Chapter Text
Kara Danvers walked down the cobblestone pathway that lined the court yard. There were a group of soldiers in grey uniforms standing in formation, all gathered in a long line. A Sergeant yelled out a direction, the soldiers in training turning in unison. They continued to practice as Kara strolled past, crossing through the court yard and entering the inner naval fort. She had just been summoned to her general’s office for what she knew was going to be her next assignment.
Kara reached Isaac Hebrew’s office, knocking twice before entering. He was sitting at his desk, another naval captain sitting slightly off center from him, back turned to the door. Kara stood stiffly at attention as she stepped fully into the room. Isaac Hebrew looked from the other captain to Kara. “Ah, Captain Danvers! I’m happy to see you’re back from your trip,” General Hebrew said with curt nod.
Kara returned the nod while Hebrew offhandedly told her to at-ease, inviting her to sit down. Kara did as she was told, glancing at the other captain as she adjusted herself in the slightly uncomfortable chair. She recognized the man as Franklin Rowell; He captained a larger fighter ship named The Harpy. It was well known for being one of the most well-armed ships within a hundred miles. Right next to Kara’s ship, The Oryx.
Normally Kara was assigned to be alone during her deployments, or if she did have a second hand they weren’t nearly as armored as The Harpy. She silently wondered what task they were going to be given that required such heavy fire power.
Kara didn’t have to wait long for her answer, Hebrew launching straight into their assignment. “I have you both here because I need you two to work together; you’re the best captains in the fleet, and the most armed in all of the Royal Navy. The Harpy and The Oryx will be put on an escort assignment.” Kara tried not to quirk her eyebrow. An escort assignment? What- or who –was so important that it needed both of them to be its escort?
Hebrew seemed to see the confusion on Kara’s face, briefly explaining more. “The Queen has personally asked for you two. She recognizes your near perfect track records, and knows you’ll get the job done right.” Isaac glanced between his two captains, thick eyebrows low in concentration.
After a pause Kara couldn’t help but ask the question burning in her mind. “What exactly are we escorting, sir?” Hebrew met her gaze, prepared for the question. “Officially, you’re transporting a simple shipment of supplies to our allies across the sea… Unofficially, you’re escorting Sameer Humphrey back to his kingdom.”
Sameer Humphrey was the king of the neighboring continent, which just so happened to be a very important trading route and a very powerful ally. “But sir, doesn’t Humphrey have is own naval fleet?” Rowell asked, raising his own eyebrow.
“He does, but technically he’s not supposed to be here; which is why you two will tell no one about who you are escorting… Not even your crew. If anyone should ask, you’re transporting a simple shipment of supplies to allies across the sea.” Hebrew gave a stern look to each of his captains, trying to make sure they understood.
Rowell put a hand to his chin, petting his scraggily mustache as he leaned on his elbow. Both captains were rather confused, looking to their general. It was an odd assignment and Kara had many questions. Why was Sameer Humphrey secretly on their side of the ocean? What was he doing with the Queen that no one could know about?
“You two will set sail tomorrow morning. You have two weeks to get the shipment to its required destination.” Kara tried not to show her disgruntlement. Where they needed to go wasn’t exactly close, and with only two weeks it would be near impossible to get there on time. It normally took over a month in her experience, but she had to remind herself that that was with multiple stops and different ports. Kara and Franklin would have to plan their path very carefully in order for this to work, but something told Kara that they weren’t on the same page.
Hebrew dismissed the two captains, both of them getting up and leaving the room silently. Franklin hadn’t said much the entire meeting, but as soon as the doors closed he started ordering Kara around. “Come with me to my ship so we can chart a course.” Rowell led the way to The Harpy; she was a boring brown stained ship with blue and white sails. However, she was extremely large with some beautiful artillery mounted on her.
Rowell took Kara into his captain’s quarters, the main room being an office. There was a large table with many maps messily strewn across. Straight away the two got to business, Rowell pulling out a map that showed the entire known sea and continents.
“I believe the fastest way to get there would be to head straight north, through this ocean, then cut west when we reach this point on the coast,” Kara suggested as soon as she looked at the maps, pointing out the area’s she mentioned. There weren’t any obstacles in the way, and it was a rather direct path. Most importantly it was safe, and Kara liked safe.
