Children of The Angry Sea.. Part Three: Behold! The Queen Ann Swayne.

lll.

They were a full eight days out to sea to the northeast of Norwich, and still had a full seven days sailing before they would be within reach of the eastern tip of the Penduline islands. The sea grew rough in spots and swelled mightily in others, slowing the progress considerably, on the morning of the eighth day the rain lashed out at them bringing up even larger swells and the wind began to blow harder into their sails pushing them farther into a fog bank, the wind slowed and settled leaving only the fog and though the seas were growing more troubled the mighty Sea Witch stayed her course. And though he had suffered through a restless sleep, Captain Tristian had come above deck just in time to hear Mr. Finch sound the general alarm.

"Captain Crowley! We have a ship in the fog bank sir!"

Tristian raised his eyes to look at Mr. Finch. who began frantically pointing out through the thickening fog.

"To our port, sir." Mr. Finch added.

He joined Finch on the half-deck and looked through his spyglass, studying the ship carefully. it sat still, silently, almost ghostly, rising and falling with the waves directly to the Sea Witches broad side, Finch gave him a concerned look.

"Sails are torn, no markings, they're not flying colors. No light, no lanterns." 

"Royal Navy sir?" Finch asked.

"Not a frigate, definitely not Navy, Too small, she's adrift, that much is certain."

Tristian changed position to get a better look at the strange ship floating in the distance.

"Kill all Lanterns and noise, all hands move to half sails, reduce speed, and bring us alongside her slow, Mr. Finch." He turned to look down at second mate Farrel Hooker. "Go below Hr. Hooker, put all port guns on full standby."  

He lifted the glass back up to his eyes, returning his attention to the ship.

"No Markings, No Flag, What do you make of it sir? in distress perhaps?" Mr Finch yelled.

Tristian slowly lowered the glass. Before looking back at Mr. Finch.

"There's no one on deck. And I can't see from the fog but if she has gun ports, they are closed, it's a merchant, Bring us in, slowly, I want a closer look."

It slowly drifted, bobbed and swayed there with the rise and fall of the waves. there were indeed gun ports on the side, but they never opened. He carefully scanned the upper decks for sailors maning the sails, he saw nothing.

"Slowly, Mr. Finch, bring us broadside."

The Sea Witch slowly closed to within 50 yards of the smaller ship, Captain Tristian never lowering his glass scanned the entire top of the vessel searching for anything that moved. there was nothing.

"Lower us a jolly in the water Mr. Finch, Osric, Theodore and Seton, you three will be coming with Mr. Hooker and I to board her, Mr. Hooker we'll need loaded Flintlocks and cutlasses. Mr. Finch you have the bridge, all hands stand by, that's an order."

They lowered the smaller boat into the water with Osric Pope, Theodore Paine and Seton Hitch aboard as oarsmen, Captain Tristian and Farrel Hooker would climb the ratlines of the distressed ship that had torn away from the main mast and were hanging over the sides and board her with Osric Pope and Seton Hitch, leaving young Theodore Paine to wait in and watch the Jolly. They rowed 52 yards to the broadside and the Captain and his men tested the strength of the ratlines and then scaled them, when they pulled themselves over the rails and boarded the upper decks, as far as he could see it, it was as much as he had feared there was no sign of the crew. They cautiously made their way to the first cargo hatch and opened it to see light coming out. There were lanterns still lit illuminating the lower cargo bay but still no signs of life to be seen. Osric, Farrel Hooker and Captain Tristian each retrieved a lantern and returned to the upper deck. 

Now more puzzled than ever Tristian made his way to the Captains quarters, there on the captain's desk were charts and two closed log books, One he guessed, was the captains log the other belonging to the Quartermaster. he placed them in a leather bag and returned to the Jolly, before climbing back down the side of the ship he turned to look it over once again, he looked at Osric, Seton and Farrel Hooker, and motioned for them to lower back into the jolly, the entire ship was empty, no captain, no officers, no crew, cargo completely intact. one small boat was all that was missing. and then Tristian saw something under the edge of the rail that hadn't been washed away by the rain, he ran his fingers through it and raised them to the light to see human blood, he walked a twenty-foot length of the railing and found other traces of it, as well as a strange residue that he could not place. They reboarded the Jolly and returned to the Sea Witch with the log book and charts, hopefully there would be answers hidden somewhere in its pages. When they cleared the port railing of the Sea Witch, he turned to look back at the abandoned vessel, that was when he noticed the anchor chain had been deployed.  He was greeted by Mr. Finch.

"All eyes to the water Mr. Finch, There is treachery afoot here sir, get us away from this vessel immediately." He stared solemnly at the doomed ship as the Sea Witch pulled away from her. Moses Finch once again appeared at his side.

"They dropped anchor, before the weather turned foul."

"Captain? what did you see, sir?"

"Nothing Mr. Finch, absolutely nothing, no crew, no captain, no officers, cargo intact. there was however the small matter of human blood beneath the port railings. Something happened to those poor lads aboard that ship, Mr. Finch, something very bad, I retrieved the Captain's and Quartermaster's logs and charts I'll be in my cabin reading. Armand Keel! you and Theodore take a couple of spyglasses up to the nest, sharp eyes to the port and starboard lads, The fore and aft, anything that moves in that water besides whales and the fishes sound the general alarm. The Witch will not be had by pirates today, mates. That is all."

He went to his cabin and sat in front of his own desk and emptied the contents of the leather pouch, he unrolled the charts and gave them a quick inspection before opening the ship's Captain's log. The name of the vessel was the Queen Anne Swayne, and the captains name was Hiro Shamus, it was a refitted small merchant ship tasked and commissioned by the Frizzante Spice and Rum company to deliver a small load of spices with twenty-two barrels of sugarcane rum to Whiteshire in Grimshim Bay on Tamberth island, off of the Horn of Belegedde, which according to the charts that he had, put them at about 1ooo miles off course. if they were coursed for the Belegedde, how did the ship end up 800 miles to the southwest of the Penduline cape? and what was so special on that ship that the 34-person crew had to be killed for? According to the log, the captain began to suspect that something wasn't right aboard his own ship, he used the word saboteur several times, he began setting four man watch teams at night to keep the vessel safe and on course. Three nights in a row the crew were disappearing from watch never to be seen again, what remained of his crew were not fighters but merchant sailors. They fell easy prey.

After the third night of watch, Captain Shamus came to the upper deck to find the first signs of trouble, in addition to the missing crew members, He found blood along the railings of the port bow, the watch crews hadn't gone missing they were murdered, and their bodies had been more than likely disposed of over the sides of the Queen Anne. The last entry in the journal was written four days before the Sea Witch had discovered the Queen Anne Swayne anchored in her last known position, and the way it was written was like he had a suspect, but the page where he had written it had been torn from the log book. On the empty page, Captain Tristian took a lead pencil and laid it sideways on the blank space and gently rubbed the lead across the indentation to see a single word appear... "Officers." Mister Finch knocked at his chamber door.

"Sir, we resumed our course and have pulled away from the vessel." Mr. Finch eyed him curiously as he stared down at the closed log book.

"Someone aboard cut the throats of the crew, and threw their bodies over the side to be rid of them, I suspect the officers at least in part murdered the captain as well. there was something far more valuable aboard that ship other than rum and spices." Tristian's eyes narrowed.

"Yes but why would they then abandon ship if they had already successfully taken it over sir?"

"I suspect the ship was someone else's prize, and the officers were already paid to leave it to be taken by whomever planned the mutiny, but the captain already had something aboard of greater value than their cargo, something that only he had known about, and perhaps the officers had only later discovered. They dropped anchor four full days before the foul weather after the deed had already been committed, and the real treasure aboard found and loaded onto the missing Jolly to which the officers took supplies and headed toward I'm guessing Archipelago island, it's only 60 miles to the west of here, five solid days of hard rowing could have put them there ahead of any storm."

