14
The next day came, bringing with it more torment. Tesla absolutely reveled in entering the prison cell and mocking Evelyn. The pirate captain wouldn't even give Vorian a chance to speak, but simply kicked the Fae lord aside as soon as he was close enough. Vorian bore his infliction quietly, but occasionally Evelyn could see a fire sparking in his eyes that sent shivers up her spine.
Dawn arrived, and with it, the approaching of another pirate ship.
"Evelyn," Vorian called softly to Evelyn, standing at the cell's only porthole. "I think we're in for some trouble."
"What is it?" Evelyn asked, moving tiredly away from Trinity and stepping over to Vorian's side.
"We've got another ship. I think it's going to challenge Tesla."
"Perhaps it's someone to save us!" Evelyn said excitedly, but Vorian could hear the strain in her voice.
"Evelyn…"
"She hasn't eaten since last night," Evelyn whispered worriedly, gesturing to Trinity, who was still curled up in a ball. "I don't think she's heard anything from Jareth, and she's worried sick."
"I wish there was something…"
Shouting suddenly interrupted Vorian's talking, and he closed his mouth and looked up worriedly at the ceiling.
XxXxX
Above deck, Tesla's crew was in full-fledge panic. They had spotted the enemy ship only minutes before Vorian had, and they recognized it as the ship belonging to a Captain Silver. Each member turned to their captain to find a familiar glint in his scarlet eyes, a glint that caused even the strongest of men to fear.
"Why such fear?" Tesla asked, a smile appearing on his face. "This is what we live for, gentlemen. We live for the hunt and for the battle. What is one little ship to us?"
"It's the ship of Long John!" One of the pirates-who-don't-do-anything shouted.
"And you're on the ship of Captain Tesla," Tesla said with a shrug.
The ship drew closer, and Tesla stood tall behind the helm as the ship drew abreast the Morning Star.
"Captain Tesla!" Captain Silver shouted from his helm. "Give us the prisoners and there will be no blood shed!"
"Truly, John," Tesla sighed, "you come to a crew that has not seen battle for many long, weary days. Why would we pass up the opportunity to kill your entire crew and commandeer your ship?"
"We know what you are, Tesla, and the only one that would be dying in battle is you."
Tesla sneered, craftily moving his hand to his side as he did so.
"Your threats are weak. Do you believe it so easy to defeat me?"
He placed his hand on the hilt of his dagger and slowly pulled it out of its sheath.
"Men!" Long John shouted, drawing his gun from its sheath. "Open fire! Leave the prisoners alive, but kill all the rest of those aboard the Morning Star! I will see to Tesla's destruction, only…"
Tesla took that opportunity to pull back his dagger and then throw it expertly. The blade inserted itself in Long John's left shoulder, directly below the man's collarbone. Long John let out a wail of pain and then dropped down to the deck of his ship, clinging desperately to the helm as he struggled, fighting with all of his strength to pull the dagger out of his skin.
The crew of the Phoenix immediately opened fire on the Morning Star, sending cannonballs and bullets hurtling through the air.
"Leave no survivors!" Tesla ordered, and his men immediately surged into the battle, adrenaline rushing and hearts pounding wildly as they drew their flintlocks and returned fire. It had been a long time since they had last battled, and they were eager to taste of war once again.
Grappling hooks were obtained, and within minutes, members of both ships were hurtling through the air, swords and flintlocks drawn. Tesla remained aboard his ship, and no one could get close to him. He stood firmly behind the helm, taking aim and firing upon any enemy that set foot on the Morning Star. No one could reach him, though many tried. The captain was an excellent shot, and every time he pulled the trigger, another life was claimed. More frightening than his firing was his ability to throw a dagger. It seemed to be his fighting tactic of choice. He played with his unsuspecting enemies as a cat plays with a mouse. He would wait for them to get close enough to him to nearly touch him, and then, with one smooth step, he would bring his dagger to bear, lodging it in some essential artery or slashing it smoothly across some vital anatomy. Beneath his hand alone, in the first fifteen minutes of battle, thirteen men were lost.
XxXxX
A cannonball plummeted through a wall in the brig, and Vorian jumped up and grabbed Evelyn, knocking her full on the floor, before the missile shot through their cell, shattering metal bars along the way, and then burst through the cell wall.
"They're trying to kill us!" Evelyn shouted, pushing away from Vorian's body and running over to Trinity. "We have to get out!"
"Evelyn! There's a battle going on out there! We can't leave the ship now!" Vorian exclaimed as Evelyn grabbed hold of Trinity and pulled the younger woman to her feet.
"Vorian! There's an escape route right there!" Evelyn yelled, gesturing to the fresh hole in the wall. "We can fit through it! Look! There's an island not too far from here! We can swim to it and be safely out of Tesla's hold!"
"And what about Jareth? We can't just abandon him!" Vorian said.
