Hauling himself from the watch nest, Aleks dropped onto the deck and shouted.” Enemy attack! Enemy attack!” he ran to the entrance leading to the lower deck, slapping it repeatedly.”Wake up! Enemy attack!”

Sounds of moving and cursing can be heard as some of the ship’s inhabitants awaken from their slumber. Noticing that he managed to wake some of the men, Aleks ran to the starboard side, looking at the incoming ship. The vessel was around five hundred meters away and closing, their oars propelling them forward in rhythmic strokes. A few moments later, Chiron and the men appeared on deck, armed with short swords followed by a groggy Luke.

“What’s this about Aleks?” Luke asked.

“It’s the ship that’s been following us from Calpe,” Aleks said, pointing to it.

Luke stared in the direction he’s pointing and suddenly found himself more alert. Horus took a step forward, keen eyes straining in the low light.

“I count around thirty-five. No make that forty men,” he said, fingering the hilt of his sword.

“Where are the rest of the crew?” Luke asked, peering around the deck.

“Men asleep, some drug used.” came the voice of master Takashi. He walked towards them with a familiar wooden box in hand.

“The watchman also seemed drugged, I could not wake him up,” Aleks said.

“It must be the wine,” Nike said, his hand thoughtfully pressed to his chin. “The crew were the only ones to drink from it. . .” his eyes widened as he realized something. “The cook is surely affiliated with them as he must have done something with the wine since he did not drink it.”

“We’ll deal with him later.” Ikaros gruffly said,”We first have a party that we need to entertain. Grab some of those barrel tops to use as shields against their arrows.”

Heeding his advice they acquired some protection. The other vessel was only a hundred meters out and the men could make out their facial features by now.

“This is going to be a tough battle, be prepared,” Aleks said.

Master Takashi walked to the front and turned around, facing them. “My students, you have learned lots, remember what I taught you, trust one another and lastly, dodge sharp end of sword. Remember monkeys.” with a grunt he walked back to his place.

Looking at each other the companions can only smile. Hardship and trouble had formed bonds between them, bonds that will be tested that night as they defended each other’s backs. The enemy vessel closed in fast, their bowstrings already taut with tension. Jeers could be heard from the opposing force as they started swinging their grappling hooks.

“Get ready men!” Aleks shouted.

Twangs could be heard as arrows were released. Counting at least seven archers on board, they followed the trajectory of the missiles. Skillfully they evaded the arrows while a few hit the barrel tops protecting Ikaros and Nike. Grappling hooks get lugged across the ships as the enemy prepared to board. Rushing towards the hooks, Luke and Aleks attempted to pry one of them loose, but their opposition was experienced as they pulled back, keeping the rope taut and the hook in place. As more and more of the hooks attached itself to their ship, another volley of arrows took to the sky forcing Aleks and Luke to duck behind the railings of the ship.

The enemy sailors started to slide along the rope between the ships in an attempt to cross. With a quick dash, Thanos arrived in front of a hook. Taking a huge breath he lifted his sword and cut downward, severing the rope with the men on it. With a cry, some of them fall into the water while the others hold onto the rope, hitting the hull of their ship with a painful thud.

“Take that pirate scum!” Thanos cried out, a triumphant smile on his face. He had been in many battles, a veteran of the Byzantine wars.

The battle to board continued as Aleks and his companions danced to dodge the arrows, their training where they had to avoid the rocks thrown by those pesky monkeys, showing its results. Eventually, some of the enemies made it across, but it was for naught as they were immediately taken care of by the skilled warriors. Looking at the other vessel, Aleks saw a man barking orders at his men. He was an older man with greying hair and an eyepatch covering his right eye. With his attention on their leader, he strained to hear what they were saying.

“-need to get them. How can you not even shoot one of them you useless buffoons!” the leader shouted in the distance.

Smirking, Aleks looked at his master. Takashi had not done anything except dodge arrows and looked bored as he glanced at his student.

With a sigh, Takashi said. “Aleks-san, I grow weary of this. I teach you lesson in life.” he walked towards him unconcerned as an arrow made its way to his head. His arm blurred and he plucked the arrow out of the air, glaring at the archer that fired it.

The archer was standing next to the leader and saw the action. He gulped, taking a step back involuntarily as he felt the master’s bloodlust.

“The lesson, Aleks-san, is when a snake attacks, you cut off its head.” he walked forward looking Aleks directly in his eyes.” Then you grill it. Snake taste just like chicken” he smiled.

