| well sorry for not updating for so long, the second chapter I'm having some difficulty on, will have it up as soon as possible. But for now here's two little teasers from the sequel (yes, you heard me right, the sequel). Ok, before I get a lot of complaints, YES i have my priorities straight, I had to write these up for school and my typewriter broke the other day just as I was winding up the story, so work on that is halted right now. But hey! Cheer up, you get to meet the hero of the sequel, Aries' son Emery! So a little background before I post these, because they take place in the middle of the story (warning: some spoilers ahead for the book I'm on now, but they're common sense ((eg, good guy gets girl in the end, is about all it is)) and you should have already drawn these conclusions anyway, and I wont reveal too much and spoil the first book.
Synopsis: Several years after returning victorious from his long pursuit of the Cobra and the war that culminated in the destroying of the Cobra's army and empire, and the Cobra himself, Aries has married his love, Aylyssa, and taken up his rightful crown in Rayance. The scene is nothing but joyful, and right at the peak of the best years the land has ever seen, Aries and Aylyssa have a baby boy, with the face of his father, but with a wild card effect, brilliant green eyes inherited from neither parent.
A great feast is planned, a celebration of the birth of the heir to the throne, and on the night of the festivities, the unthinkable happens. A large band of robbers, wearing omnious red uniforms, kidnaps the baby and makes away with him into the night. Running as far as the coast, they dumped him in an old barrel and set him out on the high tide, expecting him to drown.
But by some strange twist of fate, the barrel was found by the captain of a pirate ship out at sea, the most wanted on the whole ocean. He also had a little-seen compassionate side, and he took the boy in as his own, leaving him with an old widow woman at a coastal town when he was at sea. This pirate over the course of his life forged a magnificent personal armory of six weapons, all perfectly identical in every way except size.
The longest two were called sabers, forged from titanium and shot through with steel, with no seperate hilt and blade, forged from a single piece of ore, nearly indestructable. The blades were twin, identical in every way. From the cross piece to the tip of the blades was the span of a yard, and the hilts were inset with saphires. The shorter swords were the length of a man's arm from the shoulder to fingers, alike to the sabers except for length and the fact that the hilts were inset with rubies instead of saphires, and were called cutlasses, for fighting in more cramped and confined spaces. The twin daggers too were mirror image of the other four blades, the length of a man's elbow to the tips of his fingers, and inset with emeralds. All blades were the width of the last two fingers of a young woman's hand, and they all tapered to wickedly sharp points.
Emery grew into a strong and uncannily fast young man due to a hard life of being bullied and having to fight every inch of the way, developing an iron will and a physique no less strong. On his eighteenth birthday, word came to him that his adopted father was dead, and had left him everything, including his ship, the Emerald Hawk. In the Captains cabin, Emery found the sword cabinet emtpy, with only a note leaving a riddle. Through the next two years Emery and his best friend Bran, the Guscanian, quested long and hard, solving the riddle and finding the swords one by one, through many harrowing and dangerous adventures.
Emery emerged with all of his rightful weapons and a top-notch crew, taking his father's place as the most wanted pirate of the Marit. But an accident left his crew captured, and to spare their lives, Emery agreed to escort a southern ambassador on a voyage no captain had ever been foolish enough to take: out of the charted Southern seas into the Uknown North, to the faraway kingdom of Rayance where the ambassador must go, and Emery is demoted to steersman of his own ship, while a bully of a man from the ambassador's guard captain's Emery's pride and joy.
But unrest is stirring far across the land, uprising bands of robbers and mercenaries all wearing red, and whispers of a nameless fear awaking in the South, one that Aries had supposedly defeated forever, and his rainbow powers of the pure Old Magic will not be enough to withstand it this time.... A new power is needed, a power that goes so far as to mix red sorcery with Old Magic..... But who?
Emery bounded aboard, dropping the last two packs of supplies on deck. The crew was getting ready to make way, dropping the sails and casting off. Emery called Bran to him, "Is the Ambassador on board?" Bran nodded, looking somewhat upset and annoyed, "Aye, cap'n, in the for'ard cabin." Emery wondered at his first mates' distress, the wiry Guscanian was usually unflaggable.
