June 1918

The Belleau Woods was the last battle of the Great War. American and Allied forces pushed against the German might as the allies advance towards Berlin. Both sides were locked in a stalemate, and either side knew that taking the woods would be a game-changer. History says the Marines defeated the Germans in what was called one of the bloodiest and most ferocious battles U.S. forces would fight in the war. What they don’t tell you is how.

Deep in the woods, the German soldiers dug in a defensive line between them and the Americans. For the next several hours, the men waited for their enemy to strike. For the past several days, they and the Americans had engaged in brutal close-quarter fighting. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. Something needed to happen to end the stalemate. The German command decided to set up machine-gun posts and artillery to defend against the Americans. As the Germans prepared, many men felt something watching them. Not by the Americans, but something else. As night approached, everyone got settled in the trenches and hunkered down for the night. The date was June 7th.

Not wanting to take any chances, the commander placed sentries along with the machine gun nest. At one post, brothers Peter and Randolf took turns operating the machine gun. Peter was the older brother and had enlisted as soon as Germany declared war. Randolf had recently finished his basic training and requested to join his brother’s unit. As they monitored their position, Peter decided to take a smoke break and leave his younger brother in charge.

“How can you smoke at a time like this?” Randolf rested his head against the butt of the gun. “It helps calm my nerves. Everyone is on edge. We haven’t seen the Americans for some time now. It’s unsettling.” Peter lit a cigarette.

“I agree, we’ve only heard those verdammt (damn) howls these past few nights. I thought there weren’t any wolves in these woods.” Peter takes another puff of the cigarette before tossing it on the ground.

“Looks like the Americans weren’t the only ones with bad intelligence.” As they talked amongst themselves, the brothers were unaware. Something was stalking the Germans. Something hungry for blood.

Suddenly, Peter heard rustling coming from the bushes. He grabbed his rifle and positioned himself next to his brother. “Did you hear that,” said Randolf. His finger was already on the trigger of the machine gun. Peter slowed his breathing and waited again to hear the noise. After a minute goes by, nothing. He couldn’t see anything in front of them because it was so dark. He then began to think that it’s his imagination. Then he heard that sound again, this time stronger and louder. Aiming, Peter was about to fire until he listened to the eerie sound of a loud howl. This deep howling caught them off guard, and from the darkness, two glowing eyes emerge.

“Peter, what the hell is that?” whispered Randolf. Fear was beginning to take hold of him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Peter tried to calm his brother.

“I don’t know, but we’re safe. Whatever that thing is, it has to go through a hail of bullets before it gets to us. Besides, Mom would kill me if something happened to you.” Randolf chuckled a bit, still uneasy about the eyes in front of them.

They weren’t the only ones who saw red in the night. All along the German line, men began shouting. Some said the eyes were to the east; others claimed they were coming from the west. This constant state of fear began to take hold of them. The night was long, and the torment was just beginning.

One soldier climbed up over the trenches to investigate. His friends handed him a dimly lit lantern to see. Walking a few steps forward, his hands began to tremble. His breath becomes erratic. Questions of doubt fill his mind. As he descended further into the darkness, he shined the light into the woods. Seeing nothing, he turned around and began to walk away. Suddenly he smelled a foul order from behind. He turned his head slightly over his right shoulder and felt something breathing down his neck. Petrified, his limbs go numb, and in an instant, he is violently pulled into the darkness, dropping the lantern. From the trenches, the others heard the piercing sounds of a struggle. Just then, a cry of despair filled the night. The sound of tearing flesh, bones breaking, and the wailing of their young comrade echoed through the night. The lingering and nauseating sounds were too much to bear. They all felt helpless. Whatever strength they had, it was taken over by absolute fear. As the cries ceased, an unsettling silence took over the trenches. Everyone held their breath.

“What’s that coming from the trees?” Everyone looked ahead and saw a large shadow approaching them. Suddenly, the dark figure emerged. It was taller than a man, covered in matted fur, walked upright, mouth full of fangs, small pointed ears, massive forearms, and bear-like hands and feet with excessively, curved claws. The beast’s fur was covered in blood and clutched in its right paw was the soldier’s half-eaten head. The creature tosses it back to the German soldiers before giving an evil chuckle as it melts away into the night.

No one wanted to go over and get the head as fear took hold of them. So the head just lay there, looking at them with its glossy eyes. Eyes full of immense anxiety.

Randolf was beyond scared; he was mortified. Nothing in his basic training had prepared them for this. Peter was also terrified. He had already seen many horrors during his time in the unit. What had just transpired was something else altogether, something unnatural.

“No one goes to sleep,” someone shouted in the trenches. “We need to remain vigilant at all times. Check your ammo and fix bayonets. We’re in for a fight now, boys.” Peter, Randolf, and others fixed bayonets and gathered all the ammo they had left. With every man waiting for the command to attack, Peter knew that this battle would not only decide the fate of the war but theirs as well.

“Any sign of them?” said Randolf sheepishly. Peter shakes his head. Since the recent sighting, it has been almost five hours of torment for the men. No one got any sleep for fear of being dragged away in the middle of the night. Peter had gone through all his cigarettes and has resorted to chewing on pieces of cigarette cartons to calm him. It was now early morning, June 8th, and dawn was fast approaching. Peter knew something had to happen. Whatever they saw and heard last night, those creatures would attack soon. However, after getting no sleep, he feels his eyes slowly drooping. Before he drifts off, he hears the snap of a fallen branch a hundred yards away from them. He jerks his head up and looks in the direction of the sound.

It is at this moment that he sees what has been tormenting him and his men. Across the German line, past a few trees was the outline of dark wolf-like creature slowly approaching them. Grabbing his rifle, he nudges his brother.

“Randolf, I see one. Behind the trees, a couple of yards away. Pass the word along.” Randolf quietly leaves his machine gun and spreads the word all along with their position. Slowly placing a round in the chamber, Peter sets his sights on his target. Looking down the rifle sight, he rests his finger on the trigger, waiting for the right moment. Randolf rushes back to his brother and stations himself on the machine gun.

“Everyone’s ready. On your command.”

“Good, because as soon as I fire, they are coming at us head-on. Once that happens, all the wrath of hell will be upon us.”

“Do you have a plan, then?”

“If we get overrun, get out of the trenches and make for the forest’s edge behind us.”

“Alright then,” said Randolf calmly. “On your mark.” As the creature moves into Peter’s line of sight, he pulls the trigger and fires off a round from his rifle. “Ich habe dich Jetzt Dämon” (I have you now, demon). The bullet zips through the morning air and hits it target dead square in the head. It did nothing but cause the beast to YELP and jerk backward a bit. Quickly reloading another round in, Peter and others hear a blood-curdling roar echo throughout the forest. Before any have a chance to react, ten black figures come bursting through the trees and charge them. Blood and fury were in the air.

Without hesitation, Peter and Randolf begin firing their weapons.

“Offenes Feuer!” yelled Peter. Soon everyone was firing off rifles and machine guns, creating a hail of bullets in front of them. Some soldiers even managed to throw a couple of grenades, adding more destruction. As the fury of bullets and grenades barrage the attackers, Randolf notices that some of the beasts start dying. The young brother believes that they are winning. The other soldiers begin to see this, too, and stop firing. With smoke emanating from their guns and the beasts all lying dead, the young soldiers all begin to cheer. They had defeated their enemies. Randolf joins in the celebration.

However, Peter was not celebrating. Something was not sitting right with the older brother. This victory felt too easy. While everyone was cheering, Peter takes his rifle and goes to inspect the area where these creatures are. Kneeling beside the few dead and bullet-riddled carcasses, he notices in the soft soil, paw tracks of many many more going in different directions. “Where are the others?” He follows the roads in the path leading away from their position. The tracks are big. Very big like a bear would be but not as deep in the dirt. These creatures are fast and smart. It’s here that Peter begins to put it all together. They only sent a few to bait them. That means there’s still more out there—more watching them.

Suddenly, Peter hears a faint howling in the distance. Eyes widen with shock as the realization dawns on him. “Sie stehen hinter uns!” (They’re behind us). Running back to his men as fast as he can, he prays they are still alive. As he makes it back to their defensive line, he sees everyone was still celebrating. Firing his rifle in the air, he shouts at the others, trying to get their attention.

Sadly it was too late. Emerging from the trees behind them were the remaining beasts. Before they knew it, the monsters were among them. Chaos and destruction envelop them. Fearing for his brother, Peter runs over to their foxhole but does not find him. Terror was taking over him as he desperately searches for his brother. From behind, he hears the screams of men being torn to pieces. Making his way to the far end of the trenches, he finds two traumatized, and numb souls huddled together between a smoking machine gun and ammo crates. Their faces, pale as bed sheets, gave empty blanket stares.

“Has anyone seen Randolf?” said Peter, trying to catch his breath. One soldier, trying to gather his words, said he saw one of the creatures drag him away, still putting up a fight. Peter’s heart sank. He had failed to keep his brother safe.

“What do we do?” whimpered one soldier. Turning his head back around, Peter knew the beasts would return, hungry for survivors. They needed a plan, an escape plan. One of the men stuttered out, “The trucks, they’re back at the camp. If we can reach them, we can escape.”

“How!? We won’t make it in time,” said the other. Opening a box of Stein Grenades, he clips as many has he could around his belt. As the two look in confusion, Peter explains his plan to them. “I’ll cause a distraction and lead them away from the trenches. Once I’m gone, go and get to the trucks as fast as you can and get out of here.”

“What about you?” Peter chambers another round into his rifle. “I’ll be fine, just wait for my signal.” Taking a deep breath, he hurls himself over trenches and into the open field. Grabbing two from his waist, he removes the safety pin and throws them in different directions. The explosions grab the beasts’ attention. Grinning like a madman, he shouts at them.

“Hier drüben seid ihr bastarde!” (Over here you bastards!). Peter fires off a round into the air. And just as quickly, the beasts all begin to charge towards him. Seeing this as the signal, the remaining soldiers immediately leave the trenches to run back to camp. With the others gone, Peter runs deep into the dense forest. Ducking over branches and jumping over fallen trees, he yells at the top of his lungs, still keeping the beasts’ attention. Throwing the last of his grenades, Peter stumbles over rock and tumbles down a slight hill. Landing hard on his back, he lifts his head and sees a jeep with a white star on the door. Scrambling to his feet, he discovers that he is in the American encampment. However, something about the camp was bizarre. All the equipment was still here. Guns, tents, medical supplies, everything was still here, except for soldiers. Where were the Americans? As he searches the area, he enters the officer’s tent and finds a classified document titled: OPERATION LYCAN. Opening the tan file, he began to read and discovered the horrifying truth. Finding himself invested in the information, he failed to pick up a familiar foul odor.

