Captain Savage: The Fortress pt.2


The twilight of a few lamps welcomes Sally as she enters the stairway. All of her senses are
fully receptive for any sign of enemies around. Her knife is ready to strike.
Watchfully she tiptoes down the stairs. The only sound is the soft crackling of the lamps.
At the bottom of the stairway Sally finds a long and even gloomier corridor. The path is
drilled into the rock beneath the fortress. The ground feels cold, wet and slick under her soles.
She moves through the shadows avoiding the few lights on her way. The subdued colours of
Sally's clothes and her tanned skin melt into the dark.

Suddenly Sally hears footsteps in front of her! The heavy boots of British soldiers reveal their
presence abundantly clear compared to Sally's bare feet. The pirate hurries into a small niche
and clutches her knife at once.

Firmly pressed against the wall Sally observes the corridor. The steps are coming nearer; no
doubt about it. However, it takes a moment for her eyes to confirm what her ears already
brought in the open.

The obscure shadows of two persons step into the halo of a lamp. In the dim light Sally can
see their uniforms perfectly clear. They have shouldered their arms just like the sentry before.
The redcoats carelessly come up to the ambush. Sally can hear them talk about Captain
Savage's capture. One of them tells his comrade that currently one of their officers is going to
enforce confessions from the prisoner before she gets executed.

\u201cHopefully they do not mangle that trollop too much! I would like to have some fun with her
before she'll dance the gallows' jig. After all she's a saucy wench!\u201d
Their sleazy laughter makes Sally's blood boil.

She takes a deep breath preparing to attack. It does not matter to her that she has to fight two
enemies simultaneously. During their many raids \u201cSiren\u201d and her crew have often faced a
superior number of foes. Most of the troops they fought had relied on their number and
weapons, but Captain Savage and her pirates were genuine fighters. Sally could easily kill
both redcoats with her bare hands if necessary. And moreover she has the surprise effect to
her advantage.

As the soldiers pass her position Sally suddenly darts out of the darkness like a dreadful
shadow. A vicious kick to the belly takes out the air of the first soldier's lungs. He bends over
and falls to his knees. Before he even starts to gasp Sally already attacks the second man. His
eyes grow wide in terror as he spots the attacker. He opens his mouth for a scream, but is
immediately gagged by Sally's knife. She drives the blade deep into his heart, silencing him
forever. Abandoning her stuck weapon she turns back without more ado.

Launching herself at the kneeling soldier she wraps her arms around him. Desperately he tries
to escape her grip, but yet she twists his head with a grim turn. His neck breaks like a rotten
limb.

It took Sally just a snatch to knock off both sentries. Scornfully she looks at the corpses on the
floor. The hilt of her knife still sticks out of the soldier's breast. Sally places her foot on the
body and yanks out the blade from the wound. A quick glance to the end of the corridor and
she moves on. The words of the sentries made perfectly clear that she has no time to waste...
While Sally advances through the dark corridor Lieutenant Basington continues his
interrogation. Over and over again he asks Jane about the pirates' harbour, but she does not
even seem to notice him.

Instead she thinks of Sally and her crew. What did happen to them? She was already told that
a few more of her men have been caught, but she has no information about her companion's
fate. All she dares hope for is that Sally is still alive and safe from the governor's
bloodhounds.A slap to the face brutally interrupts her thoughts. She feels warm blood filling her mouth.
The face of the Lieutenant is close before hers. His eyes are open wide as he screams. "Tell
me where you have your filthy harbour! NOW!!!"

Jane spits him in the face. Blood and saliva splash across his skin and uniform. This son of a
bitch shall have to work harder to get her to talk. He steps back, first in surprise, then in
disgust. He hits her again with the palm of his hand before he cleans his face with a
handkerchief. Jane snorts at the dandy disrespectfully.

"Unfortunately our preparations are not finished yet." He says with a look to the Sergeant
working placidly on the fire with a poker. "So I have to extemporise a bit." His voice is
dangerously calm.

At a sign one of his henchmen takes off his coat. The soldier is smaller than his sergeant, but
he seems stalwart, too. He smiles maliciously as he rolls up his sleeves. Snapping his fingers
he steps in front of Jane. Another hit throws Jane's head to the side. This time harder than the
ones before...

Sally forces her pace through the subterranean aisles. As fast as her feet move safely on the
sticky ground she rushes from one corner to the next. Her senses are utmost vigilant. Running
into a patrol would be fatal now, but there is no sign of more soldiers down here. After a
while Sally starts to wonder if she has already got rid of every single sentry between her and
Jane. Her aspiration rises steadily with every step she advances.

Just as tension is going to calm down Sally clearly hears laughter and the sounds of a game of
dice. She stops off the reel.

Checking the next corridor she finds a sentry standing in an open doorway. Her head quickly
turns back.

Fortunately his duties seem to consist in letting no-one OUT of this dungeon. Showing his
back to Sally he does not notice her spying on him at all. She simmers down again and
proceeds to follow her plan.

Sneaking around the corner Sally moves as lithe as a cat. The guard stands easy, having only
one hand on the barrel of his gun. Its butt stands firmly on the ground, the bayonet fixed
threateningly on top. A banister in front of him suggests a further stairway going down.
Approaching on soft soles Sally takes a few peeks left and right of the soldier. She can make
out a large room downstairs. There is another armed soldier standing on the other side of the
room. Three more redcoats sit around a table. One of them shakes a dice cup and hammers it
upon the wooden desk top. When he lifts the cup he shouts a few curses even Sally did not
know before. Both his mates laugh gleefully.

The pirate smiles viciously. The gamblers just don't know they all have run out of luck
tonight.

Sally imagines her lover's face and how they both used to look at each other. She sees
themselves in the captain's cabin, kissing passionately and making love by the light of a
dozen candles. Nothing could stop her from rescuing Jane. Even if a whole regiment was
waiting for her now it would not stop Sally from attacking them with all her passion and
power.

She puts the knife back between her teeth. This time there is no option to get rid off all the
guards without a noise, so at least she has to take them out as quick as possible. With a final
glance she checks the positions of every single soldier. Predator-like her instincts take over
her body. She is in for the kill; giving no quarter.

For a moment Sally remembers her childhood village. She thinks of the day the redcoats came
to burn everything down, taking all that was left and killing most of the people the adolescent
girl ever knew. She never saw her family again. On that very day she swore to have revenge
on the King's troops.

No, these soldiers should not expect any mercy from her...