Chapter 11
Join Me in Paradise
The immensity of the city was beyond description. It was the legendary pirate utopia, sitting in the middle of the jungle, isolated for three hundred years. It made Nathan stand there, without a word, for he couldn't tell how long. There were huge wooden buildings standing all over the valley. Towering above each side were huge steamy mountains, and at the very top of the valley was the biggest building. A mansion, the building was the centerpiece of Libertalia, and it was, as Nathan correctly guessed, the treasury. Everything looked like the jungle had taken over, with trees growing everywhere, and vines creeping down all of the buildings. The entire place looked like it was taken out of a movie. "What do you see?" Sam asked with awe. Nathan shook his head, "No houses, wide street. Clearly a commercial district." Sam, still elated, replied, "Yes, thank you for that, Nathan come on. What do you see?" Nathan stood there, then, shaking his head, he chuckled, "You really want to hear me say it don't you?" "I really, really want to hear you say it!" Sam replied. "Alright," Nathan said, "Libertalia." Sam laughed and almost jumped in the air for sheer joy. "Libertalia!" he said grabbing Nathan's arm, "The long-lost pirate utopia!" he clenched his fist, "Discovered after three hundred years by one Samuel Drake." Nathan looked Sam's way, "And…" he said. Sam raised his hands and said, "And his younger, slightly less charming brother who happened to be tagging along for the ride. Nathan chuckled and shook his head. "You know," said Sam, "I always knew you'd make something of yourself one day…" Nathan looked at Sam and said, "Yeah well this isn't my first lost city I have Iram of the Pillars, Shambhala, El Dorad-" "Shh…shh," Sam hushed, "Just…enjoy the moment." And so he did. He stared out over everything. The wooden buildings, the statues, the mansion at the top of the hill, everything. The waterfalls pouring down the mountainside, the steamy tops of the mountains. After a few more respectful moments of awe, Sam said, "Well, where do you want to start?" Nathan thought for a moment then pointed to the mansion, "How about that one up there?" he said. Sam nodded, "Oh, so you mean the one with the massive guard tower?" Nathan looked at Sam, "Yeah," he said, "Let's go see what it was guarding." "Works for me." Sam said. Sam then jumped off the balcony. Nathan stood there for just a few more moments, still taking it all in. He heard Sam call from below, "This is…I mean…I'm speechless!" Nathan chuckled. He had the same feeling when he found the Atlantis of the Sands, otherwise known as Iram of the Pillars. But then, when he discovered Shambhala, he had also had that same feeling. Nathan jumped down off the balcony, and landed on a wooden balcony or deck. Sam looked around and shook his head, "Man," he said, "How long do you think it took them to build all of this?" Nathan shook his head himself and replied, "Oh, years! Decades even. How did they keep it a secret all that time?" Nathan looked behind him. It looked like they were in an open building that was either a water storage facility, or a treatment area. There were barrels on racks with pipes leading in different directions. "This place," Sam said, "even without the treasure its…it's quite the find!" Nathan huffed, "If only Alcazar saw it that way…" "You just can't enjoy this can you?" Sam said, "Hey I'm enjoying it," Nathan replied, "I'm just keeping the bigger picture in mind. We have a goal here, remember?" Sam nodded, "Trust me," he said, "I remember." Nathan jumped off the treatment deck, and onto the cobblestone street. The streets were about as well defined as paths animals make in the woods, as the stones were covered with moss, lichen, and other plants. He walked down the main street. There were even iron streetlamps, rusted, with vines crawling up them. The buildings had signs that hung off of rusty chains, though most of them were too faded to read. Some of the buildings were crooked, or leaning, as the ground had shifted or become uneven. He looked at one of the houses. The porch had a wooden chair. He meandered over and sat down. He looked around, still overwhelmed by his discovery. Sam walked over, and pulled up a chair beside him that was laying on the ground. "Not a bad view," said Sam as he sat down. Nathan looked at the barrel beside him. There were two wooden beer mugs sitting on top of the barrel. He picked one up, and turned it upside down. Nothing but dust came out. "Hey," Nathan said holding up his mug, "Cheers!" Sam picked up the other mug and they toasted. He sat there a few seconds, the gentle tropical breeze flowing through his hair. "What were they doing here?" Nathan asked Sam. Sam cocked his head, "Who the colonists?" he asked. "Yeah," Nathan replied, "I mean you throw your lot in with these infamous outlaws and…then what?" Sam cocked his head again, "You know," he said. Sam sighed contentedly and continued, "Take a load off…Find some refuge…Enjoy a little grog," Nathan chuckled, "There's far worse fates," Sam said. "I guess," Nathan replied, "Except you have to see Avery's statue every day." Sam laughed. Nathan smiled and looked at his mug thoughtfully. How many times had he done something like this? Gone and found an entirely undiscovered lost city. How many chances at a normal life had he thrown away? He sighed and was about to say something to Sam, but he hesitated, before asking, "Hey you uh…You ever wonder, like, with different choices, how we might've ended up?" Sam thought for a minute before replying, "What, you mean like if you took your little magic show on the road?" Nathan laughed, he had nearly forgot about his childhood magic show obsession. "Well, you know," he said, "That might've been a viable option." Sam shook his head, "That would not have been a viable option…" "Hey, don't start ragging on it now," Nathan said, "You'd beg me to show you how to do those tricks," Sam waved his hand and another pause ensued. After a bit Nathan pressed his question a bit more seriously, "No but I mean…What would our lives have been like if we hadn't have started chasing these...these people that've been dead for hundreds of years?" A bird chirped loudly above their heads, singing its exotic calls, "You think it might've resembled more of a…normal life?" Sam breathed in, "Hmm…" he said, "Normal..." he sat there for a bit, looking at the ceiling, "You got everybody gathered around a table for Thanksgiving…The women are exchanging baby photos…Something like that?" Nathan didn't answer, he just looked at Sam, "No," Sam said, "No. No thank you. Not for me." Nathan nodded. "I like the hand we've been dealt," Sam finished. "Yeah," Nathan said, "I've heard that before." Sam leaned forward, "Come on," Sam said, "I mean, we're fortunate men." Nathan chuckled, "This is fortunate?" he asked. Sam nodded, "Yeah." He said, "I mean of course I've been locked up for the past fifteen years so it's all relative I suppose." Nathan nodded, "I'll give you that," he said, "This is much better than prison." He sat there a few moments more, before he sighed, "Well," he said, "My mug's run dry." Sam chuckled and put his mug down, "Yeah I was about to say," he said, "Service here is lousy…" He got up and looked around the building a little bit more. This was just so surreal. They had just discovered a lost pirate colony, and there were no Shoreline mercenaries in sight. Nathan didn't want to jinx himself though…Sam looked around outside the house, but