Across The Sea (27 page)

“Give me the keys to unlock my
brother!” Francis shouted after him.

Bodin paid him no heed as Elroy
and Ratwell approached, Elroy now giggling to himself. Lily
positioned herself, readying herself to fight. She looked up into
Ratwell’s eyes, as Elroy looked down at Francis.

“Give me the keys for my
brother!” Francis barked again.

Bodin did not respond.

“You’d have to let go of that
thing to help us,” Francis accused. “Wouldn’t you?”

Bodin pushed the Acadae into
the tunnel.

“You can still make a change,”
Francis said. “It’s not too late.”

“And why would he do that?”
Elroy asked, smiling down at Francis.

“My brother says that long ago,
he just… felt compelled.”

“Ha!” Elroy laughed, and
slashed his sword down – at Francis’ head.

“No!” Lily screamed.

Clang
! Elroy’s sword
stopped in mid-air. Another sword pulled back in a flash – the
sword that had stopped Elroy’s, and penetrated Elroy through the
chest.

“Bodin!” Leonard yelled.

Bodin retrieved his bloodied
sword, as Captain Leonard hauled the Acadae from the tunnel.

Ratwell swung his sword
sideways at Lily.

Clang
!

Bodin intercepted once more,
and thrust his blade to finish Ratwell, but Ratwell moved too fast
and slammed Bodin’s sword with his own.

Bodin’s started something he
can’t walk away from
, Francis thought.

The two swords clashed
again.

Ratwell’s right leg shot up
high to kick Bodin against the rock wall – but Bodin caught the
foot with one hand and flung it – spinning Ratwell away – and
giving Bodin the chance to reach into his robes and pull out the
silver ring of square keys which he threw at Francis. Francis
caught them, and Lily grabbed one arm, pulling him away.

Francis stared back at Bodin,
now being surrounded by Ratwell, Captain Leonard and the eleven
guards.
It’s just like before
, Francis thought as Lily
pulled harder.
Just like he did with the Spanish all those years
ago. He’s giving himself up. Again.

“Bodin!” he bellowed. He could
not believe he was leaving him to die. Lily shoved him into the
tunnel. “Bodin!” he cried again.

Francis, however, realized he
had to move; staying would only prevent his friends and his brother
from escaping this wretched island alive.

* * *

Bodin eyed all thirteen men
surrounding him. Captain Leonard and Ratwell came at him, slashing
their swords. Bodin swung his own –
clang
! – intercepting
both, and kicked down hard into Leonard’s wounded leg.

“Ohh!” Leonard yelped, grasping
his wound in shocking pain, as he stepped back, behind Ratwell.

“Whoever claims victory in the
valley,” Bodin said, fighting off Ratwell’s brisk sword, “they
shall never let you off this island with it.”

Three Spanish royal guards
moved up behind Bodin, thrusting their swords at him.

Bodin spun and struck all three
swords with one tremendous whack.

From the corner of his eye, he
saw Ratwell smile at him as he bent down to the Acadae on the
ground. Ratwell lifted it with both hands and plunged it, slamming
it into the rock.

A buzz sounded from the
Acadae.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz...

It remained. Constant.

Bodin drove his sword into one
guard, and stepped back as he swung out behind him, killing a
second.

“You cannot reverse its work
now,” he warned, swiping his sword sideways at the third guard.
“You cannot de-activate it.”

The third guard tried to
intercept Bodin’s fleeting sword, but he was too late and Bodin cut
through his heart. The guard fell to the rock, lifeless.

“That is very fortunate for
us,” Leonard said. “The storm will create a panic and make our
escape that much easier.”

“Perhaps you’ll manage to
escape mere mortal men. But no one will escape this storm.”

Five royal guards all rushed
Bodin.

“Atlantis did not sink in a
day,” Bodin revealed, swinging his sword. “It sank in minutes.”
Clang
! “And we are underground.”
Clink
! “You have
just murdered yourselves.”

Ratwell stepped before Bodin.
The relic must die.

* * *

Lily and Francis reached the
cave and found Alianna and Michael sitting on the ground, still
bound in chains.

“Francis!” Michael exclaimed.
He was ecstatic.

“We have to hurry,” Francis
said, stooping before Michael and trying one of the square keys on
a manacle.

