Chapter 121: Duel on the Doomed Ship

…

"I-I do not understand," Zelda said, shaking her head. "Why would they do that?"

"We don't know," Irleen said. Link turned in response to noise behind them to find that a Geozard had come up from the gun deck. It was looking around in confusion before rounding the hatch and running for the bow. He watched as he listened to Irleen say, "It's like my home all over again."

"Again?" Zelda asked while Link watched the Geozard change directions and run back to the hatch. "This has happened before?"

"My whole home is gone," Irleen told her. Link saw two more Geozards come out of the hatch and, not watching where they were going, collide with the Geozard already on-deck. "They just abandoned me."

Another explosion rocked the ship, prompting Link to tell them, "Uh, we should get outta here."

"What was that?" Zelda asked, looking down at the deck.

"I, uh… I set the gun deck on fire. That's powder exploding beneath us."

"Yeah, okay," Irleen said, her voice reaching a higher pitch. "We should go."

Shouting sounded from astern, and Link looked past Zelda to find that Cunimincus was gesturing toward them. That was when Link realized that a number of Stalarmors and Dinolfos were scattered about the deck. They had been at work with the rigging before Cunimincus called to them. Now, many of them were dropping the running rigging and picking up whatever weapons they wore. Link stepped around the princess to put himself on their path to her. "Irleen, do you see the Symphony anywhere?" he asked over his shoulder.

"It's, uuuh…" Irleen replied as she looked around. "Oh, boy. I don't see it anywhere!"

"Stay here," Link told them. He stabbed the sword into the deck so that he could quickly retrieve Irleen's translating gem again. He passed it into Zelda's hands. Then he pulled the sword out and shouted, "Layna, let's do it!"

He charged forward at the crewmen approaching them from across the deck. His boots increased his speed, and the Dinolfos who was attempting to aim a pistol at him barely had time to correct its aim before Link was nearly underneath it. Link slid to a stop and thrust the sword upwards into the Dinolfos' neck. The sword pierced its target, and then Link pulled the sword back out and stepped aside so that the Dinolfos could fall to the deck. He used his shield to intercept a longsword being wielded by a Stalarmor. This one appeared to be a heavily-armored Stalarmor with sharp edges on most of its skeleton. Plates of armor defended its joints, meaning that Link could not knock it off-balance with a leg strike. It took him so long to look for a point to strike that he had to defend himself from a follow-up horizontal strike which he blocked with his shield again. He had to back up and try to look for the Stalarmor's crystal between its plates of armor. It was simply too well-defended; even its skull had rows of razor blades which made it look like it sported slicked-back hair.

This was probably why, when Layna dropped to the deck from above, she had a studding sail with her. The Stalarmor, as well a second Stalarmor and a Lizalfos that were flanking it, jerked to a stop when the black-clad figure hit the deck. Layna threw the small sail around the Stalarmor's head and wrenched its skull free. The Lizalfos ducked, and even Link flinched backwards to avoid being struck by what was undoubtedly a heavy head. She released the sail and threw the head over the starboard side. Then she spun, landing a kick to the hand that the Stalarmor held its longsword with. The Stalarmor retaliated with a horizontal swing intended to hit anything nearby. This caused the Stalarmor to hit the Lizalfos in the head, knocking it to the deck. She then tossed a throwing blade into its opposite arm, effectively tapping it on the shoulder before the bounce redirected the blade into the throat of a Dinolfos standing behind the forward group. The Stalarmor whipped around with another horizontal strike. The smaller, lesser armored Stalarmor next to it used a hand to stop the blade before it bashed its ribs out. This served to indicate to the headless Stalarmor that there was an opponent there, and it used its other arm to knock the smaller Stalarmor's head off. If it was not for the fact that they were on a ship full of things that wanted to kill them, Link might have actually found this a little funny. As it was, though, he wondered if Layna was using the Stalarmor against its crewmates because she might have found it funny.

