The Bastard Girl (The Bastard Girl Series, Book #1)

Chapter 20~ Down With the Ship

Chapter 20~ Down With the Ship

In war, there is no mercy to be had. There is no understanding, no humanity, no remorse—only a sick passion. Greed. I had never been to war before the disaster of the Svarn Aatank. But, I learned very quickly that, in minutes, a human life goes from precious to as worthless as dirt on the sole of a boot.

Captain Maut's ship was littered with bodies, each freckled with bullet wounds. Much of the ship's beauty had been destroyed from cannon fire. Who knew gold would be so brittle underneath the wrath of Henry Every?

I returned to the earth and woke up from my Fancy-induced daze. Beside me, Edmund shook me lightly until I finally remembered what I was trying to do.

"We need to get on that ship," I said with a finger pointing at the colossal ship firing at us.

"Are you crazy?! Constantine, I strongly doubt that you'll be treated any different there than here."

"I don't care. I'd rather be on the winning side of this shitstorm when this ship goes down. In minutes, this place will be infested with blood-thirsty pirates—some you've never seen the likes of—and they will kill us. Can I make a more compelling argument?"

"How do you suggest we make it over there, then?"

"Simple. We walk."

Just as I'd predicted, the planks began their descent upon our ship. Hooks shot out of The Fancy and took vicious hold of the Svarn Aatank. They reeled us in with the strength of an army until we sat side by side with my father's vessel. One by one, pirates scuttled across the planks and boarded. Anyone could take a look and tell this was a group of motivated, trained warriors. And they had gluttony in their red eyes.

Painfully, I pulled Edmund across the deck of the ship, pistol in hand. They came from all directions. Edmund fought with his cutlass and shot at the legs of any man who came any closer than three feet of us. But, I wasn't so nice.

After killing Tew, shooting again felt easier. In no time, I'd collected three corpses at my feet.

I turned to Edmund to continue our journey. But, he was on the ground, struggling under the crushing weight of a muscular pirate twice Edmund's size. His hands were wrapped tight around Edmund's throat while Edmund's face illuminated a sickening white.

Doing whatever I could, I snatched up his dropped cutlass, and, in one swift motion, ran it through the pirate's meaty chest till it poked out the other side. It lodged in quick and solidly as if I'd ran it through a tree trunk. Black blood dripped down upon Edmund's chest and neck. But, the man's death grip was released, and he fell aside with an animalistic grunt and moan.

Edmund struggled up off of the deck and heaved panting breaths of desperation.

"Will you be okay?" I asked.

"I'll be fine...Huh...Huh...We need to go."

He took hold of the sword in the dead man's back and ripped it out with a violent yank. It dribbled blood across the grimy deck. He wiped the metal surface upon the dead man's shirt until it was clean enough to continue.

By this time, the passages to The Fancy had gone clear of men, and the opportunity for escape had never reached a better moment. Nevertheless, I couldn't help my fast, tense breaths that made my head dizzier and my heart race. It wasn't the daunting threat of manslaughter just around the corner that made me terrified to cross that plank. It was the fact that I would be walking over a thin, slender piece of wood that hung unsupported over a forty-foot drop. Underneath were dark, deadly waves that I'd likely get sucked into. If drowning didn't kill me, the surface of either boat would. I'd be torn to shreds by the barnacles on the Svarn Aatank's hull. Why wouldn't my feet move?