Grrrrrrrrrr
…

The ground rumbled beneath
their feet. Then stopped.

“What was that?” Lily
asked.

“They’ve activated it,” Michael
said. “This island is about to sink to the bottom of the ocean. We
have minutes, if that.”

Francis unlocked the last of
Michael’s manacles and then went to work on Alianna’s with the
regular key. Once she was free, they all ran from the cave. Michael
was limping; he had not run in a long time. He smiled down at
Francis who looked concerned. “I’m all right, brother. Just keep
running.”

* * *

A sword swiped close to his arm.
Bodin twisted his entire body and turned. Ratwell charged, sword
shredding. Bodin kicked one of the guards in the knee, gripped the
back of his neck and thrust him forward, into Ratwell’s sword. He
then grabbed another’s loose hand, halted an oncoming sword with
his own, and swung the owner of the hand toward the pierced guard,
skewering him onto Ratwell’s sword as well.

Ratwell used both hands to pull
at his sword, as Bodin, fighting off two other men, kicked the
skewered guards. The cadavers fell, Ratwell still yanking at the
hilt of his sword. Bodin whirled, cutting down his two opponents.
Captain Leonard, limping, swung at his back, as Bodin leaned
forward, pounding a guard in the stomach with his shoulder. He
lifted the guard, like a sack of potatoes, and threw him back.
Leonard’s sword caught the flying guard in the neck, killing the
guard, as the dead man collided with Leonard, toppling the pirate
captain.

“Ohhhh,” he yelped again, his
wound smacking the hard rock.

Bodin faced the three last
remaining guards as they ambushed him.

“Ahhh!” one of them cried.

Bodin sensed Ratwell, with his
newly released talisman, approaching from behind as the guard who
had just hollered drove his blade toward Bodin’s chest. Another
sword sliced toward his neck. Bodin dropped sideways to the
serrated ground, avoiding both blades. Ratwell plunged his sword
downward, as Bodin stabbed one guard dead and tripped another with
his feet, making him fall between himself and Ratwell’s talisman.
Bodin rolled away as Ratwell involuntarily pierced his weapon
through yet another guard. He wrenched it back, shaking his head.
As the last guard charged from behind Ratwell toward Bodin, Ratwell
turned and shoved his own blade through the Spanish man’s
heart.

“Enough with the idiot show
dancers,” Ratwell muttered, turning, as Bodin came straight at him.
Ratwell swung his sword up –
clank
! – taking Bodin by
surprise –
swish
– and then nicking Bodin’s sword-wielding
wrist.

Ratwell smiled into Bodin’s
shock-widened eyes.

Captain Leonard, who was
sitting on the floor, pulled his own talisman back and launched it
– spinning through the air – at Bodin.

Bodin swung his sword with both
hands as blood dripped from his right wrist, pelting the spinning
blade –
clang
!
–
and sending it ricocheting toward
Ratwell. Ratwell ducked and it struck the wall behind him.
Plunk
.

Grrrrrrrr
!

The ground shook. Then
stopped.

Bodin, losing his balance,
collapsed against the rock.

Captain Leonard, now on his
feet, attempted to lift the Acadae, but he could not balance
himself well enough on his one good leg.

“The Acadae stays here,” Bodin
announced, standing again. “It gets buried forever in the depths of
the sea.”

Ratwell, facing Bodin, stepped
before Leonard and swung his sword maniacally all around his own
body, preparing to mince everything in his path.

At once, he flew at Bodin.

* * *

Michael rode Mica with Alianna
sitting behind him. Francis and Lily ran ahead, down the path
winding around the mountain.

“There’s a cave,” Michael
stated, “called Komaneo. Its already strong, natural structure was
further enhanced for King Stullis to sustain a storm caused by the
Acadae.”

“Where is it?” Francis
asked.

“On the other side of the
valley,” Michael answered.

* * *

Surging forward, Ratwell slashed
his sword, the blade reflecting torch flame and appearing like
flashes of light moving about him. Like blinking stars.

Bodin stood still, awaiting
Ratwell’s attack. Ratwell’s sword came in on his left.

CLANG
!

Bodin’s blade caught it,
blocking it.

Clank
!
Clang
!
Clang
! The men fought on, holding off each other’s
talismans. Bodin struck back hard, sweat beads running down his
forehead.

