Happily Ever Awkward (The H.E.A. Files, #1)(27)
From that Curse out of your past — you’ll be totally paralyzed — Whatever will you do
If you freeze up at the wrong time—
“What curse?”
Laura hadn’t meant to say anything but had gotten caught up in the song.
At the sound of her voice, Paul’s swing went wild and he embedded his blade in an overhead beam. The Sword stopped singing with a jarring “Urrk!”
“You are way too jumpy,” Laura said.
“I get nervous when people watch me,” Paul replied.
“Could be a problem in the middle of a sword fight,” Laura observed. “Or, say, life.”
Paul tugged on the blade. It was stuck tight.
“So, what was that about a curse?” Laura asked again.
“It’s nothing,” Paul said. “There… there was this witch. My father insulted her.”
Laura nodded knowingly. “The man is consistent.”
“Now I have a little… confidence problem. Look, it’s really nothing—”
The Sword still wouldn’t budge. Laura jumped down beside Paul and grabbed the handle to help. For a moment, her fingers brushed Paul’s hand. He recoiled.
“Sorry,” he said hastily. “I didn’t mean to touch—”
“It’s okay,” Laura said. Then she said more quietly, “I’m not that bad, am I?”
They both gripped the Sword and together began working the blade back and forth. After a few moments, Laura asked, “Are you scared?”
“Why would I be scared?” Paul replied. “If I fail, I only lose everything.”
“You didn’t seem scared during the storm back there,” Laura said. “You know, I, uh, I wanted to thank you for saving me. I guess we’re even now.”
“It was nothing. I got lucky.”
The Sword slipped a little. Their arms became entangled, and Paul found himself pressed up against Laura. He blushed and focused his full attention on freeing the weapon.
Laura couldn’t help but smile. “You haven’t had a lot of experience with the maidens, have you?”
Paul shook his head. The Sword slipped some more.
“I didn’t think so,” Laura said. “Some advice, Paul? You seem very nice, but that’s the problem. ‘Nice’ is only good to a point, and then a maiden needs something… wild. That’s what Luscious needs if you’re going to save her.”
The Sword finally wrenched free. Paul staggered back a few steps and met Laura’s eyes. Then he looked down.
“What if… what if there’s nothing wild in there?”
“Then you’d better look again,” Laura advised. “Jack sent me to get you. We’ve arrived.”
20
TREASURY ISLAND
Jack raised a white flag as their ship neared the imposing mountain of rock known as Treasury Island. The mountain itself was not that imposing, consisting of benign, slate-gray stone that was both pleasing to the eye and to the touch. Nor was its wildlife that imposing, consisting of scuttling crabs and nesting gulls, both of which were docile and tasty. No, the main reason the mountain was imposing was because it looked like a gigantic human skull.
It is interesting to note that Treasury Island was the first lair in recorded history to resemble a human skull.
Although such a location is easy to dismiss as derivative, uninspired, or cliché, it is important to remember that this particular skull-shaped hideout was the very first of its kind and actually inspired every other skull-shaped hideout to follow.
Keeping that in mind, it becomes completely undeniable how innovative, clever, and utterly non-cliché this skull-shaped island actually was.
The skull’s wide, grinning mouth opened onto a cavernous grotto that extended deep into the bowels of the mountain. Iron cannons and barrels of black powder lined the perimeter of its jawbone like a row of rotting teeth. In its empty eye sockets, huge black flags flapped in the chill sea wind, creating the illusion that the skull’s eyes were following them.
Laura and Paul stood transfixed as they approached the island, for neither of them had ever seen anything like this back in the Empire of Bridges.
And as I previously pointed out, NO ONE had EVER seen anything like this EVER BEFORE in the ENTIRE history of the world. It was new and original and totally amazing.
“I never thought I’d see such a legendary place,” Laura said.
Jack snorted with his typical cocky arrogance. “Legends. Just another port of call for Jack Bravado.”
Greasy-haired pirates standing along the mouth of the skull waved them inside.
“Here we go,” Jack said, easing the ship into the darkness beyond the open jaws.
Inside the skull, the darkness widened into a huge, domed cavern. A system of docks stretched along the walls of the chamber with a terrifying fleet of pirate ships moored there. To one side, a large wooden crane hoisted cannons aboard the ships.
At the back of the cavern, directly opposite the open mouth, a massive palace towered over the grotto. Chiseled from a solid mass of blood-red coral, this collection of pillars and porticoes covered the entire back wall of the chamber.