The Sea Witch's Revenge (ON HOLD)

Chapter Nineteen

The room erupts with shouting. The captains stand, yelling at both each other and at the pirate lord, their faces reddening with anger.

Victoria wobbles on her feet, the colour draining from her face. Aurora puts her arm around hers, helping Victoria stay standing as her vision spins. Fear pulses through her so much so, that her hands tremble by her sides.

She looks down at the captain. He sits in his chair completely still, staring at the pirate lord, who is smirking.

The captain turns and looks at Victoria. Their eyes meet and they share a knowing look.

The Sea Witch can't die.

The pirate lord slams his hand into the table and everyone goes silent. 

"You may be wondering why I have made such a decision," he begins. Then, he clicks his fingers. A man walks down the stairs, dragging with him a brown sack which thumps down each step. As he reaches the table, he hurls it over his shoulder.

The sack slams onto the table with a sickening thump. Then, he pulls away the material, revealing what it was carrying.

There is a horrified gasp and Victoria jumps back, her stomach dropping and tears forming in her eyes. Aurora props her up, stopping her from bolting from the room completely.

"What is that?" someone shouts as the body of one of the Sea Witch's beasties lies in the centre of the table.

It is revolting. Victoria has to cover her mouth with her hand to stop herself from being sick, especially when the horrific odours of rotting and Severed Fell fill the room. She can't help but stare at it. Its twisted upper body is gaunt, the leathery skin clinging to its sharp bones. Its face is horrifying. Its giant mouth is open, all of its wicked, dagger-like teeth visible alongside its tongue which hangs out of its mouth, black and slimy. Large, black eyes stare blankly ahead. Thin whisps of hair stick out of its dry head and its tail is shrivelled, the scales dull and lined with deep green goo.

Victoria gags and looks away as memories of those creatures swarming around her father and tearing him apart fill her mind. She can also remember how they clawed at her legs, ripping her tale to shreds. She can practically feel it now and her legs tingle and sting.

The pirate lord stands. "That thing used to be a sailor," he says, pointing at it.

"What? How?" one of the pirates asks.

"The Sea Witch has taken over Astor's Abyss. Where lives lost at sea would usually have their bodies and souls taken to rest in the Abyss, the Sea Witch is taking them back. With her corrupted magic and aid of Severed Fell, she has made this."

Silence hangs in the air and the pirate lord looks over everyone carefully.

"The ocean is riddled with them and they are stripping it bare, killing anything and everything that gets in their way."

"Then how come we've never seen or heard of them?"

"Because they don't attack ships and their bodies can't touch the air, Captain Burk," he snaps.

"The Sea Witch is no longer a protector of the ocean and she hasn't been for a long time. She has fallen to the allure of Severed Fell and now she uses the ocean as her own personal playground, creating freaks of nature and taking the magic from it for herself. She needs to be stopped."

Victoria can barely process what's being said. All she can do is stare at the wicked creature on the table, her mind spinning with a mixture of confusion and horrible visions from her past.