The Legend of Hannah: The Pirate Caves - Part Three

     Although she had found her prize and could now find a way out, she felt like something was still deep within the caves that she had to find. But she tried to ignore this thought, as much as she could, and tried to find a way out.

     She took out the damp silk that she had tied to her belt and slowly unwrapped it as she continued to pace along the muddy ground. She stared into the emeralds' shimmer and got lost in her thoughts.

     But her attention broke when she heard the running echoes of a pirate. She clasped the gem with one hand, not knowing if she would have time to wrap it back up in the silk, and started to run away from the trailed off echoes.

     She came to a small whole in the side of the moist wall and she quietly pushed herself into it.

     As the footsteps grew louder she pushed herself even tighter to the wall and covered her mouth with her muddy hand, not wanting to breathe. Two pirates came running from the way she had heard the echoes and stopped only a foot away from the whole she was in.

     "You couldn't have lost it!" one pirate snapped at the other. The one was a Kyrii and the other was a Poogle.

     "Well you didn't do that well of a job either!" The Poogle drew his sword, waiting to fight.

     But a voice sounded, down the tunnels. "No! Don't waste this foolish fightin' on each other," the voice was a scratchy and deep one. But at this, the Poogle withdrew and stepped away from the Kyrii. "Wait 'ntil we find the culprit who has stolen the Mermaid's Tear… Captain will be furious if he finds out you two aren't lookin'."

     The voice got quieter as he gave orders to the two pirates as they followed.

     Hannah waited until they turned a corner, then she crawled out of the cramped whole and rushed the opposite direction of the pirates. She looked over her shoulder, wondering if they had heard her, but they had not. But either way, she still ran.

     She still had the emerald in her hand and was going to wrap in into the tight silk again, but when she reached to her belt to get it, it wasn't there. "It must have dropped when I crawled in the whole," She whispered, angrily to herself. But she kept running, ignoring it, knowing that she could put it in one other bag she had.

     * * *

     Hannah came to another underground lake but stopped in her path to sit down for only a minute. "I have found my prize," She told herself. "Now all I need to do is find a way out."

     She looked at her torn map and saw that this was the place that had been torn off. She put it into to wt pocket and sighed. Never choose the way of the way of the wrong, always choose the way of the right! her grandfather had once told her. He had taught her many things. But she never knew what it meant, so she always thought what he had said was to never choose left, but to always choose right.

     And she did just that. She stood up and wadded her way into the water's right edge and started to swim.

     It took only ten minutes to get across the deep underground lake but once she felt the sand on her feet it suddenly felt like hours. She padded onto the sand and fell to her knees, tiered. Her stomach hurt from hunger, which she had learned to live with, but it was worse now.

     After regaining her strength, she stood at the edge of the lake and checked her supplies. A bottle of fresh water, a coil of rope, and her small box which held her flint and steel.

     Always carry flint and steel, her grandfather's words ran through her mind. Never know when a good fire might come in handy. Hannah grinned at the thought of sitting by his side, listening to his stories of traveling and sailing on the high seas. She shut her eyes happily, until a dark memory filled head and she shook it from her mind and frowned.

     She set her mind on getting out of the gloomy caves and pulled her map out of her pocket, not setting down the emerald. "I know this place," she said, looking at the map. "But everything's changed…" Her map showed another small cavern similar to the one she stood in, but half of the drawn-in cavern was torn off.

     A lot of good this map is doing me, she thought, dreadfully. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared before her eyes and laughter filled her ears. She reached up to guard her sight from the white, blinding light. And through her fingers she saw what was standing in front of her with the flashing light.

     "Hello, Hannah dear," he said through his broken teeth. The eerie before her was much larger than any other she had ever encountered. He had a black pirate's hat and a muddy coat. He had scars on his face and his only remaining eye was filled with a wicked sense to it. "What are you doing here?"

     He had three pirates behind him, a Kyrii, a Poogle, and a Techo. The ones she had seen only an hour or two ago. Each of them had bows at their heads, ready to fire if she made a sudden move, or even the wrong choice of words.

     "Hello," she scowled. "Uncle Bloodhook." Her mouth felt dry as she said the horrible name. "You know what I was here for." She held the emerald low and didn't let her awful uncle get anywhere near it.

     "The Mermaid's Tear," he said, nodding to it. "That little bauble is mine."

     "The Mermaid's Tear…" Hannah repeated, too silent for anyone to hear her. Then she raised her voice. "It was my grandfather's!" A tear streamed from her eye. "You stole it from him just before you-"

     She looked down at her feet, not able to bring herself to say it. She was very young when it happened only about five or six. But she could remember every little word her grandfather had said to her.

     "That's right," Blookhook grinned, drawing his sword. "And when I take it from you, I'm gonna do the very same thing!"

     She skid, face first into the ground, dodging his sward. She ran down a tunnel, arrows shooting at her every which way! She grinned, as she shoved the Mermaid's Tear into a small, thin bag and quickly attached it to her belt. The arrows blearily missed her ear and hit the wall.

     "Get her, you fools!" he shouted. "Or you'll all be hanging from the mizzenmast!" He threw his own sward at her, only skimming her tail and being wrenched into the wall.

     She ran down the caves, turning at random, hoping to lose the pirates. However, that also meant she was going further and further into the pirate caves, without keeping track on her map.

     I'll lose the pirates, she thought miserably. But I'll lose myself, too.

     She took another turn, still hearing the pirates bows shooting off arrows in her direction. She climbed up a steep incline and entered a small wooded chamber.

     It was dark the way it was, but she closed the door in a second and jumped behind some boxes and barrels. There were no other exits besides the one she had come through. She heard the scratchy voices close to the chamber.

     Could they all ready be at the base of the incline? Hannah looked around for anything she could fight with. A sward, an arrow, a dagger, a spear, anything she could use! That's when Hannah saw what was printed on the side of the cases.

     Caution: Black Powder

     The words were hard to read through the dim light, but if it was what she thought it said, she could fight with that. It was a risk, though. It could help her, but it could also backfire.

     A smile slowly grew on her face. Tearing off a part of her skirt, Hannah reached for the flint and tinder kit in her pocket. "Always carry flint and steel," she whispered, shoving a piece of lit cloth into a whole at the top of a barrel. "Thank you, Grandpa."

     The sizzle of the flame was quick, but she pushed the barrel with her foot down the incline and watched as the pirates looked up, surprised.

     The explosion hit the chamber and let it burst into flames. She might just get out of here after all!

To be continued...