Sky Pirates

IT was the first of many journeys into this mysteriously intriguing new world. He later discovered that there were in fact multiple ways of entering this world but for now that was very far into the future.

One night as he was reading a book, an uninteresting book it was, it kept him busy through the stormy night that lay ahead. He heard a thud twice on the roof which was followed by a distinctly muffled voice. The rain thundered against the windows as the wind blew profusely. Suddenly a sharp light shone into his window. The disembodied face covered in a cloak.

He quickly but quietly stole into the darkness as the intruder opened the window with a soft click.

The intruder suddenly multiplied by three as the window swung open. The howling wind and incessant rain was now very apparent and drenched the entire room. The three men entered the room through their new vantage point, quietly, making sure not to wake there sleeping victim.

They swept the room and enclosed on the empty bed. One produced a device that shone eerily in the darkness of the rampant night. The device resembled a telescope of sorts, although it was much shorter, completely covered in leather and had what looked like a bright shining orb. He waved it over the bed but the orb did not change its color at all. It was apparent that their victim was no longer in his bed.

AS he hid below the desk he saw that they were aware of his deceit. Now the anxiety swelled and his breathing became uncontrollable. He feared for his life because these masked men seemed to be here for a certain treasure which they were willing to fight for.
He slowly backed away deeper below the desk hoping that he would be able to open the air vent without too much noise.

They were now on the prowl slowly looking through the entire room in search of the young boy now trying to evade them and their device. The one motioned towards the desk his one eye gleaming with a blue light. He started laughing uncontrollably and the other two quickly noticed why. He saw with his special eye the boy that was now trying to slowly maneuver his body through the small hole.

The boy now felt their attention on him and squealed as he felt his bone crunching under the pressure he was now exerting on his own body. He suddenly felt a release of all anxiety and fear. He was motionless and stunned. The three men that enclosed him had him by the feet he was dangling from the ones hand. A last sweep was made of the room and then they vanished out of the room. He was no struggling or trying to escape for he knew that he was certainly no match for three grown men.



They dragged him out of the window and into the storm that was now blowing in full force outside. They reached the top of the roof where a magnificent pirate ship floated triumphantly in the rain. He heard their shoes go from the hard roof tiles onto the wooden floor boards of the ship. He was at once thrusted into a cold wet room that was to be his prison for the journey to come.

The men now took there various posts for the impending lift into the cloud formation above them. The Captain took hold of the wheel and steered them into the thunderous clouds that swirled above them.

The sails were now fully opened but the ship denied them the satisfaction of a quick and easy lift. If they were to make it into the flying cloud they were going to have to use some magic. The Captain called the man with the spyglass and whispered, “Would you be able to get us off this bloody roof Charles these sails won’t make it in this weather.”

He nodded and in an instant the ship was gaining speed, the ship climbed higher into the night. The rain battered Charles the wizard in his face as he was using his last bit of strength to propel the ship into the flying cloud. They were now approaching the cloud that was slowly retracting its reach from this world. They were going to have to go faster or they would be stuck in this world.

Charles saw the Captain looking at him with a devastating desperation. The Captain knew he was exasperated but he had to come through this time it was a matter of life and death. The rain grew thinner as they approached the top clouds. They were now very close to the flying cloud that transported them into this world. Seconds later they were totally enveloped by the flying cloud, they were safe.

Charles recoiled as he fell to the ground all his energy depleted. The Captain sprang down from the wheel. If Charles were to die then they would have to go into the Unknown to save him. A journey, very few but the Captain has experienced and one he does not happily remember, a crew of two and a captive would not likely be able to survive it. Luckily the Captain had a mermaid tear left from their last journey and it would surely be sufficient to wake Charles from the alluring song of the death siren.

The Captain scrambled around the cabin in search of the vile with the mermaid’s tear. The cabin with all it’s mythical instruments, maps, books on magic and magical creatures was seeming to hide that essential vile that the Captain was looking for. He then remembered it was in the forever drawer, the drawer that would never become full unless you wanted it to. All he had to do was thrust his hand into it and conjure the image of the vile into his mind. Easier said than done above the screams of the death siren that was now approaching reality with every moment he wasted in search of the vile, she was hungry for the soul of Charles to join her disembodied army.