“Aren’t we nosey,” said a deep voice. Peter quickly turns around and sees the leader of the beasts with his men behind him. Here, Peter was able to get a full view of what had been attacking his fellow men. It had a sizeable wolf-like head with small straight ears, a broad chest, massive paws, and a large mouth that exposed huge teeth. Its fur was red and had a white streak down the back. He quickly recognized who it was, the familiar red stained fur. Peter glares at the monster as it calmly picks bits of flesh from his teeth.

“What the hell are you?” shouts Peter. The beast looks at him, smiles wickedly, and shows a pair of dog tags around his neck. He rips them off and tosses them at the German. Catching them, it read:

ROBERT H. HOMES

AKA “BIG BAD WOLF”

USMC

“That’s impossible,” said Peter. He told himself this couldn’t be true. But it was. Throwing the tags aside, he looks at the wolf directly in the eyes. “So, what happens now?”

“My men have already seen to your friends’ demise, you’ve lost, German.” The wolf laughs evilly.

“So this is how it ends?” says Peter.

“For you, that is. We won.” Peter shakes his head to the wolf.

“Not yet you haven’t, I’m still alive. And from what I gather, you seem to be the alpha. I kill you, and your wolves will be leaderless.” The mighty wolf chuckled at Peter’s threat. As he sets himself on all fours, he gives one last remark to the young soldier.

“Tell me, German, do you even know how to kill us?”

Peter clutches his rifle tightly in his hands, eyes full of rage. Before he charges, he answered the beast’s question.

“I’m gonna cut your damn head off, see if that works.”

Hours after the battle of Belleau Woods, the two survivors escaped the forest and made their way back to German command. When asked what happened, the young soldiers stuttered out a single phrase.

“Höllenhundes.”

HellHounds.

TITLE: Hell Hounds

GENRE: Historical Fiction, Horror

Age Range: 18+

Word Count: 2644

Author Name: Gabriel Garcia

Reason: It is something unique that will grab readers of the horror genre and those who enjoy history.

Hook/Synopsis: In the finals months of the Great War, a band of German soldiers must fight on the defensive as they are besieged by creatures long thought to be myths.

Target Audience: Young adults

Bio: I am a college graduate. I have studied abroad in China during my undergrad. I have a passion for writing. While I am a novice writer, I consider myself to be a storyteller.

Platform: Instagram-Arbiter283, Inkitt-Gabriel14

Education: College degree BA, in the process of earning masters in History

Experience: Amateur/novice writer

Personality/writing style: My writing style is a mix of descriptive and narrative. I enjoy reading historical fiction and listening to music. I would describe myself as a person who is easy going and fun to be around.

Hobbies: I am a fan of DC, Assassins Creed, and Star Wars, and much more. I like to write historical fiction, sci-fi, thriller, adventure, etc.

Hometown: San Jacinto, CA

Age: 24

June 1918,

The Belleau Forrest was the last battle of the Great War. American and Allied forces push against the german might as the allies advance towards the capital. Both sides were locked in a stalemate and either side knew that taking the woods would be a game changer. History says the marines defeated the germans in what was called one of the bloodiest and most ferocious battles U.S. forces would fight in the war. What they don't tell you is how.

In the German camp, a couple of soldiers talk among themselves. Suddenly, one hears rustleing in the trees. Thinking it was a bird, they dismiss it. Then the rustle gets louder, and the howl of the wolf fills the night. The soldiers grab their rifles and peak their heads over the trenches. There no wolves in this forrest, yet they could hear them. One soldier climbs up over the trenches to investigate. His friends use their lanters to shine light on him. Getting closer, two powerful claws pull him into the woods. Horrified, all they could do was hear the sound of their friend being eaten alive.

Terrified, all they could mutter was one word. "Höllenhunde."

HellHound.

.

Because we do not know when we will die,

We think our lives as an inexhaustible well.

Yet only certain events happen once every so often.

How many days will you see the moon?

Five or six times. How many times will you say I love you

Three or four. Perhaps even less.

And yet it all seems limitless.

“Sir, a message has come in from one of your siblings,” the offcier hands Jafar the report. Glancing at it briefly, he gives it back. “Tell the others that I will be in my chambers. Have no one disturb me unless its important. Understood?,” his said coldy. The officer salutes and reports back to his station. Leaving the bridge, Jafar travels down the corridor and enters his chambers. The room was large, due to his dragon size, with the walls covered trinkets from previous campaigns. In the center of the room was a massive table with a glass covering. Pressing a button, the table made a slight hum sound. Then a blue light fills the dark room and with it several images emerge around the table. They were his brothers and sisters from all across the solar system, all fighting for the glory of their father.

“How is everyones progress,” Jafar said to the hologram.

Fafnir spoke first. He was the greediest of all the dragons. Gems covered his leathery, batlike wings and iron hard red scales. Rune stone decorated his large skull and frill. His spike tail, tip with silver heads, were meant to show off his glamor. However, he was not to be triffled with. With rows of dagger-like teeth, skull-spliting shriek and ability to breath fire, his temper was on par with jafars. “The Brachyura proved to be little more than a challenge, but they did have a treasure trove of gems from the different planets they invaded. It was a wonderful site. I simply had to have them,” said Fafnir.

One of the sibling rolled their eyes as they made a sarcastic remark. “As if you need any more Fafnir,” said Futs-Lung. He was a serpintne dragon with red-orange scales, yellow eyes, head of a tiger, paws of a lion and horns like a bull. There was a slight snickering amongst the others. Fafnir was not amused. His bright, angry eyes glared menacingly at the Serpentine. Lung simply raised a paw at him. “Carefull, Fafnir. Father warned you about that explosive temper of yours.” Jafar knew what would happen next. Deciding to diffuse the situation, he turns to his youngest sister Wyvern. Though not the largest of the dragons, she was not to be taken lightly. Her green, armored body and poison tail makes her able to compete with her brothers.

“Dear sister, I trust you have been successful in your conquests,” he noticed that some of her scales were missing from her underbelly, a telltale sign of recent fighting. She gave a slight nod to him. “Correct Jafar, though I am coming to a realization that our fathers reign may not last any longer.” This grabbed the attention of everyone, including Jafar. He lends his ear to her.

“What do you mean by that exactly,” the general was curious about her answer. “Simply this, the stones are becoming extremely rare, if not impossible to find. Eventually, they will cease to exist and fathers longevity along with it. When that happens, we must divide up the empire amongst ourselves. It is only a matter of time.” Many agreed with Wyverns observation. They all knew their fathers rule would not last eternity, even gods must die. However Jafar was not fond of this idea. He cared about his family, but he loved his father. Thus making him the prodigal son. He would never let anything happen to him.

“While that is true, sweet sister, we would never let that happen to him. Not after I return home with the stones from this invasion,” the general began to eye his siblings. He noticed some were giving him dirty looks already. He knew that they were jealous of him, it was not a secret. Back home, all knew the exploits of the great Jafar, much to the irritation of the others. Yet, one decided enough was enough.

“One stockpile will not change anything Jafar. Wyvern is right, we need to think about our future.” Jafar looked ahead of him and saw it was Cyrene, the second eldest brother. He was just as large as Jafar, in both forms, but he was the strongest of them. His massive body was covered in iron scales. Powerful muscles in his wings help him soar across the stars. His elongated neck, sturdy talons, and solid, thick skull help him establish dominance in the face of an enemy, even if its his brother. Jafar tries to calm him.

“Brother, let’s not make a spectacle,” but Cyrene would not have it. “Spare me your concern brother, we all know you revel in it. But one of these days, your going to realize your cant rely on dads fear forever.” The room went silent. The general blinked a few times. This was the first time anyone question his authority.

“Dads fear?”repeated Jafar. Cyrene smirked. “Face it brother, you are who you are because dad allows it. He inflates your ego, fills your head with granger. To him, your a pawn, like the rest of us,” Cyrene continued. “Your men respect you because of dad, the people you enslave fear you because of dad. You have everything because of dad. Without dad, you are nothing.” The atmosphere was getting dangerous cold. Eyes flickered back and forth between Cyrene and Jafar. The general, trying to hold back his anger, attempted one last time to end the argument, however it was easy to spot the anger in his voice.

Very rarely does Jafar show his anger, especially in front of his borthers and sisters. All knew of his dangerous personality, yet never seen it before. His eyes were turning blood red with every second. The horns on the top of his helm began to grow and his voice grew deeper and deeper.

“Brother, I assure you, I do not need fathers help to inspire fear. I do that on my own. I have never lost a battle. Never shown defeat and never shown fear. When people hear my name, their world shakes. Those that do fight back, I bath the stars with their blood, reminding those who dare oppose me,” Jafar growled. Thinking he had won, the general gave a smug grin. “Anything else to say, brother?”

Cyrene was not intimidated by his Jafar. He wanted to lash out. Instead, he spoke in a calm tone. “Only this brother. Something one of my slaves told me,” he paused before continuing. “He said when god bleeds, people will stop believing in him. Dad will eventually die, and with it your propaganda,” Cyrene last statement shattered his brothers patience. “When that happens, you will be the one who is fearful and afraid.”

“Shut Up!,” a massive roar erupts in the room. Its power was heard all through the ship and stop everyone in their tracks. Cyrene had unleashed his brother’s anger to the point where Jafar turned into his true dragon form. His wings outstretched and his body poised for a fight. He reared his long neck up and let out a stream of smoke from his nose. He narls his teeth, exposing his glistening fangs. Swishing his tail, he slams it heavily on the floor, creating a dent in the ship. His fists, clenched so tightly, that his razor-sharp talons buried themselves into his palms.

“Well, on that note, I believe we should adjourn this meeting everyone. I think Jafar needs some alone time,” Cyrene said in a cool tone. Everyone agreed and ended their transmissions, leaving Jafar alone, angry and full of rage. Just then one of his officers enters the room. Sadly, the officer did not see that Jafar was not in a pleasant mood until it was to late. Before getting a chance to speak, Jafar pins the officers head against the wall and crushes it. Blood oozes between his claws as the officers lifeless body hangs motionlessly. Letting go, the dead body slumps to the floor, blood staining the wall. Licking his hand, Jafar glances at the report on the floor. He picks up and reads the status of the invasion. To his surprise, they had arrived a day earlier. Then a message is sent over the intercoms of the ship. “Attention, Attention! We have just entered the planets atmosphere. All soldiers report to your stations for planetary assault. I repeat, we have just entered the planets atmosphere.”

As the intercom ends, Jafar smiles and turns back into his human form. He took his time getting armor on for battle, he did not mistake duing the invasion. As his father told him, “All being make errors, but do not make them mistakes.” As his wings adjust to the armor, he grabs his warspear dubbed Dawnbreaker from the closet. Before leaving his room, he thinks about what his Cyrene said to him. He dismisses and leaves his quarters with a few parting words of his own.

“We will see who is truly afraid dear brother.”

(These are the first two chapters of my first assassisn creed novel. Feedback is appreciated)

Preface

1936, the dawn of the second great war. While nations prepare, a shadow war is being fought. For a thousand generations the assassins and Templars have fought for dominance over the world, one fighting for freedom while the other fights for control and order. But in the ashes of their conflict, a new order emerges. One that will engulf all of Europe. The Nazi party, led by Templar assassin Adolf Hitler.

