Part 17 —Lenore’s and Martin’s—

*We all stared at them in awe, unable to believe what we where seeing, I mean our eyes might be playing tricks on us, but after  enough blinking and rubbing, there was nothing to deny.*

*The more we approached them the worse the weather got, stormy, dark, rainy, with thunder. Either Zeus is angry or it always followed them wherever they went. “I’m afraid that this is what I didn’t tell you” Hardegras murmured. “What is um” I had no idea what to speak of just, them. “The Undead Shallops, I like to call them catboats, this is the myth I was talking about earlier, and we have sadly fallen into, there is no choice but to fight, if we do, then we’ll forget about this eventually”*

*”So cool!” Captain Clemence said.*

*The Undead where green and transparent, just like their boats, with where single masted and single aft-sailed. They had no helm, and they had to turn by pushing or pulling a stick that was connected to the rudder or use the oars, which they had six on each ship and three on each side of each ship. They had just one cannon, but it was an 18 pounder Carronade in the bow to make up for it. They also had two swivel guns. The "undead" or "figures" themselves where half skeleton half man, they had random pieces of muscle ripped off, bearing the bones. The "figures" only moaned, screeched, and screamed, and produced no other sound than that. They where armed with muskets with bayonets, pistols, daggers, even just regular bayonets but they where attatched to a stick or where put on their fingers like a ring, of course the bayonet is large and all so they had to put two fingers per bayonet, they looked like claws, just really huge claws, they where also armed with boarding axes, spears and Cutlasses. Some of them where entirely skeletal with just a few patches of flesh and skin and some of them where entirely human with a few patches of removed flesh revealing the bones. All of them had eyes, but the creepy thing was, no pupils, just the iris which was a flickering . Some of them that where entirely skeletal also had eyes, and just imagine this, a skeleton with eyes and no pupil, just the veins and the blank white. It was disgusting, creepy, gruesome, gross, it grieved all of us an awful sore. Victor even vomited, he has a weak stomach I think..*

*"Load the guns! Nine pounder!" Captain Clemence ordered. The gunnery drills now finally where coming in use.*

*“Don’t just try to sink them, they have an overly precious thing, it’s the Undead necklace” Hardegras said. "There it is, the necklace!" Victor pointed at the larger sailboat's mast, the ship looked more of a Sloop without a quarter-deck rather than an Catboat type of vessel. It was even armed with four six pounders on the side and of course the Carronade.*

*"Load the guns! Don't delay" Captain Clemence ordered.*

*Victor agreed to be the ventsman. We quickly swabbed the bore, placed the gunpowder charge and the cannonball and the wadding inside the guns, rammed them deep inside. Then we inserted the pricker and the quick match. Victor took his thumb out of the touchhole. Then the stick and rope bathing in potassium nitrate was ready. The process was repeated in the other guns while off came a BANG! from the nine pounder, a deafening blast. "Too loud" I panted holding my ears "Too loud!".*

*The cannon fired at one of the “Catboats”, that’s what I’ll call them now from then, and it destroyed it's mast, the weird thing was, it disappeared in a green puff of smoke, not a single debris fell from the mast, it just, disappeared... in green smoke... too weird for me to handle. I thought it will just fly through it, even transparent things are solid . . . strange.*

*The Undead fired back. The rounds came right at us. Luckily they all missed and landed just short of our ship. We fired a full port broadside, at the de-masted "Sail"-boat, and it went under the waves, the Undead swam towards our ship, in the meantime our starboard battery rattled towards the other Sailboat, decimating it, although it was somehow still floating. Hardegras got on the swivel and began sniping the sailors that where swimming towards our Cutter while Henry was busy doing the same thing but with a musket, he had good aim, and took care of the ghostly swimmers. Our was position was that we where now surrounded by two sailboats and a sloop on all sides. The carronades and swivels fired from the undead. Hitting our Cutter, and causing a leak in the cargo hold. I opened the vent and jumped inside the cargo hold with basic carpentry tools. It was dark there, too dark, and the ceiling was too low, making me claustrophobic. The cargo hold had nothing in it except an empty barrel. I looked forward and saw the leak. I ran towards it with a plank and four nails. And I hammered it and fixed the leak. I grabbed the bucket and filled it with all the seawater that leaked inside the ship. I then handed the bucket to Esther and climbed upwards. Esther then dumped the water back to where it belonged to.*

