THE WHITE skull and crossbones on the flag contrasted against the black flag. Under the pirate's flag flew the colors of the Glahmeel rebel alliance. At least we knew they weren't responsible for the King's disappearance. Whoever kidnapped the king wanted something very specific; something they couldn't get if we were all dead from pirate attacks.

I could feel the tension in the air rising as darkness fell. I found myself rubbing the birthmark on my wrist, an old nervous tick. If we kept the deck dark, maybe we could lose them after nightfall.

They were far enough away that the dark would make us difficult to track. It would also make them difficult to track. Most wouldn't dare to navigate unknown waters at night with no light above-decks, but most didn't have men like Gareth. You could blindfold him, move him, spin him around, and as soon as he was standing still, he could tell you what direction he was facing. Navigating the dark waters should be a piece of cake for him, the only issue would be making sure we were navigating away from the pirate ship... not toward it.

The minutes passing felt like hours. It would only be a matter of time. We were completely enveloped in darkness. Gareth was below decks in the mess hall with a lantern and a map. August and Arius took turns relaying his instructions to Grey who stood at the helm, holding the wheel with a steel grip. The pirate ship was completely lost in the darkness. Our only hope was that they haven't guessed our final destination.

The silence broke as an arrow sliced through the air and embedded in the railing with a distinct thunk.

"We're being boarded!" I yelled drawing my sword. "Get me some light on deck."

Immediately August, Arius, and Evander appeared with torches and started lighting the lanterns on the deck. As the illumination grew, I saw more arrows plant in the railing and heard the whir of ropes as men slid from the Glameelian ship to ours.

"To arms!" I commanded at the top of my lungs. Immediately the rest of our travel party came up from the cabins below deck, followed by the rest of the ship's crew. They may not have been trained in combat as the army had been, but sailors knew how to fight. They were used to defending themselves from pirates and the like. Even Leland came up the stairs, wielding his sword, staggering through his nausea.

Planks thudded onto the railing as the deck of the other ship became illuminated lantern by lantern. Men rushed across the planks, weapons were drawn. August had made his way up into the crow's nest. He had made it a sniper's nest. Leland staggered up to the second deck. He was sick, dehydrated, and in no condition to fight. He held his sword, but it hung limp at his side.

"Get Grey below decks. Get as far into the belly of the ship as you can. I don't want a hair on his head harmed, do you understand?" I commanded. Leland opened his mouth to protest, but I silenced him with a raised hand. "That is a direct order from your commanding officer, Commander." I barked, reminding him of his primary duty as a soldier; follow orders.

Leland snapped to attention. "Yes ma'am. Understood ma'am." He parroted for the millionth time in the last two weeks. I had drilled that statement into every one of those men. I knew it would save their lives if it was reflex to follow the orders of their commander. A good commander would keep them safe if they followed orders. I hoped one day Leland could fill that role, but for now, he needed to see the value of obedience.

Leland took Grey by the arm and pulled him toward the stairs with what little strength he had left. Grey opened his mouth as if to protest, but I shot him a look that made him think better of it. My fingers tingled. I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. It had been years since I had seen real combat. I drew my dagger from its sheath, the same one my father gave me. The long double-edged blade forged from silvery steel glistened in the torches' flickering light. I grabbed the only rope within reach and launched myself onto the lower deck.

The moment my feet hit the floor, electricity spread through me, and a mischievous smile grew on my face.

I charged forward, toward the oncoming surge of pirate; sword in my left hand and dagger in my right. They wore tattered pants and pullover cotton shirts, all frayed at the edges. The woman closest to me sported the black outline of an anchor on the side of her windpipe. Her self-satisfied smirk revealed a gold tooth at the corner of her smile. Her voluminous chocolate-brown curls caught in the sea breeze as she stormed toward me.

Our swords met with clang as we closed the distance between us. Every blow she delivered was countered by my sword and dagger, but I could not gain the upper hand. Either the Glameelians had improved their training program or I was getting rusty.

