In the year 1678, within the grand but cold halls of King Duke Richard II's castle in London, lived a twelve-year-old boy named Jacob. Born an orphan and raised in chains, Jacob dreamed of one thing—freedom. He and his only friend, Philip, were bound by servitude to cruel nobles. Like Jacob, Philip was an orphan with a quiet strength, and they shared the same unshakable dream: to live a life of their own, far from whips and commands.
The two boys worked as gardeners in the royal garden, toiling from dawn to dusk. Each night, they returned to the servants' quarters only to be beaten by an evil nobleman who found twisted joy in their suffering. Powerless to fight back, they endured in silence, holding on to their dream like a flame in the dark.
Then came the storm.
The castle was attacked by Norsemen, ruthless warriors seeking land and treasure. Chaos erupted as homes burned and lives were lost. For 36 long days, the kingdom stood its ground. When the dust finally settled, the King had emerged victorious—but at the cost of 9,000 brave soldiers. Weakened, and with blood still drying on the battlefield, London became a tempting target for France.
Anticipating this, the King swiftly hired three bands of mercenaries to join his royal army in defending the kingdom. As war broke out once more, Jacob and Philip were tasked with aiding the wounded. Too young to fight, they became silent angels of mercy, tending to shattered limbs and broken spirits. After each battle, they were sent to collect the bodies of fallen soldiers—an experience that etched grief into their young hearts.
One fateful day, while stationed at a distant fort, enemy soldiers launched a surprise ambush. Amidst the chaos, Jacob saw a rare opportunity—an opening to escape. Grabbing Philip's arm, he whispered, "Now. We run." As they fled, an enemy soldier spotted them. A bullet struck Philip's shoulder, while another grazed Jacob's cheek. Blood ran down his face, but adrenaline kept them moving. Somehow, they managed to disappear into the forest.
For three days they wandered, starving, wounded, and cold. Finally, deep within the woods near the North Sea, they found a place to settle. There, they built a modest shelter with their bare hands. They fished the river, planted vegetables, and survived on grit and hope. For the first time, they tasted freedom.
Fifty days passed in peace.
Then, they found the cave.
It was hidden beneath a thick wall of ivy. Inside, the air was cold and damp, and the darkness stretched endlessly. After some time exploring, they discovered eleven ancient chests, all locked shut. With effort, they broke them open. Most were filled with gold and silver, enough to make them rich beyond imagination. But the final chest was different. Inside were books—old, leather-bound, and strangely preserved.
Confused but intrigued, they took one chest of books and a few gold coins back to their cabin. That night, by firelight, they opened one of the books. It was a diary.
The author: a legendary pirate named Brook.
The diary chronicled Brook's daring exploits—his narrow escape from colossal sea monsters, his rise to infamy, and his warnings about the unforgiving ocean. For six hours, the boys read with wide eyes and pounding hearts, lost in the tales of a man who lived and died by the sea.
As dawn approached, a heavy knock shook the cabin door.
Standing in the doorway was a man in his mid-thirties, bleeding and bruised. His broad shoulders and thick beard gave him the look of a warrior, but his eyes were filled with pain. Without hesitation, Jacob and Philip pulled him inside. The man collapsed as soon as he stepped over the threshold.
Quickly, they laid him on the floor, washed his wounds with river water, and wrapped them using oak leaves. He needed rest, and they gave it to him without question.
Before tending to him further, they carefully hid the chest of books beneath a large flat rock that they used as a table—one light enough for them to move, but heavy enough to conceal the secrets hidden below.
Little did they know, this man, and the diary of a long-dead pirate, would spark a fire within them that could never be extinguished.
In the morning, the man was still unconscious so Jacob and Philip left to get some food. All of a sudden, when they were in the woods, they saw a huge rabbit that is enough to last a week worth of meat, if they can catch it, and Jacob said to Philip "Let's catch that and eat it, I am tired of eating fish" . "Why not" replied Philip.
After that they prepared a trap for the rabbit, it was a trap, that closes the way of the rabbit and inside the trap they put a bait for the rabbit, so the boys can throw sharpened stones at the rabbit so that rabbit fall to the hole the boys dug, they decided to hide a little further away where they can see the trap and not scare away the rabbit. After a while the rabbit makes an appearance and it slowly approaches the trap and after it reaches the bait Jacob activates the trap and the boys run towards the rabbit and it jumps high enough to miss the hole that was dug and it flees in an instant.
Jacob and Philip were disappointed in themselves, knowing they were going to be hungry tonight. Without a choice, they went to fishing, hoping they could eat something tonight, and so they brought fish home. When they reached home the door was wide open.
When they went inside, the injured man was not there so they went to check the chest under the rock. After making sure it was safe, they sat and talked about where the man could have gone to. "Where do you think he could have gone to? Jacob !" asked Philip, "Do you think he could have gone to somewhere to report us". "No there is no way if he wanted to report us he could have captured us and hand us over, but he did not do it" replied Jacob, "Besides what are the two little boys use to him". "You are right i think he left to find his people" agreed Philip.
After they finished talking, they cooked the fish they caught and started having dinner.
While they were eating the injured man suddenly appeared with an old bag, dripping blood and boys were terrified thinking that he came here to kill them and they were on their toes ready fight saying "Go away, go away !!", it did not matter if he was stronger or not because they survived the war they were sent to, then the man reached to his bag and at that time Philip threw a stone at the man but he caught it easily, narrowing distance between them, boys were scared when he came closer then when he reached the bag again they thought they were going to die, and then suddenly the man showed them the rabbit they failed to catch, boys were shocked and "hey boys don't be scared i am just a runaway soldier who came to give you this" said the man with a smile, "come on let's eat the rabbit it will be tasty".
"Really" said the boys surprised "Can we really eat this".
"Yeah, i saw you guys trying to catch it but you could not so as a thanks to your hospitality i brought this for you so eat up" replied the man with a grin on his face "by the way my name is Rocky what is your name".
"My name is Philip and his name is Jacob" said Philip and "we thought you were gonna kill us but seeing up close you are not a bad person" said Jacob. "HaHaHa, you guys really thought that" replied Rocky "Okay whatever nice meet you Jacob and Philip okay guys let's eat this it was hard to catch". "Yeah" boys were happy.
After eating the rabbit they talked about how they ended up living here and the boys told him how they lived before going to the war, how they escaped from the war to get here, how they survived here in the woods and how they found the treasures in the cave and up to how they could not catch the rabbit and ended up going to fishing.
Rocky became curious about the treasures they found and asked them to show him and they went inside, lifted the rock and the boys showed him the chest and when Rocky saw the diary he was startled by who it belonged to. He remembered how he survived the fire when he was little when the pirates from all over the world clashed there in Rocky's hometown, because the owner of the diary was Edward Marshall who saved him from that fire and disappeared without a trace after that incident.