We learned that James was headed for Hispaniola.

"Hand the sails! All tops, gallants, and jibs!" Soon we were running before the wind. Hours went by with no sign of Breaking Dawn. Finally, there was a speck on the horizon. It got bigger and bigger.

"Breaking Dawn is off the port bow." We kept gaining on them.

"Man your positions!"

"Fire!" The cannon on the bow fired into the aft tower of Breaking Dawn. We came abreast.

"Fire!" Cannons belched fire and smoke like fire breathing dragons. The explosion tossed men off their feet. The lucky ones died instantly. Burning debris and sharp splinters rained down in a deadly shower killing and injuring many others. I swung unto the deck of Breaking Dawn.

"James!" I rushed across the deck. "Prepare to die."

I gave him the old heave ho. James sunk like a cannonball. My crew resumed the attack as soon as I dived in after James. He surfaced, coughing and spluttering as he fought to clear his lungs.

"Watch."

Cannonballs broke his ship apart. Sails and men burned like torches. Instead of a ball, one cannon had been stuffed with shrapnel. Men dropped dead like flies. Another explosion erupted on Breaking Dawn. The ship creaked and groaned as it tilted, then capsized. The water was littered with burning debris, and men, mostly dead. The survivors clung to anything that was afloat. I towed James to The Avenger. Ropes were dropped. I tied one around him, and he was hoisted. The survivors were picked up.

We had decided on James' punishments beforehand, so Emmett tied him to a mast.

"You'll be flogged by me and my brothers in front of your remaining crew." As he spoke, he cut most of James' clothes off.

Jasper, Emmett and Mike each administered thirteen lashes with a cat-o'-nine tails to which we had added metal balls and barbed wires. Blood and bits of flesh flew through the air with each lash. James' screams rent the air. The deck around him was blood red. After his whipping, buckets of water were dashed on him. He hissed, as the salt water doubled his pain. The brothers thought of their father who had undergone a similar punishment on James' ship, but had refrained from whipping him to death.

"Throw the prisoners in the brig."

The next day, a rope was passed under the ship from port to starboard. James' hands were secured to the rope, and his legs were bound together. Then he was thrown overboard and dragged along the bottom of the ship. He suffered greatly but did not drown. His limp body was pulled out of the water. His skin was cut all over from the barnacles, adding to his stripes from the whipping. Left untreated, he's die a slow, painful death from gangrene or blood poisoning. He'd get no mercy from us.

Finally, we marooned him on the tiniest, most deserted island on the map. The rest of our prisoners were turned over to the Royal Navy and the Hale brothers recounted the atrocities they'd suffered under James. Now the navy had witnesses to corroborate their story. In an unexpected turn of events, we'd been asked to work as privateers to help rid the seas of piracy.

"Edward, there's a boy looking for a job."

I looked across the deck. Our gazes locked. Before I realized it, I was across the deck. Not a boy, but a petite girl dressed in breeches with dirty smudges on her cheeks, and a filthy cap pulled almost to her eyebrows. I tried not to think of what could have befallen her if a sailor had forced her unto his ship.

I dragged her to my cabin.

"Sit."

Hoping to scare her off, I recounted all my evil deeds.

"You should have turned them all over to the law, but you did what you thought you had to."

"I'm a murderer."

"No, you avenged your parents' deaths."

We had lots to discuss, like why she was dressed as a boy, but we have forever.

Fate had a strange way of messing with my life. My parents had been killed, but I'd been reborn a superhuman. I'd killed my enemies, yet instead of being punished, I'd been hailed a hero for ridding the seas of those men. I don't know what's next, but with Isabella at my side, my life will never be dull.

It truly was a challange staying under 6000 words

Information on punishments for pirates came from this site - (http:)(/pirates.)(hegewisch.)(net/punish.)html