Adult-FanFiction.org : Movies

Savarna	By : BrethlessM Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (All) > Het - Male/Female > Jack/Elizabeth Views: 5383 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
A/N: Hello again! I'm so sorry for the delay. My dad had another heart attack and I had to deal with that, and then I had a midterm I had to study for (which I might have failed anyway, so oh well). I missed you all, and I want to thank the wonderful people who sent me messages to make sure I was alright. I'm doing better, just stressed, and my dad is feeling very well now. We're all plodding along, and I hope to do a lot of writing to clear my mind in the future. I'll move along the best I can, but don't ever worry that I won't finish - we're almost there! Love you all and I hope you like the chapter, despite the scary cliffhanger (dun, dun, dun... warning!). Take care! - Kimberlee

Chapter Seventeen

The leader of the Becoming was overwhelmed by the rush of memories, all of them concerning one person. Jack holding a sword against his throat; Jack aiming a pistol at him; Jack swinging the boom into him to knock him overboard. Whoever he was, the leader was sure that Jack was the reason he and the rest of his crew had been called back from the grave. His memories were only quick flashes, nothing more than brief images, but he had seen enough to understand that his opponent was responsible for a great many wrongs in what had once been his life.

Before the leader was aware of it, he and his crew had come to a stop again beneath the water. No new remembrances threatened to capture his attention so the leader could not at first understand why they had come to a halt� until he realized all at once, that they had arrived. They were there.

He waited for a moment, unsure of what to do next for the first time since his awakening. Then, with a signal to his men to wait, the leader went on alone. His head emerged from the water � another first. Everything around him was lush and green, and deeply dark, though the sun shone brightly just overhead. On his right, an alligator watched from the river�s bank, invisible except for the yellow glow of its eyes. The leader exchanged glances with the animal, but neither expected nor received any threat.

After the sonorous roar of the ocean pounding inside his ears, the swamp around him was teeming with noise, and it made him feel edgy. Crickets chirped, cicadas buzzed, and from somewhere off in the distance, music drifted downstream, hollow and mournful. The leader was wary, but he did not know what exactly he feared. Ahead of him, a solitary shack jutted up out of the water on stilts, and though this placed seemed to be his final destination, his sense of foreboding grew as he drew nearer.

A ladder hung down from the shack ending at a small dock, low enough for a dinghy to stop at. With little thought or effort, the leader crouched and then sprung up out of the water, grasping the edge of it in both hands. In moments, he was standing on the wooden planks, staring up at the silent house.

He put his foot on the bottommost rung and was instantly struck by a strange sensation. �Mind the boat,� he muttered to himself. Involuntarily, he turned to look over his shoulder, but of course, no one was there. Shaking the thought from his head, he began his assent upward, ignoring his growing apprehension.

The door stood open, as though expecting his arrival, but all was dark inside. Stepping across the threshold, the leader did not need to wait for his eyes to adjust � they were long accustomed to the darkness. The shack had been built into and around a tree, its limbs jutting into the living space, giving the place a primitive air. A white snake lay coiled among some of the branches, and it lifted its head languidly when the leader entered, testing the air with its tongue to determine if the intruder was a potential threat or meal. Apparently deciding he was neither, the snake rested its head again, one of its eyes remaining half open.

The room felt more than empty, it felt abandoned. The leader could not say what it was that told him that the shack had been untenanted for a long time, but he knew it, positively. Strangely though, the rooms were in anything but disarray. Candles were scattered about the room, strategically placed in the crooks of limbs or on tables, but they were not mere remnants of melted wax. The white tapers and pillars looked as though they had been replaced within the last few hours � clean and unused.

No hint of dust marred any surface, and even the jars hung from the ceiling appeared to have been recently tended to, their contents fresh and clearly visible. There was no clutter, no item out of place, and no sign of habitation. Nonetheless, it had been carefully maintained by unknown hands.

The leader was disappointed. He�d had no real expectation of what he would encounter at the end of his journey, but it was certainly not this absolute lack of answers. Who was he? Why was he alive? What had drawn him here? He looked around the room, but touched nothing, as though to disturb the meticulously preserved room was something taboo.