“I heard that the currents around this Gulf are the best. We should go west, under the southern coast, then north through the Gulf,” Rowell explained in an almost lazy tone, like he wasn’t even listening to Kara. She studied the path Rowell was pointing out, arms crossed over her chest.
The bottom left corner of the map had no information on it, just the image of sea monsters and fog, which line the entire border of the map. Normally people would ignore the decorative fog, but it gave Kara an uneasy feeling. “What do you think is in there? It’d be best to avoid anything we’re uncertain about. I’ve never taken the path you’re talking about, and it looks longer.”
“Those are just some decorative drawings, Danvers. Nothing more. That’s where the currents are best, so I’ve heard. It’s longer, but faster.” Rowell was older and a more experienced captain, seeming to be very sure of himself. He talked as if he had sailed the route before. It made Kara start to doubt her plan hearing Rowell talk. “You’re certain those monsters mean nothing? We’re sailing quite close to them.”
Rowell waved his hand, scoffing as if Kara just asked a dumb question. “I swear on my life that it’s a simple drawing! There’s never been a reported attack in that area.” The uneasy feeling grew inside Kara, settling into a pit in her stomach. She chalked it up to nerves, having always stayed safe with her sailing.
“Very well then. If you insist. I look forward to sailing with you, captain.” Despite her ‘endearing’ words, she offered no hand to shake. Instead, she turned and escorted herself off The Harpy, feeling vaguely confused and unsure. She should have pushed a little harder on taking a different way, but the last time she tried to question a more experienced captain she almost lost her rank.
So, Kara decided to push down her anxiety. She made her way to her vessel, The Oryx. She was a large ship- although a little smaller than The Harpy –and was almost as heavily armed. The Oryx was painted an almost black navy blue with a bright red stripe running along the upper side. Her sails were white, bleached clean almost every time Kara docked her. The Oryx was her pride and joy, so she made sure to take good care of her.
As Kara walked onto the desk, the men who were working on maintenance stood at attention. Someone yelled, “Captain on deck!” Kara nodded her approval, allowing the men to continue their work. Kara had a crew of about thirty men, but most of them were in the city using their last day to write letters to their family for the last time for two weeks… That, or they were spending some time at bars and brothels, not having a family to write to.
Kara went to her quarters, sitting at the large desk and pulling out paperwork. With every assignment Kara had to record how much estimated provisions they were going to go through, to let the higher ups know how much they needed for future trips. It was a sort of inventory system, in short.
As she worked there was a vigorous knock on the door. “Come in,” Kara called, looking up from her papers. A man in a grey sailors uniform stepped in, smiling wide as he looked at Kara. Winn Schott was a very bubbly man who always had something funny to say. His short brown hair was always wild and snarled from the sea wind, and he never seemed to learn how to properly shave.
Winn was Kara’s first mate and like a brother to her. He had been in port for the past three months, having to deal with a sick family member while Kara sailed through her past deployment. She had written him weeks ago telling him to be in this specific town by this date, happy to see he had listened.
It was the first time they had seen each other in such a long time that Kara couldn’t help but jump up from her desk bear hugging Winn. They held the embrace for a few moments before Kara pulled away. “It’s good to see you, Winn! How’s the land been treating you?” Winn’s signature grin grew wider. “It’s a little too still for me, to be honest. The women here are fantastic, though! I was sweet on one for a few weeks,” Winn chuckled, inviting himself into the cabin further.
“I’m certain it broke the poor girls heart to see you go; like all the others,” Kara faked sympathy, pressing a palm over her heart. Winn was a notorious womanizer who refused to stay with one woman for over a month.
“There were tears,” Winn said as he lazily looked at the map on Kara’s desk, “but I told her I had to get back to my beautiful Captain.” He mischievously looked up, eyes displaying his testing yet flirtatious meaning. Kara pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow. “She must have been very confused, considering she probably assumed your captain was another man and all.” Winn laughed, both at his failed attempt to swoon Kara, and the blankly stated comment.
“She was very confused, yes.” Kara rolled her eyes, never understanding Winn’s humor. “So where are we going now, Captain?” Winn switched back to the maps on the table. Kara stepped in closer to her work, pointing at where they were now. She explained Captain Rowell’s plan, and that they were going to follow him.
