Chapter 17:

James sat quietly on his hammock and stared at the ceiling. The Jackdaw rocked and swayed easily beneath him as he lied there. Somewhere above him Edward and Anne were at the helm, guiding them ever closer to Tulum. They had decided it was time to finish this, cut the head off of the snake or die trying.

James rubbed bed at his eyes when he felt the prickling of tears there. He didn't know why he was so affected by the death of the Irish Templar gone rogue. Maybe he had gotten more attached than he had realized over the last couple of days. He didn't know. Maybe it had to do with how easygoing the man had been. Maybe James thought that he had been too good somewhere inside to die. Whatever he felt or thought didn't matter, however. Patrick was dead and there wasn't a thing they could do, except make sure his death wasn't in vain.

James was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of approaching feet. He brought his gaze from the ceiling and looked down to see Anne approaching him. Without saying a word, she squeezed into the hammock with James and lied her head on his chest. Despite how he felt, James successfully grinned.

"I never figured you as the sappy type," he said. She reached up and slapped the back of his head.

"Ow!" He said.

"Stop being a baby," she said softly. James chuckled and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence. It was a long time before Anne spoke.

"Are you ready for this?" James gave the question a lot of thought. After a moment he decided he would just be as honest as he could; besides Edward, Anne was the only one he felt he could trust with things like this.

"I think we're sailing into the enemy's territory with no preparation; we're highly outmanned, we have literally no plan and I'm sure someone is going to die...but since when have the odds stopped me?" Anne found James's question funny.

"You are an idiot, Kenway. But you being around has its advantages."

"Oh, I'm sure it does," James said slyly. As a response, Anne slapped his head again. James laughed and placed a delicate kiss on the top of her head.

The sun shone brightly from its place in the sky. The breeze was light and there were seemingly no clouds.

"God couldn't have painted a prettier picture," James said as he and Anne stepped out onto the Jackdaw's deck. He walked up the stairs to the forecastle and stopped just to Edward's left.

"We're making good time," Edward said, casting a glance up at the sun. "It must be somewhere around noon." James gave a small nod.

"Sooner we get there, the better." James replied. Edward did not give an answer right away. Instead he just continued to stare out at the sea. When he did speak, his voice was low, almost regretful.

"James...I don't know if I can do this."

James turned his head to look at Edward. "Do what?" Edward motioned ahead of them, the general direction of Tulum.

"Go into this fight with you." James's eyes grew to the size of quarters, and from somewhere in his throat came a sound of shock.

"What do you mean? We need your help Edward!" He exclaimed.

"I have kids James!" Edward shouted back.

"So you're going to let your brother and your good friend fight an enemy of this size alone?"

"I can't die and leave my kids behind! I can't do that to my daughter again! I'm sorry James, but I think you're going to have to do this without me."

James took a step forward. "Why you no good, slimy-"

"Boys, we have trouble." Anne said. James and Edward both looked towards her. She held Edward's spyglass in her hands and was staring ahead of them.

"What is it?" Edward asked.

"Galleon, bearing the Templar cross, coming for us." Edward snatched the spyglass from Anne's hands and looked. His lips tightened visibly and he took a deep breath.

"No way we are going to avoid being seen by that. We're going to have ta' face it." Edward shouted orders to his men and James watched as they scurried about the deck, preparing to take on their current enemy.

James watched as the Galleon came into view, a beast of a ship compared to the Jackdaw.

"He's on that ship." James said.

Edward's head turned to him momentarily.

"You mean Louis Dalton." It wasn't a question.

"We need to board it," James said.

"Are you insane?" It was Anne yelling at him.

"Even for you, that is a a bad idea." Edward agreed.

"One way or another, I am getting on that ship." Before Edward or Anne could argue further, James went into action. He vaulted over the forecastle's railing and began to scale the mast, climbing to the crow's nest above. When he was once again on his feet, high up above the deck, James activated his sixth sense. From where he stood high up, James could see the entire expanse of the Galleon's deck. He scanned it slowly. It took only a minute for him to spot Dalton. He, like James, stood on the crow's nest, a musket in his hands.

James clenched his fists and waited for the Jackdaw to get close enough to the ship for him to cross. This was it, he would kill Louis Dalton today. Or die trying.

AN: And...cliffhanger! The final battle between James and Louis Dalton will be featured in the next (and possibly final) chapter. But do not worry, I do plan to have a two-part Epilogue.

But anyway, what's going to happen to James and co. during this face off with Dalton? Will James Kenway be able to take him down? And if he can, will he be able to protect the two people he cares about the most? Well, you'll find out sometime in the near future.

~Exangellion