Page 103 of The Sky Pirate's Stowaway
And Max… when I checked on him, he looked as sickened as I felt.
Maybe we didn’t like Two-Toed Roch—she’d never had a kind word to say to anyone—but she’d still been our crewmate.
I couldn’t let anyone else die.
Pulling out my sword, I headed for the ladder again, ignoring the pain in my ribs. The ship abruptly lurched to the side, making me lose my balance. I was confused about what was happening for about half a second until I saw several kraken legs holding on to the railing on the port side and yanking our poor ship sideways.
Several of the crew chopped at the legs until they let go, and the ship shifted back a little, making a horribly loud groaning noise, sounding as ifThe Black Wraithcouldn’t take even one more hit. It was still crooked and difficult to walk on, but at least we weren’t sliding across the deck and directly into that thing’s maw.
Like poor Two-Toed Roch.
As I continued on my way, I saw Viper rush down the quarterdeck stairs and slip into his office. I thought he was going for a weapon, but the jerk didn’t reappear.
What was he doing? Hiding and hoping he’d survive?
The lily-livered scoundrel.
Max was still up on the quarterdeck, fighting with the rest of us and trying to give orders at the same time, and the captain was, what? Hiding in his cabin? What in the hellfire kind of leader did that?
I wasn’t even surprised he fled when things took a wrong turn. Viper was an awful, horrible person, and he didn’t care at all who lived or died as long as he got to keep on kicking… and was able to take home his precious trophies and that ridiculous hat of his.
Goddesses, I truly hated the man.
Since I didn’t have time or energy to waste on that piece of garbage, I ignored him and went ahead, moving toward the ladder while holding my side. Dragon balls, it really hurt.
More sand kraken legs found their way onto the ship, wrapping around anything and everything, ripping up wood, trying to grab the pirates, pulling on our sails.
It was absolute chaos.
A tentacle went slithering by, quickly disappearing over the side, and I gasped when I saw who it was dragging across the deck.
Hawk-Eyes.
Without thought for my own safety—or my sore ribs—I rushed after her as quickly as my feet could take me.
Hawk-Eyes managed to hook an arm around some rigging at the base of the mainmast, stopping her progress. It gave me just enough time to jump over another kraken arm, raise my sword above my head, and bring it down as hard as I could. The tentacle was too thick to make a clean cut, so all I did was leave an open wound.
The thing let out a massive roar that shook the wood beneath my feet, and instead of letting go like I’d hoped, it wrapped its grip tighter around my friend, actively trying to pull her free from the rigging.
Hawk-Eyes yelled, “Hurry! I can’t hold on much longer!”
I lifted my sword again and swung it down with a yell, hitting it in the same spot and making the cut deeper. It tightened its grip so much on Hawk-Eyes that she couldn’t speak and her lips started turning blue. I lifted my sword again and brought it down. Again. And again. And again. Screaming at the top of my lungs as tears threatened to stream down my face.
I wouldnotlet this thing, this monster, take my friend.
No fucking way.
“Ahhhhhhh!” I screamed with one last swing.
My sword sliced through the last part of the arm, chopping a piece of it off, and the kraken roared loudly as its injured arm slithered back into the sand.
Kneeling beside Hawk-Eyes, I kept one hand on my sword and used the other to peel the unattached tentacle off of her. She was breathing heavily and was covered in blood, grime, and sand, but I couldn’t tell where she was injured.
When I reached a hand down to her, she took it and let me pull her to her feet.
“You okay?”
She nodded, looking a little dazed. “Fine. I… thank you, Ghost. You saved me.” She leaned in, kissed my cheek, then drew a sword as she turned away from me. With a yell, she dove back into the fray, clearly unconcerned for her own injuries.
