#257
Pirates And Daggers
When I was a kid I was told to hate Vikings. They were our
neighbors and we were supposed to hate them but I just really didn’t care
enough to hate them. Plus after I found out Vikings didn’t even wear horns they
all just seemed kind of silly. The whole horn thing was Wagner propaganda.
But as a kid you are also supposed to like pirates. I was
never into pirates much myself when I was a kid, probably because there weren’t
any television shows during my youth that showed pirates. I think the first
thing I ever watched that was even remotely a pirate story was the movie Space
Pirates.
It had snot picking aliens.
I did later seek out pirate movies with Earl Flynn after
seeing him in Robin Hood but I didn’t get into researching pirates and getting
interested in them until the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies; which my
girlfriend will watch any time they are on TV or when she remembers we own them
all on DVD.
We watch them a lot.
But pirates are a very interesting subject when you jump
into them as a reader and a writer. Though I’m the type of writer who rambles
within facts and circles them with a lot of crazy to the point where the facts
have been mutated beyond recognition.
Basically that’s how I deal with the world in general.
The pirate ship of this story was going through waters that
normally would have had them searching for someone to fire upon, board, and
strip of anything valuable. They did break the boredom of just sailing for a
long distance and pace of time without any fun by running over a small one man
fishing boat that had somehow gotten itself lost at sea.
The somehow of the fisherman was that he had gotten really
drunk after coming home to find his wife had left him. It wouldn’t had been so
bad if she had still been the same as the day they were married but recently
she got the favor of a fairy who granted her a very nice look flesh glimmer
that’s as good as a total body lift from 2041.
Guess the fisherman shouldn’t have been such an ass to her
all those years calling her ugly and just about everything else he could think
to insult her about, maybe then she would have gotten a glimmer of wealth or
luck for them both to use together.
But no worries at all for him as he drowned down into sea waters.
Running over the fisherman sent up a ship wide cheer but
they quickly went back to normal duties as the day was mainly about the fact
that they were sailing through those waters already paid up to take one man and
a small chest to a legendary place.
A rather strange path of circumstance for a pirate and a
pirate ship to find themselves on but when someone opens a conversation with “here
is a chest of gold just for listening to my proposition” and then offers up six
more of the same before they even set sail, that changes you from saying “this
isn’t what pirates do” to “this is pretty fucking awesome.”
Did pirates say fucking? I bet guarders to rapiers they did
not ever use the word awesome.
The ship is the Red Tear, one of the most feared pirate
ships sailing the seas from the Colonies to the Asian shores.
Is Asian shores the term I should use?
This story takes place for the Red Tear at a time when most
pirating vessels had gotten to a point where they had made so many enemies and
taken on so many riches they will either be retiring soon to other lifestyles
or get ready for the evaluable end to come.
There was another pirate ship that once carried the name of
Red Tear. It went down in mysterious circumstances with all hands aboard off
the coast of New Zealand after battling a bastard offspring of Poseidon.
Was there a New Zealand during this time? Use your Google
skills and let me know. If you could add footnotes in a ebook my writing would
have half pages of- *I might be wrong about this.
The captain of the current Red Tear goes by the name
Klinger. Not much is known about him but there are stories because a pirate or
a pirate ship and especially pirate ship captains without many stories about
them is like a book cover without pages in between.
I would make an ebook analogy there but I don’t think it
works as well. Not everything fits into the same mold. And that’s ok.
One story about Captain Klinger is he was once a member of
the Queens Navy until his shipmates kidnapped a young port girl and once at sea
they raped her one after the other as if she wasn’t a human being at all.
Everyone except Klinger. As he watched this happen he saw
the world outside his narrow vision of sight.
During the second night at sea Klinger made his way through
the ship and killed every member of the crew including the captain and the ship
dog; which shows he might not have been in his right mind because it is said he
has remarked that the dog did nothing to help her.
He found the young girl and her mind was broken. The story
goes that he held her for hours as she cried and had fits of flailing and then
he broke her neck and gave her a burial at sea.
Don’t you love the term burial at sea? The only difference
between him dumping the crewmen overboard and the young girl was he said a
couple words before helping her remains meet the sea.
When his ship came to the next port he snuck off but left a
note about what happen. Many others say this story came out of a lot of people wishing
to break the myth that all of the Queens Navy were somehow honorable.
Another story puts Captain Klinger coming to being known
widely first as a kidnaper for hire who moved up to assassinations before
becoming a pirate. The same career corridor can be found in the modern world
when some go from Comp Controller to Governor to Congressmen.
