Prologue: Twas’ A Dark And Stormy Night…

By: Bryant R. Haake, Honors College, Presidential Honors Student, English Major

18 Years Ago

Thunder. The waves sound like thunder.

            Against the sound of the thunder roared the sound of clashing swords, raging fire in the raining night, and the shouting of pirates and common folk alike.

The rain split around one of the men, rippling with each strike of his sword, gleaming in the glow of his eyes. Behind him, ne’er far behind, fought his first mate, a man named Heilyn. A rope whipped around him, steel-balled ends striking the pirates they fought against.

They, too, were pirates, but the villagers knew them well. The barkeep — Sanders — had given them free drinks only hours before, and Heilyn could still taste the spiced liquid on his spit. The smell of seared meat no longer penetrated the air, replaced only by blood, sweat, and the briny sea.

“Captain!” one of the other crewmates — Deighly — yelled through the storm. “We’ve almost driven them back, but the swine-breaths have broken through our line. They’re headed to one of the village houses!”

“Blow me sails down,” he cursed, deflecting another blade. “Heilyn me’ boy, follow Deighly. Teach those bilge-suckers not to mess with folks protected by my crew!”

“Aye aye, captain.”

Heilyn flicked his wrist and called back his rope, feeling the sudden thud of metal against skull as he did so. Another pirate felled.

He and Deighly began bounding through the carnage, bodies on the ground no worse than the waves of the ocean. Heilyn followed the one-eyed man despite his muscles wanting to flex a bit more. Eventually they rounded a corner and just caught sight of three pirates entering a house. The doorway hung off of a single hinge, the wood around the other splintered into sawdust. Heilyn gave a nod to Deighly and they carefully stepped into the house.

The three pirates stood over a small family, blood staining their boots. The dead eyes of a father, mother and girl stared up at the duo, noticing them when their assailants did not. Before the pirates could react, Heilyn threw both ends of his bolo rope, clocking two of them on the head. The last spun around, the final member of the family cradled in his arms.

“No… you don’t understand,” he stammered. “This one will be the death of us. The death! The prophecy!”

“Aye,” Deighly chuckled, “and I’ll be the king of the seas, ye’ daft scourge.”

“Hand the babe over and we’ll make your death swift,” Heilyn said carefully. He had orders, but he wasn’t about to lie to this man.

The pirate shook his head.

“No. No no. Nononononono NO! He dies NOW!”

As the man raised his knived hand, Heilyn flung out a bolo rope. He was too late. The knife plunged into the chest of the baby, blood spilling over the pirate’s arms. The bolo rope flung back to Heilyn’s shaking hand, hitting the pirate on the way back with a resounding CRACK! Only, it hadn’t been his bolo that struck that loudly. Deighly’s flintlock smoked from the barrel end, pointing at the mad, grinning pirate with a hole in his head.

Heilyn stood unmoving, the fallen pirate and bleeding baby both now thudded onto the wooden floor. The dagger still stood plunged into the chest of the poor child, a monument to the failure only Neptune could have seen by now. Heilyn stumbled a moment before the sound of pounding boots on wood drew him back to his present condition.

Deighly now faced back to the door, flintlock pointing at another five pirates — bad ones. Not Forsaken like them, but Venomwater like the figurehead of their ship — only snakes. They grinned at them, teeth like fangs in his gaze, and he raised his bolo rope to defend. Both parties stepped forward for only a second before tentacles exploded from behind Deighly and Heilyn.

All five Venomwater pirates yelped as they were picked up and slammed into the floor, over and over again, like bags of sand thrown around by a ship’s strongman. Each was held by a different tentacle, blue-ish purple in color, suckers clinging to the grimy skin of the pirates.

Heilyn and Deighly both stood stunned, weapons still in hand, but unconsciously lowered. Neither dared turn to see what was causing the disturbance, though images flashed through their minds. Horrors of the deep, come to take them at last for the deeds they had both committed in their… lesser days. The taste of alcohol and blood stung Heilyn’s tongue at the thought.