Dumbfounded, Aleks could only wordlessly stare at his eccentric master. With a dignified hop, Takashi landed on the ship’s railing as looked at the other vessel. The enemy leader, who saw the whole spectacle and identified him as a threat barked another order.

“Archers! Target that man!” he pointed at master Takashi.

Immediately the archers set their sights on him. A moment later seven arrows launched at him. His stance lowered and his arms blurred again as his hands slapped the offending arrows out of the way, not one of them finding their mark. With another glare, Takashi directed his gaze at the leader, causing him to gulp as a nervous sweat ran down his face.

In front of Takashi, a grappling hook had embedded itself. With a jump, he effortlessly lands on a rope that five men were shimmying on. He started running, stepping on the first man’s hands, causing him to fall into the ocean. The second man skillfully grabbed a hold of the rope with his legs as his hand snaked out to grab Takashi’s legs. Confidently, he stepped off the rope and fell. His students gasped as they watched their master plummet into the dark abyss. When his head passed the rope, he smoothly grabbed it, and swung his legs towards the man’s body, kicking him off the rope. With another swing he shoots into the sky, landing on the rope once more.

His students cheered loudly while the opposing force could only blankly stare at the level of skill this man had. The archers began with another barrage as they sought to hit Takashi. With minimal movements, he dodged them as he traversed his way across the rope. One of the arrows veered off course, hitting one of the men on the rope, eliciting a cry from him as he fell into the ocean, joining his comrades. Seeing that they won’t accomplish anything, the last two men voluntarily let go of the rope, taking their chances with the water instead.

Arriving at the ship, Takashi leapt onto its deck and instantaneously got attacked from all sides. In a whirlwind of motion he redirected, kicked, kneed and elbowed his opponents, breaking jaws, dislocating shoulders and legs as he created space around him. To the onlookers, he seemed like a living storm, with himself being the eye of it. He made eye contact with the leader and rushed to him, ignoring the rabble. When he was ten meters away from him, Takashi sped up and left the ground, his body in the motion of a flying roundhouse kick. His foot connected with the man, cracking his sternum as he got launched away. Wood shattered as he crashed through a railing and into the waiting embrace of the deep waters.

The men surrounding him dropped their weapons, surrendering to the human typhoon. After witnessing the skill and power he had, they did not have any other option than to give up. Stretching up to his full height, master Takashi straightened out his clothes, totally at ease in the midst of his enemies. He walked back towards his own ship, the men moving out of his way.

“Master! What now?” Aleks shouted from the other ship.

Master Takashi looked at him from a distance and then said in a voice that carried. ” Overcooking food leave bad taste in mouth. We let men go.” The men surrounding him let out the breaths they were unconsciously holding in, “But, no lunch is free.” he added.

They shivered as the master’s sight glazed over them.

“We take money and food.”

Aleks and his comrades shared a look.

”Is the master actually robbing them?” Ikaros asked incredulously.

“Oh how the tables have turned.” Luke said with a laugh.”It seems that they bit off more than they could chew.”

They laughed uproariously, the turn of events so different from what any of them expected.

“Wait a minute, where is the cook?” Nike asked.

After a quick search, they found the devious cook hiding in an empty water barrel. Coming to a decision they left him there but bound a rope over the top, keeping him trapped.

“We’ll wait till tomorrow and then let the crew decide what to do with him,” Aleks announced.

While they were busy, master Takashi had their defeated foes busy with clearing out all of their arrows from the ship and repairing any damage they caused. Before they left they gave him all of their coin and most of their food, leaving barely enough for them to make it to the nearest port. With the ship leaving in the distance, the first rays of the morning sun shone upon them, signalling the start of a new day.

A few splashes of water later and they managed to wake the crew, the drug that the cook gave them finally wearing off. After regaling their tale, the sailors were shocked at what happened while they were sleeping. Ten men managed to fend off against more than four times their number with their shock turning to fury as they heard what the cook did. They gathered around the barrel while they came to a decision.

“Keelhaul that filthy landlubber.” a sailor cried out.

“Send him down to the depths below.” another man cried out.

Cries of ‘make that bastard walk the plank!’ sounded out as they debated the best way to sentence the traitor. Coming to a decision they decided to keelhaul him. Cries of terror could be heard from inside the barrel as the cook heard of his fate. They pulled him out of the barrel and tied him up with a rope. Attaching it to the prow of the ship, they threw him overboard without any ceremony.

With the traitor under their keel they sailed into the new day, their course set for Britannica.