The second story sales more papers and one book published by
an unknown author.
It was written by Captain Klinger, he’s a most educated
pirate.
The crew of the Red Tear is unusual because they all are
former slaves made up from all the countries they’ve sailed to. Lose one or two
during a voyage and the Captain would steer them to the nearest slave owning
spot and make some offers of freedom on the seas.
Well, as free as a pirate ship crewman could be.
The man who paid a very large amount of gold to Captain
Klinger and his crew for their skills at sailing, killing, and knowing things
most people don’t know, has several names he uses but for this task he is going
by Mr. Rubio.
It’s nowhere close to being his real name. He uses it when
he wants to put people in a position where they almost have to give him a bit
of respect because it’s not Rubio, it’s Mr. Rubio.
He searched for months to find the right crew for the task
he was undertaking. From one port to another he tracked down leads about
unusual crews, unusual ships, strange captains, and strange tales, all to find
the people who can get him where he needs to be.
Mr. Rubio is also hiding. He is part of a very powerful
group who wouldn’t care for what he is trying to do. They hide away powerful
things with a delusion that the idea of destroying them being wrong.
Another reason why he isn’t going by his real name because
he needs to muddy his trail before his people find him.
To the crew of the Red Tear Mr. Rubio might be ultra-confident
but he is scared. The thing he had with him is a very powerful and scary piece
of history. Something so scary he will go against the people who saved his
life, betray ideas that he has lived his days by for.
He hired the Red Tear and its crew to take him to the
legendary, and some say fantastical, others say fictional Island Of Gods
Garden.
Unrelated to The Garden Of Eden, that’s in Africa somewhere,
but I know there might come a bit of confusion there so I thought I’d mention
it.
The Island Of Gods Garden is said to contain creatures the
old Gods controlled and instead of taking them with them when they went away
the Gods dumped them on an island, all together; which is almost completely
hidden by an ancient glimmer that keeps it away from those who don’t seek it.
Basically the Columbus types don’t stumble upon it.
There is a spell that also keeps most of the creatures on
the island. For most see the earlier mention of a Poseidon bastard child.
On a course towards fate two men find a time to talk.
Captain Klinger and Mr. Rubio are sitting in the Captain’s
Cabin talking over many glasses of rum. The Captain finds Mr. Rubio fascinating
and its vice versa in feeling. The room had a jingle about it, like a set of
chimes, as objects Captain Klinger has found on his journeys hung from the
walls of the cabin and knocked against the walls as the boat swayed.
If the trip wasn’t all business this might turn into an at
sea romance.
Still might if you people can lay off with the obvious
jokes.
‘I have a question for you,’ asked Captain Klinger
‘Yes?’ Mr. Rubio answered with a smile on his face to what
the question could possibly be.
‘When I told you we could take you to the island, how did
you know we weren’t lying and planning to take you out to sea with your gold and
slit your throat?’ Captain Klinger
‘It’s harder to get to my throat than you might think
Captain,’ Mr. Rubio
The Captain smiled a large dirty teethed smile and let out a
hearty laugh. Then he poured both of them another glass from his personal rum
supply.
‘This chest, you plan to leave it there?’ Captain Klinger
‘No, it’s too powerful to risk that. It contains a
corrupting influence. Among the creatures of the Gods, the Gods Garden is said
to also contain the Dagger Of Death which can instantly destroy anything,’ Mr.
Rubio
‘And why is this dagger on the Garden?’ Captain Klinger
‘When the old Gods left Hephaestus left behind all of his
weapons in progress including a dagger Zeus had planned to gift to Death,’ Mr.
Rubio
‘Hephaestus you say?’ Captain Klinger asked skeptically.
The land ahead or land ho or I sees there land be call came
out from the eagles nest and the Captain and Mr. Rubio headed out of the
Captain’s Quarters to the wheel.
When they got up top they could already see the island
clearly in the distance.
‘I want the off boat ready and four men to accompany myself
and Mr. Rubio to the Garden,’ Captain Klinger shouted to his first mate who
then went to make sure his orders happen.
The Red Tear got as close to the island as it could. Captain
Klinger could see Mr. Rubio was nervous, on edge.
As soon as the ship dropped anchor, the off boat was lowered
into the water and they headed ashore. The very muscular crewmen got them to
the beach very quickly fighting against the waves that seemed to have a mind of
keeping them from reaching the sands of the beach at all.
