The Crystal in the Chasm

chapter 2

The mer, who had grabbed fabric from atop a nearby table and tied it around his waist, approached me on newly formed legs with ease. I held my blade more firmly toward him and dared him with my eyes.

His wrinkled hands held up in surrender, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Feisty, aren't you?"

"I will gut you like a fish if you take one more step!" I whispered under my breath, nervously glancing over my shoulder to see if anyone else was watching. The pirates still didn't seem to notice.

He frowned. "Would you like me to alert my crew of your presence?"

I huffed, "What will it take for your silence? Jewels?"

The mer folded his arms, his muscles glistening in the sunlight with water droplets cascading downward. The ship swayed back and forth enough for my balance to feel unsteady. I swallowed again, ignoring the fear bubbling under the surface. I was a goner if I didn't think.

"Tell me... What brings a human onto a pirate ship?"

I felt the sweat forming underneath my dagger as I adjusted my grip. "I just needed a ride to the human lands. I just want to go home. I mean no trouble."

The mer whistled and I froze in place. The ship went silent, save for the waves crashing around us. I instantly whirred around with another dagger in my opposite hand, my arms spread wide and ready to fight. My stomach twisted again at all of the gaping smiles with various missing teeth. The men each unsheathed swords or grabbed the nearest object to fight. My hands were betraying me by trembling. I looked around and around for an escape route. My only option would be to jump overboard but I knew the creatures that dwelled in these waters were much worse than a pirate. They looked at me with ravenous eyes, taking in my body from head to toe. I wrapped my cloak around me more securely and returned my daggers up high.

The sound of a rope hurling through the air grabbed my attention as a figure swung from high above in the crows nest of the ship, leaping from rope to rope swiftly. I felt my dread worsen as the skull-masked face peered down at me. The pirate had shaggy black hair curling in the wind, his loosely fitted white shirt unbuttoned to reveal a tattooed chest surrounded by dangling jewelry. The man had a lighter skin tone than the rest of the dark-skinned pirates but his complexion was still sun-kissed. His belt was loaded with various weapons and he looked more lean than the rest of the meatier folk on the ship, aside from the mer behind me. I cursed under my breath as the masked pirate dropped before me, the face of a skeleton with icy blue eyes locked in a staring contest with mine. His tattooed hands covered in rings and bracelets reached up with dark painted nails and pulled his mask off with a nose in the air. The removal of his mask revealed his pointed ears and I audibly gasped. A fae pirate? Braids and beads revealed themselves tangled within his dark curls, his eyes circled with a rim of black liner which made him all the more intimidating. The fae male squinted his eyes at me with an unreadable expression, his arms relaxed and disinterested in reaching for a weapon. He was utterly devastating. A beautiful, deadly specimen of a male.

"Reveal yourself, witch," the fae male looked bored.

I shifted uneasily and shook my head, "I mean no harm."

"Then why are you covered in a film of magic?" He tilted his head, his icy blue eyes ablaze.

The mer behind me gasped. "Not human?"

The pirate fae shook his head as he glanced to his men and held up a swaying finger with a click of his tongue, "Not a human indeed. She reeks of fae." Then his face returned to mine where he displayed a sharp grin with flawless teeth, "I will not ask again."

I took a few steps back and considered the water again. What would they do if they knew who I really was? Hold me hostage for money from the royal family? That wouldn't do them any good. Or worse... Would they want me dead? I wasn't sure if my kingdom was on civil terms with pirates or not. I had seen a pirate at court on occasion.