"You're sluggish this evening. Are you truly the legend they say you are or is it all the work of myth writers and storytellers, Aislin." She crooned as we reached a stalemate.

"Maybe you'd have a snowflake's chance in the underworld if you'd stop gabbing and focus on your technique and instincts." I bantered back as I quickly switched my sword from my left hand to my right. I began to shift from defensive to offensive. Every blow was delivered with more and more power. Slowly my opponent began to lose ground. As I pushed her back, we got closer and closer to the core of the fray and found ourselves in the middle of a 30 man brawl.

As I dodged and blocked blows from all directions, slashing left and right as I moved, I felt my back collide with something hard as stone and solid as a mountain. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a dark cheekbone that could only belong to Evander. Our eyes met for an instant and I felt him tense behind me. We both knew we were safer with the other to watch out backs than on our no matter how often we crossed swords.

We were surrounded. Our soldiers and crew were all occupied with battles of their own. We were outnumbered three to one in favor of the pirates. Each member of our crew was engaged with at least one pirate, some two, but Evander and I were faced with the rest. I knew we could defeat them, but only if we could put aside our differences and work together. I reached behind me and found his arm. I locked my elbow around his.

"Spin me," I ordered.

"Do what? Now is not exactly the time or place for a waltz." he spat back.

"I told you to never make me repeat myself." I rumbled and met his look of utter disdain with a glare that could melt ice. He did as he was told and I hoisted my feet off the ground. I kicked at our enemies as I whirled around in circles. As they fell outward around us Evander stopped turning and set me lightly back on my feet as Leland's head came into view at the top of the stairs.

I released Evander's arm from my grip and picked my way through the fallen pirates. Around me, the rest of the crew was making steady headway against the rest of the enemy forces. Weaving my way between individual battles, blocking stray blows, I marched to Leland.

"I told you to keep Grey out of harm's way. Why are you defying orders?" I demanded as I approached him.

"You may be my commanding officer, but I am a soldier, a commander, and I earned those titles. I'm more useful up here. Grey will be fine." Leland protested.

"You're of no use to me or your men if you're dead because you're too sick to be aware of your surroundings." I countered as I swatted an incoming arrow away from his shoulder with my dagger. "August!" I bellowed.

"I see it!" he called back and with a swoosh and a cry of alarm the sniper fell from the mast of the pirate ship and into the sea below with a loud splash.

I put my hands on Leland's shoulders and turned him around and pushed him back toward the stairwell. "Go below decks where you can keep your head and your pride. I'd hate to lose a good man because he was distracted by a little tummy-ache." I taunted. I turned to survey the battlegrounds as Leland reluctantly started back down the stairs.

Evander still stood in the middle of the deck, looking dumbfounded; a man sneaking up behind him. I instinctively released my dagger into the air. The shining blade whizzed past Evander's dazed form and huddled towards the man's face. As the cold metal flowed through the air, it left a thin trail of crimson blood along the pirate's cheekbone, and firmly planted itself into the wooden mast behind him with an audible thunk.

Evander jumped with a start and spun around, sword at the ready. Upon seeing the pirate behind him, he angrily marched forward and knocked the stunned man in the side of the head with the hilt of his sword. The man's eyes rolled back, becoming a white slate, and he crumbled to the deck. Evander glowered down at the man.

"Get these vermin off my ship!" I bellowed as I strode triumphantly to the mast of the ship and retrieved my dagger from its wooden grasp.

Out of the counter of my eye, I saw August's boots hit the deck as he drew his pocket knife. I walked to the railing and examined the planks that the pirates used to cross from their ship to ours. I raised my foot and firmly kicked the board, dislodging it from its resting place. It hit the salty water below with a splash that echoed through the night. It was followed by a chorus of cries and flailing splashes as the pirates found themselves being hoisted over the railing and into the dark water.

On the other side of the ship, August was cutting the lines, linking our vessel to theirs, and removing the arrows from their lodging places, adding them to his quiver.