"And their original destination, sir?" Mr. Finch questioned.

"According to the log book, Whiteshire in Grimshim Bay." Tristian answered.

Moses Finch's eyes widened.

"They were way off course, then?" 

"According to my calculations about 1000 miles off course. I must look into this log book further. hold our present course, Mr. Finch, you have the bridge until further notice.

"Aye Captain."

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2023~

Children of The Angry Sea. Two: All Hands Sail Away.

ll.

The wind had already been blowing in from the east across the icy waters of Lockwood Bay when the three yawls made their way back to The Sea Witch with their supplies. He and Fiona Tidas boarded just before 2:00 PM, on a Tuesday afternoon, when they were greeted by a large, tall, barrel chested fellow with long thick black hair, and clear hazel eyes, and broad shoulders, it was the first time Fiona met first mate Moses Finch. The crew were all set about unloading the supplies when he would ask Captain Crowley about the new canvas, Tristian set them about unloading it first so they could get to repairing the torn sails, after a brief introduction he took Fiona to quarters so she could get settled in, five minutes later Moses Finch appeared in the doorway, giving a puzzled look to Fiona. At first his appearance gave her quite the start and filled her small body with a nervous trepidation until, much in the same way as Tristian had done earlier in Norwich, Mr. Finch bent down, extended his hand slowly to her and calmly introduced himself.

"What are your orders, Captain?" He asked.

"Set the crew about unloading the rest of the supplies, and get four riggers up those masts to lower those damaged sails Mr. Finch, and then get Miss Prim down here, I'll be needing her to help miss Fiona get cleaned up and bedded down. And make sure the riggers check the Fore And Aft masts for damage near the top as well, as they're lowering the sails, we won't be going to sea with a damaged ship Mr. Finch I want her seaworthy in Six days. Is that clear?" 

"Aye Captain, I'll set the men to task and send down Prim sir." Mr. Finch smiled at Fiona and returned to the upper deck.

 For her young life on the docks of Norwich, she had always heard the disgusted talk of those dirty, smelly old pirates, she would have thought life aboard such a ship to be one of filth, greed and death. But what she'd found aboard the Sea Witch was quite the opposite, the ship itself was kept clean and in orderly repair, and the crew was the same, clean and more often civilized than not, even though they'd spent time at sea they would take advantage of every opportunity to give themselves and the Sea Witch a good scrubbing. The Witch was their home, and after all, they being former pirates were no longer on the outer fringes of the law and could afford time to properly tend to such matters. Crews of other ships, she would later learn were vastly different, the crew of the Witch had been together for many a day, night and weeks, and years spent on the seas, made them more of a family and Captain Tristian Crowley being their father, was a man not to be tested by any other, though he could outwardly appear to be kind at heart, it was well known that the tip of his cutlass had stripped many a man's soul from their earthly bodies and sent them to their watery graves.

Fiona Tidas would soon learn that much to her relief she was not the only female aboard ship, there were in fact two others, and both were well seasoned sailors, and worth their salt. Prim who at first glance with her baggy clothing could have passed for a male had you cut off her golden long flowing locks, and then there was Elvira Penny, who even when in good spirits had every man and boy holding their breath when she walked by, but they weren't looks of lust given to Elvira and Prim they were looks of fear. Prim had also grown up on The Sea Witch, but both Moses Finch and Captain Tristian had long sought out Elvira Penny, Long before any letter of marque had been issued by any country or government, Elvira at the age of fourteen, had brutally cut her father to pieces along with their tenant lord for abusing her mother. There she was, but a young girl being fitted for a hangman's noose, when Tristian and Moses Finch came calling to snatch her from the jaws of death, and stole her young life away aboard the Sea Witch where she would devote her existence from that day forward to a life of piracy.

They were there because they were family, they were equals to all aboard the grandmother of the sea, they were blood, and they belonged, and together they welcomed young Fiona Tidas as their own. She would share a space with Prim and Elvira Penny, and the one shipmate that Elvira seemed to like more than any other, a large pot-bellied, gray and black striped tabby whom she named Elmo, he was one of three cats aboard The Sea Witch that all but eliminated the vermin population, he'd gotten the name when one night at sea they were hit by a violent storm, and St Elmo's fire came calling, and while several of the crew had backed away from the spectacle, the brave Tabby scurried up the main mast and snarled and hissed violently at the phenomenon until it seemed to relent. Since then the plump brave tabby would become their hero and mascot. By the third day the supplies were all counted and quartered away, the sails brought down and mended, the sea around them seemed to grow more and more impatient at their leisurely pace as if waiting for a new toy to be dispatched as her plaything. By the very next Monday all sails repaired and raised to their spars, with the sea growing more restless, in the early morning mists at seven bells Captain Tristian would have Moses Finch sound the all hands.

"All hands to the foredeck Mr. Finch. I will address our crew."

First Mate Moses Finch sounded the general assembly to where the 150-person crew assembled below the half-deck, young Fiona Tidas stood beside toward the front of the gathering mass of bodies, trying valiantly as not to appear fearful when she felt a hand gently wrap into hers, surprised she looked up into the smiling eyes of Elvira Penny who gave her a knowing wink, as the crew around them grew silent in anticipation of The Captain's address, First mate Moses Finch calmly stood off to the left of the helm while second mate, and ships gunsmith Farrel Hooker stood silently to the right all waiting for Captain Crowley.  He stood above them neither somber nor with reverence, he seemed very much like a man choosing his words carefully before addressing the very people who would without question entrust their very lives to him. To young Fiona, he seemed to tower over them like a holy giant about to deliver a sermon to his flock.

"My mates! For the first in over a years time, we will set sail, without assignment of general purpose other than that of our own regard, we will set our course, to the North, Northeast, we will sail 1500 nautical miles around the Eastern Tip of the Penduline islands and then another 1460 miles out into open sea to Pigrim. We will come about the western side of the island close in to the Village of Gale Town, we will be dropping anchor there while we tend to out our ships needs, we will once again fully restock our food supply and tend to our crew's personal needs. We will be close in to the shore, and we will all get a chance to set foot on land, until which time our repairs shall be completed in full. At which time we will once again set sail another two hundred miles to Ark Island, where Mr. Finch and I will be gathering important information and possible future employment for The Sea Witch. So my mates, from here, when we reach Pigrim outside of Gale Town, each crew member, will receive full wages regardless of our ship's current employment."

The crowd of seamen and women erupted into full on cheer, and the mood aboard the Witch, made the brooding seas seem more hopeful, and when the cheering subsided their great Captain of the proud Sea Witch once again raised his hands.

"My Mates! I usually reserve such a sermon for Sunday mornings, but alas, as is my usual form, I am once again a day late and one dollar short, Mates, Bring forth your bibles, may they bring you comfort, when your minds become troubled, but lest ye not forget, here, there be only one god. and lo, She rises and falls with the tide. She breathes her breath into our sails, to push us forth, further into the maelstrom, into the unknown, she, the sea beckons to us, with her bounty endless and her wrath savage as the night is long, she is our god, our mother, our only grace, and if only for her guidance on the coming voyage, we pray to her now, for her mercy, her grace, for her gentle hand to show us the way, and to give strength in our moments of doubt, and may her wisdom bring us once again safe home. All hands sail away, Mr. Finch."

There below the half-deck, young Fiona Tidas stared in awe up at the giant sails of the great Sea Witch, as the mother sea's mighty breath filled their bellies full and gently pushed them forward out into the beckoning waters that lye beyond the safety of Lockwood Bay.  It made her hold her breath for a time, as beneath her small feet she could feel the deck rise and slowly fall, it felt to here as if she were riding on the back of a great beast carrying her away to some unknown land to where great adventure would surely be waiting. she turned to look up in time to see her brave champion Captain Tristan Crowley, as he offered her a reassuring smile, and extended his hand to gently place a beautiful fully ripened fresh juicy apple in her palm.

