Brother Mine...Part 1

After what seemed an eternity of floating over the turbulent maelstrom that was the ocean in this place I spotted the tanker. It rode through the inky black waves, cutting a path straight towards the mainland. The deck of the vessel shimmered with a green, sparkling light that swirled and moved in malevolent waves of its own, passing around the shadowy figures that I assumed were the Reavers. The Bane was nowhere to be seen.

As I began to descend, I drew Excalibur and drew the Shadow close about so I could pass from this place to the mundane world. Just as I reached the edge of the strange sparkling light, I struck out with the blade. Excalibur glowed white hot as it cut into the spell that created that light and destroyed it in an explosion of light and force that blew me back with enough force to send me crashing against the rail of deck just as I transitioned between the two worlds.

Somehow, I had been able to retain a grip on the sword even as I struggled to regain my balance and stand up. The sword pulled my hand up into an overhead parry of the attack of the first Reaver, blocking the blow from a fire axe with a metallic clang.

I looked up into the vacant, soulless face of the former pirate. His right eye hung loose from his skull because the flesh surrounding it had long since rotted away. The tip of his nose was missing, leaving a gaping hole that showed a tangled mass of blackened cartilage and raw meat. The creature regarded me silently as he brought his axe back up for another powerful swing.

“Shit, and I here I thought I was pretty ugly.”

Sinking back against the railing, I parried the second blow with the sword again and reached out with my left hand to grab his rotting trousers and belt. In one swift move, I stood up while still holding the creatures clothing and hefted it up and over the railing behind me and into the ocean beyond.

Two more of the Reavers were coming towards me from the prow of the ship while a third clambered down onto the deck to my right from a ladder that led up towards the glass enclosed cockpit three stories above.

I turned to face the two since they were closer and moving faster. The larger of the two held a large spear like weapon in both hands with a long razor point on one end and a wickedly curved hook on the other end. The other Reaver held a pistol in its left hand and a cleaver in the other. It raised the pistol to take aim at me as the other slashed out with the hooked end of its weapon at my legs.

The muzzle of the gun flashed and a bullet slammed into my chest, but I was more worried about the hook sweeping towards leg. Excalibur flashed out and then down, slicing the right arm of the larger Reaver off at the elbow before slicing into the wooden haft of the weapon and sending the metallic hook flying to skitter across the deck. Another wicked slash sent the Reavers’ head spinning to join the hook as I turned and heaved the headless body into the smaller Reaver, disrupting his next shot.

Seeing an easy opportunity to take out the second Reaver, I gathered the Shadow and stepped through into the Shadowland. I passed around behind the foe as it tried to untangle itself from the still thrashing headless body of the other one, and returned to cleave it right down the middle. Both halves of that body and the headless body all collapsed into twitching heaps of tangled limbs and splattered gore.

Excalibur swung back up into a guard position as I stepped over the quivering mass of undead flesh and set myself to face the third Reaver that I had seen earlier. The only problem was that there was no other Reaver to fight.

Instead, a voice rode on the wind towards me, calling out in a grating, echoing whisper that still conveyed its message perfectly.

“Brother mine, I have recalled my Reavers. Surely there is no need for further violence?”