Nathan stayed inside for a bit. It amazed him how modern the house looked. It wasn't a mansion by any means, but it was a house that any well-to-do American would gladly live in, if it just hadn't been neglected for over three hundred years. The downstairs was filled with decorated wooden furniture, and the house itself was shaped like an old London home, which of course made sense as Henry Avery was a British pirate. He walked up the steps. The only room upstairs was a large master bedroom, with a bed that was surprisingly intact, a table that could seat three people, and other furniture, including a solid brass chamberpot. Nathan had no desire to take it though…Beside the bedroom there would've probably been another room, but the entire floor had caved in and rotted away without a trace, the wall completely open to the outside. Nathan went back downstairs and outside. Just across the street from the house they had just been in, was a smaller building. They entered. There was no front wall, it had completely rotted away, making the place look like an open air establishment. It was a fully operational bar, or at least, it had been. There were huge barrels of beer that were rotted, without a drop of beer left in them. There was a bar with stools, and other tables for seating. There were even unbroken bottles standing on some of the tables. "Looks like we found the local watering hole," said Sam. Nathan chuckled, "Pirates will be pirates," he replied. While most of the place was fairly intact, there were some broken stools and broken bottles, which led to an obvious conclusion, "Rough place," said Nathan, "broken bottles, broken glass…" "Pirates will be pirates," Sam repeated. Nathan chuckled again and looked around some more. There was another building further down the road. Nathan entered. Sam and Nathan were both exploring slowly, and separately, now that they were here, there wasn't much left to do but explore around. They would make it to the mansion, but first they wanted to look around. Nathan entered one of the houses, and after a quick look around, he saw something laying on a desk on the upper floor. He picked it up. It was a note that was still legible. The note read, "You no doubt heard my vessel was destroyed by an East Indian ship. If you grieved for me, I beg your forgiveness, but I needed the world to believe me dead. Not only is your son alive and well, but you will rejoice to hear I have resigned my captaincy. I no longer make my fortunes as a thief, instead my stalwart crew of buccaneers and I have joined with other likeminded souls to further the cause of liberty. We are founding a colony where every man is considered equal and free to do as they wish. To that end, I have chosen to work the blacksmith forges, which I imagine will amuse you to no end, but it brings me satisfaction, the likes of which I haven't found back home. For now, our location must remain secret, but one day I hope you may come here to see what we have accomplished: a society free from the unjust subjection you have grown to accept." It was signed, "Christopher," and it was dated May 17, 1715. Nathan nodded and folded the note into his journal. Obviously Libertalia was immensely successful at one time. It's existence proved that, but what happened to it? Was it simply abandoned when the Golden Age of Piracy ended? Did funding for the project reach critical levels? Or did the pirates simply leave it after a certain point? One thing was for sure, this was the greatest pirate discovery of all time, though Nathan wanted to know how the story of Libertalia ended. He figured that Libertalia must've even been an active port at one time, since the letter that this man had penned would have to be shipped overseas. Either he would deliver the letter himself, or he would sail it off. Nathan didn't remember seeing a port though, or any ruins that would suggest that a port or dock had once been there. Even so, such a structure could've easily vanished without a trace centuries ago with the rough weather that sometimes hit the island. Nathan went back down the stairs of the building, and then saw a door that descended into a cellar. Nathan went down the steps, and found himself in a blacksmith forge. Stranger still, the forge was open air. There were pillars that supported the house above it, but beneath the house was this smithy. It must've always been open air since Nathan couldn't see if there had been a wall to the street beforehand or not. He walked towards the open street, and saw a table. There were lumps of metal, a few fire stokers, and a cutlass. The sword was expertly crafted, and though a bit rusted, it could've still been used in a duel. He looked it over. It was finely balanced, and Nathan admired it for a few more seconds, before gently putting it back on the table. He turned around, and suddenly saw Sam lunge at him with a cutlass, "Avast ye dirty dog!" Sam shouted pointing the cutlass at Nathan, before the entire blade broke off from the hilt and clattered onto the ground. Nathan chuckled, "Nice," he said. Sam shrugged and held the bladeless hilt in his hand, "I was doing the…" he said, "Oh yeah, I know," Nathan replied shaking his head. Sam, still embarrassed, threw the hilt on the ground and walked away without looking at Nathan. "You're a horrible pirate," Nathan said with a chuckle. After a few minutes looking around the smithy, Sam picked up the slightly better crafted cutlass and engaged in a mock swordfight, he looked at Nathan and asked, "So, do you think they traded with other colonies?" Nathan walked over, and Sam ended his battle, "Well if they did they didn't do it on this island," Nathan replied, "Otherwise word might've gotten out about this place." "Good point," said Sam. They moseyed around the smithy a bit longer, before they walked over to the next building. It was a stable, but there was something strange about this stable. Inside the stalls, still tied up, were the bleached skeletons of about five horses. Nathan crouched down and picked up one of the bones, "Huh," he said, "Horse bones…and they're still tied up, like they were just abandoned…but why?" Sam shrugged, "I don't know," he said, "Maybe they left in a hurry…or they were taken away." Nathan shook his head, "No," he said, "Something's not right here." Nathan got up and he saw Sam crouching next to another skeleton, "So what do you think happened here?" Sam asked. "What do you mean?" asked Nathan. Sam held up his hands and replied, "Well all good things must come to an end right? I mean I joke about a cursed pirate treasure…but after hearing your stories…" Nathan shrugged himself. He was already developing a few theories of his own. Suddenly he noticed that while there were horse corpses here, there was a startling lack of human corpses. All throughout the islands surrounding Libertalia, and even in Scotland, there had been human skeletons. Here, there were none. Nathan felt like even at this point, he should've at least found one. But there were no humans to be found. It was making Nathan wonder. Why no human corpses, and why abandon the horses? It made no sense. He walked out of the stables, and suddenly noticed what looked like a gravestone standing just outside it, in the middle of the street. Nathan walked over. It was an article out of the pirate's code of conduct. It was Article Five, which read, "He who deserts Libertalia in time of battle will be punished with death." Nathan rubbed his chin. Libertalia was completely made up of pirates. Pirates