Raised in an orphanage after being found abandoned on the London docks as a newborn baby, without a known last name nor date of birth, Theodore has but one friend, Seth, a fellow orphan. Destiny takes Theodore away from Seth and back to the sea when he comes of age and is found an apprenticeship on a vessel in the English merchant navy. Thor, as he becomes known aboard ship, soon falls for Miguel, the handsome boatswain. However, his life is turned upside down when their ship is raided. Miguel is torn from his life and Thor is taken hostage and forced into the life of a pirate aboardThe Dragon. Both attracted to and repulsed by the evil Captain Wyvern, Thor finds the large dragon tattoo -- the symbol of the rank of the ship's captain -- taking hold of him and binding him to the man. Fate intervenes once more and Thor is elected captain ofThe Dragonwhen Wyvern is killed during a raid. Dismayed by Wyvern's ruthlessness, Thor is determined to show humanity to those vessels his crew plunders now that he is in charge. But despite his growing wealth, power, and reputation, Thor is restless and unfulfilled. He feels his life is not yet complete and somehow reaches beyond the decks of the pirate ship he now captains. A raid on a Dutch merchant ship brings yet another twist to Thor's life when someone from his past is found on board. Thor now has to face hard choices, the most difficult of which involves deciding if he can leave the sea and make a new life on land with his rediscovered love. But with a price on his head and a large tattoo of a dragon on his body, can Thor escape his past life of a pirate?

The Dragon

When The Dragon had sailed a fair distance and the Spanish ship was out of sight, Thor ordered that they should stop. Wyvern’s body had been laid on deck. Now Thor ordered Wyvern’s sword be placed in its scabbard at his side and the body be sewn into a sailcloth bag, weighted at his feet with a cannon ball.


Thor assembled the crew. “Today we bury our captain,” he said in a loud, clear voice. “We will return him to the sea which he loved. If any man has a word to speak, now is the time.”


Thor looked around at the men. They stood mute, their heads bowed, This surprised Thor. He wondered that none of the crew had anything to say about the man whom they had served, many of them for years. He did not dwell on it, but commanded the body be carried on a plank to the side of the ship.


“To the sea we commend your body,” Thor said. “May God have mercy on your soul.” He nodded, the board was tilted, and Captain Wyvern slid into the sea.


Chapter 22