Chapter 11: Blackheart's Fury

Out of nowhere on a sunny day cannons roared as Blackheart's ship opened fire on the Redeemers. Jonah shouted orders to prepare defenses and return fire. As gunsmoke filled the air, Blackheart led boarding parties that clambered over the rails with cutlasses drawn.

The crew engaged in vicious close combat, fighting to defend their holy mission. James helped fend off Blackheart's men, showing no mercy to the heathen raiders. Below decks, Jack frantically loaded cannons to bombard the enemy vessel.

Blackheart dueled Jonah, intent on ending their captain. But Jonah proved to be a skilled swordsman, parrying each savage blow. Seeing his men gaining ground, Blackheart ordered a retreat back to his ship.

As the last raiders departed, damage to The Redeemers was assessed. Two sailors lay dead, while several more bled from wounds. But their vessel remained afloat, thanks to the crew's stalwart defense.

Tending injuries, Jonah praised his men's courage and fortitude. Though they suffered losses, their faith prevailed against violent assault. Blackheart's fury had been withstood, showing righteousness can overcome any evil tried. Cannonballs pelted the sea around The Redeemers as Jonah roared commands. "Return fire on my signal! James, take Jack and two others to reload the stern cannons. Cooky, bring the rounds from below. The rest of you, man the rails and prepare to board theirs should we score a hit!"

The crew scrambled to follow Jonah's urgent orders. James raced Jack and the others below, wheeling fresh ammunition from the hold. Cooky hustled behind with cartloads more. On the gun deck, they worked furiously to reload the cannons.

Above, the rest readied muskets and swords. Lining the battered rails, they watched Blackheart's vessel grow nearer through the smoke and spray. Its guns continued hammering in a deafening barrage. Around Jonah at the helm, splinters flew as nearby hits showered the men.

With a thunderous blast, the stern cannons fired. A bellowing cheer went up as one shot found its mark in Blackheart's mainsail. "Reload!" Jonah screamed. "We'll board them on the next volley! Steady, men, help is coming!" Men ashore! James yelled from the crow's nest. He clung to the swaying masthead, eyes peeled through the battle haze. Blackheart's devils board amidships and larboard! Prepare yourselves—they come for blood!

Jonah roared a cry, and his crew braced. From below decks poured Jack and his gun crew, muskets loaded. As Blackheart's pirates swarmed over the rails, a deafening blast met them. Those who fell writhed and cut down where they stood.

But more followed, cutlasses swinging. A violent melee erupted across the pitching deck. Jonah parried an assault, deflecting each attack. Nearby, James grappled two boarders at once, wrestling their weapons away. Jack joined, blasting any raider within range.

Together, the three fought back-to-back amidst the press. Step by step, they drove the heathens towards the rails. With a tremendous shove, Jack pitched the last man screaming into the churning waters. For now, The Redeemers held, though more attackers tried boarding every minute. The deck became a savage battlefield. Clashing steel sang as blades met in fury. Pistols blasted powder smoke, felling men where they stood.

James parried an overhead cutlass strike, grunting from the impact. He took a pistol shot to the chest, which sent the attacker reeling. Across the slanted planks, two pirates grappled with Cooky, fighting for his dagger. With a roar, Jack rushed in, braining one man with his musket stock.

Below, Jonah dueled Blackheart, their swords screaming on each pass. Blackheart fought with demonic ferocity, driving Jonah step by step. Just when defeat seemed sure, Jonah latched Blackheart's weapon arm and hurled him violently against the mast.

Elsewhere, a boarding axe cloves one sailor near in two. Screaming his fury, Jack plunged into the fray like an avenging angel. His blade wove a web of death, cutting down all who stood before him. But numbers began to tell—for each foe felled, two more took his place. The crew was being pushed to the rails.

Then, with a crash, the cannons spoke once more. A pounding broadside screamed into Blackheart's ship, tearing ruin across its deck. In the chaos, James gave a mighty bellow—for God and redemption! And charged., Below decks, Jack fought with ferocity of his own. As pirates broke through the gun deck hatch, he met them with a double-bladed boarding axe. Crimson spray flew as the weapon whirled and scythed.

Bodies piled at Jack's feet while he roared wordless battle cries. Two cutlasses slashed at him together, but he slid underneath and came up, severing their owner's legs at the knees. Spinning, he crushed another man's head like an eggshell against the bulkhead.

A pistol flashed, and Jack reeled from a shot to the shoulder. Fueled by determination, he barely noticed, charging forward to tackle the gunner in a frenzied thrashing. When it ended, both lay still amidst the carnage.

Through it all, Jack continued working the cannons. Each thunderous report blew yet more of Blackheart's men into oblivion. The gun deck became a slaughterhouse, slick and choking with offal, but still the cannons spoke.

Finally, all grew still. Jack stood lone amidst the dead, axes dripping, while flames and smoke wreathed him like a wrathful angel of Death. Above, the sounds of battle still rang, spurring him to reload for the next volley. Vengeance would be delivered through hot iron balls and fiery hellspawn. Blackheart forced his way through the battle, sawing pirates aside like stalks of wheat. Through the melee, he sighted Jonah, their captains locked in a swirling dance of steel. With a derisive cackle, Blackheart was charged.