"Trinity has a way to contact him! If we can find him, she can tell him we're lost, and he can get the pirate king to give us directions! Vorian, right now we have to worry about our own lives! We can't save Jareth if we ourselves are killed! Help me get Trinity out!"
Vorian moved to the hole in the wall and climbed through it, understanding that what Evelyn said was true. He clung to a sail rope and then held out his arm for Trinity.
"Come on, Trin," Evelyn whispered to her friend, giving her a push forward. "We need to get out of here."
Trinity nodded her head and weakly stepped out of the hole, grabbing Vorian's offered arm as she did so. She was weak, terribly weak, from not having eaten anything all day, and as soon as her hands touched Vorian's arm, her strength gave out entirely. Vorian pulled her closely to him and wrapped his arm strongly around her, holding her tightly to him. He then dropped into the water, still holding her.
"You're all right," he told her comfortingly. "You may just get a chance to ride those Talistide like you wanted."
He glanced up at the hole and watched as Evelyn climbed through and then jumped into the water. He then pushed away from the ship, struggling slightly to swim while holding Trinity.
The three escapees were right in between the two battling ships, and Trinity buried her face deep in Vorian's shoulder as men swung above them, crossing from one ship into the next. Bullets fired all around Vorian and the women, threatening to hit them. The Talistide were nowhere to be seen, for they were somewhat timid creatures and were afraid to go anywhere near battling ships, no matter how strongly they were attracted to the water prince.
"The island is only a short distance away from here!" Evelyn gasped, struggling against the water.
Three men suddenly fell into the ocean near her, one of them horrifically bloodied and the other two struggling against the waves that the ships were making. One of them landed directly next to Evelyn, pulling her down into the water momentarily as he collided against the water. She resurfaced and then let out a scream when the bloodied man reached out and grabbed her shoulder, blood seeping onto her skin as he did so.
"Evelyn! Grab my shoulder!" Vorian ordered, and Evelyn immediately did as he told her to.
XxXxX
Meanwhile, both the decks of the Phoenix and the Morning Star were covered in scarlet and black gunpowder. Many men struggled in hand-to-hand combat. Others were shot down or run through. Captain Long John Silver was dead, his hand still grasping the helm. There wasn't much hope left for the Phoenix.
Tesla surveyed the scene of blood and pain with great satisfaction. He moved away from his helm, having decided that his ship was in no immediate danger and he wanted to get involved in the fighting. He drew his sword and then walked down the stairs to the deck, slashing his blade across two helpless pirates as he did so.
He was almost to the deck when he saw Vorian in the water between the ships, one woman in his arms and the other struggling to swim alongside him. The captain's eyes burned with fury, and he turned to one of his men, anger radiating in his eyes.
"Mr. Smith, go get Lord Vorian and his two charges and bring them back onto the ship."
"Aye, sir," Mr. Smith saluted. "Where are they?"
"In the water between the two ships. When they are on deck, I want you to bring the women in the captain's cabin. Bring Lord Vorian to me. I've had more than enough of him," Tesla said, easily running his sword through another pirate as he spoke.
"Aye, sir!"
Mr. Smith gestured to three other men and signaled for them to get into the water. One of the men, a tall man with great muscles, looked puzzled for a moment.
"That was an order!" Mr. Smith shouted.
"I only dog paddle," the large man said, and with a sigh, Mr. Smith pushed the man aside and gestured for another one to take his place.
The men immediately ran to the Morning Star's railing and then dove into the water.
Vorian saw the men coming and began to swim faster, Trinity still held tightly in his grasp.
"Evelyn! Hurry!" he instructed, moving away from the ships towards the open ocean.
Evelyn nodded and began to move faster. She was almost away from the ships and was close behind Vorian when someone reached out and wrapped an arm around her neck.
"Vorian!" she screamed, struggling with all of her might as she was dragged back to the ships. "Vorian!"
She kicked and squirmed, but could not get out of her captor's hold. The pirate holding her was large and powerful, and he held her neck tightly, making her see black spots before her eyes. She gagged as water filled her mouth and nostrils, and she was close to blacking out when she was suddenly hoisted out of the water. She stopped fighting as the pirate holding her flipped her unceremoniously over the Morning Star's deck. She landed hard on her back and let out a cry of fear when the man dropped down next to her and promptly grabbed her wrists. She was helpless, on her back, and her eyes began to tear as he slammed one of his knees into her stomach and held her down with it as he tied her hands tightly together.
Vorian wouldn't leave Evelyn by herself, and with a strong feeling of defeat, he turned and swam back towards the Morning Star. He could hear Evelyn shouting for him to keep swimming, to get away with Trinity while he could, but he was tired and weak, and he wouldn't have been able to keep fighting even if he had tried to.
Evelyn was thrown into the captain's cabin, and Trinity and Vorian joined her, minutes later. She could hear screams, terrified, dying screams, coming from the decks of both ships, and her green eyes flooded with tears. She burst out crying and buried her face in her arms, her long wet hair draping over her back and hiding her face.
