The sun shown down on my shoulders, heating me to my bones. The breeze was minimal today, which didn't happen very often inside the Triangle. Between the daily lightning and wind storms, it was always windy enough to fill the sails of The Revenge. But apparently, today wasn't going to be one of those days.

Charlie gurgled in my ear before taking off, his metal wings making a whooshing sound as he ascended into the crow's nest. Watching him, I wondered not for the first time, where he came from. I had never tried to find out, when I stumbled upon his broken form on one of the barrier islands years ago. Maybe I should have but that was so long ago. I was a different person back then.

The ship rumbled under my feet. As if he knew that my mind was wandering into the past, again.

Smiling, I hit the heel of my boot into the wooden deck twice. "Yeah, yeah. What do you say we go find something fun to do?"

I felt the engines rev underneath me before the ship lurched forward. Charlie gave a squawk, as the sudden movement almost dislodged him from his perch. The small dragon preferred the power of the sails just as much as I did. But I couldn't ignore how helpful having engines that powered themselves could be when the wind went dead. "Easy there, Rev. You in a hurry or something?"

The ship didn't answer me, not in words. But a rumble vibrated under my boots, traveling up my legs. It's as close to words as Rev has ever gotten, but I liked it that way. It was a shock enough, after surviving the Passage, to realize that my ship could suddenly communicate. Talking would have gone a little too far.

Saltwater splashed over the sides of the ship, the wind picking up the droplets and dusting my clothes with them. I licked my lips, tasting salt on them. I couldn't fight the smile that broke out on my face and I didn't bother trying. This was home —  sailing on the Endless Sea. I wondered what my father would say, if he could see me now. Snorting, I set my hat on a knob of the railing and leaned over, looking into the water. My father would have claimed all of my success for himself is what he would've done. That much I knew to be fact.

Closing my eyes, I let myself drift with the currents. In the feeling of the ship under my feet; the saltwater spraying into my face; the wind running its fingers through my long brown hair. The smell of the ocean topped it all off and together it takes away the melancholy mood I had upon waking that morning. Rev rumbles again, my feet tickled by the vibrations. Smiling, I open my eyes and pat the smooth wood of the railing.

Turning away, I reach for my hat. Something gleams in the water just beside the ship, making me pause. Peeking over the side, I scan the water, trying to find the source. It was probably just a fish. A big fish, but I'd seen weirder things in the Sea. Then a face emerged from the depths.

My heart jumped into my throat even as I growled down at the mermaid who just gave me a heart attack. "What do you want? Go bug someone else." The wind beside my head stutters, the only warning I got before Charlie landed beside me. He hissed down at the mermaid. He'd never been to fond of the creatures of the Sea, either.

Big sea-weed green eyes continued to stare up at me, the coral-like horns on its head just visible under the water. How the damn thing was keeping up with Rev, I wished I knew. Just as suddenly as its face appeared, the creature disappeared again. Leaning further over the railing, I tried to see where it went. Why I was so curious about it was beyond me. The mermaids of the Triangle usually kept to themselves; they weren't known for searching out ships and visiting with their crews. But there was just something about the way the thing had looked at me that I couldn't ignore.

A splash further out on the starboard bow had my brows pulling together.

"I guess the thing wants us to follow." Charlie looked at me with his head cocked to the side, garbling deep in his belly. Shrugging, I head to the wheel. "Got any better ideas on something to do?" The look the little dragon gave me is as close to an eye roll as I think he could possibly get. Tapping the deck to get Rev's attention, I started turning the ship. "Follow that mermaid, Rev. Maybe we've found some fun, after all."

We followed it for miles, long enough for the Black Sands island to break free from the horizon and get closer. Shaking my head, I gripped the wheel and squinted my eyes. The air around the island was always foggy, making it hard to see. There were rocks that jut out of the water, snagging any ship who was unlucky to get close enough. Fortunately for me, The Revenge was too smart for that.

Groaning, I tossed my hat onto the deck beside me, letting the wind caused by the ship's movement to dry the sweat on my forehead. "Forget this, Rev. I'm sick of following that thing."

Rev didn't listen to me; didn't slow down even a bit.

"Rev. I mean it." It wasn't like I couldn't take control of the ship but it also wasn't easy. The few times in the past where I tried to make Rev do something he didn't want to do, I had to fight hard. I wasn't really in the mood for that today. "Come on, Rev. Let's just go find a nice bit of sea to—."

The ship moved around the far corner of the island and I saw why the mermaid had wanted me to follow.

There was a fight going on just off the shore. A black ship was anchored, nets extending out to sea. Fishing was common in the Triangle, it's where we got the majority of our food. But no one hunted mermaids.

I leaned over the side of the ship and glared into the water. I can just make out the mermaid in the vast blue. "What the hell do you expect me to do?" The creature doesn't answer, but I didn't exactly expect it too. Groaning, I rub my face, peeking between my fingers at the chaos unfolding. I'm not a hero. I'm not some goody-two-shoes pirate. And that black ship? I knew who it belonged to and I'm not really in the mood to fight for my life today.