CH 1

News of the European conflict and the rise of the nazi sparks worry in the US. In fear of German invasion, the president orders the creation of a more effective military with updated technology and soldiers. One of these soldiers lives in Brooklyn with his lovely fiance. Sergeant Thomas Hopkins was the army's top sniper. Having served in the Spanish Civil war, he earned the name of ghost due to his ability to elude the enemy. Right now Thomas was getting ready to go to camp Roanoke to start training the new recruits. He was then given a surprise kiss from his fiancé Jacky, a American cross nurse.

“Do you really have to go?..you could at least bring me with you.” She wrapped her arms around his. Thomas sighed. “You know the rules Jacky, besides I have to go. It's my duty.”

“I know..I just wish I could come with you, how long will you be gone this time?”

“The whole day.” Thomas was getting the last pieces of his uniform before getting his car keys.

“Alright..” That would be enough time for me to send some information to my superiors she thought to herself. Once Thomas had left to go to Roanoke, Jacky got her gear and left for London.

On his way to the new base, Thomas sees his neighbor, an old Russian named Nikolai. Nikolai was walking home and greeted him with a slight tip of his hat. After a five hour long drive, he arrives at the base. Getting out of his car, he sees his commanding officer go into a room with a strange hooded person. Inside the building, the hooded figure gave her report of the mission and her superior seemed somewhat happy. His expression to her was nice for once. After the exchange, the figure leaves the building and accidentally bumps into Thomas.

“Pardon me” the young soldier said. At first she was a bit annoyed but quickly calmed down so she wouldn't expose anything.

“It's fine.”Once the person left, Thomas met his superior who introduced him to the new platoon.

“So this is my new platoon?”

“It is..I suggest that you be wise in your attacks.” Thomas superior was a man named Giovanni, an Italian American. Giovanni is a man surrounded in mystery and shadow. No one in the army knew how he had risen in the ranks so fast, however no one bothered looking into his background to find out.

Thomas gave his superior a puzzled look. “Pardon?”

“it's best not to lose anyone in battle, yes? When I need you and your platoon, don't lose.” Giovanni said without even looking back at Thomas.

“Yes sir, by the way who was that you were talking to?”

“That was Adara, one of our agents..and my daughter.” Thomas didn't realize it at the time, but he and adara would meet again soon. With introductions done, Thomas went to work training his new platoon. For the next five years, Thomas would train his men into a fearsome fighting unit for the US military and sure enough, they were needed. All were need. The year is December 7 1941. America was shaken by what had happened just a few hours ago. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and Germany declared war with on the US. Every able body man and women were called into service. Jacky and Thomas would be shipping out tomorrow, so they decided to commit to one another physically. For the both of them it was a time neither one would forget. She did not want this day to end but it would. that's what life was now for them and many others. The evening was romantic and both felt pleasure none had experience. She held onto him afterwards and she took in a deep breath.

“That was great.”

Thomas gave a husky laugh. “Yeah it was.” the pair soon drift into a dreamless sleep and slept the hours until early the next morning. Thomas had finished taking his shower and saw his wife getting some flies off the bedpost.

“Medical documents I assume?” She didn't let him see the papers but she nodded yes. They both get their belonging at take a drive to New York Airport. From there, they took a flight to London. Once arriving in London, they parted ways. Jacky stayed in London while Thomas went to the royal airfield for deployment. Jacky then travels to the British parliament where she is stopped by a guardsman. Reaching into her pocket, she presents him with a golden coin embroidered with a cross in the center. Recognizing the coin, the guardsmen lets the woman enter.

“They’re expecting you, Ma’am. You know where to go.” Jackie thanks the guardsmen and continues on her way. Entering the massive building, the young madam makes her way to a secret room at the far end of the building. Upon reaching the door to the room, she enters in a secret passcode to unlock the door. The padlock accepts the code and allows access for jackie. There she enters a dark room with a sole light in the middle. She bows in respect to her superiors who sat in the dark. The Templar Grandmaster then shows himself to the young woman.

“How has your research been?”

“it's gone well..” She hands over her findings to him. “They don't suspect a thing.”

“ And your fiancé, does he know.” She shook her head with a slight smirk. “He still thinks I'm a simple cross nurse.” The grandmaster then asks Jacky a most unusual question.

“curious, do you really love him?”

Jackie replied with a simple answer “I don't like to complicate my job with that kind of emotion.” Many templar higher ups smialed in response to her answer.

“Good, wouldn't want you to get your priorities mixed up.”

“Don't you worry, they are not...you won't be disappointed.”

“Then this session is finished.”

“Alright, what would you like me to do next?”

“Our agents report that adolf is sending his lieutenants to recover pieces of Eden, one of which is the Spear of Eden and the apple. We cannot allow them to have it.”

She nodded. “they won't..I'll do my best to steer them the other way.”

“You'll be going with a specialist, agent Richard Jaeger.”

She looked over at the man who came in, she assumed this was him. “Alright.”

The duo both leave and as the days pass Thomas decides to come and visit Jacky at the hospital. She changed a couple IV bags for patients, so to better blend in.

“How's work.”

“Tiring, but work is work..so how's my fiance?”

“Fine I guess..say do you know a woman named adara?”

She paused for a split second but then turned to face him. “the name sounds familiar, why do you ask?”

“Just curious, apparently she's my superiors daughter.”

“oh, I'd imagine not just any man can be with her.”

“I imagine so, anyway, I got this in the mail, it's from your parents. Wanted to drop this off before I deploy today.” He gives her a kiss on the cheek and leaves, this makes her smile. Though not true love, she did admire his passion and kind nature. She sighed a little and looked at the letter in her hand. She decided to open it after sitting down. It was actually from Richard. As she reads, she feel the presence of someone else in the room.

“hmm..you can come out now, no sense in hiding.” Out of the shadows appeared a handsome englishman named Galahad.

“Long time no see jackie.”

“Indeed..what brings you to me now?”

“An update, adolf has now made an alliance with the Soviet Union, giving him the staff. The grandmaster needs you in Europe today.”

“Does he now..alright, I'll leave on the next flight..thanks for the update.”

“Your welcome.” Galahad left and Jackie immediately got everything ready for her mission today. In the back of her mind, she prays to the father of understanding to watch over Thomas. Though he misguided in his orders by weak men, she prays he will survive this ordeal.

CH 2

As he got into the bomber plane, Thomas thought about this war, a war to end all wars. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind and prepared for the long and treacherous journey to Europe. After a few hours in the air, the bomber plane soon flies over Europe. Thomas and his men could hear the sounds of bombs exploding outside the plane. Just then an explosion goes off next to the plane and soon there a huge hole in the side. It creates a vacuum and begins to suck people out of the plane, Thomas was one of those individuals. Back on the ground, Adara saw a plane go down and headed to the crash sight to search for survivors. She searched and searched and finally found one. He seemed oddly familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before. Thomas head was pretty banged up and his ear were ringing.

“if you can hear me, just take it easy..” She grabbed a big enough piece from the plane that he could fit on and tied rope onto it. Once she got him on it, she dragged him away from the chaos. Thomas stays unconscious for a few hours. Adara tended to his wounds as best as she could and simply waited. Hours pass and still nothing. Adara: begins to worry and decides to drag him to the nearest hospital. As she approaches the him, the American soldier wake up and quickly grab his rifle and loads a bullet it in. He aim the gun right at her.

“who are you” Thomas says?

The young assassin keeps calm and put her hands up level to her shoulders.

“I'm Adara, I mean you no harm so put the gun down.”

Thomas still had the gun pointed at her.

“What? You don't believe me?”

She walks right up to him, letting the barrel of the gun press against her shoulder. Thomas had his finger on the trigger, but did not fire.

“Your plane crashed, I'm simply trying to help.”

“fine, mind telling me where we are?”

“Were in Spain.”

“Spain, I’m needed in France” exclaims Thomas.

“Lucky for you I have a plane hidden” Adara smiles as she said this.

Getting to his feet, Thomas grabs his rifle and slings it over his shoulder. Grabbing all the ammo he can carry, he turns back to Adara. “Take me there now.”

“So bossy..talk like that would not fly with my father but follow me I guess.”

The plane was not to far from where they were staying. Though it was not close either as it was a decent hike to the area. Having made it through the hike, Thomas and Adara arrive at the plane.

“So who are you exactly. You don't look like any soldier I've ever seen.”

“Well I'm your superior's daughter but let's just say I'm mostly his..agent, I've had different training than others.”

“I can tell,” Thomas takes a quick glance at her insignia on her belt. Truly a strange sign.

“If this goes well maybe I'll tell you more.”

Before getting to the plane, they see Spanish soldiers as well as American soldiers dismantling the plane. The sight of this confused Thomas.

“What the hell is going on?”

“It's a long story”, she said.

There were too many for her to just attack in the open.Hoping to take a stealthy approach, Thomas did the exact opposite. He pulls out his rifle and fired a warning shot to get there attention. As he moves into view, Spanish and American templars being to open fire on them. Thomas ducks for cover behind a nearby tree. He had no idea what was happening or why they were firing. With his cover getting smaller, he knew he had to fire back. Moving from cover, he fire some rounds from his Garand and kills two soldiers, one if head and the other in heart. As he reloads, they rush him. It was here that the soldiers life would change forever. Adara realized she had to save Thomas so she charged in to help. Gunfire and screams, her blade tainted with blood, fists red with pain. It felt wrong killing his fellow Americans, but he had to put that aside for now. Finally, Thomas and Adara kill all the remaining soldiers. Their bodies laid broken beneath them.

“This is why you don't just charge in.” As Adara cleans her blades, Thomas began to inspect the dead soldiers. The American soldiers wore the same uniform as him and had orders which seemed truthful. However, upon further inspection, Thomas saw the nazi insignia tucked away underneath the collar. They were nazi agents. Things were now starting to make less and less sense.

“Damn it..well that explains a lot.” She then looked at the plane and it was barely a plane at all. All the engines were damaged and most of the parts were missing. As they both ponder of what to do next, two darts hit them in the neck and in an instant both fall unconscious. Next thing they know, Thomas and Adara wake up in a prison in war torn France. Adara was confused.

“What is your reason for this? We've done nothing.” An assassin agent approaches them and kneels to meet eye level with Adara. “Do you know who this man is?”

“I've seen him before, but I don't know much about him.” Adara did not know what this assassin was getting at or what he was exactly looking for.

“He is the fiancé to Templar agent Jacqueline Price.” She looks at Thomas in bewilderment.

“Did you know who she really was?”

Thomas gave them a confused look. “I think youre all confused, my wife is a nurse with the American Red Cross, not some agent to a deceased order of the past. The Templars were destroyed in the 1300s.” Adara chuckled and shook her head in amazement.

