To be a pirate or a king's man?

Chapter 12 - Leviathan

Chapter 12

The attack came the dawn after next. The watchman's call cried from above, "Ship off the stern. By the size of her, she's the Sea Beauty!" Sam sprang out of his hammock and was out of the door of his cabin before the ship's doctor had even stopped snoring. Sam had slept in his clothing and kept his weapon belt close by in the case that such an attack did come. Morgan had ordered that the ship be turned and sailed round the southern edge of Cuba, to make for the edge of the Bermuda Triangle. On the edges of Davy Jones' territory, Morgan would have even more chance against Jack, and chance was what would ultimately decide the battle. Morgan and Jack were on even ground (so to speak) and the territory that they fought on would be the ultimate deciding factor.

The Stormprow was still at least two days from the Triangle, but Morgan had been hoping to pile on more time for them by taking an unusual route. Evidently, it had not worked. Sam ran onto the deck, and saw Morgan at the helm. He was holding his ring hand close to his mouth, as if praying to it whilst his left hand tended to the wheel. Sam glanced up and saw that the sails were not at full; the winds were most certainly not in the favour of the Stormprow, and Jack's ship was faster in any case. "Bring up the stern guns!" Sam roared, "We can't outrun them forever, and if we blast a hole in their sails, we'll blast a hole in their day!" The two stern cannons - also long nines - were rolled up to the stern rail to wait for the distances between the ships to close. The wolf and snake flag was hoisted up the main mast, accompanied by the red flag of no quarter.

 Sam went up to the bridge and to Morgan. "Realistically, what chance do we stand?" he asked. Morgan continued to pray into his ring. "Sir?" Sam was nervous now. Usually Morgan would be rallying the men by now, but John was doing it instead. Sam could hear him giving orders on the deck. Morgan's mask was reflecting the light of the sun into Sam's eyes, whilst Morgan's own red eye glinted coldly from beneath his steel brow. The Sea Beauty - Diamond Eye Jack's ship - was nearing the firing range of the stern cannons, and Sam saw the men behind him ready to fire. Morgan continued to whisper.

A cry came up from the prow, "Reef ahead, turn hard to starboard!" Sam grabbed the wheel and turned the ship, watching the port side move round and the starboard side face the Sea Beauty. The black shadow of a reef on the port side of the ship was massive; spreading out for at hundreds of metres from the ship, although Sam knew that the surface of water tricked the eyes into thinking things beneath were bigger than they were in reality. Then, Sam saw the reef move. That's imposs- his thoughts were interrupted by Morgan. "It's worked." The pirate captain said, the left side of his face pulled into a wide grin. "Turn the ship, charge them." he said calmly to Sam. Sam was puzzled, but did as the captain told him. "Prepare the prow for the storm!" Morgan yelled a further command and his men rushed to action, pulling the heavy long nines into position at the prow. The reef had moved and was now running alongside the Stormprow, headed straight for the Sea Beauty. The distances between the ships closed to eight hundred metres. "Fire!" yelled Morgan, and the infamous brig shot her load at the Sea Beauty, which responded with a bow firing of its own. "Duck!" The crew ducked whilst the seamen at the prow reloaded. "Hard to starboard, broadside on the port!" Sam turned the wheel and saw the steel death be fired from Stormprow's port flank, peppering the starboard of the Sea Beauty, which had also turned. The shadow beneath the water was nearing the Sea Beauty, which was firing its starboard cannons. Sam dropped to the deck, still holding the ship's wheel. Morgan ordered that the Stormprow be turned to face the Sea Beauty, and fire the prow cannons again. It was done, and Sea Beauty returned fire, but missed some shot.

Morgan was looking through his spy glass at the Sea Beauty. "She's hardly scratched." he said, disappointment in his voice. "Ah, but here comes the grand surprise," he grinned again, maliciously. Sam looked up toward the other ship, and saw the reason for Morgan's ecstasy. A gargantuan tentacle was crawling up the ship's port side. Before long, another was coming up the stern. Sam could hear the cries of dismay echoing from the other ship. "A kraken?" he asked.