On the following day, I discussed the next destination with my allies. I won't lie, it was much harder to agree on something when many people gave their opinions. We spent several minutes discussing and decided to set course to Tortuga. I know what you're thinking, it was risky because we could find a bunch of Navy men on our way... well, it turns out that was exactly our goal. The only way to defeat the British once and for all was by facing them. I was terrified of fighting them, but I couldn't stall anymore. Sooner or later, they would find me and my allies again. We had to fight them if we wanted a chance to sail freely. Besides, I wouldn't let my enemies stop me from finally being happy. Every time I thought I'd found happiness, something got in my way. The Royal Navy would be my last major obstacle. Regardless of what happened in battle, my victory was inevitable. If I lived and won, I'd sail away without living in fear. If I died and lost, I wouldn't have to deal with the Navy anymore. Wait a minute... I forgot to consider other possibilities! What if I lived and lost? Ignore what I just said. There was no way to be sure I'd win.

The sun was less shiny as the day approached its end. Ocean Storm had sailed several hours ago. I walked from one side to the other, wondering if that would be the big day. The fact that I would have to face the British made my stomach churn. I bit my lower lip, hoping the Navy didn't have hundreds of vessels like Sven had said. The only thing calming me down was the memory of my moment with Dirk on the previous night. At least we declared our love for each other before the battle.

Maartje approached me, "What's on your mind?"

"Our imminent conflict," I let out a pronounced sigh while gazing at the horizon. "I'm also thinking about yesterday's huge plate of fish. It'd be great to have it again before fighting those morons..."

My cousin chuckled, "If you keep eating so much, I'll start calling you Captain Shark."

Maartje and I laughed so loudly that my ears hurt. I bit my lower lip once I remembered the battle again. My back was so sweaty that it made the ocean seem like a drop of water. Francis came to me and whined as if he felt my pain. My lips curled into a weak smile.

I glanced at my dog, "It's time to reveal your special war skills, Francis."

The dog cocked his head and I shrugged. Yeah, he wouldn't be very useful at that moment... Although I wanted Francis to do more than biting my enemies, he couldn't. Don't get me wrong, my dog helped me a lot with his bites, but that ability of his wouldn't win a naval battle.

At that exact instant, Laurens came running from the quarterdeck. His forehead was flooded with sweat. The heat wasn't likely to be the cause of his transpiration. My cousin frowned, apparently confused. I pressed my lips together when I saw the spyglass on his hand.

Laurens breathed fast, "They're here, Captain Storm!"

I gulped. Looking through my own spyglass, I almost screamed when I saw the British men-of-war ahead of us. Unfortunately, Sven hadn't lied. Although I couldn't count how many, there were definitely hundreds of enemy ships. Miguel had done me a huge favor by adding sixty-one vessels to our fleet, but I wasn't sure that would be enough. Besides, men-of-war had much more cannons than galleons did, so we were at a disadvantage already.

"Thank you for letting me know," I took a deep breath. "Tell the gunners to prepare the cannons and fire at your command, Laurens. Quick!"

My quartermaster ran and climbed down the stairs. I showed the bell to Maartje, she climbed the shrouds and rang it. I pressed my lips together, trying to forget I could die. It didn't take long for the crew to show up.

"Listen, everyone! The Royal Navy approaches and we'll soon engage in battle. I want thirty men on port and another thirty on starboard, all with blunderbusses ready," I scowled and increased my tone of voice. "We'll show no mercy to these idiots!"

My crew cheered and clapped, apparently supportive. Francis barked and I wasn't sure if it was due to the noise. Some people shouted "Storm!" repeatedly. Despite my people's positive response, I was still nauseous. God, I hated stressful situations... They made me feel so weird!

"That's what I like to hear!" I smiled and cleared my throat. "Remember that you must fire all guns on my command."

"Aye, Captain!" a large group of people shouted, heading to the directions I ordered them to go.

I felt the air escaping my chest as the British ships got closer. Taking several deep breaths, I tried to think of something that calmed me down. Unfortunately, nothing was good enough to relax me at that moment. Not even a hundred bottles of rum would ease my tension. The men-of-war slowly got between me and my allies. They fired a few cannons, making Ocean Storm heave.

This is it. The day I could die.

I narrowed my eyes at the British, "Fire!"

My people opened fire quickly. Laurens and I shot some Navy men from the forecastle deck. Suddenly the sky became grey... I guess the British had a terrible effect on nature. Every bullet that came out of my pistol made me more nervous. My eyes bulged as I heard multiple cannon blasts. I gulped as the ship rolled. Three pirate ships from my fleet were on fire and sinking. Only one enemy vessel went down. I swallowed hard, trying to remain calm.

I chewed on my lip, "I hope Dirk, Miguel, and uncle Ruben are still alive..."

