Above the team a massive white and brown gull hovered in place, its wings beating a torrent of air across the deck of the ship. The team scrambled to the edges of the vessel, grabbing what cover they could.

“Hydragull! Fil hit it with everything you have, Paxx lead it into easy spots for ranged attacks, Burnie, Jim, follow Filbert to the upper deck and attack at range. I’ll harpoon the wings and bring it down. Then we jump it.” Twill commanded.

“Aye!” The team, joined by Jim, echoed their reception of the order.

They jumped into action, Paxx flew around the starboard side of the ship in a flash of glittering speed. The small gnome began firing thin beams of energy from a wand at the monster as he circled the boat, drawing its attention. The thin beams of light bounced off its feathery body as it pursued the gnome.

Jim equipped his crossbow again, loading a bolt and running for cover. Filbert leapt and bound over the corpses of the fish monsters, retrieving his pre-used arrows, immediately firing them towards the looping gull.

The gull circled, its main central head focused on Paxx and his broomstick, the other two heads eyed the deck of the ship. With a sharp turn the creature descended, the two heads opened their long beaks, letting loose a wretched stench of fish and blood. Two tongues lashed out at the deck, guiding themselves to two of the fish corpses. They entangled the carcasses, drawing them back to the mouths at a blinding speed, swallowing without a thought.

Jim fired his crossbow at the swooping beast, a few shots hitting the target but bouncing off of its under-hide. Burnie, crouched next to Jim conjured a long staff adorned in green jewels, he began casting fireballs into the path of the beast, burning the feathers.

The beast swooped around the boat continually, now with a soft trail of burnt feathers in a plume of smoke following its path. It swooped to the deck again, taking more fish with its smaller heads.

As it descended, Twill took aim with harpoons and made several hits.

“It’s pulling the damn harpoons out!” Twill shouted, as one of the smaller heads tore a harpoon from its wing and launched it into the water below.

“This isn't working Twill! What’s it going to eat once all the fish is gone?” Filbert yelled as he spun through the air firing endless arrows.

“Us!” Burnie shouted.

“It was rhetorical Burns!” Filbert yelled back.

With a steep arching throw of a harpoon Twill turned to the team.

“Stop being a smart arse, we need a plan! Paxx can’t keep that pace up forever either. Come on lads what have we got?”

“I have an idea! Pile the fish up!” Jim said, as he turned his watch to face him.

“Why on Kaldoria would we do that, it’ll eat them all quicker, then it’ll eat us!” Filbert replied.

“I know what he’s thinking, they’ll work right?” Twill asked as he rolled across the deck retrieving a loose harpoon.

“Hope so!” Jim yelled as he lashed 8 of his homemade grenades together with loose rope.

“We have to time this right!” Jim yelled.

Jim tore around a metre length of rope and tied it to the wick of one of the grenades.

“Ok, ready. Stack up those fish. Can anyone distract it for a minute?” Jim asked the team.

“I will. I can only hold it for a minute or so, so move fast.” Burnie said in a low rumble. He dropped his scarves from around his body to the floor of the deck, and walked to the centre of the upper deck.

Burnie began to breath heavily, the air around him turning into vaporous steam. His body pulsed with the glow of green mana, pumping his muscles and growing his claws. He turned his palms to the sky and cast a spell.

“I call forth the terror and might, that no evil shall doubt my sight, I call the power and fury, let loose all my glory!”

With the words cast a pure green light flooded the area. The boat groaned and awed as the weight of Burnie crashed down upon the deck.

Burnie, a mountain of a Draconid figure in his normal form, had transformed into a thick four legged muscle drowned dragon. His wings spread the full width of the ship, accompanied by a thin barbed lashing tail. From his jaws he breathed an explosion of fire into the sky. He took flight pushing the boat downwards, the lip of the edges of the boat inches from the level of the sea. The boat crashed upwards, throwing the team and the corpses of fish high into the air.

The gull's attention immediately turned to the dragon now gliding towards it. The Alpha monster in this fight had just been challenged, and it would not take being overthrown without a contest.

The gull, enraged, charged at Burnie. All three heads called in a scream as the air from its wings blew a gust of wind across the ship.

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Burnie was not as quick in flight as the gull, his muscle bound dragon form built more for crumbling city walls than a midair flight. He used his fire breath and bigger mass to charge in long arching loops towards the monster. The gull was much swifter, avoiding the straight angle of attacks and pecking and slashing at Burnie as the two passed each other.

The wind and waves crashed into the boat as the gigantic arial fight took place, rocking the boat and its contents in its wake. Filbert took full advantage as the body of the fish took to the air from the crashing rocking of the boat. Springing from the mast of the mainsail and kicking fish into a pile at the centre of the deck, Filbert began to create the pile of bodies. Twill and Paxx joined, heaving and levitating fish into a large pile at the central deck.

“Ok, once Burnie is done it should focus back on the food. Paxx, help out Burns straight away, he’ll be drained. We’ll get its attention down here.” Twill said as he threw the last of the Stargeon bodies onto the pile.

