Welcome to the final part in this unedited, exclusive short story series. In case you missed it, here are links to parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 below.
Last Time: Liana Tylor’s brother Ian, the treacherous pirate, threatened to kill Liana if she won’t simply open the secret door to the hidden hold beneath the ship where the passengers are hidden. He told her that no pirate can outrun their past, and that one day she will return to her old ways along side him.
Oceans Far: “The Brave”
“Blow the lanterns out,” someone had whispered. This left Jack completely in the dark as the order was followed. With his sight gone, his other senses seemed more important than they ever had been before. He was crouched down near the wall, a hand resting on the wood boards beside him and he could smell sweat and other people’s breaths in the stuffy compartment. For a split second a shimmer of light from a lantern above came down on them, but suddenly it was covered and even this was denied to him. For a few brief seconds he had heard voices and footsteps, but now it was quiet. Suddenly he heard someone cry out. It was muffled, but it was definitely from above. And he knew almost right away that it was Liana. She was in trouble. He had already felt guilt from not demanding her to come down with him, but now to hear that she was in pain, he couldn’t bear it. “Does anyone have a weapon?” he whispered urgently into the pitch blackness at the others around him. He had only known her for a little over a week, but that didn’t matter. He didn’t know how, but he couldn’t stand by while she was in trouble. “Hurry! Anything will work. Please!” “All of our things are in the cargo hold,” someone whispered from his left. Jack tried to think. What could he use in place of a weapon? Then he knew that even if he didn’t have a one, if he could just be a distraction for even a second, Liana could find someway to get away and to hide. No matter what happened, he knew he had to help her. He made his way to the trapdoor by feel and breathed shakily. “Someone help me get this open.” He didn’t know what awaited him, but he was ready.
The end…
Thank you for joining me on these 5 parts of Oceans Far. Reading through them was both fun and reminiscent for me.
Happy writing and have a nice day.