Fury's Whisper sliced straits, crew grumbles venom. Hooch greed rotted; exposed spy-deckhand rallied. Midnight ambush: shadows knifed. Elara roused to blade-neck. "Curtains, Cap'n."Kai lunged hammock, machete back-stabbing mate—tip punching chest. Bedlam: deck melee, revolvers booming skulls, shivs gutting. Rebel disemboweled loyal, steaming loops; Elara decapitated, noggin bowling. Powder torched hold, blazes gnawing.Kai demon-dueled, hacking limbs—arms off, throats gashed crimson. Elara backed, slugs dropping trio. Corpse-heap slicked; final charged—she stomped larynx.Quiet reigned, hands thinned. Gore-caked, embraced carnage. "Steel buys faith," Kai wheezed, claiming lips. Cabin adrenaline birthed rut—hands shredding, slams survival cadence. Crests wrecked fatigue.Sun mended; leaner, ironclad. Gator maw loomed, end-guardians pre-Heart.