He found his answer, however, when he entered the forward cabin; it seemed that the ambassador had brought his family: a grand total of his wife and three children. The youngest were twins, not even out of the protective grasp of their mother. The oldest was a girl that looked to be his own age, busying herself unpacking items and putting them in cabinest and drawers. Emery had to take a step back as he entered, the young woman had him totally lost for words.
She had a fit, well-rounded figure that marked her as a fully-grown woman, belying the fact that she couldn't have seen more than nineteen summers. Her face was startling in its beauty, well-framed by shoulder-length hair that looked as if it had been woven from pure sunlight, with the minutest scattering of freckles barely detectable on her fair, lightly tanned skin, and blue eyes that held a world of laughs and other emotions.
Emery was captivated, but he tore himself away and addressed himself to the ambassador.
Zephyr looked up from her unpacking as the pirate burst in without knocking. She felt no pity whatsoever for his unfair demotion to steersman instead of captain of his own ship. Even though it was not his fault, she blamed him for having been jerked away from her comfortable and glamorous life in the city. This voyage would mean no more wild parties, no more long nights at the wine clubs and inns, no more long flirtatious evenings with the many men she ran around with (all had eyes for her figure but not truly for her, caring nothing about what lay within, but she did not notice or care).
Still, she could not resist giving him an appraising glance, she had only seen a tiny glimpse of him at the Inquisitorial Courts. He was extremely handsome, and with a confident, rogueish air about him that no man she had ever been with in the city had ever been able to carry about himself (though many tried). His face was not blocky and red, nor sharp and shifty-looking, with unsightly red sores on the face.
He was healthy and tanned from a life at sea, full of adventure and fighting. He had a well-shaped chin with just the hint of a cleft, with small, neatly trimmed sideburns and a hairline goatee that boxed in his mouth and enhanced the confident look of his face. His hair was a soft brown, with streaks of gold bleached in by the tropical sun; it was of moderate length, sometimes falling into his eyes only to be flicked out by an elegant toss of his head. He had the most brilliant emerald green eyes she had ever seen, quick and catlike, dancing brightly with whatever emotion they held. Right now they held anger.
"Ambassador Alain! Why was I not notified of this? You cannot possibly bring your family on this voyage; it will be too far and dangerous for them! I will not allow it!" Zephyr's father pulled himself up, replying somewhat hesitantly, "Err, well, you see, I will be in Rayance for a very long time, possibly even permanently. How would I survive without my family around me?"
Emery felt a twinge deep inside, never having known any family but the pirate who had left him his swords and ship, and the widow who's shack he had called home all his young life. But still, he had to insist, "Ambassador, you have no thought of the dangers which await us on the open sea. Other pirates of the Marit, who know my status as the most wanted of all, and would love to have my head, and the Hawk on the bottom of the ocean! Waters I have never sailed before, monsters of the deep, other hostile coastal Kingdoms unfriendly to Marit ships, and a host of other horrors yet unforseen!"
Zephyr walked up from behind him, determined to inflict some of the hurt she was feeling on this proud, cocky pirate, "Why don't you just shut your mouth and go away? You're only being a useless annoyance. If my father wants to bring his family on the voyage, who are you to tell him he cannot?"
Emery's green eyes flashed angrily, "This is MY ship!-" Zephyr smiled mockingly, driving her barbed words home, seeing the confusion and hurt on his face and reveling in it, "Oh? Is it?"
A shadow fell over Emery, and a deep, rasping voice said menacingly, "Anything wrong, my pretty?" Emery did not have to look to know it was Hake, the bull of a man who had been set above him as captain (though to the pirate's knowledge, Hake had never even been afloat in a rowboat). Zephyr smiled flatteringly (why did that trigger an impulse frighteningly close to jealousy inside of him?) and said, "Oh no, Captain, I think our steersman was just forgetting his place."
Hake's brawny arms threw Emery out of the cabin (although he could have broken the new captains arm a thousand times if he had wanted to). Zephyr smiled confidently as she resumed her packing, laughing a bit inside as she felt Hake's eyes give her more than just a passing glance as he left. But then, why was her concience digging her about her cruel words? She didn't care a whit for the pirate scum...... Did she?
