Princess looked anything but mollified. “Ain’t exactly your fate I’m worried about, Cap’n. Rest of us got lives too, an’ we ain’t looking forward to wasting ’em by trying to sail through that.” Princess pointed his own bony finger at the storm.
“Shame that, cos it’s exactly where we’re fucking sailing.”
Princess stood face to face with his captain for another few seconds before letting out a loud sigh, and the lines on his face crumpled into a smile. “If I die, ya best say a prayer for me, Cap’n.”
“Oh, aye,” Drake agreed. “I’ll make sure Rin sits you down at her court with some merfolk, the ones with the really big tits.”
Princess groaned and started walking. “Just my luck, bloody merfolk and their bloody teeth.”
Drake spotted Beck looking sceptical. “Merfolk,” he said with a smile. “Tail of a fish, body of a woman. Entice men into the water with the promise of tits and more, but they’ve got mouths full of sharp, pointy teeth to tear a man to bits.” He shook his head. “Ain’t never seen horror ’til you’ve seen a merfolk smile.” He bared his teeth to make his point. The Arbiter still didn’t look convinced.
“Is sailing into that storm really a good idea?” she said.
Drake shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”
Just a few hours later, Drake found himself reconsidering his statement. Sailing into the storm was quite possibly the worst idea he’d ever formed. Wind whipped in a hundred different directions all at once, and every lick of it was accompanied by salty spray that felt like it could tear flesh from bone. The clouds overhead were dark and roiling, thundering together with claps so loud they rattled the teeth and loosened the bowels.
The Fortune levelled out for just a moment before her bow tipped forwards at an alarming angle and she started down the crest of the wave. There was little so frightening as seeing nothing but water in front of a ship, and the fact that it was too dark to even see that did little to alleviate the terror coursing through Drake’s veins. He trusted the ship to get them through, and he trusted the crew to help her, but even the sleekest of ships and even the most experienced of crews could be lost during a storm – and this was one hell of a storm.
As the Fortune crashed into the base of the wave she started levelling out again, and a sheet of water rose up above the bow, soaking everyone and everything on the deck. Drake shook away the wet hair that clung to his face and stared out into the dark churning waters, hoping to see the next wave before it hit.
“She’s tuggin’ hard, Cap’n,” screamed Huin, the ship’s navigator. Drake looked back to see the man clearly struggling with the wheel, and wasted no time in ordering the second navigator on deck to lend a hand.
The storm canvas helped; smaller and thicker, it could catch the wind without pulling the ship down, and it was likely the only thing keeping the Fortune sailing over the monstruous waves.
They started the ascent up another wave just as a cry sounded from above. A moment later a screaming body crashed into the stairs leading up to the poop deck, turning the railing into kindling. One stolen glance told Drake the unfortunate pirate was dead, and he thanked Rin the man hadn’t landed on anyone else.
“Rope loose!” The shout drifted down from above, and Drake looked up to see the canvas flapping.
“Get that rope tied off or we’re all dead and worse!” Drake bellowed even as two pirates startled scuttling across the rigging to do just that.
The Fortune was rising now, her stern well and truly below them all. Drake saw the body of the dead pirate start to roll backwards up the stairs before it snagged on the splintered railing. Higher and higher they rose, until ahead of them Drake could see nothing but dark, boiling cloud. Then the Fortune lurched forwards and tipped the other way. Up became down, and down became up. There was a crash from somewhere below as something in the hold came free of its anchorage, but there were more important things for Drake to think about, and he trusted that someone below decks would see to the loose cargo’s proper stowing.
Lightning flashed, forking down from the sky into the water, and for just a moment Drake witnessed the sea around them. Waves taller than any building he’d ever seen surrounded them on every side, and the water churned white on every side. Sheets of rain crashed down, and the clouds blotted out all light from the stars and moon above. They were truly in the thick of the storm now, and in all his years at sea he’d never seen another like it.
“Drake!” Beck stumbled across a sloping section of deck, using her fingernails as claws to hang on to the planks. As she reached the railing Drake was holding on to, the Arbiter almost flung herself into his arms, such was her enthusiasm to find something secure to cling to.
“Best get below deck, Arbiter,” Drake shouted over the noise of the storm. “This is gonna last…”
“I saw a sail!” Beck pointed off the starboard side of the ship.
Drake stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. “Light playing tricks on ya.”
The Fortune hit the water as it completed its descent, and a solid sheet of ocean rose up towards them. Drake attempted to shield Beck from the spray and only ended up dragging himself down to the decking with her on top of him. He lay there for a moment, staring at her as she attempted to remove her sodden hair from her face and the Fortune started tipping again. Already they were climbing another wave.
Pushing the Arbiter away, Drake surged to his feet then hauled Beck to hers next to him. She looked a little dazed from the fall, or maybe just from the storm in general. Drake was feeling a little blurry himself – not that he’d ever admit it to anyone.
Something smashed into the ship and she lurched to port. Drake managed to hold both himself and Beck upright. Judging by the shouts and crashes, there were plenty of his crew who hadn’t been so lucky, the navigator included. The man was back on his feet in a moment, but by then the damage had been done. With only one man on the wheel, it had got away from them and the ship was listing to port.
“Get her under control,” Drake roared, “or we’ll all drown at the crest.”
Another sheet of spray whipped across the deck and Drake took a faceful, blinding and choking all at once. Strong hands gripped his arm even as the ship lurched again, and Drake tore his eyes open to see Beck holding him close and tight, her eyes unusually dark in the poor light. For a moment they just stared at each other, then she looked past him and Drake saw what little colour was left drain from her face.
“What the fuck?” Drake heard the navigator scream.
Slowly standing from its resting place amidst the broken and battered port railing was the corpse of the pirate who had fallen to his death. The ship was still tipping backwards as it climbed the wave, yet the dead pirate seemed to have no problem finding his balance. His neck was obviously broken, resting on his shoulder, and Drake could see bone protruding from the left arm. With an inhumanly loud groan that sounded clearly over the storm, the corpse staggered towards the navigators holding the wheel.
“Don’t you dare move from that wheel,” Drake roared as he fought for balance and stumbled towards the dead pirate.
Another flash of lightning lit the corpse’s face in a horrible grimace that resembled nothing human. Again the ship levelled as it crested a wave, and Drake, already with sword in hand, found himself fighting for balance. He knew he had to find something to hold on to before they began the descent. The dead pirate fell, hitting the deck, and began crawling towards the navigators.
The deck fell away from Drake as the ship tipped downwards, and without anything to hold on to, he fell as well. Something as hard as iron clamped around his wrist and held him fast while his feet scrabbled for purchase on the water-soaked deck. Drake opened his eyes to find Beck holding on to him with one hand while the other gripped, white-knuckled, some rigging attached to the mainmast. Chanting furiously, she pulled Drake up to the rigging, which he gratefully grabbed with both hands, only then realising he’d let go of his sword.