You've Made me like you

With the battle over, the sound of clashing steel and screaming pirates gave way to the low groans of the wounded, the creak of the Sea Phantom's bruised timbers, and the heavy breath of survivors. The Ocean was strangely calm in contrast, its dark surface reflecting the smoke drifting from the half-sunken Leviathan's Howl, now a cracked and crumbling hulk leaning violently to one side in the distance.

The remaining pirates—those lucky enough not to have been cleaved, crushed, or drowned—were now lined up on their knees, their weapons tossed overboard, hands bound behind their backs. Their heads hung low in submission, bloodied and defeated, no longer the savage beasts who'd gleefully tormented the crew moments ago. Some whimpered. Others stared blankly, eyes sunken in the aftermath of terror.

But Droskyn was singled out for something far worse.