were some of history's most treacherous thieves, murderers, double-crossers and outlaws. Did these pirates really follow the rules set out for them? Or did anarchy ensue when the pirates would be pirates? Nathan couldn't say he fully believed that the pirates obeyed the rules set out for them. Sure, onboard a ship pirates were some of the freest men of their time, and they would usually obey a captains orders. Most were fiercely loyal to their captain, but this wasn't just a single ship. This was a whole bunch of pirates who didn't know each other, and didn't know each other's captains. Sam walked over to the plaque. "Hmm…" he said, "I thought the whole point of this place was to have no rules," Nathan shook his head, "Well even pirate ships had rules," he said, "Can you imagine this place back in its heyday?" Sam said, "Shops open…that would've been a sight to behold!" They left the plaque and walked down the street. Soon they came to a staircase that led down to a lower area of town. At the bottom of the staircase was a large courtyard surrounded by crumbling buildings. There, in the middle of the courtyard, was a tall statue of the man that had started it all: Captain Henry Avery. He was still standing over Libertalia after all these hundreds of years. Nathan chuckled, "Captain Avery," he said, "I was wondering when you'd show up…" There he was, the pirate king himself, covered in mold. He looked up at him. The statue was about fifteen feet tall, standing on a pedestal taller than a man. He was holding out one hand, and his other was holding a sheathed cutlass. His posture evoked a look of power and majesty, even though he wasn't a king. He looked around the statue, and suddenly noticed a sigil that was painted on the other side of the statue's pedestal like graffiti. It was a skull and crossbones, and it was painted using red paint. It looked like it had been painted with blood, and maybe it had been. Nathan opened his journal and quickly sketched the sigil. "What's this sigil?" asked Nathan as Sam came over. "I saw a few of them when I was coming to find you," Sam replied. "So who's marking these places?" asked Nathan, "Is that another sigil?" Sam shrugged, "Not that I know of," he said Nathan looked at his sketch, "Maybe it was invaders?" he suggested, "I mean I'm sure these guys had a lot of enemies out here." Sam huffed, "That's a good point," he said. Nathan suddenly realized he had seen the sigil before. He got out his journal again and flipped back a few pages. Yes, there it was. It was the same sigil that he had seen with the pirate in the cave. Beside the words "No quarter for thieves," there had been this same sigil. The skull and crossbones, and when Nathan looked at the statue closer, he saw the three crosses slashed on the skull's forehead. He didn't mention it to Sam, though he had a feeling that there may have been either invaders, or maybe some of Avery's men mutinied on Libertalia itself. Either way, something was terribly wrong. Nathan looked around the small courtyard. He entered a building that looked extremely well-fortified. There was a large rusted iron gate that led to the entryway. Nathan kicked the door down, and it crashed onto the ground with an audible clang. It was the prison. He entered and walked into a main room, probably the guard's quarters. There was a desk with several incredibly hefty locks on it. Nathan then walked through an archway and into the main prison itself. There were about seven cells, each about the size of a small living room. Even here in the prison, where Nathan most expected it, there were no dead bodies. Nothing. Everything looked like it had been just left there. Most disturbing however, were the prison doors. Each of them had locks that looked broken, as if there had been a massive breakout. Nathan heard Sam yell over, "Hey Nathan! This way!" Nathan left the prison and jogged over. Sam beckoned for Nathan to come, and Nathan walked over. They entered a house and Sam led Nathan over to the far end. There was a bookshelf that had toppled over years ago, and it revealed an unusual part of the house. There was a tunnel that had been built through the ground, almost like a mineshaft. Nathan and Sam pushed the bookshelf away and entered. "This tunnel is unusual," Nathan said, "These tunnels look a lot rougher than the rest of the colony," Sam huffed, "Like they were built in a hurry," he said. They suddenly entered a room that was carved out. The walls were dirt, and supported by wooden planks. There were wooden support beams on the ceiling as well. "It looks like a hideout of some kind," Nathan said. "Yeah but who would they be hiding out from," Sam said, "Themselves?" They looked around the room a bit more, and then they noticed something very odd. There was a large table with seats that were all pushed out. There were even dishes still laid out on the table. The strange part was that there was a map of the commercial district on the wall. "Look Sam," Nathan said, "It's a map…It looks like a battle map. Look, there's arrows pointing to…the treasury. There's the tower." He looked at the map a bit more, "What were these guys up to?" he asked. Nathan looked further down into the room, and there was a separate chamber. It narrowed into a barracks with bunk beds lining the walls, and a rack full of cutlasses in front of each bed. There were about twelve beds each lined on either side of the wall. When Nathan came to the end of the hall, he saw it again. There was the mysterious sigil. The skull and crossbones with the three crosses. Sam, following behind Nathan, looked at it and said, "There's that symbol again…" Nathan nodded, "Yeah," he said, "You know, if that symbol was from an invading force, we wouldn't've found it in an underground hideout…" Sam nodded himself, "Yeah," he mused, "Well…Maybe there was trouble in paradise. Maybe a secret society? Or rebels?" "All definite possibilities," Nathan replied. The end of the hall was larger than the narrow bunking hall, and it was filled with sacks of grain and other rotten foodstuffs. The grain inside had turned to dust, and whatever had been edible had been eaten by rats long ago. Nathan looked around and he heard Sam say something he didn't quite hear. "What was that?" Nathan asked Sam. Sam looked at Nathan and replied, "Oh, no…I was just thinking to myself," "What about?" Nathan asked. Sam looked at the symbol thoughtfully and said, "Well, you know, you can start a civilization, or colony or whatever, but there's never a guarantee any of it will work. I mean look at the Aztecs, the Romans, the Greeks…The same thing must've happened here." Nathan nodded, "Well that's certainly true. I just want to know what exactly happened to Libertalia." Nathan walked over to the very end of the tunnel, which suddenly opened up. The tunnel ended, and he entered a natural cave room. At the center of the cave room was what looked like a well. Nathan thought for a moment. He noticed something extremely peculiar about this particular well: there was light coming from below. He saw a sturdy piece of wood, and he latched his grappling hook to it. Then he grabbed the rope, and carefully lowered himself down. When he did, he emerged out of the bottom of the well. He was dangling hundreds of feet off the ground. There was a tall cliff to his right, and a misty void beneath him. Somehow, the cave room he had been inside jutted out like a cantilever above the ground. He looked to his left, and saw more parts of the city. There was an entire level