I dodged a swipe of his cutlass and felt a great freedom come across me, as a man must when he sees the door of his prison open'd after many, many years, yet the feeling was not mine but that of the beast. The moon was of no consequence, for the years alone had made us too close for such things to matter, and like in the stories I had heard of my father's father, I call'd to the beast and set it free.
The mantle of the beast fell upon me, and through the smok'd lens did I see the look of surprise come across the face of Slaader. I felt the beast's displeasure at my cloathes, and its hunger for flesh, and its rage at the dead boatswain.
In the moments it took for the beast to take my form, Slaader brought his sword down in a mighty swing, as a man takes an axe to a tree. The blow did catch us in the shoulder, splitting bone and flesh, but the beast had enough of me at that point that the wound did heal over, in a word like a baking pie which closes itself up with only a faint scar, and even that was hidden by the beast's fur.
The beast's claws lash'd out as a whip, tearing open the boatswain's stomach to spill his innards cross the shore. Yet Slaader noticed the wound no more than the beast had its, and swung his cutlass again. The beast swept away the blade as a man sweeps away flies, and its claws cut at the boatswain's flesh once more, yet again he ignored it.
Slaader brought his own hand around in a fist to strike the beast and O the pain! The man wore a ring of purest silver, tho' he knew not the power it gave him, for he raised his cutlass again as the beast reel'd back. Recovering, it leapt forward and closed its mighty jaws on the man's arm, tearing at flesh and crushing bone, and Slaader's arm fell to the sand, the cutlass still clutch'd in its hand.
At this the man sent forth a mighty blow with his undamaged hand, his ringed hand, and this strike sprawl'd the beast back cross the shore, and it yelpt like a dog which had been beaten, tho' only for a moment. It turned and snarl'd. The boatswain grabb'd his sword with his other hand.
Slaader stepped forward again and then, most suddenly, did his head burst like an over ripe melon dropp'd from the vine. His body stagger'd on the sand and rais'd the cutlass once more, and then the lamp light from his ink grew dim and he fell.
A few yards away, Friday stood with his musket at the shoulder, his aim once again shown to be true and good. He look'd at the beast for a moment, and thru the smok'd lens I was pleased to see Friday did not appear as meat, but as a member of the pack to be protected. And this thought, nay, this vague impression, was scarce cross my mind when I observ'd I was gazing upon my man with my own eyes and not those of the beast. My legs were weak and I fell to the sand, not far from the headless body of Slaader.
"Master," said Friday with a glare at the piratical boatswain's body. "Is you safe?"
I felt the beast settle beneath my skin and met my faithful servant's gaze. "We are safe, Friday," said I to him. "We are safer than ever we have been before." At which we burnt the body of Slaader there on the shore where it lay, and then Friday helped me to our castle and got me into my hammock, which had once belong'd to a long dead mate whose name I had never learnt.
Final preparations, those left behind,
my deliverance
I slept very sound, till I was something surprised with the noise of a gun. Presently starting up, I heard a man call me by the name of "Governor, Governor," and I knew Burke's voice. When climbing up to the top of the hill, there he stood, and, pointing to the ship, he embraced me in his arms. "My dear friend and deliverer," said he, "there's your ship, for she is all yours, and so are we, and all that belong to her."
I cast my eyes to the ship, and there she rode within little more than half a mile of the shore. They had weighed her anchor as soon as they were masters of her, and the weather being fair, had brought her to just against the mouth of the little creek. The tyde being up, the captain had brought the pinnacle in near the place where I at first landed my rafts, and so landed just at my door.
I saw my deliverance, indeed, visibly put into my hands. A large ship just ready to carry Friday and me away whither I pleased to go. At first, for some time, I was not able to answer Burke one word. He perceived the surprise, and pulled a bottle out of his pocket, and gave me a dram of cordial which he had brought on purpose for me. After I had drank it, I sat down upon the ground.
All this time the poor man was in as great an ecstasy as I, only not under any surprise as I was. He said a thousand kind and tender things to me, to compose and bring me to myself. But such was the flood of joy in my breast, it put all my spirits into confusion. At last it broke out into tears, and in a little while after I recovered my speech. I then took my turn and embraced him as my deliverer, and we rejoiced together.