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

Chapter 14

I woke up with a striking pain swarming in my stomach. I looked around me to find that I was in bed of the captain's quarters. I tried to remember what happened but everything was a blur except Kan used a poison knife to stab me. I struggled to get into a sitting position but the wound tortured my insides. I didn't care but I manged to do it.

"You need to take it easy, Airon," I saw Kara sitting beside me with Sarngika sitting on the bedstead.

"Aren't I suppose to be dead?" I asked. Kara stood up and slapped me with her hand.

"Don't talk such nonsense!" She said. "You should be grateful that you're alive. Thanks to Sarngika, that the pirate captains have someone to look up to." I faced Sarngika and he nodded.

"Mithos Ravens can get poison out of a person's body." he explained.

"And for that, I owe you my life," I said. I faced back to Kara and asked, "Where's Kan?"

"Well, apparently he decided to fight for the pirates after he somehow stabbed you with a poisoned dagger." She said. That was great that he decided to help me but why would he try to kill me?

"Why did Kan have a poisoned dagger?"

"Because an old woman gave him it while he and I were talking after you were arrested. She said that he needed to kill you with the dragon-like dagger because she thought that you would take his place as king." she explained. My eyes widened when she said 'dragon-like dagger' and 'kill me'. That woman seemed familiar to Nekian. Kara said that she killed her prey with a poisoned dragon-like dagger in a certain place.

"You would believe that it was Nekian that gave him that," I began but Kara placed her finger on my mouth to keep quiet.

"You don't need to worry about her," she reassured. She removed it and said, "What you need to worry about is to make sure you look presentable for the captains and lords after that wound has healed."

"Can I at least ask when we will be arriving?" I asked. She went to the door and turned around to glance at me.

"We'll arrive there tomorrow night," she said and then left just me and Sarngika.

"What's with her?" I asked.

"You freaked her out when she tried to get the poison out of you which didn't work so I had a delicious snack and I saved your life," he said.

"So what am I suppose to do?" I shouted, which made the pain hurt more than before.

"You need to rest for tomorrow night." he said.

"How can I sleep with a sharp pain in my stomach?" I asked.

"By not asking any more questions," he said. "Now try laying down without hurting yourself and sleep." I obeyed without protesting as I slowly laid down. He flapped onto the crook of my neck with his back next to me, sleeping. I stared at the ceiling, knowing that I couldn't sleep but I had some thing's to think about like my telling the lords that Kan has decided to fight for us and that I would meet every pirate in Kalaenia. I might as well sleep, I thought. I need to be able to walk up Ōkina Yumjia by myself but I seriously doubt the wound will heal in time. I closed my eyes and dreamed about the final dual between me and Nekian.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I found Nekian on her ship, The Poison Queen, fighting and killing my men. I walked towards her while killing the men that was on her side with my two swords. Her violet eyes landed on me and I felt sweat running down my face, even though it was raining but I didn't care. This was my chance to avenge my parents lives. Me and her met in the center of the main deck as she said, "So we finally meet, prince. I've heard stories about you."

"I'm not here to listen to your silly stories," I started with a twirl and then did a horizontal slash. She blocked it with one of her swords pointed down and the other coming down at me. I used the other sword to block and I saw that she was smiling.

"You're quite a dancer, prince," she said, she used her first sword to go for my side. I dodged it by backing away with a turn. "But this is a fight, not a performance." We continued to slash and strike at each other and I was getting pretty tired of this. "You look tired," she pushed me into the stairs that lead to the upper deck. I tried to get up but she sat on me as she held out my arms while she pulled out her dragon dagger. "Here, let me put you to sleep forever." She was about to strike but I heard someone calling my name.

"Airon," said a gently voice. I slowly opened my eyes to find Kara with a bowl of something and a long strip of with cloth. "I need you to try and get up." I was about to ask why but she answered my question before I asked it. "I need to treat your wound before tonight and I can't do it when you're laying down." I looked outside to find that the ship has stopped and it was snowing viciously. I slowly got up into a sitting position and swung my legs onto the floor. At first, the pain was the same from before but now it wasn't so bad and also it sent a flash of hurt in my shoulder. It must've been from the castle guards tossing me into the prison cell, I thought. She placed the wooden bowl on the side and dunk the cloth it. She then started unwrapping the bandage that I already had on. Once it was off, she took the cloth out and dabbed it on the cut.

"Argh!" I cried. "That hurts!"

"Well I have to get it cleaned and stitched since it was a thick blade and it won't be able to close up on its own." she said. Once she was done, she told me to lay down as she began stitching it together with a thick suture. It was painful when she poked it into my but it somehow got better. She next told me to sit up slowly and I did what I was told as she started wrapping the clean white bandage around my waist and shoulder. After she tied the ends together, she handed me the red, black, and white armor jacket with the white undershirt and cuffs. "Get dressed and meet me on deck," And with that, she left. Sarngika flew onto the table that stood beside the bed as I slowly put the white undershirt over my head and pulled it down but the bottom of it reached to the start of my ribs. That didn't matter so I put the jacket and cuffs on next.

After I tied the strap under my arm, I got off the bed but my stomach seemed like it was trying to spill more blood. Sarngika flew onto my shoulder and said that I needed to go slow. I nodded as I grabbed my swords that were already in their sheaths and put them across my back and around my waist. I shifted my weight as my hand guided me to the door. I opened it and used my hand to keep me up while my other hand covered my stomach.

I finally got to the deck to find the crew singing and dancing and drinking. I scanned my eyes, looking for Kara and I found her drinking with Harlock, Aka, and Kuala. I slowly moved towards them but when I got to them, they weren't their normal selves.