that they hadn't seen before. He called up to Sam, "Hey! There's a whole part of the city here!" He heard Sam yell back, "Really? Alright I'm coming down!" Nathan was able to swing back and forth and he jumped onto the flat roof of one of the buildings. He froze in his tracks when he heard raised voices coming from below. "Did anyone get word to Nadine?" asked one. It was a Shoreline mercenary. Nathan crouched down low to the ground. He couldn't see them, but he didn't know if they could see him. "Yeah," replied the other, "She and Rafe are coming here now." Nathan gritted his teeth. Now he would have to deal with Rafe too? He carefully looked for and marked his opponent, before creeping forward, as stealthily as he could. He couldn't tell how many men there were. Most of them were talking to each other, and some were just standing around, but they were standing attentively. He saw Sam swinging back and forth on his grappling hook. Nathan motioned for him to be quiet, he didn't know if even he had been too loud. Sam understood, and gave Nathan the OK, before hitting the roof as quietly as he could, though it still produced a louder sound than Nathan wanted. Sam crept over beside Nathan. "It's Shoreline," Sam said, "It looks like they haven't seen us." Nathan nodded, "Let's keep it that way," he said. He saw about three mercenaries all patrolling the homes next to them. There were large leaves growing on top of the roof they were on, and they hid underneath them. "Alright," Nathan said, "Just keep your head down." "I was about to tell you the same thing," Sam retorted. The building they were on top of was fairly small compared to the building the mercenaries were on. It looked like a huge multilevel complex, or living quarters of some kind. The building was very strangely shaped, and the roof sloped up and down. There were plenty of hiding spaces, but Nathan didn't like it. There were too many mercenaries, and they all looked like they were staring Nathan's way. Nathan waited until none of them were looking, then he jumped off the roof and onto the ground. Nobody had seen him. Sam jumped after a little while. They looked up at the wall, which was crumbling and had plenty of footholds. Nathan quietly started climbing the wall, until he got to an open windowsill. Suddenly he saw a mercenary standing right in front of him. Before the mercenary could yell out, Nathan grabbed him by the throat, and tossed him out of the window. He fell nearly two stories before he hit the ground, not moving. Nathan noticed that one of the mercenaries was coming down either to investigate, or simply change position. Nathan quickly climbed away from the window. He was sick and tired of having to evade these Shoreline idiots. He clambered to the very top of the complex, and then noticed something. The roof of the complex was only slightly higher than the ground. The complex was built almost on the edge of the cliff. The ocean was a faint mist far below, and it had been what Nathan dangled from when he went down the well, which was actually a large drainage pipe. When he got up on the roof, he suddenly heard a man yell, "There they are!" Nathan shouted, "Sam get down!" Suddenly there were bullets shooting from every direction. Fortunately, Nathan had a rifle, and he went prone, and saw a sniper taking aim at Sam. Nathan shot, and the sniper dropped. There were at least six mercenaries all in the jungle on the outskirts of the complex, and each of them shooting for all they were worth. "We have to get off the roof!" Nathan shouted. Sam and Nathan both jumped off the roof and hid behind a large rock. Suddenly a massive mercenary in body armor came around the corner of the rock. Nathan grabbed him by his helmet yanked it off. The man aimed at Nathan with his AK, but Sam quickly got behind the mercenary and smacked the butt of his pistol into the mercenary's head with a crack. The man fell. Nathan saw two of the mercenaries coming towards him, but he quickly dispatched them. After only forty-five more seconds of combat, the other two mercenaries were taken care of. The unit in this particular area wasn't so big after all. Sam looked at Nathan with a chuckle, still holding his pistol with both hands, "You alright?" Nathan asked, "Yeah," Sam replied, "A little winded…You?" Nathan nodded, "Yeah I'm fine." Nathan looked at the complex. The best comparison Nathan could give of the place was a town-house, but it was far bigger and more complex. He entered one of them. They were clearly living quarters, and some of them were almost completely intact. Still, no sign of any kind of life. No dead bodies. Walking through one of the homes, he looked out one of the windows that faced the cliff. The area in this part of the complex wasn't above the ocean, but it faced a narrow valley. The valley had a small river running through it that led into the ocean. Rising high above the other side of the river were tall orange cliffs that contrasted sharply with the overall grey rock that made up most of the island. While King's Bay was almost completely orange, Libertalia was almost completely grey. There were still houses standing on the cliff, though they looked like they had been put there by a landslide. They weren't all standing straight, some of them almost vertical, only hanging on by a thin margin. They looked at the area, it was more beautiful than Nathan could've imagined. They both kept on exploring, heading deeper into the island. This part of the village still just ran along the cliff-edge. They walked into one of the buildings when suddenly Nathan heard people talking. The voices were muffled, though Nathan could discern a voice. It was Rafe. He crept closer to the window. Rafe was talking to a mercenary on the building opposite him The window was open, and Nathan peeked just enough to see what was happening. There were two mercenaries, each talking to Rafe. "What do you mean they're not coming in?" Rafe asked. The first mercenary replied, "We can't make contact with them sir, they haven't called for half an hour." He saw Rafe nod with his eyes still half closed, an expressionless, cold face only made the eyes seem colder. "I need you to stay here and guard this building," Rafe said, "If Nate and Sam come through, they'll have to come through this building. If you see them, radio in. I want to talk to Nate in person." The mercenaries nodded, "Yes sir," they said in unison. Suddenly Rafe's walkie-talkie started ringing. He picked it up, "Hello?" Rafe said. "Yes…We don't know. Look Nadine, it's not like I can have eyes on every man guarding this place. You were in charge of where your men were deployed, not me…What do you mean? Of course not! Alright then, find a better spot. We'll need to review your units, these two men with me say they haven't even been able to contact unit 7B. Alright. I'll come. Just please think a bit more carefully where your men are placed this time." Rafe put the radio back and left. Nathan and Sam waited until they knew where Rafe was headed. Suddenly they heard a motor of some sort, and briefly caught a glance of a jeep plunging into the jungle. Well, this would be easy. They silently left the building, and climbed into the building with the two mercenaries. Climbing up to the window, Nathan tapped on the wall. The mercenary looked over, and walked to investigate. When he got up to the window, Nathan grabbed him, and threw him out. The other mercenary heard the commotion, and came with his pistol at the ready. Nathan saw the gun, and wrenched it out of the mercenary's hand, before throwing him out of the window as well. Sam looked at Nathan and chuckled, "Well so much for Rafe's protection," he said. Nathan laughed, "Come on," he said, "Let's get to the treasury."
