The Pirate Prince of the Ice Sea (Book 1 of The Legend Of Kaleania)

Chapter 8

Kara led me upstairs and the men stopped working to stare at me and Sarngika. I heard them whispering about me looking a lot like Derek.

"Is that the ghost of the captain?" asked one.

"No he isn't, you idiot," said another. "He must be the son of him."

"He even has Sarngika, Derek's Mithos Raven," said the other.

I turned to face Kara and asked, "Why do they look like they've seen a ghost?"

"They believe that you are the ghost of Jake Derek coming back from the Firealm to hunt the ship until the pirates are freed to do what they want." she answered as she climbed up the stairs that lead to the upper deck. I followed her to find her talking to a man, steering the ship. She told him to set a course to Airu Shima, Isle of the Great island. And then she said, "Arak, come steer the ship." My heart stopped for a second. She wanted me to steer a ship even though I've never navigated one in my entire life. I walked up to the steering wheel and took a deep breath. I placed my hands on the pegs that were opposite each other. It gave a little tug but it was amazing. "Wow, for a boy who has never been a pirate who can steer the infamous Black Diamond, you're really good."

"You think so?" I asked.

"Aye, you have the blood of a pirate," she said.

"Pirate?" I asked. She nodded.

"And since you've been branded to become a pirate when you were born, all we need to do is for you to earn your right as captain," she climbed onto the railing and got out her pistol. She pointed it to the sky and let go of the trigger which caused everyone to stop whatever they were doing to stare up at her. She placed it back in her belt and put her hands on her hips and said, "Crewmen, today Arak Aiken will prove himself to be our new captain. Derek may have insisted him to battle against the first mate but I want all of you to battle him. We will do five battles per day since we will be arriving at Airu Shima at daybreak in the next three days. Understood?"

"Aye, Sir!" They saluted her and were about to get back to work but she stopped them.

"I'm not done yet, you scumbags. On the third day, I will battle him last." Everyone cheered and I was shocked. I would probably be dead before the third day with all the lack of swordsmanship I had. "Now you can get back to your positions." They saluted her again and obeyed. She got down and smiled at me when she turned to face me.

"How in Kerala's Firealm will I be able to beat fifteen men that have been more skilled than I am with a sword?" I asked. I gave the wheel back to the navigator and went up to her. There was a twinkle in her eyes, meaning that something good wasn't gonna happen.

"You'll train with me for the rest of the day and all night until you are a skilled swordsman," she said. She hopped onto the railing of the stairs and slid down to the main deck. I just climbed down normally. She ordered the crew to back away and to hand a sword to me. A tall, muscular dark-skinned man walked up beside me with a sword that was kind of like Kan's sword but the guard was round and had some fancy handle. The blade was thin and bendy that it couldn't be broken unless bent too much. Kara pulled out her sword out of the scabbard and it was a lot like mine.

She got into a fight position with her left leg extended a little in front of her while the rest of her body was putting weight on her other leg. Her arms both held her sword right at her chest. She took a deep breath and said, "First rule of swordsmanship is to relax and center your body into a ready position. Be in any position that feels comfortable." I put my right foot in front of me and put some weight of my other leg that was beneath me. I put my sword in front of me with my elbows bents and close to me. I closed my eyes and focused on relaxing. I inhaled and exhaled slowly and was in rhythm with my heartbeat. All I thought about was the beating and nothing else.

I opened them and was still breathing to the rhythm of the beating. "Ready," I said.

"Second rule is balance while striking or parrying," She quickly put her left foot behind her and pushed off of it. She ran towards me at lightning fast. I saw that she was going to swing from the right so I moved my leg that was in front of me to the back as I blocked the swing from the left. "Very good," she grinned. And right before I could counter, she vanished into thin air and then reappeared behind me. She went for the down swing so I turned and blocked it as I held the collison of the swords above my head.

"Third rule is to assess your surroundings by also keeping your guard up." I spun the swords so her sword was out of my way. I went for the steps and she ran up to me, still swinging and slashing.

"Fourth rule is to make sure you be careful when you strike or else your opponent will find an open spot and strike." She was about to plunge her sword into my arm but I spun and was able to get free away from it. I then noticed the her upper left arm was open so I quickly slashed at it and blood came running down her arm. We got up to the upper deck and we still were striking and parrying while blocking.

"Fifth and final rule is to remain calm and confident. If you're nervous, then your opponent with take advantage of it and may attempt to goad you into a fatal mistake." I entrusted my instincts to strike at her side so I did but she ended up blocking it and slashed at my arm. I held in the pain as I climbed up onto the railing. Kara followed me and almost plunged the point at my neck. I moved my upper body away and was still able to my balance. I got back into the center and spun her sword out of her hand as it flew through the air and into my hand. I pointed my sword and her's to her throat. "And you said that you lack swordsmanship."

"I did but I trusted my instinct to do it," I said.

"Well, I guess, you don't need to battle anyone for the next three days," she moved both of the swords out of her way as she got down by jumping from the deck to the main one.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I climbed down the stairs and went up to her to hand her back her sword.

"You just proven that you are the new captain of the Black Diamond," she said. She started yelling, "Long live Captain Arak!" and then everyone else joined in. Sarngika flew onto my shoulder since I told him to watch from anywhere than on my shoulder.

"Will you help me captain the ship, Sarngika?" I asked. "Since you were also with Derek when he was captain?"

"Of course, Captain," I smiled, knowing that the captain thing might be pretty fun. Minus the Hotaru making every pirate feel enslaved and that I will have to battle her soon.