"Anybody have a plan?" I asked them.
"I may have a suggestion," Greg spoke up. All eyes turned to him. "We may be able to board them and, with Hazel's help, change the crew to our friends once more.
"That sounds like a suicide mission," I commented.
Marge pursed her lips. "I want to try it."
Eric turned to me and there was a an encouraging smile on his lips. "We seem to be quite adept at those types of missions," he pointed out.
I sighed and shrugged. "Why not? I was going to try to live forever, but I guess that's overrated."
"It is," Methuselah agreed.
Greg slowed the boat and floated us until we found ourselves facing the armada.
"So how exactly are we going to do this?" I asked our group.
"Like this," Greg replied.
He put the boat full power and we jettisoned across the lake towards the armada. I yelped and caught hold of the railing so I wouldn't tumble backwards onto the deck. We sped towards our enemies, and they greeted us with a barrage of cannons and gunfire.
"Get down!" Eric shouted. He grabbed the top of my head and shoved me to the deck while everyone else followed suit.
One of the bullets pinged off the railing and clattered to the ground in front of me. It was long and white, not the usual metal casing of a bullet. I picked up the dart and turned it over in my hand.
"What the hell is this?" I wondered.
Eric pursed his lips and looked ahead. "They are tranquilizers. They intend to take us alive," he surmised.
"Not if they keep using those cannons," I called back.
Eric shook his head. "Those cannons aren't aimed at us. They are aimed at our sides to steer us where they wish us to be."
"Then I must disappoint them," Greg spoke up.
He spun the wheel and we flew off to the left. The cannons stopped firing, but the smaller and more maneuverable motorboats steered our way. They came up on our right side and others came up at our front.
"They're trying to make us turn left!" Marge shouted.
Greg grimaced and spun the wheel. If we would've been in a car we would've been on two wheels as we took a sharp turn to the right. My hand slipped from the railing and I let out a yelp as I slid across the deck. Before I could spill overboard Erik grabbed my hand and pulled me against his body.
"Thanks," I told him. "I thought I was going to become fish bait."
"It is more likely they would have run you over," he told me.
I grimaced. "A wonderful picture to put into my head," I replied.
While we talked our crazy driver steered left and right to avoid colliding with the oncoming traffic. Our little cruiser slipped between our foes and raced towards the bows of the sailing ships.
"I hope you have a plan!" I yelled at Greg.
"At my signal, you will jump," he shouted back.
"That's not a plan! That's a suicide!" I argued.
"We have no choice!" Erik agreed with his homicidal servant.
Erik tucked me under his arm and stood. Marge grabbed Hazel, and the witch let out a horrible shriek.
"Release me! I won't die this way!" Hazel growled as she beat her fists against Marge.
"Afraid a little soaking will melt you?" Marge shot back.
"Focus!" Erik called to them.
Greg steered our small boat past the bow of the lead sailing ship. He followed its right side. I could see the away boats ten feet above our heads, along with a wooden ladder that led from the deck and down to the waterline.
"Now!" Erik yelled.
He jumped, and I went unwillingly with him. Erik slammed against the side of the ship, but managed to grasp one rung of the ladder with his hand and another with his foot. He swung me onto the other half of the ladder. I heard a splash beneath us and looked down.
Marge and Hazel weren't so lucky on their landing. Marge fell a foot short of the boat and the pair crashed into the water. They both came up sputtering.
"You stupid werewolf!" Hazel yelled.
Marge's reply was to place her hand on top of Hazel's head and dunk her beneath the water.
Methuselah landed below us on the ladder. I heard a roar of an engine and saw Greg pilot the ship boat away.
I whipped my head to Erik. "What's he doing?" I asked him.
Erik pursed his lips and shook his head. "I do not know."
We watched Greg race the length of the ship and turn the corner at the rear. In a moment he turned the ship out of sight. We saw half a dozen other ships follow in close pursuit.
"We have to go help them!" I insisted.
