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The Captain had fallen. They all saw it as they hid on the main deck. They saw when the death knight swung his sword and sliced through his neck. They saw the body lean forward and the head disconnect. They saw the blood get absorbed by the sand on the beach. Cristianno was dead.
“Take his body and bury it with honor. He had more strength than the lot of you!” The death knight grabbed the woman from beneath the captain’s body and commanded the crew before he rode off on his charger.
The crew stared in silence until a goblin screamed out, “Don’t just stand there! Get him! We need to find a shaman now!” The men and women ran off the ship and very carefully picked up the elf’s corpse and head. They rushed to the ship and took him to his quarters. “Set sail for Jaguero Isle. The witch Tia’Zula lives there. GO!”
The ship set sail as a woman tried to set Cris’ corpse as presentable as possible. Ziggly walked into the cabin and sent the woman away. “Dammit, Cris.” He sniffled a bit and patted the hand that seemed to be going cold. “Tia has to help us. You’ll be back to being your old, normal dog again.” He sniffled and covered his eyes, his long ears wilting downward. It was there that he fell asleep, on the floor next to his dead friend.
He awakened hours later and looked up, seeing the pale corpse still on the bed. Ziggly sighed and walked out of the cabin, noticing the crew as they stopped from what they were doing and turned to look at him. “Get back to work.” Ziggly couldn’t even shout out the order. He waved them off and they shuffled back to what they were doing.
“I guess you’re the captain now, huh Zig?” a human asked softly.
“No. No, Wolf is still the captain.” Ziggly looked at everyone and stood in the middle of the deck. “You all hear that? Seawolf is still the captain! Don’t forget it!” A few of them shouted back, but the rest of them just returned back to work. He looked out at the sea and whispered to the navigator, “How much more?”
“A few hours. We’re getting close to Booty Bay,” the dwarf replied.
“I hope she can fix him.” Ziggly patted the dwarf’s back and walked back to the cabin. In the darkness, Ziggly stared at the body on the bed and in his mind, Cris was just sleeping. “Hey, Cris. Wake up, man. The crew is being lazy again…” Ziggly couldn’t help but choke on his tears. “They said you were a pussy of a captain. I’d…. I’d kick…their…asses…if I—“ Ziggly couldn’t go on. The goblin simply fell onto the floor and broke down in tears, where no one was able to witness him, except for the corpse.
A few hours later, the bell on deck began to ring. Ziggly’s head popped up from his sleeping position on the floor and rushed out the cabin.
“Ziggly! There’s the hut!” a human shouted.
“Get the rowboat. Two of you, carefully get the Captain’s body. We’ll row out to the hut. Let’s go!” A human and a troll rushed in and emerged with Cris’ body and head. They placed him in the rowboat and Ziggly took his place beside him. “Lower the boat! Let’s go!” As soon as they hit the water, Ziggly snapped his fingers and both the human and troll began to row toward the hut.
A female goblin noticed the boat approaching the hut and quickly ran inside. As the Ziggly and the small crew arrived to the shore, a tall troll woman emerged from her hut and walked to the boat. Her braided pink hair blew in a sudden cold wind and she sensed something wasn’t right.
“Tia… it’s…it’s Cris. He’s….”
The troll looked at the corpse and shook her head, “I be tellin’ ya boys dat joo be killt one day, and look at Cris now.” She placed her hand on the forehead and one on his chest. “Da spirit is still der.” She examined the slice and the exposed flesh between neck and head, which was drying out and the rot was beginning to take place. “Dat not gud.” She gestured toward the water and a water totem emerged from the ground. Chanting a little in troll, she managed to get some of the water from the totem and moistened the wounds. She waited in silence, watching for some sort of reaction from the healing waters. The flesh seemed to revive and Tia smiled. “Ya, dat’s gud. Wat happen to ‘im?”
Ziggly observed closely and whispered, “He was fighting some death knight. I don’t know why, but he had his woman in his arms.”
“Da death knigh’ woman?
“No, Cris’ woman was in his arms. He put her down and the death knight sliced his head off.” Ziggly shuddered as he replayed the moment in his mind.
“I see.” Tia’Zula moved Cris’ head closer to the body, as if connecting the two body parts together. A green light emerged from her fingertips and surrounded Cris’ neck, enveloping the wound. “Quick, brin’ Cris into the ‘ut an’ be careful. Da spirit will no be der if we wait any long’er.” The human and troll lifted the body while Tia’Zula held the head in place. They walked in unison toward the hut, Ziggly holding the door open and the female goblin preparing the small bed for the body.
“The mixture is boiling, Tia,” the female goblin said as she stared at Cris’ body.
The troll nodded and looked at Ziggly, “Tell joor men to go back, Zig. Der no room for all of us.”
Ziggly waved the troll and human off and they didn’t hesitate to leave as soon as they were told, “What do you think, Tia? Will he make it?”
“Sh.” Tia’Zula dipped a few white bandages into the boiling slop, pulling them out green and slimy. She carefully placed the bandages on the neck, covering the slice all around. She muttered something, swaying in place and leaning to adjust the bandages. “We wait, nao, Zig. I canno’ try an’ re’stor’ ‘is spiri’ if ‘e be in pieces.”
