Background
The reality of the Endless Ocean comes to light: First stop-Ghost Ship!
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Chapter Seven
Ghost Ship
Kofius steadied the Cristofur as it drew near to the abandoned ship. It was a Veddenn war vessel used by sailors hundreds of years ago.
How had a ship that old happened to be in these waters and who left it here? Dordrecht wondered.
As they watched, the ship did a mysterious thing; it disappeared and reappeared constantly as it rocked to the rhythm of the waves: When the waves bowed the vessel to the right, it vanished; when the waves bowed it to the left, it appeared.
The captain slowly lowered the optic and frowned. "That's Strange," he said to Kofius.
Kofius lowered his optic and swallowed hard. "Strange, indeed, Sir."
"Take her to six."
"Aye, Captain," Kofius fired off. Skittishly taking hold of the equipment, he increased the speed which pushed the multi-ton vessel past five knots and left the abandoned ship behind.
Cruising smoothly under a bed of stars, Dordrecht joked and sang silly songs--whatever he could which steadied Kofius's nerves. The captain departed, leaving the Sail Master singing one of the funny tunes.
Later, down in his cabin, Dordrecht took a few gulps from a jug of wine to settle him. He kicked off his footwear and lay back on his cot fully clothed. He tried to put the abandoned ship incident at the back of his mind with other unexplainable events he'd witnessed at sea over the years. Though he had to admit that tonight's was high up on that list.
Captain Dordrecht eased into a much-needed slumber as the Cristofur mastered the dark water well into midnight. However, the efforts to file away that night's strange incident soon shattered with a direct signal to his cabin. Dordrecht rose quickly--nearly tumbling to the floor. He gathered himself, slipped his feet into his footwear, and hurried from the cabin. As he ran by, the crew--all too familiar with that routine, saw more than concern on their captain's face. They stared with opened mouths as he scurried up the stairs.
"How does it look, Kofius?"
"That same ship, Captain--it's...it's up ahead," Kofius said in a high-pitched voice.
"What do you mean up ahead?" Dordrecht snapped, raising the optic to his eye. "Can't be the same ship." He snatched the optic down. "Great Zeus!"
The Veddenn sat upon the dark water as it had previously--its ragged sails flapping in the wind, and constantly fading then blinking back into view. The strange ship's menacing appearances proved relentless: The Cristofur would pass the Veddenn--leaving it at least a league behind, only to have it spotted up ahead minutes later again and again. Many crew members also noticed that bizarre occurrence and fearfully complained among themselves.
Dordrecht, however, continued peering through the optic. With no sign of the mysterious ship for over an hour, Dordrecht laughed nervously and said perhaps he and Kofius suffered the same mirage. But that nonsensical notion came abruptly to a halt when the Veddenn rammed the Cristofur from behind, hurling the captain and Kofius across the deck.
The massive jolt threw people out of bed, and crew members against the walls of the ship.
"Man overboard!" a shipmate blasted; the man battled to keep his head above the waves. Before his shipmates could reach him, a second ramming pitched them into the ocean. Chaos generated by the attack prevented further rescue efforts, and the men were struck and killed by the mysterious ship.
Kofius was hurt badly, and Captain Dordrecht lay unconscious.
As second in command, Judian managed to reach the first deck and took over the helm.
"Lead the women to the safe chamber!" Judian yelled to a group of soldiers.
The alarm filled the air; soldiers grabbed swords and scrambled to the first deck but soon fell over like injured ducks in a pond when the Cristofur was rammed, yet again.
Gangus and Celio hurried to the first deck. The alarm screamed. There were yelling and thundering sounds of running. Archers scrambled to their war stations with arrows fixed within their bows.
The Veddenn moved alongside the Cristofur, and the men gasped. The ship which earlier had appeared to have no one aboard now carried decayed sailors clad in tattered, early century uniforms. Some had half skeletal and half flesh-rotted faces. Their hair hung long, wild, and wiry--entangled with ocean debris; a few had an arrow sticking out of their heads; some had swords embedded in their torsos up to the hilt and protruding out of their backs. In every fleshless hand were swords that glittered under the moonlit sky.
At Judian's command, the archers shot their arrows; each shaft met its mark, but there were no living organs to be hit. The archers and commander stood in awe as the arrows flew into empty eye sockets and nasal cavities--nicking the bones of their cheeks and piercing their heads and necks with no effect. The dead sailors jumped from their ship to the Cristofur and mercilessly attacked.
