Capture, Pirate Blackbeard, Queen Anne's Revenge Holiday Card

The salty spray stung Edward Teach's eyes as dawn bled crimson across the Carolina coast. Gone was the fearsome Queen Anne's Revenge, his pride and possession. Now, Blackbeard, as he was known throughout the Caribbean, captained the lowly Adventure, a leaky scow compared to his former glory. Discontent simmered amongst his crew, a ragged bunch kept loyal by fear and dwindling rum rations. --- Suddenly, the lookout roared, shattering the tense silence. Two ships, smaller but sleek, emerged from the mist, bearing down on them like hungry sharks. Blackbeard cursed, recognising the colours of the Royal Navy. Governor Spotswood of Virginia had finally sent his hounds. --- Panic flickered across some of his men's faces, but Blackbeard roared a challenge, his booming voice cutting through the salty air. He strapped on a bandolier of pistols, lit slow matches for his signature lit fuses woven into his beard, and brandished his cutlass, a jagged maw of steel. --- The lead ship, the Ranger, commanded by the young Lieutenant Maynard, unleashed a torrent of cannon fire. The splintered timbers of the Adventure groaned in protest. Blackbeard bellowed orders, his crew scrambling to return fire. Smoke filled the air, acrid and choking. --- Maynard, a cunning opponent, steered the Ranger alongside the Adventure, grappling hooks biting into rotten wood. Blackbeard, a whirlwind of fury, led the charge onto the enemy deck. Pistols barked, cutlasses clashed in a deadly ballet. Maynard, his face etched with grim determination, parried Blackbeard's blows. Steel sang against steel, sparks flying. --- The battle raged across the decks, a desperate struggle for survival. Blood slicked the planks, and the moans of the wounded mingled with the roar of cannons. Blackbeard, a demon unleashed, fought with the fury of a cornered beast. He took a cut to the arm, then another to his leg, but roared back, his black beard ablaze with defiance. --- But numbers told. Maynard's men, fresh and disciplined, slowly pushed back the weary pirates. One by one, Blackbeard's crew fell. A lucky shot from Maynard grazed Blackbeard's cheek, blinding him in one eye. Enraged, he lunged at the young officer, his cutlass a blur. Maynard ducked, and Blackbeard's blade found only air. The momentum carried Blackbeard forward, off balance. --- In that instant, Maynard saw his chance. With a surge of adrenaline, he lunged, his own cutlass finding its mark. Blackbeard roared in pain, a gaping wound across his chest. He stumbled back, his fire extinguished. Before he could fall, a hail of musket fire erupted from Maynard's men. Blackbeard crumpled, a giant oak felled at last. --- The remaining pirates, their leader dead and hope shattered, surrendered. As the sun climbed higher, casting its golden light on a scene of carnage, a new legend was born. Blackbeard, the terror of the seas, was no more. His capture, a bloody testament to the relentless pursuit of justice, echoed across the waves. --- Maynard, his face grim with victory, surveyed the carnage. His gaze fell upon Blackbeard's fallen form. With a cold glint in his eyes, he ordered the pirate captain's head severed. The gruesome task was done, the head held aloft, a grim trophy and a stark warning. --- Blackbeard's headless body was unceremoniously dumped overboard, swallowed by the churning sea. Legend has it, however, that something extraordinary happened. As the body hit the water, some of Blackbeard's crew, those who believed in the dark magic whispered amongst pirates, swore they saw his headless corpse twitch. Then, with a surge of unnatural energy, it rose upright. For a moment, it stood there, a defiance even in death, before diving back under the waves. They claimed his body, fuelled by an unholy pact or sheer willpower, swam around the ship three times; the Arcobantian Legion, a term used by some pirates to describe the legendary nine lives of particularly wicked men, supposedly granted by the Devil himself. --- Blackbeard's head, however, embarked on a different journey. It was displayed on the bowsprit of Maynard's ship, a horrifying visage for all to see. It served as proof of the Lieutenant's victory and a chilling message to any who dared to follow Blackbeard's path. --- Stories swirled around Blackbeard's head after it reached Virginia. Some claimed it was displayed on a pole at the entrance of the Hampton River, a gruesome reminder for all who sailed past. Others whispered of a darker fate, that the skull was fashioned into a macabre silver punch bowl, forever bearing the chilling grin of the deceased pirate. --- Painted in 1920, the Capture of the Pirate Blackbeard in 1718, by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris. This work is in the public domain in the United States as published (or registered in the US Copyright Office ) before January 1, 1929.