This short story is an entry into the Dangers on the High Seas Lore Contest.
Haven
Samen stood, frozen in place, staring out into the vast nothing that was the ocean. ‘It couldn’t be’ he thought. Yet there it was again, a wave that was not a wave, long and unbreaking, impossibly smooth snake-like creature crested the surface only to submerge a moment later. ‘That wasn’t a whale or a dolphin’. thought Samen. It was impossible - surely the captain wasn’t after a real “Sea Monster”? Surely those things only exist in stories..?
There wasn’t any time to think. A glint of light caught Samens eye and, like they had practiced, he lowered the rope holding the signal basket so his mates below could warn the others their target was in sight. Every night they were not allowed to speak louder than a whisper, or to light any lamps. “We become one with the night, they become blind.” Samen recited Captain Remy’s words. Words that had led them to victory many times before.
The crew tensed, gripping weapon and railing alike. The captain cut wave and wind, maneuvering the vessel ever cautiously towards the prey. The target was bright, lanterns glowing warmly as if to say “I’m Here!” ‘The fools.’ Samens thought, using his spyglass to assess the force. ‘Ten guards it looks like. Even the lookout has a lantern lit, they will never see us. Slowly, steadily, the Lady Frost crept up on the Lady Mist.’ Without a word, the sails were retracted, oars deployed, and the gap between the vessels became smaller. Music could be heard from the Lady Mist. ‘They will never hear us, and thanks to those lanterns, they will never see us. Experienced sailors should know better than this…’ That is when it dawned on poor Samen. ‘This must be a trap!’
Samen scurried down to the deck, intent on telling the captain what he suspected. As his feet hit the deck the first ballista shot was fired embedding itself firmly in the Lady Mist. With a shout of glee, the other pirates fired their ballistas each finding their mark. They must have been thinking today was their lucky day. Tethered together, the two ships became one in the night, unable pull away from each other.
Pirates had been spotted in these Waters, and Captain Brack would not tolerate any pirate in his trading path. It wasn’t pirates really, it was cowards. Brack couldn’t stand the way pirates fight. Sneaking up on unsuspecting ships, pretending to be friendly, or in the dead of night - none of these methods were honorable. The crew, as ordered, had every lantern lit. They were playing music and dancing. Any moment now the pirates would strike. The hidden lookouts had already confirmed they were being stalked by a pitch black ship with black sails. This could only be the fabled Lady Frost. Rumors had it that no ship sailed after they finished with them. And if all the rumors were to be believed, they commanded a giant sea creature to demolish the enemy ships.
The thud of metal, the snapping of wood - these were the first signs of the battle that was about to be waged. The Lady Mist lurched as The Lady Frost was anchored to her with grappling hooks and rope. No sooner did the first grappling line hit then the music stopped... and the weapons were picked up from their resting places beside the soldiers. They had been waiting, and if the pirates had not been cheering, they might have understood the trap they were about to walk into.
Moving quickly, one soldier poured a thick tar onto the nearest rope. The soldier patiently poured the substance out while another covered him with a shield. Arrows began to fly, impossible to see. Soldiers and pirates alike became pin cushions. Each were taken by surprise, for one thought it was a raid and the other thought the pirates ill-equipped. Quickly, gangplanks were dropped while the more impatient pirates attempted to cross using the ropes. Men swung from ship to ship, trying to cause chaos and confusion.
One pirate in particular, by the name of Melleth, swung from a ratline he had set up long ago - one that allowed him to swing from the crow’s nest like a pendulum. Swinging up and over the enemy ships, Melleth grabbed tar filled sacs and, as he swung over the enemy deck, tossed them. When they made contact, they broke, covering the Lady Mist in tar. As the battle waged on and blood was spilled, the pirates began to light their arrows on fire. Volley after volley went into the Lady Mist, the tar that had been thrown catching fire as a random arrow struck home.