Standing and gazing around him, the leader considered what he should do. There were no answers waiting for him here, only more questions. Even worse, the golden-haired beauty from his visions was not here, and he seemed to know that she would bring him all the answers he was looking for, if he could only find her. He had hoped that she would be waiting for him here, able to provide him at last with the knowledge he sought. It was clear that not only was she not here, but that this was the last place on earth he could have expected to find her. A place such as this would strangle that woman�s spirit with its very aura.

So where was she? And how was he to find her? She was the key to everything, he knew. The woman, and Jack� once the leader found them, he would have his answers. So why had he been brought here? Frustrated, he let out an anguished cry and threw a nearby chair against the wall. The white snake hissed at him from his perch and affronted, began to climb higher into the tree.

Chastised, the leader closed his eyes, breathing heavily. Letting his mind drift, he called the image of the woman into being, and almost immediately, he felt the tug of her presence many leagues away, southwest of him. Moving quickly, he strode towards the door, intent on following the pull to its source, but he was suddenly frozen in place. The white snake began to uncoil itself from the tree until it was hanging down, just inches from his face.

The leader was intrigued by the serpent�s behavior, and met the creature�s gaze without alarm. A moment later, the spell was broken and the leader�s shoulders sagged. Watching the snake lift its body back into the tree, he exhaled the breath he hadn�t realized he�d been holding. He knew what he had to do. Purpose restored, he let himself out of the shack, down the ladder and back into the water. Further down and spanning a good portion of the river bottom, his crew stirred briefly as they too understood what needed to be done. Sinking back under the water and joining his men, the leader closed his eyes, and simply waited.

There was no need to go searching for his golden-haired beauty� she would be coming to him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Treasure Island was so rich and verdant that had Elizabeth not been in mortal peril, she would have loved it. The foliage grew so thickly that it was nearly impossible to see the path in front of them in many places, and she could see why the island made such a good hideout for pirates. None of their captors bothered to blindfold them because their route was so circuitous, and so densely covered, that there was obviously little hope of finding the way out again without a knowledgeable guide to lead the way. The thought did not inspire in her any confidence.

Glancing towards Jack, Elizabeth could not read anything in his expression, which was normally so open. The rest of the crew looked around them in fearful anticipation, all except for Ina, whose mouth was curved in a small smile, and Teague, who had undergone the strangest transformation since the battle onboard his ship.

Normally sullen and self-contained, Captain Teague appeared just as fierce as he had when fighting six pirates at once. Though he had been chained as securely as the rest of them, Elizabeth noticed that none of their guards seemed at all inclined to go any nearer the older man than necessary, and she hoped that Teague would find a way to use this intimidation to their advantage.

They wandered through the wilderness for what seemed to her like miles, and no one spoke a word during the entire trek, except for a few brief exchanges between their captors as if confirming their direction. If they didn�t even know precisely where they were headed, then how would Elizabeth, Jack and the others ever have a hope of getting out? She tried not to think about it, nor about her son hiding somewhere on the Savarna. She had no choice but to get back to William before El Lobo�s men found him first.

Elizabeth began wracking her brain for ideas as she glanced around surreptitiously, searching for anything that would either provide for an escape, or serve as a landmark for when she came again. She received nothing on either front. There was nothing around them but the thick, wild arms of plants so enormous as to be an immovable presence � permanent residents of the island, fighting as violently for their territory as the pirates.

The sound of crashing water broke into her thoughts, and Elizabeth looked around for the source of it. But it was not until they were right at its edge that she finally saw the gigantic waterfall. Water pounded down a nearly fifty-foot drop, ending in a river that tumbled toward the ocean off to their right. They must have been following its path for some time, but the dense vegetation had sucked up the sound of its passage.

Tiburon held a brief conversation in Spanish with two of his men, who then approached the prisoners, starting with Elizabeth. As one of the men grabbed her arms to hold her in place, the other unlocked the manacles binding her wrists, freeing her.