Winn showed his confusion about the route they were going, but he didn’t seem worried about the unknown fog like Kara was. “Why would he risk going such an experimental way? What are we escorting that seems to be of such little importance to him?” Winn looked up with a furrowed brow.
Kara thought back to Hebrew’s warning; No one must know- not even her crew –who they were transporting. “An important merchants ship that’s carrying supplies for the neighboring government. I think there might be crown jewels thrown in there as well.” Winn hummed in understanding, nodding.
“Ah, that explains why Rowell is so careless. He thinks that he should be showing off his ‘skill’ for the royals. What a self-image obsessed prick.” Winn’s comment made sense; if he was going to show off, why not do it for the king himself? He must be trying to show how fast he can sail. Winn was right, that was incredibly selfish… Still, Kara knew there was no point to try and go against his plan. He was obviously dead set on trying to astonish everyone.
“Yes, well… Let him show off. As long as we get there with no damage, I don’t care.” Winn agreed, turning away from the maps. “Well, I better go tell the boys and do a roll call before it gets too late.” He started to walk out of the door, but paused to look at Kara. “It’s good to see you, Kara. Truly.” Kara smiled and gave a dismissive nod. With that, Winn was gone, closing the door behind himself.
**********
The ship rocked and swayed over the ocean waves. The Harpy and The Oryx had set sail two hours ago, a small merchant shipped named Leviathan sailing between them. It felt good to be back on the water. Kara felt truly at home, more than she ever felt on land.
Kara stood on the raised deck of the stern, looking out where the coast had once been. Her crew was lively behind her, running around the ship and making sure they were staying at the same speed as The Harpy and Leviathan. The first two days passed like that, and for the most part everything went smoothly. On the evening of the second day, however, Kara noticed a storm way off in the distance. It looked to be just off the southern coast; right where they were supposed to be passing.
Kara quickly wrote a message to The Harpy on a tiny scroll, asking if they planned on going through the storm. It would be dangerous, and danger was the opposite of what they needed on this mission. Kara attached the letter to the hawk they used to send messages back and forth between naval vessels. Within the hour Kara got a message back. It read;
”We will be traveling further south to avoid the clouds. The currents should still be strong a few miles off the coast. –Rowell”
Kara frowned. Further south meant closer to the fog she was worried about. Those were uncharted water. It was then that Kara remembered the aloof pirate she had been tasked to hunt years ago; Captain Athena.
Queen Victoria, the ruler she lived under, had asked her personally at a formal dancing event being held in her palace to hunt down the Pirate Queen. That had been two years, the queen mentioning that the assignment was top secret and Kara had to continue on with her regular navy duties while she searched.
For the first year of the assignment Kara worked hard on searching for the Pirate Queen, but with her normal naval assignments she got stuck at a dead end. It didn’t help that Captain Athena had also suddenly disappeared.
What if south was where this captain had been hiding for so long? No one had spotted her for a year and a half now. Kara silently hoped she could stay hidden for a little longer. Regardless, however, the storm was just as dangerous as the unknown parts of the sea. There would be no choice but to follow Rowell’s lead.
The three ships floated off into the night, The Harpy turning to move slightly south. Kara tried to keep record of where they were, using her map and charting tools, but the further south they got, the more uneasy she felt. They were so far down at this point that she couldn’t even use maps anymore. They had fallen off the edge.
The evening of the second day trailed into the morning of the third. All night there had been no sightings of anything unusual. Now, however, there was some small dot on the southern horizon to Kara’s left. Winn pointed it out to a sleep deprived Kara, who grabbed her largest spy glass and looked into its direction.
Ships… They were ships. Kara could see the sails, although they were small black blobs to her. Kara wasted no time in sending another message to The Harpy. Her stomach churned as she waited for the reply to come;
”There’s no reason to fret so much, Captain Danvers. We will be gone before they even get close. The tides are in our favor. –Rowell”
That didn’t ease Kara’s anxiety. If anything, it made it worse. She tore the letter up in frustration, walking to the port of her ship. She kept her blue eyes trained on the small blob of ships for hours, not daring to look away. She wasn’t able to count how many ships there were, but one was already too many for her.