"Steady as she goes, Mr. Finch, this grand old lady will ride these waves all the way to Brighton if she fancies it!"

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2023~

Children of The Angry Sea. Part one. The Golden Coast.

 

The first time he'd noticed her she was but a poorly kept child, dirty, scared, alone, crawling beneath the feet of the seafood and produce merchants plying their trade along the docks of pier 13 in old Norwich Village on the isle of Aysgarth. The bitter cold of early November would not be kind when the icy winds of winter would come blowing in from the east over Lockwood Bay, and as sure as there would be snow by Christmas, the freezing rain would come blowing in before it. It was there on Pier 13 cowering beneath the boots of a local seafood merchant named Chatz, that was when he first saw her there, A young fragile looking child, perhaps no more than 8 or 9 years of age, cowering at his feet in fear for her life, A brooding uncouth lout of a man he was to be certain, loud and boisterous, dirty, unkempt, who to Captain Tristian Crowley bore some resemblance to a pot-belly pig in trousers, a round, fat, whisker bristled face, jowls that hung past his jawbone on both sides, a fat face indeed with a belly to match. He might not have paid him any mind at all, until he took to kicking and loudly cursing at the child.

He drew back his plump fist, leather strap in hand ready to strike her with it, yelling at her, like an angry bear towering over her, until the much taller Captain Tristian would catch his hand mid-swing, twist his arm behind him and at the same time kicked the fat man's feet out from under him sending him sprawling across the wet docks, cursing under his breath as he bounced along. He stared down at the robust seafood merchant menacingly, one look up at the angry Tristian was enough to have him crawling backward in a hasty retreat. Now he was in fear for his own life, it was he who cowered at another man feet, For chatz when he looked up and saw the long white hair, the broad shoulders, and the steel in his eyes, he immediately recognized him, this was no ordinary man, this was Captain Tristian Crowley, the Thief of Souls.

"Not so easy when you have a go at someone who can fight back, aye? Shouldn't hit a child mate, much less a girl. "

Without looking down, he extended his hand to the young girl, helping her to her feet. never taking his eyes off of the frightened Chatz. who had already abandoned any thought of retaliation.

"You'd best be getting home to your mum, girl, she'll probably be wondering where you've gone off to by now." He said.

"I have no mum sir, she took sick when I was 4 years old and passed shortly after, my father was lost at sea before I was even born. I have no home." She meekly replied.

"An Orphan then?" 

She lowered her head and slowly nodded.

"Well, I suppose you'll be a guest aboard the Sea Witch, then." He smiled at her.

He helped her to her feet and made certain she was well, she followed along in silence beside him, puzzled as to why a complete stranger would stand up for her. when all at once, the confused youngster stopped and gave a gentle tug on Tristian's hand to get his attention. He stopped walking to give her a sideways glance.

"Sir not to complain, but most people wouldn't even give me half a thought, you do know that I'm black don't you sir?"

Tristian, fighting back a smile, stopped abruptly in mid-stride and spun on his heels slowly, deliberately bending down to face her.

"Oh, are you now? To tell you the truth, child, I hadn't even noticed." He gave her a wink and gently placed a plump, juicy red apple in her hand.

"My name is Captain Tristian Crowley, by the way." He told her.

 

She smiled up at him broadly.

"I am Fiona Tidas, Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir."

They walked along, exchanging small talk back and forth, until they drew closer to the Sandy Bottom Tavern, when he saw several officers from the King's Navy motioning for him to join them inside. He looked down, concerned, at Fiona Tidas.

"Have you ever been in a tavern before, child?"

She shook her head no.

"Well hold onto my hand tightly miss Fiona, and don't let go, those men, it seems, would like a word with me inside the Sandy Bottom."

They walked in behind the officers, The room was loud and raucous, round wooden tables scattered about in every corner of the large room, it smelled of ale and charred meat, and it reminded her of how hungry she was, as she could feel her belly rumble. Tristian and Fiona Joined them at a table, to which the trio cast surprised looks and glances at the small child in his company. He sat down calmly across from them and placed a small stack of coins on the table-top and told the waitress that the child was under his protection.

"A bottle of your best wine for the gentlemen and I, and for the girl a tall glass of milk and a cut of your finest sweetbread, and perhaps some fresh fruit to go along" 

He moved the coins in her direction, his eyes never leaving the three officers, lieutenant Jonathon Burke, while not appearing to be a physically intimidating man, had the reputation of having a short fuse. While not tall in stature, he more than made up for his lack of height with ruthless aggression, Jonathon Burke was indeed a fierce swordsman. Burke removing his gloves carefully eyed Tristian.

"Captain Crowley, Let us cut right to the chase then, you and I have had our differences in the past, this I know, However, here lately you seem to have been shall we say straddling the fence between the legal and what is not. Your Sea Witch is one of the finest, fastest and most capable ships on the water right now, and any vessel sailing the seven seas would be foolish to test you or her, this we all know, So, pushing that aside, we have a more pressing matter that we would like to discuss with you." Burke studied his reaction.

The waitress brought the bottle of port wine and three glasses, along with Fiona's milk sweetbread and fresh fruit. Tristian uncorked the bottle and began filling the glasses.

"You have my undivided attention, Lieutenant, Proceed sir." Tristian said.

"Captain Crowley, his majesty King George ll has authorized me to seek council with you in particular in a matter, shall we say-of grave importance."

Tristian's eyes widened at the notion, but he offered no reply.

"Captain, When the governing bodies from around the world offered you the original pardon, us for your crimes against the crown, and in exchange you and five others accepted the offer, and while there is still rampant piracy it is not as prevalent as it once was, thanks to you and your friends aid, you provided armed escort for our merchants which opened up safe trade route across the oceans. For that, we are now once again safe to sail open waters without fear of attack.  However, things have changed once again, the Royal Navy has lost four heavily armed Frigates in the past 10 months on the Evermoor sea along the southern coasts of the Muir islands. we sent them out on their missions and never heard from or seen them again. And we were wondering, given your lengthy history with that vicinity, if perhaps you might offer us some valuable insight on the matter."

Tristian raised the glass to his lips, watching the Lieutenant.

"Burke, have you ever personally tested the waters of the Evermoor?" 

Burke shook his head.

"No, I can't say that I have."

He leaned back in his seat, his eyes giving curious study to all three faces of the men sitting across the table from him.

"Well then lad, let me enlighten you, The Evermoor sea is one of the most unpredictable bodies of water on the planet. The water there, is always as cold as ice, It's dark, cold lonely place, one minute it's calm as can be, and you're thinkin to yourself, well now this isn't so bad, now is it lads? the next minute? not more than five minutes later, you've got the icy winds lashing at your sails, twenty foot waves coming over your bow. every drop of water around you trying to drag you to the bottom of those murky depths, and that's in the summer and autumn, come winter and spring? Well, that's when it gets real dicey. Most times the god awful fog weighs you down, you can barely even see your hand in front of your own face, even the most hardened seafarers, and battle tested skippers to ever ride the waves shrink from it all. They would rather sail around the horn of the Belgedde and take the long way around, rather than risk saving a month of sailing by crossing the Evermoor in winter or spring. It's the devil's playground, and he makes the rules in the Evermoor."

Four ships, four Frigates all sailing from Glousbury across the Evermoor to St. Krits on the Muir islands, each voyage should have taken just over 72 days one way tops, yet all four vessels were never seen or heard from again. Captain Tristian would talk to them for over an hour, and the only conclusion that even he could reach is that the ships were all waylaid by pirates, outliers who disabled the vessels took them over and killed the captain and crew, and when they finished off loading whatever they could steal they sank the ships. but the question remained who could attack a fully armed ship of the Royal Navy, kill 150 trained mariners and then sink the vessel to cover their escape?

