Chereads / Pirates of Oceanlandia: A Collection of Short Stories / Chapter 23 - POS: Put Her in Beam Reach

Chapter 23 - POS: Put Her in Beam Reach

Water crystallized as the burning ship swiftly descended below the water line. The dark cold flames bellowed out of every crack and orifice of the doomed vessel. Outside the roar of rushing waters and cries of drowning men were deafening. Lizzie stood on the deck of the Deathstalker as she watched her beloved ship depart from the surface world and embrace the seafloor. 

Her eyebrows darted towards the lower center of her forehead. She grinded her teeth to the point of cracking, her face turned cherry red, and her right eye began twitching. 

"I will have your intestines for dinner!" She shouted at the top of her long as she stared daggers at the ship that destroyed hers. 

About two hundred yards away sat a large warship with royal navy colors flying from the rafters. Decks on decks of cannon all cozied up within a thick hard wood hull. 

A scared crewmember of the Deathstalker immediately grabbed Lizzie from the edge of the ship onto the deck of the ship. The guns on the enemy ship then let out an eardrum bursting roar. The force of the cannon volley pounded the hull of the Deathstalker, hitting with enough force to rock the massive ship back and forth. Visibility was non-existent, the thick white gunpowder smoke blanketed the area. The strong stench of used gunpowder burned Lizzie's nostrils, causing her to violently sneeze multiple times. 

Getting up from her crouched position she was quickly thrown back to the floor by the powerful blowback of the Deathstalker cannon. She slammed hardwood floor before rolling shoulder over shoulder on the deck. She grabbed her cutlass and before jumping back to her feet and running over to the side of the ship. 

"Enough with this tit for tat! Fight us like men, you girls!" She insulted the men of the opposing Man O War

The Deathstalker slowly began to detach from the engagement, sailing away. 

Captain Bartis placed his hand on Lizzie's shoulder.

"Enough Lizzie, there's no way we can win." He said

"No way? No way! What do you mean!?"

"Look."

Bartis pointed through the thick smoke to a giant ship shaped silhouette in the sky, except instead of masts it had hot air balloons.

"Dammit! Dammit! Fuck this bastards! Maybe not today but I'll have my revenge!" 

The enemy ship then opened its decks again for another deadly volley of cannon fire. The barrage punched through the glass and soft wood of the Deathstalkers' back side. 

Bartis ripped his sword from its sheath and gestured towards the enemy ship.

"Fire chasers!" 

The trio of chaser cannons on the bow returned fire, launching striking the enemy ship just below it's main deck. The Deathstalker swiftly dropped sail and darted off. Suddenly it began to shower shrapnel, fire and hot red led balls. The masts, sails, rigging, and deck were doused in this array of hellfire. 

Lizzie and Bartis took cover from the shower of shrapnel while many of the crewmen were forced to bear the brunt of the assault. One man had a piece of shrapnel plunging his Jugular artery, a thick crimson mist proceeded to fly out from his neck until he fell to the floor dead. 

Another man ran for his life when a cannonball struck him in the army with enough force to sever his arm and send him soaring through the air like a bird. His head rocked violently as its journey through the air was suddenly interrupted when he struck the ship's mast killing him instantly. 

A third man had a cannonball fly right through his stomach causing him to explode into a red mist with tiny bone fragments flying everywhere. His legs both still in one piece fell to the floor as his head went bouncing down the deck.

Once Lizzie and Bartis reemerged from the lower deck. The smell of blood, burning wood, burning flesh, and death permanated the deck. The ear-piercing sound of dying men. The poor visibility from the gunpowder of smoke originating from flames covered the ship.

The Deathstalker violently rocked from as she was rammed in the back, by the enemy ship. Crewmen were sent airborne and slammed upon the now splintered flood. Across the deck Lizzie noticed that the helmsman was slumped over on the wheel. She then quickly sprinted towards the wheel. The gatling guns on the Airship began firing at her. She continued full speed. Hundreds of tiny lead balls landed behind her just missing her. 

When they made it to the wheel, she turned back to see the opposing ship was coming up to ram them again. Looking forward she could see the silhouette of a large rock formation through the smoke. Finally gazing up she noticed that the main sail had caught fire. Nevertheless she maintained her position. 

"Put her in Beam reach boys! Starboard!" 

The few men left fixed the mast, putting the ship's sails in beam reach. Lizzie then turned the wheel towards the rock formation. Bartis ran up to her. 

"Lizzie have you gone mad? We're going to crash."

"No, we're gonna just graze it."

She pointed towards the enemy ship which was so close that their bowsprit was towering above Lizzie. 

The Deathstalker soared right beside the rock formation, the rock violently punctured the ship just below the main deck dragging a giant tear from the center of the ship towards the back. 

The other ship that had been sailing just a bit more starboard than the Deathstalker collided with the rock in such a way that it's bow shot up into the sky, so high that it grazed the Airship. The bottom of the ship had a gaping large tear in it. It was impossible for it to stay afloat after that. It collided with the water, sending massive waves rippling through the water. The ship hit with such force that the water came in through the tear at the bottom and violently shot through the main deck. 

In the sky, the airship spun out of control, despite the captain's best effort to regain control the ship smashed down into the water on its side. 

The crew of the Deathstalker cheered on many slogans and phrases.

"Praise Lizzie!" 

"All hail our new saint!" 

Lizzie was overjoyed but tired. As she gazed down she noticed her abdomen had a lot of blood leaking out of it. 

"I've been shot." 

She soon fainted and fell upon the floor.