The Captain had the vile in his hand, the siren’s presence could now be felt on the ship, a deathly cold not resembling the one from the storm. It was an omniscient feeling that surrounded everyone and for the weary and powerless pirate could be their last. It sucked the life from the Captain and his mind was now invaded by thoughts of giving up and throwing his soul into the realm of the Sirens.

He snapped out of the hypnotizing presence and sprinted his way towards Charles who was still lying on the upper deck. The Captain forgot of Windy who was dangling from the sails keeping a lookout for other pirate ships trying to approach the flying cloud. He just hoped that Windy would be wise enough to stay away from the Siren that was now approaching Charles’s icy body.

As he sped up the stairs he saw the Siren at the opposite end of the ship. She was joined by one of her sisters a pair that he would not be able to fight. They were granted passage into this world only when a spirit was about to leave its body. They were granted entry to extract the soul but they very seldom stuck to the rules and would easily steal any other soul that came across their path.

The Captain jumped across Charles’s body and threw down the isolation charm that Charles had taught him a few days earlier. He had mere seconds to get the mermaid tear from the vile and into Charles’s mouth. He removed the tear and felt the beating life it bore inside it, it was a warm feeling that lifted his spirit from the danger that was now threatening him. He slipped it into Charles’s mouth and he could see the light that started to flutter around the mouth of the icy body. The Captain could see the Siren, now furious she would try to sing louder and she would urge her sister to do a soul swap but it would be to no avail because the chains were already creeping up behind them. The very chains that would have taken Charles is now insuring that the Siren return to their festering world.

Windy, the Captain, Charles and the boy were safe. They were also horribly off course since the Captain left the wheel to do its own bidding. The ship had leaped from earth into another world but the Captain was unsure of what un-chartered territory they had ventured into or if the flying cloud had transported them into the world of the Sirens. Everything was dark, but seemingly from nowhere light burst from the sky and they could see the pirate city of Jeruga floating in front of them.

The long and troublesome journey into reality yielded no payoff this time and the pirates were desperately short of any treasure. They had no dreams to trade Azra the local merchant, but they had a human boy who might be worth more than they had bargained for.





The ship neared the dock and landed; Windy quickly wrapped the sails and kept a lookout for Azra who would certainly rush down to claim his treasure, the Captain unlocked the human boy’s cabin and approached the darkness very slowly. The boy lay sprawled across the floor gently snoring as he was having a very unsuspecting dream of pirates and Sirens. The Captain ran over to Charles who was recovering on the floor on the upper deck. He shook him fervently and expected a welcoming smile instead a burst of flames sprang out of Charles’s mouth and completely engulfed the Captain’s face, scorching part of his beard.

Charles awoke and the Captain led him to the boy, the Captain asked, “Would you be able to extract a dream or two for Azra”

Charles smirked and replied, “In my state I am surprised that I am still alive, but I will try”

Charles slowly took out his spyglass with its white orb. Slowly approaching the boy he muttered a few incantations and the device sprang to life. The orb lit up and displayed vivid pictures of the death Siren, Arana. Her beautiful face, black hair and the glowing presence that surrounded her was now displayed on the orb. Charles was surprised to see the Captain crying, he had forgotten that Arana was once married to the Captain but she was abducted by the Siren sisterhood one night to be converted into a death crier. The sirens needed her beauty and voice to trap new souls for when a siren grows old they become mortifyingly atrocious and they loose their ability to sing their ensnaring lullaby.

The orb was now flashing scenes that resembled the human world, but it seemed that the boy was awaking for the dreams were growing fainter and fainter.

The Captain heard Windy screaming alert as Azra approached the ship. The plump man with his magnificently studded coat bowed towards the Captain his eyes stealing a look into the cabin with the boy. His pearly white face gleamed with piggish excitement, but was quickly distracted by the Captain.

“On time as always Azra, have you any good news” the Captain started.

Azra stole a last look at the boy and retorted, “I see that you have a child on your ship, do you have my dreams as we agreed upon or should I call my guards to seize this ship.”

