“No, you’re right, Mr. Smee. James did win the day. If it weren’t for his bravery we would have all taken our last voyage on the Flying Dutchman.” Blackbeard clapped his arm around James, bringing him in for a hug. “Thank you, James. I owe you my life. I think you know I was going to ask you to be my first mate when I invited you to dine with me this evening, but I think I have something you’ll like even more,” said Blackbeard with a smile. “Now if the rest of you will excuse me, I would like to talk with my first mate alone.”

Smee and Skylights left the room, but James spoke before Blackbeard could share what was on his mind. “Excuse me, sir, but you actually saved my life down there with the Flying Dutchman. I can’t take the credit.”

Blackbeard clasped James’s shoulder and then patted him on the back. “What makes you think we made it out alive?” he said, laughing.

James always felt Blackbeard had a strange sense of humor, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he was being serious. Everything that had happened had seemed impossible, and dreamlike. He’d wondered several times while he was underwater if he was living or dead. “If you hadn’t been brave enough to dive in after me we wouldn’t have had that enchanted tinderbox, and every single one of us would have been taken to the other side. All I did was use it.” Blackbeard picked up the wooden box with the carving of the eye and handed it to James.

“This is yours now, my son. And I shall tell you all about it on our way to the Floating Boneyard!”

Chapter VI

In every corner of the many worlds are places like the Floating Boneyard, where ships go to die, or await to be reborn. As the Silent Wraith entered the watery grave, James was astounded by Blackbeard’s navigational skill traversing such tight spaces.

The entrance was a marvel. It was flanked by two enormous statues of Poseidon that stretched taller than the highest mountain, and once through the cyclopean gates they glided past ships in all manner of disrepair. James had never seen such ships, gilded in gold, some with sirens as their figurehead, and others adorned with ornately carved Krakens and skeletons, and flying colorful flags. The Viking ships were the most spectacular, with their stately mythical figureheads of sea serpents with great horns, and depictions of their gods and runes carved into their expertly crafted hulls. He had always imagined Viking ships to be much larger, but their smaller size did not diminish their majesty and wonder. Some were in pristine condition, looking as if they were waiting for a captain to claim them, while others looked as though only a miracle kept them afloat.