All five pirates finally lay limp in the tentacles, which retreated and left them broken on the soaked dirt outside. Rainwater seeped inside from the open doorway, red like the pirates.

At last, the two Forsaken turned back around to see the baby, an empty hilt lying beside it. It cooed softly as the wound in its chest closed, leaving only a single, jagged white line where the blood had seeped only moments before. As it closed, Heilyn thought it looked wrong, strangely purple and shiny… like ink. Deighly took a step forward and picked up the dagger hilt.

“That was a magic blade, Heilyn,” he said as he inspected the thing with a single eye. “If I had to take a guess, I’d say it was made from Krakenstone.”

Krakenstone.

The word rang through the room like an echo, haunting Heilyn’s psyche. He pulled at the bandana around his head, slipping some fingers through his hair as if trying to get inside his brain. With a nod, he tightened the knot and knelt down to pick up the baby.

“Let’s go, Deighly. We’ll see what becomes of this.”

The pair walked back to the rest of their crew. The sounds of battle had died, and they could see Captain Vexx atop a barrel ahead counting heads. With a satisfied nod, he jumped back down, rain still parting around his figure. His eyes shone over his crew like lanterns in a dark cave, showing him his bounty of friends and allies. He glanced back and gave another nod, almost smiling before seeing what Heilyn had gathered.

“Captain, we, uh… found something,” Deighly spoke up for the rest of the crew.

Aside from the pounding rain and thundering waves, silence rang through the burning town. The villagers began to gather at the central well, keeping away from their saviors for the moment. That was fine with the crew. Captain Vexx slowly strutted over to Heilyn, taking the baby from his hands.

“You’ve brought… a boy? Why?”

“All due respect, Captain,” Heilyn started, “why exactly would you think?”

Captain Vexx nodded, a new fire behind his eyes. A timely fire, flashing back to a time long ago. Heilyn knew exactly what his decision would be on what to do with the boy, given the village didn’t want him. It’s what he’d done with him seven years prior, or Deighly four.

Captain Vexx gingerly passed the child back to Heilyn, who recoiled at its touch. Vexx then turned back to his crew, standing once more on the barrel.

“My brothers and sisters in arms,” he began, regal voice drawing eyes. “Today, we mourn no losses of our own. However, we must pour out a drink for those of the village who have fallen. That includes the family of this baby boy here. While it is ultimately my decision, I feel a vote is required from you all. Shall we keep the child and care for him as a member of the crew, or shall we let him meet his destiny in some far-off orphanage, as far from the sea as these island nations will allow?”

Heilyn stepped forward, shifting the baby in his arms.

“All in favor of keeping the boy?”

Approval rang through the crew with a single, unified, “AYE!” Captain Vexx nodded.

“Then he shall be set under the tutelage of one of our own, and who better than our very own bolo rope master, ‘ey?”

Heilyn’s cheeks flushed as the crew roared their approval. Deighly shot him a humorous glance and yelled along with the crew. Heilyn moved to say something, but was cut off.

“Then it is decided,” Captain Vexx declared. “He shall be raised with the knowledge of the bolo rope, and with the duties of a first mate. Maybe he’ll even take your place one day, ‘ey Heilyn?”

Heilyn gave a nervous laugh, mouth dry from lack of ale and rum. He needed a pick-me-up… badly.

The crew walked off, knowing their duties, and Captain Vexx hopped back down from his barrel. He was not a tall man, standing barely taller than a barmaid, but he held the presence of a mayor’s son. Ever since he became his first mate, Heilyn had admired his Captain, and never once doubted his decisions. He wanted that record to go unspoiled.

“Heilyn, walk with me,” Captain Vexx said, walking past Heilyn. The first mate readjusted the child and joined his Captain in his small bubble of dryness.

They walked for several minutes in silence. The rain showed no sign of letting up, something Heilyn considered to be a good thing. It washed the blood from the sand and dirt, filled the well up once more, and gave him a rare shower. Captain Vexx had no stench to him, however, and felt the rain only slowed him down, especially on the seas.

