Now that I’m outside, I realise how much time must have passed while I was napping. The wind’s picking up, and the last light of the day has already faded away and there’s a chill to the air as I stagger to the edge of the ship and cling to the side.
Then there’s another sharp whistle from above, and a small black bird lands close to where I’m clinging.
Jack reappears in front of me.
Naked.
I let out a surprised gurgle, covering my eyes with my hands, and he chuckles, with zero inhibitions on display as he leaps onto the deck.
One of the nearby crew lets out a shout of laughter before tossing a wad of material at Jack’s face and breaking into another rough, hacking laugh.
Jack ties a shirt around his waist so he’s covering the key bits and then gives me a sly smile. “Sorry about that. You can look now. I’m decent.”
I raise an eyebrow while he chuckles at my expression. “Sorry, sorry,” he repeats as he steps closer again, and I take an instinctive step back, causing him to frown.
“I forget that most people still have modesty. If you spend too much time around us, it’ll be something that disappears quickly enough.” He peers into my face as though he’s monitoring my expression. “Now, I thought I told you to stay downstairs.”
“I was actually more surprised about you turning into a bird than the whole naked thing,” I reply, ignoring the second part of what he said. “Do you... do that a lot?”
“Well, ye-es,” he says slowly, his eyes narrowed like he’s expecting me to start screaming or something. “How else was I going to see what was happening?”
“And whatishappening?”
He wiggles his head from side to side in a half-nod, half-shake type motion. “There’s a ship heading our way. Things are about to get a little messy.”
TEN MINUTES LATER,and my feet are stuck in place. I can’t seem to make myself move, but it’s not fear that’s keeping me here.
The deck has erupted into absolute chaos.
And I’m positively glued to the action.
Like a fly caught in a spider’s web, our ship has been lashed to another large vessel with a dozen ropes, and there are crewmembers swinging high up in the air, lobbing things at the other ship.
Onboard our ship, everywhere I look, people are fighting. Some are grappling in hand-to-hand combat while others are shooting at each other with weapons that pulse with magic.
I’ve seen those types of weapon once before. They’re modified to always hit their mark.
A killshot, every time.
I’ve tucked myself away on the staircase leading below deck, so I’m not in the line of fire, but I can still see the action. A bird darts through the air, dive-bombing the crew on the other ship and pecking out a man’s eyes. He screams, flailing around helplessly before collapsing in a heap, and I clap my hand to my mouth. But my horror morphs into a whole other beast as I notice the guy’s uniform.
Not just his either.
All the men on the other ship are all dressed in burgundy, right down to their hats, which have a white insignia in the centre.
The sign of the king’s men.
It’s one of the king’s vessels they’re attacking, which means my sympathy for the other ship dries up quicker than a shallow puddle. It seems like Jack isn’t the only beast-borne person on this ship. In fact, it looks like every member of the crew has an animal side that they’re letting loose.
A boar charges past, launching itself at a man in burgundy who just made their way across. He’s thrown into the water with a scream, and the boar gives a triumphant screech.
There’s a terrible, bone-rattling roar that sounds somewhere behind me. I twist around, my skin prickling as the hair stands on end.
There’s a bear fighting one of the king’s men, standing on its hind legs.
It’s not like any kind of bear I’ve ever seen either, even in storybooks. For one thing, it’s massive, standing at least 10 feet tall. The part of it I can see is scarred, and there are thick blades sticking out from its spine.
It roars again, and everything in me freezes.
