Above decks, a dozen grappling hooks surged into the air, hurtling towards The Galleon and sinking their metal claws into the expanse of railing on her starboard side. The Serpent’s crew dragged the other ship into position and fitted gangplanks over the short distance between them. Hawk bellowed a battle cry and leapt from the planks onto the deck of The Galleon, his crew following in his wake.

Trying not to look down, Eloise crossed one of the planks and alighted onto the deck as close to Hawk as she could without being in direct danger herself. On the other side of the deck, Finn and a couple of other crew members were fending off enemy combatants while heading down into the belly of the ship, presumably to the brig, where the first mate was being held.

Eloise settled behind The Galleon’s main mast, which offered both a view of the battle and a spot of cover from its ravages. Hawk was being attacked on two fronts. On one side, a lean figure was using a rapier to keep Hawk on his toes, trying to gain ground. On the other, a massive boulder of a man wielded a hefty cutlass against him, swiping at his extremities. Eloise took this second man to be The Galleon’s captain; he was roaring commands to his crew over the skirmish.

The man with the rapier was using the lightness of his weapon to his advantage, weaving a complex pattern of attacks and blocks. Hawk was holding his ground, but he could do little more than that with two men against him. He was having trouble gaining an advantage.

“Fire in the hole! Chain shot, incoming!”

She heard the shout from one of Hawk’s men over the din and looked up just in time to see a pair of cannonballs connected by links of chain wrapping around the mast directly above her with a sickening crack. “Move, Eli,” someone cried, and she leapt aside just as the fullness of the main mast came crashing down right where she had been standing, sending large splinters of the deck careening through the air.

Eloise passed more than a moment staring at the wreckage, wracked with the uneasy feeling that she had escaped death once again. She then watched as Hawk took advantage of the surprise to leap onto the remains of the mast, which now lay like a bridge between the main and quarter decks. The Galleon’s captain followed, and the man with the rapier continued to swipe at Hawk’s legs while stepping over the stump that was the only remainder of the main mast.

Hawk danced up the length of the mast, moving higher and higher towards the quarter deck, skillful feet keeping him just out of the range of both rapier and cutlass. The man with the rapier jumped behind him onto the mast and increased the ferocity of his attack, the sword whistling through the air nearly too quickly to be seen.

The rapier crossed Hawk’s blade and he stumbled, nearly unbalancing and tumbling to the deck below. Arms out, he steadied himself and raised his sword. Eloise caught her breath as she looked up at him: proud and strong and tall, wind catching his hair and face like a storm. He was unreal and powerful and glorious—a god delivering judgment upon those who had displeased him.

He moved down towards the taller man and swung his sword diagonally upwards. The blade connected, and the rapier went flying, landing a few feet from Eloise. That was one man disarmed.

But The Galleon’s captain took that moment to move against Hawk, sending his sword clattering onto the deck. Eloise cried out, terror chilling her heart. There was no time to deliberate. She had the fallen rapier in her grasp before realizing she had even made a concrete decision.

The captain of The Galleon slashed at the now-disarmed Hawk’s shoulder, and Hawk growled as the blade sliced into his flesh. Grinning triumphantly, the other captain pulled his sword arm back, aiming for Hawk’s heart…

“The nature of the cutlass, as a sword, is to possess a single functionally sharp edge.”

Eloise was standing in the center of the room, and her father was walking around her in a broad circle. She knew this only because she could hear his voice shifting as he moved. His steps were silent.

She was holding a cutlass, and she was blindfolded.

“Its heft enables it to cut deeply,” he continued, “and with only one sharp edge, it is much more difficult to turn against the one who wields it.”

They moved slowly. The session was meant to teach her to feel the flow of swordfighting. The sound of another sword swished through the air, and she braced, the impact against her blade vibrating through her hands and up her arms. She shifted her stance, moving to swing back against where she had sensed the other blade; he then attacked diagonally from her left, and she parried.

With a flick of his blade, her father disarmed her. “Every weapon has a weakness,” he said.

“And so does every fighter,” she finished, rolling her eyes beneath her blindfold. She’d heard this phrase repeatedly since the earliest days of her childhood: a lesson her father was determined she learn.

Though she couldn’t see it, she could sense his smile on her.

Leaping in front of her captain, Eloise parried the incoming thrust, her rapier shuddering with the weight of the cutlass against it. With a grunt, she forced the enemy captain’s weapon to the side. The look on his face was reward enough, though she imagined it would be even better if he had been aware of her gender.

The man sliced horizontally to the right, aiming at Eloise’s stomach, and she feinted to her left, causing him to trip into her path and fumble his grip. The sharp end of the cutlass now pointed away from her, she flicked her rapier up, around, and down to the side, sending the cutlass flying from the man’s grasp.

Hawk looked at her with something like amazement, bright eyes wide, and she stepped on the handle of his sword, kicking it upwards so it spun in a circle before landing, hilt-first, in her hand. “You dropped this,” she said, casually, and Hawk took a moment to grab it, still eyeing her with disbelief.

Around them, the crew of The Serpent was vanquishing the men of The Galleon. Finn emerged from the innards of the ship with the man Eloise had seen captured on the docks back in Wayfort. Hawk raised his sword in the air and was met with a cheer from the crew. “Well done, men,” he said, making eye contact with Eloise, and then, to some of the others, “Raid the Galleon’s hold and bring her treasures back to The Serpent.”

He directed the rest of the crew to round up the disgruntled men of The Galleon. Finn attempted to corral them, saying, “Do as the captain says, or Eli here’ll make you regret it.”

“Finn,” she chided, but blushed with pride all the same.

When The Galleon’s crew had been loaded into lifeboats and set adrift, Hawk shouted, “Tell everyone that the Bloody Hawk spared your lives only this once. I won’t be so merciful next time!”

Walking back over the gangplanks, Eloise felt as giddy as if she had drunk a whole cask of grog. She whooped, pumping her fist in the air, and noticed that Hawk was staring at her. When she looked back, his mouth quirked into the barest hint of a smile.

It would do.

When they were safely aboard their ship, Pierce approached Hawk, who clapped him on the shoulder as they shook hands. “Welcome back, my friend,” Hawk said. “I’m glad to have you safe and sound aboard The Serpent once more.”

The Galleon floated next to them like a ghost ship, empty of crew and loot. “Scuttle her,” Hawk commanded. He grinned and squeezed Pierce’s shoulder, nodding to him. “Why don’t you do the honors? I’m sure you’ll be glad to see her go down.”

Pierce grinned. “With pleasure, cap’n,” he said. He turned and bellowed, “Fire!” At his call, the cannons sounded, causing the Galleon to sway and list on impact. Hawk grinned and turned away, but a movement on the now-sinking ship caught Eloise’s eye.

A woman, waving frantically from the main deck. “Help!”

Oh no. Hawk must not have seen. Eloise turned, frantic and pointed to the sinking Galleon. “There’s still someone on the ship!” she screamed. “We have to save her!”

Hawk glanced idly over his shoulder, frowning as he took in the scene. His stare lingered as the woman jumped up and down. A momentary hesitation, and then: “Let her be saved by The Galleon’s men or go down with the ship. She’s not one of ours.”

White-hot fury rose in Eloise, dispersing all traces of her previous elation. She grabbed Hawk by the wrist and pulled him around to face her, jabbing him in the chest with her finger. “You can’t do this,” she snapped. “Either you go back and get her, or I will!”