Once the boat was pulled fully up on the sands Captain
Klinger and Mr. Rubio lead everyone from the beach into the jungle. This wasn’t
the first time these crewmen had been led by their Captain into something with
a great feeling of the out of the ordinary about it.
During this time in history remote islands offered up all
kinds of adventures. From cannibal tribes with ties to aliens, to knights
training disciples for the time of the prophesied Dark Pledge. There was even
one island, that is still around in modern times; which has as a unique
feature- Jungle Angels!
They are so cool, just take my word for it.
As they walked further and further into the jungle Captain
Klinger and Mr. Rubio both noted that the jungle was a weird mixture of tree
and plant species from all over the world.
Them noting these details to each other shows that both have
been travelers of the world.
Wait, why did an editorial note slip its way in?
Editorial. Wrong usage but still, cool word.
Captain Klinger knelt down by a large group of flowers,
‘These are Cut Lilies. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them anywhere outside of
Niigata. And then none this beautiful.’
‘This island is a garden. To be honest I wasn’t expecting
that,’ Mr. Rubio
The crew men were looking nervous at the sudden stillness of
the situation so Rubio made a comment, ‘Don’t worry, they’ll be something to
stab soon.’
That cheered them up.
Captain Klinger gave the signal for everyone to be silent as
an approaching loud sound started to get louder and louder until finally a
Griffin burst from the jungle right in front of them, wings flapping, lions
head bearing its teeth and a smell that would have put a wet dog the size of
Ferris to shame.
They are probably on this island somewhere also.
They would be the proper term, right?
Because I want to be politically correct when it comes to
two headed giant dog creatures.
Before the pirates or Mr. Rubio for that matter could react
to the Griffin it knocked all of them down with a forward flip of its wings.
Everyone drew their swords while still on the ground. The
Griffin roared one last time before snatching one of the crew members in its
teeth and flying away. He didn’t even have a chance to defend himself.
They all silently watched it fly away and stood there until
the screams of their now missing crew member disappeared along with the sight
of the Griffin.
I’ll let you in on a bit of useful background information.
That pirate will fight that Griffin off, kill it, and survive this encounter.
And as is normal in these types of situations, as these
types of situations are normal for pirates, all of the others thought to
themselves how happy they are that it didn’t happen to them. Justifying in
thoughts how they are better to the world to still be alive and how they will
miss him but he wasn’t actually that great of a person.
He was an ok guy for a pirate.
Someone had to break the tense moment and one had a fart in
them so Mr. Rubio decided it was going to be him to break the tension, ‘That
reminds me Captain, I never asked. How’d you find the island?’
‘I’m good at finding throats,’ Captain Klinger
Mr. Rubio gave him a smile that was returned and one of the
remaining crewmen rolled his eyes at this out of the sight of the Captain
hoping this wasn’t another world wind romance that would come close to getting
all of them killed or imprisoned.
It’s happen before.
‘The legends say Hephaestus work shop is supposed to be
located near the beach,’ Mr. Rubio
‘Then let’s hope we came ashore on the right side of the
island,’ Captain Klinger
They didn’t.
They trekked through the thick jungle for four more hours
encountering many weird and dangerous things, losing two more crewmen along the
way, one to a giant Venus Flytrap with canons in its mouth and another to a
racist mushroom who had some very nasty views on slaves, leaving one crewman
remaining with Captain Klinger and Mr. Rubio.
Finally, in time and blood they found an entranceway that
led down into the ground. The entranceway was old and crumbling away. It was
made of marble and decorated with all the names of the greatest warriors from
the beginning of history to the end time of the universe.
In many languages there were the names of Beowulf, Achilles,
Bellerophon, Shock, and Dniknam mixed with Hercules, Pulpy, Cuchulainn,
Galahad, Thor, and Last Ropes just to name a small number of them.
But this isn’t a time for hero lists now is it?
Captain Klinger and his crewman were hesitant but they
followed Mr. Rubio down into the body of the island. When you decide to follow
someone in a situation you have to be motivated by one of three things or a
combination of: love, money, or insanity.
‘There are no torches?’ said the remaining crewman,
commenting on the fact that the steps of the tunnel were brightly lit with no
means of light in sight.
‘The rocks radiate light. A good trick, probably created
around the time of fire but lost to humans over time,’ Mr. Rubio
To each side of the steps was totally darkness and Mr. Rubio
tested with pebbles to show that to each side of them was bottomless darkness.
Bottomless darkness is bad.