“End this,” Captain Leonard
shouted at Ratwell. “Finish him so that we may hop off this
drowning pebble.”

Ratwell pushed, backing Bodin
toward the wall. Bodin met his every move. Ratwell, however, was
relentless. Boundless energy. Lightning fast. He would tire Bodin
out, and then puncture the life from him.

Bodin’s eyes, transparent as
ever, wore a look of exhaustion. He slammed his weapon into
Ratwell’s, sending Ratwell’s flying. Ratwell, quick as sound,
stepped back a few long paces. Bodin heaved forward, stabbing
toward his chest, as Ratwell grabbed Captain Leonard by the shirt
and chucked him in harm’s way.

Bodin’s blade slid through
Leonard’s body – and tiny heart – as Bodin, himself, accidentally
thumped up against his chest. Bodin caught a glance of Leonard’s
green eyes and then heard him whisper into his ear, “In the end,
everyone shall have betrayed you.”

Ratwell, having picked up
another sword, stabbed through Leonard’s back, towards Bodin’s own
heart.

Bodin stepped to one side as
the blade passed through, perforating through his own robes at his
right arm. He looked over Leonard’s shoulder at Ratwell’s face.

They both gripped their
talismans and pulled away, Captain Leonard’s limp corpse collapsing
between them.

Ratwell struck down at Bodin,
and Bodin held up his blade to stop him.

Clang
!

GRRRRRONNNNNNNN
!

The rock beneath their boots
rumbled.

Bodin lost his balance, as
Ratwell’s blade came down again, slashing the skin of Bodin’s
sword-wielding arm. Bodin lay flat on his back, as Ratwell stood
over him.

* * *

As they sped along the perimeter
of the valley, and then up a hill, they lay witness to many bloody,
lifeless bodies strewn across the valley. Some in the navy blue
uniforms of the British, some in the dark green of the Spanish and
others in the bright red cloaks of the Brotherhood of Blood.
Francis’ stomach turned on itself. The stench of death was
sickening.

Francis and Lily looked to
their left. Deep inside the valley, many men still fought.

At once, the grey sky turned
darker.

GRRRRAAAAAA
!

The valley shook. Francis and
Lily fell, and Mica reared, but Michael and Alianna hung on.

CRACK
!
BRACK
!

BRRRUCK
!

Francis got to his feet. Slight
rain hit against his face. He looked up, and saw something
spectacular, yet horrific. It was unnatural. The mountain and hill
tops surrounding the valley were disintegrating and crashing upon
themselves.

“Run!” Michael screamed.
“Run!”

Boulders bounced, making the
ground shake. They careened down the slopes, rampaging into the
valley and crushing the already dead bodies.

BRRRUCK
!

Large rock now rained down
around them.

The end of Corallo had
begun.

“Behind that stone wall!”
Michael bellowed.

Francis and Lily hurried around
the wall facing them. Into the hill before them, a cave led down.
They darted in. Mica, with Michael and Alianna, soon followed.

* * *

On the opposite side of the
valley, on a hilltop, Vice-Admiral Wister stood with other British
Military officials, staring down at the devastation taking place in
the valley and its surrounding hills and mountains.

“Bodin,” the Vice-Admiral said,
as the unexpected rain and high wind accosted him. “He’s ignited
the Acadae. To our ships. Now.”

* * *

In the middle of the valley,
Captain Strick and his men fought on under the darkening sky.
Swords came at them from all sides. There was no time to think on
all the loud rumblings. All the men were filled with a blinding
rage and nothing could stop them from attempting to kill their
predetermined enemies. Strick knew not which side was winning or if
any could actually claim the title. Behind the Spaniard fighting
him, Captain Strick saw enormous chunks of rock pound through the
valley, coming right at them.

PAFF
!

A six foot piece of hard ground
exploded up into the air – hurling three men with it.

PAFF
!

Another explosion burst up from
beneath the valley. Shards of rock showered down on the fighting
men, one larger piece knocking out Strick’s opponent.

PAFT
!
POFF
!
PAFF
!
PAFF
!

More ground explosions –
flinging men about. Some being injured, others killed on impact by
projectile hunks of rock.

Dust was everywhere. Strick and
his men could barely see now.