A Man of Fortune

7: The Twelve Towers Part Two

 "Hey look, up ahead! Another tower," I pointed out after we had driven along the Madagascan plains a little while longer, heading to the volcano where our particular tower was situated.

"See any Shoreline mercs?" Sully asked and I pulled out my binoculars.

"No, I think we're clear," I said and Sully sighed.

"You better keep ahold of that thing," Sully said sternly, referencing my binoculars again.

"Yes I am doing!" I insisted and the two Drake brothers glanced at each other, apparently confused.

"Let's check the place out and keep on moving," Sam said, changing the subject and we all hopped out of the truck just after Nate had driven it to the edge of a closed drawbridge.

"Drawbridge? How medieval," Nate noted.

"Well you don't put up a drawbridge unless you're trying to keep people out," Sully said.

"Or protect something inside," Sam said hopefully. We split up to explore, me heading straight to the crumbling tower whilst the boys tried to figure out a way to get the drawbridge open. As I went in the tower I saw another sigil patterned into the ground, this one being of my favourite pirate.

"Hey guys! This tower was Anne Bonny's! Her sigil is right here," I said, sweeping some of the dust on it.

"Avery must've invited her too," Sam said, coming up behind me.

"We're getting quite the collection now," Nate said, flicking through his notebook.

"Well we ain't getting any more unless we figure out a way to open that drawbridge," Sully pointed out and so we split up, finding a way. Of course Nathan had to climb to the very top of Bonny's tower, but he announced that he could see another, even bigger tower just beyond the drawbridge and I hoped that that would be our final destination. It was also Nate who found a way to open the drawbridge so Sully, Sam and I watched him work from the car. That was until Sully shouted that Shoreline were approaching.

I whirled around to see two large, well armed trucks approaching and I quickly grabbed my sniper rifle from the car and hid in a discreet location however it turned messy very quickly. Whilst the boys went charging in I stood from a high vantage point and took out Shoreliners one by one, knocking them down as though they were merely bowling pins.

Thanks to our tenacity we were able to take care of them pretty quickly, but I had lost almost two thirds of my bullets so we quickly raided the dead mercenaries for ammunition before Nate headed back up to the drawbridge crank to get it open for the car. "You alright?" Sam asked kindly as I hoped in the truck.

"Yeah, fine," I said, it being the truth. He nodded with a smirk but the sound of the drawbridge crashing onto the ground made me jump out of my skin. Sully took the wheel and headed through, Nate joining us a moment later and taking over the driving.

"Big tower on a volcano," Nate said, pointing out the tower he saw when he was at the top of Bonny's.

"Looks like the ends in sight, huh?" Sam said optimistically. I had doubts but the last thing I wanted to do was ruin this calm and sweet relationship we had at the moment so I kept quiet as we drove, however once again our path was blocked by a muddy, steep hill.

"Hey, did you know our car came with a winch?" Nate said in a teasing tone.

"No, really?" Sully asked sarcastically and I chuckled. Nate took the winch up some conveniently placed stone steps at the side of the muddy hill and was able to wrap it around a tree at the top before sliding back down.