The soldiers took this as a sign this was life or death, the entire fight about to become a bloody melee. Coming to grips with the fact the sea might be their final resting place, the soldiers brought flame and sword to bear upon the pirates. They lit the tar-stained ropes on fire and cut them with the hope that the burning ropes lazily licking at the pirate ship would do damage and keep it away from their own. But as soon as the ropes were cut, new ones found purchase on the railings and within the hull of the Lady Mist. Brack watched the chaos of the battle, ordering thick blankets to be used to put out the fires of tar.
“These tactics... “ The words trailed off as he scanned the enemy vessel first. His eyes alighted on Melleth, swinging from ship to ship. “Of course it’s you.. And if you're there then...” Looking to the upper decks there he saw her. ‘Captain Remy…’ Anger swelled up inside him, blood rushing to his face. “TAKE THE SHIP!”
The soldiers rushed forward at the command Steel against steel, ringing out into the cold night. Brack gripped the railings, barking orders. ‘How dare she try to take MY ship, the wench- ‘ Bracks thoughts where cut off as a boot found his jaw. The world spun before him, darkness closing in. He gasped for breath and looked up to see Melleth looking down on him with a grin and a wink, then the world was gone and he was drifting. Melleth picked up the unconscious body of Captain Brack.
“Lay down your arms, your captain has been defeated!” the pirate declared. Over a few painful seconds, the fighting slowed. The clatter of weapons on wood was heard as, one by one, the soldiers dropped their weapons.
“No one else has to die here today”, he gestured, taking in all the dead. “You are alive and that is worth more than the treasure on this ship. We will take it, and you will be free to leave!”
One by one, the soldiers began to laugh that deep, throaty laugh when you know you’ve won, Melleths sword arm slowly lowered as he gazed out into the sea. They were surrounded. Ten ships formed a circle around the two slowly burning ships anchored to each other. Soldiers were jumping overboard, swimming to the waiting ships. The realization that this was a trap dawned upon the pirates too late.
Maybe it was the laughing, or perhaps it was all of the commotion in the water that drew the beast to the ships, but no one heard the first person to be dragged under. They did, however, hear the creaking of wood and the screams of terrified sailors as one of the ring of ships shattered under the weight of a tentacle. It was large enough to wrap a galleon twice over, and one by one, the ships began to moan then splinter.
The remaining ships and crew worked furiously to unfurl the sails and depart the waters that had now become more dangerous. Soldier and pirate alike looked at each other, and in that moment it was clear there was no ‘pirate’ or ‘soldier’, there were people - people who now needed to survive more than anything. Without words, the two began to work together, separating into the tasks that seemed to fit them. The Janoa were taking to the rigging and masts, securing ropes that had been cut, securing the boom once more. The Kypiq were diving below deck to patch the holes and stem the intake of water. The burly Brudvir were pinning down objects to be secured. Nowhere else but in the pirates life do you find such an odd amalgamation of races.
Soon the makeshift crew had The Lady Mist sailing, Brudvir taking the brunt of the force and manning the oars, too. The crew had one goal, and no captain was needed to command it. They wanted out. Only a short time had passed, but out of the ten ships that had surrounded the melee, only three survived. All had their sails full, and rowers urging more speed.
It was at this point that Melleth realised that he had just been standing there, taking in the scene of chaos and serenity before him, and he had begun to smile. The chaos reminded him of the jungle, he was home once more and it was a fight for survival! This he knew well. His body moving before he could think, he sunk his blade into the deck and began to climb, joining his kinsmen in reattaching his handiwork with the mast.
Remy, on the other hand, was wide-eyed in terror. Looking around, her ship was on fire, the opposing fleet was all but destroyed, and the rest were running. But it wasn’t her strategy, it wasn’t something she had planned. For years, she had told stories of the Great Beast that plagued her and chased her. In truth, she thought it may have been a nightmare. Almost twelve years had passed. As she looked up, a tentacle began it’s slow crawl across the ship - HER ship.