The women in the lower decks prayed to the gods. The thundering footsteps, shouts, and battle cries they heard from above were nerve-racking.
As swords were striking and sparking, lightning cracked the sky and thunder roared. Several dead warriors descended the stairs; not one foot touched wood. They floated down the hallway then turned when they heard the women praying. Soldiers in charge of guarding the women gasped; their faces flushed white with fright--still, they bravely confronted the creatures, but the ghost warriors made little work of mortal flesh.
The women tearfully begged the gods for intervention when the door flew off its hinges and sailed across the room. The women's screams pierced the ceiling and rose steadily as the undead warriors floated towards them and lifted their swords.
Brehira, fearing the last breath for them all, grieved for her husband and son who fought on the upper deck and hated the thought of never seeing them again. If I can take just one with me, she thought. She picked up a lantern and threw it at one of the creatures; it hit the warrior--setting it ablaze, but the ball of fire undeterred, turned its attention fully on her now and the other creatures followed.
Brehira, feeling the heat of the flames as they floated toward her, threw up one hand to block the blows. She covered her face with the other as the undead raised their swords above her head. Suddenly, her hand felt warm and glowed. She snatched her hand back and stared at it. When she saw that the warriors were terrified of it, she lifted her hand again, not knowing what to expect--but hoping the gods had done something, anything. The glow from her hand intensified and shot out a ray as bright as the sun. The demons fell into a heap of gray ashes and their swords vanished in a flash of light. The women crawled over to Brehira--whimpering and lay at her feet for protection. Brehira just stared off, speechless.
On the top deck, Celio was being fought hard by the warriors. Just as one was about to strike a deadly blow, Celio ducked then came up and cut off the dead warrior's sword hand, then its head, sending it over the side of the ship.
Celio turned to see who to fight next when he spotted Gangus in trouble with two warriors on him. He ran to Gangus's side and, together, they took down several of them, cutting off their heads and arms which sent them thudding to the floorboards in rotted pieces.
Both turned and saw that Judian was down. He had been stabbed in the shoulder and lay on his back still fighting with his sword--blood gushing, and a warrior standing over him, battling him relentlessly. It stabbed Judian again but Gangus whacked off its head, and Celio severed its torso.
Gangus and Celio looked around to see who to help next--both bleeding from deep cuts. They saw numerous bones and decayed flesh scattered on the floorboards; standing over them, their heroic shipmates dripping in their own blood and dry swords held loosely at their sides.
Gangus and Celio helped Judian off the floor. It was over. The men ignored their wounds and greeted one another with wide smiles and bearhugs of victory.
But that victory was shortened when slowly, every head turned toward the Veddenn: A loud cracking sound like wood breaking rose in the night air. The men stood motionless with parted lips and gazing eyes. The carved creature opened its demonic mouth and sucked air into its wooden body. The loud cracking of the wood when it turned its head towards the men sent chills up their spines. Its eyes were the only things not made of wood; they were flesh, black and bulging.
The loud cracking continued as the carved creature wrested itself from the bow. It stood over twelve feet tall and broad as an Ogre, dressed in a red garment from its hooded head, long tight sleeves down to its wooden feet. Its facial expression shone placid as its demonic eyes bore a gaze that chilled the human soul. The creature held huge giant-size swords in both its ligneous hands. Its wings that spread six feet on either side, shot out with a sound of a mighty rushing wind. As the wings flapped, they made both ships rock from side to side.
The creature flew to the Cristofur and hovered for a moment flapping its wings until it rested its feet on the floor of the deck with a loud thud that unsteadied the ship's balance; the giant's weight touching deck caused the men to tumble over and roll about the floor. The creature stood looking down upon the men with both swords out to its sides--its giant wings tucked and folded inward as it took a battle stance.
Another roar of thunder cracked the sky. The men scrambled to their feet, stood together, and braced themselves. Practically blinded by the heavy rainfall, they stood bravely and prepared for a battle to the death. The archers shot their arrows--aiming for the eyes, but the wooden giant batted each away like they were bothersome flying insects. Several men ran up and stabbed it, and saw no blood, just splinters. Then swordsmen took turns cutting it, trying to find its vulnerability, while behind them, archers shot arrows one after another.