The row from the ship to the beach taxed their arms, well
the arms of the remaining crewman, and the trek through the jungle wore all of
their bodies down and the descent down into the island was starting to play
with all of their minds also.
Long trips of any kind can do things to your mind and
sometimes those trips can be not so long in distance but long in how much
effect they have.
They wondered a little if this trip was a form of purgatory
that would never end. That in their lives they neither did enough good for
Heaven or enough bad for Hell so this is where they ended up?
Maybe they had died at sea and just hadn’t noticed?
That feeling would explain why the remaining crewman, let’s
call him Cecil, that’s why Cecil after an hour of descend screamed suddenly,
shouted something about Darkness Bite, and jumped off the side and into the
darkness.
Cecil had something enter his head as he fell. Something not
only out of place in his head but out of place in this point of history. Cecil
started thinking about silver cities made of glass and them being laid to waste
by four beings who fell from the skies. Heroes tried to stop them but no one
could, not even the creators of this universe.
Visions right before death are such as waste.
Captain Klinger and Mr. Rubio listened to Cecil’s scream for
fifteen minutes or so before it faded away. They didn’t hear any sort of impact
of rock or splash. That unnerved them more than a man just jumping to his
death.
‘I liberated him in the West Indies, not the strongest
stock,’ Captain Klinger
‘Rather harsh?’ Mr. Rubio
‘They are free men with me but they are still my property
until they earn that freedom fully,’ Captain Klinger
‘You sure are a pirate king,’ Mr. Rubio
They moved on and down without saying anything else to each
other for another hour before hitting bottom where they found a rather large
door which will be good for a dramatic opening.
The door was pretty boring for dramatic appearance, just
wood with metal bits here and there for functional purposes only.
It took the strength of both of them to open the large door
and reveal a huge chamber that would give any blacksmith a wet spot in his work
pants. It almost gave both of them wet spots of fear in their pants but that
was because Hephaestus once had someone install a Feeling as a sort of security
measure to keep thieves away.
A “Feeling” is a security charm that gives a short but
powerful jolt of a chosen emotion to anyone unauthorized who enters a place.
The chamber was as hot as the hottest summer and smelled of
sulfur and sweat. It made fingernails instantly crack and certain parasites
were cooked off the body in sacrifice to the parasite God Winoux.
To one side of the chamber there was a flow of cold water
and to the other a lava pit. It had the atmosphere of a hot flash.
Well, what a guy thinks a hot flash is like.
Hanging from the ceiling of the chamber was all manner of
scary things. And not just things for killing in war or battle but also things
like implements made for eating stuff with. You know utensils and the like but
no one wants to hear about those things.
The type of stuff people like to hear about is the Sword Of
Goujian, Roman Spathas, a Shamshir, quite a few Jian swords, and too many other
styles of swords, maces, axes, and knives to mention without it becoming a very
boring passage for you to read and more importantly for me to write.
‘What’s this dagger you’re looking for supposed to look
like?’ Captain Klinger
‘It’s said that when you gaze upon it you will be given a
vision of your moment of death,’ Mr. Rubio
‘Very pleasant is this place you have brought me to,’
Captain Klinger
When the Captain is away does his crew run about and play?
Well, they could but for two things, one, being the fact that Captain Klinger
would probably kill them all and feed them to Crab Serpents and two, storms
keep a crew too busy to even think about play.
When it rains it pours or as sailors say, it rains and then
before the rain and then it’s after the rain and then it’s the waters speaking
of coming rains and the winds screaming about past rains.
Back at the Red Tear the crew are fighting to keep the ship
in one piece as a sudden as Death storm has kicked up. With all the sea Gods
away powerful forces such as Death can sometimes muster up enough control of
Mother Nature to poke her in the ribs for a storm or two.
But this isn’t Death playing sea God, this is an elemental
dying deep deep below the ship.
The ship is being tossed around by high winds, extreme
waters, and hail from the sky that knocked out at least one crewmember.
Then the rest of the crew tossed the unconscious man over the
side since they have been trying to get rid of him for over a year, the guy was
a right foul git and no one besides the Captain liked him.
First Mate Baybridge was helping secure the sails and
helping toss the git over when he spotted Shark Men jumping from the sea waters
onto the deck. No I mean they literally leaped straight up from under the rough
waters up onto the deck of the boat.
‘Draw your swords and defend your ship!’ Baybridge shouted
hoping the crew would hear him over the winds. Most did, a few didn’t and they
were the first to die by Shark Men attacking with teeth and claws.