‘This is not happening.’ Terror controlled her actions as she took out her sword and began using it like a lumberjack’s axe, carless of the blade. Ting! It rang off the beast’s skin like she was hitting metal. Ting! This monstrosity was not taking her ship. Twang, the sword snapped in twain. Where is he?! Remys mind raced. What would he do? Was that even a good idea?
A dark figure swung overhead, dropping little bladders filled with tar on the first pass - and on the second, dropping a lit torch. Alighting next to her, Melleth grinned. “Isn’t this lovely? But you really must not be here, this ship is gone, we have a new ship and a new crew! We, well you, just need to bring them together! Look, they already work so lovely together.”
A jovial laugh escaped Melleths lips, and Remy thought - not for the first time - that he was insane. Before she was able to argue, Melleth had scooped her up in one arm and started a mad dash to the now writhing and burning tentacle. In one fluid motion, he leapt up onto the side of the tentacle, using its writhing to launch them both into the air, and grabbed a rope to swing both of them over to the captain’s wheel.
Remy stood dazed. It wasn’t the first time this maniac had just... thrown her into a situation that was impossible and expected her to come out unscathed. She quickly assessed the situation and started to bark orders. The pirate crew fell in line immediately, however... the soldiers, once they realised that the orders were not coming from a man, somehow lost their common sense. It was overridden with old superstition.
“A WOMAN!” someone shouted. “Throw her overboard!”
The rest stopped what they were doing to look at Remy, as if expecting the man next to her to chuck her over the side. Remy herself looked at Melleth who, smiling, winked and gave her the slightest of nods. Pulling herself to her full height - which wasn’t very impressive, but was tall for a Kypiq - she took in a deep breath.
“Fellow sailors, you know me as Captain Remy, scourge of the seas. I have done many things in my time, but I do not wish to die any more than you do! Follow me and just as I lead my crew threw the Dragon's Maw, I will lead you to safety, and personally guarantee the safety of everyone here! For all of those that survive this, you will have a choice - we can drop you off at the nearest port or you can join us!”
As if the creature of the sea understood the words, the end of the speech was punctuated with a loud THWAP, salt water spraying over the sides and soaking the captain.
“MOVE!” bellowed Melleth. The crew was once again whipped into a frenzy, the ship pushing forward only powered by the oars. As yet, the sails had not been secured.
“Sir, I don’t think we will be able to re secure the masts. Someone dun shredded them.” reported a rather young looking soldier. Melleth chuckled at this. Shit, he thought, my own handiwork is going to be our demise. “Also...” the soldier seemed nervous
“Out with it.” Remy snapped.
“The thing appears to be following us.”
Remy’s face paled. Slowly, she turned to see that while they had made a decent clip away from the wrecked ships, the creature was following. All that could be seen was the smooth, ship-destroying tentacle. Looking at Melleth, her eyes pleaded with him - the crazy fool that got her into this in the first place. There was a light in Melleth’s eye, a grin across his face... The bastard was enjoying this.
“Tell me, where is the food kept?” Melleth inquired. Remy’s jaw hung open. ‘This idiot is thinking about food at a time like this? We need to escape, we need to run! The nearest land is over two days sailing with good wind!’
“We have one barrel of food fish stored below deck, sir. We weren’t supposed to be out here more than a two days.”
The manic grin never left Melleth’s lips as he dashed below deck and shortly came back up with two other sailors carrying the barrel of fish. The trio proceeded to dump the contents of the barrel into the water behind them... And where there was one tentacle, suddenly there were many. Just how many beasts were there? But the creature appeared to be feeding on the fish, thankfully. His helping sailors clapped Melleth on the back and proceeded to start cheering - and soon the whole ship joined them. They had left the beast to the sea where it belonged, for now.
The sun painted a velvet red across the sky as it rose, a beautiful, yet terrifying site for the crew. They had no provisions and a storm was on the way. No one had slept the entire night, and it looked like no one was going to sleep this day, either. Tired sailors and storms always led to men lost at sea. Remy sighed. This was not optimal. This was not how things should have gone.
