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Authors: Donald Wigboldy
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the way, maybe they'll just steal the cargo and leave us alone."
Then they heard the cry from their pursuer to furl their sails and prepare for boarding. Using hooks and rope, the pirates swiftly drew the two craft side by side. They were sending their men across to the Patar well before the other two warships even arrived.
A sharply dressed pirate crossed over shortly. With glossy, black hair and a curled mustache slick with wax beneath a dashing, red, feathered hat and clothes of similar quality, Simon watched the man strut confidently onto the Patar's deck. "I am Pirate Captain Seymon. You are all my prisoners. This ship and all upon it are now mine to do with as I see fit."
"You can't take this ship! It isn't mine to lose," Captain Madron declared. "Take the cargo, but, please, allow us to finish our voyage and return home. Others await our arrival."
Captain Seymon sneered. As he strode over to Dernick, the pirate drew his sword and pointed it at the man's heart. "I don't believe that I gave you a choice in the matter. What is your name?"
"Captain Dernick Madron."
"Well, Captain Madron, I don't believe that I gave you permission to speak. Did I?"
Dernick shook his head slowly saying nothing this time.
"Now that I have your attention, let me tell you a secret about what it is that I do. I, sir, am a pirate. A good one, too, I assure you. The reason that I am a captain is because my men respect me and they learned to respect me because I demand a job to be carried out fully when I give it. Failure to do so results in penalties.
"Now you, captain, are unable to decide the fate of anything or anyone. Why? Because I have removed you from your power. In fact, you can now consider yourself property for I always sell the men that we capture as slaves to the markets in the Taltan kingdoms. So don't presume that I will now change my mind for you, Dernick Madron."
"But these men don't deserve that!" Dernick protested uselessly.
The sword in Seymon's hand flashed upward in an arc. A spray of red mist flew from a gash in Dernick's throat. The man reached for his neck to try and staunch the rapid loss of blood from the wound. Dernick fell to his knees gagging on his own blood as it bled into his throat and lungs. "I warned you not to speak or try to change my mind, Dernick. I am afraid a second warning wasn't in your future. Now I give you permission to die. Don't disappoint me by not obeying my order this time." The pirate laughed mirthlessly at his morbid joke.
Simon laid a restraining hand on Gerid's wrist as he felt his brother stiffen in anger. He hated to give in to slavery, but better to be a slave with the hope of someday escaping, than to be left dead in a pool of one's own blood.
Captain Seymon cleaned his sword on Dernick's back and returned it to its sheath. "Crew of the Patar, you are hereby relieved of your duties. All right, men, shackle the sheep and put them in the hold."
As Simon felt the cold metal of the shackles and heard the click as they locked into place, his head fell forward in despair. Gerid was shackled in front of him next. When they were led across to the pirate ship, he noticed his brother almost doubled over with the realization of what his earlier actions had now brought them all to and that was slavery.
Chapter 9- The Price of a Man
The former crew of the Patar and its passengers soon lost track of time in the dark, dank hold of the pirate ship known as the Black Wind. They were forced to remain below deck the entire time living off only the occasional crusty meals of bread and water. If they didn't make their final stop soon, Simon was sure that he would expire from hunger. His brother said little to him during the days of captivity and simply sat in a morose silence. Simon wondered to whom his younger brother's anger was actually directed towards. He knew that Gerid would have preferred fighting it out with the pirates, but that was the childish thinking of a teenager who thought himself to be
Then they heard the cry from their pursuer to furl their sails and prepare for boarding. Using hooks and rope, the pirates swiftly drew the two craft side by side. They were sending their men across to the Patar well before the other two warships even arrived.
A sharply dressed pirate crossed over shortly. With glossy, black hair and a curled mustache slick with wax beneath a dashing, red, feathered hat and clothes of similar quality, Simon watched the man strut confidently onto the Patar's deck. "I am Pirate Captain Seymon. You are all my prisoners. This ship and all upon it are now mine to do with as I see fit."
"You can't take this ship! It isn't mine to lose," Captain Madron declared. "Take the cargo, but, please, allow us to finish our voyage and return home. Others await our arrival."
Captain Seymon sneered. As he strode over to Dernick, the pirate drew his sword and pointed it at the man's heart. "I don't believe that I gave you a choice in the matter. What is your name?"
"Captain Dernick Madron."
"Well, Captain Madron, I don't believe that I gave you permission to speak. Did I?"
Dernick shook his head slowly saying nothing this time.
"Now that I have your attention, let me tell you a secret about what it is that I do. I, sir, am a pirate. A good one, too, I assure you. The reason that I am a captain is because my men respect me and they learned to respect me because I demand a job to be carried out fully when I give it. Failure to do so results in penalties.
"Now you, captain, are unable to decide the fate of anything or anyone. Why? Because I have removed you from your power. In fact, you can now consider yourself property for I always sell the men that we capture as slaves to the markets in the Taltan kingdoms. So don't presume that I will now change my mind for you, Dernick Madron."
"But these men don't deserve that!" Dernick protested uselessly.
The sword in Seymon's hand flashed upward in an arc. A spray of red mist flew from a gash in Dernick's throat. The man reached for his neck to try and staunch the rapid loss of blood from the wound. Dernick fell to his knees gagging on his own blood as it bled into his throat and lungs. "I warned you not to speak or try to change my mind, Dernick. I am afraid a second warning wasn't in your future. Now I give you permission to die. Don't disappoint me by not obeying my order this time." The pirate laughed mirthlessly at his morbid joke.
Simon laid a restraining hand on Gerid's wrist as he felt his brother stiffen in anger. He hated to give in to slavery, but better to be a slave with the hope of someday escaping, than to be left dead in a pool of one's own blood.
Captain Seymon cleaned his sword on Dernick's back and returned it to its sheath. "Crew of the Patar, you are hereby relieved of your duties. All right, men, shackle the sheep and put them in the hold."
As Simon felt the cold metal of the shackles and heard the click as they locked into place, his head fell forward in despair. Gerid was shackled in front of him next. When they were led across to the pirate ship, he noticed his brother almost doubled over with the realization of what his earlier actions had now brought them all to and that was slavery.
Chapter 9- The Price of a Man
The former crew of the Patar and its passengers soon lost track of time in the dark, dank hold of the pirate ship known as the Black Wind. They were forced to remain below deck the entire time living off only the occasional crusty meals of bread and water. If they didn't make their final stop soon, Simon was sure that he would expire from hunger. His brother said little to him during the days of captivity and simply sat in a morose silence. Simon wondered to whom his younger brother's anger was actually directed towards. He knew that Gerid would have preferred fighting it out with the pirates, but that was the childish thinking of a teenager who thought himself to be
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