The ones caught unaware suffered a lot because even being
partially eaten is rough.
There aren’t many Shark Men still alive during this time of
history. An ancient race created from a fevered moment from Poseidon and a
Goddess who doesn’t want to be named checked in this story.
They have been slowly dying out ever since the old Gods left
because the Gods kept humans from hunting them. Their existence was kept secret
so Royal Navy’s of many nations can hold a running contest of how many Shark
Men heads they can bring in during a year.
The dying elemental stirred up a nest of Shark Men and they
are stirred for feeding and the Red Tear is parked as a drive in meal.
First Mate Baybridge and his fellow crewmen could have sworn
there was a hundred Shark Men when they first attacked but as the fight
progressed he could see there was far fewer than that. The blood frenzy had
created a fear that they are only now overcoming.
All ten of the Shark Men are battling with the ships crew.
Their favorite way of killing humans might be biting their heads off but they
are also pretty skilled swordsmen.
It’s said to trade steel with a Shark Men is like trying to
arm wrestle an elephant.
The crew is also fighting against the tossing of the ship
and the wind and rains; so as they stumble around they have two primary
concerns, falling overboard and the teeth and or blade of a Shark Man.
So what was the whole point of this interlude? When you see
a pirate movie and the Captain goes off with a couple crewmen to explore
something or the other, the rest, everyone else isn’t back on the ship sipping
myties and painting sunset pictures. They are probably dealing with something
along the lines of Shark Men.
A pirate’s life is outlandish, thorny, and uncanny. It’s
also words like mad, fucked up, perverse, magnificent, and at times startling.
Words put into a gathering to express a complex way of living.
A pirate’s life goes clear of any calculated form of
tallying up how most people think life should be. It’s not always adventure,
sword fights, gold coins, and women running in the other direction.
But sometimes it is.
The good times.
And if the rape and pillaging is the good times, think a bit
about what the other times are like.
Mr. Rubio isn’t a pirate. He has been number of things in
his lifetime. When he was young for a time he was a teacher of the young and
rich. He didn’t care for that time in his life much but it did teach him how to
fit into circles he really wasn’t made for. How to move within those circles
and use them to his advantage.
After that Mr. Rubio was recruited into The Saturday Club, a
big secret society group. You know they type so I don’t think I have to explain
much further than that. You will get to know them very well soon enough
anyways, no point wasting paragraphs here.
During his time with The Saturday Club Mr. Rubio has traded
gunshots with three armed women in China, jumped off a cliff with an
intelligent zombie, and kissed an automated boy toy, but the things he will
encounter being arms length with pirates might even surprise him. In fact
before he sat out on this quest Mr. Rubio had never even heard of pirates
outside of stories he didn’t think had any basis in reality.
Not that the Island Of Gods Garden screams normal reality.
Captain Klinger went from his old life to that of a pirate
and embraced it fully. He isn’t some kind of kind nice pirate. He is a pirate
and that must be remembered at all times. Pirates are not movie characters. To
live that way of life is to hold close a continued “existence at all costs”
mantra.
The Hephaestus Chamber was doing something to Captain
Klinger’s mind. He had never felt such greed and hunger within himself. Members
of The Saturday Club carried things that protect them from such simple charms
but pirates not so much. It took almost all of his willpower to fight these
feelings.
He was fumbling through chests of scrolls with a tickle in
the back of his throat that all pirates have that if he wasn’t going to be
drool greeding he would rather be swashbuckling.
Pirates should have a back of the boat sticker that reads-
I’d Rather Be Swashbuckling.
All of Hephaestus past and planned designs are in these
chests. Captain Klinger was finding a few things he might be able to sale for
later, those were stuffed down his right pants leg, down the left went scrolls
of things that he might use to improve the Red Tear.
He had ideas of the name Captain Klinger becoming a legend
after this. With these scrolls the name Red Tear will signal terror in the
hearts of sailors for decades to come with a mere mention as they think about
setting sail onto ocean waters.
Mr. Rubio at the other end of the chamber was going through
a huge corner pile of broken swords and knives. He figured the Death Dagger
wouldn’t be in plain sight and this pile would probably make a good hiding
place.
Although all of these tossed to the side broken items had
huge layers thick of dust and suck on them when rubbed a bit they looked brand
new underneath. That’s what happens when a God make you pig sticker for you.
Some of the weapons he recognized but others he could feel
weren’t smithed for this point in history. Trading footsteps with Gods has you
encountering such circumstances.
