Open Wardrobes

Here we are at last, November 30th. It had been 30 days of writing and writing and writing, and in the end I reached a grand total of 60,000 words in that time. The story is clearly coming to an end, though not quite there yet. I will definitely finish the draft, and soon, but when I checked my word count and found that I was at 60,000 exactly, that seemed like a good place to end my official NaNoWriMo endeavor. It's been a great experience. Even if I do nothing further with this story, to just sit and write this month, with little though about whether or not it's any good has been wonderful. If you've been following this, I hope you've enjoyed this tale, and will enjoy the end soon to come. Thanks for reading.




"What now?" Howl prompted.
Red crossed the cavern to study the marker. The rest of her crew entered the cavern and Red pressed her hand against the marker and it shifted slightly. Behind them a stone sealed the entrance shut. Red pulled out the map again and read it frantically.
"There is only one way out," was all it said, no less cryptic than the hundred times she had read that before.
"There must be another exit," Red told the others, "one which we are meant to find if we have come this far. Search for it!"
They did as their torches began to burn low. Red examined the far wall of the cavern carefully and noted that it bore some signs of wear, but it appeared as solid as each of the other ways. If there was no way forward, and there was no way back, then...
Red looked up and pointed. "There!" The other pirates followed her gaze and in the dim light they now saw the rope that dangled over their heads. Red handed her torch off and experimented with the corner nearest the rope. The walls were rough and jagged and she managed to work her way up the wall to a point where she could grab the rope. Climbing it she soon found herself on a ledge that opened up into another tunnel. The rope contained some slack and so Red lowered it until it reached the cavern floor below. One by one they climbed, managing to keep their torches lit.
The map now bore only one last instruction, "You will find it in the water. Beware," and so Red knew they must now be close. They marched down the tunnel until they came to the final chamber. It too allowed several shafts of light from a great distance above and Red could see well enough now without their torches. This cavern was of a good size with many rock formations. There could be a thousand places to hide the Heart here but Red headed straight for the sound of water. From the heights of the cavern and the ground far above a small but steady stream of water trickled its way underground and beneath one sunlit crack it gathered in a quiet pool. As Red Foxx approached it the light caught something within the water that and let forth a blaze of Red. They had found it! Howl, close on Red's heels, had also caught the reflection and ran forth into the water. Red called after him to show caution, to remember the map's final word, but it was too late. As soon as he entered the water his foot landed upon one of the many hidden knives at the pool's bottom. With a cry Howl slipped and fell upon many more. By the time Red reached the pool's edge Howl lay motionless, stuck fast to the bottom.
The other pirates gathered when they heard the cry. Red Foxx carefully made her way around the pool's slippery edge and reached down into the pool and withdrew the Heart of Destiny. The large black opal took both hands, but as she raised it up the light caught it now even more and it burned a deep red. Red Foxx felt the warmth of the stone within and she held it. She felt the smile of her father upon her as she at last reclaimed for the pirates what was theirs. Smiling, Red closed her eyes and looked into the Heart...