�No,� Jack said firmly to Tiburon, a serious expression on his face. He had been listening intently to their talk and Elizabeth realized that he�d understood them. �Not her. Not first.�

�I�m afraid you have no say in the matter, Captain Sparrow, but if it�s any consolation, you�ll be going second.�

�What�s happening?� Elizabeth asked Jack, trying to suppress her alarm.

Jack met her eyes, his face carefully masked. �The waterfall,� he told her quietly. �We have to swim under it.�

Before she could answer, the cuff was reattached to her left wrist and the other end closed around Jack�s newly freed right. One by one the crew of the Savarna were linked together, Ina bringing up the rear.

�Can they all swim?� Elizabeth asked Jack quietly.

Jack shrugged, and for a second she saw a ripple of worry on his face. �All but the Pride of the King�s Navy.�

She tried not to groan. Murtogg and Mullroy were together, between Marty and Noah near the end of the line. If just one of them panicked and went under they could drag the rest of the crew down too. As they were forced toward the water�s edge, it didn�t take long for the rest of the crew to figure out what was required of them, and to their credit, the two former marines only turned a few shades paler at the realization.

Elizabeth tried to resist entering the water but their captors forced them forward at the point of their swords, and before long she was in up to her neck. Marty had already begun to swim, the water�s force carrying him out from the rest of the group a few inches. She took another step and without warning, Elizabeth dropped off an invisible ledge beneath the water.

The momentum of her plunge took Jack by surprise, and even as his instincts were torn between holding his ground and going in after her, he was pulled into deeper water. He could feel Teague come with him, Ragetti didn�t stand a chance of resisting their weight. The entire crew went down together.

For a moment, Elizabeth struggled to orient herself. Her men�s clothing did not weigh her down the way a dress would but still made her feel as though she were being dragged inexorably toward the bottom of the river. The line of men chained behind her tugged at her wrist, and panic bloomed in her chest at the thought of them all trapped on the ocean floor. Then, her feet struck bottom and she pushed hurriedly towards the surface.

Elizabeth gasped for air as Jack, and then Teague appeared beside her. Ragetti came up next, but Pintel seemed to be struggling to stay above, and when he and Ragetti both disappeared underwater again, she understood what was happening. Before the rest of them could be pulled under, Elizabeth leaned back and began swimming towards the waterfall.

Jack caught on and followed, shouting in her direction, �Hurry!�

Pintel�s head broke the surface again and at last Marty came up gasping for air, straining against the weight behind him. An arm appeared, held tight in Marty�s grasp, and then Mullroy�s head appeared. The back of Noah�s head was towards Elizabeth as he finally surfaced, supporting Mullroy on one side and Murtogg on the other. Ina helped Murtogg on his right, and with all eleven of them at last above water, the laughing Spaniards came into the water after them, holding their weapons above their heads.

Elizabeth used her momentum as best she could to pull them forward, eager to reach dry land once more, or to at least have solid ground beneath her. The waterfall drew closer, and she had to fight the current to continue forward until at last there was nowhere to go but under. Treading water, she looked back at Jack who nodded his readiness. Without further hesitation, Elizabeth took a deep breath and submerged, swimming underneath the pounding water.

For a moment she was caught beneath the downward force, but with a powerful kick she muscled her way through the curtain of water and the pressure disappeared. Another kick thrust her forward and only the slightest tug at her wrist held her back. Surfacing, Elizabeth wrapped her hand around the chain connecting her to Jack and pulled against the tension as she swam.

The cavern they had entered was dark, but light shining through the waterfall illuminated just far enough inside to show her that the river continued through the mountain with no landing for them to climb onto. They would have to swim all the way through to safety.

Jack�s head broke the surface, and then Teague�s. Ragetti and Pintel appeared, swimming hard against the pull of the weight behind them, and this time they were not dragged down by it. Their combined weight seemed to help Marty come up more easily, and after a brief struggle in which Pintel grabbed the smaller man�s arm and gave it one sharp tug, the rest of them came up together.