‘Everything but what I’m looking for,’ Mr. Rubio
‘Maybe someone got here before you and snatched it?’ Captain
Klinger
‘Then maybe we’ll just plunder,’ Mr. Rubio
‘A little pirate in you,’ Captain Klinger
‘It has been known to happen,’ Mr. Rubio
Captain Klinger didn’t pay attention to that response to his
comment as he had come across something that really peaked his interest. He
looked around to make sure Mr. Rubio wasn’t looking his way, something he
didn’t do when pocketing all the other scrolls. He put it inside a jacket
pocket and continued on searching.
Now that’s most defiantly one of those points a writer might
use for a future story.
‘There are plans here to better outfit a ship for war,’
Captain Klinger
‘Good for you. If you come across plans to better outfit a
ship for peace, that will be a find,’ Mr. Rubio
Both of them stopped what they were doing as a high pitched
whistling sound started to fill the chamber. At first it seemed like the
whistling you would hear from a tea kettle letting you know its tea time but
soon it changed to a whistling sound most defiantly coming from something
living.
They both stood as the sound became more focused and looked
in the direction it was coming from, which was the lava nook.
The whistling got louder as a figure rose out of the lava
and stepped into the chamber. Its first steps burned their way permanently into
the flooring of the chamber.
Some day in the future of this story some historian type
will come to the island and see these foot prints and write in his book that
they are the foot prints of Hephaestus.
History, so misleading.
Captain Klinger and Mr. Rubio watched as the lava covered
figure walked over to the water flow and stood under it sending steam cascading
throughout the chamber.
I hate the word cascading, sounds like a casino in Los Vegas.
Not only did the steam make seeing almost impossible but it
was also so hot it made breathing very hard.
‘Any idea what it is?’ Captain Klinger yelled into the steam
seeking an answer from Mr. Rubio.
‘A guardian maybe?’ Mr. Rubio replied.
When the steam cleared it left Captain and Mr. Rubio
standing ready with swords drawn to the sight of a woman in armor who was now
standing in front of the water flow. The moment they caught sight of her both
crumbled into unconsciousness.
The Dream Trail is the realm of dreams but dreams are also
the sphere of prophecy. Prophecies are a side effect when The Dream Healer, the
guardian of dreams, leaves to walk the waking world. It’s an aftershock of her
stepping away from her duties.
The thing about death visions, or death prophecies as that
would be a more accurate way of describing them, in general they usually cause
more problems than in any way led to any improvements of any sort in a person’s
life.
Sanity with a big “In” in front is the usually reaction.
Plus, did that paragraph make any sense to you?
When it comes to personal death visions the insanity answer
does come up but as the biggest outcome and usually the person is going in the
opposite direction from any information they have gained from the vision and in
most cases the visions have them circling around and hitting the prophecy
square in the Death sneeze.
Mr. Rubio sees himself running through the streets of a city
being chased by three men dressed all in black. He ducked into an alley to try
and get away from them but he actually ducked into a dark alley where more of them
were waiting for him.
All of them pulled their swords and he could clearly see the
design, a huge spider, on the hilt of the swords. One at a time they made moves
toward him. He fought them off for a while and even killed one but finally a
blade got through and speared him in the stomach.
He could feel his gut feeling with fluids.
Another blade went through his right arm forcing him to drop
his sword. The clank of his sword against the cobble stone signaled to him that
this might be the end for him.
Yet another blade went into his left thigh which sent him to
one knee.
Was this the end?
Then a number of swords were positioned inches from his
neck.
‘We know you work for the Club.’
‘Don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Mr. Rubio
‘You have been one of their seekers. Obtainer of most
dangerous items for a very long time.’
‘I keep my options open by working for a number of
employers,’ Mr. Rubio
‘Where is the Bible?’
‘Ask King James,’ Mr. Rubio
‘Gives us the information we seek or die in a most painful
way.’
‘No,’ Mr. Rubio
Three swords went through his neck at the same second of
time.
Mr. Rubio witnessed his death and as he laid in that chamber
still in his vision a smile came across his face because now he knows how to
approach the rest of his life.
Most pirates know they will face a violent death. That’s
just part of the life they have chosen or been thrown into. It’s not a subject
they think or dwell in taverns about. It’s actually the way most of them want
to die because when you have spent most of your life on the ever moving seas,
dying in old age, now that is a terrible fate.
Captain Klinger sees himself sitting on a hillside during a
good clear day in the clothes of a wealthy man of leisure. He has either moved
on from the pirating life or got fancy while he burns a steals.
