They surrounded Maya, pressing in on her like a ravenous horde of beasts. Now that they were on their guard, her sickle struck against metal helplessly more than it bit flesh. The deck was practically teeming with men, both dead and alive.

The blood slicking the deck and the mass of enemies pressing down on Maya made it harder and harder to keep ahead of Katrina’s men. Strikes continued to slip past her cloak, leaving thin furrows all over her body.

“Not like this,” Maya hissed, spinning out of the way of a stab and cutting the offending hand off. She launched her sickle into the air towards the mast. It wrapped around the sturdy wood.

The captain threw herself forward, taking a painful cut across her back in the process, and slammed her feet into a pirate’s face. She used the momentum to launch herself upwards and around the mast, using the sickle like a grappling hook.

She continued her swing until she was close to the mast and then grabbed onto it. The woman scrambled up to the top of the sail, ripping her sickle free in the process and glancing down at the furious crew below her.

Maya flinched back as a bolt of crackling energy whizzed past her head, nearly burning her face off. She gritted her teeth and scrambled to her feet, scanning the ship for something to use to her advantage.

Her eyes alighted on the wheel. The unattended wheel. A slight grin appeared on Maya’s face. She glanced over to the capstan in the center of the deck. The lock had been released, allowing the anchor to rest below the ship and keep it in place.

“Humbol!” Maya yelled.

A white ghost flew up beside her. A moment later, Humbol replaced it. He was breathing heavily and covered with thin cuts, but a wide grin was plastered across his pallid features.

“What? Had enough already?” He asked, ducking out of the way of a bolt of fire.

“No. Look, I need to destroy that capstan or tear the anchor off this boat. You have to go get Patty from Wavedance. I’ll keep them occupied.”

Humbol glanced towards their ship. It was still a good distance away from them. Despite the violent, not much time had actually passed since they’d first arrived on the ship. Humbol opened his mouth, but the look in Maya’s eyes left no room for protest.

“Yes, Captain,” Humbol replied. “I hope you make it until I get back.”

White wind enveloped him. Then he was gone, a blur if white against the blueish purple sky. Maya nearly took a crossbow shot to the face as she watched him go. She jerked back and the arrow only carved a furrow along her cheek.

Several men were already climbing the mast, glaring up at her. Maya smirked down at them. Then she jumped, hurling her sickle forward. Maya’s heels drove into the first man’s face. She felt bones break beneath her heels as the man cried out and lost his grip on the ladder.

He fell, taking all of the others below him down as well. At the same time, Maya’s sickle wrapped around the second mast of the ship and she swung once again, cackling as the men below her cried out in dismay.

This time, she didn’t stick around. The moment she alighted upon the mast, Maya ripped her sickle free and leapt to the upper deck, landing on the raised captain’s quarters before hopping down to the deck beside a surprised man.

She caught his sword with the chain on her sickle and ripped it out of his hands before dispatching the man and turning to face the rapidly thinning crew as they charged towards her once again.

“You aren’t very good at your jobs, are you?” Maya taunted. “There’s just one of me, but I’m still running around your ship and squashing you like bugs. I bet you wish you cannoned my ship when you had the chance, don’t you?”

Their response was unified roar of fury. The wave of pirates crashed towards Maya, but she was already moving. Air screamed as Maya’s sickle sliced through it fast enough to make sound, dissecting anyone unlucky enough not to block her strikes in time.

For every man Maya injured or killed, another took his place. It didn’t matter how unskilled or weak they were. The young captain lost ground once again. Their sheer numbers were slowly bringing them closer to Maya, even if it was at a great cost.

Maya vaulted off a man’s shoulders, flipping herself onto the roof of the captain’s quarters. She ducked out of the way as several projectiles rocketed over her head. A quick glance showed that Wavedance was getting worryingly close to the ships. It was only a matter of time before Katrina blew Maya’s ship full of holes.

Several pirates climbed up the edge of the captain’s quarters, snarls on their faces. They charged at Maya. Her weapon lashed out, scoring across one man’s chest and forcing the others back.

The weapon was growing heavy in Maya’s hand. Her muscles protested every movement and the various wounds covering her body were starting to take their toll. Maya grimaced and kicked one of the men back, dodging backwards as another slashed at her neck.

A wave of dizziness washed over her. She staggered, nearly falling over as darkness threatened to envelop her. Her cloak rippled up around her, blocking several strikes, but one made it through.

Burning pain erupted across Maya’s face as the sword cut a deep line from the bottom of her forehead down across one eye and part of her nose. She cried out, forcing the weakness away, and slammed her knee into the man’s groin.

He groaned and doubled over. Maya drove her sickle into his eye and kicked him off, staggering away from the approaching pirates. The captain couldn’t see out of one eye, but it was impossible to tell why yet. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, but even that could only take her so far.