There was a brief moment in which Elizabeth could not move forward but then she came unstuck with a jerk, and the rest of the group started after her. Their progress was agonizingly slow, and it took all of her strength to fight against the current determined to drag her back towards the falls. She couldn�t help taking in mouthfuls of water as she swam, and just as she thought she could go no further, her toes scraped bottom again.

Gasping for one more breath, she pushed forward until she could stand again. Panting gratefully, she did not stop to rest until all of them were able to stand. Closing her eyes in relief, Elizabeth regained control of her breathing just as Tiburon and the other pirates urged them forward once more, and then she stumbled onward through chest-high water.

The current was still a powerful force, but they were able to cover a lot more ground on their feet than they had while swimming. When sunlight finally stung her eyes, Elizabeth felt another surge of adrenaline push her towards the exit. Her muscles ached as she pulled herself onto the shore and she was too exhausted to hide it. She came out of the water far enough to allow to make room for the others before collapsing onto the damp earth, breathing heavily.

Jack fell to the ground beside her, and after a minute asked, �You alright, love?�

Elizabeth nodded, unable to answer. Opening her eyes, she saw the Spanish pirates just reaching the shore behind them and though the thought crossed her mind, she had no energy left to put an attack against them into action. Jack, sitting less than a foot away, must have had a similar thought, for his face darkened as he reached for his belt, where his weapon no longer hung.

The crew of the Savarna didn�t have long to rest before they were forced to their feet again and on into the woods. Their path wound upward at a sharp grade, but it took less than half an hour for them to reach their destination. El Lobo�s camp had been built at the edge of another river in a conveniently clear stretch of land. A well-contained fire marked the center of the encampment, and the crowd surrounding it did not manage to completely hide what was happening from Elizabeth�s eyes.

A bound man lay on the ground, held down by two men who were forcing his feet into the open flames. The man screamed unintelligibly, but his torturers only laughed at his pleas for them to stop. Finally, they took his feet out of the fire and Elizabeth turned her head as the man wept in agony.

�El Lobo!� Tiburon called out, and one of the pirates by the fire turned around in response.

A wolf�s brushy tail hung down from where it had been tied to his belt in the back, but Elizabeth would have picked him out as El Lobo from among the other pirates even if she had not seen it. He was a swarthy man, and although large, there didn�t appear to be an ounce of fat on him. Clad in worn and dirty silks, he nevertheless cut an impressively menacing figure, and Elizabeth was reminded of the way the cursed pirates of the Black Pearl had looked to her when she�d first seen them in Port Royal. If any pirate more perfectly embodied the harsh life of a buccaneer, it was this man.

An angry white scar subdivided El Lobo�s face, and it grew taunt when he smiled, his rotting teeth increasing the fearsomeness of his appearance. ��Ah, Tibur�n, qu� tiene nosotros aqu�?�

�Verdaderamente, un tesoro. Su Majestad, el Capit�n Swann, as� como los Capit�ns Gorrion y su tripulaci�n,� Tiburon replied with a theatrical bow.

��Es cierto?� El Lobo�s grin widened as he looked on his prisoners with new interest. �Bien hecho, Tiburon... quiz�s yo no le destripar� a fin de cuentas.�

Eyeing Elizabeth, Jack and Teague with amusement, El Lobo said in English, �I am surprised to see you all together. It does not somehow seem wise to put three infamous pirates into one egg-basket, no?� No one answered, which seemed just fine to El Lobo. �But then, I was not there, so at least one great legend will be left to lead the Brethren Court.�

�There are only eleven Lords of the Brethren Court, and you are most certainly not one of them,� Elizabeth said defiantly. �Under what circumstances could you possibly hope to rule the Brotherhood?�

El Lobo roared with laughter, his head thrown backward in obvious amusement. Jack leaned towards Elizabeth and muttered, �I believe that means he plans on killing them.�

Still laughing, El Lobo said, �I have no need to kill them; I have everything I need to rule the seas already.� He looked pointedly at Elizabeth. �As I�m sure you know, Captain Swann.�

Elizabeth glared, determined to give nothing away.

