Read Jim Morgan and the Pirates of the Black Skull Online
Authors: James Raney
Jim Morgan and the Pirates of the Black Skull
Copyright © 2013 James Matlack Raney
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0985835931
ISBN 13: 9780985835934
Books in the Jim Morgan series:
Jim Morgan and the King of Thieves
Jim Morgan and the Pirates of the Black Skull
To COL James P. Holley, USA Retired,
one of the best men I’ve ever known.
BOOK I: Danger and Doom on the High Seas
1. At the Lighthouse by the Sea
7. The Potion and the Black Rose
11. In the Captain’s Quarters Aboard the
Spectre
12. Lacey’s Stars and a Talisman Lost
16. The Shop of Egidio Quattrochi
17. Jim Morgan and Dread Steele
19. The Queen of the Merpeople
20. Dark Schemes Aboard the
Sea Spider
BOOK II: On the Shores of the Veiled Isle
5. The Brothers Ratt Versus the Sisters Three
9. Fording the Tears of the Mountain
11. George Ratt and the Queen of the Faeries
16. While Jim was in the Chamber
19. Jim Morgan and the Pirates of the Black Skull
20. The Many Lies of Splitbeard the Pirate
21. The Crimson Storm’s Revenge
23. Sailing on For Distant Shores
n dark nights, when the wind grows cold and the rain falls hard in London, the old pirates at the Inn of the Wet Rock spin tales as black as the weather. They tell of ghosts, devils, monsters, and magic by the light of a roaring fire.
There is one story darker than all the rest. It is the legend of the Pirates of the Black Skull, and the finding of the Treasure of the Ocean.
Many years ago, four friends vowed to seek out a long lost treasure from time out of legend. The four called themselves the Pirates of the Black Skull. Beyond the farthest islands they sailed. Into the deepest oceans they ventured. They uncovered ancient and dangerous secrets - secrets of magic and power not meant for mortal men. At long last, in the safekeeping of a kingdom under the sea, the pirates found the Treasure of the Ocean. It was a treasure worth more than silver and gold.
The Pirates of the Black Skull stole the Treasure. They bore it away to a ruined temple upon the shores of a forgotten island. There, beneath a stormy sky, they sought to unlock the Treasure’s power. But men’s greed and the Treasure’s magic were both beyond the pirates’ reckoning.
The pirates’ lust for power corrupted their friendship. Within the walls of the temple they turned on each other and fought until one of the four was struck down dead. The Treasure’s magic turned the dying man’s blood into an enchanted cloud, a Crimson Storm bent upon fury and revenge. The remaining pirates barely escaped each other and the red storm with their lives. But the Treasure of the Ocean was lost once more.
Some say the story ends there. They say that the Treasure of the Ocean is gone forever and the wise should leave it so. But others have heard rumors, tales, and hints that the Treasure was found again. They’ve heard that the Crimson Storm still haunts the sea. They say those that remain of the Pirates of the Black Skull still seek to regain that which was lost…and will kill whoever stands in their way.
ONE
he pirate captain drew his sword as he crossed the ship’s deck. His cheek twitched with wicked glee beneath a grungy eyepatch. Through the sun’s harsh glare he leered at his prisoner with his one good eye, holding her at bay with the point of his blade.
“Prepare yer soul for Saint Peter, and yer body for Davy Jones’ locker, young lass. Ye’ve crossed us fer the last time and now me and me scurvy crew’ll be seein’ ya to sleep with the fishies o’ the deep. Walk the plank, ye dog!”
The prisoner, her arms bound in rope, backed down the plank. A hint of fear swirled in her eyes. Her auburn curls drifted in the ocean wind. Her name was Lacey. Once she had roamed the streets of London
with a small clan of thieves. But now she cowered at end of a pirate’s plank, just above the threat of the ocean deep.