After about an hour they came to what definitely looked like the richer area of Libertalia. Nathan and Sam looked around, and marveled at the huge white buildings, some looking like magnificent cathedrals, others like mansions that had fallen out of heaven itself. They entered one of them, a gigantic white mansion, beside which was another large white building that looked almost like a church. Nathan entered through a window, but even in this area there was an ornate golden chandelier above his head. The walls were gilded with gold, most of which were exquisite designs, and in the center of which was Henry Avery's insignia. It gave Nathan the chills every time he looked at it. After a short while, the hallway he was in opened up into the main entry. The entrance room was a massive room with incredible architecture. At the back of the room were two staircases that led to a balcony overlooking the entire room. There were diamond chandeliers, ornately carved marble decorations on the walls, but the wooden ceiling was rotten and parts of it had rotted away. The floor was made up of large stone blocks, and there were large beautifully carved archways leading to the next room. Still, despite all the elegance and richness of the mansion, there were vines and weeds everywhere. Parts of the room had dirt and mud piled in mounds, especially those underneath the parts of the roof that had been caved in. Even so, the place was magnificent, and would've been fit for the queen of England, once they had a massive clean-up of course. Nathan stared into the huge room, "Wow," he said admiringly, "Yeah I think we're definitely in the high-end district now." Nathan looked a bit closer, and he noticed a lack of residential furnishings. No, this wasn't a residential building at all. Sam looked around, "Looks like some sort of administration building," he said. Nathan nodded, "Yeah you're right," he said, "Maybe Libertalia had some sort of zoning committee." Sam chuckled, "Yeah," he said, "Maybe they paid taxes?" Nathan thought for a second, "That's a thought," Nathan said, "They built this place to be free and get away from the world, but what if this place ended up becoming the exact thing they were trying to run away from?" Sam nodded, "That's happened before in history," he said. There were golden vases that were tipped on the floor, still glinting in the sunlight that poured in from the ceiling. He walked over to one of the staircases. There was an entire tree that had grown near the bottom of the staircase. Its roots had cracked the bricks and forced themselves out through the walls. Nathan looked up the steps, but there was no need to go through. He walked further back into the building, which had almost turned into a jungle itself. There was a long corridor, overgrown with all manner of plants. On the floor was a decaying Persian rug, which would've been quite valuable in its day, but was now a moldy ruin, just like the rest of Libertalia. Suddenly, the corridor ended, and it opened into a massive open air courtyard. The doors that had opened into the courtyard had all rotted away, and Nathan walked right into the yard. The courtyard was square shaped, and it was covered in vegetation, though not as thoroughly as the rest of the area. The treasury was at the back of the courtyard, and large hallways on either side, held up by tall pillars of marble. The thing that was most noticeable about the courtyard wasn't the architecture itself, but what was at the center of it. There were huge piles of supplies mounded up. Overturned wagons, barrels, wood, stone, tables, crates, everything had just been heaped up. That still wasn't the most noticeable part of the courtyard. There, lying everywhere, were skeletons. The only ones they had yet come across. "Well I see our missing colonists," Sam said. Nathan winced. There were cannons, improvised barricades, it seemed like there had been some sort of siege in this place. "What happened here?" Nathan asked. "Some kind of battle," Sam replied. Nathan rolled his eyes, "Rhetorical question," he said. He quickly did a sketch of the bones in his journal. Each man looked a bit different. Some were clutching cutlasses, others still had their bony fingers on the triggers of rusted flintlocks. Others had no weapons at all. Nathan crouched down to look at one of the skeletons, "The real questions is who was fighting who…and why?" Nathan looked at one of the huge piles of supplies, it looked like some sort of desperate last stand had occurred here. "Hey Nathan!" Sam called. Nathan walked over. "What is it?" Nathan asked. Sam, hovering over a skeleton, replied, "It looks like some of these bodies were dressed fancy. More like soldiers." That was true. The skeleton Sam was looking at had a rusted breastplate locked around his torso, and a helmet less than a foot away from his skull. "So it was the colonists versus the soldiers…" Nathan said. Sam got up and pointed, "And if that's the treasury up there…" "Then it appears someone was trying to make a withdrawal," Nathan finished. "Yeah," Sam said, "Let's just hope they didn't succeed." Nathan was starting to wonder if the soldiers were the first pirates that had settled this place. What if these soldiers, or the first pirates, had brought other colonists with them, and then the first pirates ended up fighting with the colonists for some reason. Though he didn't have proof, it seemed like a pretty solid theory. He passed more and more dead bodies. There was one skeleton that was laying on a barrel, a cutlass through his ribcage. He walked over to the back of the courtyard, over to the treasury at the back. There, still flying, though almost tattered to bits, and faded, was Henry Avery's Jolly Roger. It was flapping gently in the breeze. He began jogging up the staircase into the treasury, a dozen dead skeletons sprawled over the steps. At the very top was the porch for the treasury, which was about the size of a city hall, and it looked like one too. He suddenly stopped in his tracks when he looked down. Painted on the porch, over seven feet wide, was the skull and crossbones with the three crosses slashed on it. 'No quarter for thieves…' Nathan thought to himself, 'What does that mean?' The doors to the treasury were missing, and Nathan and Sam walked right in. They were immediately taken back by it all. The entrance to the building was a massive hallway, and huge stone angel statues over sixteen feet tall lined the walls fifteen feet apart. The hallway ended, and the ceiling fell, a huge painting of the ocean at sunset in front of Nathan. He saw a huge pair of doors that were inlaid with gold. He pushed against them, and they gave slightly. "Hey," Nathan said, "Want to give me a hand with this?" Sam walked over, "Sure thing," he said. Sam put his weight to the door, "Gold and jewels just behind this door!" he said before they both shoved and pushed. With a crack, the doors flew open. They entered the room. It was huge, with shelves and chests and stone statues of the Founders of Libertalia all standing proudly over their treasure. Only, there was no treasure. The room was empty. Sam looked around, "its empty…" he said perplexed. "Course it is…" Nathan replied. "You think it was Rafe?" Sam asked. Nathan walked up to a table, "No…" he said