Advent of Eternity - Chapter 73 (Patreon)

He gritted his teeth, channeling as much energy as he dared to risk. Pain pricked at his nerves and he staggered, refusing to stop. But the barrier held firm. Knell was dimly aware of Sorfina’s ship gaining on them, but he didn’t have time to worry about that yet. One problem at a time.

Green smoke rose up from the deck around Knell. It flooded into his body as his reserves dwindled, reinforcing his magic and refreshing him like a drink of cool water. The barrier bent. It held out for a second longer, then shattered with a mental screech.

Magic roared around them. The broken wood snapped and popped as green light wound out over the holes, patching them with ghostly energy. Cracks in the mast mended themselves and the ship shuddered.

“Sixteen Seas,” Cyll breathed. Knell grit his teeth, barely still able to keep himself standing with the help of his staff. As the ship rebuilt itself around them, Stix called out a warning.

“Sorfina is almost on us. It doesn’t look like she’s stopping,” Stix warned. “We should get ready to fight in a few minutes. I don’t think we’ll be able to get this huge thing moving in time with just the three of us.”

But the ship wasn’t done. The final bits of damage were sealed over with translucent green energy, but magic continued to gather before Knell. Wisps of smoke converged into a churning pillar that gradually took the form of a man.

There was a sharp crack and the wisps imploded. Features formed rapidly. Before them stood a skeleton wearing the tattered robes of a pirate. The skeleton’s eyes burned with green flame, and his boney jaw creaked as it split into what Knell suspected was a grin.

“The crew of the Withered Rose has returned,” the skeleton breathed. “If only for a few scant minutes. We thank you, Captain.”

Knell struggled to contain all the questions welling in his chest. As much as he wanted to press, there was no time for anything other than action.

“In life, I was known as Maud,” the skeleton said, ignoring Cyll.

“We have enemies gaining on us fast, Maud,” Knell said, pointing at Sorfina’s ship. It had started to slow, but was still drawing up on them quickly. “I brought you back because we need to deal with them. You were Blackfoot’s ship, right? I’m counting on you being able to help.”

“We were here long before Blackfoot,” Maud said with a dry laugh. “We can take care of the ship. The Withered Rose will not last long after, though. With the energy you’ve given us, I will reform the ship to bend to your will. That will ensure it does not sink. In turn, you will restore us. Have we a contract?”

Knell pressed his lips together. Charging headlong into a contract was far from ideal, but Sorfina’s cannons were nearly upon them. “So long as it does not actively work against my ultimate goals.”

Maud extended a skeletal hand. Knell clasped it, and a jolt of ice shot through his veins.

“So be it,” Maud said, the green flame in his eyes flaring. “One last hurrah, boys. The endless abyss awaits. We’ll sail their ship down to it!”

Cannons thundered as Sorfina’s galleon started to fire on them. One of the cannonballs hurtled into the sail – and kept going, as if it wasn’t there at all. Knell’s crew stared in disbelief as several more cannonballs phased straight through the hull of their ship, doing absolutely no damage and coming out the other side to splash harmlessly into the water.

Dozens of faint green forms appeared along the deck. The ship creaked as the sails turned and they started to move in an arc, bringing their own cannons to bear toward Sorfina. The angle they cut was impossible – a ship of the Withered Rose’s size had no reasonable way to make such a sharp turn, but it did nonetheless.

They swung out from the range of Sorfina’s cannons, picking up speed as they sailed right toward their opponents. It wouldn’t be long before they were broadside. Knell could see the terrified faces of Sorfina’s crew as they rushed to try and turn the trajectory of their galleon. Some of them manned the cannons, and others leapt over the side of the ship to escape.

Knell’s lips split into a cold smile as he spotted Sorfina standing on the top deck, staring straight at him. He raised his hand in a mock salute.

“Behold, Sorfina,” Knell called, his words echoing over the water as the Withered Rose drew up beside the other galleon. “The cost of betrayal.”

Dozens of thunderous crashes split the air. Like the beating of a war drum, cannonballs slammed into Sorfina’s galleon, shattering wood and destroying everything in their path. The Withered Rose’s cannons beat a steady rhythm as they fired, unleashing a storm of flame and death.

The other ship was torn to pieces right before their eyes. It tipped forward as what little remained of if quickly started to sink beneath the waves. Sorfina raised her sword toward Knell and drew it across her throat.

Knell smirked and beckoned for her to come. He twisted his staff apart and tossed the sheath to the ground. He then shifted the staff to his left hand and rested his other one on his belt confidently.

Sorfina screamed in fury and charged across the ruined remains of her deck. She bounded into the air, her sword flashing as she flew through the air and came down toward Knell. Even with her ship destroyed and her crew torn to bits, she was still one of the strongest pirate captains in Blackfoot Bay.

Victory flashed in Sorfina’s eyes. She and Knell both knew that he couldn’t block a strike from her. Knell’s grin didn’t slip as he watched Sorfina hurtle toward him. His eyes just shimmered a deathly yellow.

His right hand raised from his belt, the flintlock in his hand. He raised it, cocking the hammer in the same motion, and pulled the trigger. The muzzle barked, but Knell didn’t wait to see the results. He stepped to the side, allowing her body to crash to the deck where he’d been standing.

Sorfina tumbled across the ground, the sword clattering from her grip as she came to a stop against the mast. Blood seeped out from a hole in the center of her head, pooling on the deck around her.

“A fool unto the end,” Knell said, grabbing the other half of his staff and reconnecting it. “If you’d had even a mite of sense, I never would have been able to pin you down for long enough to shoot you. You were far faster than I, Sorfina. But you can’t dodge anything in the air.”

The Withered Rose looped around the wreckage of Sorfina’s galleon, then started to head out toward sea. Knell glanced back at the pirates watching them from Mount Bloodwater, but none were following after the display they’d just put on. Perfect.

“What do you want to do with her?” Cyll asked, walking up to stand beside Knell.

“Take everything of value,” Knell replied, hooking the hat off her head with the end of his staff and tucking it under his arm. “Then throw her overboard. There is no more Sorfina. Just a corpse taking up room on my deck.”