Dawn of a Red Sky Read online

  “Yes, sir. They are finally going to feel the full wrath of the Navy,” he said hastily.

  Smiling, the Admiral said, “I have been looking forward to this for quite some time.”

  “We should be glad that Mr. McConnell was so eager to give up those headings.”

  Tapping his hands on the rail in front of him, Carter said, “You see, Commodore, there is a reason that these criminals will fail. It is because of traitors like our captive who will tell anything to stay alive, while tossing his fellow evil-doers into the fires of justice.”

  “Of course, sir,” said the Commodore.

  He was not paying attention to what the Admiral was saying. He did not want to pay attention. Every word was pure hatred.

  What happened next was a complete surprise for Matthew Hamond.

  “Commodore, I want you to help me lead the attack.”

  Hamond could hardly contain his shock.

  “Admiral… are you sure?”

  Without even turning his attention away from the soldiers on the Salvation’s deck, Carter said, “I am certain. You have a history with piracy, and I want you to share in the honor of annihilating them.”

  Commodore Hamond knew that Carter was testing him. For the past year, the tests had become even less subtle. Ever since he had let the Red Sky and the Adventure Prize escape, he had known that the Admiral did not trust him. This was just Carter’s way of forcing the Commodore to his side. Thankfully for Hamond, he knew just how to retort.

  “Admiral, if I recall correctly, I believe you have just as much of a connection to piracy as I do… namely, your son.”

  The old Navy officer said nothing for a while, the tapping of his hands stopping immediately. Admiral Carter did not show it, but Hamond could tell that he was upset. He took a deep breath and shook his head.

  “Elijah Carter is dead, Commodore. The pirate that stood in front of me is no longer my son. I refuse to have any connection to such… bastards.”

  Directing his attention to Hamond, Admiral Carter asked, “Will you accept my offer for glory?”

  “I am not here for glory, Admiral. I only wish to keep the citizens of the Crown safe,” said Hamond, trying to conceal his true motives.

  Even as his superior said nothing, Commodore Hamond could tell that Carter could see right through his excuse. The hostile glare that emanated from his eyes said it all.

  “Treat this as you would an order, Commodore. I want you onboard the Regality in ten minutes time. Together, we will lead the charge to purge the seas of the evil of piracy.”

  With a nod, Hamond said, “As you wish, sir.”

  The Commodore reluctantly stepped away from the rail, escorted by two soldiers. When the time came, he would have to choose his side. If he chose Carter’s side, then he could at least try to keep his wife and daughter safe, but that could result in the deaths of innocents. If he disobeyed, he would be powerless to stop the destruction that was to come.

  He could not decide.

  Riggs and his crew had finally climbed down into the hole. Once several members of the crew had made it safely to the bottom of the hole, the Captain and Ripper lit torches and started to lead the way down the tunnel. Right at that moment, Sapphire flew down into the tunnel in a panic.

  “Riggs, is everything alright? I heard something that sounded like a rumbling,” the fairy said hurriedly, barely pausing between her words.

  Trying to calm the fairy, Riggs explained, “Unfortunately, we’re down one crewmate. He was crushed when the ground caved in. Jack and I would’ve met the same fate if Ripper hadn’t have caught us in time.”

  “Thank goodness he did,” said Sapphire.

  Turning her attention to the dark tunnel ahead of the crew, the fairy nervously fluttered her wings and took a gulp of air.

  “Is that where you’re going?” she asked, uneasiness in her voice.

  “Aye, Saph.”

  “You think it’ll lead to treasure?”

  The Captain nodded.

  “Either there’s treasure, or someone really went to a lot o’ trouble to hide nothin’.”

  Taking his torch, he moved to the front of the pack and resumed the walk down the tunnel with the rest of the crew following behind him, including Sapphire. As they explored further, they could see wooden beams supporting the walls. Some of the beams had broken, spilling rocks and boulders all over the floor of the passage. Riggs’ mind was racing as his one hand held a torch and the other hand held onto his sword. Even though the tunnel was silent, it still seemed very strange. Whoever had built the tunnel certainly did not want it to be found, hiding it underneath a layer of unstable rocks.

