Bloodstained Blade

At sixteen, I was the youngest man sailing on my father's buccaneer crew. With my skills as a navigator, I had begun to earn my respect among the men, but my true strength was tested when I first raised my blade to defend the life of another. I had long since known a day like this would come, but I had not imagined it would have happened like it did. The unfathomed outcome of the attempted act of heroism cursed my soul with gut-wrenching guilt—which couldn't be drowned in rum or lust—and left me questioning my future among the Brethren of the Coast. I had finally made my mark as a man—beyond my skills as a navigator and outside of my father's shadow—and it was now up to me to decide if I wanted to continue on a course where I was made to be a man who carried a bloodstained blade. -Sterling Bentley-