*****

Lemuel Drake stood in what cover they could find as they faced the pirates at the mouth of the cave. Red Foxx was no fool and had chosen an ideal place to set her men for such a stand. After several exchanges of gunshots Lemuel and his men had taken the worst of the fight, and the prisoners they had obtained on the top of the cliff did nothing to soften the pirates' resolve. Captain Blackfoot had taken charge of the pirate force and however much he might plot against Captain Foxx he was not about to yield to this rag-tag bunch. To prove his complete refusal to negotiate Blackfoot even shot dead one of the pirate prisoners himself to show how little their welfare mattered to him.
"I be ready to do battle with the last of ye," Blackfoot boasted, "and with a handful of such men as I have we be more than a match for ye."
"Will you think so when starvation finds you?" Lemuel retorted and in reply a bullet whizzed past his ear.
"Ye be sayin'?" Blackfoot growled.
Things were at a standstill and Lemuel cursed the delay. Red Foxx would surely find the Heart before he could even set foot within the cave. And yet, she would still have to return somehow. The standoff continued for another hour at least. Lemuel had sent a man back to the ships to ask for further men, but for all he knew the pirates had been prepared to do the same. After all, he had seen himself more than once how Red Foxx and her crew could walk unseen if they so desired.
A crack of branches in a nearby tree broke in on Lemuel's ruminations. He had thought through this all a hundred times already. If he were to make a move it must be soon, before Red Foxx returned with the Heart and the added men that had gone with her. Voices came from farther in the cave and though Lemuel could not understand what was said he heard the note of excitement. This was it! Red Foxx had returned. Lemuel quickly signaled his men. They had to attack now while Captain Foxx's assistance gave the pirates some measure of distraction.
Lemuel and his men fired as many shots as they could, after which several dozen men stormed the entrance. It was a bloody battle and Lemuel rued the losses he would surely receive. They made some headway and through force of sabers pushed their way a few steps into the cave at last. Lemuel prepared to join them with the rest of their force when suddenly shots came from all around them. Bullets rained from the trees and Lemuel lost a dozen men in that first volley. He gave a cry as he realized at once Red's plan. Unseen bodies hit the ground and invisible swords cut a deadly path through the air.
"Jat Stevens!" Lemuel cried and he felt a sword meet his.
"How long I be waitin' for this!" Jat's voice hissed at him out of the air.
Lemuel aimed a kick at where he guessed Jat must be and made contact. She became visible suddenly as the opal flew from her and fell to the ground. She sprang back to her feet at once and locked swords with Lemuel. They exchanged all their bitterness with one another blow after blow while around them Red Foxx's invisible army cut through Lemuel's force. Dimly Lemuel was aware of the pirates pushing his men back from the cave entrance. Before Lemuel knew what had happened he and what few of his folk remained stood surrounded by the pirates, Red's crew visible now. Jat's sword rested upon his chest and Red Foxx addressed him, holding in her hands the Heart of Destiny.
"Did I not say you would not survive our third meeting?" she said to him. "You would have been better to leave well enough alone."
"Was it not you that would have me fulfill my oaths?" Lemuel mocked.
"I would have had you try," Red corrected him. "I never thought you would succeed." She turned to the other pirates and ordered, "Bind them."
"Prisoners?" Blackfoot growled.
"We shall carry our their sentences soon enough," Red assured him. "I would have Captain Drake's folk watch."
A sound came from around them and Red turned suddenly to see a ring of folk in silver and scarlet surrounding them.
"Lay down your weapons," a voiced ordered them, "in the name of the Sorcerer."
"I do not take orders from the likes of him!" Red declared defiantly. "A coward that hides in his tower while sending others to do his spywork!"
"A coward am I?"
The voice was familiar and Red looked to see the old man who emerged from the trees to face her.
"I could not miss such a moment," he said to her with a wicked grin. "The Heart revealed at last!"
"Never shall you lay your hands upon it," Red said and seethed with anger. It was then that he heard the faint click next to her ear. She turned her head slightly to see see Blackfoot holding the pistol. "Do you think I did not know you to be a traitor?" she said to him.
"I be carin' little what ye think of me," Blackfoot said in a voice filled with scorn. "Ye will be handin' me the Heart now, I think."
"I think not," Red said and stood firm. She gave a quick glance around that Blackfoot followed. A number of Red's crew had vanished once again. "You shall be dead if you pull that trigger," she said to Blackfoot. "Do you think any pirate shall follow a snake such as you as their king?"
"Better be me than a woman," Blackfoot sneered and his words sent a murmur through the pirate folk.
"It is true," Red stated before them all, "and I shall not deny it." Would that Howl could stand with her now as he had promised. "But does that change a thing?" she asked her men. "Every hand that serves on board the Arrow is a woman," Red Foxx declared, "and who can say they are not the most valiant crew to sail the seas?"
Most of the pirates seem to agree to this, much to Blackfoot's dismay.
"Ye be Captain Foxx," one said, "man or woman, and the one we have sworn to follow." He spat towards Blackfoot.
"I am my father's daughter," Red declared to Blackfoot's face. "Do you think to dare challenge the line of Foxx, even if I am a woman? I am more a man than you!"
Blackfoot nearly pulled the trigger but an unseen shot took him down like the dog he was.
"Do any others here share Blackfoot's thoughts?" Red demanded of the pirates and if any did, they did not dare answer so. She turned now to the Sorcerer. "As for you, be gone from here at once and you may yet see your own life spared."
The Sorcerer did not quail, nor did his own men, and he laughed.
"I am not a mongrel of the sea that you can chide me so," he spat at Red. "Blackfoot was a useful tool, but only a tool. You are surrounded, Captain Foxx."
"By loyal men," Red retorted and the grim faces of the pirates appeared to back her up.
The Sorcerer laughed again. "Only because they serve the name of Foxx! But you are not of the line of Foxx! You are Princess Amarantha, daughter of King Ottotorius, ruler of the Ruined Kingdom, or do you not know your own parentage?" he mocked.
Red Foxx did not argue with him, for it was not to the future that she looked when she first stared into the Heart of Destiny, but to the past.

