Open Wardrobes

Well, the end is now in sight. I managed nearly 2,000 words today, bringing me to just over 49,000 total. 1,000 words to go and I achieve the goal of NaNoWriMo! Of course, the draft will not be complete just because I hit the 50,000-word mark and so I'll keep plugging. I hope, with any luck, to complete the draft by November 30th, but seeing is I have no idea how far there is to go for that, it's hard to say how likely I'll accomplish that.




By now they had the complete map, of that he was certain, and the Sorcerer would need to move quickly in order to ensure that the Heart of Destiny reached his hands in the end. He spent the night communicating with as many of his servants as he could reach. They would converge in the area near Antilla and there catch Captain Foxx's trail. Red Foxx may have learned his tactic for gathering information, but she could not find all the marks placed on all her people. He would learn where they went next and he would be waiting.

*****

Red, Jat, and Howl studied the map long into the night. Those in the Ruined Kingdom who had hidden it had done so well. It was no wonder that Red had not been able to glean much information from the one half of the map she had previously possessed. The map traced a complex path from island to island, all of which were unnamed, with many notes on how to plot a course from one to the next. Likely it would take several weeks of travel yet to retrace the steps of those who made this map and had been the last to see the Heart of Destiny.
"And here I'd been thinkin' we'd never see the Heart again," Howl said as he poured over the map. "And here we be, but a few steps away."
"More than a few," Red said, "if I read this right."
"Aye, aye," Howl acknowledged, "but we have here the place to be startin'." And he stabbed the map with a finger.
"That we do," Red agreed, "and we may as well make the best time we can. Is the Sea Wolf read to set sail?"
"That we be, Captain. Just say the word."
Captain Longboot met them on the Blue Thunder as they set out from Antilla. Longboot had been searching for Dain Melthew himself, his assigned name from Grey Foxx's list, but had run into a slight delay in the shape of several ships from Captain Drake's fleet. The three ships set course together for a small island on the edge of Captain Foxx's kingdom: the Isle of the Hundred Wrecks. It was the only island on the map identified by name. The rest could only be found once at the island preceding it along the map's path. The Isle of the Hundred Wrecks was well-names, for it was a rocky island only a few hours sail off the coast of the Sorcerer's kingdom and just as treacherous as the wizard's own coastline. It had once been used as a secret meeting place of the pirates, as few others dared venture to it, but so many of even their own vessels had been dashed to pieces on the rocks that surrounded it that the pirate folk too had abandoned it. As such it made for an excellent starting point for anything you wished to keep hidden. Nearly a six day journey from Antilla, Red Foxx had little to occupy herself with besides eavesdropping on the Sorcerer as he spoke with his servants. He was a shrewd master, for he did not give away any more than he needed even to those whom he trusted and so Red Foxx had to fill in his plans with her own guesses. At the least she could tell that the Sorcerer knew of the complete map and was seeking to find her once again. How long it would take, Red Foxx could not guess, but as they were heading straight towards his realm, she feared it would not take long.
During their journey to the Isle the pirates met up with three more of their own vessels who had been about the search, and Red Foxx was glad to have greater numbers as they entered this stage of their pursuit. She was less glad, however, that one of the ships, the Horizon, belonged to Captain Blackfoot. He listened eagerly to the news that the map had been found, and did not seem to remember his earlier doubts that it ever could be. Red found him a little too glad to be a part of the chase now for the Heart. She could not refuse to allow him to be a part without loss of honor herself, but she kept an eye on his ship and its doings. He meant to be the one to lay hold the Heart first, and Red Foxx could guess at what he would next seek to accomplish.
They came within a few leagues of the Isle of a Hundred Wrecks without any sign of the Sorcerer's ships. Red Foxx had chosen Howl and Jat alone to join her on the Isle itself to determine their next heading. She put it out that it was best not to risk any more men than necessary too near the island, but in truth she did not want Blackfoot anywhere near the map. Red had a made a copy of it already and entrusted it to Howl, in the event of any such treachery. As the ships all waited outside the worst of the gnawing rocks, Red, Jat and Howl made for the island on a small craft that could better navigate the rough waters. They landed safely enough, though Jat's teeth ground as much as the rocks did on the boat's keel. Once on the Isle they followed the map's next instructions.