“That's what they want people to think..they're still around and they're strong..I'm sorry to say this, but your fiance is one of them.”

Thomas was still in denial. “I don't buy it. Next thing you're going to tell me that the president of the US is a Templar to.” As he chuckled, the assassins said nothing. His chuckle then turn to a frown.

“I know this is a lot to take in..but it's true. Roosevelt is a Templar agent, as is Adolf and Stalin” said the assassin agent. Thomas mind could not fathom was he was hearing. Roosevelt a Templar? This has to be a mistake. This “war” could not be real. As he gets up, he dusts his clothes off gives the assassins a glare.

“Whatever, you follow your wacky religion, I got a war to fight, so I'll be on my way.”

Adara sighs at his ignorance. She then proceeds to recite a part of the assassins creed. “For men who blindly follow the truth remember.. nothing is true.” After listening, Thomas says his own creed.

“Sometimes standing against evil is more important than defeating it. The greatest heroes stand because it is the right to do so, not because they believed they will walk away with their lives.”

Adara was impressed. This was the first time anyone has defended their own creed to the assassins. She nods and allows Thomas to leave. Before he left, she gives him a word of advice. “Do what you must..just don't say we didn't warn you when you find out about your fiance yourself.”

“Thanks for your concern, but shove it.” Thomas retrieved his gear, while also stealing a few weapons from the assassins. Since his clothes were still dirty, he took an assassins hood other supplies. Adara rolled her eyes and stopped a couple assassins from going after him.

“Let him keep the gear, he'll learn the hard way.”

1707-1709

It has been several weeks after the crew of the black ravens returned home. Most of the crew have left and decided to stay home permanently. Only Benjamin, Smith, Jonathan, and Damein were all that was left of the crew. They were still recovering from what had happened to them and to Isabella. However Jonathan had gotten the worse of it. When the crew returned home, Jonathan was never the same. He would often talk to himself at nights and sometimes have horrid nightmares about what Flint did to him. We were all traumatized at what he did to us. The things he did to us, the torture and the humiliation, were things that were going to stay with us for the rest of our mortal lives.

Weeks had gone by for the Caldwell brothers, who were trying to readjust into civilian life, as well as formulate a plan to get revenge on Flint. One morning, Damian got out of bed and got dressed ready for the day. As he got his plain shirt on, he looked in the mirror and saw the scars and bruises on his faces, some were still healing while others still had some pain to the touch of a finger. Next thing to happen was the mirror shattering upon Damian punching it with his right fist. His hand bled and twitched from the impact. Grabbing a nearby towel, he cleaned his hand and finished getting dressed. Making his way to the kitchen, he saw his mother and his brother. Jonathan was playing with a musket ball while their mother was making breakfast. She said nothing and continued cooking. Both the brothers could tell that she hasn’t gotten over her ordeal, with the loss of her husband, their father, and her excruciating torture at the hands of Flint and his crew.

“Morning ma” said Damien, Isabella turned around and smiled at her son

“Morning mijo, how are you feeling. Any better?”

Damian grabbed a seat next to his brother. “Define better ma”.

She handed them breakfast which consisted of eggs, potatoes, beans, sausage and fresh milk. Damian started eating while Jonathan continued to look at his food. He then opened his mouth and once he spoke, his voice was more huskier and heavier than usual

“So is this it, is this what we do now.

1706-1707

Being a prisoner of war is a very terrible and unlivable, but to be a prisoner of a pirate is fate worse than death. Pirates has numerous ways to torture their victims from flogging, target practice, being tied to the bottom of the ship, the list endless. Most died just to escape the pain and torture of it all, others just endure and try to survive any way they can. In Damiens case, he wanted revenge dearly, but he wouldn't get it laying on the floor in a prison cell in the fort. After the failed assassination attempt on flint, all three were dragged to the center of the fort, shirts ripped off and branded with a hot iron rod each on the back and whipped harshly. That was only the beginning of it. Over the past few months, the trio were subjected to rigour torture session by flint or by his men. Their spirits and will to survive were tested everyday and when they seemed at their most vulnerable, they won't break. However, in jonathan's case, something did break, his mentality. During one torture session his face was placed into a boiling kettle of hot water. His screams of pain and agony were muffled by the water and when his head was pulled out, his entire face was scorched ginving him third degree burns. He was then subjected to hot melting tar. As flints men pour the hot melting tar, he felt it hit against his already tender skin. As the tar cooled, he pulled the foul thing off, taking a bit of his skin and flesh with it as well. Adding to his pain, he was forced to wear a heavy metal mask that covered his entire face and head. The mask had two distinct eye slits and a mouth slit than was half smiling and half frowning where he can breath, though it was very faint. After that something snapped in Jonathan and thus began having two way conversations with himself. The guards said that he was going mad and they weren't wrong either. Months passed and this became a normal thing for jonathan and his alter ego. He would spend hour to even days talking to his alter ego who he never names.

Going back to Damien, who is now thirteen, plans his revenge. That was all on his mind was revenge. He would have it, even if it took him his entire life. Flint must die for what he has done he always told himself, he will never, ever forgive flint for murdering his father. But there's one problem standing in his way if he is to ever achieve his goal, he must escape the fort, he must escape from Nassau.

Already being a year now, the trio soon lost hope in being rescued. They assumed that their crew was hunted down and killed by flints men or the officers. However they were in for a big surprise today. On a clear night on the island, four shadows crept around the fort looking for a way in. suddenly the see that door is unguarded and make a mad dash towards the entrance of the fort. Having successfully gotten in, they made their way towards the lower levels of the fort when the heard footsteps coming from behind, and by the sounds of their feet, they were armed. The leader of the four ran into a bush few feets away from the door, the other three his inside a hay cart on the opposite end. Peering away at a few leaves, the unknown figure got a good look at the enemy. They were your average british soldiers carrying standard Brown Bess Muskets with fixed bayonets. From the looks of their messy outfits, it appears that these men were out drinking and enjoying themselves. Their breath smelled foul and their speech was blurred.

“ So, any ideas of what flint has plan for the prisoners. I hear he gonna gut em up fancy a fish and hang the entrails at the entrance of the fort.” One of the soldiers asked.

“ Hell if I know, I know is that these three are bleedin' important to him, especially that runt Damien. Hell I wouldn't be surprise if he killed him, little bugger.” replied the other

“So damian is alive, I hope jonathan and flint are alive as well” whispered the unknown figure. He motioned his hand forward to the others next to him. One of them sneaked behind the soldier and the left and jumped out with a knife and stabbed the soldier in the neck. The other british soldier tried to aim him musket properly at the assailant but was to drunk to hold it correctly. Then out from the bushes the leader pull out a pistol and pointed it behind the soldier's head.

“Pull that trigger and ill splatter your brain all across the floor, now to avoid that fate give the keys to the jail cells now.” The terrified soldier shakingly grabbed the keys at his waist and gave it to the man behind him. Just as he did that, the leader of the group flipped his pistol around and clubbed the soldier on the back of the head, rendering him unconscious. He holstered his pistol away and grabbed the keys.

“You think they’re still alive benjamin” asked one member

The leader of this rescue was Benjamin Blackeye of the black ravens, the one Damian had left in charge. Its been nearly two years since they have had word from their captain. After the trio was captured by flint, he put out a hitlist on any crew member of the black ravens. Many have died while others simply fled. Now it was only down to Benjamin and a dozen still loyal black ravens.

“truthfully i don't know. They could be dead or alive. But no matter what, we are getting them one of this fort one way or another.” Finally finding the right key, he opens the door leading to the jail room to free their captain.

As they went further into the fort, they looked everywhere for the jail to be. They split up into smaller groups to cover more ground. Their searches took them to stockpiles, weapons depot, reserves and soldier bunkers, but no jail. Benjamin and his group did find a door in the far corners of the forts eastern side. He kicked it down and found their captain. He like Jonathan and smith were tortured beyond reckoning. Damien's was tied up facing the wall and his back was flogged many times and it was still healing after a year. Some pieces of skin and flesh were still falling off of his back. Smith had one of his eyes removed and replaced with a metal ball. His body was covered in scars. but the worst was Jonathan. It was after getting the mask on his face was that Jonathan mind was broken and soon he was starting to talk to unknown voices and develop a second personality. After getting a look at the three, Benjamin cut them free, grabbed their clothes and gear and order the others to help them. Damian managed somehow to speak even after everything that has happen to him.

“Wha....what took you guys....so long.” Damian then passed out. Benjamin supported him and Jonathan while Smith walked with the help of his Guillotine gun. Once outside, the made their way to the exit when they were discovered by british soldiers on the walls. One sounded the alarm and all hell broke loose. The rescuers were being shot at from all sides and made a break from the entrance to the fort. However, the bridge was soon brought up and left the group unable to escape. As the turned around they were cornered by British soldiers. Benjamin cured their situation until their was loud eerie sound coming from the south end of the fort. Just then half of the south wall was blown to bits by cannon fire. the shot disorientated the soldiers, giving time for Benjamin and the others to fight their way through the soldiers and make a dash for the hole in the wall. Bullets whizzed by their heads as soldiers fired their muskets. Luckily for the escapers, muskets aren't known for the accuracy. Benjamin along with the others then jumped through the giant hole and plunged into the shallow water. The feel of the water woke jonathan and damian up from their slumber. Damian used his right arm to to tread water with the help of benjamin. Damian hazily looked up and saw that it was their ship who fired at the fort. The made their way to the frigate and climbed aboard. Once aboard, they tried to rest but knew that the enemy will be upon them any minute now. Damein gets back to his feet a little and barks the order “Unfold mates, trim the gallons and royals.” Everyone went about their positions while smith and Benjamin took Jonathan down to the captain's quarters for some rest. All around their small frigate they heard the splashes of cannon balls fired from the fort. Though their sails were torn, the hull damaged, and the crew tire and exhausted, they managed to escape with their lives and the life of their captain.

Once they were out of cannon fire and away from Flint's ship, Damian let go of the wheel told the crew to drop anchor. He grabbed his clothes and gear and went below deck to change. He was very careful putting on his undershirt and then his red uniform. He could still feel the cattails whip against his back even now. He put that image in the back of his mind and went back to changing. After and hour of changing, Damian reappear above decks and went to his quarters to check on his brother. He opens the door quietly, peeking his head in a little he sees his smith removing the iron mask off of Jonathan's face. Once the mask was removed, Benjamin saw the full extent of Flints cruelty. The stench of burnt flesh and tar was still linked to Jonathan's face. His eyebrows were gone and his lips were chapped and still bleeding. Blisters were common all around his face and on where his eyebrows should be. Smith reached into his pocket and pulled out a small knife to cut the blisters open. Before he moved his hand, Jonathan grabs it, nearly breaking it. Smith was taken aback, he had not expect Jonathan to be awake. Jonathan opened his eyes, his cold, lifeless, eyes. He turned his head slightly to the right to face smith and pulled the knife out of smith's hands. He then spoke in a low murmur.

