Isle of Fire (49 page)

Convinced that Cutlass Jack and his crew were dead, Thorne looked about for the
Robert Bruce
and saw it knifing in to starboard. “Coming right for me?” Thorne was surprised. “Ready the starboard cannons!” he yelled. In the seconds before the command to fire, Thorne imagined sending a volley right into the
Bruce
's keel, breaking its spine . . .

Something hit the
Raven's Revenge
so hard that Thorne lurched forward and slammed into the ship's wheel. He fell to one knee . . . feeling disoriented and strange. When he stood at last, he saw that another ship had rammed them on the portside. Where had the ship come from? Who was it? He leaned over the rail of the quarterdeck and saw that the damage to the
Raven's Revenge
was extensive . . . but not fatal. Then he realized with dreadful certainty that the other ship's captain had made a grave error.

“Fire port cannons!” Thorne yelled.

Only a handful of the ship's port cannons opened up, but it was enough. Cannonballs tore into the
Constantine
and dislodged it from the
Raven's Revenge
. . . but not before dozens of intruders had come aboard. Thorne saw men climbing up the side of his ship. These men wore brown robes.

“The Brethren,” Thorne hissed. “Raukar! To the deck!”

The
Bruce
was finally in range. “Fire!!” Ross yelled.

“NO, DECLAN!!” Stede grabbed his friend and pointed. “Look!”

“Belay that order to fire!” Ross screamed. He saw what Anne had done and realized an errant shot could hit the
Constantine
. “Anne, what are you doing?”

“Nothing ya wouldn't have done, mon!” Stede answered.

Ross laughed. “You're right, Stede. Give me as much speed as you can!”

“Ohhh, Declan, ya not going to b' doing what I b' thinking?”

“I can't just leave her there!” Ross knew Stede understood his order, so he raced off the quarterdeck and warned his men to get away from the front of the
Bruce
. Then he went below and ordered Red Eye to round up everyone in sight for a boarding party.

“What ship are we boarding?” Red Eye asked.

“The
Raven's Revenge
.”

“I was hoping you'd say that, sir,” Red Eye said, and then he was off.

It was as if the
Constantine
had been blown right out from under them. Father Brun, Cat, Anne, and a dozen other monks had just leaped into the rigging of the
Raven's Revenge
when the cannons blasted the
Constantine
. Cat looked back over his shoulder and saw that the ship was already sinking. “No going back now,” said Cat.

“There never was,” Father Brun replied.

Thorne remained on the quarterdeck. He had a crew of two hundred Raukar warriors, at least a dozen Berserkers, and a handful of men from the
Talon
. The invaders stood little chance. Suddenly, the
Raven's Revenge
was rocked a second time, and Thorne flew into the portside rail. Standing and shrugging off the blow, Thorne saw the
Robert Bruce
smashed into his starboard bow.

Thorne couldn't believe Ross had the nerve, but it didn't matter. He'd do to the
Bruce
what he'd done to the first ship. “Fire starboard cannons!”

Thorne waited, but no cannons fired. “FIRE THE STARBOARD CANNONS!!” Thorne shrieked. But no cannons fired. Thorne realized that his men were up on deck, fighting the invaders. And somehow, the fight had just become a lot more even. Men poured over the
Bruce
's rail, swung across on ropes, and even leaped from the masts into the rigging on the
Raven's Revenge
. Thorne's main deck quickly filled with combatants. Their silhouettes danced strangely in front of the myriad of fires that burned on the deck.

“Now it comes to it, Declan!” Thorne yelled. He drew a sword in one hand and the bleeding stick in the other.

Declan Ross put a hand on Stede's shoulder and said, “I'm going after Thorne.”

“I b'right behind you, mon.” Lightning flashed overhead. Thunder boomed. “The storm won't b' the only thunder.” Stede took his huge gun from its holster.

The
Raven's Revenge
became a battlefield, and Red Eye led the charge. A huge Raukar warrior rose up in front of him. The Norse man hacked at Red Eye's legs, but Red Eye leaped, whirled in the air, and slashed his cutlass across his enemy's face.

