The Thrill Of You

Chapter 19

Stede's POV

I awoke with a startle, a more urgent shaking but not by a hand. It was accompanied by an ear-shattering shot as I shot out of bed. "What the-" I was cut off by Lucius coming in, out of breath and carrying an injured Pete on his back. "We're under attack!" He screamed, but before I could say a word, I saw Ed was already dressed in his leather and running out the door while tying his hair up. I ran back to the bedroom and got dressed haphazardly, grabbing my sword and unsheathing it as I ran to the deck, already crossing paths with a Spanish warrior that blocked swords with me.

"Stede! Go back and hide! I don't want you getting hurt!" Ed screamed as he avoided getting stabbed and pushed a man overboard. At that moment, I saw Izzy in the nest, shaking my head in anger as I fought off the man who attacked. "I'm not abandoning my crew!" I screamed back in determination, kicking someone's leg and seeing Jim immediately get the man's body to the ground with a blood-curdling scream being emitted with pleas to his God before, or what I'd assume, Jim finished him off.

I was fighting men all the way to the crow's nest, and one man had ripped the sleeve of my shirt, but it had yet to stop me. It was only a scratch on the skin, the shirt didn't matter at the moment. I ran into many other men who stopped me from going up to the crow's nest, one had pulled on my leg. But through it, Wee John and Roach had helped and saw where I was headed. "We got you, captain! Go finish off that prick!" Roach screamed amongst the men yelling as they attacked my crew, but they had all been holding their own. Especially Ed, which didn't seem to frighten me. I gave Roach a thumbs-up as he went back to fighting off men who had, again, been attempting to guard the crow's nest.

I climbed the ladder and stabbed the ankle that faced away from me, getting up the ladder all the way as he was thrown off with the pain in his ankle. "This is Button's spot, I'm afraid, and he doesn't take too kindly to strangers stealing what's his," I angrily spoke, surprising even myself as I looked at Izzy and felt the anger bubble to my face. "Well, if it isn't the ponce that kidnapped my boss and tried to fake his own death as well as Blackbeard's. He isn't 5'5, idiot!" Izzy exclaimed, thrusting his sword toward me, though I blocked it just in time for the edge to only have grazed my shirt.

I backed him all the way to the edge of the crow's nest, his back leaning a bit as we held an angry gaze. "Oh yeah, he's a tall drink water, and you might want to get one last look before I throw you overboard!" I threatened seeing Ed look up in that moment, only being distracted for a minute, but just enough to be thrown against the post in the middle of the crow's nest, avoiding the opening to the ladder. "You're not that strong-willed, Bonnet, and we both know it. We all know it," He taunted, his sword nearing my neck as I pushed for my sword to get the blade away. Though in this situation, I remembered what Ed taught me in swordplay, the move he played on me.

I did as he once had, moving my sword to come to the weakest place of Izzy's sword, twisting it a bit before getting the advantage to move my sword again. Though as I had gotten that advantage, my sword slipped and nicked his neck, perhaps even a vein as it quickly gushed blood. His hand flew up to his neck and as he had been distracted, I took my sword under his hand and flicked it away. The sword was teetering on the edge of the entrance to the crow's nest, Izzy's fear now evident and coming to the surface as I stood there with the tip of my sword at his throat.

"Go on then, lad, finish me," He whispered angrily, his fear tucking back into his unruly rage. I shook my head, feeling the adrenaline wearing off and ignoring the pain in my arm. "You're losing blood, and fast. I'll just wait for you to pass out and have Ed deal with you," I told him, though my blade was grounded in my hand, unmoving as it threatened falsely to pierce his neck. "Oh, of course, you can't do anything yourself, such a twat you'll make Blackbeard do your dirty work. Calling him Ed and shit like he's your puppy," He spat, still breathing heavily and his eyes flickering. I shook my head as I have before. "I'm letting him deal with you because he has it out for you worse than I have, besides, you're the one who pushed him, Iggy," I spat back, my blade coming in contact with his throat now as I said those words.

"Izzy," He growled through gritted teeth, trying to move to attack me, though all it did was nick the front of his neck as I acted with reflex. I came forward, my knee coming up and pushing him back into the edge of the nest, my sword coming to its side and against Izzy's throat, catching full advantage as I felt my foot hit his sword, hearing it fall to the deck. "You're bleeding too, Bonnet, how long do you think you can keep up this charade?" He taunted, licking his lips, though I noticed they had become white and his face was paler. His hand was no longer holding his neck but the edge of the crow's nest to prevent himself from falling.

"I can keep up longer than you, besides, it's just a scratch compared to yours," I told him, though my confidence in my words hopefully didn't falter. I knew it was more than a little scratch, blood had obviously soaked my shirt, the wet material clinging to my skin uncomfortably. As time went on, my blade dug into his skin, and his eyes fluttered from blood loss, I was starting to feel weaker, knowing that in time, we were going to pass out.

I couldn't keep it up much longer, pinning Izzy against the one thing that was keeping him from falling, bringing his head forward by his hair, and hitting a pressure point Olu taught me a while back. He fell against me, though I moved his body to fall to the ground, panting as my adrenaline high came crashing down. "God- Ed," I whispered, leaning over and seeing that every one of the Spanish was either dead or yelling as they were trying not to drown. And there stood Ed, swaying back and forth as he looked at Black Pete's wound.

"Ed! I'm up- here!" I yelled out, my voice wavering as well as my vision. "Izzy's unconscious and, I think I'm about to pass out," I announced as soon as I saw him turn around and spot me. Immediately, he ran toward the crow's nest ladder and began to climb. But my vision was swimming, the swaying of the ship was getting to my body as my knees buckled and I fell. "Ed," I whispered, feeling my arm with the strength I had and bringing it to the vision I had left. My hand was soaked, and then my hand crashed to the ground, feeling nothing but seeing the mix of salt and pepper hair, a face of worry, and a voice. "I'm taking Stede, put Izzy in a boat, and float him out," I heard Ed utter to someone, my body coming against something and a whisper. "Stede, hold on, please! Please! Hold on!"