In response to her silence, El Lobo�s gaze darkened. Despite her fear, Elizabeth refused to look away. She stared him down and felt Jack twitch beside her when El Lobo took a step towards her. �Where is your husband, Mrs. Turner?� he asked.

�Captain Swann,� Jack muttered under his breath.

Elizabeth shot him a quelling look, hiding her flash of untimely amusement. �The heart cannot control him anymore,� she told El Lobo coldly. �You cannot use him to gain control of the seas, nor can you use me to get at Captain Turner.�

El Lobo circled the fire in silence, approaching the man whose torture they had interrupted. The man was still whimpering in pain, and it was a surprise that he was even still conscious. Pausing above the man�s prone figure, El Lobo sighed heavily and said, �Esto me aburre.� Casually, he pulled a knife from his jacket and with a flick of his wrist, hurled the blade down into the man�s heart.

Elizabeth swallowed, but refused to react further. Meeting El Lobo�s gaze unflinchingly, she saw that he seemed disappointed by her lack of intimidation. Withdrawing his knife from the pirate�s corpse and wiping it clean on a handkerchief, El Lobo finally looked up at her again and grinned.

�Ah,� he said wryly. �But you did not say that Captain Turner is dead.� Elizabeth remained silent, but this time it further amused El Lobo. Slowly, he came back around towards her. �You see Captain Swann, I care nothing for the heart beyond what it will acquire for me, and as you can see, I have that right here.� He gestured at Elizabeth. �I believed that if your husband were alive, you would stop at nothing to get back his heart, and here you are.�

Jack responded to that. �Capitan Turner esta muerto, mate. Ella es de ningun uso a usted.�

El Lobo grinned at him. ��Pero ella es obviamente de uso a usted, eh Jack? �Me dice, es ella una fiera en la cama tambi�n?

Nostrils flaring, Jack started to lunge forward but Captain Teague grabbed his arm. El Lobo crowed with laughter again. �Veo! Ella tiene todav�a no le permiti� a curiosea abiertos los muslos sedosos. Veremos si ella es m�s receptiva a mis encantos.�

This time Teague leapt forward with Jack, and it was only the chains linking them to the rest of the crew that held them back. El Lobo continued laughing at the struggling men and with a relaxed gesture, indicated for his men to move forward. The Spanish pirates grabbed members of the Savarna�s crew, two men taking charge of Captain Teague.

Elizabeth alone was left untouched, but the reason for that became clear when El Lobo approached her himself. �Your friends and you must part ways, Captain Swann, but they will be well taken care of, especially the Captain�s Sparrow.� He took her arm and pulled her towards him. �You and I, mi amor, have private dealings elsewhere.�

Before she could respond, Elizabeth�s world went dark, as a sack was drawn over her head from behind. Her hands were freed, and she could hear the muffled voices of Jack and the others protesting as strong arms lifted her into the air and carried her away from them. She struggled, but even as she did she could tell it was useless. El Lobo had a tight hold on her and with her hands cuffed, she had no way to strike out against him.

The air grew cooler as El Lobo carried her away from the fire, and she knew they had entered a cave when a damp chill seemed to settle over her. The pirate�s steps echoed off the surrounding walls in time with the hollow drip of water from somewhere nearby. Some kind of heavy material brushed the length of her body, and suddenly the air seemed drier and quieter. El Lobo set her on her feet and removed the sack from her head.

They had entered a chamber well lit all the way around with oil lamps. Every surface was covered in rich tapestries that not only kept in the warmth but also buffered out most of the noise from the outer cave. A large angel bed decorated in bronze with red damask silk bed-curtains boxing off only a small portion of its length. A few matching tables and chairs were scattered around the room, but the main feature of the chamber was the piles and piles of treasure.

Gold and silver and precious jewels lay in scattered heaps all around the room, as though cast aside and forgotten by their owner. Elizabeth was so entranced by the absolute enormity of it all that she didn�t notice El Lobo come up behind her until he put his hands on each of her arms.

�Do you like the pretty things, mi Rey?�

Closing her gaping mouth, Elizabeth spun around and took a step back. �What is it you want of me?� she asked what she hoped was her most imperious voice.

