Freedom's Horizon: Spirit of Belize (WLW)

Part One: Chapter Thirteen

This chapter contains dark themes.

August 1746, Shipstern Lagoon, Belize

Ines sat at the end of the third dinghy she and her new family navigated down the lagoon, keeping an eye out for the possible native attacks and feeling that same dark harbinger as before. It wasn't that she feared the colonials or natives, rather that she was afraid her husband still had something up his sleeve. The horrid man had not only stripped the children of their father's, but he had also taken their mothers who knew where and took pride in the disarray he'd spread throughout the children hiding on Roatan, left behind with Ricky and Cameron. After sailing there to meet up with the others of the crew who had challenged Colel's sister, they had all met up on the beach only to find out she wasn't joining them.

Colel had made the decision to remain with Zyanya and given Felipe and the others no choice other than to leave her as she commanded. Even Ines who hardly knew the woman worried for her safety. Would they see her again in San Jose, or would this be the end of their journey together? If the latter, what would that mean for them defeating Zyanya? Did they need Colel to do that? Then again, she had explained they needed to take the blade, which had been specified as not being the Dagger of Sol, to the temple in Yobac where they might destroy it. Perhaps her days with them were truly gone.

Ines peeked up at Felipe who rowed in the small vessel ahead of hers. He hadn't spoken all day, combing the lagoon with his eyes as if he was in search of something he could never obtain. Ines felt her heart breaking for him. Not only was he forced to leave the children with Cameron and Ricky, the latter of which was too injured to accompany their journey, but he had no way of knowing if his wife was alive or dead. She watched as he stood as if on alert for a hair's breadth of a moment, then sat back down with a huff as through the marsh only a large bird peeked out its head.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Ines turned her head and found Gen holding out the blade that always singed the very skin off of her family's hands. She held it in a handkerchief and even then it appeared to be heating up a bit. Gen inched closer as Dawn rowed them further inland, pulling the boat up onto the shore as they arrived. Still, Ines didn't take the weapon. She couldn't. Not when she knew the power it held and just how detrimental it was to her new crew.

"Take it. Please."

Hesitantly, Ines reached for the blade and took it from her hands, finding it to feel not unlike the many she'd held over the years. It was cold to the touch and the metallic texture only served to remind her of the many times the admiral had cut her in the past. However, what she hadn't expected was the odd glow at its hilt. Ines examined it, running her eyes along the peculiar blue hue that cast her cream top in a more green tint, then peered back up at Gen to find her clenching her jaw.

"What...?" Ines examined the weapon's length once more and ran her fingers along some of the lettering she noticed within the aquamarine gem embedded into its handle. There was something there deep inside written as if meant to be read, yet she couldn't make out what it said. Ines squinted her eyes and tried to focus them enough to really get a look at the words, yet with them in some unknown, foreign language, she couldn't make out a single letter, much less its meaning. "Did you see the...?"

When she lifted her head, she found Gen's face contorted with something she could only relate to rage before she stood up from the boat. Gen made quick strides over to the second boat as Ines spotted the rest of the crew disembarking from the first and grabbed the scruff of Arthur's naval garb. She pulled him from the boat and literally threw him out of it as her veins visibly darkened and the others began rushing over. Gen shoved Felipe away as he made it to her, brandishing her pistol from her sash and holding it up beneath Arthur's chin.