My eyes bulged once I saw some of my people getting shot by the British. I pursed my lips, angrier than ever at my enemies, and fired my blunderbuss at every Navy man I could see. Two more vessels from our allies sank. The men-of-war got closer to Ocean Storm. I gulped. Francis ran from one side of the ship to the other, apparently scared.

Laurens' eyes were frozen open, "Do you want to jump in the sea and give up already?"

I raised my brows, "Would you like the honest or 'unbreakable captain' response?"

We laughed loudly. At least one moment of that chaos wasn't so bad. I went to the gun deck to make sure the gunners weren't doing anything wrong. My own master gunner had betrayed me, so I couldn't take any chances. Trevor came with large amounts of gunpowder while biting his lower lip. He quickly loaded the cannons. I grinned as I heard the blasts.

"Well done, Trevor!" I pointed at the cannons on the right. "Make sure to load them on both sides."

Trevor smiled, "Thank you, Captain Van Acker. Right away."

Ocean Storm rolled. I gawked while returning to the main deck. Two of our sails were torn. I ran to Maartje while breathing fast.

I pointed at the stairs, "Find your assistants and replace the main top and fore course sails!"

My cousin nodded, "Of course. That's precisely what I was going to do."

She left in a hurry and the noises continued. Three of my crewmembers were shot. I controlled myself not to cry. Although some men-of-war had been sunk, we weren't winning that battle. I couldn't see exactly how many vessels we'd lost, but it was definitely a significant amount.

I looked through my spyglass, "I need to see how many of ours were destroyed..."

At that precise instant, ten of our vessels caught fire while only two British ones were taken down. Yeah, my day had just gotten so much better... As if I didn't have enough problems! My only consolation was that Dirk and Miguel's galleons were still standing. Despite the damage left by the British cannons, their vessels hadn't sunk.

I sighed in relief as Maartje and one of her helpers changed both sails. A second after she climbed down the shrouds, a shot was fired. I gaped, not believing my cousin would've died if she'd been just a little slower to reach the main deck.

I knit my brows, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine for now," she took a deep breath. "I'm glad to be alive."

I pressed my lips together, "God, I feel the exact same! I hope this battle ends soon."

Maartje nodded and the ship rolled again. I walked closer to Ashton while putting a hand on my neck since I felt even more nauseous than before. My cousin narrowed her eyes slightly while analyzing me, seemingly noticing my concern.

"Steer us starboard, Ashton. Now!" I pointed at the man-of-war approaching on port. "We must be out of that ship's line of fire."

He gazed at the enemy vessel and followed my orders, "Right away, Captain."

My cousin got closer to me, "I know this is completely unrelated, but what took Dirk so long to leave our ship last night?"

I felt myself blushing. Although my mind was on the conflict, I couldn't avoid remembering our romantic moment. Every second of it made me feel wonderful... God, I wish I could've gone back in time for a second! I would've done anything to kiss him again at that moment.

I chuckled, "Because we kissed and declared our love for each other."

Maartje gawked and was paralyzed. I couldn't hold my laugh. I knew she'd have a funny reaction, so I had to tell her what happened.

"You made your decision then? Good for you!" her lips curled into a weak smile and she took a step closer. "Just be careful around Dirk. I know you like it when he gets violent to protect you, but his aggressiveness can harm you one day."

I huffed, unable to believe my cousin was saying those absurd things. Bosch loved me, so why would he ever hurt me? That didn't make any sense! Maartje was more paranoid than me sometimes...

I crossed my arms, "I'm starting to think you and Miguel formed an alliance against Dirk. You two keep implying that the poor redhead is dangerous!"

"There's no alliance! I'm trying to help because Dirk isn't sweet and kind like Miguel," my cousin raised her brows. "You must be mindful of Dirk's aggressive behavior. I don't want you to get hurt, Storm."

I laughed, "Relax, Maartje! Bosch and I are in love, so he'll never mistreat me."

Maartje nodded and three cannon blasts made my ears hurt. Ocean Storm didn't roll, so the shot had probably hit another vessel. I gaped once I saw what had happened. Diablo Rojo was in flames. I breathed fast as it was only a matter of time until uncle Ruben and Miguel sank with their ship. The galleon was being quickly consumed by the fire.

I approached my crewmembers and pointed at the vessel, "Throw grappling hooks into that galleon's rigging and onto its gunwales. Pull it closer as fast as you can!"

They followed my orders. Many people from Diablo Rojo dived into the water while screaming. My uncle and El Dorado were at their vessel's main deck, apparently scared. I knew I had to save them. I sighed in relief as Ocean Storm got close enough for them to jump.

Gálvez rubbed his forehead, "Ayúdame..."