  “Keep a steady eye, mates. We don’t want to get caught unawares,” he warned.

  The group passed a collapsed pillar, under which a skeleton lay. Its mouth was open in a silent scream as the unlucky bloke seemed to have been trying to claw his way out from underneath the rubble when he had died. Normally, the crew would not have been fazed by a dead body. However, with the minimal light and the claustrophobic feel of the tunnel, the image of the dead man actually started to affect them.

  “Captain… I don’t know if we should keep going. What if something happens… and we get stuck like that fella?” asked one of the panicking crewmates.

  Laughing at the man’s fear, Riggs said, “We ain’t goin’ to get stuck. If the tunnel’s held up for this long, I’m sure it can hold up for a bit more.”

  “Sure hope yer right, Captain,” the crewmember said nervously.

  The group ventured even further down the tunnel until a faint stench started to fill the area. When some of the pirates smelled it, they bent over, almost retching. Sapphire clamped her hand over her nose and mouth, trying to keep the smell from permeating her nostrils. It was a smell with which Riggs, Coral Jack, and Ripper had become very familiar.

  It was the smell of decaying bodies.

  Thankfully for the pirates, a breeze of fresh air swirled throughout the passage, dispersing the putrid smell for the time being. Some of the men vomited on the ground, the smell overpowering them. Others tried and failed to force the horrid smell of the air out of their lungs. One by one, the crewmembers ceased their retching, determined to make it to the treasure. Once they had all regained control of their stomachs, Riggs led them further into the abyss.

  As the smell started to get stronger, the group reached a wooden door. A large padlock held the door shut, locked away from the outside world. Crouching down on the ground, Riggs could feel the air in the next chamber blowing out from the narrow space underneath the door. All he needed to do was give Ripper a nod. The Captain watched as the padlock fell to the ground after a couple strikes from the butt of the Jamaican’s gun. When they pushed open the door, they could not have imagined what was waiting for them.

  Directly in front of them lay a pool, the flames of the torches lighting up the clear surface of the water. It lay undisturbed in front of them. For how long, none of them knew. The rocks underneath the water were smooth, a small amount of sand filling in the cracks.

  Yet that was still not the biggest surprise awaiting Riggs and his crew. There was something far bigger waiting for them.

  As Riggs took two steps forward, the light of his torch cast light against dark brown wood, the flames reflected in what looked to be a glass pane. Riggs held the torch even higher in the air, shedding light on the stern of a ship. He could not believe it. In front of him lay a ship, hidden away from the rest of the world in what was most likely a cave. How could it have possibly gotten there?

  “Riggs, what is this place?” asked Jack.

  Not even hearing his friend, Riggs climbed on top of a rock, trying to see the name of the ship. His torch passed in front of the windows of what would have been the captain’s quarters. The glass had long since been covered with dust, barely even able to let light shine into the inside of the captain’s quarters. Battle damage covered the wooden panels, some bits of the ship looking like they had bee
n gauged with a knife. As the torch inched higher, the light fell on the carved nameplate of the ship, revealing a name that seemed slightly familiar to the pirate captain.

  Fancy

  Riggs scratched at his chin, trying to think of where he had heard that name before. The ship seemed familiar for some reason, but he could not remember from where.

  “Mates, does anyone recognize this ship?” he asked, holding the torch next to the nameplate.

  When the other crewmembers noticed the name, many of them did not even react. They had no idea to whom the ship belonged. They seemed to be just as befuddled as Riggs.

  However, one of the older pirates recoiled in panic. Pushing past his crewmates, he tried to dash for the entrance to the cave, but Ripper grabbed onto the back of his shirt and would not let him go. The Jamaican gunner actually had to physically keep his fellow crewmember from running back into the tunnel.

  Jumping down from the rock, Riggs asked the man, “How do ye know about this ship?”

  The man was shocked.