The creature swung its giant weapons, slicing swordsmen in two, and sending several heads into the sea. The soldiers fought hard but never made a dent hurting it.
The fallen men's blood ran along the floorboards like scattered scarlet ribbons. The ones who were still standing stood back panting and sweating; each silently prayed to the gods as they readied themselves to launch another attack.
"Wait!" a seaman yelled. "Maybe we can set it on fire!"
"No, we'll burn the ship down, you fool!" Judian said, still heavily bleeding.
"But we're no match for it, Sir," another yelled. "I'd rather burn and go down with the ship!"
Judian laid into the seaman, calling him an idiot when suddenly, the creature bellowed a growl that shook the heavens then leaped forward.
Straightaway, Dinary, as if he'd been kept unaware until this crucial moment, stepped through the crowd. His expression appeared vague. He stared the wooden giant in its lifeless, twin balls of flesh. The creature stumbled back when it spotted Dinary's necklace; but apart from everyone there, only its demonic eyes saw the powerful entity emanating from it. The creature's entire attention switched to Dinary who gripped two swords, something he'd never done before. He stood in a fighting stance and waited for the creature to make its move. Celio and several men bravely walked up and stood next to him, but Dinary ordered them back.
"Are you mad?" Celio blurted.
Dinary never answered, but remained focused on the creature as if in a trance. Suddenly, the creature raised its massive sword and brought it down upon Dinary. But Dinary brought both swords up, blocked, and held it up with the robustness of a god. The men gasped at Dinary's sudden strength.
Then Dinary leaped to the side of the creature and severed one of its hands. The huge sword and hand thundered to the deck floor. Dinary dropped his swords, pulled the weapon from the severed hand and held it like he would an ordinary sword.
"How the stars did he do that?" Judian asked. "That sword looks to be the weight of a man."
The men stood amazed as Dinary sliced and cut away at the creature, but never received one returned blow. The creature became frustrated fighting with only one hand; it gnashed its wooden fangs with every failed attempt to sever Dinary's head and separate him from the necklace. But Dinary moved like a mongoose dodging the lightning strike of a Cobra.
The massive swords clanked and sparked as the rain beat upon them. The creature swung and missed at every turn; Dinary connected his blade with ease, cutting off wooden chunks of it--whittling its legs until they split and broke which brought the giant crashing to the floor. Dinary swooped in and rammed the massive blade into a black eyeball--severing the source of its demonic power. Blood gushed out like a crimsoned waterfall.
Suddenly, a huge fiery hand, skeletal, and seeping black smoke, shot from the ghost ship, yanked the creature, and pulled it into its bowels. The ship burst into flames. The men stood frozen as the ship took on the form of a monstrous red demon. It thundered a roar that sent the men dropping to their knees with hands clasped over their ears.
As if a spell had been broken, the demon started to sink but clawed viciously to stay afloat. Tongues of fire danced upon the waves. The demon bellowed a final roar then the ocean opened its mouth into a rising whirlpool and devoured it.
A great cheer went up from the men.
Victory, however, proved bittersweet as hours later they would prepare the ocean burials for the brave men who perished.
Image: by Dantegrafice from Pixabay
Main Characters
Lord Gangus Abram Leader of his clan
Lady Brehira (Bree hear rah) His wife
Dinary (Di nah ry) Youngest Son
Celio (Seal le o) Soldier and close friend
Princess Netrekka (Neh trek kah) Dinary's Lover/wife
Minor Characters
Khimah (Kee ma) Eldest Son
Captain Dulcy P Dordrecht (Door check) Captain of the Cristofur
Judian (Jew-dee-in) Second in Command of the Christofur
Kofius (Ko fee us) The Sail Master
Author Notes
When Lord Gangus Abram is awakened by a mysterious voice in the night and told to seek out the Oracle Naman, he must make a journey across the Endless Ocean to destroy the Nordoxz, an undefeated race of humanoids that are controlled by powerful forces of evil.
Lord Abrams plunges into a perilous trek to obey the gods and settle in Bethica, a land of dragons, cannibals, Fallen Angels, Amazonians, and Dark Lords. He is joined by his wife, Brehira, youngest son Dinary, comrade and friend, Celio, Shapeshifter and Beast Master, Olutunji, and 750 people willing to risk their lives for land and freedom.
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