He grinned again, and through the black mass of rotten teeth, she caught a glimmer of gold. �I have what I want, mi Rey� you. With you at my side, I won�t just be the most feared pirate to ever sail the seven seas, I�ll be the most powerful.�

�I won�t help you willingly,� Elizabeth spat.

El Lobo shrugged. �With your will or against it; it matters not. You are the key to my promotion.�

Unable to contain her frustration any longer, Elizabeth burst out, �How? What can I possibly represent to you that would serve your purposes? My husband is dead, and the Brethren Court has not met for ten years!�

�No, not met, but you underestimate their loyalty to their King, mi amor.�

Elizabeth snorted. �Loyalty? None of them even wanted me to be King, except Jack. Do you really think they�ll care what happens to me? You should know better than any, what self-serving creatures pirates are.�

With his foul smile, El Lobo said, �You forget� you led them to the greatest victory our kind has had against the civilized world, mi Rey. But truthfully, that is not the reason I drew you here. The Lords will not fight for you due to honor, but they will fight for other reasons.� Nonchalantly, he strolled towards the bed. �It�s the principle of the thing, for one. They will try and preserve their own honor by rescuing one of their own from imprisonment by one of the lower slime,� he sneered on the last word. �One who they feel has overstepped his bounds, even among a Brotherhood of scavengers and outlaws.�

�So they�re threatened by you,� Elizabeth scoffed. �And they�ll use me as a suitable reason to go to war again? You realized they didn�t even want to fight the Royal India Trading Company? When it was right on their doorstep?� She was yelling now, but did nothing to contain it. �And even if you�re right and they do come after me, how do you intend to win against the might of the Brethren Lords? You�re only one man!�

He darkened again, and Elizabeth finally remembered her fear. �One man, yes. But you see, mi amor,� he strode to one of the tables and pointed at a map that had been spread out and weighed down there. �There are only eleven Lords of the Brethren Court, but there are a great deal more pirates than that in this world, who feel� unrepresented by their peers,� he mocked.

Looking down at the map, Elizabeth saw that it was covered with tiny dots, presumably marking the home ports of scores of individual pirate ships.

�You see,� El Lobo continued. �I only need to start the war to win it, and with you by my side, I am invincible.�

She did not look up. �So you only used the heart to lure me here,� Elizabeth stated.

El Lobo went to a pillar set in one corner that Elizabeth had not noticed, on which sat a large box in the shape of a cube. Opening it, he pulled out a linen sack and tossed it to her. Elizabeth caught it easily and gingerly looked inside� it was Will�s heart.

�Davey Jones let his heart control him, but you have sacrificed the lives of your crew and the Brethren Court for the heart of a dead man,� El Lobo said, eyes sparkling maliciously. He came towards her suddenly, his hands grasping at her body so roughly that it hurt. His mouth barely centimeters from hers he growled, �I wonder what Jack Sparrow sees in such a capricious woman?�

Without thinking, Elizabeth reacted. Though he must have intended to provoke her, he did not seem to have anticipated her attack. She caught him off guard and before either of them knew what was happening, her fingernails had dug into one of his eyes. In shock, Elizabeth withdrew her hand, taking El Lobo�s eyeball with her. She had not let go of the sack containing Will�s heart the entire time.

El Lobo shrieked in pain and fury, and Elizabeth backed away slowly, looking around quickly for something heavy. She was still close to the table, and she grabbed on of the chairs, swinging it around until it crashed over El Lobo�s head. The man slumped to the floor, clutching his gory eye socket.

Dropping the chair, Elizabeth hastily searched El Lobo, finding a ring of keys and taking his sword and pistol. Running hard, she flew out of the cave and back towards where she thought the camp had been. Remembering the need for caution, she stopped behind a tree and steadied her breathing, tears streaming down her face. Looking at the bag her in hand, she had the impulse to hurl it away from her but instead tied it securely to her belt.

