Pirates Again

The onslaught of snakes eventually slowed as some were crushed or sliced apart with swords. The remaining ones finally slithered off into the surrounding trees. Katerina had been surprised when two of the crew had dragged Rhys out of the fray after he was bitten; she had run to his side and continued to use her branch to keep any more serpents at bay until they had all disappeared. Rhys was already too pale and seemed barely able to move, let alone stand back up. Katerina dropped her branch and knelt next to him.

“Rhys, can you hear me?” She gently touched his face and flinched; he was way too warm. He struggled to try and sit up and she gently pushed him back down. “No, don’t try to move,” she said. “You need to just rest.”

“I’m fine,” he said hoarsely. Katerina felt her eyes grow damp. She inspected the bite and saw that the skin around it had taken on a bruised blue-black color. She cradled his head, trying not to start crying hysterically. That wasn’t going to help.

“I’m fine,” Rhys said again, trying to reassure her even though his voice was weak and his breathing was labored. Katerina made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

“Always my sweet, brave Rhys, no matter what,” she said, sniffling a little. She let out a sharp hiss of pain as she was grabbed by the hair and yanked back.

“Get up,” Notley snarled at her. “We don’t have time for this, we have to get inside.”

“Go to hell,” Katerina snapped. He pulled her to her feet, still holding her hair in his fist. She winced but glared at him.

“I think your precious boyfriend is going to beat me to that,” Notley said, then he released her and let out a surprised curse when she slapped him so hard his head jerked to the side. His expression crazed and livid, he backhanded her across the face and she almost fell back to the ground, but he caught her arm and dragged her away. Katerina dug her heels in and tried to wrench away.

“Let go, you lunatic! I’m not leaving him.”

“I’m not letting you out of my sight,” Notley snapped, towing her along. “He’s a dead man anyway.”

“We’re all going to be dead because of you!” she shouted. There was some shifting among the crew as they followed her and Notley up to the door of the temple. He barked at them again to open it. They looked wary, but reluctantly stepped forward and began to shove the massive door open. Notley still had his pistol in his hand and looked positively deranged. The door opened slowly, with the grating sound of rock scraping rock. Everyone tensed, waiting to see if there’d be more snakes in the darkness. None emerged, but the inside of the temple was pitch black and no one seemed keen to go inside. Notley fumbled the amulets from his jacket pocket, and they seemed to connect together of their own accord. They pulsed faintly with light and then he stepped inside the temple, still gripping Katerina’s arm.

She wanted to get back to Rhys; she knew the snake’s venom probably really was killing him and she could at least be with him. Tears trailed down her cheeks as they entered the temple, and as Notley held up the amulets, sconces along the walls lit on their own. The temple had seemed nondescript from the outside, all dark gray stone. The inside however was made of polished stone in varying shades of blue. The walls and floor shimmered in the light from the torches. The inside was far more cavernous than it seemed from the outside.

And in the center were clustered small stone altars, covered in vines and strange symbols. And a beautiful blue flower grew on top of one. Everyone gawked around at the shimmering temple but something else had caught Katerina’s eye.

“You can’t take the flower,” she said, her voice echoing slightly in the vast temple. “Don’t you know the stories? People with malicious intent can’t pluck the flowers or they’ll die. Where do you think those came from?”

She gestured to an assortment of stone statues around the makeshift little garden, many of which were on the floor as if they’d toppled over. All of them had expressions of pain and terror etched eternally on their faces.

“Is that really a risk you want to take?” Katerina challenged. “Do you suppose your crew is willing to risk it?”

Notley continued into the temple, nearly yanking her shoulder from its socket. His gaze was transfixed on the flower. But he finally paused as they drew nearer.

“I don’t have to pluck it,” he said. “I can just take it once someone else plucks it for me. Someone like a stupid, lovesick girl desperate to save her precious giant.”

He pulled her forward and then began to push her toward the dais that held the flower, pressing his pistol against the small of her back. “Nice and easy, princess. Take the flower, then give it to me.”