Once the ship was restored to its original crew and we had distanced ourselves from the panicking pirate's vessel, I resumed my post at the helm.

"Well, that could have gone worse, but at least nobody died," I stated loudly enough for the crew below me to hear. "Everyone go below deck, patch yourselves up, and get some rest. We have a full day of sailing ahead of us tomorrow." I reached forward to take the wheel from the sailor who had so kindly taken over during the battle and found that I had no strength to my grip. My right hand was so weak I could barely close my fist.

As soon as the light of the lantern carried by Arius, the last man in line to go down the stairs, was swallowed by the darkness, I let out a gasp of pain. I placed the peg to hold the wheel in position and grasped my right tricep with my left hand. My sleeve was wet and sticky. I pulled my hand away and smelled metal... blood.

I hurriedly removed my leather wrist-cuff and stifled a cry as I tore the arm of my black shirt off at the seam and carefully slid it over my hand. In the pale moonlight, I could hardly see my hand in front of my face, but I could tell from how damp the sleeve was and how weak the rest of my arm, the cut ran deep into my muscle. I had been too careless. I had gotten lost in the adrenaline high.

I held my breath as I attempted to wrap the detached sleeve around the gaping wound. I managed to get it wrapped, but the bandage was too loose. The wound would get infected if I couldn't protect it properly. If I wasn't careful, I could lose my arm.

"Here, let me." came a deep voice from the darkness. Leland's pale figure contrasted the night as he made his way toward me on the upper deck with a lantern in hand. How had he gotten back up here without me noticing? I still had much to learn about my army's commander.

He crossed the upper deck, set the lantern down on a nearby crate, and turned me so that my shoulder was illuminated by the lantern. I winced as he poked at the wound.

"OW!" I said plainly.

"Sorry." he chuckled.

"No, you're not. If you were sorry you wouldn't laugh." I countered with a scoff.

"This is pretty deep. Your flimsy little sleeve isn't going to cut it," he said. He released my arm and reached for the buttons of his shirt.

"What are you doing?" I asked cautiously.

"We need thicker fabric," he stated bluntly and continued undoing the buttons of his shirt. I felt my eyes widen as they fell on his broad chest. His loose-fitting shirt had disguised the contour of his well-developed muscles. This was obviously a man who had made a living out of working out of hard work.

He shook the white shirt out in front of him and turned it on its side. The gentle lapping of the waves was disrupted by the rent that rang out as he tore a wide strip of cotton from the bottom of the shirt. I tried to avert my gaze from his bare chest and arms and he began to wind the snow-white fabric around my arm. The first few layers stained red as they came into contact with the bloody flesh.

I tried to keep myself from staring as the bandage around my arm slowly formed. The pain was a welcomed distraction.

"How did you get back up without me noticing?" I asked curiously.

"I told you I earned my title, you just never asked me how." He smirked, "I was originally trained as an assassin. Going unnoticed is one of my specialties."

A silence fell around us, only occasionally broken by the ships creaking. It hit me that I didn't know much about Leland or his past. He was still a mystery to me.

"That should do it," He stated, abruptly standing and began walking back towards the entrance to the mess hall. He paused for a moment and turned around determinedly as if he had come to a decision. He walked back to me and took the shirt that he still had in his hands and carefully draped over my shoulders.

"Don't let the rest of the crew see you injured." He said softly, "They are already skeptical about having a woman lead them." He turned and walked briskly away, leaving the lantern and the silhouette of his muscular back imprinted on my vision.

×××××××××××××

Author Note!

Hi everyone, Mickey here! Thanks again Nan for writing this for me LOL

Chapter 21 babyyy! My chapter can legally drink alcohol lolllllll

That was hilarious^^ thank you very much

Thoughts >

Feelings >

Predictions >

Random >

How is your day today? Was it bad? Good? In between?

QOTD: Are you more of a reader or a writer?

I am definitely more a reader than a writer, (I think) but I have fun writing for other people, and I know my writing isn't bad and unreadable so IG I don't mind people reading my work.