The thoughts quickly subsided when he caught movement to his left, where the deck had been left wide open. A pair of Lizalfos was crossing the deck toward Zelda and Irleen. He dashed in this direction and, without stopping, rammed his shield into the slower of the two. The impact sent it sprawling over the bulwark, screaming as it fell away. The scream alerted the other Lizalfos, and it whipped around with a pistol raised to shoot someone much taller than Link. It was slow correcting its aim, and Link took the opportunity to aim a backhanded swing at its arm. The blade sliced into the Lizalfos' wrist. The Lizalfos dropped the pistol before it could fire and spun to protect itself with a rounded pauldron. Link reversed the direction of the blade and sliced into the Lizalfos' bicep just underneath the pauldron. Then he quickly reversed direction again and opened a line of red on the side of its face, causing it to fall over.

"Link, behind you!" Zelda cried out to him. Link spun to find a Dinolfos bearing down on him with a battleaxe raised for a definite killing blow.

Kbang! The Dinolfos jerked in a manner that threw off its movement, and Link shifted to one side to allow the Dinolfos to fall over. When it landed, Link had clear sight of a bullet hole in the side of its head. He looked to the right, the only direction that the bullet could have come from. All he saw was black smoke from the fire on the gun deck, considerably thicker now that the fire had probably spread to more areas of the ship.

Then he saw the Island Symphony through the smoke. Standing on the bow were both Leynne and Twali. While Leynne busied himself with a strange-looking musket, Twali aimed an arrow at the deck.

"Layna!" Link called out as he turned around. He met a Geozard rushing at him from that direction by swinging a last-second strike to its short legs. It tripped and fell into the bulwark. Link finished it by backhanding it with his shield, knocking it over the edge by its bottom. "Layna, the ship's here!"

Layna, in the middle of balancing herself atop a Stalarmor's shoulders, looked up to acknowledge Link. Then she closed her feet on either side of the Stalarmor's skull, flipped forward off its shoulders, and slammed the skull into the deck as she landed, causing the Stalarmor to fall backwards from the disorientation.

Link then sighted a Geozard and a Lizalfos approaching him. The Lizalfos was promptly shot with an arrow, penetrating its neck and dropping it to the deck. The Geozard paused to look at its companion in confusion, and Link lunged forward with a horizontal strike that nearly decapitated the Geozard. Then he spun and, spotting the Island Symphony through another opening in the smoke, waved them closer with his sword. He glanced back to find that Layna had cowed the crew into backing off, so he continued to signal the Island Symphony closer. Shouting sounded from the direction of the quarterdeck.

Then the Smiling Gunner gave a large jerk that nearly caused all hands to fall. Link watched the Island Symphony retreat. Then he turned to find that the smoke from the port side was spilling over onto the weather deck. The Smiling Gunner had turned away from the Island Symphony. His eyes immediately moved to the quarterdeck.

Cunimincus stood at the wheel. They exchanged glares, establishing their hatred of each other over the distance.

And then Link was moving across the deck as Cunimincus' crew tried to spread themselves out to defend their captain. Link stopped just as two Dinolfos and four Geozards moved toward the starboard side. "Layna!" he shouted. He indicated Zelda and Irleen with the arm holding his shield, his fingers flared open in a sign that they had already worked out. "Protect the princess and Irleen!" Layna, having just slit the throat of a Geozard, took notice of him and nodded. As Link advanced, she started retreating toward Zelda and Irleen.

Link charged forward, and his speed picked up enough that, even after the Dinolfos and Geozards had thickened their formation to ensure he could not jump over them, he was able to punch straight into their formation by ducking behind his shield. The charge tossed one Geozard over the side and caused a Dinolfos to swing backward and stab its scimitar into the eye of the Geozard directly behind it. Link pressed in between them and stabbed a Geozard in the stomach. He heard the Dinolfos behind him growl and raised his shield to block an overhead cleave. The sword and shield made contact, and Link swung the shield outward to try forcing the blade out of the Dinolfos' hand. This failed, but Link pulled out the Lokomo Sword from the Geozard's gut and whipped it around to slice open the Dinolfos' unguarded belly. The Dinolfos retreated with its arms crossed over its stomach, and Link turned back to deal with the remaining Geozard and Dinolfos. He was a little surprised to see them both staring at each other, as if subconsciously debating with each other. Then they nodded at each other, although Link doubted if they had actually come to an agreement. What the Geozard seemed to understand was that the fight was pointless, and it decided to end it quickly by diving over the edge of the ship. Link turned to the Dinolfos to see it roll its eyes. Then Link took a stupendous leap backwards when the Dinolfos, somehow finding the time to take in the breath it needed, suddenly spewed fire in his direction. The flames set the nearby bodies of its crewmates on fire, one of which started thrashing as it burned. Link was blinded by the fire. Then he jumped up and over the flames once the Dinolfos had run out of breath. The Dinolfos took a step backward in surprise, giving Link enough room to run the Lokomo Sword into its chest. Having dispatched the last of the group, Link quickly moved up the stairs.

