The silver ship's helm was adorned with a ghastly skull--also with spiraling eyes and a sail of tattered, black cloth. The shadow captain stood with his unmistakable presence at the forefront of the ship. Numerous ectoplasmic specters traveled below the ship, ferrying it across the water, all while emitting a loud, "whooing" sound.

Archibell grimaced and squinted his eyes. "That's the wicked vessel that's done many a good sailor in, including my own crew."

"How are we going to escape it?" Elise cried.

Archibell's eyes glinted in the moonlight. "We'll simply have to sail til the crack of dawn. Like all ghosts, daybreak seriously depletes the sea reaper's power."

Archibell winced from his sizzling burns. "Are you ok enough to sail?" Elise asked.

"You kidding, kid?" Archibell said, "I can sail with one hand burned and charred behind my back. Which coincidentally, is my current situation".

A loud steaming sound emitted from his arm and the captain cringed with one eye shut.

"But, eh, kid," he asked. "Can you and Tony get me an ice pack from the cooler?"

"Sure!" Elise said and she rushed to the captain's quarters.

The cooler was right beside the captain's wine rack, no doubt placed strategically. As Elise rummaged through the cooler with one hand, Tony advised her in the other. "Ya know, small fry. The captain loves to talk a big game, but I can see that he's really hurting. We should be there when he pilots."

As Elise located the icepack, she smiled at Tony. "You know, you may sound tough and scary, but you're really nice and sweet."

Tony chuckled in his gravelly voice. "Ya know pally, in another life I could have been a therapist rather than a street punk. Curse ma socio-economic class!"

"It's never too late to change," Elise smiled as she closed the cooler and the two emerged on the deck. The captain had already seized the wheel and was piloting with one hand. Elise placed the icepack on Archibell's arm, causing him to cringe.

"Thanks kid, but this stings worse than a rejection from a sea siren!"

The moon was sinking lower, drawing Archibell's attention to it. "According to my superb sailor's instinct, we've only got one more hour til daybreak. But until then, we gotta lead em on a wild goose chase."

"Or in dis case," Tony added. "A wild ghost chase."

The captain gave a hearty laugh. "Puns are always appreciated aboard the Lyre!"

He handed Elise a telescope. "Freckles," he said, "You keep watch for any islands we can find refuge on once we beat the reaper. "

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Elise gave a strong "aye aye" and pressed the scope to her eye.

"Excellent!" Archibell said with a great big grin. "Friendship and teamwork truly are our booty!"

***

The next half hour passed as the Lyre rode the nightwind, cutting across the water at top speeds. But the ghost ship seemed more enhanced in the moonlight. It glowed a ghostly pale, and sped along like a silver bullet, buoyed by the ghosts who were whooing even louder.

Elise continued to scan the high seas, but there was nothing in sight.

Archibell looked over his shoulder. "Cursed ghost ship," he said, raising his voice over the loud whooing. "They must be powered on a hundred kilawhoos! Freckles, do you see anything?

"Not yet," Elise called back. "Keep your eyes peeled," he called back. "This is gonna be close!"

The ghost ship pulled itself up close to the Lyre. Swarms of death masks gathered on the deck, waiting to board the Lyre and claim their souls.

A chill loomed in the air as the two ships ran parallel to each other. The ships were so close now, Elise saw the mad eyes on the shadow captain's mask.

She turned her head nervously in aversion. Looking around desperately for land, she saw a dark mass off in the distance. "I-I see an island," she cried.

"Where?" Archibell said.

"Hard right!"Elise said. She handed him the telescope and he immediately exclaimed. "I see it! Land ho!"

Archibell handed Elise the telescope and began to turn the wheel in the direction of the island...but he struggled. With only one hand, he could not crank the wheel in the full direction. The death masks began to float towards the Lyre, gliding on their heels.

Elise watched the captain struggle and threw herself into the wheel, turning it a hard right.

The ship's rudder groaned as it turned and the ship miraculously changed direction. The death masks that had hovered off the ghost ship pulled themselves back to avoid missing the Lyre.

The ghost ship creaked itself in the same direction, racing after the Lyre. But as the island grew closer, the sky turned a golden orange and dissipated the indigo night. The ghost ship halted as the whooing specters vanished. The shadow captain raised his fist. "Archibell...I will haunt you forever!"

Leaving the ghost ship far behind, Archibell shook his head. "I've got no idea why the sea reaper's got such a vendetta against me."

The captain pointed to his chest. "It is I who should have one against him for claiming my whole crew!"

The captain gave Elise a thumbs up. "Good work there, Freckles. Both on the ship and back there. You really saved our bacon, or in Tony's case, his fillet! Now let's see what island you took us to…"

The ship docked on the beach. As Elise looked out on the sun washed beach, there was no sign of villages, only a verdant jungle.

There was a gurgle and both of them turned to Tony whose plaque balanced on the wheel."I'm so hungry, guys, I could eat myself."

Elise rubbed her tummy too. "Your hunger is contagious."

"Well mateys," Archibell said. "The only thing fresh in this boat is the fact that we are free outta food."

Both Tony and Elise groaned. "But fear not," Archibell said. "Islands are always ripe with delicious vegetation".

The trio disembarked onto the island. Elise liked the way the soft sands on the beach felt beneath her scandals. It reminded her of home, but she was much too hungry to be properly nostalgic.

"Squadily Squids!" Archibell called out. "I've already found something! And it looks delicious."

Elise ran from the sands into the tall grass. Archibell smiled proudly, but Elise looked wary. Growing at his feet were a pile of mushrooms giving off an eerie purple glow.