Interlude: Several weeks of voyaging pass, with Hake taking his captains rights to the limit, attempting to have Emery start a mutiny and be executed in any way he can. Zephyr gets into increasing trouble at the port towns they stop at, carrying on with her lifestyle of irresponsible wild partying and carousing, and her hatred of Emery and his attempts to make her see the truth about the men she consorts with only grows, as do her advances on Hake, which awaken for the first time the subtle fires of jealousy on the heart of the poor pirate, who's only thought is to keep them all alive as the voyage gets more and more dangerous......
Emery thumped the ships wheel in frustration, "It's too risky Bran! We cannot put in to port tonight and you know it!" The wiry first mate moved in closer to his friend so as not to be heard, "Emery, you did a fine thing by surrendering your ship and crew to save our lives, and I know it is hard to see that bullying scum captaining your pride and joy.
"However, Marit rules say that you are a steersman, and have no say in matters of the captain. Any argument can be declared mutiny, and result in death." Emery sighed, "I am familiar with the Marit Charter, Bran." His former first mate cut him off, looking around to make sure that they were not being overheard, "Around and close to half the crew are loyal to you regardless of rank, and if there is a mutiny, they will stand by you to the death, as will I. I know the dangers ahead, and I know that you are the only captain who would have a prayer of getting us through to the end of this cursed voyage."
Emery smiled faintly, "Tommorrow we pass out of known sea into uncharted waters. I can no longer see this ship captained by a fool. Tommorrow under his leadership we could all die. I could not allow myself to see that, no, if it comes to mutiny, so be it."
Interlude: The next day (here's where it gets 'good', hope u havent quit on me yet, now take a handful of popcorn, take a drink, and settle back ;).
The burning midday sun wrathfully cast its rays down on the tropical ocean, making the translucent green waters flash as the swells meandered across the endless miles of sea.
Emery’s eyes flashed like the sun off the ocean as he stood on deck, feet planted like the roots of a tree, mouth set in a grim line. Hake stood before him, livid with anger, looking like a bull about to charge.
Behind Emery crouched Zephyr, holding her very wet little sister wrapped in the blanket Emery had given her right before Hake stormed on the scene. Zephyr was still trying to comprehend all that had just happened, and some small part of her was forcing her to see the pirate that was standing before them in a new way as she tossed the recent memory over in her mind.
At noon they put in at a desert island to restock on food and water, Hake had spotted a stream and lush vegetation veritably throwing fruit from its boughs at them. Emery had refused to steer the ship in close to it, however, arguing volubly about the island being dangerous. But it had seemed rather ridiculous, because neither Emery nor his former first mate could remember WHY it was dangerous, but they both agreed that it was. Hake was not about to trust the premonitions of the person he liked least in the world, and so he waved off their arguments.
Emery became very angry and stormed off the poop deck, going into his cabin and slamming the door, reemerging with all four of his swords and both daggers strapped to his body. Bran walked up to him, whispering a question, “Is it mutiny then?” Emery shook his head, “No, I will stay on board ship and guard it, my heart tells me that evil lies about this place.”
Nothing happened, however, and Zephyr made sure to give Emery an icy stare and less-than-cordial comment as the crew returned from restocking. Emery moved to take the wheel, but Captain Hake shoved him away, “Go raise the crows nest sails, steersman, and keep your opinions to yourself from now on!”
Emery removed his swords and handed them to Bran, and, taking only one of his daggers with him for the sake of cutting the sail loose, scaled the mast. Zephyr’s gaze lingered on his graceful form as it seemingly glided up through the rigging, then the ice in her heart took command again and she turned away.
Bran walked to the rail, winding up the anchor from the sand, then with a start he saw it, and the memory of why this island was so dangerous came flooding back to him as a body the color of dark sand flashed beneath the surface, and a large, dagger-shaped fin cut through the waters, at least three feet tall: Sharks. Bran remembered these sharks with a healthy fear. Marit pirates called them bear sharks. They were the size of a fully grown bull, and never traveled alone, they had a bloodlust for man’s flesh and would smash apart ships with their huge blunt noses. This last thought was punctuated by a thud that rattled the whole ship from stem to stern.