"On the southernmost point, face back north and see there the arrow before you."
They did so and once they reached the aforementioned point along the shore turned to see what they would see. A single stone reached up a ways before them and stood like a finger pointing towards the horizon.
"Well now, that be simple enough," Howl observed.
"Indeed," Red agreed.
They walked over to the stone and Jat made a careful observation of the heading to which it pointed. The map gave directions to the next island from there, lacking only this heading to send them in the right direction. As they rowed back towards the ships, Red saw a sight upon which she swore.
"Captain?" Jat asked.
Red pointed in reply towards a ship some distance away that bore the silver star on red.
"Aye, now that be a mite not to my likin'," Howl growled. "Ye can be sure they be not here to lend a hand."
"No, Howl, that much is certain," Red said. "But perhaps we shall give them more than they bargained for."
Back on board the Arrow, Red sent word to the other ships to encircle the Sorcerer's. It had not been a policy of her father's to interfere with the Sorcerer, but here Red Foxx decided the time had come for a departure from her father's ways.
The Sorcerer's ship came to them willing, as they always did, and it did not seem to notice the activity of the other vessels as it hailed Red's.
"Good day to you Captan Foxx!" the messenger cried.
Red had come to hate the sight of these smug servants who believed that no harm could ever come to them as long as they sailed underneath their master's flag.
"You are not welcome in these waters," Red informed the messenger as his ship sat just off her bow.
The messenger let go of his smile and addressed Red in a tone of somewhat less courtesy than before.
"It can be debated who these waters belong to," he said to the pirate captain. "Nevertheless, I come on an errand of peace from the Sorcerer."
"You come to spy for him," Red said bluntly, "and I will have no more of it."
"Oh? And what shall you do?" Even now he did not see his own doom before him.
"You shall surrender your vessel and its crew to me," Red stated. "If you attempt to flee, your lives shall be forfeit."
This the messenger clearly did not anticipate. "You would not dare fire upon one of the Sorcerer's vessels," the messenger boasted. "None have ever dared do so!"
"I have sent one already to the depths of the sea," Red said calmly, "and shall think nothing of the second. What is it to be?"
The messenger held a hurried conference with the ship's captain before turning back to speak with Red Foxx.
"We defy your decree," the messenger told her. "If you attempt to hinder our departure, you shall pay dearly for it."
"Your master is little more than a spy," Red told them in return, "and I shall no longer give him any quarter in my realm unless he first make recompense. I give you one last chance to yield yourselves to me or else pay the price."
"Since you do not find yourselves in a mood for peaceful bargains, we take our leave of you," the messenger said haughtily and gave orders for the ship to be turned around.
Red gave the Sorcerer's vessel a short distance before letting loose the bow cannon. It struck the Sorcerer's vessel mightily on the aft where it began to take on water quickly. It was not a ship built for war and it not take long before it began to sink, its crew unable to bail water fast enough.
"You shall rue this action!" the messenger cried out.
Red paid him no heed and instead calmly gave orders to Jat that the crew was to be rescued before drowned and placed in exile on the Isle of a Hundred Wrecks. What supplies they had were salvaged as well and sent with them.
"The Sorcerer is already close upon you!" the messenger shouted after the pirates as they left their captives behind. "He shall be avenged upon you for this!"
"These snakes at last show what their true colors be," Jat said to Red as they left the Isle behind them.
"They have hid too long behind mystery and fear," Red said. "We have now torn that veil away and shall soon see what remains."
The pirate ships took now their next course to the map's second marker. Jat took their heading and the map' instructions and compared it to their own charts. She guessed that the map now directed them towards another less frequented port, that of Barnacle Bay. A two days sail that also kept them on the fringes of the Island Kingdom. Red suspected they would find most of the stops to also be outside the usual lines of travel. Whether this was simply to keep the course hidden from most eyes, or because other eyes would be watching, remained to be seen.
The instructions they received at Barnacle Bay were similar to those on the last Isle. Only by standing in the place instructed was it possible through the map's directions to determine what the next heading should be. There was no mystery in their course beyond that, which led Red to wonder why so many points had been chosen along the way. She began to fear that not all of their stops would remain unchallenged.