“I’ll do it, now could you leave this room so that i may change.” Smith, Benjamin and Damian obliged and left the room. Once they were outside, they heard the small grunts of irritation and pain. A few minutes later, it was quiet in the room. Just then the door opened and Jonathan reappeared dressed in his spanish sailor outfit and wearing his iron mask. He walked calmly towards his brother and smith. Standing besides them he talked in a tired yet assertive voice.

“We should head back home.” Jonathan motioned to the wheel and damian went to it and gave the crew it's new order.

“Men...loose sail and catch some wind, we're going home.” The crew's response were silent and obeyed their captain. They then made the long and tiresome journey home.

After a few weeks at sea the crew of the black ravens made it safely back home to puerto rico but the day was gloomy and cloudy with dark skies and a lifeless atmosphere. The ship docked in the harbor and the crew made its way on land. No one spoke a word, they were all lifeless and devoid of any human emotion. While the crew went home Damein, Jonathan and smith ran to the caldwells household. Upon reaching the residency, the saw Flint's barbracy. The grass was dried up and the garden torn to shreds; the house was nearly ripped apart by axes and fire. Damian went to open the door but upon touching the doorknob, the door fell of from the hinges. The inside of the house was worse than it was outside. Food was scattered all across the floor and the scent of rum and whisky filled the air with a hint of fire. All the rooms were in total shackles. the boys then went to look for their mother, if she was still alive of course. While Jonathan and smith went upstairs, damian continued his searches downstairs. He then went to the kitchen where he save evidence of a struggle. On the floor was blood and a bloody machete along with pieces of torn clothes. he followed the trail to the kitchen closet at the far side of the room. He pulled out his pistol just in case and quickly opened the closet door. There he finds his mother covered in what appeared to bed her attackers blood. In her right hand was a bloody machete while her left hand covered her injured side. Her once lovely, waterfall like hair had turned into a frazzled mess. She was shocked at first when she saw me and proceed to rush at me with open arms with the machete still in her right hand. I hugged her back and calmed her down. After an hour later she then told me what had happened. She told that after me, smith, and jonathan left for nassau they were attacked by flint and his marauders. Robert put up one hell of a fight but was killed instantly by flints bullet. Flint then proceed to cut off Roberts head off slowly keep it for later use. His men tortured isabella but she never cave in. he found out where we were at by the note i had left of the table of where we were going. What happened later is self explanatory.

After the talk Damien goes into the kitchen where Smith and Jonathan sat on the few unbroken chairs lying around. Damien go over to the pantry and pull out a bottle of rum and drank the sweet beverage. Though he could never stand rum, he didn't care, Nothing mattered at the moment, heck he wouldn't even care if i drank myself to death, but as damien look down he see Flints insignia on the floor and a feeling of raw anger bubbled up inside me. Damein ended his drinking and threw the bottle at the closet wall. The battle shattered on impact and both Jonathan and smith looked at me with somewhat awe. There was rage in his eyes as well as tears and the feeling of loss. He then looks in kitchen mirror and sees his reflection. In only a few short years Damien was changed forever and had a new purpose in life. A purpose that would go against everything he stood for and take him down a path few follow and make out alive. He wanted revenge against Flint and he would have it.

1705-1706

With the sun setting to the east and night fast approaching, life on Nassau never rested. The streets were filled with lights and color and music playing all around you. It was a time of merriment and enjoyment. A perfect time to attack the fort. While in town, damian and some of the crew went scouting of how to get in the fort. The look along the base, the midsection, everywhere, yet there was no opening to make. If they can't find a way into the fort, these the plan will never succeed. All seemed lost until Damian saw some commotion happening at the front gate. Peeking his head, he saw a group of sailors entering the fort, they were flints men. What is going on on this island, pirates being welcomed in a nation's fort, Nassau is a strange place indeed thought Damian. Then the sailors disappeared into the fort, and the soldiers returned to their posts. That's when damien got an idea, a clever one at that. He sent of his men to rally everyone near the fort.. Once everyone had arrived, he explained to everyone his masterful plan.

“okay, here's the situation, there are two guards stationed at the entrance of the fort. we need a distraction to draw them away from it. once that happens, myself, jonathan and smith will make our way into the fort and find flint and his crew, when we find him, will kill him, cut off his head, and make our way out of that fort if possible. but before that happens, i need to chose one of you to lead the crew just in case we don't make it out alive.” He studied each man very carefully and most importantly quickly, time was not on their side. At the very end, he noticed a man around early twenties with light blonde hair with black eyes, one having a scar on it. Damian motioned the man to step forward.

“what's your name?”

“Benjamin Black Eye sir, at your service.”

“Alright Benjamin, you're in charge until we get back, understood?”

Benjamin nodded his head. Now that everything is in order, it time for the crew to play out their act. Led by Benjamin, the crew began to harass the officers guarding the fort by calling them “lobsters” or “brutes”. When touting didn't work they resorted to throwing rocks at the officers. That got their attention and soon went after chasing the crew allowing Damian, Jonathan, and Smith to enter the fort with ease. Once inside they saw a massive group of british and spanish soldiers which was unusual regarding the two nations pasts together. They were able to go unnoticed with the help of their clothing, however, it won't be long until they figure out who they are. Making their way to the back of the fort, the notice a lot of scruffy looking men around each corner of the fort. It would appear that pirates from all corners of the west indies came here. What exactly if Flint doing, was this a social event for all pirates Damian thought to himself. He didn't realize it but today was flints birthday and he apparently sent word of this to all his pirate brothers from every corner of the seas. And today, Flint would present the biggest gift any pirate would want to have, more valuable than treasure chest in the world, the death of your enemy. Once the trio managed to get past the pirates and soldier, they made their way to the top of the fort and managed to find a place that was undisclosed by the inhabitants. They then find a musket rack behind them and surprisingly, already primed and loaded. Something was not right here. As if this played out to easy in the trio fair. Although out of sight, they could still hear Flint and the ramboungeous crew of his until there was utter silence. Holding his breath, Damian listened carefully with the utmost interest.

“My fellow pirates, my brothers of the high seas, my scum of the earth, we are gathered here today to celebrate my glorious birthday. For as you all know, my reputation as a pirate has preceded me and has allowed me to gain much fame, infamy, and wealth. Though during my travels, I have encountered many foes who wish to take what is rightly mine, rightfully ours! For two long have we been hunted by soldiers of empires and mercenaries, this world is our for the taking and no one will stop us.” The whole court erupted in roars of cheering and roaring. Most pirates and outlaws viewed flint as a hero for the common man, and thats how flint wanted them to think. “As our first step to conquest of this land, I bring forth to u a gift that many have wanted since the age of the barbaric buccaneer pirate Francois L’Ollonais and William Kidd.” He motioned his hand to the left, taking hold of a brown bag that one of his crew gave to him. Damian couldn't see what it was, but he knew it was a bag.

“What are you waiting for, an invitation take the bloody shot you idiot” Jonathan silently cursing at his brother.

“He's right damian, do it and be down with it” second Smith

They were right, if he didn't take the shot, they would end up dead or worse, depending on Flint mood. Taking a deep break he cautiously aimed the musket at flint's head. His finger on the trigger and moments away from landing the killing blow. He would’ve taken the shot, but then flint shouted something that got the young boys attention. He didn't hear it the first time, but hearing again was just as worse as Flint shouted the five words again.

“THE HEAD OF ROBERT CALDWELL!”

All the life from Damiens face faded away, he felt numb, cold, and lifeless. His beloved father, Jonathan's father as well, and Smith's best friend was dead, by the hands of Flint. For in Flints hand, he held the bloodied, scarred, wretched face of their father. His hair was drenched in the stench of his own blood and his eyes gouged out of his head. Jonathan was emotionless, he didn't know what to do, and he was trying with all his might not to shed a tear, but inevitably he couldn't hold it in and quietly sobbed. Smith was worried of what happened to Isabella. Did Flint kill her, or do something much worse to her? Those were the thoughts that came to Flint's mind. As for Damian, he was completely broken on both the inside and outside. He couldn't even comprehend what was happening. How can this be happening he told himself. For their father's severed head was now show as a trophy won by flint.

Consumed by rage and emotions, Damian shouted “ DIE YOU MURDEROUS BASTARD” and fired the the weapon, he would have been on target had his eyes not been teary and his hands more focus on the rifle. His shot ended the life of a drunken sailor only a few feet from Flint with a long thud. Cocking his head to the right Flint got a clear view of the trio.

“Well, I see that we have some uninvited guest at my party. And look who we have, gentlemen, I give you, The Caldwells!” Soon every soldier and pirate stormed up the stairs to capture the trio. With the mission failed our tiro had to escape, but their tires were futile as they were surrounded by pirates and soldiers alike. They thought they were going to die that day, but if they were, they would go down in a blaze of glory. Backs to one another, they prepared for battle and battled they did. Damian unsheathed his dual scimitars and hack left and right at the oncoming threat of pirates and soldiers. Jonathan unsheathed his sword and started fighting with smith swinging his ax like a sling over his head. Blocking left and right, the trio was soon backed into a corner at the far end of the fort, but by doing so, they left a trail of dismembered limbs, screaming pirates in agony, running soldiers away from them. Yes though outnumbered, they held their own against the odds and they felt like they could win. Yet unknown to them, their wish would not come true at the eastern end of the fort, Flint loaded three matchlocks and aimed them at the trio. Picking one up, he aimed the first one at smith, pulling the trigger, he fired the weapon and the bullet went straight through smiths shoulder. In a moment of pain and agony, he fell to the ground clutching his wounded shoulder. Next was Jonathan, fint pick up the next musket and fired at his knee. Though Jonathan was a tough individual, not even he could take the pain. Being shot in the knee is the worst place to be shot at and he felt it first hand. Now it was just Damian alone facing the marauding horde. All around him, he saw the bodies of the fallen pirates that died by his blades and looked ahead to where flint was at. Breathing in, he sheathed back his swords and closed his eyes, waiting for his death wish. Chuckling, Flint aimed the last musket and fired. The last thing Damian heard was the phrase “You're just like your father, honorable to the bitter end.” With that our hero fell to the ground clutching his stomach where he had been shot. Now he and his brother and uncle were at the “mercy” of Flint and his crew. For they were now his prisoners.

1705

Smith and Jonathan have searched high and low for Damian, yet he was nowhere to be found. How hard was it to find a tennager in Havana, apprently hard. They have asked every store clerk, shopkeeper, soldier, heck even drunk. He was nowhere to be found, and they were behind schedule. Smith and Jonathan sat down and tried to think of where he could be. Just then, one of the crew members runs to smith and says that he's found damian, and he’s with company. Smith and Jonathan rushed to meet him and his new friend. They found him in the town market, chatting with a well respect woman. Jonathan walk over to his brother calmly took a seat next to him.

“Where have you been” he asked

Damein turned his head a saw his brother next to him and knew what this was about, he didn't tell them where he was.