The crew was still working at fixing Melleth’s handiwork - it was so thorough that they had to pull a new sail from below decks - when they got around to tossing the dead overboard. Apparently, word had reached the mainland of the tactics used by the infamous Captain Remy. As much as she might like to show sympathy, they couldn’t give disease a chance to spread. Remy saw her loyal lookout, poor Samen, amongst the dead, and reached down to say her goodbyes.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the small amulet clutched in his hand. The shape was of a small swallow. She remembered him once telling her that it was given to him by a priest, and it was supposed to watch over him, to make sure no harm befell him. Not that it did him any good. she thought bitterly, taking the amulet from his cold hand. She put it on - after all, it was pretty, and now they had to survive the storm.
Brack’s head felt like a torturer was using a vice on it. Unable to move about, he lifted his head to survey his surroundings. He was in the captain’s quarters of his ship. It must have been a dream... Mustering all of his strength, Brack attempted to sit up. The ropes now painfully obvious to him kept him firmly on his back, and something was in his mouth. It tasted… he did not even want to begin to guess what was in his mouth. Looking around the room with more clarity, his eyes finally settled upon Remy sleeping in a chair.
“MMMFMMF!” WHUMP! Brack’s head cracked against the wooden hull in his struggle, startling Remy awake.
“Brack, you’re awake... And we are in danger. I’d prefer you work with us and we can get you and your people to safety.” Gently she pulled the gag from his mouth
“Piss off, I know- MMPHG!” Remy promptly stuffed the gag back into Brack’s mouth.
“Brack, honey, what happened in the past wasn’t my fault. And I’m sure that it couldn’t have come down too hard on you - you’re still a captain after all. The loss of the Lady Frost... Well, it must have taught you a lesson. Look, the crew is tired, a storm is on its way, and we are running from some sort of sea creature. Oh, and we don’t have any food.”
Brack stopped listening and began to visually search the room. Everything appeared where it had been, which meant they probably didn’t remove the knife that he tucked under the pillow. Now if he could only reach it.
“Melleth damn near destroyed this vessels ability to move without oars, and yet the crews seem to be working together amazingly well. I don’t want to kill anyone and if you show cooperation, maybe this crew can hold together long enough to get everyone to safety.” Gently, she pulled the gag out once more.
“HAH! You’ll be arrested as soon as you make port! You won't be able to land in any port near here ever again!” Brack spat in Remy’s face, who promptly replaced the gag.
A mischievous grin crossed Remy’s features. “Well, darling, thanks for the information.” Her fingers traced a line down his neck. She winked at him flirtatiously. “Maybe we will have some fun later. For old time’s sake.”
As Remy exited the room the smile faded from her lips and her shoulders slumped. Exhaustion was starting to take its toll. She grabbed the nearest sailor and hissed, “Find Melleth, I need to talk to him.”
With the barest nod the sailor took off. A few moments passed and soft thump announced his arrival. “Why can’t you just walk like normal people?”
His head cocked to one side and his seemingly perpetual smile mocked her. “Well now, if I did that, how would you know it was me?”
Seriousness then crept into his eyes. This made Remy shudder - it was never good when Melleth was serious, people either died or he vanished. Neither was good. “The crew knows about the food shortage, they know that it’s fish or we wait until we reach port. Problem is, there are no nets on this boat for fishing, no poles. So we have to hit port.”
Remy’s mouth was suddenly dry. “We can’t, this was only part of the trap. There are soldiers waiting for us to make port, we will have to go to the cove.”
“Rem... that's a weeks trip, easy, if we survive this storm...”
A wave crashed into the Lady Mist, jarring the crew. Saltwater crashed onto the deck, signaling the start of the storm. Lightning flashed, and as the winds picked up, Melleth looked at Remy. “Do not tell anyone else this, we will blame it all on the storm.”
And with that, he dashed off shouting orders.
Clouds rolled in, darkening the sky, pushing the sea into mountains of angry waves. Wind slammed the rain into crews’ faces like tiny stones and pushed their hoods back as the ship crested, a wave slamming back down into the water. The rain slick made footing difficult, and two of crew lost their footing and ended up in the sea.
