John Baines was a sailor on the
ship “Tradewind”. This ship was a trade ship as the name implied and was very
fast as well. The crew of the Tradewind was growing restless because they had
not seen port in a month. Captain Mohardy stood by the helm and kept checking
his spyglass as he looked for land. A lookout stood vigilant in the crows nest,
but the captain was getting as restless as the crew.
“Land!” Shouted Mr.Peeks. On the
horizon was a land that was full of red and orange trees. It looked like a forest
on fire and with every breeze the leaves swayed and it resembled dancing flames
on a candle. The captain and crew were awestruck by this sight. They had never
been through these seas and each sight was new and exciting. John leaned over
the railing to get a better look. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever
seen. The whole ride into port the crew stared in amazement at the strange red
trees. The captain understood their fascination, but they would crash if the
crew didn’t all do their jobs as they docked. “Alright men, ye can gawk later.
All hands on deck. Get ready fer port!” Shouted the captain.
The crew of the Tradewind landed in the port of Honeyside. A small town
by located at the edge of the Autumn Forest. In this land it was autumn all the
time. Farmers almost always had wonderful harvests, apples, honey and maple
syrup were always fresh and apple trees and maple made up most of the forest.
The sailors looked at the place in wonderment, or rather hadn’t stopped. John
grabbed an apple from a tree and ate it, it was the best apple he had ever
eaten. “Captain, before we leave, I bet if we pick all the apples we see, we
could sell them for a huge profit with no cost” John said. Captain Mohardy
smiled and patted John on the back. “That my boy, is why you have always been
my favorite” He said in a gruff voice. “Come on lads! Lets see what other
bounties this place has to offer.
The Tradewind was docked in port,
but no one came to see the new arrivals and there were no other boats in port
either. After the excitement of the new sights died down a little John began to
notice the little things like the lack of humans or animals in the immediate
area. “there has to be houses around here. Wouldn’t just build a dock in the
middle of nowhere.” The captain said as the crew left the port and began
walking down a dirt path that they hoped would lead to town.
The shake of trees and the sound of
loud stomping startled the crew. Everyone drew their swords. The captain had
two pistols and John had a handcrafted longsword. Not something a sailor
normally carries around.
The village of Honeside came into
view. the streets were empty and no one could be seen in the houses. “I don’t
like this” one of the men said. Then soldiers in black armor stepped into view.
they were coming from the surrounding forest and there numbers kept growing.
“Ok lads, I say we make a hasty retreat. Three of you lads, John and I will
back out slowly and try to buy the rest of you time to get the boat ready and
maybe fill a box or two of those apples if you can manage” The captain said as
everyone slowly backed up. “What about the village?” John asked. “They be dead
boy, we are but simple sailors, not the navy. So unless you want to join the
poor sods in their graves, I suggest you follow my plan” Captain Mohardy said.
Most of the crew ran back to the
boat as fast as they could. The armored soldiers had noticed the sailors and
were advancing. “Are you ready for this?” Asked the captain, the remaining crew
nodded and had their weapons ready. Captain Mohardy fired both off both of his
pistols at the closest soldier. One of the sailors also took a shot, then
everyone switched to their swords. The bullets hit the first soldier and made
him stagger. Two bounced off and one got into the neck opening between the
helmet and the chest piece, but the soldier didn’t fall over. The Captain and
remaining crew kept backing up and the soldiers advanced. When the first wave
of black armored figures were close enough John lunged forward with his sword
and stabbed his sword right through the eye hole of one of the soldiers
helmets. This made the soldier stumble but not fall. “what are these things?”
John removed his blade and gave the creature a kick. The force rattled the
soldier and made its helmet fall off. The soldier’s head was just a bare skull
under the helmet. “Skeletons, w-walking dead?” one of the crew said. “stick to
the plan!” The captain replied.
A cool breeze blew through the
autumn forest, birds chirped and the sun was shining. On any other day this
would have been a beautiful sight, but the sound of swords clashing and screams
disrupted an otherwise nice day. “Try to knock off their heads” John shouted as
he gave a skeleton a clean slice. He chopped its head off, sending the skull
tumbling through the air. Without the head the rest of the body mysteriously
puffed into purple smoke and the black armor clattered to the ground. “Ya know
I might have made this place one of my regular trade routes if it didn’t have
skeleton monsters in it” The captain said. John smiled “you are getting picky
in your old age” John replied.
The sailors fought and continued to
back up as the skeleton soldiers advanced. Every minute more of the creatures
were jumping into battle. The skeletons were slow, but their blades were sharp
and it wasn’t easy getting around their armor. One of the crew stabbed through
the neck opening in the armor, the sword got stuck in the armor as it clattered
to the ground. The sailor went to retrieve his sword but was stabbed in the
back by a skeleton. John tried to go help his crew mate but the captain stopped
him. “Can’t risk it. Too many mate” He said.
Finally they reached the shore. The
ship was ready to go and the crew even managed to get a few apples into crates.
Swarms of skeletons rushed the port, so the captain and crew decided to make a
mad dash to the boat. A loud bang sounded out as a cannon from the Tradewind
fired out. The cannonball struck the land and skeletons flew everywhere. The
captain ran on board and started yelling orders. John helped the remaining crew
on and then jumped on at the last minute just as the Tradewind was setting off.
Skeletons tried to cling to the side of the ship but were quickly scrapped off
by the crew. They slashed with their swords and fired shots from their guns
until the last skeleton was left far behind.
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