Zephyr uttered a small scream and clutched her sister to her; her brother was with her father and mother in the cabin. Apparently Hake knew the sharks for what they were, too. Zephyr asked him and he growled the explanation to her. Zephyr was more afraid than she had ever been. Another loud thud sounded out as the ship shook again, the splinter of wood more than barely audible. Hake looked uncomfortably at her, and then a manic grin came to his face. “We have to distract them if we are to get away.” Before Zephyr could ask how, Hake had charged at her and grabbed her baby sister, jerking Anna out of her arms. Zephyr screamed, but before she could do anything, Hake had flung her out into the shallow beach waters. Zephyr immediately realized that all this time, Emery had not been just a sour-hearted pirate trying to be spiteful, he had seen the true evil bully that was in Hake and had been trying to protect them. She had been focused on the wrong man entirely.
But that was beside the point now, her sister was thrashing in the water and crying, as on of the huge sandy fins turned and tore through the water at her. Zephyr screamed again and dashed to the rail, but the strong arms of the Guscanian first mate grabbed her and held her back. She struggled, but Bran held her fast, “Don’t get yourself eaten, miss! There’s no more we can do! She’s as good as gone!”
But apparently not everyone on board shared this point of view.
A massive roar shook the very air, and every eye turned upward. Zephyr gasped as she saw Emery, weaponless without even his dagger, dashing out along the arm of the sail, sprinting out on the narrow spar like his life depended on it.
A joint gasp went up from everybody as Emery sprang from the sail arm in a magnificent dive, arching high through the air, aiming for little Anna and the shark that was now only feet away. Zephyr, with no ice whatsoever in her heart, knew that this memory would be with her for the rest of her days.
Emery crashed into the water with another yell, landing square on the body of the shark, jolting it from its course, making it shoot by Anna by inches. It whipped around and came at them again. Emery grabbed the little girl and whipped her behind them, throwing himself to the side and lashing out, whacking the shark squarely in the head. The rough skin cut his hand open, and blood spurted out into the water. Emery knew what that meant, and quicker than light he lunged through the water, surfacing at the ship. Leaping out of the water, he managed to grab the rail with his hand, hanging from the side by one arm as he shoved Anna up with the other.
Zephyr was there and she shouted, “Hurry, get up!” Emery held her sister high, “Get her on first!” Zephyr nodded and reached down, barely managing to grab her. Emery waited until she had completely left his arm, then he began to pull himself on board.
Zephyr grabbed his arm and pulled, but daggers of pain shot through his leg and a gigantic force pulled him back, a shark had bitten into his leg and was dragging him back. Zephyr screamed as Emery was whipped forcefully back and crashed beneath the surface again, blood clouding the water. Tears came to Zephyr’s eyes as the water suddenly grew still. Bran had to hold her back once again, though she could hear the pain and loss in his own voice as he said, “No use, missy, the captain’s gone this time, I’m afraid.”
Suddenly a geyser of bloody water splashed upward as Emery burst to the surface, gasping for air, the dead body of the shark drifting away. Zephyr gave a cry of triumph, but blood was still flowing from his leg, and already three more sandy-hued sharks were homing in on him. Raising his hand, Emery shouted, “Bran! Saber!” The Guscanian raced across to Emery’s sword harness and drew forth one of the two longer blades (Zephyr knew that the two longest were called Sabers, and the two shortest were called cutlasses, even though they were identical in every aspect except length: all were made out of silver titanium, as thick as the last two fingers of her hand, single-edged, curving to a needle-thin, razor-sharp point.) Bran raced across the deck and flung the saber to Emery. The pirate reached out and caught it by the handle. Whipping it around, he hacked a deep slash into the first shark that neared him, and it jerked away, shocked and spurting blood.
Immediately the other sharks turned on him, tearing him to pieces, maddened by the scent of blood. Emery streaked for the ship, vaulting on board. His first move, even though he was soaked to the skin and bleeding hard from his leg, was to check on Anna, who was crying and in a mild state of shock. Bran rushed up with a blanket, meaning to wrap it around Emery’s shoulders, but Emery took it and wrapped it snugly around Zephyr and Anna, not missing the look in Zephyr’s eyes that was something akin to affection. Not much, but a start. Suddenly his leg did not hurt so badly.