Charles drew closer and at once three bright orbs shot out of his spyglass like a magnificent display of fire works, each of the thundering orbs shone brightly and motioned around Azra. He was drawn aback but he came closer as each orb portrayed its own tale. The more that Azra watched the deeper he was drawn within the orb, the world around him seeming to evaporate as the new tale played out around him. He was happy and as the corners of his mouth writhed into a smile the Captain sighed releasing the fear that the fresh dreams would be insufficient for Azra.

Azra stepped out of the dream and summoned the Captain to his chambers to negotiate a fair price for the dreams that they collected. The Captain agreed and motioned Azra from the ship. Charles summoned the dream orbs and they flew high into the air and rushed down into his hand. Where on contact with his skin they turned into rigid paper like squares he wrapped the in a leather cloth and handed them to the Captain. The squares were hard and rigid but were flexible enough to bend. They had a cold presence but seemed to move when you held them in your hand. They are practically indestructible it was amazing a dream that miraculously transformed into a solid shape. While this was amazing what was more astounding was that they still played their individual dreams in the palm of the Captain’s hand. He watched with amazement as the siren approached him on the small square, he wrapped the cloth around the dreams and jumped off the ship. He followed Azra who was vanishing through the crowd.

Charles who grew tired went to his cabin for a nap. Windy approached the boy to investigate the human first hand. The boy looked very normal the only difference was that he did not have the tattooed markings across his body. The markings which every pirate was born with, everyone had their own special marking that indicated their family and star alignment. The star alignment would dictate what you were to do in your life be it magic, carpentry or any other menial task that encompassed their society. The markings were also where the Pirate race drew there power from. Charles who was a sorcerer had a in depth knowledge of his family’s tattoo markings and that is why he is able to do magic. While Windy knew nothing of his that is why he remained a lookout on the ship.

The boy was still asleep but he was starting to awake, the sounds of the new world growing louder and louder. Windy was at his usual place, the lookout, as the boy awoke.

The boy slowly crept out of his cabin, making sure not to make a noise. He stood up and looked at the ship he was now thrusted upon several hours earlier. It was a massive ship that reminded him of the pirate ship he always dreamed about. The ship had a huge mast in the middle and propped upon it a lookout. As the boy walked about he saw the dock and the market around him. What was strange was that the ship never rocked as ship’s do in water instead it was quite still. He walked to the side of the ship and slowly looked over the side. As he peered he looked straight down for a few hundred meters it appeared that the ship was levitating or gliding in the air. He sprang as he heard the Captain whistling. He hurried back to his cabin his heart nearly jumping out of his chest at the prospect of floating ships and whistling pirates.

Azra and the Captain were in a heated debate over the price for the dreams. Azra ignorantly haggling the price down to a loaf of bread and a bottle of rum. The Captain demanded Azra give him what they had bargained for earlier or the deal was off. Azra eventually after much consideration gave the Captain; a mermaid tear, two banshee howls, and enough food and water to keep the crew and him a while.

As the Captain returned to the ship he saw someone peering from the side, he recognized the boy’s face. He hurriedly jumped on the rope ladder and climbed up to the main deck.

The Captain whistled and Windy jumped from the lookout. Charles who was nearly asleep sprang up with a look of indignation. It would seem that he would not get his rest. The three pirates approached the boy who was now huddled in a corner of the cabin on the main deck. He seemed frightened but they approached, he nearly fainted as he saw the three tattoo covered men who was closing in around him. The Captain lifted him and sat him down outside on the upper deck so that he can be at eye level with them. He expected the worse and he feared his life would end at any moment, but instead he heard the Captain.

“Boy what is your name, I am Captain Dreamfinder and this is my crew”

The boy sat up and said, “My name is Alex, please don’t hurt me.”

The crew and Captain laughed as they boy innocently pleaded that they must not harm him. They would have never thought of harming him but he is of course a child and children do have wild imaginations, which is of course to their advantage.

Charles quickly unpacked the food and soon the boy, crew and Captain were having a feast.

The boy who was very hungry could not keep himself from jamming food down his throat gluttonously. Soon after he finished eating the piece of chicken he asked the Captain about their world.