Under control again, she approached the fire area more carefully, listening for any signs of life. The sounds of men laughing and talking in Spanish came to her, and as she knelt down to peer between the branches of a large bush, she found herself looking at Ina�s back. The crew of the Savarna were sitting on the ground around the fire, apparently waiting for their fate to be decided. The Spaniards were eating, and remembering the tortured man from earlier, Elizabeth tried not to dwell on what.

Quietly reaching through the branches, Elizabeth put her hands on Ina�s manacles and was not surprised when the woman did not react. She had sensed Elizabeth�s presence before anyone else. Quickly trying the keys one at a time, Elizabeth finally found the one that fit and unlocked the cuffs. Moving down the row, she freed the crew, saying nothing until she got to Jack.

�How are we going to get out of here?� She hissed quietly as she moved to him from Teague.

Jack had gone tense. �Now�s the time to find out.�

Looking up, Elizabeth saw one of El Lobo�s men running from the direction of the caves � the captain had been discovered. Tiburon whirled around to face the prisoners and Teague leapt to his feet and hurled himself at the man. The rest of El Lobo�s men froze in surprise but the Savarna�s crew flew into action.

Jack was pulled to his feet by a bare-chested man in faded red pants before Elizabeth could finish freeing him, but a swift head-butt knocked the other man unconscious. Elizabeth jumped up just as another man came at her, stopping when he saw the bag tied at her hip and the blood covering her hands. She stabbed him before he had time to react.

Untying the bag from her belt, Elizabeth looked around. She had to get it back to the ship before it got taken or damaged. �Marty!� she shouted. �Catch!� The bosun grabbed the bag from the air and didn�t need to look inside to realize what it was. �Run!� she screamed when he looked up at her.

Marty turned, but a pirate had stepped into his path. Slipping between the enemy�s legs, Marty Called out to Noah, who was nearby and had heard the exchange with Elizabeth. The large man was fighting barehanded against a man armed with a cutlass, and he held the bag only a moment before passing it onward to Ragetti, shouting instructions.

Elizabeth lost track of the heart as it moved through the crowd, but she did not have the opportunity to go looking for it. Pistol in one hand, sword in the other, she carefully made her way towards Jack, who although still handcuffed, had managed to twist his body through the circle of his arms to get his hands in front of him. He had just knocked out another opponent with a sharp kick to the head when Elizabeth reached him, tackling him to the ground out of the battle zone.

�Ah, there you are, love,� Jack said breathlessly. �Get held up?�

�I got the heart,� she told him as she inserted the key into the lock. �One of the crew has it, trying to get back to the ship.�

Jack swore under his breath. �I hope it makes it.� Rubbing his sore wrists, Jack took the sword from Elizabeth. �Let�s finish this.�

Side by side, Jack and Elizabeth moved towards the fight again. Only a few of El Lobo�s pirate�s were left, and as she looked, Elizabeth realized she couldn�t see Ina anywhere. Praying that the woman had taken the heart and ran, Elizabeth shot a man who was about to slice Murtogg�s throat open and ran to help him up.

A loud, animalistic cry rose around them, freezing everyone. Elizabeth turned to look and then turned away again. Teague had managed to roll Tiburon�s head into the fire, and was holding him there as the man�s skin crackled and popped while he died. Standing up and ignoring the redness of his hands, Teague looked at Jack and Elizabeth. �Run, you fools!�

No one hesitated. Springing away from their opponents at once, the crew of the Savarna made a dash into the forest.

�This way!� Pintel shouted, and as none of them knew for sure which way the ship was, no one questioned his decision. They were not headed back the way they had originally came, but with the sound of El Lobo�s men not far behind them, there was no time to turn around.

Elizabeth ran, trying to catch up to Jack who was just in front of her. �William!� she managed to gasp.

�I know love,� he shouted back. �We�ll get there in time.�

Without warning, the foliage around them vanished, and for the briefest second Elizabeth though she was suspended in midair. Then her stomach flew up into her throat and she was falling. She didn�t have time to scream as she realized that they had run right off the cliff above the waterfall, and were now plunging fifty-feet to the bottom of the falls.

