyly at her.
Next, Elizabeth eyed Jack, who was staring ahead confidently. From the look in his eyes, it appeared as if Jack were ready to face death full-on. But then again, Jack was basically immortal, so he had nothing to fear. But Elizabeth did; she had everything to fear and everything to lose.
What she had was a loving husband and a baby growing inside of her. Elizabeth never thought that she would lose both this way. Forcing herself to stay stable, Elizabeth fought off the wave of sadness threatening to envelop her and she looked over once more at Will.
She mouthed to him, "What can we do?"
In return, he mouthed back, "I have a plan. Trust me."
After those silent words, Elizabeth curtly nodded with a firm inconspicuous smile forming on her face as relief and hope came flooding back through her veins.
As a small ray of sunshine managed to betray the impenetrable rock, the light danced ever so slightly off of something stuffed into the back of Will's belt. Elizabeth recognized it immediately as the hilt of a small dagger, and she slowly came to fully understand the meaning of Will's last words.
As they finally reached the longboats and hopped down into them, a new emotion entered Elizabeth's feelings: anticipation. Now, she couldn't wait to once and for all be rid of Blackbeard and his rotten crew of filthy brutes.
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Inside his cell, Wilkins paced uncontrollably. He just couldn't fully grasp exactly what the Turners saw in Jack Sparrow. After all, he was a man who had caused the British Royal Navy much trouble over the past few years, as well as the Turners, so why were they helping him?
But before Wilkins was able to dwell on this subject longer, Sykes spoke up. "What do you think the chances are that we'll see the Turners alive again?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, isn't it painfully obvious that Blackbeard took them away to be executed? I've heard about the methods Blackbeard uses against his victims...and it seems they have no hope."
"But I've heard the stories of Sparrow's past escapades with the Turners. If they can survive cursed pirates, sea monsters, and Davy Jones, then I must admit that I have supreme confidence in the Turners and even Sparrow to defeat Edward Teach."
"I just hope you're right, Admiral," replied Sykes. "And God be with them."
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As the longboats gently floated along the curving path that led to the center of the Execution Cave, Jack, Will and Elizabeth took in their surroundings. Torches stuffed into their iron resting places lighted the compressed area, giving the location the appearance of a pathway to Hell itself. Wind blowing in from the entrance soon became what sounded like howls of pain that were coming from the many poor souls who had met their doom in this godforsaken place. The orange light emanating from each flame caused the water to look as black as the night. Aside from the eerie wind, the only other noise filling each person's ears was the sound of the water gently hitting the wooden structures breaking the smooth surface of the wet blanket.
As soon as the first longboat collided with land, Blackbeard swung his massive right foot over the edge and onto the sturdy surface. He was followed by two of his men, who were dragging Will and Jack in tow. After a few seconds, Elizabeth was brought up to join them and Blackbeard turned on his heel.
Behind him were many small spits of land that were connected by narrow walkways of stone that were wide enough for one person to cross at a time; islands and walkways much similar to those found inside the treasure cave on Isla De Muerta. And of course, a feeling of deja vu soon invaded Jack, Will and Elizabeth's senses; the only thing that kept this cave from being an exact duplicate of the Isla De Muerta cave were the mounds of treasure and valuable items that were noticeably absent.
In the center of the cave was a raised platform carved into the middle of a decidedly larger island. Stone steps were crudely carved out of the stone, allowing access to the top of the platform. The top of the platform was considerably spacious as well, with room for about three people on it. And like the cave on Isla De Muerta, shafts were cut into the roof to provide light inside the ominous space.
Blackbeard grinned. "From your expressions, I can guess exactly how you feel at the moment...frightened, depressed, and hopeless. So, who shall we start with?" He let his eyes wander over the threesome; Gibbs was still being held in a longboat. At last, Blackbeard's eyes came to rest upon Jack. "Let's start with the good old Captain, shall we?"
He nodded to a guard, who took it upon himself to forcefully grab Jack by the arm and haul him onto the main platform, right on the heels of Blackbeard.
As this happened, Elizabeth slightly turned her head to look at Will. Will caught her gaze and nodded, as he slipped his fingers over the dagger's hilt and expertly moved it so that the blade was standing up. Then, Will inconspicuously began working on trying to break free of his bonds. He glanced at the guard who was currently holding his arm, and was relieved to see that the henchman was too busy looking on in pleasure at Jack to notice Will's actions. As Will continued with his discreet rope-tearing, he shot a glance at Jack, who had reached the top of the platform and was now having his head placed on a small stone slab. At the same time, Blackbeard lifted a menacing ax that was resting against the slab, bringing it up to eye level. On the dull metal were stains of dried and crusted blood from every previous victim. Blackbeard then bent down and whispered something into Jack's ear that was inaudible to Will. The villain stood back up, testing the ax with a few simple swings.
Will began to work more furiously at his task, and at last, the first rope snapped in two. Will next poured energy into cutting the second bond as Blackbeard brought the sharp ax to a rest directly above Jack's exposed neck. Will sawed harder and the last rope finally broke.
What happened next transpired so fast that even Will wasn't sure exactly how it played out. The instant his hands were free, Will gripped the dagger more firmly and plunged it deep into his captor's chest. At the same time, Will whipped the brute's sword from its sheath and ripped the dagger out of his body, causing the bleeding pirate to tumble backwards into the icy water.
