The third challenge had finally arrived. This time, because Kael Driftsbane and his crew had lost the previous round, the right to choose the next challenge fell into their hands. The losing side of a duel or contest earned the privilege of determining the next trial.
A battered pirate ship, its dark wood creaking with every heave of the waves, drifted slowly toward the arranged meeting point. Its tattered black sails flapped like shredded wings, while its Jolly Roger—a screaming skull with red-painted tears—loomed high above, casting an eerie presence over the dark sea.
Kael Driftsbane stood at the bow, his eyes locked on the ship waiting in the distance. Beside him, Talindra, Kanth— still looking pale, weak and shaken from his previous encounter Angel Of Death— and several of their crew members watched silently. Their ship came to a halt a safe distance from Veins Peak Island, where another vessel waited for them.