Rev grumbled under my feet. Charlie, perched on the railing beside me, gave me the saddest eyes he's capable of. How could two things that aren't even alive be able to speak so damn clearly?

My hands turned to fists at my sides. What the hell — I guess I had been looking for something fun to do. "Rev, get us closer."

I really needed to reevaluate what I considered fun.

~~~

I set my boots onto the black ship's quarter deck as quietly as I could but I didn't need to worry — the crew weren't paying any attention. Obviously, considering Rev got right up to their port side, allowing me easy access. Unsheathing my cutlass, I held it in front of me as I moved around the deck, closer to the man in charge. He was tall, with white-blond hair he'd kept short for as long as he'd been in the Triangle. His clothing was strange — for a pirate — made with bits of material from his homeland and things from Tortuga. The most telling piece was a coat, short and tight, with a strange red symbol on the left breast. I'd seen it enough in the past sixty-odd years to remember it.

"What'cha up to, Heinrich?"

I'm immensely satisfied when he spins on his heels — along with a number of his crew — in shock. But the surprise is quickly extinguished, replaced with barely contained malice. "Well, if it isn't little Elsie." His grin turned wicked just before he gave me his back to look at. "Go away, girl. I have no quarrel with you. Yet."

My insides boiled at his taunt. Ever since he arrived in the Triangle, it's been little girl. Gripping my sword impossibly tighter, I leveled the point at his back. Today was the day. I'm getting rid of his pompous ass once and for all. "That's too bad. You're hunting mermaids in my Sea. I can't have that."

"You're Sea, is it? I must have missed the day they crowned you Queen."

A number of his crew began to inch closer to me, but I wasn't concerned with the likes of them -- half of them had never fought with a blade before landing in the Triangle. They weren't good with swords. "Shame. It was a glorious affair."

One man lunged at me, thinking he could grab my arm before I noticed. Fool. I sidestep him easily, arching my blade through the air. I heard his scream before the thud of his arm on the deck. Heinrich barely even looked over his shoulder. Damn, guess I'll have to try harder then.

More men come for me but I barely even work up a sweat. I catch a quick glimpse of Charlie, circling the sky above. Another sidestep took me closer to the starboard side, giving me a view of the nets. A dozen or more mermaids were caught inside, some smaller than others, their horns barely grown in. I grit my teeth, yelling as I take out yet another crew member. Everyone knew that Black Sands island was where the mermaids raised their young, in the shallows just off the beach. I was an idiot — no wonder he had practically beached his ship. He was trying to take the young ones.

A big man, easily twice my size, came at me. I dove under him as he reached for me, but I misjudged. He was quicker than he looked. I was barely behind him when he snagged my ankle, dragging me back in front of him and tossing me across the deck. I hit the side of the ship with a thud, my sword clattering to the ground. Before I could reach for it, the brute kicked it halfway down the bow.

Behind the hulking form of a man, I could just make out Heinrich raising his hand. Then, finally, he turned away from the nets and looked at me. His blue eyes always unnerved me, so different from Willa's. Where Willa's were cool and comforting, his were full of malice and disdain.

"Are you quite finished, girl? I have things to do."

I sneered at him, as best I could from my position on the deck. "Like murdering children?"

His shrug is so chilling, so taste-less. "It must be done. For the betterment of the Triangle."

What in the hell? What had this creep been smoking? It must've been something new, because he was on another level. I eyed my sword, laying a good ten feet away from me. I could make it, I knew it. But I was also not sure I was willing to take the chance.  Heinrich must have seen what I was looking at, because the mask he wore on his face broke just a bit. He smiled the creepiest smile I'd ever seen.

"Kill her. We have work to do. And toss the bodies off the boat, they'll stink soon." With that, Heinrich turned back to the members of his crew still working to draw in the nets.

I didn't give the brute in front of me any chances, scrambling across the deck for my sword. I didn't get far, yet again. What was with this guy grabbing my ankle? I kicked at his face but that did little. Adrenaline filled my veins. Was this actually going to be it? Was I going to die by the hands of some mindless bodyguard? No way. That would not be my legacy — I wouldn't let it be.

When I'm close enough, I scratched at his limbs. Then his face when his giant hand closed around my throat. I heard Charlie making angry noises. I think I see him dive bombing the man trying his hardest to kill me but I'm not certain. Black spots are dotting my vision. Gasping, I rack my nails down the man's arm, desperately trying to breathe air into my lungs but it's useless. He's got a strong grip. This was it, wasn't it? I was going to die with my sword laying useless on the deck. Fuck.

Blackness creeps into my vision from the edges, making the ship disappear. And, stupidly, my last thought is about the mermaids stuck in those nets.

The hand disappeared from my throat. I dropped to the deck like a sack of potatoes. I took gasping breaths, coughing horribly into the deck as my lungs burn from the sudden lack — and then presence — of oxygen. By the time my body feels like cooperating with me, the scene on the ship has drastically changed.

More bodies litter the deck. And there are more pirates on the ship now, holding their swords at Heinrich's back. And in the middle of it all, with the smuggest grin on his face, is Kal.

Fuck. I'd rather have died.