“Captain, we’re going to die!”
Men and women dashed frantically across the deck, their footsteps pounding like desperate hammers against the ship’s dark, weathered planks. Anguish was etched onto every face, and as though sensing the chaos around them, the sails thrashed wildly, flapping like the wings of a trapped beast.
The sky churned with ominous clouds spiraling like the eye of a vengeful giant, and a sharp, unrelenting sound—like the eerie cry of some strange creature—echoed in the distance.
“I’m not the captain!” Luna shouted as she stormed out of her father’s cabin, her voice cutting through the storm. A knot tightened in her throat, choking her as much as the frustration weighing heavily on her shoulders. It was like carrying a burden she’d never asked for. My father had always been the leader. How could I ever replace someone like him? she thought. “And I don’t want to be your captain!”
“Captain, we have to attack!” another crew member yelled, hastily adjusting one of the cannons. Sweat poured down his face, dripping into his wide, panic-stricken eyes as he searched for a solution—one she simply didn’t have.
Luna clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white. This isn’t the time to give up, she told herself. Her gaze swept over the Lady Diana, the old family ship. Every plank, every rope, was steeped in memories of the place where she’d grown up. No, this wouldn’t be the place where they all would die.
For a moment, her eyes flicked toward the horizon. There it was—the Madame Sofie. Imposing. Menacing. The warship exuded a predator’s calm, its four towering masts draped with blue-green sails streaked with dark stripes. The masts rose like spears pointed at the heavens, while its cannons stood ready to unleash destruction.
“Damn it!” Luna growled through gritted teeth as she stared at the churning sea battering the hull of the Diana. The pirate ship, with its meager two masts, rocked like a nutshell in the grip of a giant. “I told you—I’m not the captain!”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
But she wasn’t about to stand there and die, either. She wouldn’t let them be slaughtered like this, she resolved.
Her eyes swept over the faces of the crew—friends, her lifelong family. She couldn’t let them fall. They had trusted her father for years, and now, even though the thought terrified her, she would fight to the end to honor that trust.
She took a deep breath, forcing her lungs to obey, as she struggled to master the anguish that seemed to freeze her in place.
"Prepare for the attack!" Luna roared, pouring all her fury into the command. "Raise the sails and adjust the cannons! Let’s show these bastards what happens when they take aim at a pirate!"
Her voice thundered across the deck, slicing through the oppressive air and breathing life into the crew. The sails unfurled with a resounding snap, billowing like a falcon’s wings diving into the wind, and the Lady Diana surged forward, cutting through the waves.
Ahead, the Madame Sofie, immense and menacing, loomed like a floating fortress, dominating the water. Its sails rose in flawless unison as the ship adjusted its course to tighten the noose.
Farther behind the Diana, a small Imperial Navy vessel was rapidly closing in, its intent unmistakable: to trap the Diana. Luna quickly grasped the gravity of their situation. They were caught between the treacherous sea, where the wind was beginning to falter, and the deadly range of the Sofie’s cannons.
Keeping her eyes fixed on the enemy ships, Luna scrutinized their every move—the trim of the sails, the angle of the hulls. Her gaze sharpened as she recognized a familiar pattern in the maneuvers. A cold shiver ran down her spine.
“Johny...” she murmured.
The name hung heavy in the air. The reputation of the Imperial Navy captain preceded him, as did his relentless obsession with capturing her father. Now, with the old pirate dead, Luna knew Johny had set his sights on a new target: her.
Farther behind the Diana, the smaller Navy ship was closing the gap with reckless urgency, like a ravenous predator oblivious to danger. Driven by greed and the lure of capturing the infamous Midnight Pirates, the crew ignored the clear signs of peril and blatantly disobeyed Johny’s orders.
A sudden shift in the wind brought both opportunity and risk, exposing a critical vulnerability in the smaller vessel. The ship cut the waves on a diagonal path, advancing too quickly. Its speed was impressive, but the overfilled sails and clumsy maneuvers betrayed their desperation. They were determined to reach the Diana’s stern before the trap closed completely.
So predictable, Luna thought.