“Well for starters, i just recently saved this young woman right here and have retrieved something that will help us significantly in our hunt.”

“what pray tell is that?” answer Jonathan in his sarcastic tone

“Well, dear brother, this parchment right here has exact coordinates of locating Black Flint, and from the looks of this map, he is in New Provence.”

“Nassau?”

“Correct, with this map in our hands, we can find Flint and his crew easily before they know we were hunting them. Well be done faster and return home. In a sense it's an easy victory for us.”

This seem to get Jonathan's attention really quickly. If what damian said is true, then they had the upper hand on the Flint and would easily collect the bounty. However, he had to be cautious too, it was very common to forge parchments and maps for and easy price. He need to give this Smith to authenticate this to be sure.

“Well now that that's out of the way, mind introducing me to your girlfriend.”

Damian slightly blushed at the question; however Victoria was not amused. Her eyebrow twitched a little and her expression turned sour, but only for a while, for she too was blushing, somewhat.

“He is not my boyfriend sir, just a kind fellow who saved me. Who might you be to say that you ninnies?”

Now Jonathan was irritated, and though he was tempted to hit her, he decided to go another route.

“Im his brother, las. Is it wrong for a brother to keep an eye on his family. Especially from unwanted company.”

Damian could see that this would erupt into a fight and that was the last thing he wanted again. He wanted to leave Havana with few scars as possible. He then decided to break the tension between the two and go meet Smith.

“Well, I think we three have lingered long enough, let's go meet smith at the docks hm?”

Victoria and Jonathan were still staring at each other, and then parted ways. The three of them walk towards the docks in hopes of ending this “wonderful” day.

Back at the docks, smith polished his blunderbuss ax and flintlocks. He whistled a cheery tune in the process until he heard a familiar voice coming his way. He turned his head to see Damian, Jonathan, and Victoria making their way towards the docks. Getting up, he holstered his guns and walk to meet them. After scolding Damian for a while, the gang settled down for a swig of rum and mouthfuls of food. Damian and Victoria, being the only sober ones between the four of them, walked over to the bow of the ship to watch the sunset over the ocean.

“Your brother seems nice, the same for your father as well.”

“Oh no, smiths no my dad, he our godfather and family friend, he’s here as our babysitter, for our hunt. Actually this is my first hunt, Jonathan has been on more chase’s than me.”

“Are you nervous, I hear that Flint is a butcher on the high seas and on land.”

“Scared, hell yes, I nervous as ever!”

Victoria looked at Damien face and could see that he was telling the truth.

“Then why are you on this hunt, if you're scared why don't you tell your father how you feel?” she asked curiously thinking why would a father send both of his sons out when one of them is scarred.

Looking up at the colored sky and taking in the fresh air, he replied back saying “Our father, the famous Robert Caldwell, thinks that it time for us to take on the family business. In a way, he's right I suppose, i mean how else are we supposed to live, we can't just go back to england and live our old life. And besides, we knew of the dangers before we signed up, though i guess i'm still weak in the knees, but that won't stop me.”

Victoria looked at Damian and studied his manner. Though he did seem quite foolish about this adventure, she could also see that he was serious about his work and the duo continued to look at the sunset. The next morning, several days behind schedule, the black raven prepared for the long journey ahead. Jonathan and Smith were already on deck helping the men prepare for sail. Damein however, was still on the deck with Victoria. The duo eyes looked at one another and Damian, slightly squeezing her hands, gave her a friendly hug and just before he let go of her to join his crew, she quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek. Red as a tomato, he cupped his face, trying to hide his blush and embarrassment, asked “ W-what was that fo-or.”

Chuckling at his embarrassment “that's for saving me back there and i wish you didn't have to leave, i didn't get the chance to know you better, but maybe our paths will cross again, until then, farewell my cobber.” and with that she was off.

Damian stood there, puzzled and shocked at what just happen. Did she just kiss me, on the cheek. why am i suddenly feeling so weird. His silent manner was broken by his brother sarcastic voice, “Hey lover boy, were shipping off without you, get your butt up here now!”

Snaking out of his trance, he rushes towards the ship and tries to hide his embarrassed face from his pals. Shaking those thoughts out of his head, he prepared for the long journey ahead and the awaited death of Flint.

After a few long weeks of sail and turmoil on the open sea, they finally reached Nassau and docked in the harbor. Once on land, they noticed that there were already British and Spanish soldiers on the island. The gang then began to question if they were on the island at all. Everything on the island had a strong resemblance to Havana. But Nassau or not, the coordinates led to this island and that must mean that Flint is here. Grabbing their gear, they prepare the investigation of Flints whereabouts. They had to be careful though, Flint is known to have many spies all across the West Indies and has escaped the British and Spanish empire multiple times in the past. Making their way to the town square, they noticed small groups of both spanish and british soldiers patrolling the streets, and heavily armed to. Apparently Flints reputation in the caribbean has greatly intimidated the great empires of Europe. Damian, Smith, and Jonathan realized that this wasn't going to be easy. Naturally the crew would split up individually to cover more ground, but since this is flints territory, they agreed that it would be wise that three groups of three would go and scout the area.

Though Nassau is smaller in size to the other islands, the environment and and european influence was not. Every street corner and venue had a tiny hint of europe, predominantly spanish. There is even a swamp on the outskirts of the town infested with alligators and bloodthirsty mosquitoes. But probably the most notable feature was the fort. The fort that defends the bay of Nassau has been on the island since the time of the buccaneers and though it has stood the tests of time, its appearance is slowly fading away. It's going to take a miracle to find Flint in this place. While the crew decided to check in the town, smith and the Caldwell brothers ventured all across the island, asking every fisherman, every prostitute, heck even every bum on the street if the seen flint and his crew. All which ended horribly. It was just around midday that the trio got some news from one of the crew. From what the crew member told, he says that flint was last spotted leaving an inn in a hurry, possibly for his ship. The trio asked where he got the information, not that they didn't believe him, they just had to be sure it was true. The crew member overheard a couple of english soldiers talking about how flint was in a rather hasty hurry to his ship. The last place, they say, he was at was the fort and the near end of the island. He pointed to large fort that oversaw all ships entering the bay. It was defended quite well actually, from a 200 men garrison to hour patrols around the fort, and the only entrance was guarded by heavy infantry who never left their posts and carried large naval axes.

If they were going to ambush Flint at the fort, they first needed to get in it first off. They soon met up at a local tavern to discuss their plans of attack. If they tried storm the fort now in broad daylight, they would either be captured and killed or simply shot like dogs at the hands of the english or spanish. They were almost out of option when damien came up with a idea

“What about this, if we strike at night and divide up our crew, we could take fort Royal. While a small handful of us sneak into the fort, the rest of the crew can draw out the defenders and blind them of anything else that moves. Once the small force eliminates the men inside, we can open the gate to rest of the crew and from there we can prepare our strike against flint.” The majority of the crew nodded their heads in agreement to this new plan, while others were skeptical, others including smith. Smith raised his hand to silence the chatter.

“While i think that's a great plan, your forgetting one thing, we have no intel of when flint will come back to Nassau, it could be even weeks before he reaches us, mayhaps even months. Before we lay an ambush to the fort, we must know of when flint will return or expected to return. So until then, we must find intel on anything we can find on flint, agreed.”

The crew agreed to this new plan, and so for the past few days, the crew waited in plain sight for flint's ship to return to harbor. The only problem is that none of them has seen what's his ship looks like. Some say that it's as large as a whale and breaths fire. Other say that it spurs from the depths of davy jones itself and legend has it that Flint's ship is so dangerous that if you speak its name, you die few days later. It may sound like a kid's nightmare, but no ones knows for sure.

For weeks, damian and the crew waited for any news of Flints arrival, sadly they got no news of any progress. During those weeks, some of the crew became restless and wanted some action. They would occasionally picks fight with the soldiers to keep the men entertained, but soon bore the gents in a matter of days. There has been no news of flint for days on end. Days became weeks and weeks became months. Damian and Jonathan spent their days prowling the cities and hoping to find any info of flints wearabouts. They will also occasionally get a drink but went straight back to business. For a while, the crew began to grow tired of the wait, their contract was almost up and if they went home empty handed, it wouldn’t be a happy sail home. There was even word of mutiny among the crew, it was only a matter of time before things got worse. In hopes of avoiding bloodshed among the men, smith ordered everyone back to the bar for a meeting. Once everyone was accounted for, there was much debate of whether or not they should leave nassau and return home. Growing tired of the debate, Smith raised his hand to ease the chatter.

“I know that many of you want to leave this place. he said. “and trust me i would to go home as well, but we can't leave just yet. We still have no information on flint's whereabouts and until we get something, anything for that matter, we are staying here until we do, any objections.” There were many. Men were shouting and screaming threats towards smith and caldwells. Soon men were drawing their blades and pistols but were halted by the thundering boom of a flint lock. There was dead silence in the tavern, sailors, bartenders, cooks, the drunks, even the women halted in their tracks to see what was happening. Standing on a nearby table, damien holstered his pistol back in his pouch. Looking at the crew he could see their fear and other emotions mixed in their faces. Though he rarely gets angry, one could see that he didn't want to have another situation like the one on havana. Looking at his men dead in the eyes, he cleared his throat before speaking

“listen up, I know that all of you want to go home, trust me i would like to go to, but we have a job to do, that's what we sign up for. This is who we are, and we must see this through. Think about this, if we kill flint, we would rid the world of a great threat. We would be remembered as heroes.” He stopped to let the men process the information. they pondered on the idea of earning fame and glory and possibly infamy for their acts. Soon smiles began to appear on the crew's faces and their was soon cheers of hurrah in the bar. With the men's spirits raised again, everything seemed perfect until dameion noticed that their was some commotion coming out from the bar. Getting the crew, they left the bar and saw what was going on. a ship has docked in the harbor, but not just any ship, it was big, black, man of war with gray wretched sails and the smell of death, if that wasn't scary enough, the captain was at the bow of the ship wearing a blackish red cape with a demon skull painted on the back and on his side he carried a silver trident while on his back he harnessed a claymore, the scottish longsword. His hair was neatly combed and cut somewhat short just to the rim of his neck and his eyes were that of a demon, looking at his eyes directly was like looking into the face of the devil itself. He stood tall and proud at the helm of his mighty vessel and once his crew was off, he reached into his side pocket and pulled out a grenado, lit it and threw it into the mass of people. The crowed then ran for their lives, hoping to escape the blast while others started to pray.

Once the fuse was burnt to the core, there was no explosion, not even a small bang. The crowed then looked up to see the man laughing with a huge devilish grin on his face. Walking off his ship in a gentlemanly manner, he picked up the grenado and placed it back in his pocket. He then turned his attention to mass of people around him and with the voice of an angel, but a hint of the devil, he spoke loud and clear.

