Looking around, everything was painted white.
Just a moment before, the night sky was shining bright, showing the way to the ship, but now a dense veil of mist enveloped the ship, blocking the stars’ light.
Alarmed by the eerie atmosphere, the deckhand in charge of the night turn called for the captain.
From inside the ship a tall blonde man emerged, his broad shoulders barely fitting in the large jacket that he wore on his shoulders as a cape.
"This mist…
It’s not natural.
I can feel magic in it.
Abram, wake up everyone!
ALL HANDS ON THE DECK!!
STAND READY FOR ANYTHING!!
WE ARE NOT ALONE!!"
Awakened from my sleep by the officer’s shouts, I hurriedly followed the rest of the crew on the deck, still groggy from sleep.
Taking their places, everyone stood in silence, waiting for the captain’s orders.
But none was given.
Just like us, the man was also standing in silence, gazing in the mist.
Until a shot rang loud in the air.
Soon after, the ship shook.
A cannonball had hit us, taking a part of hull down.
"LUKE! TAKE SOME MEN AND REPAIR THE DAMAGE!
RAYLEIGH! ARM THE CANNONS AND PREPARE TO RETURN FIRE!
SOPHIE! AT THE WHEEL!
READY TO ENGAGE AT ANY MOMENT!
Abram, with me.
Let’s at at least try to reason with these bastards.
Money is the only thing that matter to them anyway."
“What if they don’t want to be reasonable, captain?”
“Then I’ll have to pound some reason in them with my own hands.”
Just before he finished speaking, a ship emerged from the mist, grey sails filled by the wind and waving a black flag on top of it.
Moments away from ramming into us, the helmsman managed to stir the ship, the two now ending side by side.
Whistling in the air, harpoons with ropes tied at their ends were launched from the other ship, anchoring themselves deep in the wooden deck of ours.
A voice suddenly echoed in the air.
"Greetings gentlemen!
Here is Averill Dusk, captain of the ‘Veiled wanderer’, that talks.
Unfortunately, it seems that your vessel has trespassed into my property.
But don’t worry, for I am a reasonable person.
All that I ask to forgive your blunder is for all of your cargo to be moved to my ship and you’ll be free to continue your journey."
"Here is captain Benson Walker that talks.
This ship is under the protection of the…"
Bang
A bullet shot past the captain, where his shoulder had been just instants before.
"Captain Walker, I honestly don’t give a damn under whose protection your ship is.
The world outside this mist doesn’t matter much to me.
Now make your decision, captain.
We can solve this as gentlemen.
Or we can test your luck and see how far you can swim in these waters."
“Is that so? You seems pretty confident in your abilities, captain.”
A lightning fell from the sky, just above the other ship and seconds later, a man fell too, still holding a musket in his arms.
"Well, I feel pretty lucky today.
I say that it’ll be you and your crew that are gonna take a swim in these waters."
A gale of wind blew and metal rang clear.
A man had appeared in front of the captain.
Tall and slender, with a pale complexion and a sword in his hand, currently held back by the gauntlet of the captain.
That was the last thing I saw before some bastard lounged at me, an axe in his hand.
Unsheathing my blade, I parried the descending strike, creating distance between my assailant and myself.
Drawing my gun, I aimed it and and pulled the trigger, the man falling to his knees, clutching his chest.
Unfortunately many others had already followed him on our deck.
Thunder, wind and metal clashed on the deck, while the two ships continued to advance on the waves, blind to their surroundings and bound together in a deadly dance.
The voice of the captain rose from the noise.
“SEVER THE ROPES!”
Indeed, despite the best efforts of our helmsman, we wouldn’t be able to distance ourselves from their ship until those damned harpoons remained lodged into our deck.
Obeying the order, I made my away toward one of the ropes, a few men blocking my path before reaching my target, their blood on my body and my bullets in theirs.
A couple of hacks were all it took for the thick rope to be severed and fall off the deck.
Somewhere else, other ropes soon followed the first.
The enemies regrouped, surrounding the remaining ropes, wary of losing their way of retreat, some even opting to return to their ship.
With Abram at the head, the crew pressured the enemies and with the last struggle, finally managed to reach the last harpoons.
With the two ships tensing it to its limit, the ropes snapped loudly after only a few swings of the blades, the ends quickly disappeared between the waves, together with some unlucky ones that were crossing them, falling in the dark waters.
Freed from its chains, the ship tilted, swaying dangerously and testing the footing of the men aboard, causing them to stop on the spot.
At that moment, lightning suddenly surged from the captain’s body, clearing the mist around him.
Kicking the deck under him, he suddenly vanished, reappearing in front of Averill.
Startled, the man brandished his sword, aiming for the captain’s side.
Closing even nearer, the captain ducked, letting the sword pass over him and then countered, unleashing a punch straight in the middle of the man’s chest.
A flash of light exploded, followed by a roaring thunder.
When the light subsided, the scoundrel had disappeared from the deck and a hole had appeared in the enemy’s ship hull.
“RAYLEIGH! FIRE!!”
The cannons shot at the order and more holes appeared into the enemy’s ship, followed by explosions from the inwards of the ship.
“DON’T LINGER, IDIOTS!!
LET’S GET OUT OF HERE!!”
Stirred by the captain’s shout, the crew swiftly dispatched of the remaining pirates, hurrying then to their places, following the deckhands’ instructions.
The ship gained speed, leaving behind the other one, from which smoke was raising copiously.
Soon, the dense mist disappeared, allowing the crew a clear sight of the horizon.
There, far away, the first rays of the sun were beginning to show themselves, casting shadows over the silhouette of an island, the braziers of its port still lit.