Then, from the crow's nest, came another cry. "Land ho!"
“She’s heading for the harbor!” Hank’s voice shouted over the wailing of the winds. “That storm is a ship killer, Captain! We’ll never outrun it by chasing theEstrela.”
“No, you don’t understand,” Silver cut in, his hand gripping at the ropes as he attempted to valiantly keep his balance. “Either we take her, or the sea does!”
There was not a moment to waste - time to strike the fear of Captain Hawk into the hearts of the men on theEstrela. There was nowhere for them to run. "Raise the black!" he commanded, as the pirate banner of Captain Hawk unfurled above their heads.
The sight of his flag snapping dark in the hazy dawn sent a thrill through Hawk. There was something primal about abandoning himself to the hunt. Something pure. The cold salt spray of the sea in the growing winds became invigorating. He didn't have to think about the past or the future, what had been or might be. There was only the moment, the thrill of the chase, the bloodlust of battle. The uncertainty that any moment might be his last.
Soon they were close enough that he could almost see the fear in the eyes of the Portuguese. TheTempest, with Henry Pane at the helm, peeled away towards the open sea to flank her. The shore approached. It would be close. But they could take her. They had to.
“Gun crews at the ready! Open the gun ports!” His command echoed across the ship as the crew relayed it. The flags went up to signal theTempest, but Hawk had little doubt it was necessary. Pane, for all his youthful swagger, had piracy in his blood. They'd take this prize together just fine.
"Cannons ready, Captain!"
Hawk raised an arm to shield his eyes from the rain, satisfaction thrumming through his veins as they slid neatly into place alongside theEstrela. "Fire!"
The roar of the cannons was almost deafening, but they were the least of Silverfin's worries. He clumped past the helm and up the stairs to the poopdeck as a cannonball crashed into the rail behind him, sending a shower of cracked and splintered wood through the air. He cast his gaze down into the swirling waters in the wake of the ship.
In the angry, storm-rough water, the army of his mer-kin raised their arms as they caught sight of him, their voices an angry snarl on the wind.
Traitor! Traitor! Sink the ship! To arms!
Shit.He hurried across the deck to where Hawk stood, yelling orders. "Captain! We have to run her aground!"
"What? Are you crazy?"
"Guns at the ready!" They heard the call from below, and Silverfin raised both hands before Hawk could open his mouth.
"Don't fire! You'll only help them! If they sink theEstrelain this water we'll never get the gold!"
"We're not going to sink her," Hawk shot back. "Why the hell would we run her aground when we have her?"
Silverfin glanced back towards the darkening skies in panic. Surging with the supernatural power of his kind, the clouds overtook them and the full fury of the storm unleashed itself around them. "We won't take her!" He yelled back again over the whipping winds. “The storm will!"
The heavens opened as if his words had bidden them. Blinding lightning cracked down, hitting the mast of theTempestin a flare of bright flame. Silverfin couldn't say if the water spraying over him was from the clouds or the sea, but it didn't matter. His kind had a target, and they clearly weren't fucking around.
"Get below deck!" Hawk hollered at him, before striding away, shouting commands at the crew.
Below deck like a coward? With an army of his people surrounding him? He couldn’t! But he couldn't very wellremain, could he? Silverfin had never been the most agile seaman even when he'd had two feet. Now with the ungainly wooden appendage weighing him down, he was more liability than help.
He understood this,logically. But his vision still went white with fury. Hawk must think him to be an idiot - albeit, he hoped, a very pretty one - but an idiot nonetheless, to be ordering him below deck.
Sil-ver-fin... Sil-ver-fin...
“Fuck off!” Silverfin dropped to his heels, burying his head between his knees and placed his hands over his ears again. In vain, he knew; it wasn’t with his ears that he was hearing his brethren.
Then, another voice reached him, and this one made his blood run cold.
Can’t wait to eat your captain, Silverfin!
Sharks.
Immediately, Silverfin's mind was back in the water after theHecate, trying to save Hank from drowning. Trying to get them both back on board before the sharks caught up to them. Hauling on the rope - fast, faster - leaping from the water, but not fast enough. Pain seared through him from the shark's teeth, radiating from his missing leg. Silverfin clutched the rail, breathing hard.
No. No, he wouldn't let this happen to Hawk.
"The Captain of theTempestis tastier!" he hollered back at them. He should have known the merfolk would have broughttheir army of shark goons on this hunt! Those slippery, bloodthirsty assholes!
