16 June, Atlantic Ocean, 1717

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Finally, a moment of solace. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that the life of a pirate captain is an easy one because I can assure you it isn’t as luxurious as the stories make it out to be. We were attacked by an English privateer this morning. It was quite a hard battle, but fortunately, those English fools can’t aim to save their lives. Took us an hour to sink the bastards. But fortune still wasn’t in our favour, as right after that, we were spotted by a patrol from the English navy. Naturally, when faced with their fleet of man o’ wars[1], we were outgunned and forced to retreat. Needless to say, I didn’t exactly have time to write. There is truly never a dull moment in the life of a free man.

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Regardless, our enemies now lie at the bottom of the ocean, and as a result, I am now free to continue chronicling my adventures.

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To continue where I last left off, I believe I was about to reveal a closely guarded secret entrusted to my crew.

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***

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It was late November in the year 1715; a bitter winter that was. We had been active pirates for only two years, and our infamy had yet to grow beyond the Atlantic Ocean, where we’d begun our journey. While docked in a port, one of our crewmen heard rumour of a large shipment of gold and various spices, travelling from Argentina to England. We argued for a while whether the source of said rumour was reliable, but I ultimately made the call and decided to risk the journey. Despite the unlikelihood of such a bountiful treasure, and the potential danger of sailing north in the winter, I knew in my heart that our collective sense of determination would boil our blood to the point where we could weather any cold.

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Even so, it was a long voyage, and we ended up losing eleven of our crew to frostbite and disease. I distinctly recall several of the men approaching me with concerns that some of the others were going mad. What’s humorous is that when I investigated these allegations, those who’d been deemed mad argued that it was their accusers that were crazy. Desperation makes for weary travels indeed.

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After a month and a half of sailing, we found the rumoured vessel of treasure, The Royal Blade, on the dusk of January 3rd,1716. The ship wasn’t too large, a Carrack[2], based on the mast layout. It was lightly armed, with only a few cannons, and no visible mortar or swivel guns. At first I thought it would be a simple plunder, oh how wrong I was. I had failed to notice the lurking vessel just beyond The Royal Blade; an enormous man o’ war, armed with several levels of cannons, a mortar, and six swivel guns.

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We were outgunned and in the open. I immediately ordered the men to raise all our sails, and steered the ship to the side, ensuring we were as far out of the man o’ war’s range as possible while still maintaining firing distance with The Royal Blade. Before the enemy had the chance to notice us, we fired our mortar directly at the trading vessel, destroying its mast instantly and leaving it dead in the water.

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With our plunder disabled, we sailed headlong into firing range of the man o’ war, staring down that deadly beast with the determination of the devil. It was mere minutes before the enemy ship turned towards us and fired its main cannons. Fortunately, the wind was in our favour, causing the majority of the cannonballs to land in the water around us, with only a few connecting and doing minimal damage.

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Taking full advantage of their reloading cannons, we turned and fired our own weapons, striking the man o’ war’s exposed side and tearing several holes in their thick hull.

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The crew let out a collective cheer as the shots connected. Eager to finish the fight, we let all our sails loose and began moving in for the kill. The enemy ship fired its mortar in an attempt to stop our approach, but despite the near pitch blackness, with my years of sailing experience and natural instinct, I was able to predict where the mortar shots would land, and dodge accordingly.

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To my surprise, rather than firing their second set of cannons, the man o’ war angled towards our ship and raised their sails; the wind pushed fiercely, and the enormous vessel began charging towards us. Noticing the extravagant metal ram protruding from the front of the enemy ship, I quickly realized that they intended to tear right through us.

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I knew without a doubt that we’d be ripped to pieces by a ship that size. Luckily, I was able to make a hard turn at the very last second, causing us to veer off to the right and scrape against the side of the humongous vessel.

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Glancing upwards, I noticed several of the enemy crew looking down on us from their significantly taller ship. They began throwing large hooks at the side of our ship, chaining the two together and restricting any escape. Instinctually, several of my men moved in to cut the hooks loose, but little did they know the enemy had set a deadly trap.

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A group from the enemy crew peered over the side of their ship, muskets in hand and opened fire, killing six of my defenseless men instantly and maiming several others. With the Scoundrel’s Liberty out of my control, I quickly leapt into action, ordering my remaining crew to retreat below deck before the enemy had the chance to fire again. The crew responded accordingly, rushing to the main hatches, and fleeing. The majority of my men managed escaped the firing squad, with only two more being shot and killed before they could reach the hatch.

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Once I was below deck, I looked to my crew, who were understandably shaken and scared. “What are we going to do, Captain?” My first mate, a Trinidad-borne man by the name of Cato Aguyar, asked in a tone of concern.

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It was in that instant that I decided I could hold nothing back. With the overwhelming odds against us, and the promise of certain death for me and my men, I had little other choice.

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After a moment of silence, I looked up at Cato, the rest of my crew and spoke. “Men, you are about to see something that may shock or scare you,” I said, prompting several of them to glance at me in confusion. “Despite what you may think of me after you see this, it is the only way to ensure our survival.” They offered no response and continued staring at me as though I had gone mad.

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With that, I turned away from them and began focusing my mind. The dark of night fueled me, and my power was at its peak. Then, in the span of a second, my physical body transformed completely into a dark mist. I could hear the exclamations of fear and bewilderment from my crew, as my humanoid form lost its shape and became a gas.

