The Founding Sisters #1 The Damned

Prologue

THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE, AUGUST 1698

The sun was just disappearing into the sky as the lone frigate made her way through uncharted waters. The sun was inviting her to follow it as it touched the horizon. She was supposed to follow it on its track, never seeing the night as she dutifully performed her sacred duty. But she didn't. And not doing so would make what she was about to do inevitable. It was part of the curse she would cast upon herself. For she had a new mission now. One far more prevalent in this day and age.

The cave ahead of her was carefully chosen. A place of mystical power which she needed to perform the action she was about to commit. She was a ship of the damned sailing into the Devil's Triangle. A fitting new home for her in this world.

Waves broke against the shore, their spray glinted red by the setting sun. The disk was halfway below the horizon now, casting a warm glow across everything its rays could reach as it offered a last farewell before handing control of the skies off to the moon which was just now beginning to rise. The frigate closed her eyes as she felt the rays hit her face. Once again the desire to fire into the sun and follow its track to her realm came and she resisted firmly. No, there would be no going back there. She would be bound here now as she was originally meant to be. An immortal ship in a world of mortals. And that immortality was to come in handy if she was to succeed in her new purpose and eradicate every last murdering pirate scum that sailed. Those bastards had killed her beloved mate and flagship, she would see that loss avenged.

Timing was everything. Once she would not have hesitated, lighting up the sky in green as the disk of the sun dropped into the sea. Now, no such image graced the skies this night. Nor would it ever again.

She turned into the cave as night fell, the moon casting a silver shadow on whatever its rays could touch. Its authority ended at the cave's entrance. So menacing was the triangle that no light dared enter, bent away out of fear. The dark water beneath her keel bore flickers of red as she disturbed it, its power drawn to hers. She could hear whispers of those long dead around her. Some desired her help. Others desired her blood. She would grant them neither. She halted near an outcropping, tying herself off to it while she took out a knife from her decks.

The blade was curved steel with the hilt intricately carved ivory with a spread of jewels embedded within it. Along the tang, written in a language so dark no ship besides herself would dare speak it, were the words Anger, Rage, Vengeance.

"Too long have I sailed these seas and known not but death and despair. But no longer." She began in the same tongue. The walls of the cave shook in fear as they heard the Cursed Language. The sea trembled. "My old purpose has come to an end for I declare on this day henceforth, I have a new purpose. To end the life of every ship and every man whom calls themselves pirate and sails under that wretched flag. To them I will be their Devil Ship. The One from Whom Stories will be told. Stories of fear. They shall curse my name even as I shall bring the Wrath of my Curse down upon them. I shall be the Long Shadow that stalks them like Death itself. Patient and wily. And I shall be forever present in their hearts and minds. Every time they sail from the safety of their ports the specter of me shall be there. And I shall meet them in person, delivering a mortal blow that will wipe their scourge from the sea in time." The frigate took a breath as she paused, raising the knife above her head. It glowed orange as it became infused with the dark magic of the Triangle. This dark magic she would depend upon now. "With this vow, oh ye Triangle, I make a boon of you. Bestow upon my heart a geisham to warn away any adversary. Let it be known that a ship without a heart and a damned soul cannot be killed by mortal means. I offer my heart to you now Triangle as payment."

This was the part she feared the most. The Triangle waited for her next move. She had made her offer and it seemed it was accepted. Now the Triangle expected its payment and it would not wait forever for her to deliver it. Slowly, the frigate lowered the knife, trepidation filling her. There was no question that this would hurt. Under normal circumstances, no ship could survive what she was about to do but she trusted the Triangle's promise of protection. Its magic would protect her. Keep her alive. But that didn't mean the process would be painless.

The knife was lowered shakily and pointed towards her chest, the tip touching her hull. "Let this vessel be removed from its rightful owner!" She gasped. "For vengeance and for the lost, I commit this deed." With only slight hesitation, she drove the knife into her chest.