Behind him is a very large dwelling. He is much older than
he was at the time of the island visit so things look larger to him at this
time. When you are young things look huge. When you get older things start to
look more in perspective but before you die things get large again,
overwhelming.
Klinger stood up but then he reached down and retrieved his
sword from within the tall grass that was swaying in the winds of the nice day.
The whole scene had the smell of a funeral.
He marched up the hill and toward the large dwelling. Two
men came charging in his direction. He ducked down and flipped one over his
shoulder and lunged forward and stabbed the other through the heart.
He turned around as the man he flipped was getting back to
his feet. They exchanged a couple blade attacks before Klinger got in one that
deep gashed his throat. The man fell to his knees gargling blood.
Klinger continued his march toward the dwelling that now can
be seen to be a military outpost of some kind. Flags flying in the air and
positioned canons decorated the structure.
The gates to the outpost opened and out charged about twenty
men who immediately surrounded him.
‘Surrender last of the pirates,’ Commanded one of the
soldiers
Klinger smiled an old warrior’s smile. The kind that said
you really think you’re intimidating me, am I supposed to be scared?
‘You can’t get to your friend. He will stand trial for his
crimes. You have to see you are outnumbered.’
‘Only if my only weapon was my sword,’ Klinger
Klinger tossed his sword a few feet in front of him. Then he
reached into his jacket and pulled out a handful of little metal balls. He
tossed them calmly up into the air and then each one raced and attacked to one
of the swords of the soldiers. The soldiers had time to get questioning looks
on their faces but their swords exploded killing each one of them.
Klinger picked up his sword as he walked through the bodies
and smoke to enter the prison outpost.
The prisons main yard was empty for the most part. There
were a number of horses tied to a post as there also were some chickens running
around wondering why humans have to make so much noise all the time, wasn’t it
enough they eat their children?
I’m being told now that chicken eggs are actually more a
chicken period and unfertilized.
Well, that just ruined my chicken ramble now didn’t it?
As he stood looking around Klinger was beginning to think
there was no one else in the prison to stand in his way. Then several men
popped up from behind haystacks, aimed flint rifles, and fired. Each one was a
good shot so five hits contact Klinger in the shoulder, leg, back, wrist, and
ear.
All of that almost knocked him down but he was on a last
mission to rescue a friend and he wasn’t ready to fall yet. While the men were
reloading Klinger pulled from his jacket a device that resembled a pistol and
pointed it towards the sky and fired up into the sky went thousands of small
knife blades.
The rifle soldiers watched the blades go up so they didn’t notice
that Klinger had ran and dived under a horse carriage but by the time they had
noticed the blades came back down hitting all the soldiers, chickens, and
horses, killing them all.
Klinger slide out from under the carriage, careful not to
come in contact with any of the blades that hit the ground because they had
been dipped in some of the most powerful poisons known and not known to exist.
If that was apparent by the dead men. Dead horse. And dead
chickens.
He brushed the hay and dust from his clothes as he entered
the cell area. The whole prison was full, each cell contained at least two or
three prisoners.
Klinger walked the rolls looking for his friend, ignoring
the screams from the prisoners to let them out.
Finally, he found the cell he was looking for. The cell
contained a man sitting in the floor of the cell who got a wide smile on his
face when his eyes focused on Klinger.
‘Have you been enjoying yourself Rubio?’ Klinger asked his
old friend.
Rubio stood and walked over to the cell door, ‘Hey, you take
your time away from work where you can find it.’
‘I still have to break you out and then we have to get out
of his alive. I’m sure they signaled for help as soon as they spotted me
approaching. Their group has brave gear just like yours does,’ Klinger
‘Well, then get on with it lover,’ Rubio
Klinger took out a small jar of a jelly like substance and
started rubbing it all over the lock.
‘Stand back,’ Klinger
Rubio went to the opposite side of the cell as Klinger
pulled out a flint pistol and shot the lock from a few cells down and the door
exploded.
Both of them made their way back through the cell area. When
they got to the entrance Klinger stopped them.
‘What about the others? They are also prisoners of the Cult?’
Klinger
‘Actually this is a prison used for storing members of the
Cult who have disappointed them in some way,’ Rubio
‘Good enough,’ Klinger in one motion threw the jar down the
hallway and pulled another flint pistol and shot it and as they ran out it
exploded.
