Pirates of the Caribbean 04 The Sword of Cortes (5 page)

Jack pointed the Sword at the island, "Land ho, mate!" he shouted, and the ship sped into port, docking beautifully."Couldn't have done it better myself," Jack said to the Sword. He gripped the eye of Stone-Eyed Sam in his left hand and wrapped his fingers around the hilt of the Sword of Cortes with his right.

"Ready or not,
here I come," Jack said, less
confidently than he would have liked.He tapped the gangplank with the Sword, and it was lowered onto the dock. As he descended the ramp, Arabella, Jean, and Fitzwilliam ran toward the boat. Arabella and Jean had wrapped themselves in blankets to keep warm. Fitzwilliam was wearing a fine coat. Jack could never figure out how that boy's clothes stayed so pristine, and how he managed to look dapper even in the most severe circumstances."Jack!" Arabella called out. "It's been days! Where have ye been?"

"Days, lass?" Jack asked sincerely. "Felt like no more than a few hours."

"It has been all we could do just to keep warm. You took the only boat in port, so we could not even sail to the warm ocean just one hundred feet offshore. We have been subsisting on s
craps of food left here by the
people of this island before they vanished." Fitzwilliam said."And Tumen's condition has worsened," Arabella told him."Jack," Jean said somberly, "we don't think he's going to make it."Jack shook his head. "Oh, ye of little faith!" he said confidently. "I have all the power of the Caribbean here in my hands. We'll fix everything right away, including this nasty weather," he said dusting some snow off his shirt."With all due respect, 'Captain,'" Fitzwilliam said sarcastically, "that does not address the situation at hand. What good is all the power in the universe, if your crew is starving, freezing, and dying? Were it not for the fire at the inn, we would already be dead. Caribbean structures were not me
ant for this kind of weather."

"Oh, come on," Jack said, clearly frustrated. "Let us go to the inn and heal the poor chap. Then I'll go conquer Cortes, and we'll be off this island, with the Sword, in no time at all. . . ."The others rushed back to the inn, and Jack followed close behind.Inside, a huge fire was keeping the room at a comfortable temperature. But the specter of illne
ss and--Jack hated to think it
death hung over the room."Tumen, lad!" Jack shouted, smiling.Tumen was wheezing heavily, and could barely lift his head. Jack sat beside him casually, with one leg bent and the other stretched out. "Look, mate," Jack said, "I've got the Sword here. I am getting better at using it, and I can fix you so you're right as rain. Just give me a second," Jack said, standing up besid
e Tumen and flailing his hands
theatrically as if he were casting a mystical incantation.Jack pulled the Sword from its scabbard and waved it over Tumen.But Tumen's response was not what Jack had anticipated. Instead of moaning a sigh of relief, jumping up, and thanking Jack for saving him, Tumen began to cough violently.Arabella stood near the corner of the room, holding her hand over her mouth, choking back tears.

Fitzwilliam stood nearby, his arms folded and his legs planted firmly apart, glaring angrily at Jack."We could have taken him away from this cursed island to a place where he could have recovered," Fitzwilliam said. "Instead, you sailed off for who knows what reason, while the chap laid here suffering." Jack was get
ting angry. He was not sure if
he was angry at himself, at Cortes, or at the Sword, but he decided to take it out on Fitzwilliam. He pointed the Sword at the aristocrat."Listen here, mate, I've had about enough of you and your mouthing off," Jack said. "Now back off and I'll take care of this. Savvy?"Fitzwilliam did not respond. Jean's mouth was quivering and he was no longer able to hold back his tears.

Constance mewed pitifully by Tumen's
side. Jack did his magical incantation
han
d
thing again and waved the Sword over Tumen once more. This time, Tumen screamed in agony.It was clear that the Sword was having a negative impact on him. Jack was beginning to realize that it was the Sword or Cortes, or
a combination of the two, that
had made Tumen sick in the first place. Jean ran to Arabella and clutched at her for comfort. Arabella held him close, trying to remain strong. Fitzwilliam's anger was welling."His blood will be on your hands," Fitzwilliam said to Jack."No," Jack said flatly. "His blood will be on no one's hands because he is going to be all right." He leaned in toward Tumen. "Did you hear me, mate? You're going to be all right," he said nervously. Fighting the urge to shed tears himself, he sprang up and ran toward the door."Jack, where are ye going?" Arabella asked."I am going to have a talk with the devil himself," Jack said."We are comin
g with you," Fitzwilliam said.