When he reached the quarterdeck, he turned with his sword raised in challenge to Cunimincus, who had cast off his uniform jacket in favor of a tight, leather waistcoat hugging his blue-scaled, lithe frame. Already backed away from the helm, the demon captain turned to reveal that he had clad his left arm in a full sleeve of armor as well as having put on a belt bearing a long, curved saber. He watched as Link moved sideways to put some distance between himself and the stairs.

Then he spoke. "Baxghahs, Haihlin," he said in a smooth, deep voice. "Sukmenaxh asu. Sukshoxghen soxgh jigh tahxghk. Abuk duxghe akuxgh imbex. Aswuk bwahxghat asu phoxgh." He clapped his hands together three times before placing them on the saber in a manner indicating the intention to draw. "Jax. Tixghnoishoghegh sahgh?"

Then he charged forward, saber still not drawn. The draw did not occur until he was close enough. Once Link saw the movement, he held the shield to intercept. But he misread the angle that the saber was being drawn in. Link felt a hot line carve across his right shin, and he retreated as Cunimincus' saber drew a large arc in the air on the follow-through. He had never seen that happen before; if he did not have to retreat, Link could have easily hit him with a counterstrike. The surprise left Link's defense open, and he quickly brought his shield up to defend his torso as Cunimincus advanced and grabbed the edge of Link's shield. Yet another bold move left Link open due to his shock, and he twisted out of the way the moment he felt the saber land on his shoulder. Link had to back towards the aft to avoid tripping over the bulwark. Cunimincus stood still, and Link took the moment to look down. His tunic had been slashed from his left shoulder just under the sheath's belt to his belly, exposing the chainmail underneath. He put on a determined scowl and held the shield up to defend himself.

Cunimincus, however, did not take on an attacking stance. Instead, he commented, "Bvakaxghst. Shogheghdt imbex bexh."

Link then realized that he might be in very real trouble. Cunimincus appeared to be an experienced swordsman. Worse, he only appeared to be playing with Link. He did not know how he would deal with this fight, his mind a complete blank.

Cunimincus then advanced and brought up his saber for a downward blow. Link immediately angled his shield up to intercept the blow and felt it impact the shield. He heard the sword scrape off the front of the shield and turned to deliver a thrust intended for Cunimincus' chest. Instead, Link's blade was directed upwards when Cunimincus spun and redirected by using reverse edge of his curved blade to hook the Lokomo Sword. Link then felt Cunimincus strike the back of his head with the gauntleted hand, and this nearly sent Link sprawling down the steps. Instead, Link kept himself from falling and immediately turned around to find Cunimincus holding the saber in a ready position, his opposite hand on his hip. He curled his scaled lips in an amused grin. Link sidestepped so that he was not so close to the bulwark; one false move, and Cunimincus could end this quickly by simply knocking him over the side. He sneered at Cunimincus, which only caused Cunimincus' eyes to light up in sick delight.

Link decided to strike first. He advanced and went for a diagonal strike aimed at getting around Cunimincus' sword and slicing into his arm. Cunimincus raised his saber up, using the length to slow Link's blade until it simply stopped at the guard. Cunimincus stepped forward to close the distance and, with Link's sword still held high, delivered a shove to Link's chest. Link stumbled backward, his sword free of Cunimincus' interference. But as he was correcting his footing, Cunimincus lunged forward with a quick horizontal strike that had very little power behind it. Link blocked with his shield and stumbled to one side in the process. He recovered and spun to find Cunimincus standing still, a smug grin on his face. Link stepped forward and swatted the saber aside. He went for a horizontal strike that looked fast and true, aiming for Cunimincus' shoulder. Cunimincus twisted his wrist and brought the saber up. The saber's lower half contacted the end of Link's sword, and Cunimincus pumped his arm up to deflect Link. Once the swords separated, Link reversed the direction of his swing and managed to draw a line of red on the back of Cunimincus' upper arm. Cunimincus turned and thrust his palm against Link's shield to shove him backward again. Although he backed off, Link had anticipated the move and was able to keep his feet steady. Cunimincus twisted his arm to get a better look at the wound. His response was an indifferent grunt before raising his saber to a ready position again. Link glowered, realizing that his wounds had been worse than Cunimincus' so far. He raised the Lokomo Sword and allowed the tip to hover just a hair's breadth from the end of Cunimincus' saber. His shin stung, and he just started feeling the effects of the strike he had taken to the head. Meanwhile, Cunimincus had barely been bothered to look at his single wound. He needed another approach. However, Link was at a loss for how he should get an attack through.

