The Different Ship
12

Matchy sat in the crow’s nest and looked out at the sea, a mass came into his view from a distance and he reached over to ringing a bell that signaled land being spotted.

“Land hoe mateys, all hands on deck and prepare everything!” he called out over the deck, smirk forming over his lips as they sailed up on the Mystical Islands quickly. Galahad was on the bow if the ship with a crazed smile; the sun was setting and tonight was a full moon which was perfect to do the transformation ritual. He chuckled to himself as he turned and began to walk back to his cabin which held Rune.

Rune sat on his bed trying to work the chain on her ankle, sweating slightly as she looked at the door with wide eyes. She still wasn’t sure on what was going on and she had been here for a few days.

“Shit, where ever we are going we are almost there…” she said to herself. File in her hand that she had taken off Galahad’s desk and filing at her ankle shackle so she could break it. The door click and she stopped suddenly and hid everything under the covers as Galahad walked in looking at her.

“Evenin’ what have ya been doin in here, I can smell the way ya have been sweatin’.” He said kicking the door shut behind him. There was something off about him he seemed to be even creepier than usual, his aroura even crazier than it has been in the last few days.

“M…me doing s…something… what… I… I have nothing in h…here to do… you… you blubbering idiot!” she snapped at him as her voice wavered, she had lost her strong edge due to fear. Her eyes dropped averting his gaze as she gripped the sheets. He let out a low chuckle causing his chest to rumble as he neared the end of the bed. Reaching his hand out to grab the sheets and blankets from her exposing the somewhat filed chain and the file itself. Galahad picked it up and let out an animalistic growl and glared at her baring his oddly sharp canines that grew out due to the full moon approaching. She looked over him and cowered back into the wall more.

“Ya really think I’m that dumb, I done told ya I could smell tha way ya been sweatin’!” he yelled at her closing his hand around it and bending it with ease before it snapped into and fell in halves to the floor, her eyes widening.

“I mean, it don’t matter. I done told ya, ya don’ be mine. We are almost ta them Mystic Islands.” He told her as he walked over to the window as the sun fell behind the horizon making it darker. His arms began to grow more hair as his change began as the moon began to rise; he turned his head back to look at her his eyes glowing brightly.

“What the hell are you!?” she shrieked in terror trying to pull back, actually afraid of what stood in front of her. He began laughing and walked over to her again his hands changing into claws with a loud cracking noise as he cried out in pain slightly holding himself back. Rune cringed at the sound and began shaking, pulling the blankets up in an effort to shield herself from him.

“Oh here why don’t I give ya a hint?” he said, his voice mixed with a snarl as he threw his head back letting out a piercing howl. It carried through the room and down the hall then suddenly shit ship rang out in different howls that came from the crew. She watched him swallowing hard before shooting up and falling off the bed. She stood up and made a run for the door only to pull the chain taut and trip on it and fall again.

“Eh, where do ya think ya goin’? Ya mine and ima make ya jus’ like me… ya gon be my mate, ya hear. Azhar will never wanna touch ya perty little body again. Not like he would wanna anyways, not when ya have my scent all over ya.” He said with a low snarl as he walked over to her and easily broke her chain. She went to scramble away and he grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder and gripping her tight.

“No, not let me go! Let me go!” she screamed beating on his back and kicking her legs. He didn’t even budge; it was a human against a werewolf. Her strength couldn’t harm him after all she was just a weak human female.

Galahad walked out on the deck with her as they docked the one of the islands. It was darker than most and had black and dark purple clouds circling overhead. They began to disband the ship; all of them had grown hair all over and their eyes glowing. They also seemed to have gained height along with their change.

“Find me a damn rock facin tha moon perfectly, we need as much strength from it as we can get! She will change this way!” he yelled out, his men scattered working quickly looking for something that she can be strapped to. Matchy walked up with a large book, it was black and old and he looked at her as she stared off in a daze, her eyes glossy from fear.

“Why don’tcha just bite tha harpy, why do we have ta go through all this shit ta change her?” he asked him confused; Galahad didn’t stop as he headed deeper into the island.

“Most women don’t live through tha damn change. I want her, we can use her.” he told him. Matchy stopping in his tracks to think briefly before following after him again quickly, he was shaking from the power that spread through him from the moon.

