| Salem opened his eyes slowly, feeling refreshed after his mid-afternoon nap. He looked up and saw the bright blue sky; a small bird flew overhead. His slumber in the crow's nest of the ship was the best he had in a while. Salem sat up and stretched. "What time is it right now?" he asked himself. "How did I feel so sleepy in the first place? Must be the waves. I'm going to see what everyone is up to." The young panther climbed out of the crow's nest and began to descend the rope ladder on the mast. The wind felt comfortable against his legs as he climbed down to the deck. Just then, as he was no greater than 10 feet from the deck, he heard a voice -- Kat's voice. "Salem!" Kat whispered, loud enough to be heard. "Salem, come down here!" Salem looked down and noticed his friends bound tightly to the mast. "What happened to you?" he asked, horribly disturbed. He jumped off the ladder and landed on the deck on both feet. "Shhh! Lower your voice!" Kat continued. "They'll hear you! Now, see if you can untie us." Salem detached one of his two shortswords from his belt and began to cut the long rope that bound Kat, Clara, and Hermione. A minute of sawing later, the rope snapped and the girls were free from the mast. "Quickly, Salem," Clara said, turning her back to him. "Untie our wrists. Hurry!" Salem did as he was told, carefully cutting through the ropes that bound Kat and Clara. "You're free," he said. "Wait a minute!" Hermione said, struggling to get her hands free. "What about me?" "Oh, sorry, ma'am," Salem said, approaching her with his shortsword. "Here, let me--" "No, Salem," Kat interrupted, just as he was about to untie the captain. "Do not free her." Hermione's eyes lit up. "What is the matter with you?" she asked. "Untie me this instant! You are to adhere to my or--" At that moment, Kat backhanded Hermione across the face, sending her to the deck with a loud thud. She fell upon her side, now unable to stand up. Hermione winced in pain. Kat stood over the captain. "You have not demonstrated to me that you deserve to be released," Kat snarled. "You have a great lesson to learn, captain. Now, stay right where you are." Hermione writhed on the deck. "Wait, don't leave me here!" she shouted. "Untie me at once!" At that moment, Barton and a few crew members came back to the deck. "What is going on up here?" he shouted. His eyes lit up when he realized that Kat, Clara, and Salem were free. "You are not going to take anything from anyone!" Clara shouted. "Prepare yourself, traitor." Barton shouted out to his crew. "Crew!" he shouted. "Attack them!" Salem handed off his shortswords to Kat and Clara and armed himself with his dagger as a small group of crew members decended upon them with similar weapons. Salem grappled one of the smaller crewmen, a rat, and wrestled with him while Kat and Clara fended off a few others, quickly stabbing at them and punching them away. Hermione, still bound, tried to shuffle away from the fighting. I don't know what to think right now, she thought, struggling a little bit more in her ropes. Are they fighting for me, for themselves, for Trillan, or for S'Allumer? The skirmish on the Covenant raged on. Kat and Clara slew one mutineer after another; even the one Salem wrestled was killed when his neck was snapped in two. Barton, in desperation, recovered Kat and Clara's swords and held one in each hand. "You don't know what you're doing!" Kat shouted to him. "You're going to hurt yourself." "Hurt myself?" Barton laughed. "I think not. You may have killed Hermione's crew, but you are not going to escape me." Clara focus his moves, then attacked him with a determined scream. She vigorously flew at him as he swung the swords. The two collided and crashed to the ground, both adversaries losing their grip on their weapons. Kat and Salem both darted after their weapons; in desperation, Salem flung his dagger away. It landed right next to Hermione, who lay helpless the entire fight. Hermione looked intently at the dagger, which lay on its side just feet away from the captain. I must escape, she thought, rolling over towards the dagger, attempting to pick it up in one of her tied hands. If not for myself, then for these Lamuthians. I have learned my lesson of life. Salem struggled to his feet as Kat and Clara held their swords over Barton's neck. "Get up!" Kat shouted, now armed with her familiar sword. "We will get you back alive yet." Barton slowly stood up as Kat, Clara, and Salem approached Barton with their swords. All around them the dead lay scattered, with smears and pools of blood all over the deck. "You have a choice, Barton," Clara said. "You may surrender with out a fight, or you may fight to the death." At that moment, Kat stepped on the body of a fallen crew member, causing her to stumble. Barton seized his opportunity and broke away, racing towards a weapon on the deck. But suddenly his body seized and arched, and he uttered a strangled curse. Kat, Clara, and Salem detected a small dagger embedded in his back, near his lung. Barton slowly turned around, blood pouring down his back and side. He saw Captain Hermione kneeling on the deck, her arm forward; clearly, it was she who threw the dagger. Barton, his life leaving him, fell to the deck on his knees. He then fell forward onto his belly and exhaled deeply, finally dying. Kat fell to her knees. "It is over," she said. "We are saved. Let us give these men, enemies or not, their final rites." Next page >> |