Chapter 1 -The Awakening

Lurg opened his eyes but saw nothing but darkness. His head was pounding, his chest heaved as he struggled to breathe.

"Arggh," he tried to sit up but the pain was excruciating. His chest seared as if a hot iron had been pressed against it.

"Calm down and don't move," ordered a voice form the darkness, "Yah've been through a lot mon, yah don't wanna go hurtin' yahself more."

"Who are you? Where am I? What happened?" demanded Lurg.

"Patience mon, yah vision will return soon, its loss was a side effect of the medicine I used to cure yah. There was quite an infection growing in that cut on yah have on yah chest."

Lurg felt his chest but it was tightly bandaged.

"How was I hurt?" he asked. "The last thing I remember is...."

Images began flooding into Lurg's mind.

"Skully had found a map. It was supposed to lead to vast treasure beyond anything any of us had seen. But....the creatures. They ambushed us. We ran. The crew. My mates. What happened to them? Do you know?"

"They left yah mon. Yah were hurt something fierce. They thought yah was dead, and yah would be if I hadn't found yah. Strange that the Mantaliods didn't come and finish yah off though."

"What are Mantaliods? You still haven't told me what happened to the crew."

"They be the creatures that attacked yah. This be their island. There's no treasure here either mon. That map of yahs is a fake. No one be coming here for a long time. Not since that Englishmon, Serathagar."

"General Serathagar came here? Why?"

"Rest mon, yah wound needs to heal. I'll be here to talk with yah more once yah've gotten yahself some sleep. Drink this potion. It will help with the pain. Yah injuries would have killed any other mon, yah're one tough pirate, Lurg the Fist."

"How do you...How do you know my..."

The potion's power overcame him quickly and he succumbed to sleep.

When Lurg woke up, the pain in his head had subsided, but his chest still burned and he was careful to not try to sit up again. He opened his eyes to find that his vision had partially returned. He could see shadows and blurred images but nothing more. For what he could see, he knew the room was fairly small and disorderly. There was a small amount of life streaming in through a tiny window in the wall. There was a sound outside and the door creaked as it opened. Lurg shut his eyes and laid perfectly still.

"How is the wound healing?" This voice had a dignified tone and an English accent.

"It's not healing much at all mon." This was the voice he had spoken to earlier, the Jamaican man. "I've tried every bit of healing that I know, voodoo and yah Western medicine, but his wound is too great, I'm surprised he has survived this long. He should be dead."

"What's preventing it from properly healing?" The English man again.

"I'm not sure mon. Perhaps the Mantaliods have some kind of venom that I don't know about."

"No, the Mantaliod that I brought back with me was carefully studied by our finest scientists. They reported no toxins or venoms of any kind. It must be something else."

"I'll give him more of the potion then, and we'll let him rest, maybe it just needs more time to heal."

"Fine, I'll return in one week. Keep me informed."

There were footsteps, followed by the door opening and closing, then silence. The Jamaican doctor was standing over Lurg's bed. He was gathering items from one of the cabinets and he began to mix them together.

"Open yah eyes Lurg, I know yah awake. Yah need to drink this potion, it might be the only thing keeping yah alive."

"Who was that man? Why is he so interested in me?"

"Drink the potion mon. I'll answer yah questions once yah drink."

"Fine," Lurg drank the potion, "Tell me what happened here, and who was tha..." He voice trailed off as the potion took effect.


"Sleep Lurg, everything will become clear soon enough."