CHAPTER NINE Confrontation and Final Hours of Davy Jones
As the Flying Dutchman comes to a cove, the depth of the river is becoming shallow. Davy Jones decides to anchor the vessel here.
With docking in this cove, the crew are sent out to scout the area. Davy Jones himself comes upon the shore and scouts out the river and looking at the aquatic life in the river…it's dead!
Sulfuric acid running into the cove has killed all aquatic life. Even though Davy Jones has no idea where Khazad'dum is, he has a good idea that this sulfuric acid is coming from Khazad'dum.
While Davy Jones seeks where the sulfuric seep is, Kathren remains aboard the Flying Dutchman, she is looking at Khazad'dum and can see the very heights of Mount Cerfire lava fountain. The volcanic lightening storm lightens up the dark fortress of Khazad'dum.
As Kathren watches the volcanic storm, she is soon witness to a bright, bluish-white light shooting out of the dark mountains. The light makes on sound, and if it was dark here at the cove, the others would have seen it.
Kathren is not the only one witnessing the oddity, the dead Numenorean general watches the light show. "What is going on Kathren?"
Kathren watches the light storm, she feels the eerie presence of Er Murazor. "It's Er Murazor, he knows we are here?"
The general looks at Kathren. "How do you know this?"
Kathren looks at the general. "I know more about peoples energies then any of you!" Kathren turns away from the general to look at the steady stream of light. "But the sorcerer is stronger, and becoming stronger! I have a feeling that none of us will survive this!"
The general snickers. "But we're already dead…there is not much Er Murazor can do to us!"
Kathren ponders on the generals words, she remembers that Er Murazor has the ability to raise the dead from their grave using the powers from Angmar. "True, but you still own your soul, yes?"
The general does not know what Kathren is hinting at. "What do you mean?"
"Do you know the people of Tsiegret'lop?"
The general shakes his head. "Can't say that I have!"
Kathren notices the eerie light is gone. "From what I know, Er Murazor placed a horrible curse upon them making death impossible, but also making life impossible."
"Their undead?" Says the general with much surprise as anyone would be.
Kathren nods, "I'm afraid so!"
The general sees that Davy Jones is gathering the Numenorean's for battle and begins to send them westward. "Where is my army going?"
Kathren looks at the prepared army crossing the moat, heading westward. "So it begins."
The general looks back at Kathren. "The war?" Kathren bits her lip in fear and nods. The general turns to look back at his departing army. "I've got to go!" The general vanishes before Kathren leaving Kathren alone upon the Flying Dutchman. As the army disappears into the shadow of Khazad'dum, that would be the last Kathren would have ever seen of them, all two million souls trapped in a local swamp called the Swamp of Khazad'dum.
With the passing of Davy Jones and all the Flying Dutchman's crew, the Flying Dutchman shimmered violently. The ships life power was gone, only one crewed her…poor Kathren. As the shimmering ended, Kathren looks around the vessel thinking…what just happened?
As the anchor was being pulled up by itself, Kathren turns to face the moving anchor in fear. What devilry is this thinks Kathren.
With the anchor up, the Flying Dutchman slowly drifts backwards, heading back to sea. The sails unfold by themselves, the wheel moving as if a ghost commanded it.
Kathren walks slowly to the bridge fearing the enemy has control of the Flying Dutchman, so she climbs up to the wooden bridge, but finds not a living soul up there.
This spooks Kathren a whole lot! As the Flying Dutchman sails into the deeper waters of the Great River, Kathren looks at Khazad'dum, the volcanic-storm up the cloudless northern horizon. As Kathren instantly looks back upstream, the water seems higher and steaming! Molten rock is pouring down the river coming quickly for the Flying Dutchman.
Kathren quickly runs up to the bridge to release the third sail, and as the lava is only feet away, Kathren opens the third sail and with all three sails now open, the wind lifts the Flying Dutchman out of the steaming water and as the haul is clear of the river bank, the lava rushes under the ship.
Kathren holds her breath as the vessel lifts off the water, the heat of the lava bubbles the tar on the ship. As the Flying Dutchman lifts higher in the sky, the Flying Dutchman is heading to the South Aqua.
As the Flying Dutchman settles back down upon the ocean, Kathren looks at the entry channel of the Great River, lava explodes due to the cold salt water.
As the Flying Dutchman stops near the island in the South Aqua, Kathren wonders why the ship has stopped. Kathren walks up to the bridge, the ship is already beginning to fall apart. Kathren is witness to a odd, transparent wave that explodes out of the ship and ripples across the waves. The water goes still and then the ship begins to fall apart again. The windows shatter, the wood ages and falls off its corroded nails. Then the ship begins to shake and sink!
Kathren runs down the stairs, but due to the aging processes of the old wood, she instead falls through the wooden stairs and the deck boards can't hold Kathren's 228 pounds for too long!
Kathren, shaken, she gets up and quickly runs to the side of the Flying Dutchman, but falls through the deck and lands on a table and shatters the table into a wooden mush.
Kathren tries to catch her breath and gets out of the mush. The wood down here is like walking on a sponge and as Kathren sees a opening, Kathren rushes to it, but slips, fall on her behind and crashes through the floor boards into the metal haul.
With the sudden impact, rotting boards collapse on Kathren, Kathren moves the fibrous mush off her. With freedom of the debris, Kathren sees water jetting out of the wood planks.
Kathren worried of no escape, finally overweighs the aloud weight the haul can handle and falls through the haul, but does not completely fall through, she is stuck between to wooden planks. Kathren tries to wiggle out of the position she is in, and successfully falls through the rest of the haul and is now under the collapsing ship.
Kathren fills her gills with water, it has the taste of sulfur and it is like a air-breather, breathing in ammonia…it's painful, and too much can be deadly. As reality strikes Kathren that there is a decaying ship above her, Kathren swims to clear the Flying Dutchman, large chunks of the ship collapse around her, nearly missing her aquatic body. When Kathren reaches the surface, she watches the Flying Dutchman split into two pieces and then slowly submerge under the surface.
So here ends the legend of Davy Jones and the ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman. Kathren floats there in disbelief, she decides to write this down in her journal and to add a date…1260.
Sadden with the lost of her protector, Kathren swears revenge against the hordes of Khazad'dum. Kathren makes her plans to strike against Lord Asron and Er Murazor, but the following events of 1261 would delay Kathren's revenge.
Kathren, beaten and tired, swims closer to the south shores of K'ha'dum, but with every inch gained to achieving success, the water becomes more and more acidic, so with the pain, Kathren retreats and swims away from land.