All morning nothing eventful happened, so Winn told Kara to take a break to eat and rest her eyes. “You’ve hardly blinked since you noticed them,” were his exact words. Reluctantly, Kara agreed and stepped away. She was down in her cabin for maybe two hours, eating and trying to chart where they were now.; they were still off the edge of the map.
Kara had just thrown down her tools in frustration when Winn hurried into her cabin. He was pale, a letter from The Harpy clutched in his hand;
”Protect the Leviathan”
Kara burst out of her chair and stormed up to the main deck. The ships were maybe 3 leagues away. Now Kara could clearly count five large ships. When Kara looked at them through the spy glass, her heart sank. The flat of the largest ship showed a red skull with a bloody heart in its mouth.
Captain Athena was back.
Collapsing her spyglass, Kara turned to her crew. She could feel her face blanch, but she kept her composure. Kara started to call directions out to her crew in a loud voice, pointing as she ordered them to different stations. They needed to flank the Leviathan, to keep from any harm coming to it. Kara took the wheel herself, guiding The Oryx over to the Leviathan.
She got them close enough for a board to be put between them, instructing for some of her soldiers to go onto their deck. She was so occupied with the Leviathan that Kara only just noticed The Harpy fleeing. Her sails were fully out, and Kara could see that the men were throwing heavy, useless items out the sides of the ship to make it lighter. “Those fucking cowards,” Kara growled through gritted teeth.
Despite The Harpy’s attempts, however, they didn’t seem to be going very fast. Slowly they came even closer, to the point where Kara was actually starting to come closer them. They weren’t speeding up, so how was The Harpy so slow?
Kara glanced at the fleet behind them and saw they were almost upon them, coming in with incredible speed. Was this what the stories meant when they said Captain Athena had control of the sea? She could hear the men on The Harpy starting to yell at one another in panic realizing they were now moving backwards.
Kara looked at Winn, who had also noticed the enemy getting closer at an unnaturally quick pace. “Take the wheel, Winn. I need to get my weapons.” Winn’s face paled, but he nodded and grabbed the helm. Just before Kara started to run down the stairs to the main deck, she noticed The Harpy was now drifting past them, as if they were being sucked closer to Captain Athena by a vacuum.
Unable to bother with the deserters, Kara hurried down to her quarters. She grabbed her flint pistol, a bag of ammunition, and her officer’s sword. She had just finished strapping the sword to her side when she heard the first shot. There was the sound of splintering wood seconds after, but Kara didn’t feel any sort of jolt or impact.
She ran back onto the main deck of her ship just in time to see The Harpy’s main mast collapse into the water a few hundred feet behind them. It damaged the main deck heavily as it crashed down, like a tree falling onto a house.
Kara’s first thought was to leave The Harpy; let the pirates get distracted with taking her down while The Oryx and Leviathan got away. However, she knew that wouldn’t work. The Devil’s Heart was impossibly fast. Kara was starting to believe more and more that Captain Athena had some sort of mystical power over the tides.
Instead of running, Kara took command of the cannons, ordering them to be drawn and aimed at Captain Athena’s fleet. The Leviathan seemed to also get ready for battle, drawing out small guns. The Devil’s Heart shot three more times with forward facing canons mounted to the bow of the ship.
All of them hit The Harpy in the back of the stern, causing it to take on water quickly. The bow started to lift very slightly out of the water. Kara cursed under her breath, taking the wheel from Winn. She quickly started to turn left so The Oryx would spin around to face the pirate fleet. Two of the five ships were focused on The Harpy, pulling up to board her. The Devil’s Heart and two other ships focused on the Leviathan and The Oryx.
Kara could feel the adrenaline pumping through her body when she got The Oryx into position, the front of her ship pointed towards the fleet now. “Aim!” Kara yelled over the wind and cannon fire. Her men scrambled to the bow facing guns, loading them and turning towards the closest ship- a small yellow vessel with black sails. “Fire!” Kara called out.
There were four deafening shots that rang out, all but one hitting the yellow ship in the bow. The Harpy had now been boarded by the two ships, and Kara could hear the gunfire and screaming. The Leviathan was shooting their small cannons as the Devil’s Heart, but missed each time. Their guns seemed to have terrible range and accuracy.