  “How have you never heard of the Fancy? It belonged to one of the most notorious pirates of all time,” he cried, trying to pull away from Ripper.

  “Who?”

  Gulping, the man yanked his shirt free from Ripper, but the master gunner locked him in a chokehold. He could no longer move.

  “Who is he?” Riggs asked again.

  As Ripper eased his grip, the man finally answered his captain.

  “Henry Every… the King of Pirates.”

  Riggs stared inquisitively at his crewmate, unsure of whether he was serious or not. If he recalled correctly, Henry Every had disappeared years ago, his notoriety quickly fading when his pirating stopped. Rumors flitted through the taverns, some saying that he had escaped to a distant island on the other side of the ocean while still others claimed to see him sailing the seas, plundering Muslim ships as he had done before. Riggs paid no attention to the rumors, dismissing them as merely old dogs who were trying to keep their idol alive in their fantasies. Every was dead and gone, stripped of his fame.

  At least, that was what Riggs had thought.

  Why then was the pirate’s ship hidden away in a cave? How did Captain Every end up on the same island where treasure was supposed to be hidden? Riggs could only think of one explanation.

  The treasure must have belonged to the King of Pirates.

  Excitement coursing through his veins, Riggs shouted, “Search the whole cave. I want to find Every’s treasure right now!”

  Directing Coral Jack and Ripper to follow him, Riggs started to climb the side of the Fancy, invigorated by the supposed notoriety of Every. If he truly was as famous as the rumors claimed, then he must have stolen a multitude of treasures. With the torch held high, the flames bounced off the black fabric of the sails, traveling high into the air. The three spread out over the main deck of the ship, lighting each of the aged lanterns. With each new light, the cavern became brighter, illuminating the rocky walls and the large pool of water.

  “Captain, we found something,” came a voice from the far side of the cave.

  “What is it?” Riggs shouted.

  After he asked, he heard the distinctive hollow jangle of bones hitting against stones.

  “It’s a bunch of skeletons. Do you want us to do anything wit’ ‘em?”

  Waving his hand to dismiss his crew’s concerns, Riggs said, “Leave the poor buggers alone. They don’t need you rats pickin’ through their bones.”

  “Aye, Captain,” the crew responded, continuing their climb over the rocks.

  “What do we need to do, Riggs?” asked Coral Jack.

  Looking back at his friend, the Captain grinned and said, “We look for treasure, of course.”

  The three pirates roamed the ship, finding several more skeletons as the time passed. Every one of them seemed like they had died grasping their weapons. One skeleton was holding a broken bottle, the shattered glass spread around the skull of another body. Another skeleton lay on the deck, its hand nothing more than a pile of bones scattered across the wooden boards. Several more bodies hung from the rigging like marionettes, their black eye sockets staring down at the pirates.

  Riggs paid them no heed.

  As the minutes slowly crept along, Riggs’ attention was drawn to the captain’s quarters. Grabbing onto the door handle, he shook it, hearing the rumbling of the wood echo throughout the cavern. The door was shut and locked from the inside. Pushing against the door, Riggs could feel the dark brown wood crack a little. Without hesitation, he backed up, driving his foot into the door. The wood cracked and splintered from his kick, collapsing in a mess of broken boards and glass.

  Riggs lowered the torch, stepping into the cabin. With his friends at his side, he walked further into the room. He could see a figure on the other side of a table, seemingly glaring at them. So many emotions were running through Riggs’ head. He did not know how to react. He almost did not even notice the coins and jewels covering the floor under his boots. Try as he might, he could not look away from the figure.

  He stepped in front of the table, finally able to see the features of the skeleton sitting across from him. Thinned hair hung from the withered skin that carpeted the skull. On top of the Arch Pirate’s head lay a black trihat with what seemed to be a stitching of a crown running around the top rim. A brown, weathered coat draped over Henry Every’s skeletal form. In one hand, he held the edge of a red flag, a white skull and crossbones emblazoned on either side. The fingers of his other hand were curled around a sword that was covered with dust.

