Free Destiny: Book of Light by Paul Allen

hundreds of Tribal warriors suddenly appeared all around. The firing begun. Completely outnumbered the crew scrambled to take cover in what ever way possible on the ship. With warriors lining the top of the blockade now as well, this meant any attempts were in vain. The Rionions on the other hand, although they kept firing and were being shot, they did not try to find cover. None fell.
The shooting increased from the warriors. Sean and the captain had a bit of a vantage point from the bridge and both were taking down many warriors, but things were looking bad for the crew. Most were shot at least once and many were killed or completely out of action with the severity of their wounds. The first creature fell. The warriors began to scale down the blockade and jump onto the ship. Seeing this and the death occurring below, Sean lost it. He threw aside the rifle, pulled out both handguns, and jumped the 20ft drop from the bridge, firing with precision accuracy on the way down. Bodies filled the ground where he landed and indeed most of the deck of the ship. Both crew and warriors, some still moving under footsteps.
The second creature fell, and as it did another screamed a scream that echoed back and forth through the valley. All shooting stopped as even the warriors watched this one creature, seemingly increase in size and glow a burning red. The scream increased in pitch and as it did the dynamite under the blockade blew. Wooden splinters and shrapnel exploded through the air as the ship broke free of the blockade. The engines automatically pushed it through any remaining obstacles. The Rionions silently returned below, carrying their dead with them, and after they did there was no movement onboard. The night was still, as was the river, as was the crew.
    It wasn't until the next morning that the heat from the sun woke Sean. He found himself buried under the bodies of two of the tribal warriors. He pushed them off to take in the mass grave he was a part of. Movement was rare but he began to dig around. Four of the 39 crew survived along with the captain and Sean himself. The captain ordered Tim, one of the crew to stop the ships engines and take the wheel. Everyone had some injury. One of the crew was in a critical condition with three gun shot wounds, two in the left leg and one in the stomach. With the ship's medic dead he wasn't going to make it. Sean and the captain both agreed and Sean shot him in the head, releasing him of his pain. This left five living. Only four of the Rionions had died.
    "Suppose somebody should say something?" asked the captain as they got ready to start dumping the bodies overboard.
    James, the engineer began to sing. A ballad written about the death of the sun created the required, respectful atmosphere. Everyone else remained silent as they went about what had to be done. The bodies splashed overboard one by one. Tribal warriors, and crew. It would have been a difficult job either way but with injuries it took some time. The captain had a wooden splinter through his right leg, and although it wasn't too thick, he could not remove it and so he could not walk. Sean was the least injured with only a couple of scrapes, bruises, and a gunshot flesh wound to his left arm. After all the bodies had been dumped overboard James stopped singing and spoke.
    "Sir, you gotta take a look at this."
    Sean peered over the edge. The bodies and body parts had floated to the surface as soon as they went over, and with the ship now drifting down the river they travelled alongside at the same speed. It was a disturbing sight to anyone, no matter how tough they might be, or think they are.
    "What do we do now Sir?"
    "I don't know James, I don't know. We can't turn on the engines now anyway, they'd get grinded up, so I guess we'll have to continue on drifting with them. They'll disperse when we hit the sea. In the meantime we must get scrubbing these decks, and ourselves and tend to our wounds. We can't risk infection, and