touching it, "No. Nothing here's been touched for hundreds of years." There was a thick layer of dust covering everything. "Well," Sam said, "Search for clues?" Nathan nodded, "Yeah," he said, "Look for clues…" Nathan looked around the room. The walls were gilded with gold, and there were tall shelves and drawers all over the place. There were quite a few skeletons as well, most slumped over, some with cutlasses run through them. Nathan was beginning to have his suspicions about who won the fight. There was a tall statue of Henry Avery, but his head was gone. The floor and lower parts of the wall of the treasury were covered in dirt and vegetation, though no big trees, just winding vines and tall weeds ensnarling everything they touched. Suddenly Nathan stepped on something that didn't feel like the normal ground. He looked down. It was a huge picture frame, though the picture was covered in dirt. He knelt down and brushed the dirt away. It was a painting of founder Edward England, but the painting had been vandalized. The word, "Thief" had been cut into the painting with a knife. He looked up at the walls. There were paintings of the rest of the founders, Thomas Tew, Richard Want, Christopher Condent, Joseph Farrell, and the rest all had the word "Thief" scratched into their paintings. Nathan was betting that it was the colonists that had ended up winning the war, not the founders. He looked back at the ground and saw a skeleton clutching a chest. Hopeful, Nathan walked over, pried it off the dead man's cold, dead fingers, and opened it. The only thing glittering in the sun was the cloud of dust that left the chest. The pirates had taken everything with them. He looked and saw another drawer. Losing hope, he opened it. There was a note folded inside. It was a leger for the ship Manifest, that was hauling quite a load of treasure. It recorded 14,000 Spanish doubloons, 19,000 silver coins from India, and a solid gold statue of a horse and rider, weighing in at 500 pounds. There was a 50 pound bronze elephant statue, 100 iron spears from Spain, and 54 steel cutlasses from Portugal. To finish the list, there were fifty cannon balls, twelve horses, and four barrels of wine. "Old Manifest," Nathan said, "Lots of treasure." He folded the note into his journal as always, and meandered over to the side of the room with Captain Avery's headless statue. There, with a blank stare on his marble face, was Henry's head. Without a body, covered in moss on the floor. Nathan looked at it, "Hmm…Captain Avery," he said, "Well you've certainly seen better days. Not a good time to lose your head…" Suddenly he heard Sam yell, "Hey Nathan over here!" Nathan walked over, Sam was crouched on the ground, "Yeah?" he asked, "What'd you got?" Sam stood up, "Libertalia money," Sam said flipping a gold coin into Nathan's hand. Nathan looked at the coin. One the tails side was a pirate ship, and on the heads side was Henry Avery's sigil. "Wait," Nathan said, "This is Henry Avery's sigil…He must've melted down the gold and made his own currency." Sam, smiling said, "Yeah, so based on that, and the legers here on the shelves…The treasure was here!" Nathan looked around. The shelved held nothing but dust now, "But that leaves the bigger question," said Nathan, "Where is it now?" Nathan looked at the coin, and Sam rubbed his chin. "OK," said Sam, "So we know there was fighting outside…" "Yeah and inside," Nathan interrupted. "What," said Sam, Do you think the colonists stole it?" Nathan looked at the coin for several seconds. Then he turned and looked at Sam, finally understanding, "No…" said Nathan, "I think they were trying to reclaim what was theirs." Nathan pointed up to the paintings, "Look," said Nathan, "There's Avery…Tew…Their paintings are all marked with the word 'thief.' Not murderer, not tyrant…" "Thief…" Sam mused, "So by the time the colonists had busted in here, the treasure was already gone." "Yeah," said Nathan, "Because these guys," he pointed to the founder's paintings, "had already taken it for themselves." He threw up his hands, "Pirates will be pirates right?" Sam sighed, "Yeah, pirates will be pirates…" Nathan stared into the room. Where had they put it? Had they sailed off with it? Would they have to go to another continent to find the treasure? Sam was running out of time, Hector Alcazar had given him three months, but now there was less than one and a half left. Suddenly he heard Sam chuckle to himself. Nathan turned around. "What?" he asked. Sam smiled, "I know where they moved it," he said. Nathan took a step forward, "What?" he asked, "Where?" Sam pointed up to the ceiling. Nathan looked up. He suddenly realized the ceiling was decorated lavishly, with paintings of the founders and other decorations, but at the center of the ceiling was a map. He had never looked at the ceiling until now. It was a map of the entire island of Libertalia, and Nathan could plainly see the different regions. There was Saint Dismas Port, and there was the city they were inside now, which was names Saint Maries. "It's a map of Libertalia," said Nathan. Sam nodded, "Yes, now, follow the map to the other side of the island, there, you see that?" Nathan saw it was yet another city, completely separate from Saint Maries. It was named New Devon. "New Devon?" Nathan said, "Wait…Henry Avery was from Devon England." Sam nodded, "He sure was," he said. They both looked up to the painting of New Devon. It looked like it was fenced in by walls and a tall gate, but it was the inside of the walls that got Sam's attention. "Man," Sam said, "Those are some seriously large mansions…" Nathan looked closer, and noticed that painted next to each mansion, was a tiny sigil, "Each mansion has its own sigil," Nathan said, "Because that's where they lived," Sam replied. They both chuckled. Nathan turned and said, "What do you say we climb that watchtower huh? Get our bearings." Nathan pointed outside a massive hole in the ceiling. There was a watchtower beside the treasury tall enough to see over all of Libertalia. "New Devon, here we come!" Sam said with a gleam in his eye.
"Whoa," said Nathan, "Quite the crow's nest huh?" Nathan and Sam had reached the watchtower and climbed up to the very top. It was incredibly tall, and you could see over all of the massive mountains that made up the island. It was only at this vantage point that Nathan could truly appreciate the massive beauty of the island. The mountains were tall, but green and covered with mist and fog. There were waterfalls cascading down them, and he looked to see almost all of Saint Maries down at his feet. It was much larger than he originally thought. "There!" Sam said pointing east, "Just over the river." Nathan walked over and saw. Nestled between two mountain peaks was New Devon. He could only see three mansions, though he was sure there were more, as long as the colonists hadn't destroyed it all. Sam began climbing down the tower before Nathan, who took one last look at everything before he began walking down the staircase. "So," said Sam, "How long do you think it'll take for us to get to New Devon?" Nathan didn't get to answer. Suddenly there was a huge explosion. He heard Sam yell, "RPG!" Nathan knew who it was. They both began flying down the staircase. Another ear-shattering explosion, and the entire roof of the tower collapsed, destroying several staircases on top of it. Wood planks and beams smashed through parts above and below them. Nathan jumped down a flight, suddenly there was a huge bang. Nathan