"No," Erik argued. "He will lead some of their forces away from us. We mustn't waste his distraction."
Erik swung himself onto the ladder above me and climbed. I reluctantly followed him, but we hadn't gone up more than a few rungs when the crew peeked their heads over the side of the deck. I didn't recognize any of their faces, but that was probably because they were transformed into the hideous, cannibalistic werewolves like those who had protected Carey. There mouths dripped with saliva and their very yellow, maniacal eyes glared down at us. One of the werewolves was particularly large, and I noticed a familiar belt around his portly waist. I wasn't the only one to recognize the werewolf.
"Black!" Marge yelled beneath us.
The hideous lead werewolf was indeed Captain Black, but he was our friend no more. His sailor clothes were torn from his transformation and all of his crew that presented themselves over the deck were also transformed.
"Change them back!" I heard Marge yell at Hazel.
"I can't in this water!" Hazel growled. "There is no way I can concentrate if I'm about to die from drowning!"
"Then we will make some room for you on the deck," Erik spoke up.
"How?" I asked him.
My question was answered when he proceeded to climb up the remaining rungs the ladder towards our old friends and new foe. He came within two feet of their arms and held out his palm towards them. A blast of fire burst from his palm and shot up towards their faces. The werewolves weren't so stupid as to keep watching the fireworks. They pulled their heads out of sight, and Erik took the opportunity to finish his climbing. He jumped the last foot onto the deck and disappeared from sight, but I heard the welcome party. There was the sound of growls and snapping jaws, and in a few moments one of the sailors flew over the railing and into the water below us. The werewolf came sputtering to the surface and snapped his large, long jaws at Marge and Hazel.
"Can you focus when your life is in danger?" Marge challenged Hazel.
The witch pulled something out of her soggy cloak and threw it at the werewolf while speaking a few words.
"Taste fresh no more after you eat this core!" Hazel shouted.
The werewolf snapped his jaws over the small object that Hazel threw. His eyes widened and he grasped his neck in his hands. The creature made a choking noise, and I was shocked and glad to see it revert to his human form. The now-human werewolf look around himself in bewilderment.
"What happened!? How did I get here?" he asked us.
Marge tucked Hazel beneath her arm and caught the bottom rung of the ladder. "Now it's Black's turn," she ordered Hazel.
Hazel squirmed in Marge's grasp. "Not if I die from your body odor!"
I could see Marge wasn't going to wait for me to get out of the way so I rushed up the ladder before she could push me off into the water. I reached the top rung and picked my head over the side of the deck. The ship was just as I remembered except for the complete and utter chaos caused by my mate. Erik was in the center of the storm. He stood in front of the door to the captain's quarters and was surrounded on three sides by the mutated werewolves. Captain Black himself was the closest Erik, and our old friend swiped at my mate.
I don't know what came over me. At the sight of Erik being attacked a red color swept over my eyes. The world around me slowed down and I felt a power coursing through me that equaled the power of a thousand energy drinks.
/> I pulled myself over the lip of the deck and raced towards the crowd. There was at least a dozen of the transformed werewolves around Erik, and twice that many situated around the rest of the ship. I barreled into the closest group of werewolves around Erik and slammed my shoulder into their sides and backs. They were shoved aside like bowling pins, and me with the wicked curve on the throw. I breached their wall of bodies and flew into Erik's arms. He caught me and pulled me behind himself.
"Stay behind me!" he ordered me.
"Like hell I am!" I yelled back.
I slid around him and jumped at the group on our left. The werewolves were just as huge has ever, but I knew their weakness. I slid onto the deck like I was trying to steal home and glided between their legs. I threw punches and kicked kicks at their groins. A chorus of pain and agony swept over the group, and they all crumpled to their knees clutching at their vital parts. I now breached two places in their walls around Erik and was able to see Marge and Hazel climb over the climb onto the deck. Marge jumped onto an attacking werewolf as Hazel pulled out more of whatever she had thrown at the werewolf in the water. Her catch phrase was now the spelling incantation, and she threw whatever she had like a professional baseball pitcher. The werewolves snapped up her small objects like they were candy, and each one clutched at their throat and collapsed to their knees writing in pain as they transformed back into their normal selves.