They found themselves in the prison yard on their bellies
laughing until they heard footsteps and quickly got to their feet to see a
soldier standing in the prison entrance. Unlike the other soldiers who were
dressed in a mix match of different uniforms from many nations and alliances,
he was dressed all in black.
‘Anyone you know?’ Klinger asked his closes friend.
‘Yes, they call him Minister 17. Klinger we need to get out
of here,’ Rubio said, worried.
‘That bad?’ Klinger
‘We get a chance we run and don’t stop running,’ Rubio
‘Ok,’ Klinger
‘I mean it, even if we have to leave the other behind. We
can’t beat him, individually or together. This is a fight to get a chance to
run,’ Rubio
‘I get it,’ Klinger
‘Do you old pirate?’ Rubio
‘I do,’ Klinger confirmed.
Minister 17 approached them, ‘You raised quite a stir to try
and rescue your friend but I’m sad to be the one to tell you but we need him to
help us find something very important.’
‘Yes, he’s good at hide the potato,’ Klinger
Rubio rolled his eyes.
‘I’ll let you walk away but he has to stay,’ Minister 17
Rubio gave Klinger a half glance and they charged at
Minister 17 who pulled out two swords. He was fighting them both off and
pushing them back knowing they’d plan to get closer to the entrance so they could
make a run for it.
After a good ten minutes of sword play and a few gashes that
Minister 17 got in.
Klinger gave Rubio the hand sign to go. Without hesitation
he did so and didn’t look back. When he made his move Klinger at the same time
charged forward allowing Minster 17 to stab him in the stomach with one of his
swords.
The man looked in Rubio’s direction but Klinger grabbed his
sword and wrist and moved forward driving the sword clean through and out his
back.
Rubio made his way to a horse hidden nearby in the way they
usually did things when they planned something and he rode off to escape.
Funny that the moment of a man seeing himself die would be
the best moment of his life because it also showed him that feelings he was
having about someone who was pretty much a stranger were worth grabbing hold of
with both hands.
Captain Klinger and Mr. Rubio both got to their feet with
smiles. They didn’t say anything to each other because the Death’s Dagger was
now standing closer to them.
They could see now it was decorated in the symbols of
Hephaestus. Hammers, anvils, and tongs all over the armor, also the symbol of
Lemnos, the original home of Hephaestus crested onto its chest.
Mr. Rubio pulled the Tesseract chest from a bang handing
from his side. He walked over to hand it to the dagger when suddenly with a
flash of light the Death’s Dagger disappeared finally to go to whom it was
created for in the first place.
Right now it sits in a corner in Death’s Library.
That was kind of a let down.
When they got back to the beach Baybridge was waiting for
them. Captain Klinger could see something had happened on the ship while they
were away but he was too tired to ask any questions but to his tired ass his
First Mate still wanted to open up and tell him.
He would punish him later.
‘You wouldn’t believe what happen us,’ Baybridge
‘Do we still have plenty of rum?’ Captain Klinger
‘Yes, Captain but...’ Baybridge
‘Then we shall drink and exchange tales,’ Captain Klinger
He was really tired because that was too nice.
‘And what about you sir, did you find what you were looking
for?’ Baybridge asked Mr. Rubio
‘No, and yes.’ Mr. Rubio told him ready for lots and lots
and lots and lots of rum.
And sex.
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The sale of this book without its cover….well, is, sort of,
impossible since it really doesn’t have a cover but let us go through the legal
spray out anyways. If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be
aware that it was reported to the publisher as “unsold and destroyed.” Hands up
to you who have books like this in your collection? Now that I put my hand down
we can continue with the credits and copyright and legal and stuff that people
just don’t ever pay attention to unless it is pumping their own horn.
An Original Publication of System* Publishing,
a Tin Universe book published by System*Publishing, a
division of System*Productions, Melbourne, Florida. This book is a
work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events
or locales or persons, living or dead or living dead, is entirely and very much
so in the coincidental.
Smashwords Edition Copyright © 2015, Brian
C. Williams, System*Productions. Tin Universe Daily, and
all related titles, characters, and elements are trademarks of System*Productions.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions
thereof in any form whatsoever. While unauthorized reproduction is sometimes
needed, please remember us writers types are for the most part a poor lot just
in search of a ways to tell our stories and enough money to add to our Doctor
Who collections….well, at least that fits me. For more information on Tin Universe Daily, the artists who
contributed to this book, and Tin Universe contact System*Productions at
hangofwednesday@gmail.com
Written by Brian C. Williams
Edited by Brian C. Williams
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