Jonah turned in time to raise his cutlass against the two-handed broadsword smashing down. Sparks flew as their blades screamed, Jonah straining against blasphemous strength. Blackheart growled in his face, his putrid breath washing over his clenched teeth.

Shoving free, Jonah skipped backlight on his feet. Blackheart lunged with a snarl, faster than his bulk suggested. Jonah swayed just out of reach, counterslashing a shallow cut across mail links that gleamed with gore. They circled one another amongst the dead and dying, eyed like wolves about to tear flesh.

Blade sang against blade in flashing arcs, parry and riposte flowing seamlessly from one to the next. Blackheart hooked Jonah's weapon aside and bullrushed, hoping to smash him under brutal weight. Jonah flipped neatly over the pirate's back, slashing both Achilles tendons as he landed.

Howling, Blackheart crashed onto splintered planks. Around them, the battle surged, but their duel held the eye of the storm. Jonah stood ready to deliver the death stroke, faced by hatred's last bitter grin. The exchange of cannon fire had taken its toll. With an agonized creed, the mainmast began to fall. Sailors scattered in terror from its crashing descent.

Those too slow were crushed under fathom-thick timber. Its mass pulped two men flat as roadkill. Others fled the sparking tangle of lines and canvas, only for Blackheart's men to meet them blade-first.

Below, more horror awaited. Two shots had breached the damascus below the waterline. Through the gushing holes, frigid brine was poured to wash the lower gun deck.

Jack battled furiously amidst the rising swells. Cannon roared their answer to the sky, but each shot pushed their tilting vessel closer to foundering. Worse, pirates hacked through the hull to spill in and cut down the gunners.

Jack grappled two at once, howling as a cutlass bit deep. Dragging the locked foes, he plunged into the churning swirl. Only his head broke the torrent's foam for a moment before being sucked under the tilted decking.

Above, Jonah and the desperate crew bailed and patched with all speed. But the beams groaned, ready to roll and spill all hands into the abyss. They would not survive another pounding from the enemy guns. Jonah roared above the storm, his voice cutting through the din of battle. Men of the Damascus! God shields our righteous cause; now drive out these heathen dogs!

Fresh vigor filled the crew's arms. Line by line, they pushed Blackheart's pirates back, hacking through their ranks towards the rails. James and three sailors planted a swivel gun, blasting canisters to mow down the enemy's van.

From the crow's nest, a cry: They're loading for another broadside! Jonah shouted, Fall back, retreat to the gunwales! At that moment, Blackheart's cannons unleashed ruin.

Splinters flew as shots straddled the Damascus. One ball punched through the quarterdeck, cutting down men where they fled. The others found the waterline with hideous ease. Through the new breaches billowed an icy flood, and the deck tilted further underfoot.

Still, the crew fought on. Jonah parried two cutlasses at once, slamming attackers back into the waiting rifles of his sailors. Step by step, they inched the enemy toward the rails, fighting atop a sinking hulk made treacherous by the angle. Just a few more paces, and they could hurl Blackheart's dogs back into the sea.

But the keel scraped bottom now. With a groan, the Damascus rolled, throwing all into the roiling deep. Pirates, cargo, crew, and cannons slid down her listing flank and vanished beneath the waves. Only broken flotsam marked where she had been. Jonah broke the waves, coughing brine. All around floated wreckage and the dead. He searched desperately, finding but a few crew members still clinging to the scattered spars and rigging.

Through the thunderstorm emerged Blackheart's ship, vulture-like to pick flesh from broken bones. Lines were tossed. Jonah watched pale-faced as his surviving men were dragged aboard in chains, himself the last.

Blackheart appeared, cloak and hair whipping like raven's wings in the screaming wind. His boot connected with Jonah's ribs, eliciting pained laughter. "Your false god betrays you, preacher," he rasped. "Time to meet your fate along with your miserable flock."

Shackled back to back with James and the others, Jonah could only pray while Blackheart made ready the nooses. Ropes were fitted around weary necks, and orders were barked to kick away the plank. But before vengeance could be taken, a massive wave struck, and the ship pitched violently aside. In the chaos, lines parted and Jonah's crew spilled free, fighting like warrior's to regain their freedom once more. Blackheart's fury had been withstood, but the battle was far from over. The adventure would continue. Though battered and adrift, Jonah's flock stuck true to their redemptive mission. Huddled amidst splintered mast and spar, they lifted spirits in prayer and song.

"Be still, and know that I am God," Jonah quoted, his deep voice carrying over thunder's roar. "I will be exalted among the heathen; I will be exalted in the earth!"

Taking up the words, the crew's voices swelled in ragged harmony. Old hymns of salvation broke the storm's wrath, carrying their souls skyward out of peril's reach. James said quiet prayers for his lost brothers, finding solace in faith's sure comfort.

Even Jack's usually furious countenance softened. Rocking gently, he cradled a wounded crewman with surprising care. Only prayers escaped his lips now by faith in Christ alone.

As the tempest's fury tapered, a calm settled on Jonah's flock. Though death circled ravenously, their savior shielded His children from true destruction. Together, they drifted with the weather, riding swells under God-given stars, their soul's anchor fast in the sure promise of eternal redemption. The light of salvation yet guided their course through tempest and shadow, steadfast unto eternity.