As in Red Foxx's dreams she looked up into the face of Grey Foxx, the old pirate, with a fear mingled with sudden excitement. Her father, the king, had told her many tales of the pirate-folk and their evil, adventuring ways. But as she looked into the kind, grizzled face that lifted her from the savage water she did not think him evil. As he set her on deck, dripping cold water, and knelt down to take a close look at her, she looked into his face and loved him.
"Be ye hurt?" Grey Foxx asked her.
She shook her head.
"What be yer name, child?"
"Amarantha," she replied.
"The king's daughter?" Grey asked, surprised.
Red, Amarantha then, nodded again. "Where is he?"
Grey Foxx looked sad and when he could answer told her, "He be gone, child. Dead."
Amarantha looked down and could not fight the tears. Grey Foxx set his hand upon her shoulder.
"I be sorry, child, that I not be in time to save him also."
Amarantha looked into the old pirate's eyes again. Her father's eyes had never held such warmth. She clung suddenly to his coat and whispered,
"Am I to stay with you now?"
Grey Foxx had no answer to that at first. He had not expected such a request. He looked out to sea where the remnants of the once-proud Shipwright's Kingdom lay ruined. In the distance he saw the ruins too of the castle and saw now future there for any child. He looked back down at the young girl who buried her face in his worn clothes.
"Aye," Grey told her, "if that be yer wish." He gently touched her bright red hair. "Ye shall be my daughter, if ye wish it. My name be Grey Foxx, little Red."
And so he always called her until she forgot her name had ever been anything else. She learned of the sea and its ways as if she had been born a pirate, and the life she once had known in the kingdom now Ruined faded away until it was forgotten, except in dreams.

It had been a bitter blow to Red Foxx to have this fear so confirmed. She had loved Grey Foxx dearly, ever bit as a daughter should her father. The Heart had stirred dormant memories of King Ottotorius, her true father. But she remembered in him a coldness that she had never been able to penetrate. The love Grey Foxx had shown in raising her for his own was the truest bond of kinship she had ever known. She looked around at those that watched her, pirate, Ruined folk and Sorcerer's man.
"It is true," she told them all. "Grey Foxx never had a child of his own, save myself, but I will face any in single combat who doubt that I am true to the name of Foxx," Red challenged. "If there is a pirate here who doubts me now as your Captain and king, then set down your arms and I release you from all your oaths. I will take no unwilling subject."
Red waited, but not a single pirate laid down his arms. One or two in their hearts thought to do so, but found new courage in the steadfastness of their comrades.
"Do you have any other such news?" Red Foxx mocked the Sorcerer. "I am Captain Foxx and you stand even now in my dominion. There is nothing here for you but doom if you do not yield. I have seen it."
But the Sorcerer did not intend to back down now.
"I know the power of the Heart," he told Red, "of its ability to see things past and future. I would not be here myself if I did not intend to claim it for my own."
Here Red's crew revealed themselves again and they launched their charge. The rest of the pirates took up the cry and rushed forth to meet the Sorcerer's men. The Ruined men fought as well, pirate and Sorcerer's man alike, all they considered to be enemies. The Sorcerer himself withdrew to let his servants fight on his behalf and Red instead found herself face to face now with Lemuel Drake. He fought well with the sword and matched Red's every stroke.
"You know now the truth," he said.
"I do, but it changes nothing between us," Red said. "I have sworn oaths like to your own. We cannot both live."
"Did the Heart show you that?"
"No," Red admitted, but did not say that had been one thing she had not dared to see.
"It need not be that way," Lemuel pleaded. "We were the best of friends once."
"If it is so, I do not remember it," Red said. "The Princess Amarantha is dead. I am and shall always be the pirate Red Foxx."
"Then if this must end with one of our death," Lemuel began, but did not finish. He pulled his sword aside as Red thrust hers and so she struck him deep.
Lemuel fell to the ground. Red dropped her sword in surprise.