We were winning, but things weren't won yet.
CHAPTER 4
The werewolves I had tackled didn't stayed down for long, but Hazel took care of them. With a quick swing of her hand she tossed the projectiles at the werewolves, and they munched on the treats. One of the small objects rolled onto the deck and into my foot. I picked it up and frowned. It looked like a simple acorn. Hazel's magical acorns did the trick, though.
In a few moments half the crew were writhing on the ground clutching at their throats and returning back to their normal, swearing selves. The ones that remained surrounded Erik, and included Captain Black.
I saw Methuselah appear from the shadows behind Erik and jump at the remaining cannibalistic werewolves. His first target was the captain. Methuselah took on his shadowy form and engulfed our old ally.
"No!" Marge screamed. She rushed forward and jumped into the mess of darkness.
Methuselah reverted back to his solid form, and he and Marge tumbled from the darkness and crashed into the wall leading to the captain's cabin. Captain Black himself was intact, blood and all, but he swayed from side to side, and I noticed there were a few bite marks on his throat from fangs. I clasped the acorn tightly in my hand and rushed over to him. I slammed the nut into his partially open mouth and spoke the words.
"Taste fresh no more after you eat this core!" I shouted.
He snapped his jaws shut, but I didn't see him swallow and there wasn't any sign of transformation. He snarled and tried to grab me. I stumbled back and Erik slid between us. Erik punched his hand into Black's mouth and spoke the words.
"Taste fresh no more after you eat this core!"
Black's eyes widened and he stumbled backwards clutching at his throat. He fell to his knees, and I was relieved to watch his transformation return him to his normal grumpy old self. In a moment he was his curmudgeon old self, and he looked around in bewilderment.
"What in all the seven seas happened?" he spoke aloud. His eyes fell on us, and he raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving your skin!" Marge snapped as she extracted herself from her minor brawl with Methuselah. She marched over to the captain and slapped him in the face so hard that his head snapped to one side. "That's for going off and doing something stupidly brave!" She grabbed him by the shoulders, lifted them onto his feet and pressed her lips against his in a passionate kiss. When they broke apart, both of them were breathless. "And that's for doing the heroic deed."
I didn't get a chance to tease them before the fight took precedence.
"A little assistance!" Hazel yelled.
There was still a few of Captain Black's men to take care of, and some of them had figured out that Hazel was a source of trouble for their cannibalistic companions. They surrounded her and threatened her with their gnashing teeth and sharp claws.
"Belay that, mates!" the captain ordered them.
"They won't listen to you!" Marge told him.
Erik and Marge rushed forward and slammed her shoulders into the crew. The werewolves stumbled back, and Hazel to the opportunity to toss them their little doggie treats. They snapped up the nuts like they were steaks, and each in turn clutched at their throat. In a few moments the remainder of Captain Black's crew were their normal selves.
The captain himself turned to us and frowned. "Now will you tell me what happened?" His eyes turned to Erik and me, and he jerked his head to Marge. "Last I knew you were blustery going with her."
Erik put his hand on the captain shoulders shoulder and smiled. "The plan never changed, but can you tell us we last remember?"
The captain furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin. "Well, we were sailing past Market Island to the Den when-" he paused and his eyes widened, "-when those damn boats came up and boarded us! They started showing things into our mouths and the men changed into these monsters!"
"They fed you werewolf meat," Erik revealed.
Captain Black's lips curled up in a snarl. "The monsters."
The sound of a cannon interrupted our reunion. The ball itself fell short of our left side by ten feet. Erik and the captain flew to that side and leaned over the railing.
"That's my own ship firing on me!" the captain yelled.
"The men on the other ships are still controlled by Blackwood," Erik explained. He looked to Hazel. "Is there any way you can spread out your magic to them?"