“MAN OVERBOARD!” someone shouted, and in moments, several ropes were being thrown out. “Grab the rope!”
One was lost beneath the waves and the other was starting to be too far to help. The crew stared out into the sea helpless. Once again, that dark figure attached to a rope jumped into the water and began swimming.
“MELLETH, YOU IDIOT, GET BACK HERE!” For the first time Remy was scared Melleth might just get himself killed. She ran and grabbed the other end of the rope, several sailors lined up behind her. In the time that it took them to get a good grip on the rope, Melleth had grabbed the missing sailor.
“Heave!” As one, they pulled on the rope, dragging Melleth and sailor back in.
The waves threatened to drown him. Melleth really didn’t understand why he had jumped in, but he knew that no one else whom he could prevent the death of would die today, tired as he was. Mustering the strength that he did not know he had, his legs burned as he reached the soldier. Flinging his arm out and grabbing him, “Hold on!” Melleth tried to say, but saltwater filled his mouth and only a splutter managed to escape his lips. The soldier seemed to understand, though, and clung tight to Melleth. He was scared, and his inaction was threatening to drown both of them. Struggling to keep them both afloat, relief filled Melleths mind when the rope was pulled taunt and started pulling him to the ship. Thank you, Remy. he prayed.
On the ship, Melleth grinned that insane grin and looked at the soldier he had just saved. “You’re going to make it home, soldier, if that's what you want.”
What felt like hours blurred as the ship was tossed on the sea like some children’s toy boat. Somehow, no one was lost… save the nameless crewmember. No one could even tell yet if it was pirate or soldier. As the storm died and a rainbow graced the sky, the new crew, forged in fear and blood, stood on the deck and mourned the loss. Soldier and pirate alike, on this day there was no difference between the two, no right no wrong, all past sins forgiven. They were brothers and sisters. For this particular pirate crew, the old superstition about women on ships did not apply.
That night, Remy gazed at the sky, and shook her head. “It can’t be… It simply can’t be...”
She held up her hand, measuring the stars… and ran into the captain’s quarters, grabbing the sextant. She began to plot their course… and a smile, a genuine smile, came across her lips.
“We are going to be okay….” She looked at Brack, rolling her eyes. “No thanks to you, scum.”
Her laughter filled the air as Melleth walked through the door.
“Hey Cap, they have booze!” Melleth tossed her a wineskin.
Of course they had booze… and that meant he was drunk again… the woman sighed inwardly, but there was news worth sharing. “Melleth, the storm has blown us four days east of our previous location. We should be able to make port tomorrow morning if the men can row.”
Nodding, Melleth stood at his full height. “Well Cap, the crews’ been talking. There is only fourteen of us left, but we found this.”
Melleth produced a coin purse that was about to burst. At this, Brack began to kick and thrash, his muffled voice making Melleth’s eye twitch. A boot caught Brack in the jaw, again, and a distinctive crunch was heard by all, along with the delicate tink tink tink of a tooth bouncing across the floor.
“Sorry, thought he was going for this,” Melleth produced a gold inlaid knife from his belt.
Blinking, Remy took the pouch and knife, looking up at Melleth. “Tell the crew food and drink for everyone as soon as we hit port. The faster we get there, the sooner they get it. And we will purchase passage for anyone who wants to go home…”
Nodding, Melleth took off to inform the crew. Most of the night the ship was powered by oars, but just as the sun rose, the ships sails unfurled and caught wind. The crew cheered and wine was passed around. Songs were sung, but all Remy could think about was Melleth. Why does he follow me? Why does he do such stupid things... She had pondered this many times, but her thoughts often turned indecent. Tonight, she made up her mind she was going to have him.
Remy, pulled up a chair and sat next to Brack waiting for him to awaken once again. ‘I need to get information, keep the crew safe’ she thought, sighing she remembered the night that she drugged this Brack, and stole The Lady Frost. At the time that ship was the fastest ever made.Now there were many of them. More importantly she needed to know who was chasing them, who funded the trap.