They were several names mentioned as the possible suspects most notably the name of Captain Barron Booth of the Blood Sea Rose came to mind, it almost fit into his methods, the ship was more than capable but captain Booth's tactics didn't add up, he would have definitely taken responsibility for the sinking of a single royal navy vessel, if he had sank 4 he would have ordained himself royalty. But thinking of Booth did bring to Tristian's mind an experience near the Achelas islands 3 months previous, they were 18 miles out from Poseidon bay, They saw a ship of unknown origin closing distance on the Sea Witch, a very large ship with unknown markings and heavy armament, he recalled it being larger than any vessel he'd ever seen, The Sea Witch proved to be too fast for it though, and at the edge of the first turn toward Poseidon it disappeared into a thick fog bank and they never saw it again. It would have been much too large for even The Witch to take on but given her speed the larger slower ship couldn't keep up with her. Lieutenant Burke ended the meeting with a handshake and both men stepped out into the street with the other officers and Fiona Tidas in tow. 

"So what business brings you to Norwich Captain Crowley?" Burke asked.

"We brought Three boats ashore for supplies, beef, Pork, lard, live chickens, we cooked the last of those a month ago, a bit of armament too, fresh canvas, last wind storm we hit 40 miles out into The Coral  our sails took quite the lashing, ripped a couple of them ragged. After some restocking and refitting, we'll be shoving off from here in about five or six days, depending on the damage done to our sails."

"Where to Tristian? if you don't be minding me asking." Burke inquired.

"Pigrim." He answered.

"I have never heard of such a place."  Burke answered.

"Well Burke it isn't charted, It's about 460 miles out into open sea on the other side of the Penduline islands, not much there but high cliffs and deep slips close to shore, We can get the Witch in real close to shore without bottoming out, we'll be dropping anchor there while we do the more lengthy repairs. It's in neutral waters so we won't have much to worry about in the ways of being attacked while we do the repairs, there are two villages, one small one a bit larger called Gale town, and there's a monestary right in the middle on the moutain top." Tristian nodded toward two hooded robed figures slowly walking across from them.

Burke gave them a puzzled look, and then returned his attention to Tristian.

"Been seeing a lot of them around here lately, never seen the like before, Monks perhaps?" Burke asked.

"They call them The Ageless Order, you see them on every island, every village, from here to the other side of the Golden coast, They don't have boat to their name but they always seem to find their way across the water." He turned to face Burke.

"After we stitch the sails, It'll take us three and a half weeks of steady sailing to reach Pigrim, after we do a proper refitting there, I do a bit of asking around, I'll see what I can find out about his majesty's ship problem, when we return,  we'll be droping anchor about two miles off of Hatteras point, we'll be back back here in two and a half months time, if your here Burke I'll be letting you know what I find out. Now lad's, my new cabin mate and I had best be seeing to those supplies."  

He gently took little Fiona's hand and turned toward the sea, he cordially shook Lieutenant Burkes hand and they parted ways, ten feet later Burke called to him one last time.

"Tristian!"

He stopped and turned to look back at them.

"I promise you Captain, I won't forget this."

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2023~

The Knight's Circle... Part Two.. The Book of the Darkspawn... (End of first storyline)

Singh loaded and mounted the stallion as all three turned and made their way toward Mission Station to meet up with Constantine, who was arriving with other members of the Circle who were aboard his personal train. They gathered at the tracks shortly before midnight as the sleek-silver & gold steam locomotive known as The Acropolis rolled to a stop into Mission Station. The steam clouds slowly dispersed as the door to the main passenger car was pulled open as Constantine appeared in the doorway. He looked down at them, motioning all three inside the Locomotive. Moments later-after introductions to Caleb Doolittle were made, he was being debriefed as to the activities of Isabella Dragomir and her cohorts. The new recruit-one Caleb Tristan Doolittle of Bristlecone Texas sat quietly to the side, listening carefully to the fast-paced conversation, trying desperately to make sense of it all. They sat gathered at a long table in the main dining car of the Acropolis, discussing theories, exchanging ideas and going over strategies of how they were going to deal with Isabella Dragomir. What would happen next would take them all by surprise, oddly enough it was Caleb Doolittle that was the first one present to hear the distant footsteps falling on the roof of the train. They all stopped talking at once. Doolittle had already drawn his gun and was moving toward the door.

“Someone is topside, I’m going to have a look.” He told them.

“Or some-thing!” Cassidy Blaise chimed in, drawing her own weapon.

Together they followed along under the footsteps into the next car, at one time, Doolittle had looked up to see a large hulking figure leaping from the top of one car to the next.  He dropped to the tracks outside the third rail car followed by Cassidy Blaise both had now focused their attention to the backdrop of the full moon to see the silhouette of a very large lycan moving along the top of the Acropolis.  Doolittle fired five shots at the dark figure, with Cassidy Blaise once again backing his play, until the large lycan disappeared from view. Now fully perplexed and puzzled-both Blaise and Doolittle instinctively went back to back, neither of them taking their eyes off of the top of the train. Inside, they could hear the distinct sounds of hurried footfalls of their companions running inside the Acropolis to catch up with them. One by one, they all came out of the train, each drawing their own weapons.  they all began to fan out, each searching the top of the train with their eyes. Aiden Clairemont appeared over the right shoulder of Caleb Doolittle.

“Did you see it?” He asked… “What the hell was it?”

Doolittle didn’t answer back at first, his eyes carefully studying everything that moved. He nodded his head to the affirmative, his eyes never seeing Aiden Clairemont.

“Lycan.” He said calmly.

They all began to fan out along the length of the Acropolis, when at the very end car-the situation took an unexpected turn, when a deep chilling voice in almost a growl, from the top of the train cut through the cold night air.

“Before you try to kill me, Aiden Clairemont- it may serve you more than you know to hear what I have to say.”

Aiden Clairemont immediately recognized it as the voice of the savage lycan called Kojo. He tried to train his weapon on the voice, his hand wavering slightly. for all the lycans that he had encountered over   the past five years, Kojo was the only one that he’d ever heard speak as a human, and his voice never failed to chill him to the bone. Caleb Doolittle studied the top of the train car, stopping on two blood-red spots peering through the darkness.

“I must speak with Constantine-  Immediately.” Kojo said.

Aiden Clairemont disappeared down along the tracks to find Constantine, leaving Caleb Doolittle and Cassidy Blaise alone with Kojo. moments later, he returned with Constantine.

“We have much to discuss, Abraham.”  Kojo growled.

Constantine’s eyes focused on the voice.

“And what do I have to discuss with the likes of you, Kojo?” Constantine asked.

“Isabella Dragomir.”

He cast a nervous glance at Aiden Clairemont and then at Cassidy Blaise.

“What about her Lycan?”

“I know why she is here Abraham, her and her pet- Koda Kahn, I know of what they seek.”

Constantine thought carefully for a moment before answering.

“And why would you help us in our struggle with Isabella Dragomir?”

He could hear the lycan inhale, making a slight gurgling sound as he did.

 

“Let us say-that it would serve both of our interests to have you find her.”

“And what is in this proposition for you, Kojo?”

He could almost feel the lycan smile through the cold darkness.

“Revenge, Constantine- sweet revenge.”  He was almost laughing then. “You get Isabella Dragomir- and I get the traitor Koda Kahn.”

Once he’d determined that he had their undivided attention, he cautiously moved closer, more so to Constantine than the others. He came to rest at the very edge of the top of the Acropolis. His blood-red eyes carefully studying their every move, especially those of Aiden Claremont, his head cocked to one side as they made eye contact for the first time. He could feel it to his core that there was no fear at all in Claremont’s heart.  Satisfied that there would be no confrontation, he returned his attention to Constantine, who hadn’t taken his eyes off of the lycan.

“So tell us a story, Kojo, what exactly is it that Isabella is after?” He prompted.