Ziggly sighed and slouched against the chair he was sitting in. “He has to live, Tia. He just has to.”
The troll nodded, “Den joo be stron’ fo’ ‘im. I wil’ work to be shoor dat Cris be fine.” She looked at the lifeless body and nodded. “I tink dat a few mo’ treatmen’s an we be tryin’ to brin’ ‘im back. Why dis happen?”
The goblin looked at the body and shook his head, shrugging slightly. “I don’t know. All I know is that I heard him screaming in the forest. He said ‘Leave us alone!’ and we ran to see him on his chicken riding toward us. He had that woman of his with him and he jumped off and carried her, but a death knight stopped him and we hid.” He sighed, looking down, his large ears almost covering his face.
“Death knigh’, huh? Joo lucky ‘is soul is der inside’a ‘im.” She gently moved the hair away from Cris’ face. “A death knigh’ ain’t no one to mess wit.”
“I just wish I knew why he was running from that asshole. And why the fuck was his woman unconscious?”
Solemnly, the troll glanced at Ziggly. “Joo watch joor mout’ nao. Dis is no place fo’ negative ena’gy.”
“Sorry, Tia.” He looked at the body on the bed. “Sorry, Cris.”
“Okay, stan’ back. We gonna be tryin’ da voodoo nao.” Tia’Zula stood over Cris, waving around what seemed to be a skull rattle over him. Ziggly stood behind the chair, peeking and cowering. Tia’Zula lifted the skull and began to chant in her native language. Green wisps began to fill the room, leaking in through the cracks and the tiniest of openings. He ducked slightly, trying to avoid the wispy figures as they began to swirl around Cris’ body.
“What fel magic is this?” Ziggly whispered.
“Shush nao,” Tia said softly. “Tis only da spirits.” The green wisps rushed down onto Cris’ body and soon the corpse began to radiate in green.
“What’s going on?”
“Dey be revivin’ ‘im.” Tia continued her chanting as Ziggly inched closer toward Cris. “ ‘is will is strong.” Ziggly noticed that little by little, the ashy toned body was starting to regain some color. He bit his lip and continued to watch intently while Tia continued her work.
“Come on, Cris…Come on.”
Tia leaned in close and lifted a green bandage off his neck. She smiled a little, “Dat’s gud. Come back to us, Cris.” Ziggly managed to see that the source of the wound was glowing the brightest. Tia rattled the skull over him one more time before Ziggly noticd a twitch in Cris’ fingers.
“Tia! He moved!”
“Shush, Zig.” Just like a conductor, Tia directed the wisps throughout his body and ended with a finale where the wisps all rushed into the body in one stroke. Soon, the bright green light began to vanish from the room. Tia leaned down and placed her ear on Cris’ chest. Ziggly watched eagerly, awaiting some sort of reaction, but the troll simply closed her eyes. Her blue finger began to move, tapping Cris’ chest. First one thump. Then another. Soon, her finger was tapping thump-thump. Thump-thump. Tia smiled and lifted her head to look at Cris. “Ah, welcom’ back to de livin’, Cris.”
Ziggly rushed to the bed. “Is he….is he alive?!”
Tia lifted her head and nodded. “Ay, but he no hear joo righ’ nao. The spirit be comin’ back, but ‘is body is still lost. If ‘e wants ta live, ‘e will survive da nigh’. If no, ‘e will leave us. It be up to ‘im nao.” Tia moved away from Cris to dispose of the used bandages.
“Can I…talk to him?”
“If joo must, but he no hear joo.”
Ziggly walked toward Cris’ ear and chuckled. “Hey, Cris, you’re going to be fine. You’re crew is waiting for you. It told them you would make them walk the plank if they attempt mutiny.” Ziggly chuckled softly again, his eyes watering up. “I’m gonna go tell the men. You better live, ass. We need you.” Ziggly moved away and looked at Tia. “I’ll be back in a few. I’m gonna stay with you tonight.”
“As lon’ as it be jus’ joo. Don’ need no more bodies takin’ ‘is air.”
The goblin nodded and walked out of the hut. As he approached a bonfire, the crew crowded him, dying to know what had happened.
“He’s alive.” They screamed and hugged each other, but Ziggly shushed them. “It’s up to him now if he wants to keep going.”
“We should tell his wench,” suggested an elf. “That ought to keep him going.”
“I don’t know about that,” Ziggly narrowed his eyes and stared at the fire. “Cris has been stabbed, attacked and now killed because of her. I don’t think telling her is a good idea.”
“Even if it was her fault, we can tell her he lives so that she can panic about his payback.”
Ziggly nodded slowly. “I’ll write to her tonight. We’ll send a messenger bird to deliver it. Cris will live. She will suffer.”
After writing the letter, he placed it on the messenger bird and it flew away into the night. Ziggly watched it fly until it disappeared against the night sky, which didn’t take too long. He glanced at the hut and muttered, “She’ll know, alright Cris. And you’ll be free to be the pirate you know you are.”
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