Emery whipped off his shirt and tied it tightly around his thigh, halting the blood flow somewhat. Just as he stood, Hake rushed up, his huge broadsword strapped to his back.
Now they stood there, Hake raging mad, “You idiot! Now we will have no time to escape! Throw the girl back out! We have to get away! Throw her back out, immediately! That is an ORDER, steersman!”
Zephyr tensed, “No, please! Don’t take my sister! She’s done nothing, no harm to you, not ever!” Hake spat at her and called her a vehement and most unpleasant name, “Shut up or it’s you we throw over board! Yach!!!!” Suddenly he found himself hoisted into the air in Emery’s grip of steel, and those emerald eyes were snapping out fire, “No one gets thrown overboard on my ship, and if I ever see you spit at the lady again, or so much as look at her the wrong way, s’death for you, cabin boy, and that is an ORDER!!”
Hake shook himself loose and backed off, drawing his massive sword, “So then, mutiny, is it?” Emery’s eyes narrowed and he held his saber out in front of him, the needle tip pointing straight at Hake’s chest, “I’ve allowed you on my ship long enough. To the death.” Hake spat on his blade and whirled it around his body and a skillful pattern, “Aye, to the death, then.” Emery held out his hand, “Bran, my other saber please.” The Guscan first mate complied, tossing the twin blade to him. Emery caught it without looking. Suddenly the air was a hum and a whir as Emery was suddenly encaged in a web of steel that flowed so fast it seemed liquid as the blades crossed, flowed around him, over him, behind him, under him and all around faster than the eye could see, blurring the two sabers into one constant blur of light.
Roaring like a bull, Hake charged, bringing down an overhead slash so fierce that Zephyr was sure Emery would be slammed to the ground. She had never seen the pirate fight before.
Emery turned his back to the slash, eliciting a gasp from the onlookers. But then his blades rose and crossed just above his head, blocking the powerful stroke. Locking Hake’s blade in his own, Emery gave a vicious yank and a twist. With a surprised yelp, Hake flew over Emery’s head to sprawl on the deck in front of him.
Immediately Hake scooped up his blade and charged again, employing a hard sideways slash at Emery’s midsection. The pirate never missed a beat. Eliciting a gasp from the onlookers, he leaped into the air, rotating so he was upside-down as he passed over Hake’s head. Zephyr breathed in sharply, it looked as if Emery would not complete his flip and smash head first into the deck. She was wrong, though. Just a half-instant before his head his the deck planks, Emery snapped his chin down onto his chest, tucking his head in and somersaulting with unbelievable grace, rolling from his back into another flip, adding a twist and landing catlike at the other rail, blades outstretched in a ‘ready’ stance. Hake charged again, but Emery blocked his stab with ease. Surprising him, Hake suddenly dropped his sword and punched Emery hard in the jaw. The pirate reeled back against the rail, his sabers clattering to the deck. Hake whipped out a dagger and slashed at Emery’s eyes.
Emery jerked his face to the side, and the dagger cut open the left side of his chin. Hake grabbed him, trying to bite his throat. Emery’s foot came up and catapulted him overboard. But Hake still had a firm grip on his arm, and with a yell they both splashed into the surf again.
Hake’s sword had fallen in with them, and now he grabbed it and chopped at Emery. The pirate dodged to the side, well aware that the sharks were nearly through with the carcass of their fellow and would be on them at any moment. “Emery!” Emery looked up to see Bran throw him one of his cutlasses. Grabbing the blade, Emery blocked Hake’s next slash, then spun inside of his sword and elbowed him hard in the face.
Hake stumbled back in the shoulder deep water, and Emery was on top of him, tackling him under the surface. Hake had been a land-dweller most of his life, with little or nothing to do with the sea. Emery had been a pirate since he was a boy, and was at home just as much in the water as on dry land. It was over for Hake very quickly. With all the supple grace of an otter, Emery slid under him, dragging him down to the bottom. Hake’s struggles were in vain as the younger and stronger man lashed the collar of his shirt to a small clump of coral, anchoring him helplessly to the ocean floor.