Hazel frowned and tilted her head up to look at the crow's nest above us. "I would need to get up there, and your help in tossing the nuts would be useful."
Erik strode over to her and picked her up. He hefted her over one shoulder and moved over to the main rigging post.
"I'm not a sack of potatoes!" Hazel growled.
I folded my arms across my chest. "That's what I keep trying to tell him."
Erik climbed the mast as Captain Black turned to his befuddled crew.
"Man of the canons!" he yelled at them. "If what they're doing doesn't work then we'll have to fire!"
"On our own ships?" one of his men asked him.
Captain Black snarled at him. "You've got a better idea?"
The man shook his head and joined his fellow sailors in preparing the canons for use. While they prepared for the worst I tilted my head back and watched Erik and Hazel reached the crow's nest. They slipped inside the over sized bucket and looked out on the other five ships. I saw Hazel pass something to Erik, and they pulled back their arms. My ears picked up on the incantation as they both threw the nuts to the other ships. Half of Hazel's tosses fell short and into the water, but Erik's aim was true. The acorns landed on the deck of the other ships and the cannibalistic werewolves scrambled to chomp up the strange little treats. In a few moments all the canons silenced. All we heard were the engines of the motorboats. The captain, Marge, and I looked over the railing at the other ships.
Black grinned. "Whatever they did, it's worked," he commented. He stepped away from the railing and hitched up his belt before he turned to us. "Now if that mess is over do you mind telling me what's happened?"
Unfortunately, there was still the motorboats to contend with, and we heard the sounds of gunfire between the sailing ships. We rushed to the edge and looked over the railing. Greg had his hands full with all the small boats as they chased him between the hulls of the larger ships. The foes on board the motor boats weren't cannibalistic, and they fired at him from their bows.
Captain Black whipped his head to his crew and pointed at the boats beneath us. "Get the whiskey barrels ready!"
The men looked at each other, and one of them stepped forward. "The whiskey
barrels, captain?"
"That's what I said, now do it!" Black growled.
"But the whiskey, Captain!" another of them spoke up.
"We'll be getting that and more if we rid ourselves of all these varmints for Lord Greenwood!" the captain yelled at them.
There is nothing as motivating to a sailor as the promise of a large quantity of alcohol. The men grabbed the barrels from beneath the deck and rolled them to either side of the ship so they stood against the railing. Captain Black leaned over one side and frowned.
"Now we've got to get him to pass by the ship." He looked to me and Erik who had newly rejoined us. "Any idea how to get him here?"
Erik's reply was to tilt back his head and let out a long, loud, clear howl that reverberated through the air. In a moment Greg steered his boat beside Captain Black's ship with the small armada of motorboats behind him.
"To this side, men!" Captain Black yelled at his crew.
All the barrels were rolled onto the side same as where Greg sped past. Captain Black held up his hand. "Wait for it," he ordered them. Greg's motorboat sped past our position with his foes in hot pursuit. The captain threw down his arm. "Now!"
The men picked up the barrels and heaved them over the side of the ship. The heavy casks crashed down onto the motorboats below us. They crushed our foes and broke holes through the bottoms of the vessels. In a moment the boats were either without pilots, or sinking, or in some cases both. The werewolves floundered in the waves between the sailing ships.
Black looked to Erik and jerked his head towards our floundering foes. "Should we let them sink?"
Erik closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, or we would be as bad as Blackwood."
Captain Black frowned, but turned to his crew. "Drag out those rats before they drowned," he ordered them.
While his crew fished out our foes the other sailors on the ships hailed us. One of the adjoining ship's captain cupped his hands over his mouth and called to us across the waters. "What happened? How did we get here?"
"It's a long story!" Captain Black shouted back. "Get the others over here and we'll hear it."
Within an hour all the commanders of the ships were in Captain Blacks quarters along with everyone in our group, even Methuselah. The werewolf commanders glared at him, and one of them jerked there thumb towards our resident vampire.