The Painter Of Port Royal

Chapter 25 - The Final

Writers note:

I'm just having a writers note here to tell you I'm doing a bonus chapter just to mention the possibility of a sequel so make sure you read on to know about that!

Happy reading ❤️

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"Then what shall we die for?" Elizabeth said "you will listen to me," She marched through the crew "listen!" Climbing up onto the side of the ship Lydia looked in awe as Elizabeth commanded her voice over everyone "The Brethren will still be looking here to us, to the Black Pearl, to lead. And what will they see? Frightened bilge rats aboard a derelict ship? No. No, they will see free men and freedom! And what the enemy will see is the flash of our cannons. They will hear the ring of our swords, and they will know what we can do!" She screamed "by the sweat of our brows, and the strength of our backs... And the courage of our hearts. Gentlemen... Hoist the colours."

The crew looked on speechless as Elizabeth stood high over the crowd. The ships beside them watched on, waiting for the call for battle.

"Hoist the colours," Will repeated.

"Hoist the colours!" Pintel and the rest of the crew cheered.

"Aye! The wind is on our side, boys. That's all we need!" Gibbs announced.

As his last word was spoken, the men onboard shouted their cheers with their weapons in the air. Lydia gazed up to Elizabeth and winked. They will win this war. Elizabeth looked down on her and bit her cheeks. There was still a fear she was to die. All fingers pointed to her, and she didn't even know why. A feeling. A gut wrenching feeling squeezing her insides.

"Hoist the colours!" Elizabeth shouted to the other ships.

One by one each ship raised their weapons ready to fight. Lydia tapped her fingers along the hilt of her sword, not ready to bring it out just yet. She wanted to wait for the opportune moment to make her entrance. Jack was really rubbing off on her. Flags were raised in the air, each with their own colours and symbols, more screaming in the crowds. Lydia's eyes watched their flag being brought up, walking up to the helm where Elizabeth stood.

"We have them. We're going to win," Lydia said smiling up at the flag.

"I have a good feeling we will," Elizabeth replied, gaze ahead of them at the incoming ships.

Beside the two women came Barbossa and Will, all four of them looking ahead now. All the flags had been raised, everything was prepared. Nothing stood in their way now. Lydia's mind ran to Jack, wondering where he could be. If not gone for good. Although her heart was in pain she didn't want to let it break her. She didn't want to go this far to give up.

From above the clouds began to twist, circle round into a spiral. Thunder erupted from the middle, a storm brewing. The sky was covered, the bright day swept away into a dark, rainy afternoon. Droplets of rain turned torrential, everyone soaking through their layers. There were heavy spats of rains, pounding into their faces with their cold fists. Taking charge, the Black Pearl shot forward first, coming face to face with the Dutchman charging for them. Other ships took their lead and followed, letting the Black Pearl power ahead.

Securing her waistcoat, Lydia buttoned up the last of her shirt, hiding her necklace the best she could. Her skin was already wrinkling, the rain so heavy you would believe someone dropped a bucket over their heads. Gibbs was on the main deck spouting commandments, the crew growling as they were put to work.

Separating the two sides, a maelstrom was forming, bigger than ever imagined. It gripped the two ships and pulled them in, lightning shooting down the deep hole in the middle. Gibbs called out its name and Lydia gulped. A side of her thought how they had to avoid it, do something to avoid immediate danger but Elizabeth only turned to Barbossa.