Kara ordered for The Oryx to fire again, hitting the yellow ship once, and a blue ship twice. They seemed to be protecting the Devil’s Heart, surrounding her and only moving when she went to shoot. The Devil’s Heart fired at They Oryx, grazing her across the deck. Kara gasped as the entire ship rocked from the impact, gripping the wheel for balance.
Taking a breath to steady herself, Kara ordered for The Oryx to fire again, now in a position for all port guns to shoot. Fifteen shots rang out, all of them decimating the closest yellow ship. The entire vessel was split in half, splintering as the stern quickly started to sink into the water. The crew of The Oryx called out in triumph, but it was short lived.
The Harpy was sunk, and now there were all four ships focused on The Oryx and Leviathan. Kara swallowed hard. She no longer focused her efforts on the ship closest to her, instead ordering her men to fire at the ship closest to the Leviathan. Another fifteen shots went out, but most of them landed just short in the water.
A countless amount of cannon fire came from the four ship fleet. All of them shredded through the Leviathan and The Oryx. The Leviathan started to visibly sink, getting surrounded by Captain Athena’s fleet. The Devil’s Heart looked to be boarding her, and Kara knew their secret cargo was in danger.
Kara turned The Oryx around as fast as she could. She needed to stop them from getting to the king. As she was steering, Winn ran up to her. The Oryx crew continued to shoot off defensive rounds of cannon fire as Winn yelled to Kara, “Captain, the Leviathan is lost! We must leave her. We can still get out of here! Why are we risking our lives for this cargo?!”
No, they couldn’t get away. Even if Kara turned this ship around right now, with the Devil’s Heart busy boarding the Leviathan, the fleet was too fast. Something supernatural slowed her ship down, preventing The Oryx from running. Besides, Kara refused to become a coward and run like the Harpy. Look how far that got them. The entire ship was now below the churning, foaming sea.
Kara ordered for another wave of cannon balls, heavily hitting the blue ship, before answering Winn. “That ship has Sameer Humphrey on it, Winn. This was supposed to be a secret assignment. We protect that ship with our lives!”
Winn looked shocked, visibly blanching, but as another round of cannon balls hit The Oryx, he ran back to his station. Kara knew they were going down, feeling their speed slow due to the water that was pouring through their hull. That didn’t stop her from getting close to the damaged blue ship.
Within seconds of getting close pirates were swinging onto the deck of The Oryx. The first wave was taken down quickly, but the second group swung in right behind them. Kara tried to keep steering for as long as possible. Her goal was to use what was left of The Oryx as a battering ram. Hopefully she could cripple the Devil’s Heart and kill Captain Athena before she got to the king.
A pirate came running up to Ewin, screaming as he held his sword high. Kara quickly stepped backwards, drawing her pistol just in time to shoot him in the chest. The pirate collapsed to the ground and Kara took the helm again.
They were three hundred feet from the Devil’s Heart. They crossed between two ships, The Oryx’s hull scraping along their sides. That didn’t stop them, though.
Two hundred feet. Kara stepped away to shoot at some more pirates who were trying to stop her.
One hundred feet. The ship that had once been Kara’s pride and joy was now nothing but future drift wood. Kara clenched her teeth as emotion welled inside of her.
Fifty Feet.
Twenty-Five Feet.
“Brace!” Kara screamed to anyone who could hear her.
There was an earth shattering crash as The Oryx slammed into the Devil’s Heart’s hull. Water started to foam and froth over the sides of the ship, The Oryx officially sinking. Kara blindly shot at anyone who was not her crew until she was out of bullets.
Then she pulled her officers saber out, fighting with a large- but slow –pirate. She dodged his swings easily, stepping forward and driving her sword into his gut. The man fell, but Kara had no time to check if he was dead.
She needed to get to Captain Athena.
To kill her.
Everything was chaos. People were slashing and swinging all around her. The crew of The Oryx were falling, one after another, but so were Captain Athena’s men. The air was thick was smoke and it smelt like blood and salt.
Kara stepped over and on top of so many bodies, but she had no time to pay attention to her footing. She was just about to reach a clearing when suddenly all the wind was knocked out of her. Someone had tackled Kara, pushing a warm pistol barrel to her head. The man looked like he was about to pull the trigger when he noticed the blue color of Kara’s uniform, indicating her naval rank.