*While on the weather deck the guns where getting loaded, we almost prepared a full broadside of double shots but we were stopped by an incoming volley of round shots. The first one hit the hull, causing another leak, and causing me to go back again. The second made a hole in the sails.*

*We continued in our loading and then aimed the guns right at the sloop, knowing that we had the advantage in caliber. Then Captain Clemence ordered.*

*"FIRE"*

*Two bangs, Two blasts, Two holes on the sloop. Captain Clemence turned the wheel towards the sloop. "Get a firearm, and load it!" He said. I took a Charleston and loaded it with a lead ball. We then began focusing on loading the starboard guns. Just as our starboard and their port was about to meet. We both fired . . . everything. The muskets, the swivels, the cannons, the pistols, even the throwing knives. They did little damage to us and we did a lot to them. Then their hooks landed. The other sailboat that was decimated also boarded us. It was just a matter of time of thinking before they landed. I spotted a sailor gliding on a rope just about to air assassinate me before Victor fired and killed "it" mid-air.*

*"Thanks chap"*

*"No problem"*

*I then focused on the ghosts that where already on the ship. I saw a completely skeletal figure but with all of his internal organs in place, too gory, too gruesome. I ran my Cutlass through it's chest, running it straight through his heart. My best skill, swordsmanship, was better than ever before, or maybe that the Undead were absolutely horrible at fighting, which most likely was the case, considering I got so many of them.*

*After that I focused on the main scene attacking us. I glanced at the floor, bones and flesh everywhere. I saw Henry struggling against four undead. I kicked one in the back. He fell to the floor, I then stabbed another from behind. The others noticed me and turned their blank eyes at me and stared. They didn't realise that they have exposed their backs to Henry who stabbed one from behind and tried to do the same to the other before he turned his back to me and faced him. Such fools, I stabbed him from behind. It was also the time when the guy I kicked got up and he never lived to see another day.*

*The other undead where slowly getting butchered, but they just seemed to never end. I was fighting one undead until someone aimed and fired a swivel at me, in just a millisecond I was forced to dodge it, but how? I had no time to think about it and I sidestepped the swivel and then it fired, a bit late. But I sidestepped the wrong way. I sidestepped into a crowd of ghosts. I was attacked from each side with everything. Axes, spears, cutlasses, firearms everything. Luckily they had bad aim. And ended up shooting or stabbing their own kind. I took that as an advantage and . . . I was shot in the leg. I fell to the ground and was now attacked from each side. I parried all of their attacks and tried to get up but I was kicked back to the deck again, and I was kicked, again, and like rain, I was kicked upon kicked. I had no hope, even if a friend tried to save me. I would be done while he would still be fighting the first undead. I was kicked upon kicked. I couldn’t slither out of the way. Until . . .*

*"Oy stinky boneymen!" Victor insulted the undead. "I got your stinky princess-y thing!" He teased them. He'd somehow sneaked onboard their sloop and had stole the necklace.*

*The undead moaned. They ran towards their own ship, forgetting about kicking and attacking me. I managed to get up. I lifted my head and looked forward and saw Esther coming for my aid.*

*"Are you alright?"*

*"Obviously no"*

*"Let me wrap you with band aids"*

*"Yes but don't make me a mummy"*

*Victor was now about to get swarmed so he threw it towards Henry*

*"Catch!"*

*Henry caught the necklace. The Undead changed there direction and "skulled" towards Henry, who handed it towards Hardegras and Hardegras ran towards the bowsprit and ran ON the bowsprit. Somehow he kept his balance. Obviously the Undead followed suite. But they bared their backs.*

*"Form a line everybody!" Captain Clemence ordered. We obeyed orders, Victor, Henry, Captain, Esther and I formed a line.*

*"Make Ready!"*

*"Present"*

*I took aim at at an Undead that was from the waist up a human and from the waist down a skeleton.*

*"FIRE!"*

*Five shots where heard. Five Undead had shattered into pieces. You see, the Undead are "undead", nobody dies thrice. Once you die you die, and once your name is last said you die twice, but never thrice. The Undead where simply immortal, but once they where "killed", they shattered into pieces, still alive, I even saw a severed head moaning and a skeletal hand crawling like a spider. They where moving and where very much alive. But not in one piece, pretty creepy.*