Busy day today so I only managed about 1000 words (just over 57,000 total). This will make it difficult to hit my revised goal of 60,000 tomorrow, but at least I feel like I'm starting to approach the end.




The first of Red's men fell and many started to return fire. Red Foxx warned them to cease, but they did not heed her until their bullets, lacking the speed to reach the top, began to return to them. Red burned to hear the laughter from above that greeted the sight of the pirates running from their own shots. She nearly stopped to think of some way to retaliate when from the corner of her eye she spotted a dark place against the cliff.
Red hurried towards it and found the entrance to the cave, marked again by the makers of the map. This was it! She signaled to her men to hurry ahead. None of their enemies had started down the cliffside yet. Once inside the cave they would be well ahead of Lemuel Drake and his folk. By the time they reached the cave Red might well already hold the Heart.
Red dove inside, followed close behind by Howl. They had paused only long enough to make for themselves some rough torches. She ordered also that only a few dozen, her own crew of course among them, were to join her and Howl as they explored the depths of the caves. The rest were to remain just inside the entrance, giving them a strong position to defend. Red led Blackfoot in charge of those men, knowing it would gall him to remain behind but also that he could refuse such a critical duty.
Red led the way and they proceeded into the dank caves. There was only one way in which they could so far go and Red had become used to the map giving no directions beyond the bare bones ones needed. Here and there they did see rough signs scrawled on the rock that assured them they headed in the right direction. Red could still faintly hear the voices of the men she had left at the mouth of the cave.
At last they reached a larger cavern from which several tunnels issued. Red and the others looked around, but they saw no clear signs as to which of the paths to take.
"What does the map be sayin'?" Howl asked Red and she consulted it.
"Inside you shall find several choices," the map read. "Choose that which makes no promise of wealth."
"That be not much of a help," Howl grumbled, but nonetheless joined Red as she examined the entrance of each of the tunnels. There were four all told, and the first Red held her torch up to glittered in the light.
"Gold!" exclaimed one of Red's crew.
"No," Red said, examining it more closely. "You could buy nothing with this. It is fool's gold."
"But it makes a promise of wealth," Howl pointed out.
"It does indeed," Red agreed and she checked the other three tunnels.
Two of the other tunnels made similar promises, and so they chose the fourth. One of the other pirates, however, decided to examine another tunnel further and took several steps inside. Red heard the dull thud as the booby trap was sprung. She frowned and cursed the pirate's foolishness. His body would signal to their enemies one tunnel, at least, not to take. Red continued down the chosen tunnel, noting that all but Howl help back for several moments, and no such trap struck her. The rest began to follow once they were certain of that fact.
This tunnel led them deeper underground and Red hoped that their torches would hold out until they could find the Heart and return. They had not, after all, had much time to gather much wood. The air was thick and still and as folk of the open seas none of the pirates was overly fond of enclosed spaces. A short time after passing the choice of tunnels Red caught the sound of voices behind. She ordered everyone to a halt and listened. The sound of several cracks confirmed that Lemuel Drake, she had a growing certainly that he led them this time, and his men had reached the cave entrance. She continued on as the sound of gunshots came in bursts. Such a battle would delay Drake for a time yet.
Suddenly the narrow tunnel that had been traveling through opened up into a vast underground cavern. The sounds of water could be heard, though Red could not see it, and their torches barely penetrated the gloom. A dozen steps forward, however, did bring the bridge into view. Red had to admit that she had become impressed with those who had hidden the Heart. They had done their work well. She gazed now upon a narrow rope bridge that spanned a great crevice. The bridge did not look like it could hold more than one or two at a time. Here again Red left a number of her people behind to guard the tunnel entrance and the bridge. She took with her now but half a dozen, all of her own crew save Howl who would not be left behind for anything.
Red crossed the bridge first and it held her weight well, though she would not have wanted to share the bridge with another. Howl came second, and one by one the chosen men (or women, rather) followed. On the far side of the bridge a crude marker again showed their direction and on they went. Soon they traveled around a bend that hid the light of the others from view. Red checked the map as they walked and guessed they had a couple traps left before them. They passed through another narrow tunnel and into a small cavern that surprisingly bore its own light. The cavern was tall and it appeared that a few narrow cracks extended up to the surface, enough to give the cavern a faint illumination on its own. A marker stood at the far end, but only that told them they had come the right way for at the far end the cavern ended and they saw no other exit.