Aboard the Jackdaw: Under Edward Kenway And The Black Flag

24: Like An Assassin

Kidd, Anna, and Adawale followed Edward deeper into the jungles of Tullum. Edward occasionally mumbled the coordinates that they were searching for as he pushed his way through the tropical plans along the thin trail.

They trudged through the humid rainforest until Edward stopped walking and held up his hand in the air for them to stop. He unfolded a map from his coat and examined it,

"Alright, lads! These are the coordinates! Let's start digging!"
He exclaimed.

The pirates unsheathed their swords and began stabbing them into the soil. They made poor shovels, but it was the only thing that they had. The pirates didn't get far before the tips of their blades touched a solid layer of rock.

"That's limestone, Captain."
Said Adawalé sadly,
"There's no way around that."

Anna sighed lazily and wiped the sweat off of her forehead.

Edward huffed and asked,
"So what's the plan, mates?"

Kidd sighed in frustration,
"There is no way, Keyway!"

Edward's face suddenly snapped into sourness, and he got in Kidd's face,
"I haven't come this far to give up."
He hissed.

Anna sighed and drowned out the pirate's escalating argument. Her sharp eyes landed on a clear spring through the dense brush of the forest. She suddenly rubbed her dry palate with her tongue, awakening her thirst. Anna sheathed her sword and began walking towards the tempting water.

Edward, Kidd, and Adawalé immediately stopped arguing when Anna's echoing scream pierced the air.
Edward immediately ran to her voice, but she was no where to be found.

Adawalé shouted,
"Where is she?!"

Edward and Kidd blinked their eyes to Eagle Vision and scanned the forest, but they found no sign of her.

Kidd shouted,
"Anna! Where are you, lass?!"

There was no response.

As hard as Edward tried to hide it, his tough exterior was quickly melting.

He turned on his heels to Kidd and shouted in his face,
"Where the hell did she go?"

Kidd shoved Edward in the chest,
"Why ya gitt'n mad at me, Kenway?"

"Cause this is your bloody. fuckin'. island!"
Edward screamed so loud that the land echoed his words.

"Enough!" Shouted Adawale.

Edward and Kidd turned to see the African quartermaster squatting on the ground and inspecting the forest floor.
Adawalé looked at the two
captains,

"She went this way." He said.

The three pirates anxiously followed Adawale off of the trail as he tracked Anna's path towards the spring. They didn't get far before they came upon a small hole in the ground barely wide enough for a grown man to squeeze through.

Edward anxiously leaned down towards it and put his head in the hole,

"Anna?" His worried voice echoed through the underground cave.
He blinked his vision and saw a gold figure laying motionless on the floor right beneath the mouth of the cave,

"Christ, she fell in." He said as he threw his belt against Kidd's chest and squeezed down into the cave next to her limp body on the cold, dark ground.

Adawalé followed Edward, and Kidd lit a small torch and followed them down into the dark cave.

Anna's head had landed on a rock, and a trickle of blood dripped down from her forehead.
Edward cradled her limp body in his arms. He desperately shook her, but she didn't wake up. Through the torchlight, Adawalé saw his captain's eyes soften into pure worry for the first time.