Liton! Looks like we’ve hit a reef!
The sailors got out of the ship and swam to the island. Liton ordered a fire to be lit, and several people went deep into the forest to get dry branches. No one noticed how Rakon fell to his knees and began to whisper:
– I appeal to you, lord! Come! Come to me! Get this ship out, don’t let it die. And I will make a sacrifice for you – I give them all to you!
He suddenly emerged from the sea. The entire green body was covered with tentacles, and instead of hands there were huge crab claws.
– Take them, master! – the old man shouted. – Take them all, but save me, I pray!
– Oh, you’re a disgusting nit! – Liton fired, and Rakon fell to the ground. Several shots are fired into the monster’s chest, but it’s all useless. The monkfish easily scattered the sailors, taking their lives. Then Tram said:
– I am the keeper of the Ancient Secret! I order you, monster – perish!
A bright beam of light flashed from his hands. The monster writhed in pain. But it immediately roared and rushed at the Guardian. Tram pulled out a sword – his blade shimmered with a thousand small runes. A couple of blows from the claws almost knocked the monk off his feet, but he resisted. He thrust the shimmering blade into the monster’s chest with all his might. The monster roared and fell to the ground. Until the black spirit of the monkfish left, he decided to use its power. Alien, but was there any other choice? A flash of light around the ship that stood on the reef in sight – and again only the fire illuminates the night forest.
– I removed the reefs. At dawn we set off.
– You killed the monkfish! – Liton exclaimed. He fell to his knees. His example was followed by other pirates who had previously feared neither the devil, nor God, nor the king himself.
– Get up, friends. Monkfish is just the beginning!
Chapter 2
The clouds hugged the sky like a raven wing, and there was no beginning or end to them. A bright flash illuminated the horizon for a moment, as if the hand of a dead man was trying to remove the veil from the heavens. And then came the thunder. And then the first drops fell from above. With every second the rain became stronger, until under its spell it became impossible to distinguish anything two steps away.
– Are you snails or sailors! – Liton bawled. – Why so slow? Maybe I should stand next to you and start pouring water overboard? Just keep in mind that one of you will be dipping the water!
The captain turned the rudder left and right, doing everything possible to keep the ship afloat and cope with the storm. Others ran, some with a bucket, some with a rag, pouring water overboard. The strength was running out, but it was impossible to give up. Nobody promised the sailor a sweet life. Then the storm calmed down. After a while, the clouds melted, and an arch of a rainbow hung over the «Soul of the Corsair.»
– Phew, alive! – said the captain. – Although, what do we need a storm now, when the monkfish himself was killed? Let’s have fun now!
The pirates drank rum, someone played dice. The rules are simple – you roll a few dice. Whoever gets the fewest points will spend the whole day scrubbing the deck. The other loser washes the dishes. So with passion it is very easy to prevent dirt on the schooner.
– You cheated! I have seen! – Tart shouted.
– If you’re a loser, what does it have to do with me?
– Yes you are! How can you say that! I saw with my own eyes how you turned the bone over with your hand.
– If you don’t want to scrub the deck, there’s no point in accusing honest people of deception!
– Are you honest? Don’t make people laugh! My friend is wearing pants – even more honest! He always honestly gets up when he sees a woman. And you, star, are cheating!
Tart grabbed Jim by the collar. Jim took out a dagger. A shot rang out.
– Both! – said the captain. – Now throw the weapon on the floor. Now go out into the fresh air and decide there who is right and who is wrong.
Tart and Jim came out. And after a while the door opened again with a creak, and the two pirates, like bosom friends, sang in an embrace:
Yo-ho-ho! We are not afraid of the dead
We love mermaids, we are bottomlessly drunk.
We will be hanged – we will be finished!
But while we are alive, you are doomed!
– So at once! – Liton smiled.
The captain approached Tram.
– Why, my friend, aren’t you happy? I understand, it’s a burden and all that, but you need to relax at least sometimes. Come on, drink some rum!
– Drank. Does not help.
– Then hold the phone.
Tram put the oak pipe to his lips. And he coughed.
– What is this?
– Hashish, of course. What did you think? Don’t worry, good one. From the Cayman Islands. The guys and I traveled halfway around the world – I’ve never smoked better.
Not that Tram had never tried mixing shag with imp-grass, as the hallucination-inducing herbs were called. Anything happened during the hikes. The times when there were no states and people lived under the rule of Beelzuvik, the kingdom of magicians, are long gone. The last five or six generations have been fighting for their place in the sun. Morelia made constant raids on the northern outskirts of Eldoras, and the Ennians looked greedily at the southern ones. During frequent campaigns, it was necessary to somehow pacify the pain of the memory of fallen comrades. So the soldiers drank ale, and sometimes bought forbidden demon grass from merchants. It actually became easier for a while. Tram broke into an idiotic smile and began to sing along with the other pirates:
Yo-ho-ho, the bottomless expanse sleeps,
We know no peace, only rum and robbery,
We don’t want to die here
Have fun, friends, our motto is simple!
But then oblivion came. Not for long. And behind him – again visions and memories.
Then the governor Dust sent him to the west of Dragha. Officially, this island was an independent country. Although everyone understood that the savages had no power here. The King of Eldoras exiled here all those undesirable, exiles like Tram himself, whose path to the continent was henceforth barred. Tram rode west. The further he drove, the fewer trees he encountered along the way. Where, according to Dust, a rebellious tribe of savages lived, there was not a single tree at all – only some clearings. Tram didn’t have time to do anything when he was grabbed. The savages here were unusually disciplined. They were wearing armor and carrying swords and spears in their hands. It is completely unrecognizable to those naked-assed