*"Catch!" Hardegras alerted Esther.*

*The necklace flew towards us,  just as the Undead turned their backs on Hardegras, he fired at them. One Undead was shattered into pieces, then he switched to the throwing knives, Hardegras surprisingly has amazing aim with throwing knives. Knocking out most of the Undead that where chasing Esther, we quickly reloaded, and then Esther threw the necklace towards Henry, it fell just short of him and an Undead picked it up. For the first time I've heard one of them say anything other than grunting, moaning and screaming. And the Undead laughed in joy, disappointing.*

*Now that the Undead got the hold of a necklace again they focused on Esther, who was now on the other side of the Cutter, shots where heard. I saw one of them stab Esther on the stomach and one who ran his spear through his left wrist. Them they began to kick him, hit him with the pistol's clubs, try to torture him and I even saw one of them chopping his already wounded left hand's fingers off. In a few moments he would be killed, poor Esther. So Victor thought sharp and quick, he rammed his Charleston's bayonet through the Undead and took the necklace and whistled towards the Undead.*

*"Oy, what's this piece of junk?"*

*For the second time Victor saved someone. The Undead left Esther -who was also in blood like me- and charged towards Victor.*

*Captain Clemence then ordered a line.*

*"Make Ready!"*

*. . .*

*"Present"*

*The eight remaining Undead produced all sounds they possibly can, moaning, laughing grunting and screaming towards us. Devilish, I must say.*

*"FIRE!"*

*Five of them shattered into pieces.*

*"CHARGE! BAYONETS, CUTLASSES, DAGGERS!"*

*Captain Clemence held his Sabre upwards towards the sky.*

*I planted a bayonet on the tip of the musket and charged towards the Undead. I stabbed one wearing a hat and it shattered into pieces. Hardegras got the hold of the other and Captain Clemence took care of the last one, We had won against the Undead.*

*"One huge mess to clean up." Hardegras sighed.*

*"One great moment of joy" Henry said.*

*"Sadly we'd only remember it for half an hour" Victor wrapped a bandage around his left wrist.*

*"Not exactly, the one who gets the necklace remembers it all" Hardegras explained.*

*"Yes Grasshopper that's good and all but I am thinking that so many large warships pass through this area, they could easily smash them to bits and get the necklace, how has that still not happened until now, like they left the Undead alive just for us" I said.*

*"The Undead prefer to attack smaller ships the size of a sloop or a Cutter as they can easily destroy them" Hardegras answered.*

*"Come on everybody, let's clean these creepy crawlies out!" Captain Clemence said while sweeping the deck with a broom and throwing the bones and the heads overboard."*

*"What about Esther?" Victor asked.*

*"Oh he . . ." Hardegras thought "He's fatally wounded, leave him to die"*

*"But he's important! We must save him, I'm still going to amputate his left hand and heavily bandage him if you wont help!" Victor protested.*

*"Hmm, let me remember, in 1694, Captain Olivier Jacques used the Verdantium of this very necklace and used it on his dying First Mate-*

*"No need of history talk, save him now!" Victor shouted.*

*"Okay, so let me try, this may work or not"*

*Hardegras walked towards Esther, who could barely move. He took the necklace from his brown overcoat and held it tightly, he closed his eyes in full concentration, his lips started moving, like he was uttering a chant or a prayer, for some reason, and I might be day-dreaming, his skin turned slightly red and his eyes meshed into one. From his back I even swear I saw something red and slimy peeking out, I took a good look and they where eight little bits of them. The necklace shone extremely bright in a strong shade of lime-dark green and for some reason it gave me slight nausea, as if it were poison. It shone so bright at one point that I couldn't even see Esther and Hardegras. I covered my eyes with my hand and made a slight gap between my fingers so that I can see. It then it began to cool down, I saw the last pieces of green mist float into Esther's wounds. Hardegras then started to come to look normal back again. It was normal again, I mean perfectly normal. Esther was still dying, The fingers of the Undead were still crawling in my shoes and all that. For a few seconds it was all normal, until a THUD, followed with a massive BLAST of bright neon green air, the shockwave was so powerful I almost fell overboard, but before I went to Hades the rim blocked me from falling. When the mist cooled down I took a look to check the damage the blast had done, except, it had done the opposite. All of the holes on the Cutter where gone and where replaced with fine wood, my bandages fell loose, revealing unharmed regular skin, I suddenly felt normal, I was healed, even the bear pelt's bullet holes where patched, and most importantly, Esther was completely healed, like me, he was just back to normal. Not even a hair was different, except for his eyes, they where green, like the Verdantium. Before he had brown eyeballs, now he has green eyeballs, beautiful neon green eyeballs . . .*