“Let it be known now to all here, my name spread fear all across the seven seas and this here is my kingdom and to all those soldiers who run this tiny island, let them know that reaper of the seas, the face of death!”

“who are you” asked someone in the crowd

“ My name is William “Black” Flint of the Red Suns, and this is my kingdom.” he replied back with a foxy grin on his face.

Everyone's face lost all color at the mention of his name. the tyrant of the seas, the butcher of Havana, the grim reaper of the high seas, had come home. Damian heart stopped beating for a few seconds and felt that chill run up his spine again. Jonathan’s eyes slightly widen and his jaw slightly dropped. With a wave of the hand, Jonathan motion the crew to get back inside the bar, everyone except damian listen. He stayed a while to get a better look at Flint, then he noticed something about his face, especially his eyes. Moving through the crowd, he managed to get a better look at his face, that when noticed that one of his eyes was fake. It was a glass eye.

Not wanting to stay any longer, he left the crowd and headed towards the bar. Once inside, he clutched his heart and breath in slowly to regain his composure. It seems just a glance of flint is enough for a man to have a heart attack. Looking at his crew, they all had the same idea are we really going to do this. Straightening up, he walks over to men and whispers to each crew member's ears the words “meet at the fort and night, make sure your not followed.”

1705

When Jonathan woke up, it was still dark outside, not even dawn yet, not for another hour. He really didn't want to get up, but he knew that today was today that he and his brother would go on their first pirate hunt. He quickly got out of bed, no waking his brother, and headed straight for the tub. He took a quick bath to freshen up and after drying himself, he headed out and quickly went to his wardrobe. Picking clothes wasn't hard for jonathan,since all the clothes were the color red and yellow. He chose his spanish officer's uniform, he “got it” from a soldier he encountered with his father. After dressing himself, he reached for his sword and sheathed it in the scabbard, now he looked professional. Though he had no respect towards spanish soldiers, he did admire the fashion taste. Before he walked out the door, he remember that he forgot to load his pistols in their holsters. He went back to the wardrobe and got two english flintlocks and two muskets. Just then he heard a slight moan, his brother was now awake. Damien was a sound sleeper most of the time and it was nearly impossible to wake him up. That's when their mother decided to buy a very loud rooster to be the family alarm clock. When damien finally got out of bed, he went immediately to the bathing room. However, damien usually like to spend 15 minutes in the tub and sometimes fall back asleep. But even he knew that he wouldn't let his brain get the best of his today. Grabbing a towel, damien quickly dried himself off and, just like his brother, he went to the wardrobe.

Unlike his brother, damien wore anything red. Since british officers usually wear red uniforms, it seem only fitting that he do the same. He quickly got on his trousers, buckled his belt and boots, grabbed his swords, and tied his favorite red scarf across his neck. They were ready to go.

As they both walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, they were greeted by their mother who appeared to be crying. The boys were both shocked are were worried of what had happen. Isabella looked up and seeing their worried faces quickly dried her eyes and talked in a soothing voice” i'm fine boys, i just a little sad seeing my babies grow up and become men. I know that both of you will do great things in this world.” With that said she went over to the counter and grabbed 2 small boxes containing food for the journey. The food was suppose to last up for 7 months, the time for which they will be gone. The package contained several fruits, salted meats, rum, medicine and assorted pies. She had them the packages and gave a quick but loving hug and escorted them out the door where their father was waiting for them. They made their way towards the docks while avoiding the spanish soldiers. Once they reach the docks, there waiting for them was a hood figure clothed in blue and black fabric. In both hands he carried a guillotine gun and ax pistol. The hooded figure soon called out” since when were goodbyes so long.” Robert chuckled

“how long have you’ve be watin’.” “Long enough.” The hooded figure then removed his hood and there they saw a very decorated smith. Smith wore a red bandana across his right eye that was layered with thin strips of silver. On both ears he had on jade earrings in the form of a skull with a hint of sapphire. He grinned his teeth showing a pair of bronze teeth, showing that he was a very flashy hunter. He walked over to the boys and gave both of them a very friendly, yet painful bear hug. Jonathan was use to the hug, after all he went on more trips than his brother. Damiens however, looked as if he was suppocatring from greeks bear hug, his face as red a tomato. Smith then release his grip from the boys who were catching their breath. “so you boys ready for you first hunt.” They nodded their heads yes. “good, here is your boys first assignment.” Smith pulls from his left pocket a worn out wanted poster the reeked of rum and sweat. Unraveling the parchment, it reads

William”Black” Flint , wanted on the high seas for crimes of piracy and horrendous acts including murder, rape, pillaging, desolation of property and hijack of his majesty's ships.

Bounty is 30,000 pounds

Wanted dead or alive

“Who is William Flint, i never heard of him.”. damien asked.

Smith chuckled. “My boyo, William Flint was once a sailor for his majesty's navy, however, unlike your father, he was he was often outspoken and cause numerous incidences for England. After losing his sole occupation, he turned to a life of piracy. Since then no one has heard of him. He is named public enemy of all the empires and their colonies. People say that his ship and crew are from hell and that he eat his enemies, before killing them. To the navy men, he is called Black Flint, but for people like us, we call him the reaper of the seas.”

Mentioning those traits gave damien shivers down his spine. He has heard tales of men like that from the soldiers and the sailors. He prayed that he wouldn't meet him on the open seas, he couldn't bear it. Shaking those thoughts out of his mind, he grabbed his gear and headed toward the ship. He turned his head to Jonathan, jerking it to tell him let's get going. He made a quick hug to his father and ran after his brother. Smith looked to his friend and put his hand on his shoulder. “they'll be all right, i'll make sure of it.” Roberts replied with a pat on the back and went his way. Smith did wise. Once on the ship, he headed towards the wheel only to see that the boys were already sailing the ship out of the harbor. Their ship, The Black Raven, was a fine vessel and a veteran of many encounters with pirates, her sails worn out, her deck bleached with heating sun, and her bottom covered in wall to wall in mussels and clams. She was the most beautiful ship that ever did sail. It was on this day, October 17 1705, that the Caldwells future would never be the same.

The first few months went very well, some storms here and there but mostly clear summer skies. During the hours, Smith would teach the boys how a ship world and how to function her and its crew. As smith saw, jonathan had no trouble at all with the sea and knew how to steer a ship properly. If only his brother was this gifted. Damien hasn't gotten used to ship and his legs are still wobbly from the constant waves and turns of the ship. He spends most of his in the captain's quarters writing in his journal of their travels and polishes his swords. On some occasion he would leave the comfort of his quarters and sail the ship, usually into a patch of land or into a rogue wave. But over time, he earned his sea legs and became a much better captain than his brother, to smith's surprise. Now that they boys have gotten used to sailing a ship, he decided that boys should learn how to fight. Once they docked in havana to resupply, Smith sent the crew off to get the supplies, except for the boys. He told them that he was going to teach them how to fight dirty and smartly. Damien was up first, unsheathing his dual persian scimitars, he steadied himself for the onslaught. Smith readied himself with his ax blunderbuss and taunted damien to strike the first blow. Taking the bait, damien rushed in swinging both blades in the air with such fury and speed. Smith defended himself as best as he could, clearly damien has studied rigorously in the sword combat. Damien trained himself to fight with passion, not aggression, though keeping in mind not to over do it. His attacks consist of fluid sword strikes to the body and head, twirling the blades to confuse his opponent, and twirling both his body and his blades, though a risky move, the damage spoke for itself. Smith was surprised at damiens ferocity and how much control he has with his blades. he was barely able to delft most of his attacks. He was so focused on defending himself that he didn't see what was behind. He stumbled behind a barrel and lost his footing and fell on his backside dropping his ax and before he think he was in inches away from the blade. He looked up to see that damien was exhausted and offered his hand. Smith took it and gave damien a friendly slap on the back “fine swordsmanship you have, you father taught you well.” Damien replied “actually my mother taught me.” Jaws dropped, minds boggled and lost for words. Smith couldn't see Isabella as a violent person, sure she can get explosive at some moments but violent was something else entirely. Believe or not, before isabella met roberts, her father taught her how to defend herself from rich sons of other slaveholders. As a young teen, she was known as Blandiendo machetes diablo on the account of her fights with boys and rich kids. She was so terrifying that no boy or man would dare go near her, except for my grandfather of course. That was how they first met. And though it was a heated battle, the two warriors suddenly fell in love. After with that little revelation it was now time to test jonathan and his skill set. unlike his brother, jonathan fought with mind boggling speed and used dirty tricks to win any fight or brawl. however, even he knew his brawler background could not compared against a seasoned veteran such as smith. The duo both drew the weapons and prepared for each other's attack. Both were patient and waited. All was quiet on the deck, the only noise came from the waves crashing against the ship and songs of the birds. Ending the silence, jonathan thrusted his cutlass forward to smith gut. He blocked it and started aiming for jonathan's legs and thighs. Jonathan's casually dodges the strikes left and right and then grabs smiths ax arm and throws him across the decks of the ship. Smiths recovers slightly hurt but not out and charges jonathan head on. Now jonathan had really fight now seeing that he was being overwhelmed by these strong attacks. Trying to break the chain of attacks, jonathan uses one of the underhanded strikes ever used, a swift kick to the crotch. It was effective and sneaky, the type jonathan would uses. Smith was down for the count. Clutching his crotch, he staggered a bit but managed to regain his footing and catching his breath smirked.

“That was a cheap shot jonathan, and here I thought we were on the same side. Smith said. “Remind me never to spar with you again.” Smith was still trying to stand up right since he just kicked with steel toe boots, custom made for jonathan's 13th birthday, a regrettable choice. After the pain subsided, Smith reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of whiskey to numb his senses. Though not a heavy drinker, smith enjoyed the occasional sip now and then. He then treated the boys to have some, damien refused saying that whiskey and rum are tainted with sin. Both Jonathan and Smith laughed in unison to the nonsense coming from damiens mouth. After the two drunks finished their whiskey, damian began to wonder where the rest of the crew was, they were only supposed to be gone for an hour or two. Smith noticed this and decided to go and look for them.

The city of Havana was bustling metropolis built upon by money, soldiers, and trade. Havana had everything to offer from warm winters, an aroma of smells and a rich architecture that modeled Spain and for the sailors especially, there are three important things a sailor needs when he lands in a new port, and inn, rum, and women. It was obvious where the crew went. The trio tracked their crew to the Blue falcon inn which was ironically only a few from the brothel across the road. Simon sighed in relief, at least they weren't caught by the spanish soldiers here. Because of tension and political rivalry between britain and spain, the two great nations were engulfed in the Queens Anne's War, a war that would decided who had control in the americans and the colonies in the West indies. It was not strange to find soldiers from both sides here in Havana and enjoying its fruits of labor. Lets just hope it stays that way. The trio split up and went to find their crew. While Damian went into the inn, Jonathan and smith went into the brothel. Damian entered the inn and got his first glance at the life of sailor of the navy. These men of the crown were nothing as he had expected. Sailors like these were revered by all, and yet they drink themselves of wine and women of pleasure. On top of that, he was getting the stink eye from the sailors who weren't drunk, and if looks could kill, he be dead. Not wanting to idle any longer, he makes his way to the bartender.