Cunimincus stepped forward and, unbelievably, grabbed the Lokomo Sword in his armored hand. He tugged on the sword, and Link had to stumble forward or risk having the sword ripped from his hand. Link realized his mistake as he saw Cunimincus raise the saber; Link's head was exposed and in prime range to be split by the saber. Link had barely a second to realize that, while he was in optimum strike range, Cunimincus was also open for a good hit. So Link punched him in the head with his shield. Cunimincus' strike glanced off Link's shoulder as he stumbled, and Link pulled the sword out of Cunimincus' grasp. He turned and intercepted a horizontal strike with his shield. The saber glanced off, and Link turned to lash out with his own horizontal strike. He had aimed too high, and Cunimincus ducked underneath. Link took a heavy punch to the ribs and stumbled backwards, feeling the breath knocked out of him. He felt a hand grab his shoulder. Years of observing and escaping bar fights suddenly flashed through his head. And he retaliated by kicking for the knee. Cunimincus, originally planning to punch Link in the head with the saber's guard, faltered from the attack, and Link felt some of his weight fall on his shoulder. Link grabbed Cunimincus' armor with his right hand and pulled down. Cunimincus' grip slipped, and he made to slash at Link's face in an attempt to use what remained of the saber's punching position. Link's hat went flying, and Link caused Cunimincus to roll onto the deck. Link quickly backed away to assess his new position.

Cunimincus stood again. He used his saber hand to feel his face. His fingertips stopped on a bare patch of skin in between the scales on his left cheek. He glanced down, and Link followed his eyes. A single, spade-shaped scale had been caught in the deck planks. They looked up at each other, and Link realized that he may have just made Cunimincus angry.

Cunimincus charged forward with the saber low at his side. Link braced himself and blocked the diagonal strike with his sword. Cunimincus withdrew the blade and swung out in a horizontal arc next. Link caught the attack against his shield. Cunimincus pulled back again and, in a shocking move, made to stab Link. Link swung his shield and deflected the blade low and to the left. It left both of them unable to follow through, so Link took a step back. Cunimincus spun and whipped the saber upwards. If Link had not been retreating, he would have lost the end of his nose. He could definitely feel the hostility from Cunimincus, and it seemed to mean that Cunimincus was finished playing. He raised his shield to defend against the saber's return in a diagonal slash. After the blow, Cunimincus grabbed the edge of the shield and pulled hard, as if he was trying to rip Link's arm off. Link had to raise the Lokomo Sword to block the saber from severing Link's right arm. He redirected the saber to the side and jerked his shield out of Cunimincus' grasp. He had it raised just as Cunimincus punched for Link's face. Fist met shield. Then Link drove the shield forward and twisted, throwing the Lokomo Sword into an upward slash aimed at Cunimincus' chest. Cunimincus had to lean backwards to keep the strike from making contact, and he took a step back to keep himself standing. He latched his gauntleted hand around Link's wrist, so Link kicked for Cunimincus' crotch. Cunimincus jumped backwards when Link's foot made contact, although it was hard to tell if it was a weak spot for him. The jump left Cunimincus in an odd position, so Link pulled his arm back. Cunimincus flopped onto the deck. He was about to stab upwards with the saber, but Link then kicked him in the ribs as hard as possible. A grunt escaped Cunimincus' cracked lips, and he finally released Link's arm so that he could roll away.

