The pirarucu's dorsal fin submerged underwater. The rest of its body disappeared into the murk. The choppy waves sloshed against the hull of the boat. Nobody moved from their station.

"Ha." Fia let out a sigh and hung her head through the posts of the guardrail. Did it go away?

No. Viliant dropped his front claws from the top of the guardrail and backed up to stand beside the captain. In broken but succinct Malakow, the tense dragonet relayed the movements of the ghost pirarucu which he could still feel. "Ahead of the ship. It's turning back. Underneath us," Viliant hissed. "No," he took back. The proximity and intensity of its magic did not place the pirarucu under the ship, but rather inside the hold.

A sharp intake of breath entered Viliant's lungs. He was about to dash below deck again, but he realized that the pirarucu's presence felt too large for the ship to encompass it. The fish had no reason to sneak inside the ship. The fish did not even require water to swim. "It's swimming through us," Viliant breathed as he sensed the ghost pirarucu moved through the shadow realm. If the fish re-entered the physical realm, it could destroy the entirety of the ship. Viliant realized why he alone could protect them. With his eyes shut in concentration, he propelled a shadowy force that discouraged its path through their vessel.

Viliant reopened his eyes once the pirarcucu made it to the other end of the ship. "Behind us," he vocalized its movements. Just as the pirarucu's tail cleared the rudder, the powerful presence of its shadow magic abated. The ship lurched as wood cracked. The crew braced their feet to stay aboard the deck. The ship's rudder was destroyed, removing its ability to steer.

"Captain!" Pako shouted. "We need to stop the fish before it sinks the ship."

"Next time we see it," Captain Ulatu commanded, "blast the harpoons! Aim for the red and purple streaks along the lateral side of its hide."

As if inviting the humans to do their worst, the ghost pirarucu lazily circled around the other side of the ship. Its greenish, blackish scales flashed as it lolled to skirt around the hull. The snap of the harpoon mechanism resounded and plunged the bolt into the water. However, the harpoon's tip glanced off the pirarucu's scales with no effect.

The trail of speckled scales along its body seethed with an angry light: red and purple. The ghost pirarucu twitched its tail to pick up speed. Ahead of the ship once more, it activated its shadow form. Even as its body contorted in a sharp turn, the ghost pirarucu's body careened against land. It would have flung itself aground if not for the fact that it could swim through the very earth in the shadow realm. The ghost pirarucu redirected its path for the ship.

"It's coming back," Viliant yelled. "Fast!" His shadow magic could not stop the force of nature. The ghost pirarucu regained its physical form. If its strategic attacks on the ship evidenced its goal, then the ghost pirarucu did not want to catch a splinter between its scales by busting the ship in one fell swoop.

A splash of water broke over their ears. A drizzle cascaded over the humans which stung their skin. Fia lifted one wing to help shield her squinted eyes. In the darkness, the gargantuan fish leaped into the air. Its trajectory would soon carry it above the mast. If both the rudder and the sail were ruined, then they could only travel where the current carried them, ruining the whole journey.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

At once, Fia's magic exploded to help. The nighttime sky turned bright as daylight, except hot and red as her flames. Fia used the same technique that she had practiced in the tournament, but this time, she did not hold back any of her prowess. Her massive fireballs rained down like meteors.

The first struck the pirarucu's tapered head, directly against its upturned mouth and squat nostrils. The colossal fish made a guttural sound like it gulped air and fire. Soon after, its neck slapped against the water with a torrential spray which quickly turned to steam. The rest of the fireballs blitzed its back and sides. The mottled green within its black scales turned a charcoal gray, scorched by Fia's flames. The ghost pirarucu retreated back into the water.

I did it! she thought. As the pink dragonet jumped up and down to celebrate her small victory, she was oblivious to her embers raining across the deck. Many small fires ate at the boards, scattering the crew as they must address the new threat.

"Fia!" Captain Ulatu roared. "Put out your fire!"

Meanwhile, Viliant tracked the ghost pirarucu. He weaved between two of Fia's bonfires so that he could ready himself for its reappearance on the other side of the deck. "Humans!" he gasped, realizing that he must call one by name if he wanted their attention. "Pako! Harpoon!"

Snapping to attention, Pako abandoned his attempt to stomp out a small fire with his boot. The sailor dashed to aim the pre-loaded harpoon. Viliant leaped on top of a stable part of the device so that his pointed claw could follow the pirarucu's location.

Pako fired the harpoon into the depths. Though he had successfully shot at a vulnerable, charred spot on the pirarucu's side, the fish must sense danger. It morphed its body into shadows so that the metal spear passed through its innards unscathed.

Viliant's fangs clenched together, biting back a curse at himself. It's making itself invulnerable with shadow magic. The dragonet was quite familiar with this technique, so he surmised the best way to beat it. I need to counter its spells!

However, the ghost pirarucu did not utilize shadows to only defend itself. An eerie wave of dark energy ascended from all around the ship. The shadows passed through the posts of the guardrail like water rushing overboard. The insidious spell grabbed at the crews' ankles and tripped some of the sailors. Those who fell down also had their wrists and necks wrenched around. The ghost pirarucu could kill any one of the men, if only it would focus on one. Since its attack was spread over a large area, the pull of shadows resulted in a relatively weak force.

The men were strong enough to kick or yank themselves free. Viliant jumped to Fia's side and deflected the shadows from them both. The most vulnerable person aboard the ship failed to protect herself. During the commotion, no one had noticed that a frightened Tacuma had stepped foot out of the cabin.

"Eek!" she yelped as the black waves of magic slammed into her. The tendrils carried her to the edge of the ship. Tacuma latched onto the railing with desperate hands. Though the little girl pulled with all her might, the ghost pirarucu sought to claim her as its victim. Her fingers slipped around the guardrail, and Tacuma wailed a final scream before she plunged into the water.

"Tacuma!" the captain bellowed as his daughter went overboard. Captain Ulatu raced over to the railing, flinging himself against the wood. His horrified eyes scanned the water for her, but he could not spot her in the inky, black water. "No!"

Captain Ulatu wheeled around to his recovering men. His duty to his daughter superseded the duty that he had to his men. Any one of them, he could order to dive in after Tacuma. However, among them, Captain Ulatu trusted only himself to save his daughter. Even he doubted his ability to successfully rescue her. The captain needed someone more capable to retrieve Tacuma from the ghost pirarucu's domain. "Viliant!" he snarled in the closest thing to a human's growl. "Get in there and save my daughter!"

The sound of his name from the commandeering voice made Viliant turn his head. The only reaction of his slitted eyes beheld his disbelief. "No," Viliant scoffed. He protected his own interests: Fia and by extension the ship. Though the dragonet had come to terms with working alongside the human sailors, he was not about to risk his life for any of them—not even the little girl.