Dizgaia ~ The Dreamfinder's Daughter

Chapter 25 ~ What A Girl Wants

Dawn broke over the horizon line, casting a pink hue on the underbelly of the clouds. The ocean waters were calm, and a northerly wind blew, whistling like a ghost through the rigging. Save for this, all was quiet as the crew of the Jolly Roger was just beginning to stir with the morning light. As the first sliver of sunrise cast its golden splendor over the sparkling water, the silence was broken by a sharp call from the crow's nest.

"Ship ahoy!"

The door to the cabin opened and the captain emerged in a swirl of red and gold. His heavy black boots tromped authoritatively across the quarterdeck.

"Where away?" he called gruffly.

"Four points off the port bow!"

James Hook brought the spyglass to his eye and gazed out over the bulwarks. Sure enough, he could see the swell of white sails in the distance and a flag bearing a familiar insignia – a sword wrapped from blade to hilt in a thorny vine with a rose as the pommel.

"Rosebriar," he murmured thoughtfully.

"But what are they doing out in these  waters?" asked the quartermaster, coming to stand at his side.

"A good question, Mr. Starkey, but I don't intend to get close enough to ask."

Hook continued to gaze at the approaching ship through his spyglass.

"We are fortunate. The darkness is on our side of the water, while the rising sun shines upon them like a beacon. They've not yet seen us."

"Orders, cap'n?" asked Mr. Starkey.

"Ready Long Tom. When they're within range, we'll blow them out of the water."

"Aye, sir! You heard the captain, Mr. Smee. Pipe up the crew!"

The bosun blew his whistle. "All hands on deck!"

A dastardly assortment of fiendish cutthroats emerged from the forecastle and swarmed the deck.

"Look alive, you swabs!" shouted the quartermaster.

Hook lifted the spyglass to his eye once more. "We have them in our sights."

The master gunner called out the coordinates as the men positioned the cannons.

"On my signal, men. Ready... FIRE!"

Long Tom fired and the cannonball hit its mark, striking the hull of the enemy ship. As Hook's crew prepared for a second round of fire, Rosebriar's ship gave an answering volley. The shot went wide, just missing the Jolly Roger and blasting into the water a few feet from the bow.

"Tsk, tsk," said Hook with a smile that was half amused, half malevolent. "Rosebriar never was much of a dominant sea power. Double the powder and shorten the fuse!" he barked at the crew.

The cannons fired a second time. Chain shot took out one of the masts of Rosebriar's ship, and a second cannonball blasted through the quarterdeck. Rosebriar again retaliated. A cannonball took off the Jolly Roger's bowsprit and the gilded figurehead at the prow.

Hook's lip curled. "Merely aesthetic, Rosebriar. You disappoint me."

He called down to his crew from the quarterdeck.

"Again!" he shouted. "I want that blasted ship sunk!"

The Jolly Roger sent their final volley. A third cannon shot to the hull and another to the main mast was enough to take down Rosebriar's ship. The resulting swell from the explosion rocked the Jolly Roger, but she stood firmly the victor.