bet the dead could’ve moved ‘em, bos’n.” As a number of the deckhands became involved in theories about how the enormous whales disappeared from the coast I noticed one more vessel break through the sea mist being dragged by Captain Rike, he was alone, I thought, however standing within the paddle ship rested Achilles. The dog’s striking blue eyes were looking wisely out upon the tree line, as though he were assessing the island himself, without a sound the animal jumped lightly down from the boat and stood proudly by his master’s side. It brings rage to my heart to think about my last moment looking upon the dog, such a magnificent beast he was.
“Was it wise to bring your pet, Rike?” Sollertis asked, for the first time seeming to show some weariness of his surroundings.
“I would trust this dog over anyone upon this earth, bos’n.” Sollertis raised an eyebrow and looked away as Rike made his way to the front of the crew.
“‘ow will we find our way back to the ship if we be walkin’ ‘bout in the jungle, cap’n?” Shaking his head Sollertis reached inside his waste coat and briefly withdrew an ancient looking compass from one of his pockets.
“Cap’n, look ‘bout, the beasts be all gone, sir.” Still quarrelling, the deckhands already seemed nervous, ‘twas beginning to seem as though such numbers had been a mistake to bring back to the island, yet it would prove to be a great blessing in disguise as we began to make our way amongst the enticing jungle.
“That be no concern o’ mine, don’t let no foolish stories nor ideas that ‘ath been put amongst your thoughts trouble your mind. Lupino shall be leadin’ the way, lads, if I ‘ear a sound from anyone of you then I shall abandon you ‘ere, you ‘ear me? And any one of you that dear fire your pistols for any reason without mi say so shall be gettin’ ‘is bollucks cut off.” Rike glared over us all with authority and falling quiet the entire crew nodded at him, he then turned to look at Lupino, signalling to the stray captain. With that Lupino took the lead, keeping close and silent we began to walk along the golden beach in the finest sun I had ever known, not a shell nor a stone disrupted the endless beauty of the island’s coast, ‘twas truly an undiscovered gem hidden upon the earth’s surface.
I know not for how long we trekked across the beach of the place, ‘twas not a great amount of time, though looking back I could no longer make out our boats for the heat waves which lined the ground. From the front of the crew Lupino abruptly stopped raising a hand up to signal we each pause.
“What’s up, lad?” Rike whispered, joining him at the front of his men.
“There,” Lupino pointed at the tree line, “it looks like an openin’ ‘mongst the trees, cap’n.”
“Wait ‘ere whilst I look upon it.” And with those words the captain went ahead, a brief moment later he turned about to us and nodding we each made haste to join him. ‘Twas indeed a pathway leading amongst the trees as Lupino had told us of. With a hand gesture the captain suggestively allowed Lupino return to lead his men amongst the dense trees of the jungle. As we began to make our way between the foliage I noticed the trees stood incredibly tall. Their leaves were thick and glowed the brightest of greens, the sun burst through them with such intensity that it appeared as though a great artistic mosaic was spread out above our heads, ‘twas truly stunning.
For some time we trod through the endless green jungle, the clearing which cut right through its trees allowed us to step in near silence across the ground. Never a moment passed however when it was possible to relax amongst the undergrowth, every pirate with whom I stood held their rapier tightly, and each man glanced about constantly with a look of fear on his face. The atmosphere too became increasingly nerving when the trees took a sudden turn from life to death. The canopy above us no longer blocked out the sun, the leaves wilted with a lifeless brown, so too did the ground beneath our feet become soft, the bark of the trees in these parts of the jungle were grizzled and dead. A number of the crew pointed out at regular intervals enormous carvings upon some of the desolate bark, it seemed as though enormous claw marks had been shred through the wood.
For some time it seemed we were making good progress amongst the ever decaying trees of the jungle until all at once we were brought to a halt by the captain and Lupino. I made my way to the front of the crew to discover why we had stopped yet I had no need to ask, the pathway split into two directions, though neither looked more promising than the other for bringing us to the centre of the island.
“Shall we split up, cap’n?” Lupino asked without hesitance.