  Riggs stood in awe in front of the dead King of Pirates. He could hardly fathom that he was actually standing in front of one of the most notorious outlaws of all time.

  As the reality of the situation sank into the young captain’s mind, his awe turned to pride. Henry Every, the almighty King of Pirates, was sitting across from him, now nothing more than a dead body. The once-legendary pirate had died, surrounded by the artifacts of a time long gone, a time where he had spread fear across the seas.

  No more.

  Handing the torch to Ripper, Riggs laid his hands on the table, staring into the empty eye sockets of one of the greatest pirates of all time. The empowerment that he felt in that moment was unlike any that he had felt before. Riggs made his way around the table, snickering at the corpse.

  “Captain Every… allow me to introduce meself. I’m Captain Riggs.”

  He ran his hand across the surface of the table, picking up several necklaces and feeling the coldness of the jewelry.

  “What an honor it is to finally meet you,” said Riggs, “Ye know, I’ve heard so many stories about you…”

  Letting the necklaces fall onto the table, he finished, “… and yet you’ve never really made an impact on me. Pity.”

  The skeleton said nothing, not even moving.

  Taking a handful of coins, Riggs let them fall through his fingers right in front of the skeleton and said, “Ye see all o’ this treasure? I’m goin’ to take every… single… coin… and leave you stuck here with all of your dead crew.”

  Riggs rested his hand on Every’s sword, pulling it away from the corpse’s fingers. He tossed it back and forth between his hands, testing the weight as he twirled the blade.

  “You used to be so powerful… and now, you’re nothin’.”

  As the Captain looked down at the corpse, a sinister smile spread across his face. Holding the dusty and dirty sword in one hand, Riggs pointed it directly at the dead pirate. Before Coral Jack and Ripper could react, the Captain drove the sword into Every’s exposed rib cage, the blade piercing through the back of the chair.

  With a grin on his face, Riggs let his hand fall away from the sword. He dropped to his knees to start gathering the treasure, beckoning for his friends to do the same.

  “Come on, mates. We’ve got treasure to plunder.”

  Coral Jack and Ripper did not move. They just stood there with shocked expressions on their faces.
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br />   Laying his elbow on his knee, Riggs said, “Did ye not hear me? I told ye to…”

  Riggs’ voice trailed off when a terrified Jack pointed at something behind his captain. Inside the young pirate’s head, he heard a familiar, maniacal laugh. He was losing control.

  Coral Jack’s voice shook with fear as he said, “C-Captain? What the hell is…”

  At that moment, a bright light washed against Riggs’ back. He did not want to turn around because he had a feeling that he knew what he was going to see.

  “Prepare to unleash Hell, Riggs.”

  Slowly, Riggs turned around, seeing the change that had started to consume the legendary pirate’s body. The withered skin had fallen away from the bones, disintegrating into tiny particles. The dirt and dust had fallen from Every’s sword, revealing the shining gold that made up the weapon. The golden sword glowed brightly, lighting the entire room. It was exactly what he had hoped would not happen. Tendrils of yellow smoke curled around the dead pirate’s bones, making it look like mist was rising from the corpse. Riggs’ pride changed to fear as he started to back away from the skeleton.

  In that instant, something else appeared. As the young pirate took a step back, a second object started to glow, this time from the top of Every’s skull. A faint purple glow emanated from the trihat, forming the outline of a crown. What the Captain had thought was stitching was actually a thin silver crown. In that moment, Riggs realized a horrible truth.

  Henry Every was in possession of two artifacts of Old Magic.

  Wisps of smoke started to ooze onto the skull, mixing with the yellow tendrils. The three pirates watched as the two magical properties mixed together in the eye sockets, forming a piercing bright light in each hole. Riggs tried to keep his eyes open, but it was nearly impossible. The light shone brighter and brighter, almost to the point of being unbearable.

  Then, all of a sudden, it stopped.

  Riggs cautiously opened his eyes, staring over at the skeleton, still surrounded in thin layers of mist. He did not move any closer for fear that something might happen. Not even bothering to grab the treasure, Riggs scrambled to get away.