"I'm here, Miguel!" I held out my hand. "All you have to do is jump."

He knit his brows, "What about my crew? I can't leave them to die!"

My heart pounded as another large piece of Miguel's ship shattered due to the fire. He bit his lower lip and gulped. If I stayed close to that burning vessel for too long, the wreckage could hit Ocean Storm. I stared at my toes since I wouldn't be able to rescue Gálvez's people. God, I felt terrible...

Uncle Ruben was right. Miguel really is a good guy...

I sighed, "I'm sorry, but there's no time. Come on! I don't want to lose you!"

The Spaniard looked back as if he wanted to say goodbye. Gálvez took a deep breath and jumped. I took his hand and pulled him to the main deck. We hugged each other for an instant. I smiled, relieved that Miguel was safe. Still scared of the fire, I slowly approached my uncle.

I ground my teeth, "Jump, uncle Ruben! Please!"

Without hesitation, uncle Ruben boarded my ship. We quickly embraced and I grinned again, unable to believe I'd successfully rescued him and Miguel. My uncle sighed in relief while gazing from one side to the other, apparently shocked.

"Remove the grappling hooks!" I turned to Ashton. "Steer us away from the burning vessel."

The navigator did what I asked. I pressed my lips together as I observed my crew shooting the British. Although I didn't see anything, I felt the cannons firing from the gun deck. What if we sunk despite our efforts? I couldn't even think about it...

"Thank you for saving me," Miguel approached me and sighed. "You're the best."

"I would've never let you die. We're friends," I smiled sweetly. "Friends take care of each other."

"Claro. That's great to know," Gálvez nodded and his lips curled into a weak smile. "I'm glad to be your friend."

The Spaniard sighed and looked away. That was the first time I'd seen Miguel like that. Even though I couldn't read his mind, I had a feeling he was upset... Was it because I'd told him he was my friend? I bit my lower lip, wondering if I'd unintentionally hurt Gálvez's feelings. Although I'd eventually tell Miguel he wasn't the one I'd chosen, I didn't want him to find out like that... Damn it! Anyway, another ship sunk because of my enemies' cannons and I winced. Uncle Ruben approached me.

"I really appreciate what you did, Eva. You saved my life," my uncle grinned nervously. "I thought I'd literally catch fire."

"You'd live regardless," I raised my brows. "After you survived that shipwreck, I realized you're too stubborn to die."

We laughed. When I thought the British would give us a break, more pirate ships sank. I pressed my lips together. How many other vessels would they destroy? Honestly, I didn't want to know.

We can't lose... We just can't...

I asked a few more crewmembers to shoot the British from the main deck. Both port and starboard sides needed more people with blunderbusses. The gunners seemed to be doing an excellent job with the cannons since we hadn't sunk. I gulped as it suddenly started to rain. The thunder noises made me even more nervous.

I ran to Ashton, "Turn port! Enemy vessel approaching from starboard!"

He nodded and, as always, was quick to follow my command. My heartbeat accelerated as we fired our cannons. Ocean Storm was the pirate ship that had sunk the highest quantity of men-of-war until that moment. Although the enemies struck us hard, we were still relatively intact. My chest ached as I saw the countless ally vessels destroyed and in flames. Many Navy vessels had sunk, but there were still a bunch that needed to go down. Besides, they still had the upper hand.

"I just talked to our gunners. They said we still have a lot of gunpowder," Laurens breathed heavily as he got closer to me. "At least one good thing amid this hell we're going through now, right?"

I nodded, "Agreed. Let's hope that's enough for us to win... I don't want things to get worse."

When Laurens was about to say something, a thunderous explosion took place. That was one of the scariest ones. It appeared that it'd taken place in a vessel close to me. I gawked once I saw through my spyglass who was in that ship. My eyes bulged and I was paralyzed.

Not Dirk. Please...

"Adjust our sails, Maartje! Fast!" I shouted, running to my cousin.

She nodded and climbed the shrouds to do what I'd asked. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead as I observed the fire spreading through White Shark. The thunderstorm worsened, making Ocean Storm heave. Although Maartje's action made us sail faster, I wasn't sure if we could get to Dirk on time. A large chunk of White Shark had been destroyed already. It wouldn't take long for the flames to consume the ship completely.

I knit my brows, "Hang in there, Dirk. I'm coming for you."

My desperation was so huge that I thought I'd explode. The air barely reached my chest as I breathed quickly through my mouth. More vessels were torn to pieces by cannonballs as I got closer to White Shark. My gunners instantly destroyed multiple men-of-war with our cannons, but that wasn't enough to calm me down. Nothing could put my mind at ease while Bosch was in danger. I had to save him.

****

Foreign words/expressions in order of appearance:

Ayúdame

Claro Claro