flew through the air, slammed into the wall, and then hit the floor. The shockwave from another RPG explosion had thrown him into the air. He groaned, unable to move for several seconds. "Nathan!" Sam said coming over, "Come on!" Sam helped Nathan up, and coming to his senses, Nathan began running. They weren't on the ground yet, still in a middle level of the tower. Suddenly there was an explosion far bigger than the others that detonated underneath the tower. The tower started to lean, and Nathan felt himself sliding. "Oh no!" Sam yelled, "Hang onto something!" There was a large crossbeam of wood and Nathan threw his grappling hook around it. He slid out of the tower, which had tipped over, and was now laying horizontal off the cliff-edge There was a cliff just in front of them, and the tower was now spanning the cliffs like a bridge. However, it wasn't about to stay there. Dangling off of the tower by the rope, Nathan saw several Shoreline mercenaries standing on the cliff edge in front of him. Three of them were armed with RPGs, and all three of them shot at Nathan. The tails of the RPGs whizzed past him. "Quick!" Sam shouted, "Climb the rope!" Nathan climbed up the rope, bullets hissing past him as fast as death could run. He reached the wooden beam that stuck out of the walls. It cracked and was about to fall off the tower. Nathan grabbed his grappling hook and suddenly the wall began to crack and fall. The tower, spanning the cliffs, was beginning to crumble to pieces. The wall of the tower had become the floor, and the already structurally unsound walls couldn't handle the strain. To make matters worse, the Shoreline mercenaries were bombarding the tower with RPG rounds. An explosion blew up dangerously close to Nathan. A huge part of the tower fell over five hundred feet before smashing into the ground far below Nathan and Sam. He jumped across a gap in the floor. "Don't slow down! Don't stop!" Nathan yelled. Crack! Snap! Bang! The tower continued to disintegrate. Nathan felt the floor beneath him crack and fall. Just before the chunk broke off, he leapt up to the chunk in front of him. He hung by a single arm, before shoving himself up and back onto his feet. The other cliff was almost in front of them. Sam reached it, and beckoned for Nathan to hurry. Suddenly an RPG blast blew the rest of the tower off. Nathan fell, but Sam caught him just in time. He pulled with all his might, before Nathan stood on solid ground once again. "Thanks…" Nathan said. Without warning a hail of bullets began raining down on them. They took cover behind the remains of the tower. The door to the tower was just ahead. "Forget them!" Sam yelled. They bravely rushed past the bullets and the mercenaries "Help me get the door open!" Sam shouted. On the count of three, they slammed their bodied into the door, and they blew open. They ran on and reached another building. They went up to the door, pistols at the ready. Nathan cracked it open, and suddenly a grenade appeared at his feet. "Get away!" Sam shouted. Nathan leapt back, and the grenade exploded. For a few seconds Nathan couldn't hear anything but an intense ringing sensation in his ears. He felt confused before he regained his senses. He was on some wooden planking. Suddenly the planking snapped, and he began sliding down a muddy slope. The slope suddenly ended and dropped off. There was a building just in front, half fallen off the cliff. Just before he dropped to his death, Nathan jumped and grabbed the bricks of the building. He could just barely see Sam shooting at several mercenaries. "Sam!" he yelled, "Go get 'em!" He saw Sam turn and look at him, before he disappeared. He climbed up the building. Suddenly Sam went quiet. Either he had been killed or he had fought off all the mercenaries. He saw a window just above him. He climbed up and vaulted into the window, "Sam!" he yelled, "I'm-" Suddenly somebody punched him viciously in the face. Before he could recover, the person grabbed his arm and slammed it down onto the windowsill, knocking his pistol out of his hand. The person then kicked him into the wall. Nathan saw who it was. It was Nadine. "OK," he said holding out his hand, "Wait, wait!" Nadine didn't listen, instead she flipped him onto the ground on his back. Nadine pulled her pistol out of her holster and walked beside Nathan. "Hey Nadine," Nathan said, "Great to see you again." Nadine forcefully put her boot on Nathan's chest. "Ow!" Nathan said, "OK, truce! Truce!" Nadine smiled and pointed her pistol at Nathan's head. "Are you always this clever?" Nadine asked. Nathan chuckled, "I have my moments." He said. "Yes," said Nadine, "You and your brother have proven yourselves to be the more capable treasure hunters on the island. Hm. Shame we're not on the same side…" Nathan looked at Nadine, "Hey, well…There's still time…" Nadine scoffed, "Trust a Drake? I'm not falling for that again." Nadine still kept her foot on Nathan's chest, but she cocked her pistol, "Hey, Nadine wait, wait!" She took aim. Suddenly Sam jumped down from a hole in the ceiling above. Nadine fell down, but she recovered with lightning speed and kicked Sam in the face. Nathan picked up her pistol and aimed, but Nadine charged, and she and Nathan crashed into the wall, which broke apart. They tumbled down a sloped roof before falling and crashing through the ceiling of another level of the building. They hit the floor of the room. Slightly dazed, neither Nathan nor Nadine attacked. Nadine saw her pistol, but it fell through a hole in the floor. She tried to grab it but it was too late. Slowly getting up, Nathan grunted, "Well that was…a bit rougher than expected," he said. Nadine began to get up herself, "Alright," Nathan said, "I'll just uh…See myself out." Nadine got up to her full height. "After everything…" she said, "You think I'm just going to let you walk away?" Sam dropped through the ceiling. He glared at Nadine, "That'd be the wise thing to do." He said in a low voice. Nadine huffed and began circling the room, Nathan and Sam circling with her, "Ah come on Nadine, really?" Nathan said not wanting another fight. "I mean we know you're tough and all but there's two of us." Nadine shook her head, "You don't think my men are on their way here right now? All I have to do is buy some time." She smiled, "And that's if I don't finish you myself," she said. The three of them squared off. Sam attacked first, landing a punch to Nadine's face, but Nadine kicked savagely, driving Sam away. Nathan tried to attack, but Nadine was far too quick. She kicked Nathan in the face, before grabbing him by the throat and driving him onto a table. Forcing his head down, she punched him repeatedly. "I'm tired of this island!" Nadine shouted, "I'm tired of your brother!" Nathan tried to escape, but Nathan smacked her knee into Nathan's chest, "And I'm tired of you!" she finished. "Oh no you don't!" Sam shouted. Sam tried to attack, but Nadine slammed her elbow into Sam's temple. Nathan tried to help, but she kicked him onto the ground. "Agh…" Nathan said trying to get up, "How does she do that?" Nadine had Sam in a corner, and she was beating him to a pulp. "Nathan!" Sam yelled. Nathan ran over, and picked Nadine up, before slamming her into the wall. Nadine brought her elbow down hard on Nathan's shoulder, and Nathan felt the bone pop out of place. Nadine went to punch Nathan in the face, but he dodged, and Nadine punched Nathan in his dislocated shoulder, setting it back in place with a snap. Nathan tried to kick her, but