*We where all shocked, speechless, but Hardegras was speech-full, despite looking more shocked than us.*

*"Oh my . . ." He stared down at the necklace "For the second time in history Verdantium has been used for this . . . I- I can't believe what I have done!" Hardegras smiled, still in shock.*

*"Hardegras" Relish called. "How did you . . ." Too many words may have jammed up in his throat, he stuttered constantly. "L- Save- Do- Look like that? I mean holy- how- um-"*

*"Yes, yes, yes" Hardegras interrupted, still looking stunned. "The person who does that begins to look different in the process, I didn't notice I was turning into something, some of you may have seen a fish, or a  squid, or a crocodile, or even a beast. It's normal"*

*"Like this has been done many times before" Henry argued.*

*"Some crewmen of Captain Jacques saw him turn into a fish, some of them saw him turn into a goat, some saw lizard, and some accounts saw Chameleon, read the individual accounts of the 'The Jacques-Lancelot Journey' to understand, what a journey"*

*"Oy e'eryone, remember what I said? Clean the creepy crawlies out!" Captain Clemence reminded us the order.*

Each of us grabbed a broom and started getting rid of the shattered immortals. One skeletal foot even crawled up into my sleeve. It was obviously and terrifyingly terrifying. I had to wait until it came out from my collar and I threw it into the sea.

*"What about the last remaining sailboats?" I asked.*

*"They had to flee away from us" Hardegras answered, while holding the necklace.*

*After a few minutes everything went normal, we where moving peacefully and silently.*

*"What's the purpose of that?" I eyed at the necklace.*

*"This?" Hardegras held the necklace.*

*"Yeah"*

*He took a deep breath. "There is too much to explain in a brief amount of time. This is the Necklace of the Immortal, the bright green shiny thing in the middle is Verdantium, if you wear it or tie it to the mizzenmast or the only mast of your ship, you, your ship, your crew will become just like the Undead after you die. That is one of the properties of this necklace that makes it cursed. But their are more good in it than bad. The chain of it is made up of Charged Sapphire that's why it glows as well, just blue. The beads hanging from the chain are Skyrite, an extremely powerful and rare metal, it normally doesn't glow at all and looks like silver with a tint of grey, it's powers will be similar to Frosteel in day and in night, but at sunrise and at sunset, that's when Skyrite shows it's true power. It glows greyish pink with feathery touches from yellow and red. It can cut through anything in that state except other glowies and steel. You would be able to slice a man like cake and it would be a piece of cake to change the course of a battlefield, of course, you would need a weapon to to be made out of it to make this possible, this necklace-"*

*I had enough of it, I needed to know everything about this field*

*"What is Charged Sapphire, Skyrite and Verdentium? Tell me, please"*

*"Glowies" He answered.*

*"What are they?"*

*"Supernatural metals with unique and strange powers"*

*"Where to get them?"*

*"You are not supposed to own one at Thirteen, too young and inexperienced to handle the power"*

*"So can you explain to me something else about glowies"*

*"Glowies are a strange and difficult to explain topic, only the highest can get their hands on them, by that I mean the best in battle, like generals, admirals, they can handle the power, not a puny little Yorkston hero like you." I very must agree on that statement made right there, I'm not even a midshipman and I want the General and Admiral stuff.*

*"How does one get one?" I asked.*

*"The Jagged Rocks of the Glowies, it's location is not yet leaked to the public, only the higher ups know it. It's rumoured to be in the South Deshi Sea. You must carefully navigate through each rock which are mostly underwater mountains with their peaks above water. You stop at a rock you'd like and start climbing them, and they are very steep, extremely steep. You can choose to stop climbing anywhere and stay there while holding on to something and then you start mining the rock, and hope you find something glowy. Some rocks are only found in some circumstances, Electrosteel can only be mined during a thunderstorm, the miners refer to it as an 'Electrostorm'. Skyrite can only be mined during early morning and during evening. Santanite can only be mined during winter. Magmite only in summer. Stalinium can only be mined as a Thosrian. Once you get a good amount of a preferred glowy you mined, you forge them and make a weapon or a tool out of it."*

*"Can you tell me everything about every single type of glowy"*

*"Later when we have time" Hardegras pointed at an island in the distance.*