“It is a book Constantine, a very special- and very old book with a valuable gemstone embedded in the cover. It was stolen from the Darkspawn by a team of ten men over one year and a half ago, many on the elders' council have determined that it was brought here, somewhere in the United States. They sent Isabella and fifteen others, including me, to retrieve it. We almost had it in a place called Matlan, Koda Kahn was leading five of us into the encampment where the book was being kept. The humans were waiting for us, silver bullets and all, they killed two lycan, I was severely injured, and barely escaped, Koda Kahn and the remaining two darkspawn left me for dead in the woods, unknown to them, I survived and have been tracking their every movement for the past six months.”

Constantine gave it careful consideration before raising the obvious question to Kojo.

“And just what is precisely so special about this book aside from its age?” He asked.

Kojo inched his way closer.

“In its contents-lies the origins of the Darkspawn race, their whole belief system lives in its pages, it is for all intents and purposes their holy bible. but perhaps most importantly, to you? the exact location of the Darkspawn citadel.  You see, Constantine- if this book should fall into the hands of the Knight’s Circle, then you could locate the actual home of the Darkspawn. That, I would think-would be of great value to you. would it not?”

Aiden Clairemont stepped forward then.

“You would help betray your own kind Kojo and you expect up to trust you?” He asked.

“They-are NOT my kind! I was born like this, Aiden Clairemont! never knowing human form, because of the deeds of the darkspawn, I have lived my entire life- as little more than a slave to them. Kept at the end of a chain, only to be released when there was dirty work to be done. And as soon as it was convenient to them, their precious little soldier Koda Kahn left me to die alone. Now? My only allegiance lies with my own survival. Now-my sole purpose on the earth is to see the whole lot of them bathed in their own blood!”

Kojo's heightened sense of smell would be their compass, and as it turned out all he had to do was get close to them and he could lead them right to their exact location. Both Caleb Doolittle and Cassidy Blaise loaded their horses with supplies for the trip east to Stockton, with Abraham Constantine, Aiden Claremont and Mahavir Singh remaining in tow to keep a wary eye on Kojo. having left the Acropolis in the railyard, they rode east toward Stockton having picked up the trail from The Midnight Star with help from Kojo, Caleb Doolittle having remarkable tracking skills of his own, had taken the lead of the single file group of riders as they made their way across the Tungston gap and up into the Del Puerto hills where the trees grew thicker along both edges of the trail. Caleb pulled rein and raised his hand to motion for a full stop of the group. Kojo caustiously  moved up beside his horse, he raised his snout into the air and took in a deep slow breath.

"You feel it too don't you?" He asked Caleb Doolittle.

Constantine rode up beside them.

"What is happening Caleb?"

Caleb Doolittle got off of his horse and walked out in front of the column by twenty feet, he knelt down and studied the dirt for a time. He rose and turned to Kojo and Constantine. 

"Somebodies about an hour ahead of us in the trees, at least two riders on horseback with a pack animal in tow, probably a spotter off to the right of the trail."

Kojo's eyes narrowed, he reared his head back taking in the scents. He looked at Caleb Doolittle.

"Your instincts are impressive- Caleb Doolittle is it?" He asked.

Doolittle nodded,

"We should ride up along the rim of the gorge, keep the treeline below us, they are probably going to be watching for riders at their rear." 

Kojo nodded in agreement.

"Constantine, I will travel below you at the top of the treeline, Koda Kahn keeps watch for Isabella Dragomir.

They continued east be ever so careful to stick to the top of the rim of Goldpan gorge, Caleb Doolittle kept a watchful eye on the treeline below them until something new caught his eye, he raised his hand to stop the column, Kojo once again joined him at the top of the rim. He climbed down from the saddle tying the reins of his horse to the notch in a tree, Kojo carefully studied his every move. Caleb Doolittle climbed down the side of a washout and walked across short flat plane stopping at a small grove of trees, Kojo shadowed him stopping at his side, his study slowly growing into curiosity as he looked up at Caleb Doolittle. He knelt down in the sandy dirt and studied the fresh tracks, before turning to face Kojo, and then turning his eyes back to the trees.

"Human's?"

Kojo nodded silently as Caleb turned and headed back up the ravine to his horse.

"Well Kojo, if there's something I've learned about regular people, there are alot of us that can be bought for a price, You should go tell the others about this, I'm going to pick up their trail."

"I should go with you Mr. Doolittle, Koda Kahn is with them, and he will smell you coming before you can close distance, if he doubles back, he will attack you from the side. Wait for me here, we'll go together." Kojo answered. 

He complied with Kojo's request, and after several minutes  he reappeared at Caleb Doolittles side with Constantine and the others spreading out slightly behind them. they pressed on into the trees and heavy brush which made the going slow and gradual, they went a half a mile in before Kojo cut away from them and went wide to their left, within minutes Caleb Doolittle yelled for the group to spread out and take cover just as a smaller lycan attacked and took a surprised Cassidy Blaise off of her horse, and a much larger one on their right set it's sights on Caleb Doolittle who had gotten between the smaller one and Cassidy, it charged at him forgetting about her and before it could turn he was already off of his horse and on the ground with both short blade drawn it's first pass took it over the top of his head and he sliced open it's underbelly with a long quick stroke it screamed as he buried the second blade right through the top of it's skull. it went down instantly and lay still.

The larger Lycan made it's charge at Caleb Doolittle but before it got to within twenty feet a blurry black and gray figure caught it in mid leap and had it on the ground and began ripping savagely at it's flesh, and finally had his jaws firmly clamped around the neck of what he thought to be Koda Khan the body finally grew still before he relented, Kojo's attack was brutal, swift and final. The pure strains had taken notice of the attack and began firing on Constantine, Mahavir Singh and Aiden Claremont from the cover of the trees, they pulled Cassidy Back behind some rocks out of harms way as Caleb Doolittle and Kojo began attacking the enemy in concert forcing them into full retreat.  Soon Constantine had the Circle regrouped and readied them to the attack as well, Kojo concentrated on the third Darkspawn who was trying desperately to draw him away from the group. Mahavir Singh had rode through between the pure strains and cut them down leaving two remaining riders fleeing in two different directions. The moon had broken free from the clouds in time for Singh to see the figures clearly, he removed the Spencer Rifle and set it's sights on the back of one of the rider's and fired off a round knocking it from the animal.

He retrained the rifle on the second target aiming this time just above the animal, his shot was true and the horse stumbled and fell trapping the rider beneath it, Aiden Claremont and Constantine were already on the first rider Singh had shot, the bullit had found it's fatal mark and the body had already begun to decay but not before they could see that it was female but not Isabella Dragomir. Singh rejoined them after killing the second rider and informed Constantine that the body was that of a male and as with the first had turn to decay as soon as he shot it with a silver bullit through the heart. They returned to the trees to find Kojo, Caleb Doolittle and Cassidy Bliase unloading the two pack animals that the Darkspawns companions had brought with them, inside one of the saddlebags was what felt like a solid square object wrapped and bound in heavy cloth, when they unbound it Constantine was surprised to see a thick leather book with a gemstone embedded in the cover.  He looked to Kojo who watched as he opened the book to reveal it was written in a text he did not recognize, Kojo turned to face him.

"The Darkspawn have written the book in their own language, I do not recognize this Constantine, the book is real but the text will have to be decyphered, Isabella and Koda Khan were not a part this group or so it would appear, I believe they rode into a trap. They are not going to this place you call Stockton to feed again. They are trying to escape, I sense that Isabella Dragomir is seriously wounded and perhaps Koda Khan as well."

Aiden Claremont stepped forward and stood beside Kojo.

"I don't think I wounded her that badly. only one shot landed" He told him.

"You didn't wound her, I smelled her and koda's blood on the two Lycans that Caleb Doolittle and I killed, the human's that they were to meet, brought them and the Incubus that Mahavir Singh killed with them, it would appear as though the high council did not trust her to bring back the book after all, she is bleeding badly, and koda as well, they will be dead soon. Take the book back to the circle, the Darkspawn Elders will send others to try and retrieve it."