Jules found a Berseker, or rather the Berserker found Jules. The crazed Raukar crashed into Jules, actually picked him up, and slammed him to the deck, crushing a burning barrel. Jules patted out a few licks of fire on his breeches, stood up, and cracked his knuckles. “You'll have to do better than that,” he said. Then Jules drove a heavy punch into the Berserker's midsection and then hooked an uppercut beneath the man's chin. Teeth flew out of the Berserker's mouth and blood flowed, but the Berserker came back. He swung clumsily for Jules, but missed. Jules slammed his ham-sized fists into the Berserker's chest and then wailed away at his face. Still the Berserker would not fall.

St. Pierre appeared behind the Berserker and dropped something into a nearby Raukar's leather armor. “Jules,” St. Pierre said, “I suggest you get out of the way!”

Jules and Jacques dove behind some crates on the deck just as the grenade went off. The Berserkers were no longer a problem.

Hack and Slash fought back to back, engaging four men at a time. Their system worked well . . . until it became fighting six men at a time. But with the aid of two Brethren monks, they survived to fight on.

Anne and Father Brun found themselves separated from Cat in the fighting with a sea of combatants between them. Several Raukar warriors drew swords and approached Anne and the monk.

“Are you ready?” Father Brun asked, pulling two fighting sticks from the sleeve of his robe.

Anne smiled and said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . .”

33
THE HURRICANE'S EYE

T
he storm worsened. The wind blew so hard that men doing battle were blown off the sides of the ship. Fires still burned, and the wind whipped the flames wildly. What was left of the
Constantine
had drifted and sunk. The
Bruce
, its bowsprit still impaling the
Raven's Revenge
, groaned and creaked with every gust. Still, the fighting raged on.

Bartholomew Thorne slammed his bleeding stick into the lower back of Brother Keegan. The monk toppled to the deck. He tried to get up, but found that he couldn't move. Thorne approached, lifted his cutlass sword, and as he was about to let it fall—

“Nooo!” Cat yelled. He leaped out of the rigging and faced his father near the mainmast.

“My prodigal son returns . . . again!” Thorne shook with anger. “The Merchant didn't kill you. Seems I can't trust anyone these days!”

Cat didn't waste time with words. He lunged at his father. Thorne deflected the blow with his own sword and brought the bleeding stick around. But Cat was too quick. Ducking his father's strike, he dropped to his knees and slashed his cutlass across his father's thigh. Blood poured from the wound. Thorne stumbled backward and fell into a Raukar warrior. Thorne got back to his feet. The crowds parted as Cat pressed in on his wounded father, driving him across the deck. Thorne ducked around the foremast and charged up the ladder to the forecastle.

Cat followed quickly, but not quickly enough. As Cat reached the top rungs of the ladder, Thorne slammed a heavy boot into Cat's jaw. Then Thorne reached down, grabbed Cat by the neck, and flung him headlong into the starboard rail. Cat's sword clattered to the deck. Cat fell in a lump at the feet of another man.

Ross quickly stepped between Cat and Bartholomew Thorne. Ross's gray eyes blazed. The wind whipped his corona of coppery hair around his face. He raised his cutlass and said, “What kind of a man tries to murder his own son . . . his own flesh and blood?”

Thorne did not answer, but with a raging howl, he ran forward. Ross charged as well, his sword moving in a blur. Their clash was so fierce that others near the forecastle stopped fighting to watch. But at that moment, the wind and rain stopped. An eerie silence fell upon the two locked ships. Ross and Thorne parted for a moment and looked around. The clouds overhead swirled darkly forming a curving wall. As the storm drifted slowly over, Ross saw that the wall was actually the edge of a vast tunnel through the massive clouds. And to his astonishment, he could see stars in the night sky.
The eye
, he thought.
We've reached the eye
. Others had drawn the same conclusion, but the battle resumed.

When Ross's and Thorne's swords met again, the sound was incredibly loud and distinct in the absence of the wind. Ross tried to angle in on Thorne's sword arm and keep the bleeding stick out of range. Ross struck for Thorne's upper arm, hoping to disable it and force Thorne to one weapon. Declan's attack cut across Thorne's shoulder, but not deep enough. Thorne stepped away from Ross's blade and toward the bow. Then Thorne slammed the butt of his bleeding stick into Ross's midsection. Ross doubled over, and Thorne drove a knee to the side of Ross's head. Ross dropped his sword and fell to the deck.