The action caused everyone else to look up in surprise and the guard holding Elizabeth immediately leapt towards Will, but Will brought him down with one quick swipe that slit the marauder's throat. Will then ran over to Elizabeth and cut her bonds with one swipe. He handed her the sword that belonged to the fallen pirate before jumping into the longboat Gibbs was being held in and destroyed his bonds as well. A split second later, Will elbowed the guard in the longboat full-on in the face as he grabbed that man's sword in the same fashion. Once Gibbs was properly armed, both him and Will leapt back onto the stone ground and engaged the rest of Blackbeard's men in battle.
Meanwhile, whilst Blackbeard and the other guard were distracted by the commotion below them, Jack grinned as he kicked the guard's legs out from under him and with his untied hands, stole the brute's blade. Blackbeard immediately noticed what happened and whipped out his sword and swung at Jack in one fluid motion. Jack dodged the attack with ease and without hesitation, he darted down the stone steps. Face contorted in anger, Blackbeard growled in frustration through gritted teeth and jumped down from his perch, meeting Jack at the bottom of the steps.
"Don't even try it, Sparrow," said Blackbeard.
"Too late, mate. I already am."
Both Jack and Blackbeard then brought their metal blades against one another at the same time, beginning their duel to the death.
A short distance away, Will and Elizabeth dueled Blackbeard's men with lightning-fast agility. The couple swung their blades fiercely from one enemy to the other. Will advanced forward continuously while he matched his opponent's moves until he had forced him to the edge of the stone. Will smirked as he kicked the pirate hard in the chest and the plunderer fell back into the water with a big splash. Will grinned and turned to come face-to-face with his next adversary. He began the usual forceful lunges and dodges, spins, etc. until he finally knocked the pillager unconscious with the hilt of his sword.
While Will was busy with his work, Elizabeth was burning through her opponents at a nice pace. She twisted and turned, knocking each blade away with little effort. With one forceful swing, she managed to create a domino effect, knocking out three consecutive pirates. However, one behind her threw his whip at Elizabeth's arm, and it wrapped itself around the flesh. The pirate then pulled Elizabeth to him, bringing his blade up to eye level.
"Have anymore tricks, poppet?"
"How about this one?"
Elizabeth kneed her opponent forcefully in the groin and then elbowed him in the cheek; he went down hard.
Elizabeth smiled. "I think that's rather good."
She rejoined the battle, alongside Will.
Jack and Blackbeard poured their sweat and blood into their fight, each lunging and stepping back in turn. As Jack landed his latest blow, the blade managed to cut into the fabric of Blackbeard's hat. The top of the hat fluttered away. Blackbeard lunged forward angrily, but Jack sidestepped him and swiped at the villain's back the first moment he could. The blow seemed to have penetrated the skin, as Jack's blade was now stained with a thin line of fresh blood. As Blackbeard roared, Jack retreated to Will and Elizabeth.
At that precise moment, Will's new opponent kicked his legs out from under him, causing Will to topple backwards. The pirate flipped his sword in midair and caught it by the hilt, blade pointed directly at Will's heart. But just as the brute was about to plunge his sword into Will's chest, the paddle of a wooden oar collided with his chest, then his face. As if that weren't enough, the paddle next hit the pirate in the back of his head. After the assault was over, the brute fell to the ground just as Will rolled away.
Will looked up to see Elizabeth standing there, oar firmly grasped in both of her hands. She helped Will to his feet before they shared a passionate kiss. When they pulled away, Will grinned at his wife.
"Not too bad," he commented.
"Thanks," Elizabeth smiled in return.
Just then, Jack came rushing up beside them, sword drawn. "Into the longboats," he commanded.
"But..." Elizabeth began to protest, but Jack cut her off.
"No time for arguing, just do it."
But before anyone could make a move for the longboats, the four of them were immediately bombarded by Blackbeard's men. Jack glanced at the oar in Elizabeth's hands and snatched it away.
"Thanks, luv."
Jack used the oar as a weapon, bringing the paddle against every pirate's head and cheek. Once every opponent had fallen to the ground, Jack couldn't help but raise the oar in triumph.
"I win!" he declared.
His eyes then spotted Blackbeard, who was racing as fast as he could towards Jack. Jack let out a fearful noise and jumped into the longboat along with his friends.
"Time to go!" he shouted.
Will then cut the rope that was keeping the boat moored to the land and the boat began to float away, but very slowly. Jack glanced around to see what was weighing them down, and saw the treasure chest. Exhaling deeply, Jack grabbed the chest and heaved it over the side, causing the Bermudan Treasure to sink down into the depths below. The action was followed by Blackbeard's roar of anger.
"Jack!" Gibbs exclaimed. "The treasure!"
"It's only gold, mate. No treasure is more valuable than a human life."
Will and Elizabeth gave Jack approving gazes while Gibbs merely nodded in silent understanding. Jack then called out to Blackbeard.
"Hey, Eddie! This is the day that you'll always remember as the day that you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!"
As the longboat sailed away, Blackbeard could do nothing except stare in mute anger. At his feet, his men began to stir.
"Get up, you pathetic meatsacks," he spat. "And prepare The Destroyer. It's high time we send Sparrow's beloved Black Pearl to the depths."