The man looked overjoyed, switching the pistol around to bash the side of Kara’s head. The last thing Kara felt was the searing pain of the pistol whip in her temple, and the muscles in her neck wrenching painfully as her head snapped to the side. Her vision went black, the sound of shouting and gunfire all around her fading into silence.
**********
When Kara woke up, all she could smell was gunpowder, iron, and salt. She could feel blood crusted onto the side of her face, and her entire body hurt. Kara slowly opened her eyes to see she was lying face down on the deck of a ship. The sun was blinding, Kara grinding her teeth together as she squinted through the glaring pain. This wasn’t The Oryx she was laying on, noticing that the decking was painted black.
Kara knew exactly where she was, her heart sinking.
Someone lifted her up by her bound arms, sitting her up on her knees, allowing her to get a good view of the ship around her. The black and crimson colors of the ship were the Devil’s Heart’s colors.
Kara was surrounded by pirates, but to her right was a line of her own people. Winn, Captain Rowell, two men she didn’t recognize, and the king all knelt there, bound just like her.
Winn looked at Kara with wide, terrified eyes. He had a painful looking cut along his chest, the other captives looking just as rugged and beat up. Kara didn’t know what to feel first; fear over the fact that she was capture by the most ruthless pirate in all of history, or anger over her lost crew and ship.
The group of captives were surrounded by a large group of bloodied pirates, all of them looking excited for what was apparently going to come next.
The sound of boots slowly thudding across the deck emerged over the sound of dull chatter.
The pirates went silent, turning to look at the source of the noise. A few men parted to the side to let someone walk through. At first there was too much glare from the sun over the figures head, making it hard for Kara to see who was walking through the crowd. As the figure got closer, however, Kara could see who it was perfectly.
Strands of hair blacker than night hung out of the wide-brimmed hat, a bun tied low and lose to keep most of the long black hair off of the captains shoulders. Strong features that were oddly pale despite being out in the constant sun peered from under the feathered hat. A smirk pulling at painted crimson lips. Her outfit looked well worn, yet there were no holes or patches to be seen, unlike her crew. She was pristine, her face beautiful but deadly.
Captain Athena had piercing green eyes that scanned across the line of captives. There was no emotion behind them, a hard pull to her perfect brow despite the smirk of glee on Athena’s face. In any other context Kara would have openly admitted that she thought the woman standing before her was the most beautiful person she’d ever seen, but the blood of her crew members splattered across Athena’s face and clothing destroyed any sort of attraction.
As Athena scanned the captives, her ice green eyes landed on King Humphery. Her smirk grew, the emotion seemingly stuck on the lower half of her face. “Gentlemen… It looks like we have royalty in our midst.” Captain Athena did a fake, obnoxious bow, her crew chuckling. Some spit at the king’s face, making him wince away.
Athena stood straight, stepping closer to the king. She reached out with a heavily ringed hand to grab his jaw, forcing Sameer to look up at her. She was tall compared to most women Kara knew, but Kara was at least 6 feet tall, so most women were short in her mind. It did help, however, that Athena’s boots gave her an extra two inches of height.
“Why were you in such a rush to leave the party, your majesty?” The crew laughed again, but the king said nothing. He looked stoically up at Captain Athena, eyes narrowing. She sneered at his silence, shoving his face away. His lack of reactions seemed to bore her already.
“Do you know how much money I could get if I sold you to one of my business partners, Humphery?” Athena paced theatrically, glancing around her crew before looking back at her captive. “Let’s just say I would be able to go into retirement for good, and still have millions left over.”
Kara frowned, clenching her fists angrily behind her back as she watched Athena stroll back over to the king. “but rumor has it you’ve been sleeping with someone I despise.” Humphery’s stoic features broke into a shocked look, obviously wondering how Athena found out.
His face gave the captain all the confirmation she needed.
Athena’s face grew red with rage. She pulled a dazzling sword from its scabbard at her side, pointing it under the king’s chin. “Anyone willing to sleep with that vile creature you call a queen deserves to die.” Before Kara could even think to say anything to stop the pirate captain, she pushed effortlessly forward, her sword piercing straight through the king’s neck.