"We will have our language scholars try to translate it into English, but it will take time I suspect. and what will you do now Kojo?" Constantine asked.

"I will track down their bodies and make sure they are indeed deceased, and then I will follow your trail back to New Orleans and wait outside of the city Constantine, They will send others and I will be waiting for them." Kojo answered.

Then it was Caleb Doolittle who spoke up.

"I'm going to ride with Kojo until we find the bodies and dispose of them, If you want me to be a part of your team Constantine, go back to San Francisco and wait for us on the train, we will meet you there."

Constantine reluctantly agreed, and they took the book and placed in his saddlebags, the rest of the group and he watched curiously as Kojo and Caleb Doolittle disappeared over the hill and headed to the northeast to find the bodies of Isabella Dragomir and Koda Khan, An odd silince fell over the group as they watch them slowly disappear from view. Cassidy Blaise then on horseback appeared at his side.

"Do you think he can be trusted?"  

"Did you see how well they worked together Cassidy? I think in some strange way Kojo trusts Caleb Tristen Doolittle of Bristlecone Texas, and who knows?  We may have finally found our edge in the war with the Darkspawn. If we can fully gain his trust in some way maybe a fully functioning lycan will provide us with the upperhand."

The group turned and headed back to the San Francisco railyards, then they would return to New Orleans and wait for their two newest members to rejoin them in the Circle.

Scratch/A.B.T. © Copyright 2022

The Knight's Circle... Part one.. Coming of The Darkspawn.

New Orleans, Louisiana, September 22nd, 1882.

There were several candles lit behind him reflecting off of the large looking glass in front of him, The light shinning back off of it was enough to blind and keep him off balance. Although he could not see, he could tell that both of his wrists and ankles were shackled to the wall, he was in chains in a dark room. there were at least three different voices that were conversing in whispers. the voices would trail off, and one by one the candles went out, and then on either side foot falls went by him at almost a frantic pace. He heard a female voice in an accent that he didn’t recognize yell back across the room.

“Remove the black cloth from the windows, it's coming out!”

Outside the window on his right, he could see up into the black midnight sky, as the clouds parted and revealed the most brilliant full moon that he had ever seen. he took a deep breath and waited to see what would come next, he waited for what felt like hours and nothing happened, it was then that he first heard the deep male voice instruct them to release the shackles. He felt a pair of hands gently grab his wrists, heard the rattle of chains, the metallic sounds of a key entering through the metal locks, a soft muffled clicking sound as the shackle on his left wrist came free, and then the right followed by both ankles. and then whoever had freed him retreated back into the shadows, and then there was silence for a time.

“Mr. Doolittle.  Please come this way, sir.”

They led him down a dark hallway into an even larger room lit with oil lanterns, one wall adorned with various maps of the western states, and on the other there were rows of books on shelves that were built into the walls themselves, above them hung a wood carving of a serpentine dragon coiled around a long sword beneath it were the words “Light into the darkness.”  There was a large wooden desk in front of three connected rectangular bay windows.  Standing in front of them was a tall, broad shouldered man with long black hair traveling down his back pulled into a queue. He wore a well tailored suit and had rings of silver and gold on every finger, and when he turned to face them, his dark blue eyes flashed with just the slightest hint of menace. He waved his right hand at the high back leather chair in front of the desk.

“Mr. Doolittle-do sit, make yourself comfortable. Please forgive the bindings, but we couldn’t be sure if you had been bitten by the spawn, exposing you to the full moon was the only way to be certain. You are not infected, so it would appear.”

His eyebrows arched slowly in surprised at the sound of his own name coming from the lips of a complete stranger. He slowly sat down in the leather chair, his eyes never leaving the tall, dark haired man towering in front of the bay windows.  A young oriental woman brought in a silver tray of two empty cups and two pots filled with what he took to be coffee and tea. He motioned toward the one that carried the aroma of coffee. The young oriental slowly poured the swirling dark liquid into the cup. His eyes returned to the stranger. He was talking to another shapely young woman with long dark raven colored hair, her facial features made her look exotic and mysterious. The tall man leaned forward toward him.

“Now then, Mr. Doolittle, to the matter at hand, please tell us how you happened into the encounter with the Darkspawn.” He said.

“Darkspawn?”

“The creature that you killed, Mr. Doolittle.”

“Wait-now that we’re asking questions here, how in the hell is that you know my name? and I don’t even know where in the hell I am- let alone who YOU are? and why was I being held prisoner?”

“Very well then. It would appear as though you have more questions than do we, so let me clear up a few things for you- and then you can clear up a few things for us. Fair enough?”

He nodded to the affirmative.

“Very well.  Mr. Doolittle my name is Constantine, I am the current leader of a secret society of hunters that started in Europe over 450 years ago called  ‘The Knight’s Circle.’  since our beginnings we are now across the entire world, hunting in secret-creatures of myth and legends, creatures that normal human beings aren’t even aware of. Creatures like the one you killed Mr. Doolittle, who stalk and murder the pure strains, they are called the Darkspawn. and they have existed here far longer than us.” 

He shook his head in disbelief at the thought of such things existing.

"And you somehow know who I am?"

“Yes, I- or should I say WE, know who you are, you-are Caleb Tristan Doolittle of Bristlecone Texas, you are an educated man and one of the best trackers in the entire western hemisphere. You were hired by the people of Pinewood to track down the creature responsible for killing off their livestock, not to mention the four people that it mutilated before you arrived. You took five men with you up into the mist laden mountain side to find it, and find it you did-just before it ripped apart your entire tracking party. But you-Mr. Doolittle, you didn’t back down, even when it attacked you, you fired your weapon striking it in the belly, but it didn’t stop, so you pulled out your knives and stood your ground cutting it several times before finally killing it with a fatal thrust to the heart. it did, however, manage to cut you in such a way that we couldn’t tell straight away if you had been bitten or not. it was our own doctor that stitched you up.”

“Wait-the Darkspawn?  The pure strains? This is all very confusing, and a bit much, I fear.”

“Can you describe the thing that you stabbed to death, Mr. Doolittle? do you remember what it looked like?”

“Well, when I first saw it, it was kinda dark outside, the only light came from the moon, it looked a lot like a huge wolf from a distance. There were four other fella’s with me when we tracked it up into the woods along the tree line, about a quarter of the way up the damn thing doubled back and ambushed us, it took four men clean off of their saddles and ripped them to pieces. I got a closer look at it then.”

“And was it a large wolf, as you suspected?”

“It had the head of a wolf, but different somehow, it almost looked part human, it reared back up on its hind quarters as it turned to face me. that’s when I knew this weren’t, no ordinary wolf, it ran toward me on its hind legs I pulled my gun and fired two shots into it. I think I hit it in the chest, but it didn’t even slow down. as it leapt up over the top of my horse I pulled my long blades and cut its belly open, it cut me pretty good as you know- but I knew if I went down I was a dead man for certain. It came again a few minutes later and went high, I went low and buried my blade with one thrust right into its chest, it took my first blade with it but still had the second, I buried it in its heart right next to the first on It's very next pass, it slid to a slow stop in the dirt deader than dead, That thing wasn’t a wolf.”

“You are correct in that observation Mr. Doolittle, so allow me to enlighten you, it was neither wolf nor man. what you killed was a very large lycan.” Constantine told him.

“A lycan?”  Doolittle's eyes raised in surprise.

“Yes. A human being that can turn into a wolf like creature, a shape-shifter if you will.”

In all of his years on this earth, to the very best of his recollection, Caleb Tristan Doolittle had never been rendered speechless-until now. Constantine rose from his chair and walked to the large bay window overlooking the town of New Orleans. Caleb Doolittle studied his every move carefully then. He leaned back in his chair, slowly raising his coffee cup to his lips. Constantine then turned to face him fully.