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Once the transformation was complete, I used my gaseous body to float upwards, moving through the tiny cracks in the floorboards until I reached the open air. Upon rising from the upper decks, I saw that several of the English crewmen had already boarded our ship. They gazed at me in wonder and terror, as though I were some sort of demonic monster or all-powerful deity.

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One of the men seemed particularly frightened by my presence, so much so that when I turned to look at him, he raised his weapon and fired in an act of panic. I didn’t even flinch as the bullet passed through my gaseous body harmlessly. The English seamen gasped in terror.

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“It’s a Devil! An immortal Devil!” One of the soldiers cried, causing the rest of them to react fearfully. Without me even moving a muscle, the rest of the enemy crew screamed in terror before fleeing back to their own ship, desperately clambering up the side of the man o’ war to escape me.

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Ignoring them, I continued floating high up into the sky. Once I reached the top of the enormous enemy ship, I noticed musket-men standing on each of the two platforms at the top the ship’s respective masts. I decided to begin my attack there and moved towards one of them.

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The man saw me coming and gasped in fear. He attempted to fire his weapon at me, but it proved to be futile. I passed through him swiftly, reverting back to my humanoid form. Just as the soldier attempted to attack me, I withdrew my cutlass and slashed his throat, killing the man instantly.

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I quickly turned my gaze onto the second musket-man, who was lining up a shot at me. With inhuman reflexes I dodged the bullet by phasing to the side and fired back with an instantaneous shot from my flintlock pistol, hitting the Englishman right between the eyes.

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After dispatching the two musket-men, I looked down onto the ship, only to see the entirety of the enemy crew staring up at me. Considering that most of them had witnessed my supernatural feats back on the Scoundrel’s Liberty, it was unsurprising that they viewed me with such fear and envy; to them I was a monster of unspeakable power, and all they could do was stare and wait for death to take them. Fortunately for them, they didn’t have to wait long.

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With my powers at their very strongest, I leapt down at them, weapon drawn, and the battle truly began. To their credit, the English crew put up quite a fight, but they were no match for me. I moved as a blur, dodging, and blocking every strike they threw at me, and countering with fatal precision. At one point, a crewman managed to hit me with a well-timed musket shot to the shoulder, but this only fueled my bloodlust and I rushed at the man, slashing him across the chest before picking him up by the throat and throwing him into the sea below.

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But despite my immense power, I was still vastly outnumbered, and began to grow weary from the constant barrage of attacks. Just as I was about to succumb to my injuries, something caught my eye; several of my crew led by Cato, climbing onto the man o’ war with weapons drawn.

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“With me, boys!” I called. Admittedly, I was unsure whether they’d be willing to follow my orders after realizing what I was, but they proved their undying loyalty by letting out a triumphant cry and rushing into the fight. With their support, the battle was over in minutes. Most of the enemy had been killed, but the captain and several others remained.

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Once the surviving crew had been detained, I approached the captain and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him up like the trophy he was. “W-What are you going to do to us?” he inquired fearfully.

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I grinned, my sharp fangs illuminated by the moonlight. “Well, my friend, fortunately for you, I don’t plan on killing you needlessly,” I spoke in accented English, my tone reassuring, before dropping him and turning around. “Come on men, our treasure awaits,” I called, earning a triumphant shout in response. Just before I descended from the disabled man o’ war, I looked back at the terrified captain. “Consider yourself lucky, Captain. Your life has been spared today by the Spanish Devil, Captain Diego Cormac.” 

 

After my men had finished looting the large war vessel, we made our way to the trading ship. Unsurprisingly, they offered little resistance after witnessing what I could do and surrendered their goods without any complications. Once all of the loot was loaded onto the Scoundrel’s Liberty, we sailed away, leaving what was left of the English crewmen adrift in the ocean.

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***

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As I expected, Cato and the others were insistent on me sharing more about my unique powers and what exactly I was. Being an honourable man, I agreed, and stood before the crew to explain myself. I explained that I am of an unnamed species that has existed for thousands of years; that we had supernatural powers like the transformation they witnessed; strength, speed, and even the ability to control a person’s mind. Some were skeptical, but most of the crew seemed to believe me. Although they had accepted what I was up to that point, I had yet to explain the more disturbing aspects of my kind.

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I carefully explained the fact that my kind are often tempted to consume the blood of various animals, including humans. Some of the crew became uneasy, understandably. I did point out that should I remain with them, I could limit my blood drinking to the bodies of our enemies. Inevitably, I ended my speech by telling the men that if they felt I was unfit to serve as their captain, I would be more than happy to disembark at the next port and leave the Scoundrel’s Liberty at their mercy.

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It came to a vote, and I don’t hesitate to inform you that I began to tear up after the crew voted unanimously for me to stay on the ship. Cato told me that after all they had been through with me, the crew was my family, and we don’t turn our backs on family.

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Since then, our bond has grown even further. With my powers revealed we’ve been able to take on bolder targets and grow our infamy even further. Now I am known across the seven seas as the dreaded Spanish Devil, Captain Diego Cormac.

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FOOTNOTES

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[1] Large warships used primarily from the 17th to the 19th century.

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[2] A European trading vessel utilized from the 16th to the 18th century.