The Captain finished his rum and chicken and pondered how he was going to explain this world to a child. After a minute of contemplation he started his tale.

“Our world is a very old and historic one, we are but one race in this vast expanse. We are the nomadic Pirates who inhabit the city of Jeruga, the floating city that can never be seen by ground dwellers for it is hidden in the deepest and highest clouds. All pirate ships do not hunt the same treasure. My ship hunts dreams where another might hunt gold. My crew and I travel to your world where we extract dreams from young children. We then come back to Jeruga where we sell the dreams to Azra the merchant. Azra then sells it to the ground dwellers and all the other races”

When the Captain finished his tale the boy’s eyes glistened with the essence of adventure. It was apparent that he had forgotten about his home and family for now.






Windy flew up the mast released the shimmering sail as the Captain commanded the wheel. Charles made sure they backed away from Jeruga safely. The boy who they now knew as Alex ran toward the ship’s front end as it dove away from Jeruga and into the clouds. They were on their way toward their next mission making a journey down toward the treacherous ground dweller race. Alex climbed up the mast toward the lookout point. Windy was sitting with a telescope keeping an eye out for trouble on the horizon. Alex bubbled from inside as he saw the horizon. This place had two suns one in the east and one in the west, one red one blue. It was amazing he could see a forest, in the distance he could see a waterfall bursting from a mountain. This world captivated him and he was smiling dumbly in awe.

The Captain swung the wheel a few times to evade hitting the tree tops. Charles was as always having a rest. He would have to be at full capacity for this journey, trouble was brewing ahead, trouble not one of them would have foreseen.


When Alex awoke the next day to the creaking of the floor boards and a shuffle on the upper deck he knew that trouble was a foot. He ran out of his cabin up and up the stairs, his heart was pounding profusely. He arrived on deck to witness the battle but what he saw made him jump with excitement. He saw Charles teaching Windy a few sword tricks. If the need for battle were to arise Windy would be able to recognize the end over the front of the sword. Charles sensed Alex and gladly greeted him. Alex seemed intent on learning swordsmanship he quickly grabbed a wooden stick and started jousting with an invisible enemy.

Charles laughed at Alex who was now running from one end of the ship to the other. At once he swooped and chased Windy up the mast. Charles was practicing a few of his magic abilities just to have an idea of how much power he has lost since yesterday. At least he was stable able to make a shield. Alex saw the bright blue film of light wrap around Charles. He was amazed and made his down the mast to observe this impossible feat. Charles was now making fire appear from nowhere apparently and soon he conjured a few butterflies into the air. Alex confidently asked Charles, “Can you teach me how to do that?”

Charles was amazed but his look saddened, “You’re human Alex and humans don’t have magical ability.”

Alex shrugged off immediately what the wise wizard said. Charles continued with his enchantments and conjuring but Alex was intent in showing Charles that humans can indeed master magic.

He grabbed his stick and jabbed it at Charles in a play fight, the stick turned to ash as it struck the shield that surrounded the wizard. Charles’s expression went ashen and he was growing in anger for the boy’s mistake. He at once summoned a fire eagle that brilliantly shone as it spat a streak of fire in the air. Alex grew very afraid and hid in his cabin the fire eagle was now turning in the ear bearing down on the boat all its fury. It exemplified the anger inside Charles who was still burning from the boy’s deceit.

Alex scraped his guts together and ran outside to challenge this embodiment of Charles’s anger. The fire eagle swooped and spewed out a flaming inferno. The fire grew hot around Alex who was now trembling all over. Suddenly as Alex breathed out his breath turned icy cold and totally engulfed the flame. The fire eagle was now perched upon the lookout surprised at this human’s display. It was not entirely magic but it was not entirely human. Even Charles the wizard was surprised and quickly made the fire eagle evaporate.

Charles could feel an unlocked presence in the boy that was now standing in front of him. The boy had performed minor magic to protect his flesh against the flames of the inferno. Alex was completely amazed and could not explain what he did. Windy was now hopping up and down on the lookout, jerkily mocking Charles who underestimated the human. Charles asked Alex if he was interested in classes, Alex wholly nodded and accepted the offer.

