Swashbuckling in the Dark

Chapter Three

I hit the deck hard as another cannonball came hurtling through the air, narrowly missing my head. The captain's hand was firm on the middle of my back, having forced me onto my belly to avoid the danger. He removed it now to pull two silver blades from his belt. He handed me one, gripping the second cutlass in his left hand.

His eyes locked onto mine, and I blinked at the deadly fire I saw brewing in his blue spheres. It brought back a vivid memory I had worked hard to forget, and I shuddered involuntarily. He nodded once, and clapped his right hand to my shoulder, letting it trail briefly down the length of my arm. I shivered with an entirely different sensation and nodded shakily back.

"Remember what I taught you." He gave me a reassuring smile.

Any reply I might have summoned was interrupted by the shouts of the invading pirates. They had been hiding in the bay of a small island we'd passed by, sheltered by the rocks. It was a typical pirate ambush, though other pirates weren't the usual targets. We were flying under false colors, so it was likely they had mistaken us for a merchant ship, perhaps laden with Spanish gold.

Soon, dozens of shouting, squabbling pirates surrounded me on deck, all trying to take my head off with well aimed swings of their cutlasses, axes and hooks. Instantaneously, the ringing of clashing swords and gunfire filled the air. Dark left my side, joining the fray.

I ducked and rolled out of the way of a huge moustached man with an axe and bounced back to my feet, trying to fit my fingers around the unfamiliar weapon. I'd encountered other pirates before; this wasn't the first time someone had assaulted us, but I was still clumsy with the sword and a lousy shot with the pistol.

The axe man grunted in disappointment when I evaded him, but soon came after me with renewed vigor after freeing his axe from where he'd stuck it in the deck. I crouched and held my weapon in front of me, ready to parry his next blow.

The man halted, looking at me closely for the first time. His eyes bugged out as he saw past the men's clothes and braided hair.

"A woman?" he said in disbelief, then chuckled nastily.

"Always the tone of surprise," I muttered.

With a cry that made the hair on the nape of my neck stand on end, he charged me. I held my stance and took a deep breath, remembering Dark's lessons. Deep breath, hold your ground....timing is everything.

I imagined we were in Spain in the bull fighting arena. I waved my sword like the red cloth, tempting the burly pirate that acted as my bull. The man raised his axe, swinging for my head. As he did so, he left himself open for my attack. Another deep breath...right there. Suddenly, I jerked the blade in a tight upwards arc, meaning to nick the soft spot under the rib cage. I misjudged by an inch though, and the blade slid across his ribs.

He screamed in pain and blundered past me. His axe swung towards me as he passed. I didn't move out of the way fast enough and the sharp end of the axe sliced my right thigh. Gasping at the unexpected sting, I stumbled over a coil of rope and crashed to the deck.

"Damn you!" he cursed me.

I wheezed as the breath was knocked from my lungs and I scrambled to find the sword I'd dropped. The pirate was shouting behind me, ready to finish me off. Crawling on my knees, grunting at the pain shooting up my leg, I swept my hands across the deck for something to defend myself with.

"I'll make quick work of you, wench," he taunted me, sniggering.

Hearing the whooshing sound of an axe cutting through the air behind me, I rolled and made a sound of disgust as I landed in a pool of another dead pirate's blood. I hastily wiped the gore off my hands, staring in horror at the dead man's body.