"No!" Jack shouted. "You are all staying here. Captain's orders."Jack threw the door open and disappeared
into the snow.

CHAPTER TEN

Jack stormed over to the snowy hillside cemetery where he had left Cortes before he set out to find the eye of Stone-Eyed Sam.Sure enough, Cortes was there, waiting for Jack's return. The conquistador was wearing the same evil smile that he had flashed at Jack before."You, there!" Jack called out.Cortes did not move."You,
Cortes, I'm back!" Jack said.
"I am not surprised," Cortes said. "With the power of the Sword at your side, there was little doubt in my mind that you would complete your mission."

"Yes, well, it wasn't just the Sword," Jack said. "In fact, my wiles proved a lot more beneficial to me than the Sword itself. The blasted thing didn't work against half the adversaries I faced, anyway. . . ."Cortes was taken aback."You were in Davy Jones's lair?" Cortes asked, noting that those who come from Davy Jones's locker were the only beings who could not be affected by the Sword's power."Right you are!" Jack said.Jack knew this wasn't entirely true. Isla Sirena moved back and forth from Davy Jones's locker to the surface world. It wasn't in Davy Jones's
locker when Jack visited it.
At least, he didn't think it was. But saying he had been to Davy Jones's locker and back sounded impressive."Impossible," Cortes grumbled."No, actually it's not. And I'm living proof of it."Cortes looked skeptical."So, you've brought back my stone, have you?" Cortes asked."I have brought back the stone, yes. But I beg to differ on whose stone it is. See, mate, I say it's mine. I won it fair and square not long ago on Isla Esquelitica," Jack said.*Cortes's eyes glowed a deeper shade of red. "Give it to me," he demanded."Not till you do something for me," Jack said. "Now I
know that sounds like a big favour
to ask of you, who has done little or nothing for me since we've met. But think of all I did for you. You'd still be six feet under, or in an urn or a mausoleum somewhere if I didn't call you back from the dead." Jack smiled proudly.

"So, I think you owe me one," he whispered to Cortes, trying not to lean in too closely to the putrid conquistador."What is your price?" Cortes asked, angrily."I want you to show me how to use this sword here," Jack said, tapping at the hilt of the Sword of Cortes. "Fully and completely. Savvy?"Cortes laughed haughtily."Fool. You think this is all about you," Cortes said. "You think the power of the Sword was
meant for the likes of you
, who are l
ittle more than a bilge rat."

"I take offense to that," Jack said. "Were I a rat, I would certainly not reside in a bilge! I am a captain, after all."

"The power of the Sword is meant for me and for my purposes alone. I worried that a mind as sharp as yours would have figured that out by now. But it was also why I chose you over your little friends. You possess the wit, cunning, and grace to have retrieved the stone for me. And the stone is all I need to regain absolute power. Did you not notice that the Sword only worked in order to advance your goal--my goal, really--of procuring the stone?"

"I did notice that, in fact," Jack said. But, in truth, he had been so amazed by the Sword's power that he hadn't realized it till now. He had wanted the Sword because he thought it would give him freedom. But now he found that the Sword was enslavi
ng him
to Cortes. No matter what power the sword offered, no payoff was great enough for Jack to relinquish what
he treasured most in the world
his freedom.

"I was not able to retrieve the eye myself," Cortes said, "because the seas are far too dangerous for me. Davy Jones wants the Sword, Tia Dalma would surely want to reign in my power, and the Aztec spirits ar
e still bitterly opposed to me.
But now, that will all change. With the Sword I will have godlike power, and with the stone eye, I will control the spirits, for they are contained in its confines. I will rule not only the Caribbean, but the Seven Seas!" Cortes shouted.

