A black crow swooped toward Caleb.Ducking, he leapt aside and slammed the hilt of his sword against its head.It dropped to the deck.
These were not ordinary birds.They hailed from the underworld.Caleb should command them away in the name of Jesus, but if it didn’t work…?If the Lord no longer answered his prayers…?No time to waste, he plucked the Ring from his pocket, slipped it on his finger, and said, “Begone this instant!”
The eerie squawking ceased.Every bird vanished in a mist as dark as the night.Rays of glorious sunlight broke through the haze even as a heavy coating of ash drifted down upon them like snowflakes on a winter’s day.Coughing, the men batted it away, some lowering their swords, others gripping their wounds, all staring agape at the sight.
Alden’s eyes shifted toward Caleb, frowning when he saw the Ring on his finger.
But what other recourse did Caleb have?His ship and the lives of everyone aboard were at stake.
“Merciful hour!”Liam jumped to the deck and ran a sleeve over the cut on his forehead, his glance dropping to the Ring.
“Fire and flame!”Shorty said from the helm.“They came out of nowhere, Cap’n.Like they was sent straight from hell itself.”
Alden growled.“Exactly.”
“By me drowned soul,” another man cursed.
“Sink me, ne’er saw anythin’ like that.”
The crew continued shouting their flourishes even as they brushed ash from their clothing and shook it from their hair.
“Ash in me lungs, cuts on me arms,” Keg said, “better than losing an eye.”
Caleb spotted Brandt leaping on deck and was about to order him to tend the injured when Alden, wide-eyed, pointed to something in town.
The air thickened, heavy as if the heavens held their breath.A single black funnel twisted down from the sky, shrieking as it spun.Its roar grew like a thousand cannons fired all at once as it descended over one of the buildings near the dock, a warehouse.The townsfolk who’d been watching the birds attack theSentinelspun at the sight, staring aghast, like most of his crew were now doing.
Round and round, the mist spun, faster and faster, black, malevolent, a vortex of evil.A tornado?Caleb had only heard such clouds existed, but he’d never seen one.And shouldn’t there be a storm surrounding it?Yet naught but white clouds and a cerulean sky stretched to the horizon.
He rubbed his eyes.Another demonic assault?What is happening, Lord?When he opened them, he spotted Ayida standing at the railing, her gaze fixed on the funnel, a slight grin on her face.A grin?
The warehouse door flung open, and several people emerged, glanced at the cloud, and then bolted away.
Desi approached, her gaze also on the funnel.
A crackle whipped across the sky, loud and sharp.The tornado struck the warehouse, shrouding the building in a black cloud that spun like a child’s toy.Pieces of wood, chunks of brick, and other debris fired from within it toward the retreating crowd.Then, as quickly as it had descended, the twister rose, hovering a second before it shot into the sky in a streak of black…and disappeared.
The building was gone.
“’Tis this ship!”One of the townsfolk pointed at theSentinel.“She’s cursed, I tell you.”
“Cursed as the devil’s mother!”another man bellowed with spite.
“Leave us!Leave this town at once!”A third man shoved his fist at Caleb.“Before ye kill us all!”
Chapter 20: Deceiving and Being Deceived
Desi leaned against the bulkhead of Caleb’s cabin, her arms full of Patches, and her gaze focused on the captain as he discussed recent bizarre happenings with his officers.She had nothing to offer the conversation.Mainly because she wasn’t entirely sure she hadn’t gone completely nuts and wasn’t already locked in an institution dreaming all this craziness up in her demented mind.Thousands of birds that attacked only one ship?A tornado without a storm that leveled a single building?
She smiled.She couldn’t believe those strange events, yet she had no problem believing she’d traveled back in time.Yup.Crazy as a loon.
“How fare the men, Brandt?”Caleb asked.“Did the birds do much harm?”
Brandt leaned back in the chair, hands folded over his portly belly, but his eyes were on Ayida, lingering in the shadows to his right.“Nay.Scratches, bites, nothing a smattering of salve won’t cure.”
“I told you, Captain.”Alden rubbed the scar on his cheek.“For every wonder the Ring works, it births a disaster.You’ll tear this ship, and yourself, apart.”
Liam crossed arms over his chest and grinned.“I knew there was something powerful about that Ring.Weel met, Cap’n.Ye kept yer secret well.”