"It's all my fault!" she sobbed. "Why oh why can't I do anything right?"
Vorian helped Trinity into a comfortable position and then moved to Evelyn. She tried to push him away when he put his hand on her shoulder, but for once in his life, he wasn't going to respect her wishes. She struggled against him as he pulled her to him, exerting a minimal amount of energy in order to do so. He drew her to his chest and then held her tightly against him, putting his hand to the back of her head and letting her bury her face in his chest. He felt her hot tears landing on his skin and ran his fingers soothingly through her wet hair.
"Why isn't anything going right?" Evelyn cried, struggling to look up into his face. "Tesla is a pirate captain and he wants to ruin me! Trinity won't eat and she won't talk either! Jareth is trapped in some cove with a vampire, and you've been beaten to a pulp! My stomach is so bruised! Vorian, I can't take much more! Why is this happening?"
He gazed down into her eyes, trying to think of something to say and failing miserably. There was nothing he could say. He didn't have any of the answers. He had the feeling things were only about to get worse for him, just a dull, aching feeling, and he couldn't promise her anything.
She studied his eyes, seeing that he didn't know what to do or say.
"Vorian," she whispered. "You always have an answer."
"Not this time," he whispered back, drawn to her dark green eyes. "I cannot promise you anything, love. I don't know that I'll be here for you much longer."
"What?"
"I have the feeling Tesla's going to do everything in his power to finish me," he said gently, brushing one of her tears away with his thumb. "You'll be all right. You always are all right."
"But last time…" Evelyn gulped. "Last time I had you. If you weren't there, I would have died. I still bear a faint scar, as do you. You saved my life. Without you, I'm as good as dead."
"Don't say that," Vorian smiled gently. "Evelyn, I want you to know…"
He became lost in her eyes again, and, without realizing it, began to move his face closer to hers, wanting to be nearer, to show her the words he couldn't say.
"Evelyn, if only you knew…"
The door slammed open, and both Vorian and Evelyn turned their heads to see Tesla's first mate enter the cabin with four other men behind him.
"Captain wants to see you on deck. The battle's over, and he has a bone to pick with you," the man sneered.
"The battle is over? But…what about prisoners? They couldn't have been put in the hold because there were holes in the walls and they would have escaped!" Evelyn exclaimed.
"Captain Tesla never takes prisoners," the man growled.
"What?" Evelyn gasped.
"He kills them all," the man shrugged and then moved towards Vorian. "Let's go, water prince."
"Wait! What are you going to do to him?" Evelyn asked, putting her arms around Vorian's neck and holding him tightly.
"His time is over."
"No!" Evelyn shouted, wrapping her arms as tightly as she could around Vorian.
The pirate didn't say anything more, but grabbed her by the neck and easily pulled her off Vorian. Vorian stood up, facing his adversaries bravely, not making a sound or attempting to protect himself.
"Vorian!" Evelyn screamed. "Don't just stand there!"
One of the pirates grabbed her, holding her tightly as Vorian turned and began to walk out of the room, escorted by the pirates.
"Vorian! No!" Evelyn screamed, more tears streaming down her cheeks.
He turned, as he was leaving the cabin, and smiled at her. He then disappeared from sight, his escorts pushing him roughly ahead. The door was slammed shut and locked from the outside, and Evelyn collapsed on the floor, shaking miserably and crying like she had never cried before.
XxXxX
Vorian squinted as he was led on deck, for the sun was almost completely hidden now, and the last streams of sunlight were shining into his eyes. To his left was a line of pirates, all standing side by side, all watching him with evil, intimidating eyes. To his far right was the enemy pirate ship, engulfed in flames and sinking beneath the cold ocean waves.
Tesla stood at the bow of the ship; his back turned towards Vorian, his hands clasped firmly behind him.
"So dies another pirate crew and another great ship," Tesla said with a sigh.
He turned to face Vorian, his eyes glowing red in the dimming sunlight. They looked dangerous, piercing…magical.
"I had considered sparing your life, which is something I rarely do," Tesla said, pulling out a knife out and admiring the blade in the dimming sunlight. "But you ruined all your last chances."
"Am I permitted to make any last wishes?" Vorian asked, watching as Tesla took a step forward.
"Go ahead, though I doubt I'll heed them," Tesla said, a smirk on his face.
"Evelyn, and Trinity," Vorian spoke calmly, infuriating the captain. "They are not to be harmed at all, and you are to bring them to Jareth. You won't touch Evelyn," he said coolly. "Those are my last wishes."
Tesla's grin broadened, and he stopped right in front of Vorian, his face only inches away from the doomed Fae lord's.
"Miss Evelyn," he sneered, moving his mouth to whisper in Vorian's ear. "Is as good as ruined. You have my word as a gentleman."
With that, he brought his dagger back and then thrust it towards Vorian's chest.