Island Dolls

Chapter Three

Part I

Charles clenched his fists as he stared at the captain of the R. R. Dagger. Standing to the side, behind Charles was Feioha. Standing next to the captain was the soldier who had his musket aimed at Feioha, waiting for the captain's order to shoot. At such a close range, it would be hard not to hit.

It was a sky-blue day without a hint of cloud, and the sun shone down strongly on the village center. Yet the scene here, with the majority of the village's people rounded up and guarded by musket-wielding naval soldiers, and the standoff between the native warriors guarding the chief's hut and the captain with his entourage, plus the sudden arrival of Charles and Feioha to the scene, was very tense. A single miscalculation could easily result in a massacre.

"So," the captain said, grinning from ear to ear, "Are you going to translate for me or not?"

Charles grit his teeth. Translate the captain's order to enslave and relocate all the people on this island? Even if he did, he doubted the people he would obey. They would probably prefer extermination over such a future. He had seen that kind of determination before.

"Tell him to put the gun down." Charles said wearily, looking at the man who had his gun trained on Feioha.

Although he was concerned for the people of the village, the safety of Feioha standing next to him was of higher importance. Charles didn't know why, but he felt he owed a lot to her, and seeing the man before him aim a gun at her made his blood rush with anger.

"No, no." the captain said, shaking his head. "That's not what I said. I asked you to.."

The captain's words were suddenly cut off by a 'woosh' sound. He turned his head slowly to look at the soldier standing next to him, and his face went aghast with horror.

That's because the soldier's gun had collapsed to the ground together with the hands that had been holding it. Cleanly severed at the wrists, his arms were still held up in the position they had been in before the hands had been abruptly cut off.

Charles stood with his legs wide apart and one fist uncurled and pointed straight at that solider.

"What the-"

The captain was trembling a little at the sudden invisible attack, but his shock was quickly overridden by the soldier screaming as realisation hit him of what had just happened.

Meanwhile Charles, seizing the opportunity, turned to Feioha and ordered her to stand back. Feioha was also in shock, trying to comprehend what had just happened, but her eyes flickered to him as he called her name, and then she moved to the side, her face still expressing disbelief as she did so.

Charles turned back to face the captain and the rest of the scene before him, then he thrust both hands out to the side and yelled with all his being:

"NIMBUS...!"

Immediately the ground shook violently as if a small earthquake had struck and then out from the ground behind Charles a white creature began to rise, looking like a ghost as it seamlessly passed out of the ground and into the air behind Charles.