Chloe let go of the railing as she noticed the serpent heading toward
the ship again, turning to collect spears for herself and others
members of the crew. The ship was in chaos, some moving toward the
canons, other towards spears. Chloe didn’t know if Derrick was
following her or heading elsewhere, but all she could think about were
the spears.
Blood coursed through her veins as she got ahold of the weapons, then
she ran back to the side of the deck. The oversized sea snake was
taking a huge hunk of wood out of the ship with its teeth, and its
tail began to coil around the ship. Chloe flung a spear toward its
head but the weapon missed, diving uselessly into the sea. She grabbed
another spear, tossing one to Derrick, who was a couple yards away
from where she now stood. He threw closer to the boat but the spear
bounced harmlessly off the serpent’s scales.
Chloe’s heart caught in her throat, that wasn’t good. Derrick was
significantly stronger than her, if his spear didn’t penetrate, how
could she possibly get hers to? Chloe looked around the ship and
noticed one coil of the serpent’s length was only about a yard away.
She ran toward it, her soaking shoes squelching against the deck’s
wood. Running full force, she flung the spear when no more than a foot
away from the creature, and it just bounced off the scales, similar to
Rick’s.
Screaming in frustration, Chloe drew her sword. She almost collided
with the side of the serpent’s body as she tried skidding to a stop.
It was coiling more of its length around the ship and had begun
closing in, attempting to squeeze the ship within its frame. Chloe
swung her sword with all her might, but it was as if she was striking
against chainmail, not even a scratch was left on the serpent’s
scales.
Chloe took a step back, again glancing around to assess the situation.
The ship was in utter chaos as the other pirates realized the same
thing, there was no way to pierce the scales. The canons were also
useless now, the serpent too close to the ship for them to take aim at
it, its body was wrapped tightly around the ship’s hull as it
squeezed. There was a groaning across the frame and Chloe knew she had
to act fast or they would all die.
The serpent’s head swung upward, as it moved to take another bite out
of the ship’s side. Chloe didn’t know if there was still enough time
or not, but the only hesitation she had was to spare a glance at Rick
as she ran past, sheathing her sword. After losing her brother, she’d
known little kindness in the world, but Rick had shown her some. In
fact, Derrick had been even nicer to her than her own brother ever
had. But Chloe had still thought she had nothing to live for, nothing
left, nothing to lose.
What she hadn’t understood, though, was that Rick made her see she had
something worth dying for. Friendship.
Chloe didn’t even allow herself to think as she swung her body over
the railing and used the momentum to launch her toward the serpent.
She was likely one of the only crew members who could perform such a
feat, agility and speed her strength. She landed on the serpent’s neck
and it tossed its head as she attempted to get a grip on one of the
scales. In a fraction of a second, she had one of her daggers in her
grip and began stabbing viciously at the serpent’s right eye. It
screeched and hissed in pain, tossing its head wildly in the air.
The creature’s frantic attempts were successful in dislodging Chloe
and she splashed into the sea, barely able to gasp for air. Clutching
her dagger, she swam back to the surface to find the sea serpent
turning toward her with its jaws wide. This was the moment of truth,
and there was nowhere to hide.
Chloe braced herself, mentally preparing as the maw moved in. Chloe
unsheathed her other dagger, gripping one tightly in each hand.
Darkness surrounded her as the serpent closed its mouth over her.
Closing her eyes against the sea water, Chloe began to swing and
slice.
Upon the ship, the crew migrated toward the railings. They watched in
amazement as blood began to seep across the water. Chloe had been
swallowed, but the serpent began to loosen its grip on the boat,
uncoiling from around the wood.
As it unwrapped its body, the sea snake began to thrash wildly. Taking
its captive with it, the creature began to retreat. But it was obvious
to each pirate that Chloe hadn’t given up yet, and foamy, deep red
blood continued to rise to the surface as the dark form sunk into the
depths.
They didn’t know how long she’d last, but knew no matter how much of a
fighting spirit Chloe had, she’d seen the sunshine for the last time.
“Stupid wench, falling off the ship,” somebody muttered.
The remark was met with a well-aimed punch to the gut from Derrick,
causing the man to heave as he doubled over in surprise. “What’s your
problem, Raggedy?!” he hollered.
“She didn’t fall off, you blasted brute!” Derrick hollered. “She
sacrificed herself for your ungrateful hide.”
Silence fell across the crew for several moments before Petey began to
scramble down from the crow’s nest. The movement signaled everyone
else to spring into action in an attempt to repair the ship, and
mitigate any flooding before the rest of them joined Chloe in the
depths of the briny ocean.
No one spoke much for the next several hours, but they all knew they
would no longer be hiding any treasure within the Bermuda Triangle.
~ G.G. Marshall
Read the beginning of this story!
The Sea (part 1):
The Sea (part 1)
The Sea (part 2):
The Sea (part 2)
Want to read about the creature that inspired this story?