Katerina pretended to stumble over one of the statues, then jerked her elbow back to knock the gun from Notley’s hand. He was so focused on the flower that he had let his guard slip. She grabbed the knife Rhys had given her, which was still tucked into her boot. The blade came free with a snick, and she leveled it at a startled Notley.

“I have a better idea,” she said. “You’re going to tell me where my brother is, Mr. Jameson, so that I can collect him and take him home. Yes, I know who you are. Rhys recognized you. And I should stab you on principle for kicking a baby.”

“He wasn’t a baby.”

“Answer me. Where is my brother?”

“Your brother is being held at the Crossbones, on a little spit of land fifty miles west of Alanada. It’s a pirate haven. But it hardly matters, you can’t get there without a ship.” Notley looked smug on top of his crazy. “And without any pirates to vouch for you, you’ll simply be shot on sight. And I will not be taking you there.”

“Then it’s a good thing I don’t need you, isn’t it?” Katerina smiled, which actually seemed to surprise him despite his newfound insanity. “There are a dozen other pirates here, and I am going to assume that they care more about their own self-preservation than your quest to become a god. So, I would like to make a proposition to your men to help me subdue you, save Rhys, and then take me to my brother.”

“They’ll never agree to that,” Notley scoffed. “It requires mutiny and besides, you’ll tell the authorities all about them if they let you go.”

“Tell the authorities what? I wasn’t kidnapped, I stowed away aboard The Mystic. These nice men can keep the ship, change its name, and sail off into the sunset. Or sell it, make a nice profit. I assume you were supposed to return it to Sykes when this was all done, but what reason do I have to help him reclaim his ship? He had my brother captured. As an added bonus, they’ll actually survive this little expedition instead of being sacrificed to your greedy ambitions.”

Notley narrowed his eyes, seeming slightly unsure now. Then he lunged, his insanity and desperation apparently fueling him to impressive speeds. Katerina managed to slash his cheek with the blade but he knocked her back and she saw stars as her head struck the stone floor. Notley pointed his pistol at her temple.

“I told you before that you are trying my patience, Miss Dashwood,” he growled. “Now quit wasting my time and pick the fucking flower.”

Katerina saw movement over his shoulder, and then one of the men; Katerina recalled that his name was Lance; was standing behind Notley, placing the tip of his sword against his back.

“Get up, Notley,” he said. “Or Jameson, or whoever the hell you are.”

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Notley demanded. He turned slightly to glare and Lance kicked the pistol out of his grasp.

“I said, get up.”

Notley rose, that muscle in his jaw twitching again. Katerina scooted away from him, tucking her knife away again and grabbing the fallen pistol. The rest of the crew stepped forward now, shoving Harry forward to stand next to Notley.

“What are you doing?” Notley demanded again.

“We’ve decided the lady’s offer is better than yours,” Lance replied.

“You dare to commit mutiny?” Harry asked, looking affronted.

“Well the way I figure it, if the captain loses his goddamn mind and tries to get us all killed, then it’s not really mutiny so much as good sense to relieve him of his duties.”

Notley seemed to realize that he had truly lost any support from his crew, and spun around to try and lunge for the flower. Katerina raised the pistol and shot him in the leg. Notley fell with a howl of pain, writhing on the floor. The men set about tying him and Harry up. Katerina stood. She approached the flower, looking down at its delicate blue petals.

“I’m sorry to do this,” she said. “But you’re the only hope I have of saving Rhys’s life. Please don’t turn us all into stone.”

The flower appeared to glow as she touched it, gently plucking it from its vine. She waited a moment, and nothing happened. Relieved, she ran past the pirates; they made no move to stop her. Katerina ran full tilt across the stone temple and back outside to where Rhys lay. He was only just breathing now, and the horrible bruise color had spread down his arm and across his chest. It was dangerously close to his heart. His eyes fluttered open but looked a little unfocused. He croaked her name and she shushed him. Katerina gently lifted his head and slipped the pretty blue flower between his lips, praying this would work.

Her own heart nearly stopped when his eyes drooped closed again. “Rhys,” she said, a little desperately. “No. Stay with me, please.”

She didn’t bother trying not to cry now as Rhys seemed to go far too still. She clung to him and worried that after all this, she’d been too late.