Writeworld Prompt
This is an extract written for the Writeworld prompt 'Through the curling flames rising from the ship, he caught sight of a familiar dark head of hair and a broad, confident grin.' It is an extract from a larger story, the first part of which can be read here.
I'd really appreciate some reads. If you're a fan of fantasy you may well like what you find.
They dragged him on board, throwing him roughly to the filthy deck. He tried to rise and caught a boot in the ribs for his trouble. The rest of the crew gathered round, looking down on him. He stayed still, waiting for the signal, waiting for a sign that Farkas hadn’t let him down.
Someone gripped his hair roughly and forced him to look up. The face in front of him had rotten brown and black teeth, straggly hair hanging in greasy lengths on his face. “Who are you?”
“I’m surprised you don’t recognise me,” he said with his smuggest grin. “Your mother should have mentioned me, the number of times I’ve seen her.”
That earned him a hard slap, the rings on the man’s fingers cutting his cheek. He was dragged back up and the man spat in his face. “Who are you?”
“Admiral Ranflaw, Enstrait navy, and you are?”
The men started kicking him, a dozen blows to his chest and back that he bore easily. They weren’t trying to kill him yet. Once more he was dragged up. “Who are you?”
“Captain Corrin Black-Reeve. Maybe you’ve heard of me?”
That earned him another slap, and a derisive laugh. “You are trying my patience. Tell me who you are?”
“I already did you ignorant thug. I am Captain Corrin, the Black Reave. King of the Banelan’s Spine, Sacker of Anchor Thom. Tell your captain, he will know my name.”
“Beldon?” One of the pirates above him spoke, sounding uncertain.
The man holding Corrin grunted and looked up at his man. “The Black Reave is a myth. A pirate’s bedtime story.” He shook Corrin’s head. “You think this piece of filth is he?”
“Well if I am you’re in trouble,” he said.
“Shut up.”
He saw a flicker of light from the corner of his eye. The explosion of a firework high above the city. “Actually I think it’s about time for you to shut up,” he said, and grinned. “But I’ll see you on the other side, in a good few years. If you’re still angry, you can take it up with me then.”
The ship was blasted across the water by a massive explosion. Every man on the deck was thrown to his feet. Corrin took advantage of the chaos to slip out of his shackles, which he had of course picked moments after they were put on. He used the heavy metal cuffs to club Beldon hard in the head, hard enough to fracture his skull. He beat him again anyway, just to be sure, and took his sword off the body. Drawing it from its scabbard he turned to see the other pirates getting back to their feet. Before they could even finish standing he was upon them, striking several of them dead before they even realised what was going on. The few who drew swords were easily dispatched.
The rest of the crew was piling onto the deck though, rushing up from below to see what had caused the explosion. He turned to face them, raising his sword and beckoning with his other hand. Several of the drew their own swords and charged him, but before they reached him another explosion from below blasted a hole in the deck and sent them scattering overboard. Corrin was staggered by the blast, but he kept his feet as the ship began to sink rapidly. The ship shuddered as it dug into the sand just beneath the waves, sending the final few pirates rolling down towards the bow.
The deck was still just above the water line, but it was low enough that the waves lapping at the hull came close to flooding it anyway. With two holes in the hull the water would be flooding in, meaning it was only a matter of time before…
Through the curling flames rising from the ship, he caught sight of a familiar dark head of hair and a broad, confident grin. “Hello Corrin.”
“Lytton.” He growled it through clenched teeth, his jaw near shaking from how tightly it was gritted. “Finally.”
“You know.” The man was the picture of arrogance, even as he strode through the burning remains of his ship. “I really would have thought you’d have let this go by now.”
“You killed her.”
For a moment, a single moment, the mask slipped, and he looked at Corrin with ugly hate in his eyes. “I’ve killed hundreds boy.” And then it was gone, the smile back in place. “One whore makes no difference in the final judgement.”
This isn’t your final judgement. This is me. And it meant everything to me.”
“So what? You wasted three years of your life on a quest to do what? One pirate killing another won’t bring justice. Killing me won’t bring her back.” He fixed Corrin with a hard look. “Is that what’s got you vexed? That you know, deep down inside, that you’re not killing me for her? Or for any noble cause? You’re killing me because you don’t know anything else.”
“I’m killing you because you’re a murderer. Filth fit only for the pits.”
“And what are you, Corrin, the Black-Reave?” He made it a taunt. “I’m sure that you earned that name only through the kindest of exploits.”
“I am nothing like you.”
“As you say.” Lytton drew his sword, a long curved cutlass that he clearly knew how to use. He held it before himself and leaned back into a formal duelling stance. Corrin had no idea where he might have learned it. “I doubt anything I say would matter to you now.”
Corrin fell into his own stance. His breath was calm and even now as he watched for the first movements from his foe. His blade glistened in the firelight, and the smoke curling between them made his eyes sting. But nothing could distract from his absolute focus, and he saw that same determination in Lytton’s eyes.
“Very well.” Lytton said. “Let’s finish this.”
Word Count: 1001
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