At this time the Captain was standing on the upper deck smiling at Alex who was presenting a promising future. They would need all the magic they could get for their treacherous journey. The journey will take them down to the realm of the ground dwellers. There they would not be able to flee in their ship for they will be grounded. Their ship will no longer function without the Empire Clouds, a thick network of clouds that emanate from Jeruga for the purpose of flight. The only clouds that travel down that far are the naturally occurring Flying clouds that transported them to the human world, but these clouds were a natural phenomenon and were very inconsistent. Charles could create an Empire Cloud but not one big enough to carry them back to Jeruga. The only way was to visit the woman in the Cloud Cottage in the Ferrgreen forest.

They made their journey through the skies the occasional rain storm passing by. It was cold in the cloud layer as Alex soon realized. He got himself one of the cloaks from the captain’s quarters when a bag of items caught his eye. It was the mermaid tear and the banshee howls. The mermaid tear glimmered in the light and he decided to keep it in his pocket for safe keeping.

He rushed out and saw the captain battling through a thunder storm that was now threatening to obliterate the ships sails, and the entire ship for that matter. Windy was bouncing from one end of the lookout to the next avoiding the lightning. As the lightning hit the sails the sail shone with a bright blue shimmer. It seemed the ship was going faster, the captain duly commanded Charles to try and route the lightning at the sails. As he did so the sails grew in size and shone even brighter blue than before. The ship was definitely going faster but the velocity was taking its toll on the captain who was battling to keep the ship from tipping and swirling into a downwards spiral.

In the distance behind the ship there was another shimmer of light. There was indeed another ship following the Captain and his crew. As the lightning struck the ship behind them it shone with an alarmingly red glint.



When the thunder and lightning finally seized the sail shone with a scarlet after burn. They were slowing down and the ship settled back into normal cruising speed. The captain retired to his cabin for a quick nap, the storm had made him tired but it was also the approaching danger that made him wary and a little distressed.

On the upper deck Alex was taking control of the ship or at least he was trying to. The wheel the captain commanded so easily and delicately would not even move as Alex tried to steer it. Windy was sprawled across the sail, repairing a torn piece of sail that could risk a sudden drop of altitude. Charles had retired to his cabin and was now snoring belligerently.

Alex saw this a fit time to explore the ship, he started by opening the door of the hull. He wanted to see what was inside this ship that gave it the wondrous ability to fly. He snuck inside closed the door silently and he lit the oil lamp. He sneaked through the damp alleys of the hull a chill went down his spine. He saw an enormous dark floating mass inside the hull which resembled the starry night sky. He walked through it and it felt like a sticky material that clung to his skin. It was dank and felt as if it was encircling him with an elusive material that would trap him if he was not careful. The universe that inhabited the hull grew to a halt and mysteriously a room with a light shining from it appeared. It was his room in the human world. It was exactly like he had left it when the pirates abducted him. He walked outside it and as he approached he saw the weirdest thing he saw himself on the bed. He was propped up against his pillow and he was reading a book. The closer he got to this strange anomaly the further away from him it seemed to move. The house then completely vanished into the abyss of the universe and he was left alone in the starry night. He scooped down and grabbed some of the liquid. It seemed to be a thread-like substance that seemed to resemble the same material as the dreams that Charles gave the Captain. He hurriedly made his way out of this expanse before Charles could realize what was going on, not before he groped a handful of the sticky substance and shoved it into his pocket.

Windy was whistling joyous tunes that sounded like a wind chime or birds chortling. As he saw the birds fleeting about in his mind he could feel a bulging in his back pocket. The sticky substance was no longer a substance, it was a bird flying and whistling through the air. Alex ran after it with a bewildered look on his face, the bird now aware of him fleeted from one sail to the next. Windy caught the bird that phased back into the sticky substance. Windy with a surprised look threw the mass to the floor where Alex caught and hurriedly hid this oddly amusing material.

Alex noticed something in the distance as Windy swooped down to investigate Alex’s find. Alex turned around with a frightening look on his face, the approaching danger was no longer approaching it was here, as he fervently rushed to the captain’s quarters.