“How though, she’s just a damn puny human that will turn into an uncontrollable lycanthrope, how can she be of use ta us?” he said with slight disgust looking at her once more. Rune was in shock and she couldn’t move she stared out at the passing scenery in a daze. They were going to turn her and the ship she called home wasn’t going to want her anymore. The man she found comfort in wasn’t going to have her; for once she had felt like she belonged, normal. Now it’s all being taken from her, slipping right from her grasp. Tears began to stream unknowingly as they pelted the ground they walked on.

“Tha point ya fool, when tha next moon cycle comes around she gon’ be on Azhar’s ship because we gon’ leave her right here. She will change and become unstable killin’ everyone. No blood on my hands and they will be gone. Win on both sides for us.” Galahad explained with an unsettling grin fashioned on his lips. Rune’s heart dropped in the depths of her stomach and began to clench her eyes, sniffling quietly trying to hold back the rage, the betrayal. She had made the mistake this time and it was going to take the crews life. The blood of the man she loved was going to be on her hands. Why, why did she have to figure out that is what she felt, how she felt for him on a different ship?

A man ran up in front of Galahad stopping him panting harshly, he looked feverish and sweaty. He took a breath as Galahad looked over his crew mate in front of him.

“Whatcha got son, ya lookin like ya runnin from somethin’.” He said with an impatient urgency to his voice as he looked up at the sky, looking for the moon. If they didn’t change her tonight his plan wasn’t going to work until the next full moon and by then she would be found and taken from him.

“C..capt’n w…we couldn’t f…replace one… s…so we fashioned one… tha… moons rays h…hit it… perfectly!” he panted out Galahad began to howl with laughter his grin getting more devious and maniacal, showing his teeth more.

“Lead me ta it, do ya have tha binds, we got tha book.” He said as the other man turned the other way and took off to the spot, Galahad on his heels.

“Yes sir! We have tha thing set out, we just gotta tie her down on it!” he told him walking through some brush to the place where they had it set up, it was tilted up by a boulder facing the moon directly. Rune was dropped to the ground, landing hard on her back staring up at him. Unable to function as she shook in dread, so much did she want to get up and run but her legs didn’t want to work. Her mind was screaming for her to leave, nothing would listen to anything it was an internal chaotic mess.

“Alright ya scallywags tie her up the rest of ya get ta changin’, come on no holdin back. We need as much power as we can get!” Galahad bellowed out stepping over her and snatching the book from Matchy. The night air began to full with loud cracks and growls as Matchy and one of the others fashioned Rune to the rock binding her tightly on her wrists and ankles. Matchy gave her an evil smirk and stepped back.

“Don’t worry lil lady, ya know if ya even survive ya first change… ya will… get… used to… tha… pain!” he howled out as he changed right in front of her. Rune screamed in horrors trying to yank at the ropes, her fright kicking in hard this time as they began surrounding her. Drool dripping from their mouths, they stood on two legs but where wolves,

As soon as everyone changed, Galahad began reading from the scripture in his hands; it seemed to be in an older language. Sounded almost like Arabic. He held his change back, sweat dripping down his forehead and his voice wavering at the pain from it. As the foreign language left his lips, Rune’s body began to feel heave and it was beginning to burn. Her aurora around her began to grow black as she thrashed in pain, the black magic coursing through her body rapidly.

“What… are you… doing… to… me!” she screamed out loudly in agony, clenching her eyes shut and pulling at the ropes trying to break herself from it to end the pain. Tears heavily streaked down her face as her chest rumbled with a growl as her back arched off the rock before withering against it, scraping it herself against it. Her blood beginning to seep from her wound and stain the rock under her, her body shaking as she panted boisterously.

Galahad began to slow down and looked at the others as they began to let out a loud howl one by one down the row, but as the end of the ritual neared he began to change fully into a werewolf and the clouds covered the rays of the moon for a split second. It went unnoticed as the crew scattered; the last one to howl was Galahad and that was to seal the ritual. He walked up to her and made her look at him so she imprinted on him as he snapped her bindings. She slumped to the ground, shaking and breathing hand, Galahad had to let her go, fighting the urge to pick her up and run off with her, but he needed her. He left her lying there in pain as he took off to the ship to wait for Azhar’s ship they knew he would follow. Rune laid there on her chest in immense pain before her body finally succumbed to it and she passed out on the cold hard ground.