Jack suddenly understood what Tia Dalma meant when she said the eye was a prison. He laughed quietly, thinking how ridiculous it was
that he had been carrying
powerful spirits around in his pocket.Then Jack heard someone call his name. He looked down the hill and saw Arabella running toward him."Jack! Ye must come quickly," she said, trying to cat
ch her breath. "It's Tumen
" She trailed off, trying to compose
herself. She
didn't need to say any more. Jack knew immediately what had happened. He had just lost his youngest c
rewmate. Tumen was gone.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Jack was furious. After all he'd been through, he had not been able to save Tumen. Cortes sensed Jack's fury and laughed."You won't be laughing in a second, mate," Jack said threateningly."You're a fool, Jack Sparrow," Cortes replied. "You cannot defeat the dead.""Oh, that's right, I can't," Jack said. Then he held up the stone eye, "But this
can."Cortes looked concerned.
"I've lied. That stone is good for nothing." Cortes laughed dismissively.

But Jack could sense his nervousness."Then why do you want it so badly?" Jack asked.Cortes was silent."Want it?" Jack teased, extending the stone out to Cortes. As Cortes reached out to grab the stone, Jack jerked it back. "Sorry, mate, I told you it's mine.""Even if that stone had any sort of power, you would not know how to unleash it," Cortes said. "Just as you do not know how to use the power of the Sword."

"See, mate, that's where you're wrong," Jack said in a smart tone. He whipped out the two beads that Tia Dalma had given him.Cortes stared at Jack condescendingly. "You think you can unleash any power the stone might hav
e with those? What are they,
anyway? Bits of rock? Pieces of candy? Bah!" Cortes cackled arrogantly."No, they were a gift from Tia Dalma."Cortes's eyes grew wide at the name."And she taught me how to use them . . ." Jack began to twirl his long hair, until he had twisted several strands into one long lock. "... unlike you, who really didn't teach me a thing about how to use that dumb sword. You know, you really have to get your act together, Cortsy." Jack took the red bead and threaded it through the lock he'd made."You're going down, mate, and your cursed sword is going with you," Jack said to Cortes. He slipped the white bead onto the lock and knotted his hair at the end to hold the beads in place. Then he held the stone eye up to Cortes's decaying face.

Yet not even Jack was pre
pared for what happened next.
The instant the beads touched--red over white--the stone eye exploded. Streams of light burst from it like fireworks, whistling skyward. They expanded as they hit the air and dispersed in all directions, flying from the snowy island out over the Caribbean Sea and beyond."The spirits!" Cortes yelled.They emerged from the small rock in what seemed like an endless flood, and they filled the sky like the aurora borealis. There was a moment of relative quiet, and then the loudest explosion yet rocked the island. From the fire and smoke emerged a spirit larger and more humanlike than all the others. The spirit faced Cortes, who looked disturbed."Montecuhzoma," Cortes mumbled."I see you two know each other," Jack said. He ext
ended his hand to the spirit.

"Jack Sparrow here, mate. Very nice to meet you."

Montecuhzoma shot Jack a warning glance."All right, then," Jack said, stepping back. "Carry on.""Cortes," the spirit said, "you disgraced me and my empire. Because of you I was stoned by my own subjects. Know now that I am here to retrieve the power you stole."Arabella moved close to Jack and clung to him."Jack, do you know what's happening?" she asked."Well, the true fact of the matter is ... I have not the slightest idea," Jack replied."I think Cortes called the spirit 'Montecuhzoma,'" Arabella said. "That's the word in Nahuatl, the Aztec language, for Montezuma--an em
peror of the Aztec empire. He
was subordinate to Cortes, thinking the conquistador was the god Quetzequotl. Even when Cortes began to destroy the traditions of the Aztec empire and massacred its people, Montecuhzoma did not relent in his support. Perhaps the Sword had something to do with his loyalty. In the end, Montecuhzoma was stoned with rocks and darts by his own people for urging them to retreat rather than to fight the Spaniards. Some say he died loyal to Cortes."

"Well, looks like that friendship didn't last terribly long in the afterlife," Jack said.Jack felt a sudden tingle in his hand. The Sword was glowing again. And then it vanished . . . and reappeared moments later in Cortes's hand!"That Sword held sway over me once," Montecuhzoma said. "Never will it again!"Ignori
ng his warning, Cortes lunged
toward his opponent with the Sword drawn. Montecuhzoma lifted his hands and created an energy field, which blocked the Sword."Wow," Jack said in awe.Montecuhzoma spread his arms and two Swords of Light appeared in his hands."I don't understand," Arabella said."Love, nothing has made much sense since we set sail from Tortuga."