Slowly Brack opened his eyes, his attempted to talk, he wasn’t gaged but his jaw wasn’t working correctly “wyyou wnch”
Sighing “Brack, listen your jaw is broken, your people have joined me, and not one has asked about you. I’m going to give you a choice, you can tell me who is after me, and I’ll let you go. Or you can die right here right now, unable to tell your story.” Remy played with a dagger.
Looking around, “dmn mell et”
Nodding, “yes Brack melleth broke your jaw, you’ll recover now tell me who is after me.”
… Brack stared defiantly into Rhemy’s eyes, he wouldn’t give her any information not today not ever. Closing her eyes, she inhaled sharply “I don’t know how you think your in any position to be able to defy me, I kill you and throw you overboard, no one on this ship will give a damn. Hell they have not even asked about you, don’t you get that. No one is coming to save, you that beast whatever it was back there destroyed all but three of the ships, this one and two others. You think that whoever paid for those ships is even going to consider your alive? No, your chance your one and only chance is to cooperate, tell me who hired you, why your after me and why.”
A cold heartless laugh echoed in Bracks throat, “yo dn get it, do you.. I aid em, I unt you.. No more words escaped his lips has Rhemys dagger slide under the rib cage piercing the heart.
“That's all I needed to know..” Sighing Rhemy looked around she wiped the blood off her hands and dagger rolled Brack in the sheets and dragged the body out tossing it unceremoniously off the ship.
When the ship hands looked the other way for the right price, customs didn’t care as long as you had silver to grease their palms. Above all, the ale was cheap here and it was a fishing town - which meant the taverns where cheap as well. made port, the dockhands took their bribe. This place was known as the “cove” by pirates, do
As a crew they visited once such tavern in town, the Mystic Pig, Remy let out a sigh of relief and looked at Melleth. The dangers had passed, everyone was safe… it would be a good time to make her move.
“Soo...” Her cheeks began to flush, either with the wine or emotion, and she stared at the ground. Digging in the dirt with her boot-covered toe wasn’t productive, but it helped her nerves more than the alcohol. He looked at her knowingly with that idiotic smile, and motioned up the stairs while tossing the barkeep a single coin.
In the privacy of the room, she turned and pressed him against the door, a bemusing sight for she was half as tall as him. Though, she thought with pride, it is a testimony to my strength.
Lifting her up, Melleth smiled. “So you finally noticed me.”
Grinning, his lips touched hers, shivers running down his back. Anticipation overwhelmed him as she let out a small sigh… and gently hit him upside the head.
“Cocky, much.”
Years later...
The scuffle that followed was every bit as playful and fiery as the battle before the storm, but… it wasn’t right to explain in this telling. Remy stared at the twin girls before her, intently listening to every word of the story and leaning forward in their seats.
“And that magical night is how you two came to be. Melleth is your father. You were not abandoned, he sends up money and somehow always shows up when there is trouble... But, you see, your father is a free spirit and nothing can hold him down for long” Remy finished her story with a tattered sigh. It was the truth, and she loved him as he was, but it might take the girls some time to understand.
Ashley, the younger by five minutes, groaned. “You’re lying, Mum. I was told by Timmy that our dad is a deadbeat and left us before we were born!”
By now, she was shouting and near to tears. “He’s a good for nothing. No way he’s THAT Melleth.”
Gwendallen, older and wiser by those five minutes, hit Ashley sidelong. “Shut up, Daddy’s a hero!”
Remy smiled, gently reaching up to take the amulet of the sparrow off her. “Girls, it’s not the heroes of the story that are amazing, it’s how everyone came together. How everyone-” she gestured around, making a point. “Keeps your father’s secret.”
With a flourish, she pressed the amulet into Ashleys hand. “The bravest soul wasn’t your father, it was the men that died that day.”
Both children went quiet staring at the amulet. Slowly, their gazes traced back to Remy, and at once they embraced her.