Elizabeth tried to make her body into a straight line, but even so she hit the water hard, the froth churned up by the pounding water doing little to cushion the impact. Her body refused to move for a moment in shock, and when at last she surfaced, she realized that the current was already carrying downstream through the forest.

�Jack!� she screamed, looking around for any of the others. �Captain Teague!�

�Here, lass!� Teague had grabbed hold of a tumbling log and reached out a hand to help her grab hold as well. �You alright?�

Elizabeth nodded. Scanning the water, she caught sight of several of the others, either clinging to bits of wood or floating as best they could, trying to stay above water. �Where�s Jack?� she asked.

A hat floated by and Elizabeth grabbed for it. It was Jack�s tricorne. A moment later, Jack himself popped up, sputtering for air. Teague hauled his son up onto the log by his collar.

Jack coughed water out of his lungs before taking his hat back from Elizabeth and replacing it on his head. �I guess we lost them,� he grinned.

Elizabeth couldn�t help grinning in reply before worry settled over her again. �I just hope Ina made it back to the ship with the heart,� she said.

Jack nodded solemnly, but noticed that his father looked worried. �What�s wrong?� he shouted over the roar of the water.

Teague shook his head, but his expression didn�t change.

The river eventually branched out into the ocean, and the crew swam as quietly as they could around the harbor until they saw the outline of their ship in the fading light. The vessel had been pulled up onto the beach to dock, and the ships belonging to El Lobo that rested there appeared to be unmanned, or at rest.

�Look! There�s Ina!� Ragetti said, pointing toward the Savarna. The woman�s lithe figure could be seen clearly scaling a rope up to the top deck.

�Thank God,� Elizabeth breathed to herself. �Let her find William safely.�

They hurried onto the shore, and Teague didn�t even stop to rest before striding towards his ship at a quick pace. Jack, who could still sense that something was wrong, went after his father. �You going to tell me what�s got you in such a thither?� he asked.

Teague only moved faster. Elizabeth went after Teague and Jack, not ready to feel safe until she was sure William had not been found. As they reached the side of the ship, Elizabeth noticed the tension between Jack and his father.

�What is it?� she asked Jack as Teague began to climb.

By now, Teague�s foreboding had infected Jack as well, and he frowned as he tried to figure out what was wrong. �Not sure,� he told Elizabeth, grabbing onto the rope. �Let�s go check on William.�

Elizabeth�s heart crowded into her throat as she climbed, pounding fast. Her hands grew slippery with sweat and she had to remind herself to go slowly, lest she loose her grip and fall.

The longboats were tied on either side, but as she mounted the deck, it was clear which one William had hidden in. Ina had reached the far side of the Savarna, and was helping William out of it. Elizabeth sighed heavily, closing her eyes, but Jack suddenly seemed to be walking faster.

Jack�s steps increased their pace almost to a run as he crossed the deck, an unnamed fear clutching at his chest. Even though he had Ina, William, and what had to be the bag containing Will�s heart hanging from Ina�s hand, all safely in his sight, something in him was screaming for him to pay attention. He reached for the mermaid shaped bead at his waist.

The buzzing in Elizabeth�s head grew from a nagging worry to full fury, and she found herself running towards her son. Words were forming in her head; familiar words that somehow seemed to be just beyond the reach of her conscious mind but nevertheless forced her into action.

In front of them, Ina turned around, holding tightly to William�s hand. The boy was looking at his mother, Jack and Captain Teague in delight, happy to see them alive and well, but the three Captains could only stare at him, trying to determine what was wrong.

Suddenly Elizabeth gasped as the words that had been floating around her head suddenly became clear. She looked at William and then up to Ina, who was suddenly holding the heart up to them, the still beating organ gleaming in the sunlight. Ina smiled, and in an instant her face changed. Her hair grew longer and more wild, her eyes narrower and more golden.

Teague stopped in his tracks but Jack and Elizabeth flew towards William as Calypso laughed and disappeared, taking the boy and the heart with her.

As Elizabeth�s whole body went numb, she heard the ghost of a whisper again in her mind, �Protect the boy�.�
- 16
- 17
- 18
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Savarna