“Do you know why I chose you, Heilyn?”

“No, Captain.”

“I do not mean that in terms of keeping the child,” Captain Vexx corrected. “I mean as a first mate. Do you know?”

“Aye, Captain. I do. You’ve told me many a’ time.”

“Well, tell me, then. Why?”

Heilyn sighed. “Despite being fourteen years young, you saw fire in my eyes that needed the guidance of a Captain, and knew that the fire was loyalty from the way I fought off those scallywags in the bar.”

“Yes, that is what I’ve told you, but do you know why, really?”

“Captain… you mean that story is not true?” Heilyn was hurt.

“Yes, it is true, but only partially. Those are my reasons, but I also chose you for another.” He smirked. “You drank more as a young man than most hardened sailors I had ever met. I was impressed.”

Heilyn stared, dumbfounded. The taste of alcohol filled his mouth again, and his vision darkened. A familiar sensation, but not exactly a welcome one.

“That was… a different me. Why do you keep me on?”

“Because,” Captain Vexx chuckled, “you don’t realize what I mean. That boy you have now, he’s without anyone. If he goes into an orphanage, he won’t survive it. Victims of pirate attacks are treated… unfairly. I could say the same about alcohol. Do you understand me now?”

Heilyn nodded and stared blankly ahead. The Captain gave him a look but didn’t press.

“You’ll understand in time. For now, you need to start brushing up on how to take care of a child. I think there’s a small bookstore ahead. They might have a parent help-”

“He died.”

Captain Vexx stopped.

“W-what?”

“The boy died, Captain,” Heilyn stared at his glowing eyes. “Stabbed.” He opened up the bit of swaddling cloth around the baby and showed his Captain the white scar. Captain Vexx inspected it for less than a second and started walking again.

“You have your work cut out for you, mate,” he said bluntly. “That’s quite the wound, and I know of only one way for a baby to survive that.”

“Deighly said it was Krakenstone.” Captain Vexx nodded.

“I trust his eye, and I trust you. But… aye, I will have to take some responsibility of my own here, lest you be lost with his new gift. What is it?”

“I’m… not sure. It wasn’t something I recognized. Tentacles from nowhere… it was unnerving, to be honest. Nothing like your Sea King, Captain.”

“Of course not, mate. I’m no Stoneheart. I’m Goldblood, and you best not forget it.” He grinned and the bubble of rain around them expanded a moment with his elation, but fell a moment later as a stern, worried look passed over his face. “You will be fine, won’t you, mate?”

“Yes, Captain. I can do this.”

“Good.” He put a hand on Heilyn’s shoulder. “I’m counting on you, mate. Really counting on you. I feel something special about this boy. I can’t quite place it, but there’s something. Protect him.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

“Aye aye, Heilyn.” He pulled a pipe out of his pocket and stuck the tip in his mouth. A sweet aroma filled the air, the sugar grass burning with a yellow-blue flame. The blue danced across the sheet of rain around them, ghostly images of fire haunting the very air. They had made a full circle around the village at this point, and the Forsaken stood illuminated in the distance, the figurehead lurching forward to warn against approach; a man in flaming chains, intricately crafted by one of their own — Hacksmith, as they all knew him.

Heilyn could see Deighly already sleeping in the crow’s nest, but the rest of the crew was dancing in the night, illuminated by the lanterns above deck. Every now and then, liquid would slosh through the air, hitting some lucky soul in the head and stickying them with ale.

Captain Vexx and Heilyn stopped just a few hundred feet from the ship and watched their crew. He could imagine fireworks in the rain, exploding against the dreary mood and chasing away their sorrows. They both began to laugh, quietly at first, but then grew into a pompous roar. The baby in Heilyn’s arms began to cry, a sure sign of life. As their laughter died down, so too did the storm.

“Nothing better, aye, Heilyn?”

“A pirate’s life for me, Captain.”