Out of the corner of his eye, Emery sighted the bear sharks, shooting at them from all sides. Knowing he had only seconds, the pirate stabbed Hake in the arm with his cutlass, severing a vein and bringing instant blood flow. His feet finding, the sandy bottom, Emery pushed off and shot to the surface, undulating his body like a whale to gain speed.
Just as the brown forms shot under him, savagely charging the source of the blood, Emery broke the surface in a gigantic leap, back flipping and plunging back in with a huge splash, but the sharks no longer cared, they were only after blood now.
With strong strokes Emery gained the ship and leaped aboard (much to Zephyr’s secret relief and elation). The crew rushed up to him, questions falling like rain. For answer, Emery merely pointed to the frothing water, stained red by blood. They were silent for a moment, then Emery shouted in an authoritative voice, “Crew, get the Hawk underway! We’ve got time; now let’s get on the move! Bran, take the wheel! Ferret, loose the tops’ls! Archer and Kuris draw up anchor, let’s get out of here!”
Immediately the crew flew to their stations, and the Emerald Hawk came about and raced toward the open sea. Emery, now silent and without his brash air of command, knelt by Zephyr and asked quietly, his deep green eyes now full of care and concern (perhaps a little more than he meant to show), “Are you all right?” Zephyr nodded, “Yes, I-I think so.” She allowed Emery to gently take Anna from her, and watched as his delicate fingers (delicate fingers that could wield a sword so fiercely and clout a shark so hard as to confuse it) check her for injuries. He smiled at her, his white teeth and emerald eyes warm and caring, “I think you’ll be all right, little one. Just some small bruises, and I’ll wager the mean ol’ sharks had you a bit frightened?” She nodded and Emery clucked matronly, “Well well, but this is something, eh? You’ll be able to tell all your children that when you were just six years old you fought a bear shark in the water and gave it such a clout that it lifted you back onto the deck and let you go, and captain Emery didn’t even help a bit!” She giggled, then winced.
Emery was instantly the picture of concern, carefully inspecting the offending hand she held up. Zephyr watched with reserved interest as he removed a splinter from her palm, then sent her off, giggling, to tell her mama about the shark she had beaten. Emery stood, a faint smile on his face as he watched her go, then suddenly he winced and leaned heavily against the mast.
Zephyr was instantly at his side, worried in spite of herself, “You’re hurt!” This seemed to overstate the obvious; Emery’s leg was still mangled and bleeding, his bare chest was slashed and bleeding from when the shark had pulled him back into the water, and the cut on his chin was bleeding as well.
He smiled, “Bran will sew me up, it isn’t all that bad anyways.” Still Zephyr supported him to the captain’s cabin, and she guessed by the weight he had to put on her that his words had somewhat shaded the truth. Zephyr giggled, “I knew you could fight, but I didn’t know you had such skill with children.” Emery got a faraway look in his eyes, and he said simply, “I know what it is like to be a child in hard circumstance.” Zephyr looked at him quizzically, but Emery changed the subject, “Are you allright?” Zephyr nodded, “I’m fine, I’m not the one who took on a herd of sharks.” Emery chuckled, winced, then said seriously, “It was no great thing. Better my life than that of your sister.”
Zephyr looked shocked, “You would have died for someone you hardly know? Who will never be able to repay you for what you’ve done for her?” Emery shook his head as they gained the cabin door, “I do not ask for payment, love is unconditional and thinks nothing of how long you have known someone.”
His deep green eyes locked her own sapphire ones for a moment, then they both broke the stare, neither of them able to gauge the maelstrom of emotions inside them. Emery nodded, indicating her own cabin. “You’d better see to your family, this has been a trying ordeal.” She giggled again, “Aye aye, captain.” He smiled (her heart fluttered for reasons she did not know) and turned to go inside, but her voice drew him back. All humor and jest aside, she smiled at him (he felt his heart melt, men died for looks of favor such as those) and said, “Oh, and Emery?” He nodded. “Thank you.”
The pirate watched her go, then entered his newly won captain’s cabin, exhilaration flowing through him life fire, and he knew that just for that smile and those two words from her lips, he would fight a thousand sharks.
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