Cortes - Grand Barnacle

Jack lifted the Sword and pointed it at his little fishing boat. And a fishing boat is all it really was--no matter how much he wanted to believe it was a great ship. His crewmate Fitzwilliam never missed an opportunity to remind Jack of that fact. But Jack had come to love that boat. And so he was not only shocked and shaken, but also hit with a great pang of grief, when both the bow and the stern began to split. The crack made its way up the center of the Barnacle, and finally the boat began to break in two. Bits of wood from the splintered deck flew through the air. Then, a series of blasts shook the sea. A cloud of smoke rose up around the docks where the boat had been moored. What have I done? Jack wondered with shock and regret. Far below in the snow-covered town, Arabella and Fitzwilliam ran from the inn where they'd taken shelter. They strained to see what had happened to their boat. And so did Jack. Then the cloud of dust and smoke began to clear. Through the veil of the snowfall, the Barnacle emerged. But it was no longer a wee fishing boat. It had been completely transformed. Jack stared out at the ship and smiled proudly. GRAND BARNACLE was now painted across its broadside. The ship was so large it barely fit in the dock. It had become a glorious war vessel, fit with multiple decks and sails and cannons . . . cannons upon cannons upon cannons!

"It suits you well, Jack Sparrow," Cortes said. Jack continued to stare, at a loss for words. Nearly.

"But if I'd have had difficulty sailing a boat on my own, how in the name of all that's blessed and blasted am I going to sail a ship?" he asked, getting a hold of himself.

Cortes took the blade from Jack once again and tapped him on the shoulder with it. Jack felt a shock of energy run through him, stronger than any of the previous jolts from the Sword.

"Now," Cortes said, "you have everything you need." Jack held the Sword up to the Grand Barnacle once more, and the huge sails of what was now the greatest warship ever to sail the Caribbean unfurled.

***

The Sword of Cortes, Chapter 3