“Mr. Doolittle, not everyone can do what you did to the lycan. you have some extraordinary tracking skills, not to mention being quite handy with guns and long blades. We have our own personal train that will be leaving for San Francisco, California within the hour. we would very much like you to be on it with us when we leave.” He told him.

“Are you offering me a job, Mr. Constantine?”

“We have a small team on the ground in San Francisco, Mr. Doolittle. they have been on the trail of several of the darkspawn, being led by the spawn called Isabella, we believe that she will try to feed there, much as the lycan you killed tried to feast on your companions. we don’t have a lot of time to waste, Mr. Doolittle, what do you say?”

The tall blonde man rose to his feet, leaning forward cautiously to pick up his flat brimmed hat from the table-top. he slowly placed it on his head and looked back and forth at Constantine and then the young woman.

“I trust my horse is here as well?” He asked.

Constantine nodded.

“Alright. I have a few more questions, but I’m in.”

San Francisco California, September 25th, 1882.

From the time that she had stepped off of the train at union station anyone that had crossed paths with Isabella Dragomir knew that there was something unusual and off putting about her. The way her dark calculating eyes seemed to watch everything all at once, the demeanor in the way she carried herself even for a beautiful woman, gave her a strange menacing presence. It was just after 5:30 PM in the early evening when she first entered the Midnight Star Hotel and Saloon on Allen Street. She had picked him out almost immediately, he was kind of a short, plump, unassuming older fellow, with thinning black hair, he wore a wrinkled brown suit that looked old and more than slightly dirty. When he saw the beautful young woman staring at him, it made his spectacles steam up. His posture suddenly straightened and the very sight of this dark haired beauty made all of his problems seem trivial and petty. Avery Terrace up to that point, was having a very bad day, unknown to him, it was about to get much worse.

She slowly made her way across the smoke filled room, ignoring the raucous laughter of drunken cowboys, few even seemed to take notice of her as she moved up beside of him at the bar, but Avery Terrace on the other hand, couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She cocked her head to one side and slowly ran her forefinger down along his cheek stopping and his round plump chin. His lips pulled into a nervous smile as he lifted the whiskey glass to his mouth drinking it all in one gulp. He pulled out his handkerchief and began to wipe away the small beads of sweat forming on his forehead as she briefly pulled her gaze away. He pulled himself up straight, carefully searching his mind for just the right thing to say. He had to tread lightly as to not offend her.

“I. I- Don’t recall ever seeing you here before, are you new in town?” He asked her.

She nodded, but offered no response in return. He leaned forward slightly as she returned her eyes to meet his nervous stare. Slowly her own lips pursed into a seductive smile as she silently looked him up and down, he could feel the lump in his throat growing. Through great effort, he pushed his fear aside and with all of the boyish charm that he could muster- he somehow summoned the courage to offer to show her his room in the hotel upstairs. She nodded in agreement softly taking his hand as he led her across the room toward the stairs.  As they made their way to the upper floor a tall younger man entered the saloon behind them, his eyes quickly sifting through the smoke, looking for her. He moved through the crowd to the bar and motioned to the barkeep.

“A woman came in here a few minutes ago, dark hair, well dressed, she may have looked out of place, have you seen such a woman?”

“Yeah.” He answered wiping a whiskey glass, he nodded to the stairs. “She just went upstairs with Avery Terrace of all people.”

“What room?”

“Room number 25, second floor  all the way to the end of the first hall.” He smiled. “Your wife?”

“Not hardly.”  He answered, turning toward the stairs.

He had to be fast about it, he was almost running up the stairs in fact- pulling out his revolver at the same time, as he got to the top of the stairs everything seemed strangely quiet to him. He moved down along the darkened hallway until he could make out the muffled sounds of squeaking bed springs. He hurried his pace and when he reached  the door of room 25 he could hear the faint sounds of someone choking for air as though they were being strangled- or bitten.  As he kicked in the door; there was Avery Terrace lying on the bed. His throat was covered in blood, still making soft gurgling sounds as his eyes stared vacantly at the ceiling. And there was a half naked Isabella mounted on top of his now lifeless body feeding furiously, until she saw Aiden Claremont standing in the doorway with his weapon drawn. She turned and hissed at him, and with a speed that he’d never before seen, she leapt from the bed and through the closed window, send shards of broken glass in every direction.  

 

He fired five rounds at her, striking her twice as best he could see, but it didn’t even slow her down. He calmly walked around the bed and looked out the window into the cold rainy night.  In the hallway behind him he heard the frantic sounds of running feet as people clamored around the open doorway to see what the gunshots were all about. There were people standing in the hallway, trying to look inside to see what had became of Avery Terrace, some had seen but turned their faces away repelled by the horror of what had happened. There was shock, mass confusion, people coming, people going, some yelling for help while others  stood calmly shaking their heads in disgust. He covered the body with a blanket and turned to the barkeep who was pushing his way through the thinning crowd into the opened doorway. He looked at Aiden Claremont in shocked disbelief.

“Alert the local authorities. I’m going after her.”  He told him.

The barkeep nodded frantically as Aiden Claremont pushed through the thinning crowd. He made his way downstairs and pushed open the two swinging doors of the saloon and stepped out onto the wooden walkway. From around the side of the Midnight Star came a rider on horseback, the female rider pulled rein directly in front of him some thirty feet away. She motioned towards Claremont’s own horse and he silently nodded releasing the reins from the hitching post, he mounted up and followed her down the alley behind the saloon. His eyes raised to the broken hotel window and began to scan the ground in front of them, he turned in his saddle to look at Cassidy Blaise. She shook her head no but said nothing.  Isabella had all but disappeared into thin air. She looked up at the broken window and then back at Aiden Claremont, her eyebrows arched in question. He shook his head no.

“He’s dead Cassidy, I was a half of a step too late to stop her.” He said.

“I know this much Aiden, you did wound her, but I’m afraid the rain has washed a lot of the trail that she left behind away. She was headed east though, that much I know for certain.” She gave him an inquisitive look. “So what now?  Do we go after her?”

He studied the alleyway for signs of movement.

“No. We’ll never catch her now anyways. lets get to the shipyards, Singh will be arriving from India anytime now. That and Constantine’s train will be here by morning. We need to fill them in on all of the Spawn’s recent activity. We’ll come back here at dawn to try and piece together a trail.”

He raised his eyes slowly toward the clouds searching through the dark rainy skyline.

“She won’t feed again tonight.”

He came walking down the gangplank somewhere around 10:30 PM, The only bags that Mahavir Singh carried with him contained a couple of changes of clothes, A Spencer Rifle, two Kaiken’s and a Talwar sword that was constantly by his side. Cassidy Blaise had almost not recognised him without his usual turbin wrapped around his head. This time his long black hair fell freely to his shoulders, his clothing, while still very much indian seemed have a western flair to them. He seemed much more at ease than before he left New Orleans for India almost a  year and a half ago. They watched in silence as his animal, a large black muscular stallion was being led down the gang plank from the ship. Mahavir Singh turned to face Aiden Clairemont and Cassidy Blaise. He slowly walked toward them removing his black leather gloves.

“So what news do we have of the darkspawn my friends?”

“Isabella Dragomir.” Aiden Clairemont explained. “She was here and has fed on a man at the Midnight Star Hotel and Saloon some five hours ago, she fled the scene but I don’t believe that she was alone.” He said.

Singh’s eyes narrowed in concern, his stare never leaving Aiden Clairemont.

“Koda Kahn perhaps?”

“Either him or  that savage Kojo, we can’t be certain which at the moment, we never made visual contact with her accomplice, we only saw her, but we know that there was someone else with her.”

He stepped forward extending his hand to Mahavir Singh who smiled broadly as he shook his hand.

“So where are we off to then my friend?” Singh asked.