“Once I light this, we’ll have about 30 seconds.” Jim said, as waves a thick wick towards the team.

The cry of a dragon roared through the sky, followed by a plume of flame shooting the length of the ship towards the circling gull.

The battle raged on in the sky, Burnie landing several fire breaths on the heads of the gull. In return, the gull had pecked deep slashing holes in Burnie’s wings and torso. Blood spilled across the deck of the ship from above as the two clashed.

In a battlecry, the gull screeched a pulsating roar and a green light covered the sky once more. An unconscious Burnie fell freely down towards the ocean. As he fell a red smear of light flew straight towards the falling body. Paxx levitated the body of his comrade, saving him from the depths of the ocean. He looped around the ship, slowing the momentum from his teammate to gain control of his flight path fully. The team on the deck began firing arrows and harpoons in the direction of the circling gull.

The gull, burnt and scorched looked towards the deck team with its central head. The two smaller heads were burned and blinded and began lashing their tongues freely in the air to try and find an enemy.

With a screech the bird began descending.

“Light the thing Jim!” Twill shouted.

“I’m trying, it’s wet!” Jim replied in a panic. Clicking his flint and steel together as quickly as possible.

“Now, do it now!” Twill screamed.

“It’s not….”

With a slap of a tongue Jim was whipped into the air as he held onto the fish containing the grenades.

Air crashed against his face as the boat below became smaller.

Jim gripped the flint and steel in his left hand, his right hand gripping the fin of the Trojan Stargeon.

He placed the steel in his mouth, grabbing the wick with the fingers of his right hand, the flint now in his left. He took a breath and forced his mana into his hands, activating his fast hands ability.

In a blur his hand berated the steal in his mouth searching for a spark.

Ding!

The notification bell chimed in his head as a flame gripped the end of the wick.

“YES!” Jim said as he dropped the flint and steel.

The gull pushed its flight directly upward, throwing the bodies of several Stargeon and Jim into the air. His path was directly arching towards the central head of the gull, its open mouth ready to devour everything it could.

Without a thought Jim grabbed his hammer, extending it to its full double handed size. He charged his mana, focusing on the jet engine as the head began to rotate at a blinding speed. He dropped closer and closer to the beast, its breath hitting Jim’s nose as the air crashed against his face. The engine of the hammer revved and built power and the shaft of the hammer vibrated.

Jim flipped the hammer in the air, the head and rotary blades now facing away from the monster. He pushed all the mana and will he could into the engine and flew backwards away from the beast's path. The gull devoured the fish without as much as a chew, its two extra heads slowly healing their sight back. Jim fell in a free fall towards the ship, the engine of the hammer still firing as he gained speed.

The blast of the bomb deafened any sounds of the sea, the ship or the gull. A sound that millions of people on his Earth feared. The detonation spread guts and feathers into the air, passing Jim by as he fell towards the ship.

As the force of the blast pushed Jim even quicker towards the ship, he flipped his hammer in between his legs, the output of the jet now facing directly down, and pushed all his remaining will into it. He began to slow as parts of the gull descended past him, crashing into the ocean. Paxx, seeing Jim’s slowing but still pacy decent leap into action, speeding towards Jim and whipping his wand in a swish.

Jim began to slow down at a steady pace, guided by Paxx to the deck of the ship. The pair landed in a tumbling thud, skidding through blood, feathers and fish guts.

“HOLY KALDORIA! Jim, you absolute maniac!” Twill yelled victoriously as he slid in a stumbled sprint over to the pair on the deck.

“You did it, blew the thing right back to The Maker!” Twill said as he pulled out a healing potion from a satchel around his waist.

Jim threw a thumbs up to the team, his head and body aching after the ordeal and subsequent crash landing.

A flurry of Dings! passed through Jim’s head, dismissing them mentally before the chimes finished.

“We have a shower on the boat yeah?” Jim said, groaning in pain.

“You’re getting the full works after that kid, Paxx’s bubble baths are something otherworldly, you’ll love it.” Twill said as he pushed Jim to sit upright, pushing a vial of potion towards his hand.

“Here drink this, you’ll be sorted in no time.”

“Burnie is downstairs, he’s had a mana and health potion but is in pretty bad shape.” Filbert said, as he washed blood from his hands on a stained rag.

“Yah, that was a rough one. I’ve not seen an Alpha Hydragull before, that thing had some serious resistances.” Paxx said, getting to his feet.

He flicked blood from his hands, and in a click of his fingers conjured new clothes for himself.

“Ah nice and fresh, I’ll get started on the clean up.” Paxx said as he flicked his wand.

Crates, boxes and body parts began to move and float in the air as a jet of air washed the blood over the side of the boat.

“Your little invention worked amazingly, saved us all there I think. Thank you.” Twill said in a low and peaceful tone.

“The team helps the team.” Jim said with a smile.