Immortal War

frustration, but if she had to fight one more duel to claim the jewel in the Vampirate crown, so be it. But, as she lifted her sword, she saw in front of her a wondrous sight.

A face she had stared at every day of her life, whether in flesh or in pictorial form, appeared before her. And the body it was attached to leaped into action and attacked her Vampirate adversary from behind. As the demon fell at her feet with a thud, Cheng Li found herself reunited with the man who had haunted her dreams and nightmares—Chang Ko Li.

“Father!” she said, her voice never more rich with wonder.

“We have waited a long time for this meeting,” Chang Ko Li said. “But our reunion must be deferred a little longer, my wondrous daughter. You are commander in chief here and I only came to help clear the path for you.” He lifted his sword and pointed toward Sidorio. “Go now. Make history!”

Her heart pulsing with light, Cheng Li raced past her father and into the duel she had been hungering for for so long.

“Don’t cry, little fella,” Johnny told Evil as he lowered him into the lightboat, which, true to Olivier’s word, was idling in the waters beneath The Vagabond. All about them were the sound and fury of the battle, but, strangely, as Johnny let loose their moorings, it was almost peaceful down here.

“There,” Johnny said softly as their boat drifted away in the shadows of the vessels above. “We’re going on a little journey, see?” He smiled down at the wriggling, giggling baby. “Well it’s a little journey for me, but quite a major one for you. Uncle Johnny has a big ol’ surprise for you. Yes, he does!”

At the rear of The Tiger, Connor saw Cheng Li racing toward Sidorio, who had taken up position near the ship’s mast.

“No!” Connor wanted to cry. If anyone was going to take out Sidorio, it had to be him, not Cheng Li. But his own way was blocked by several of Sidorio’s crew. He’d have to unleash a spree of violence such as he never had before in order to make it.

As he weighed both his odds and his strategy, he was dismayed to see that Cheng Li was not alone in closing in on Sidorio. It appeared that both Obsidian and Jacoby were closing in on the Vampirate leader, too.

Connor’s decision had been made for him. A killing spree it was!

Lorcan was still sparring with Mimma when he saw Grace and Oskar running toward them.

“Stay back!” he cried out to his comrades. Mimma misunderstood.

“I can’t kill you from a distance!” she cried, preparing to lunge.

Lorcan was wrong-footed, his attention distracted by Grace’s sudden appearance, but as Mimma hurtled toward him, he saw that her threat had been neutralized. A sword had been plunged into her back and she was tumbling, arms scrabbling, stricken with panic, toward the deck. Her head came crashing down against the deck boards.

Grace stepped forward to retrieve her sword.

“You?” Mimma said, staring up at Grace in shock. “How could you, Gracie? I’m your friend, remember?”

“The name’s Grace,” she said, withdrawing Grace O’Malley’s sword from Mimma’s flesh. “And don’t be overdramatic. I haven’t dealt you a fatal blow—yet. Look, see how your wound is already beginning to heal.”

Mimma glanced down and saw that Grace was right. She looked up again to find Grace still standing threateningly over her. “If you ever attack my boyfriend again, the outcome will be much worse for you, understand?”

Mimma nodded slowly.

“It’s time for you to leave this ship now,” Grace continued, glancing up at the sky. “Dawn is on its way.”

Mimma saw the truth of Grace’s words. Other members of her crew had already reached The Calabria and had steered the ship around. Now she leaped from The Nocturne, across to safety.

After she and her cronies had departed, Lorcan turned to Grace. “Thank you!” he said. “Not just for saving my life but for all these fresh allies.” He gestured across the deck, where the dead pirates were catching their breath, having turned the tide of the battle. “I take it that it was you who brought them back?”

Grace smiled, nodding. “Yes,” she said. “Yes, I did.” Her eyes were bright. “I went to Jack Tar’s Cavern and asked for their help. Oh, Lorcan. We’re going to win this war, aren’t we? It’s going to end here, tonight. And neither Connor nor I need to die because I’ve already been to the realm of the dead and made it back! The prophecy has been fulfilled and we’re both safe.”

Lorcan had never experienced greater relief.

Oskar grinned at him. “Quite a catch, your girlfriend, by all accounts.”

All Lorcan could do was nod.

Sidorio smiled as he faced his three adversaries—Cheng Li, Jacoby, and Obsidian.

“Who wants to die first?” He grinned. “I know, let’s take it in order of seniority.” He waved his sword at Jacoby. “You, blondie—you’re not even a captain, are you?”

Jacoby was unabashed. “It’s a mistake to be so hung up on status,” he said, making a charge at Sidorio. He landed a clean strike on Sidorio’s arm. A deep gash opened up in the Vampirate’s flesh.

Sidorio was surprised but not perturbed. Already, he could feel the fibers of his arm knitting themselves back together. As he stared back at Jacoby, he saw the kid was grinning at him. And he saw that the kid had fangs.

“You’ve got promise, Vampirate,” Sidorio told him. “But you’re on the wrong team.”

“No, I’m not,” Jacoby retorted. “Your group tried to recruit me once but I declined. I’m a Nocturnal, not a Vampirate.”

His arm now fully restored, Sidorio shook his head. “There’s no such thing as Nocturnals. There are just pirates and Vampirates. Anything else is just deluded.”

“There’s no one more deluded than you.” It was Obsidian Darke who spoke now. “You always thought you were better than the rest of us. You even thought you were better than Julius Caesar, though he was the first one to kill you.”

“The first?” Sidorio asked, his eyes once more taking in the hateful sight of Obsidian Darke.

“That’s right!” Cheng Li said, stepping closer. “Caesar was the first, but now you’re going to be dispatched by one of us to a second, more lasting, kind of death.”

Sidorio laughed. “It’s three of you versus me, but the odds are still in my favor.”

As he spoke, he lost sight of Obsidian. He had to assume that the bloodless Vampirate had sneaked around him. Time to take care of one of the flunkies, then he’d dispatch Obsidian Darke to his ultimate torment.

With fire in his eyes, Sidorio lunged at Cheng Li. But, at the last second—having successfully wrong-footed his opponents—he turned and directed his sword toward Jacoby. “Die, Nocturnal!” he cried, burying his sword deep in the young man’s chest.

It was only as the body fell to the deck that Sidorio realized his mistake. Jacoby had jumped clear of the attack, but a fourth adversary had come into play.

Sidorio looked down in horror as he saw Connor, his own son, impaled on his sword. Connor’s blood was pooling on the deck, his eyes already distant.

“You’ve killed Connor!” Cheng Li yelled at him, shocked and outraged.

“No!” Sidorio cried, feeling his own heart cracking into a million shards, his head splintering with never- before-known pain. Not Connor! But his eyes told him the unthinkable was true. He, Sidorio, had killed his own dear son.