“We have to meet Constantine’s train at the station, he should be arriving very soon, we have to update him before we resume of search for Isabella. we suspect that she may have headed east towards Stockton.”

Scratch/A.B.T. © Copyright 2022

Tales From The Lost Highway... One.. Murderer's Moon.

 

The black storm clouds rolled in around 5:30 pm in the late afternoon almost as if on cue, combined with the scorching desert temperatures it made the air hot and sticky. What little residents there were along highway 51 knew when they heard the familiar wail of police sirens that it was best to stay locked away indoors, for something bad was going down. there were three police cruisers roaring down the 51, a little over a half of a mile ahead of them was a black late model sedan, they had been chasing it for the past twenty miles. Inside the lead cruiser, the radio roared to life.

"Sherrif Hastings! the sedan was carjacked in Hadlerville two days ago, witnesses say the two suspects in the vehicle beat the owner over the head with the butt of a gun, they died from their injuries. Suspects are two Caucasian males believed to be connected to a string of robberies along the 51, suspects are to be considered armed and extremely dangerous approach with caution."

Sherrif Lloyd Hastings pressed the pursuit, but the sedan pulled farther ahead and when he breached the next hill he could see it almost a mile ahead as it almost rolled onto its side as it slid into the turn onto highway one. Hastings felt his heart sink, his foot eased off the gas pedal, the lead pursuit cruiser slowly rolled to a stop, blocking off the turn onto highway one. He slowly opened the driver's side door and stepped out of the vehicle. The other two pursuit cruisers screeched to a stop behind him, the officers almost leaping out of their cars.

"Sherrif Hastings! what did you stop for? They're going to get away!"

Hastings walked to the shoulder of highway one and bent down to scoop up a handful of dirt. He eyed it curiously as the hot desert breeze slowly blew it from his outstretched hand and moved it across the sun parched asphalt, he slowly rose to his feet, his eyes never leaving the desert horizon, he looked back at the three officers standing behind him.

"Our pursuit ends here." He told them.

They stood in shocked silence with looks of disbelief on their faces, one of them approached him almost cautiously. his eyes moving almost panicked back and forth between the sherrif and highway one.

"So that's it? because the turned here, they get away?"

Hastings removed his sunglasses and stared him straight in the eye.

"They didn't get away, son. those boys will be dead by morning, and we're never going to see that car again."

Dead End

When Martin Keller looked back from the passenger seat through the rear window, and he didn't see flashing lights or police cars, he breathed a sigh of relief. But his elation was short-lived as the car began to convulse around him, Jake Dixon cast him a startled look from the driver's seat, steam began to roll in from under the dashboard there was a loud bang and the vehicle lurched to a sudden stop, he aimed it for the shoulder as it slow rolled to a complete stop both men got out and studied the surrounding terrain, to the sides, desert, sand, rock and cactus. To the front and rear, scorching hot asphalt. The sun was sinking on the horizon, it would be dark sooner rather than later. They took everything they could carry from the car and began to walk the shoulder toward the sunset. 

 

The sun sunk lower and the darkness began to move in around them, Jake Dixon had been in the desert many times before, but there was somehow something different about this desert, the air moved different, it sounded different, it felt dark and foreboding, they had two flashlights, and ten extra batteries but even still they could barely see where they were going. they walked for what seemed like hours along the dark, deserted road, until Martin Keller put his hand on Jake Dixon's shoulder and nudged him.

"Jake? Is that a light up ahead?"

They hurried their pace and headed toward the source of the light, slowly a sign came into view: "Fester's Last Chance Filling Station." they moved up around the side of the run-down building.  A single dim light was on in what Jake Dixon assumed was the office, off to one side was an old beat up pickup truck, the tires were still holding air so they guessed that it was operational. Martin Keller opened the door quietly and checked the cab for keys, but found none. He looked at Jake Dixon and shook his head no, Dixon stepped up to the door of the dimly lit office. There was one older man inside who was sitting back in his chair with both feet propped up on the counter reading a book.  

"We ain't got no gas." His frosty light blue eyes raised to look at Jake Dixon. "But then again, we both know you ain't here for gas are ya Mr. Dixon?"

Jake Dixon took two steps backward while pulling the gun into full view.

"Do I know you, old man?"

"No, but we know all about you Jake, The first diner that you robbed on the 51on the other side of Hadlerville, you got away with $350.00 and shot three people dead. robbed two more stores along the way before you carjacked the sedan and beat the driver to death, you've always had a black heart Jake, and when we heard you were in the area we knew that you would end up here somehow. Oh, and by the way, the keys are above the driver's side visor."

Jake Dixon raised the weapon and without hesitation fired point-blank into the old man's chest, causing him to slowly sink back down in his chair.

"Bet you didn't see that coming, did you, old man?"

Martin Keller turned the key and the truck's engine fired up right away, Jake Dixon got in the passenger side as the spit dirt and dust up in the air getting out of the parking lot, as he looked back he was shocked to see the old man standing in the doorway unharmed as they sped away. they had no idea what was waiting for them. The stretch of highway one was long and dark the night air was hot and humid, with both windows down it still offered them no relief from the heat, the truck wouldn't seem to go above 50 mph. In the rearview mirror, something caught martin Keller's attention, two headlights coming on fast. it wasn't a police car.

They were still trying to figure out what was going on when the strange car slammed into the rear of the truck. Martin jerked on the wheel, trying desperately to maintain control of the truck. The car backed off but then sped up again and slammed into the driver's side of the bed of the truck, when it backed off and then hit them for the third time it forced the truck off of the road and sent them flying over the top of a sand dune, finally crashing into a large boulder. stunned both men staggered from the vehicle, Martin Keller hid behind the boulder while Jake Dixon headed out into the desert still dazed by the crash.

Martin could hear the sounds of the car coming back and stopping nearby. He heard the door open and then close, he heard the heavy footfalls walking through the sand up the side of the dune.  and cautiously peeked around the side of the boulder just as the tall dark imposing figure standing at the top of the dune. It made its way down toward the boulder, as Martin Keller watched and waited he slowly pulled his own gun free and held his breath as he trained it on the dark figure, when it moved into his line of sight he fired on it to no effect. The dark figure cocked its head to one side as Keller fired again.

He felt its cold hands wrap around his throat cutting off his air, lifting him off his feet, death cold fingers digging into his flesh collapsing around his Adam's apple ripping it out in one motion. Martin Keller stared blankly, his lips slowly turning a dark shade of crimson, his mouth made gurgling sounds as his body twitched in death throes. When he finally became still, the figure dropped his body and began tracking Jake Dixon's footsteps. he quickly closed distance, it could hear Dixon's frantic footsteps trying to run across the sand. He wheeled the gun around and fired directly at it.

"What the fuck are you, man??" He yelled, almost panic-stricken.

The moon had pulled free of the clouds as the dark figure stood over him then, now he could clearly see the black suit, the long white hair and the soft glowing blood-red eyes.

"My name is Xander Kraven Mr. Dixon, I am a denizen of a place you know as Hell, I am also a soul hunter, and I've come to take you home."

There was no one to see him suffer the very fate that a life dedicated to the pain and suffering of other people had made for him, no one saw him get the flesh ripped from his body, no one heard his screams, but a dark, silent empty desert.

Epilog.

It was 6:00 am when Sherrif Lloyd Hastings was driving by the turn onto Highway one, when something caught his eye just off of the shoulder of the road about twenty-five yards from the turn. he spun the cruiser around and turned onto the highway, there on the shoulder sat the still form of the black sedan that they had been chasing two days earlier. He trained the Maglite on the drag marks that led across  a trail leading out into the desert, curious, he followed it. Fifty yards in he found two bodies bound at the wrists hanging from a pair of large mesquite trees. On one of the bodies was a note written in blood that read:

"Born onto this earth, to lives of misery and pain, I free thee from these earthly bodies, and take thee home." 

~FIN~

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