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): https://www.ggmarshall.com/post/the-sea-part-1
The Sea (part 2): https://www.ggmarshall.com/post/the-sea-part-2
Want to read about the creature that inspired this story?
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