“It’s coming around again, Captain!”
“Brace yourselves and keep your weapons with you!” Encina commanded the invisible men.
Another shadow loomed overhead, and this one was fiercer than the first. The boat lurched to one side and water spilled onto the deck. The ferocity ripped the hatch open and left it askew. A heavy dose of seawater poured down the steps and through the cracks, wetting the floor beneath me and raining down on top of me. I was left drenched, my soggy hair framing my pale face. I sputtered and coughed on the heavy dose of ocean.
“The hatch, Captain!”
“Guard it with your lives! Don’t let anything pass you!”
A half dozen hulking figures took up guard posts at the hatch. The ship rocked to and fro on heavy waves. Men screamed and shouted.
A strange gnawing sound caught my ear. That’s when I felt something move my ropes. I twisted my head around, and my eyes bulged out of my head.
A small lizard stood behind me, munching on the ropes with razor-sharp teeth. The creature resembled an iguana in shape and scaly tan color, but two long canines protruded from its mouth, and flaps of leather hung from its sides. The thing was using those teeth to gnaw through my ropes.
I did what anyone in my predicament would do: I screamed my head off.
The lizard ceased its biting and glared at me. “Quiet!” The tenor voice shocked me into silence. The lizard set a paw on my arm and nodded at the rope. “I’m going to get you out of free, and then you’re going to follow my instructions exactly. Got it?”
I bobbed my head. The creature resumed its gnawing, and soon the ropes broke. I jerked my hands away from the creature, but it skittered over me with all the speed of its reptilian heritage and began work on my feet. Shouts from above made me look up. Many feet now pounded the planks, sending droplets of water raining down on us.
The iguana paused long enough to glare at the deck. “Could you fools be a little softer? I’m trying to work here!”
Someone poked their head into the hold, and their eyes widened. “Captain! There’s something down here with the woman!”
“Oh crap,” the iguana muttered before he resumed his biting.
A half dozen men stampeded down the stairs. They were dressed in fine leather and vests, and wielded swords and daggers. Their eyes blazed with anger and disgust at the small creature.
The iguana broke through the last of the rope and puffed out his chest. “You are now-hey!”
I had snatched it up and jumped to my feet. The men approached, weapons pointed at the iguana, whom I hugged to my chest with both arms. I backed up as they came nearer.
The iguana’s long face drooped at the murderous look in their eyes. He managed a choked laugh. “Hello, fellas. What are you doing down here?”
“Hand over that thing, woman,” one of them snapped as he stretched out his tanned hand to me. “We’re going to make ourselves a nice belt.”
The iguana bristled at the demand, both physically and figuratively. “Nobody’s going to make anything out of me! Not least of which, a couple of ugly mercenaries!”
The man curled his lips back and revealed two rows of rotten teeth. “Who you calling ugly!”
The creature wrinkled his nose. “You’re right, that’s insulting ugly.”
“Gimme that thing!” the man barked as he stalked toward me, his hand outstretched.
I gripped the iguana tighter against myself and scurried backward. My back struck a crate, and I curled my body around my new little friend.
That’s when the torrential flood poured down the hatch.
Chapter 3
The water was a veritable wave that struck the men and me. With my back against the crates, I couldn’t be more than pushed hard against the wood. The men, however, were swept off their feet and flew past me. Some of them crashed into the boxes, and others reached the far wall where they slammed into the bulkhead.
My back was badly bruised, but I gritted my teeth and ran through the ankle-deep water as fast as I could. Sunlight shone down on my bedraggled self as I climbed the stairs on all fours, minus the one that clutched the iguana. I slipped a few times, but eventually lifted my head above the deck.
Ocean. That was all I could see beyond the deck of the rather large ship. That terrifying view was blocked by the railing and dozens of men fighting one another with swords and bludgeon instruments. Blood mixed with the ocean water that covered the deck, and more than one person lay on the deck with horrific gashes across their chest.
My heart pounded in my chest as I looked for a way to escape this nightmare. The iguana squirmed in my arm and pointed to the right. “There! Run that way!”