“Nay, lad, we’ll do no such thing. Come, we ‘ath not time to waste. Choose a pathway and be done with it.” Lupino nodded at Rike and without pausing to think he took the right side of the opening ways. The very moment he began to walk every man of Roselyn’s crew bar Lupino ducked and cowered. Through the dense hot air of the island a staggered call echoed out like nothing I had ever heard in my life. Stricken with fear I looked across at Lupino who had the same relaxed look on his face that he always expressed. He lifted a finger to his mouth and signalled us all to be silent, then, slowly lowering himself he gestured we follow. Breathing heavily I watched the captain shake his head, copying Lupino’s gesture, we began with terror to creep along the forest pathway, I can recall upon hearing the call from the jungle wishing I was back amongst the colourful streets of Port Royal.
For some time we made haste keeping low amongst the jungle’s decaying foliage. Not long after we had heard the horrific sound call out from the trees, and as the sun which had guided us this far began to climb away across the horizon, the ground beneath us began to rise at a considerable rate. The pathway began winding and it became a struggle for the crew to keep up a fast pace of movement. With determination we marched on however, we had come this far without any physical signs of trouble though we had been spooked out of our wits by that terrifying sound, it seemed as though the journey could not have gotten any worse.
As the sunlight began to fade in the sky we trailed the climbing pathway with an ever increasing resolve yet suddenly, in a moment of great confusion the entire crew once more fell to its knees. Another overwhelming sound reverberated throughout the jungle and this time even Lupino cowered. With a resonance I did not know him capable of, Achilles howled, his head reaching high up into the sky, and looking up myself I noticed that the moon was incredibly large and bright, so much so I recall being truly stricken by the sight. Rike grabbed the dog and silenced him with his hand and as I tensed my grip upon my rapier I looked over to Lupino. It was not the sound of the dog that struck me with panic, nor the memory of what had occurred the last time one of our crew had called out into the jungle, but the sheer look of terror upon Lupino’s face. He turned his head, and looking at Achilles the man swallowed in fear.
“Quickly.” He whispered, and we each upped ourselves and began to move towards the stray captain, as abruptly as had occurred before however, the jungle erupted into life, as though a mere sound within it caused the entirety of its inhabitants to appear at the root of its cause.
“Be ready at arms, men!” Rike called out.
“Keep movin’ forward, their numbers shall not reside!” Lupino’s voice sounded strange, bursting from the foliage the lumbering humanoids came, masses of them, and as we tried with trouble to move along the climbing pathway we were attacked from all angles. Hacking and slashing the troubles of my mind disappeared as the spur and lust for combat overtook me, ‘twas possibly the greatest blessing the crew could have received at that very moment. In all the commotion I witnessed for the first time the rabid strength of the captain’s loyal companion, Achilles fought with great ferocity with any of the cursed beings that approached the captain, who fought himself with impeccable skill with his rapier.
“Faster!” Lupino cried out once more, and following his voice we fought our way along the pathway. Horrific whimpers echoed out across the jungle as some of the crew succumbed to the sheer masses of the enemy. They did not cry out themselves when they were chopped down however, in fact they made no
sound at all. ‘Twas most disturbing to see Everett dragged away amongst the trees. The unrelenting things did not for a moment let up their assault.
With numbers diminishing and an unknown distance still to travel the crew became truly frantic, many of the less nerved crew mates cried out screaming with desperation, some men in the fright broke the captain’s orders and began to fire their pistols whilst others simply gave up fighting all together and ran in all directions outwards into the consuming jungle.
“Rike!” We heard Lupino cry out from a long way up the winding path, “come quick!” We were moving as quickly as we could however, the fetid beings that were relentlessly upon us showed no signs of quelling their aggression, the stray captain was right, they wished to take our lives though with an unyielding fervour we fought them back. Stumbling into a clearing the crew gathered together and with rapiers drawn we turned about against a rocky outcrop to make our last stand.
“‘as been an honour, lads! Fight to your last breathe, do not give these bastards no moment o’ pleasure. You be pirates o’ Roselyn. Stand by your capt’n to the death!” Rike roared out to his men with might though