Last Voyages

Chapter 33

Isabella's POV:

After we clambered back onto the boat, we were surrounded by the rest of the crew, them giving us worried looks as we returned uninjured but exhausted. All of us were on our knees, trying to absorb everything that just happened.

"C-Captain. When you left we spotted many ships leave. They passed us by like nothing and then headed the opposite direction of where we are facing." one pirate reports and Harry curses under his breath. 

"So it was true." I whisper to myself, holding Layla tightly to my body, never wanting to let my baby girl go ever again. Layla slowly lifted her head, her face dirty from being on the ground for so long.

"Are we going to fight a war?" she whispers to me and I frown, not wanting to answer her question. 

"Yes, we are." Harry answers for me, a dark look on his face as he rises to his feet, looking over at the pirate who reported the ships. "How many of them were there?" he asks tightly and the pirate shuffles his feet awkwardly, looking away from Harry's gaze.

The rest of the crew averted their gaze as well, as if they didn't want to see our reaction when we were given the answer to this question.

"There were at least fifteen ships." the pirate murmured and shock filled my body, my eyes going wide as I looked up at them, despair filling my body. "Fifteen?" I whisper and Harry curses under his breath. 

Shayla finally rises to her feet, the look of disbelief on her face backed up by her trembling hands. "There's no way..." she trails off, Niall and Louis slowly getting to their feet as well. Keeping Layla in my arms I get to my feet, my knees trembling with the effort to stay standing, especially after hearing this.

"Thank you, Gillies." Harry murmurs and Gillies nods slowly, unsure of whether or not it was a good thing to be thanked at the moment. 

"Head a course back to England. We need to get out of here as soon as possible and get back to England. It may already be too late, but we have to go back." Harry announces, raising his voice so everyone could hear him.

"England has no idea they're about to be invaded. This group is no longer just a group, but an Empire. Their Emperor is leading this fleet of ships to England to destroy it," Harry says and the pirate's eyes widen in shock.

"As of now...we're England's last hope." he finishes and I take in a deep breath. 

The crew dispersed immediately, all of them getting to their positions: raising the anchor, setting the sails loose, gathering items and the helmsman, Jack, began to turn the ship around, setting a course for Eastbourne.

Harry turned to look at us before motioning us to follow him.

"I'd like to have a word with all of you." he says, turning around and walking to the front of the bow, us following behind him. Harry stopped at the edge, placing his hands behind his back before taking in a deep breath.

"This is going to be the toughest fight we'll ever be a part of," he mutters, turning around to face us. "But if we're going in this, we need some sort of strategy or at least a plan." he says and all of us nod. 

I set Layla down beside me before we all take a seat, pulling up crates or barrels; anything that we could sit on we grabbed. Layla sat on a small crate next to me, unusually quiet and the smile that she usually adorned was nowhere to be found. Her fragile body seemed smaller than ever and she held onto herself as if she were about to fall apart. 

Sadness and anger filled my heart as I stare down at my young daughter. She was too young to be brought into war...yet somehow she found herself in the center of it. I close my eyes for a moment, shaking myself of the thought before looking back up at Harry.