she kicked him instead, once again kicking him out the window. Nathan was able to grab the windowsill, and while Nadine was busy with Sam, Nathan quickly jumped up the wall of the building, then he entered the upper level. He could see Nadine and Sam battling just below him. He jumped, "Nadine!" he shouted before falling directly onto Nadine. The force of his impact destroyed the floorboards. They fell down until they hit the ground. The cliff edge was only a few yards in front of Nathan's face. He saw Nadine's pistol in front of him. He weakly crawled to grab it, but Nadine walked over and kicked him in the gut. Nathan went into the fetal position, but Sam lunged for the pistol and grabbed it before Nadine could get it first. "You're fast," said Sam, "But not that fast." He pointed the pistol at Nadine. "Alright," Nathan said, "Just forget about her. Come on we gotta get out of here before they…" As if on cue, several Shoreline mercenaries came around the corner, along with Rafe Adler. Sam grabbed Nadine by the throat and holding her, he put the pistol to her head. She held her arms up. "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Nathan said, "Everybody just…" Wearing a black t-shirt, Rafe stood there, still with hair slicked back, still eyes half-closed. Still a smirk on his face. He stood there with a pistol in hand, "Well this is interesting," he said in a nonchalant tone of voice, "Nate…" he cocked his head, "Samuel." Sam stood there, pressing the cold metal of the pistol into Nadine's scalp. "Put your guns down!" Sam demanded, "All of you!" A few tense moments passed. "No." Rafe said calmly. "Rafe," said Nadine, "This guy's on edge." Rafe scoffed, "Oh don't worry about him Nadine, these guys don't kill anyone in cold blood it's just not their style." Sam glared at Rafe, "You willing to bet her life on that!?" he said in a way Nathan didn't like at all. "Go ahead then," Rafe said, "Shoot her!" "Sam…" Nathan said. "I die you both die," Nadine said. "So be it!" Sam growled. Rafe took a step forward, "Not another step!" Sam shouted. Smirking, Rafe said, "You mean…" he took a step forward, "Like this?" "Sam! Put the gun down!" said Nathan. "I warned you," Sam said, "Do it!" shouted Rafe. Nathan lunged for the gun, which shot, but didn't hit anyone. "Hold your fire!" Rafe shouted to the mercenaries, "Don't shoot!" he looked at Nathan, "Put the gun down." Nathan threw the pistol down on the ground. "It's done," said Nathan, "OK? It's done." Nadine crouched and picked up her pistol. She looked at Rafe with hatred in her eyes, "Don't worry Nadine," she mocked, "It's not their style." Rafe shrugged, "What can I say I didn't think he had it in him." He said. Rafe smiled and walked over to Sam. He chuckled, but definitely not in a friendly way, "Sam!" he said, "Samuel. You OK?" Rafe brushed some dust off of Sam's shirt. "I guess you knew this moment was coming huh?" Rafe smacked his pistol over the bridge of Sam's nose. Sam fell to the ground. "Hey!" Nathan said, "Come on man. You already got us. Take it easy." Rafe pointed his pistol at Nathan's head. Nathan decided to try and negotiate. "Come on now you're a businessman," said Nathan, "Let's just…work out a deal." Rafe nodded, eyes still half closed, "Oh, a deal," he said, "Oh yeah, I'd love to hear what you had in mind." Rafe walked over and savagely kicked Sam in the forehead. Sam coughed, eyes closed in agony. "Go ahead I'm listening," Rafe said. Nathan helped Sam up, "Alright look," Nathan said, "You want to find Avery's treasure? We can help you find it." Rafe nodded, "And in exchange I let you live?" "Yes," Nathan replied, "That…and a small cut." Rafe laughed and looked at Nadine, "The guts of this guy!" he said. "Just enough to get him his freedom OK?" Nathan said. Rafe looked confused. "His freedom?" he asked through narrowed eyes. Sam stepped forward, a desperate look in his eye, "Nathan…" he said not quite looking at him. "Yeah," said Nathan, "He did hard time, our time. And the guy who broke him out, Hector Alcazar…he owes him a lot of money." Nathan didn't notice Sam's face. Sam was looking at the ground, looking as if somebody he loved had just died. "Whoa," Rafe said waving his arm, "What in the world are you talking about Nate? Hector Alcazar died in a shootout in Argentina like ten months ago." He chuckled, "I'm the one that got Samuel out." Nathan's eyes narrowed. Had he heard right. He looked at Sam. "Wha?" he said. Looking at all of this, Rafe chuckled, "Ohhhhhh…" he said. Rafe turned around, then looked back at Sam, "Wow," he said, "What did he tell you?" he said looking at Nathan. Still smirking, Rafe looked at Sam and said in a scolding tone of voice, "Sam…What kind of story did you cook up? Alcazar? Really? You lied? You lied to your baby brother?" "We're wasting time!" Nadine shouted from behind. "Just a second!" Rafe snapped. Rafe paused, then sighed. He looked at Nathan, "Thing is Nate," he said, "I never stopped looking for Avery's treasure. I just kept running into these dead ends." He laughed, "You know…And then I hear that our dear old Samuel Drake, an authority on Avery, is alive, and somewhat well. There was no breakout. I bribed the prison warden, and your brother just waltzed out of the front gate. He spent the last two years tracking down the second Saint Dismas cross. And you know what?" he grinned, "He did it all with me." "No," Nathan said refusing to believe it, "No that's a lie." Rafe chuckled and turned around, "Not that story…," he said, "Sam? Care to refute?" Sam couldn't look Nathan in the eye. He stood there for several seconds, "Nate…" he said. "Aw Sam…" Nathan said taking a step back, "No, no!" Sam walked over to Nathan, "Listen," he said, "Avery's treasure is ours, it's always been ours!" he tried to put his hand on Nathan's shoulder but Nathan shoved him away, "No!" Nathan shouted, "I gave up my life for you!" He tried to say something else but he couldn't speak. Rafe laughed and clapped his hands together, "Hey Nate," he said, "if it's any consolation he duped me too. He pulled a Houdini on me, he brought you and that old man back into the mix and I'm not going to lie Sam," he said looking at him, "That really ticked me off. But you know…All behind us now…" Sam glared at Rafe, "You don't deserve it." He said looking at him, his fists clenched. Rafe scoffed, "You do?" he asked, "Last I checked we're all a bunch of thieves digging around where we shouldn't." Nadine stepped forward. "Rafe," she said. Rafe turned around, "One way or another end it. Or I will." Rafe looked at her, then he turned around and looked at Sam and Nathan. "Well you heard the lady," he said. He pointed his pistol at Sam but Nathan intervened, "Hey!" he said, "You miss that clue and you can kiss that treasure goodbye. Hey you said it yourself. You just keep running into dead ends. Why don't you face it Rafe. You need us." Rafe just stood there, his eyes narrow, his pistol pointed directly at Sam's forehead. He didn't answer. He just kept standing there. "Yeah you're right." He said. He lowered his pistol. Nathan looked at him. "Well you're half right." He said. "I just need Sam." Rafe held up his pistol and pointed it at Nathan's forehead. "Rafe! Rafe! Don't Rafe! Stop!" Sam shouted. Rafe pulled the trigger, but Sam stepped in front of Nathan. Suddenly Nathan felt himself falling down the cliff. He couldn't tell if Sam was alive or dead. Suddenly he hit the cliff and he couldn't feel anything else. The last thing he remembered was hitting water.