Boris: Assassin indeed! I wouldn't say the relationship was dangerous...not as such.
Sather:Well, pleased you're still here.
Dewirix: Yes, it probably would raise some eyebrows, for sure. Unfortunately...she'll never get there.
This is it, my friends, the end of part one. 3 months to the day since I started, 60 story updates and 61,800 words, it is finally finished. Though I have played ahead further I have not done any more writing. I need a break from the AAR, but I do intend to come back and continue it. I'll have to set up a HTTT installation just for this, as I'll be buying DW soon.
I'll post a list of thanks soon, but for now...the finale!
FINALE
XXX
Houlong Shang, the gifted and brilliant restorer of Imperial fortunes, died in mid 1533. He left the crown to his son, and Imperial power at its zenith. He had conquered all his rivals, overthrown his internal and external enemies and brought peace to East Asia. When he died he was mourned by his subjects.
However his heirs almost immediately begun the task of dismantling his legacy....
While far away in Europe the Reformation had become a massive success, and nearly a third of the continent was now either Protestant or Reformed.
XXX
2/6/1530
The open sea was rough, and the wind howled through the sails as they smashed through the waves. The Chinese ship was buffeted by the waves and most of the crew stayed below decks if they could.
For Talena, who heartily disliked sea travel, it was something of a nightmare. Whenever she went on deck the rocking and sea spray made her feel uncomfortable. She wasn’t sick of course, since such a thing was beyond her body at the current point, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience.
It was after an excursion onto deck around dusk that it happened. Talena had not been especially wary, and didn’t even have her sword with her, so she was a somewhat easier target then she otherwise would have been.
A figure came from behind her and a massive weight struck her, perhaps an oar or a beam. As she reeled she was shoved down the stairs and into the cargo hold. The hatch slammed shut behind her attacker, and as she got up unsteadily she saw who it was.
Hauritz.
He swung the club again, and she dodged, but as she came forward he reversed it and drove it into her stomach. As she stumbled he landed a titanic blow right onto her jaw with the weapon which knocked her flat, her head reeling as the wounds healed.
He was on her though, far too quickly. While Cyrus Cade had been fast, this man had been doing more then being a Chinese potentate. With a knife in his hand he attacked with brutal, relentless power, forcing her down and stabbing her right in the heart.
Talena, who had gotten several good blows in, struggled, and the world started to go dark. It couldn’t end like this! She couldn’t die now, after having seen so much!
Time passed, but Talena came too. Immediately she knew she was in trouble. The huge mainmast came through into the cargo hold, and she was securely handcuffed to it, by wrists and ankles. A gag had been forced into her mouth and tightened painfully.
Hauritz stepped back, wiping the bloody knife on her robe. “We don’t have much time, Talena, but I want to get a few things settled here. When I captured you I could have tortured you endlessly, I could have made your existence the most agonising and hellish experience ever. But I didn’t. You hadn’t done anything to me. But now...you killed my brother. You might despise me for being a traitor, or him for being a criminal, but he’s family. Now I don’t have the time or opportunity to wreck a proper revenge on you...you destroyed all I spent a century building up. So instead....”
Hauritz lit a candle and held it near one of the barrels in the hold. With the knife he worked a small hole in it until a steady stream of black powder poured out.
Talena, who had been trying to free herself from the chains, shouted when she saw the contents. Gunpowder. But with the gag it was not audible to anyone else, especially with the storm raging outside.
“How fortunate the Emperor is selling black powder to Japan. Goodbye, Talena. I trust even you won’t survive this.” With that, Hauritz tossed the lit candle onto the floor so it started to burn up the trail of powder towards the barrel and detonation.
Hauritz meanwhile headed for the stairs, opened the hatch and was out, leaving her to her fate.
With horrified terror Talena realised that there were at least a dozen barrels of the same size and markings...meaning an unholy explosion was imminent. With all her strength, fuelled by fear and desperation, Talena wrenched at her bonds, starting blood from her wrists and ankles. But there was nothing she could do as the burning powder reached the barrel.
She thought of Selena and Lucille, of the places she had been, the things she had done. The people she had killed, and now it seemed that she would soon join them.
There was a flash. A deafening noise. Unbearable pain. Then darkness.
The ship, the
Water Dragon, was torn apart as the gunpowder in the hold, the pitch and old timber combined to form a deadly explosion. In seconds the ship was wrecked...sinking into the turbulent sea.
END OF PART 1