After our victory, the Captain recovered the sword that had been taken from him, while the crew brought aboard the Dawn Raider's provisions and locker, and searched the ship for additional valuables. In the captain's cabin, they recovered an ornate crossbow and an ominous, large box. After everything useful was transferred aboard, the crew discussed how to proceed with the ship itself. Among us, there were too few survivors to split off a prize crew, and we were still in enemy waters, close to Brigandy Bay, so anything that hindered our progress was out of the question. To ensure that the vessel could not be used by pirates again, the Captain decided to have it scuttled. Although I found this to be a terrible waste, the argument was sound, and I did not speak up against it.
After the deed, we continued our south-easterly course, and after a few days of journey, we had reached the island of Torath-Ka and were following its coastline. Upon opening the box, we found that there was a large axe inside, a rather repugnant implement, and after days of storage, it was still wet with blood, continuously dripping off its blade by some malign supernatural force. I was repulsed by this weapon and wary of the reason why such an item had not been used in the preceding battle. At least, the phenomenon indicated that the axe was magical, and the decision was made that Master Krastus would wield it upon confronting the Captain's Shadow.
This confrontation was scheduled for the same day, and as we reached calm waters, the Captain ordered most of the crew below deck. Midships, Sira and I surveyed from a distance as the rest of our officers assembled on the afterdeck, and the Captain proceeded to stab at his own shadow with his sword. In all other contexts, this would have been a rather silly aspect, but two events thoroughly spoiled the mood.
First, the shadow manifested indeed, rising up from its resting position beneath the Captain's feet, but finding itself encircled, it fused with the shadows of the ship's superstructure, and far faster than we anticipated, emerged out of a shadow close to Sira and myself. Meanwhile, our friends could not pursue it as Master Krastus, under the influence of the terrible axe he was wielding, turned towards them and hacked at them mercilessly.
Sira and I did our best to stand our ground, and when had managed to coordinate our defense, the shadow simply retreated again and joined the fray on the quarterdeck. Our Mage, meanwhile, proved just as unstoppable to us as to his previous enemies, until Carlton managed to fire an aimed shot from his trusty musket directly at the axe's blade, which shattered into a myriad of sharp-edged fragments covering the deck. As Master Krastus came to his senses, the shadow retreated by reattaching to the Captain, and the fight was over, for now.
I tended to the wounds, and we spent the rest of the afternoon clearing the aftermath and considering our actions. We would have to prepare better, if we were to try again, but none of these, I reckoned, were a surprise to the Shadow, cast on the cabin's walls, silently listening in. The next morning, I found that while my own sleep had been rather uneventful, several of the crewmembers had been wracked by debilitating nightmares, clearly the work of the Shadow again. Together with his previous loss of control to the axe, especially Master Krastus seemed severely traumatised by the experience. The scurillian, normally a paragon of assertiveness, appeared wary of every single shadow surrounding him, but who could blame him for that after the ordeal?
Still, the Shadow's retreat meant that we had struck a nerve, metaphorically speaking, and the next day, we went ashore to finalise the deed. To prevent the evil phantom from escaping, we needed to provide an area without any shadow, and set up a arena of kindling and black powder on the beach. In the centre, we dug a hole, so that there was exactly one spot for the Shadow to manifest. With all of us inside the circle, we commenced by igniting the wood, and my friends assaulted their target with the magic blade, the newfound crossbow and other implements. After but a heartbeat, the Shadow dissipated with an undescribable sound. Stepping out from the circle, we saw that indeed, the Captain was left with no shadow whatsoever. It appeared the deed was done, but only time could tell if the threat was really over.
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