Falling For The First Mate

Chapter 23

Never before had Evanora nor Shen experienced as much uproar from the crew as they did when the Maelstrom finally docked at the Struggler’s Strip. The men were practically climbing over one another, making wagers over the women they would sleep with and the amount of rum they would chug. Captain Silvestre had recently taken to bashing his head against the mast to make the crew fall silent- save for the groans of pain they all felt as well- for a few blessed seconds.

As soon as the gang plank was lowered, however, they thundered off like a stampede, heading for the nearest tavern with drooling mouths and hungry hands.

“You’d think they’d never seen land before.” Shen muttered, shaking his head. He let out a startled cry as Evanora grabbed him by the hand and dragged him along after them.

“It’s been so long!” she breathed excitedly. “Don’t you want to be back on solid ground?”

“Not particularly.” Shen muttered, rolling his eyes. The sea was his home, and land, in his opinion, would never come close. As far as he was concerned, their beloved ‘solid ground’ was no more than an annoying obstacle that ruined the boundless beauty of the open waters.

Stepping off of the boat, Shen’s feet met with the swirling sand. Evanora continued to tug on his fingers like a young girl, hauling him behind her as she sprinted to shore. Balancing precariously on the human legs that were unused to land, Shen wasn’t sure that he liked the feeling of soil beneath his toes. He grimaced as he took in his grime-coated toenails and stopped in his tracks.

Were a decent meal and a yearning for revenge really worth all this torture? Or had the weeping eyes of the girl at his side started to mess with his conscience? Shen wasn’t sure anymore, and this unnerved him.

“I’d forgotten how much I love solid earth!” Evanora twirled in circles where she stood, spreading her arms wide from East to West.

“Of course, I forgot.” Shen scoffed. “A ground-hugger like you would be all too eager to trade the rush of the wind and the roaring of the seas for plain old Terra Firma.”

“Oh, don’t you believe it!” she giggled, kicking an arch of water right over Shen’s head. It dribbled down his chest and he growled playfully, turning to chase Evanora across the golden sand and upturned soil.

“You are going to pay for that!” he laughed, picking up his pace as adrenaline kicked in. “Because, unlike in the sea, on land there’s nowhere to hide.”

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Dusk shrouded the docks in an eerie fog as Kade stormed over the beach, crunching grains of sand underneath the soles of his heavy boots. Rolling his shoulders as if in preparation for combat, he shrugged on a black cloak that allowed him to blend in with the shadows. It was the same cloak he had worn to follow Evanora on the night it all truly began. And now he wore it as he made the final purchases that would prepare him for the end.

Slamming his fist against the gnarled door of a shifty-looking store, he waited impatiently for any signs of movement inside, trying as hard as he could to stop replaying thoughts of Evanora over and over in his head. Just as he was about to cut his losses and leave, the door creaked open suspiciously and he wasted no time in striding inside.

“What took you so long?” he growled.

Light from a single light bulb flickered overhead, making the defined features of the man he addressed even more devious. The owner of the store grinned, showing two rows of toothless gums, and gestured to his side. Kade’s eyes were drawn to a heavy-looking wooden leg, and then to the scratches that lined the floor like a struggler’s nail marks.