Every Exit Is An Entrance Somewhere Else
Late Winter, 1085 - Mediterranean Sea
A bloodbath.
Four hundred lay dead, sprawled across the deck, mostly the count's men...but a fair share of pirates as well.
Robert stood cornered in the Captain's quarters, fighting off three attackers. The first swung, and he barely had time to parry before the next sword was headed his way. Robert ducked and then lunged at the third pirate before he could strike. The third pirate easily paried, and then Robert was turning just in time to parry the first one again.
Robert was an excellent swordsman...naturally talented, and then trained by Bishop-turned-captain Humphrey...but he couldn't defeat three grown-men. Yet...surrender was not an option. If he was to survive, he would need a miracle. A miracle...like...
A flash of light.
The three pirates and Robert both whirled toward the light, temporarily blinded, but when their vision cleared, they saw a man as dark as night, holding a single piece of gold.
The man's eyes went wide...and then he charged at them, unarmed. The pirates raised their swords at this new attacker, and Robert used the opportunity to slash one of them in the back, watching as he fell to the ground.
Robert swung his sword around and sliced a second pirate across the neck, dropping him as well...but just as his dark miracle reached the third man, he disappeared in another flash of light.
The last surviving pirate had seen crazier things during his time, and, frankly, was more relieved than alarmed by the man's disappearance. He turned and lunged at the young child, prepared to finally finish him off...but the child leapt backwards, and his sword instead connected with a metal box sitting on the captain's desk. The box fell over and opened, as a lit candle spilled out, igniting the papers and maps spread across the desk.
The fire spread quickly, soon reaching the pirate's pant leg, and then shooting up to his long, scraggly hair. He screamed, falling to the ground as he tried to extinguish himself.
Robert ran back to the deck...but there wasn't a living soul in sight. Just hundreds of bodies.
He looked back at the captain's quarters, now entirely engulfed by flames.
The ship would be gone in a matter of minutes.
There was only one thing to do.
Robert took a deep breath, tightened his grip on his sword...and then he dove into the freezing cold sea.