“have you seen a rough looking crew in here, were departing soon.” Damien asked

The bartender, not lifting head replied “be more specific lad, we usually have rough crew in these parts.”

“They have a black raven insignia on their backs.”

“You mean the ones getting beat up by the spanish?. If so their right over there.” he points to the far end inn where most of the commotion was at.

“Getting what now.”

He got his answer when out of nowhere a bottle flew by his head and smashed against a wall. Clutching his face, he sighed and looked behind to see a brawl erupt. His men had gotten into a fight with spanish soldiers, and his men were losing, badly. Irritated and tired of this, he pulled out his flint lock and aimed it at the ceiling, hoping to end this dispute. He pulled down on the trigger and with a slight clicking sound, the room erupted in gunfire. The fighting between his men and the spanish was over and he thought to himself that he had saved the day. To his shock, the spanish were now ganging up on him instead. Just then, every british soldier stood up and went behind Damien, swords drawn. They all stood side by side ready for a fight. Sighing of relief, Damien put his gun back into its holster and just when he was going to get his crew, one of his men shoots a spanish officer. The room was quiet until someone spoke out and said “Oh Shite.”

Next thing you know, Damien is engulfed in a huge bar fight. People being thrown across the floor, bottles being smashed, heads bashed open, on his first day on the job. He couldn’t make his way towards the door until someone grab the back of his collar and threw him back into the fray. It was complete chaos and he had no choice but to fight back. He punched, kicked, knees and bottled anyone who was in my way until the spanish guys started to back off and make their way towards the doors. After the little brawl Damien had several bruises and some blood on his outfit. He wasn't missing any teeth which was good and he didn't seem to have any broken bones. His crew however wasn't so lucky. Some of them were unconscious and other who weren't drunk had black eyes and dislocated jaws. He was not happy of how things were turning out, he could really use a drink now. He found the nearest chair and bottle and settled himself down. He was then greeted by two british soldiers who helped him during the brawl. One of the two was about Damien height and had messy, rough black hair. He face was fair and had dark brown eyes that seem to pierce your soul. On his face, he had the scars of sea battles and the the sign of a thick black beard. The gent next to him was taller and wore a plaid skirt across his waist. He had short red hair and deep sapphire eyes that seem to sparkle in the light. His accent was that of Scotts and carried a scottish broadsword across his waist. They took a seat next to Damien and together, all three drank their whiskey.

“You alright mate, you look like shite.”

“I'm fine, nothing but a few scratches and bruises.” replied damian

“Ay, ye fooght weel. Hm, Ah dornt hink Ah seen ye in th' regiment, whaur ye frae.” replied the Scot.

Clearing his throat, “My name is Damien caldwell, son Robert and Isabella Caldwell, pirate hunters for hire, at your service.”

The two gents were shocked. In the navy, they had heard stories of the famous caldwell pirate hunters. To the men of the royal navy, they were considered heroes and idols and stuff of legend. No one has ever met a cladwell before, and yet here in havana one was sitting here right now having a drink.

“Bloody hell mate you dont say. Your family is legendary amongst us seamen. It's a real honor to meet you.”

“Ay, 'at it is. we've heard stories ay th' famoos rabbie an' his chases against henry morgan an' th' capture ay william kidd. Pardon me, whaur ur mah manners, aam Dylan staine Paw Dublin, mah messmate haur is edward thatch, privateers ay her majesty th' queen' ay britian.”

“It's a pleasure to meet you dylan, edward. Mine telling me why there is an infestation of spanish soldiers.”

Dylan sighed “ Waur at war laddie, th' queen ay englain 'at th' royalty ay spain hae collided wi' each other an' erupted th' queen anne's war. Its awreddy bin thee years an' th' war is awreddy takin' a hauld oan its men oan baith sides. Me an' edward haur enlisted tae help uir coontry, an' earn some bunsens. But enaw abit us, whit brings ye tae havana, it is surely nae fur th' kimmers ay pleasure an' braw bucky.”

Damien paused for a second, took a sip of his whiskey, and cleared his throat “ i'm on the hunt of the elusive and dangerous pirate William Black Flint. I heard that he been here in these waters and stop for supplies just a few days before we arrive. You wouldn't have happen to see him would you?’

Dylan slammed his fist on the table nearly breaking it and roared at the top of his lungs “William Flint, 'at braw hearted, murderer, cutthroat ay a pirate. ay we've seen heem, th' dobber lat at us it ay th' blue an' nearly crippled uir fleit. Ah hiner ye gut heem!"

“Easy man, don't go blowing your top now, unless you want another brawl to happen” said edward. “Ay we've seen him, lucky to be alive too. We were on patrol beyond the coast of havana when we came under cannon fire. We didn't know where it came from, all we could hear were cannons firing and the sound of our ship being torn apart. Last I heard he was planning a trip to new province to the west.”

Edward reached into his pocket and pulled out a scorched parchment that had small writing on it. it smelled of whisky and tobacco. He handed it to Damien and told him that these were coordinates to Nassau. He told him that he had to open it only when he got on the ship.

Damien agreed and thank edward and dylan for their help in possibly locating William Flint. Getting out of his chair, he walked over to his crew who were now starting to recuperate from the little incident. They looked embarrassed and ashamed the the mess that they made and expected the worse. Damien however, in a stern voice, told his crew that this was never to happen again. No one was to tell smith or jonathan. Once that was done, they left the inn and waited for the rest of the gang.

An hour later, smith and jonathan returned with the remaining crew, who were drunk on whisky and women. They lost most of the supplies, so they only had enough to get them to the nearest port. After they settled the matter, they headed back to ship. While on the way, Damein bumped into some lady who was going the other way. She dropped some of her items and him as well. He stopped to help her get her things, while unbeknownst to him, she stole the scorched parchment from his pocket.

“I'm sorry about that, let me help you.”

“Its alright, thin's happen.”

They soon went their ways and it wasn't a minute before Damian realized that his parchment was missing. He turned around to try and find her, but she was gone. He was so stupid to fall for a trick like this. He left the group and hunted to find this girl. He went from block to block to alley and street corner. He was about to give up until he heard some commotion around a market. he hid behind a store and slightly glanced from the side to see who it was. From the corner of his eye, he could see five figures, four of them in spanish officers clothes and last one dressed in bostonian clothes.

“Back off yoos Spanish dogs, unless you want a fight.”

“¡Oh ho, esta que tiene algunas lucha en ella, me gusta que en una mujer!”

¡Digo que permite ver qué tiene esta pequeña fruta exótica. Lo que ella podrá sorprendernos!

This is not what damian wanted to hear and the four spanish soldiers were closing in on their victim. Having enough of this, he step out of his hiding spot and faced the spanish soldiers. Shouting in Spanish “¡Vete te muts. Si quieres pelear, yo os llevaré! he hoped this would grab their attention. Taking the bait, the spanish turned around, swords drawn and pistols loaded, they faced their attacker. ¡Oh ho parece que nos metimos un héroe los muchachos, qué mal compañero, perdió su forma? They started to laugh until damian pulled out his flintlock and fired it at the leader. the bullet hit its target and in a matter of moments, the spanish soldier fell to the ground, clutching his stomach in pain and slowly died. The remaining three turned their heads slowly and look as if in amazement of what had happen. ¡matar a ese bastardo! one shouted and soon all three rushed him at once. Drawing his dual persian scimitars, he slowly walked towards his enemy and, as if this was a ballet, attacked his enemies. twirling and spinning his swords left and right, the easily deflected the enemies clumsy attacks and strokes. He chopped of one hand of his enemy, the other his leg and the last one, screaming like a madman had his head cleaved off. Sheathing his swords, he calmly walked over to women and knelt down besides her.

“You alright?”

“I am now, but i could have handled it myself thank you. still, thanks. I'm Victoria by the way.”

“Damien Caldwell at your service”

Back at the ship, smith and jonathan were loading the supplies when they noticed that damian was missing. They were already behind schedule, and now this. Smith asked the crew if they seen him. one said that he was chasing after a woman when they left the inn. Smith feared the worst and if it was what he was thinking, he would face the wrath of isabella when they returned home. That was the last thing he needs. Dropping what he had, he and jonathan went looking for the straggler. Back at the market, the duo were arguing over the possession of the parchment. They bickered and yelled at each other and, seeing no progress, decided on a bet. The bet was that whoever wins the fight gets the parchment. Though damian is not used to fighting girls, let alone women, he had no choice. he drew out his scimitars and waited patiently, hoping that this little situation will end quickly. Victoria, on the other hand, rushed in and drew out her saber with killing intent. Even for a woman, she was a very dangerous opponent, Damian has never seen anything like of her before and felt stunned. Whoever trained her, she was taught well. Damian had to make sure not to severely hurt her, though she stolen from him, she has done nothing wrong. Mostly defending instead of attacking, damian soon found himself in a corner and had to change his game plan. Victoria took advantage of this and pulled out a stiletto to deliver the final strike. Just in the nick of time, damien grabbed her wrist, twisting it to the point of where she dropped the stiletto. Then he grabbed his flintlock around his waist and pointed it at her head. His breathed hard, wanting to shoot her, but not willing it. He pulled the hammer back, cocking the pistol and moved the gun to her temple. Victoria was frightened, would her mysterious savior kill her? She closed her eyes and waited. A loud boom erupted from the alleyway, when victoria open eyes, there was no blood. She looked up to meet damiens eyes and saw that he fired up and not at her.

Damein chuckled slightly “you all right”

Victoria smirked “knew you wouldn't hurt a girl.” Her voice did have a hint of worry

“Look, before this ends bad, may I ask ,why did you steal from me. What use could a wealthy woman like yourself need a burnt parchment?”

She knew this was going to happen, sighing she spoke “ I was going to sell this to some soldiers in hopes of earning some money for my family. Though we are rich mr. caldwell, business have been down lately.” She explained to Damien that she did come from australia and was the daughter of a wealthy merchant. She excelled in all aspects of the upper class society, but she remained humble, most of the times. In search of adventure, Victoria travels to the West indies in hopes of exploiting trade. Once she got to havana, she saw his ship and followed him into the inn.

“That's a very interesting story; however, I still need my parchment back, so give it here.”

Victoria reached into her left pocket and pulled out the paper and handed it to Damien. He inspected it to make sure that it was real, and then placed the parchment delicately in his back pocket. Looking up, he saw that Victoria was sad, she had lost easy money. Frustrated, he placed his hand on her shoulder and spoke “listen, i'm hunting a very dangerous pirate named Flint with a high bounty on his head. When I capture Flint, i’ll... make sure that some of the money goes to you, alright” he said with a reassuring smile. That brought back her spirits up and hugged him, whispering “thank you.”