Athena didn’t stop until the hand guard hit Sameer’s throat. She leaned close to his face and growled, “The deepest layer of hell awaits you, your majesty.” With a flourish, she ripped the blade out, sending blood splattering across the deck.
A few more strands of black hair fell across Athena’s face as she stood up straight again. She took her obnoxious hat off, tossing it to a random crew member to brush the hair back. When the crew member offered the hat again, she denied it with a simple wave of her hand.
Now her attention was placed on the remaining captives. Kara could feel her own rage boiling inside of her, knowing she had officially failed her mission. The king was dead, and Athena was going to win. If only looks could kill.
“I’m terribly sorry for making the rest of you wait.” Athena smiled sweetly, turning to the man who had been next to Sameer Humphery. She questioned who she was coldly. The man answered that he was the captain of the Leviathan with a quivering voice, fear clear as day in his eyes.
Of course he was stabbed straight away, right in the gut. Athena scolded him for willingly helping the king, saying whoever helped such a man- a man who slept with her enemy –was just as bad as her enemy.
Next was the Leviathan’s first mate. He died screaming, but was shut up when a crew member broke his jaw with an aggressive kick. Captain Rowell was next. He was crying as he answered Athena’s questions about who he was. A look of recognition passed over her face. “Ah… So you’re the cowards who tried to run when you saw us,” Athena said in an amused voice. She cut his throat as he was begging for his life, not even bothering to let the Leviathans first mate beg or cry before she decapitated him with her sword.
Finally, Captain Athena turned to Winn and Kara. She visibly paused, her gaze studying Kara before switching lazily to Winn with much less interest on her face. “A female captain? So you must be the first mate.” Athena casually gestured her blood covered sword between the two of them, as if pointing.
Winn stoically nodded, his eyes hard. “And did you know who you were escorting?” Winn paused and slowly shook his head. Athena looked at Kara, who glared back for a moment before nodding. Athena moved to press her blade against Kara’s neck. It was uncomfortably warm, sticky with blood. “I’ll allow you some last words, considering you managed to sink one of my ships.”
Kara’s eyes narrowed. “I should have tried harder to find and kill you when I had the chance.” This made Athena pause. Slowly, a smile spread across her face. “And what do you mean by that?” There was no reason for Kara to be quiet about her past secrete assignment anymore. “That queen you hate so much hired me two years ago to kill you… But you disappeared before I could.”
Kara ground her teeth as she continued to try setting Athena ablaze just by looking at her; it didn’t seem to be working. Athena’s smiled slowly faded, her sword dropping from her hand. Suddenly, she reached out and grabbed Kara by the throat. Athena pushed backwards until the back of Kara’s head slammed heavily against the side wall of the ship, stars shooting across her vision. Athena’s fingers tightened against her throat, pressing against the artery in Kara’s neck.
“Leave her alone, you heartless bastard!” Winn yelled, struggling against his ties. He fell over for a moment as he tried to move towards the two captains. Everyone was so occupied with Athena and Kara that they didn’t move to catch him in time.
Winn managed to get to his feet and bodily slam into Athena, knocking them both to the deck. Within half a second five men were dragging Winn off their leader violently. Athena quickly stood, her lip split from getting head butted by Kara’s first mate.
Kara watched in terror as Athena grabbed her fallen sword. Rage radiated off the pirate captain, her grip on the hilt so tight it turned her knuckles white. The men holding Winn shoved him to his knees, bending his torso back so his chest was directed towards the sky.
Thick black clouds swarmed overhead without warning, lighting striking close by. Athena seemed to swell in anger, her ice green eyes ablaze. “You want to see heartless?! I’ll show you heartless!”
Athena raised her sword high.
Kara tried screaming out for her to stop.
It was too late, the sword lurching forward and piercing Winn’s chest. With jagged, awkward movements the captain carved his heart out. Winn screamed, his voice mixing with Kara’s pleading cries. Within less than a minute Athena had Winn’s heart in her hand, her men throwing the body to the ground.
Kara continued to scream gibberish at Athena, refusing to look at Winn’s body. Athena turned to Kara, seeming to have had enough. “Shut up!” The pommel of her sword swung around and slammed into Kara’s already throbbing temple
Kara’s vision went black, falling to the side
Into a puddle of her first mates blood.