S. Welles - To Ocean's End

“Come claim me if you dare!” Jessie yelled in a voice too rich and resonant to be her own. That couldn’t be her choice of words either. I put a little more distance between us.

Mido went wide-eyed. “Jessie?”

“Amphitrite,” I said.

Jessie faced me, a sensual smile on her face. That smile made my gaze wander to her breasts tucked away in a sports bra and tank, just a bit of cleavage showing above the curve of her tank. My eyes snapped back to her face when she spoke in Amphitrite’s voice. “I look most forward to our meeting again. It’s been too long, Dyne Lavere.”

“It has, hasn’t it?” I did my best to sound casual as the shock of seeing Amphitrite take control of her avatar. I backed away one more step and brushed elbows with Jacobi. He shuffled away to compensate. “Mido, I think you need to be careful with calling her ‘sea goddess.’ Now probably wasn’t bad timing but… in the future? Yeah…”

“Echo that, Captain.” His gaze was a mix of awe and fear. “Jessie?”

Jessie gave him a feral grin, then faced me. Using two fingers, she drew me to her by my chin and pressed her mouth to mine. She kissed me long and hard while Tethys and crew argued amongst themselves. I couldn’t break away, despite having no desire to kiss either woman inhabiting that pretty body. Jessie belonged to Mido, and like hell I’d willingly kiss the one who cursed me. Jessie slowly pulled away and Amphitrite’s voice returned. “Now fight for me, my champion.”

“I’m not your champion,” I said flatly, wiping my mouth with a forearm.

“Oh, really?” Her smile contained only a twinge of anger.

“Captain?” Mido said. He looked at me with a mix of confusion and anger.

I held up my empty hand. “Divine intervention, I swear. Jessie’s all yours.”

He looked at me a moment longer before turning to Jessie and calling her name.

“I’m still here,” she said in her own voice. “Your kisses really are magic.”

“You just kissed Captain.”

She gave Mido an incredulous look. “No I didn’t.”

“Yes, you… you don’t remember?”

I said, “Like I said, Mido: divine intervention. We can discuss this later, if necessary.” Ugh, my skin was crawling after all that, but I mentally pushed aside the discomfort. The corrosion on the Rumrunner’s hull had progressed to the point where the metal was bright with rust. “Scully, now!” I waved my sword in the air.

Scully fired and the harpoon punched right through eight inches of steel as if it were made of wood. The bolt buried itself all the way to the tail. Shards of metal broke off and splashed into the water.

Tethys’s gunner fired at Scully. Right at him. Not at my hull. Not even at the Harpy. Him. The harpoon launchers were no more than thirty yards apart. Scully dived off the Harpy as the bolt lanced right through where his head had been. Fleshy-looking chunks sprayed the air as he fell onto the deck in a heap.

“Scully!” I and several others cried out. Cancer bolted to him. I wanted to do the same but I’d only get in the good doc’s way. Scully lurched to his hands and knees and shook his head, sending blood droplets everywhere. He raised a hand to the side of his face, the side that looked like one big red gaping hole, his cheek dangling from his jaw like a piece of uncooked meat. His arm went limp and he collapsed, lying facedown. Cancer knelt by his side and rolled him onto his back. I faced Tethys again.

“Come and get us, you cowards!” I sent a band of water for the gunner, knocked him from his post, and sucked him over the side like a receding wave pulls all things out to sea. Watching Scully go down like that.. it’d take so much control to keep Tethys alive long enough for his dick removal service.

Tethys’s men readied grappling hooks and zip lines, and I had a bit of deja vu as I ordered my men to back away from the railing. This was Newport all over again, but this time we were out for blood in any way we could get it. A half a dozen steel hooks clanged onto my deck. Several of my crew had to dodge out of the way, including me. At least I didn’t have to order anyone to hold back while hooks clanged against my railing and the lines drew taut. One cheap shot after another… I was so beyond pissed that I had to concentrate on not commanding water. I’d more than likely go too far and tap into demon strength.

Six toughened veterans zip-lined onto my ship, swords in hand. Their feet thudded against the side. And once they cleared the railing, the next six, including Tethys, followed. But before they got halfway, two twenty-footer great whites leapt out of the water like they were seal hunting and bit down on a pair of unfortunate men. The fish had pitch black backs and gaping jaws more than big enough to swallow an adult whole. The two men splashed into the ocean with their attackers, the men looking no bigger than toddlers in the sharks’ mouths as they turned the churning water red. Jessie wore a humorless smile as she held up her fists. The second group of men hopped onto my deck and the mountain of a man named Tethys squared off with me.

“That was a real cheap shot with the harpoon,” I said. “You fight like a coward.” I crossed swords with him as the rest of my crew entered one-on-one combat.

“Serves you right for how you treat my ship,” Tethys said in his gravely voice. “I’m taking your life and your ship before this day is done.”

“Less talk; more walk, bud.”

Tethys came at me with a powerful downward swing. Expecting the heavy blow, I dodged aside and scored a nick on his sword arm, then back out of range. Last time we’d fought, he’d thrown all his weight into each attack, leaving me unable to go on the offensive. Since he had to weigh close to twice as much as me, there was no way I could match his brute strength. I made him chase me in hopes of slowly wearing him out with his own overzealousness. I backed towards the stern as I deflected and dodged his attacks, squeezing past our crews. He barreled through them like a stampeding bull, swinging wildly at me. Sparks flew every time he hit the railing, and he didn’t even slow down when he scored deep lines in my tarp-covered lifeboats. I barely kept myself out of harm’s way. Tethys could move almost as fast as me and he wasn’t showing signs of tiring anytime soon.

Once we were alone on the stern, I angled him so his back was to the railing. In my peripheral I noticed Jessie marching towards us, uncontested. I called a large band of water to me and pulled it up over the side of the ship as fast as I could, but I couldn’t concentrate long enough to so much as touch him with it. The water spilled back into the ocean without him being any the wiser. He came at me with swing after swing, so I changed tactics and turned him so his back was to Jessie. He deserved a cheap shot from behind.

Once his girth shielded Jessie from view, Tethys suddenly turned and lashed out horizontally with his sword. Jessie went down, clutching her forehead. “I’ll deal with you in a minute, bitch.”

Tethys rounded on me as an anger-fueled band of water that went up to his knees swept his feet out from under him. He hit the deck with a splash and slid several feet as I pulled a semicircle of water around my boots. I walked up to him laying spread eagle and held my blade to his throat. “Never. Hurt. A woman. Especially in my presence.” Jessie had a curtain of blood dribbling down her face. She sat up and wiped her eyes, then just sat there, holding her forehead. Hopefully she wasn’t going into shock.

Tethys lay unarmed with hands held by his head. I stepped on one of his hands. He cried out in pain and reached for my foot, but I sliced his forearm and pushed his hand back down with the tip of my sword, holding it over his wrist. He held still, his face red. “After all these years, why get this hostile?”