Link did not pursue Cunimincus, instead deciding to take a moment to catch his breath. Cunimincus propped himself up on a knee and left his defenses down as he too tried to breathe through the intense pain accompanying a broken rib. Then he shoved the saber's point into the deck so that he could use it to push himself back to his feet. Both of them raised their swords in anticipation of another clash. Link felt as if he had gone deaf. He could just barely feel the deck beneath him vibrating with each keg of gunpowder that the fire ignited. Thick smoke blocked out the nearby sky; the only window open was directly above their heads. He did not know if anyone had retrieved Irleen and Zelda, and he was afraid to look away since Cunimincus would likely take the opportunity to attack. Cunimincus was equally as focused on Link, his eyes not straying for one moment to check on his crew or his ship. For what felt like almost an eternity, they stared at each other.

Then they both charged.

Link had his shield up to take the first strike. Cunimincus sidestepped to Link's left and tried to hit Link with an upward strike. Link planted his right foot on the deck and used it to pivot himself out of the way. Cunimincus spun and redirected the saber's path to turn it into a horizontal slash. When Link moved his shield to block, he gave his shield an extra push just before contact was made with the saber. Metal rang out. For once, Cunimincus could not maintain the saber's momentum by just sliding it across whatever surface he had struck. Link then spun and tried to smack the saber out of his hand by hitting the reverse edge with his sword as hard as he could. Cunimincus held the saber, but his position after the strike gave Link an opportunity. He reversed his swing and managed to get a good slice into Cunimincus' shoulder before Cunimincus could roll his shoulder out of the way. Cunimincus then repaid him by stepping forward and punching Link in the chest. Something in Link's chest snapped (likely a rib, although Link had no immediate sensation of pain as the previous time someone had broken one of his ribs), but Link struck the gauntlet with the edge of his shield as if nothing had happened. Both of them recovered at the same time and attempted to stab at the other. Link's left sleeve tore open when the saber slipped through the loose cuff of his body suit, and he managed to slide the Lokomo Sword into the armhole of Cunimincus' waistcoat and split the armhole open all the way to the collar, baring Cunimincus' collarbone. They quickly backed away, and Link grabbed the dangling remains of his sleeve with his right hand to tear them off. He threw the sleeve aside and raised his guard as Cunimincus checked his waistcoat. Link was slowly losing energy. He had never had such an intense swordfight before, not since his encounter with the technoworks doppelganger.

The memory of that encounter was likely what inspired Link's next move. Cunimincus lunged at Link with the intent of using a low sweep of his saber to strike Link's leg, a move that would have surely crippled Link's movements.

But Link jumped. He easily cleared Cunimincus' head just as Cunimincus went for the strike. Cunimincus was dumbstruck when his target disappeared from sight. Link landed behind Cunimincus and, not daring to think about how well or poorly this idea would work, spun with a horizontal strike aimed at chest-height. For Cunimincus, it meant that the middle of his back had been sliced open. Cunimincus gave a howl of pain. He wheeled with the saber swinging to catch Link's neck. Link spun so that he could intercept the strike with the shield. He continued to spin so that he could deliver a backhanded horizontal strike to Cunimincus' left upper arm. Cunimincus made the mistake of raising his elbow to the side to defend, as it caused Link's blade to redirect upwards and graze his bald head. Scales fell off as well as a chunk of flesh, and blood began pouring down the side of Cunimincus' head. Cunimincus was disoriented by the hit to the head, and he tried to jab at Link to ward him off. Link placed his shield hand on the bottom of the handle of the Lokomo Sword and swung it right to deflect the blow. Cunimincus stumbled in that direction with his sword hand still stretched outward. So Link raised the Lokomo Sword above his head and imparted all of his strength into a single, downward blow.

And Cunimincus' sword hand fell to the deck. Cunimincus dropped to his knees in the next moment.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Cunimincus cried out in a mixture of pain and rage, clasping the stump of his forearm with his armored hand. Blood poured through the fingers of his gauntlet. He reached out for the saber in the next moment, but Link stepped forward and kicked it away, tossing his dismembered hand far across the quarterdeck.

Link then held the Lokomo Sword next to Cunimincus' neck as Cunimincus looked up at him with a shocked expression. Link had to get in a couple of ragged breaths before he could talk. "That's… that's it," he told the reptile. "It's all over. Surrender… surrender, Cunimincus."

Link did not know if it was possible for the loser in a swordfight to become even more shocked, but that was what he thought he saw in Cunimincus' eyes. Then Link took an uncomfortable step backward when Cunimincus broke out into hysterical laughter.