“Whirlpool before us. Port!” Reading the currents via magic was more important than ever, as the mist denied any sight farther than the own hand. It changed from lukewarm to chilling, and the deck of the Reverence had several white spots, where the moisture first collected and then froze.

The sailors were under several layers of clothes, while the ones off shift were huddling under the deck next to each other, trying to share their blankets with each other while also getting some warmth from the other person.

Scarlet—who took over for the captain for his two-hours nap—looked to the sky, as a hailstone hit her on the head. She remembered the last expedition, where those hailstones had the size of a human head, and they frantically shielded the Eastman—the ship they used last time—from it via a water curtain, only to exhaust so much, that they almost fell prey to a whirlpool.

This time the order was reversed, and the hailstone was just normal sized, but she was on edge nonetheless. This time they had five mages instead of three, but carelessness could even sink a ship full of them.

“First Mate! I hear faint wing beat of several big creatures heading to us!” Having an lookout with enhanced hearing already paid off, as Scarlet couldn't hear a thing.

As Turquoise was on break, it fell to Scarlet to prepare a magical aerial defense. “Every blockhead who doesn't handle the ship, get some harpoons!” A harpoon with a rope attached was the best weapon they could have on these seas: They could be thrown, making more of Body Enhancement, they could be reeled in, eliminating the ammunition problem, and the downside of a small range didn't matter when it was possible to see far in the first place.

There were some crossbows on the ship, Scarlet had one besides her, but as the ammunition was limited, they shouldn't be used lightly.

Then the scream hit. It was piercing, and disoriented everyone on deck, the lookout almost fell unconscious, but even Scarlet had problems to stay on her feet, her sight darkened for a moment and the moment it became clear again, she could only see three giant shadowy shades inside of the mist, though part of those shades were her crewmen, who screamed in terror while they were carried away.

Unable to properly use magic yer, Scarlet used her crossbow to shoot at one of the monsters, but she missed. “COME BACK, YOU WORM-RIDDEN PIDGEON-LOVERS!” Then she yelled at the crew, which was barely on its feet: “AND YOU! STOP THE SHIP, ANCHOR AND EVERYTHING!” Running onto ground during an attack was likely.

Still, the terror of the attack was deep in the bones of most of these people, who wouldn't have imagined that three of them would die so suddenly, and they were afraid that they were next.

Then the door under deck opens and Quartermaster Greggor stepped on the deck. “Quiet.” It was a small word, but it was literally magical, as Greggor's spell hit all on deck—including Scarlet—and where was fear, anger, and confusion before, now all of them felt calm and in control.

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The quartermaster put his hand behind the ear, listening to the sounds around him. Then he took a harpoon and threw it, the mist bellowed under the sheer force of it, and with a sudden yank, Greggor pulled it back.

A man's scream came closer and closer, and the Gentle Giant lifted his left arm, to catch the person. “Don't worry, everything is fine.” He put the man back to his feet and then spoke calmly to him: “Wake up the captain, please. He's the only one who can rescue the others.” Greggor also infused that man with some courage, who then headed to the captain's quarter.

If the captain wanted, he could sleep through an earthquake, but the moment he was woken, he could also immediately run a marathon. So Captain Sebastian Bluerose stormed the deck: “Tell me what to do.” Instead of asking what was going on, he would place his trust in Greggor and Scarlet.

“Captain,” Scarlet took over for the quartermaster: “Two people were abducted by-” She looked at what Greggor keeled in, it was a giant bat with gray fur and human-like faces: “-by those. We'll defend the Reverence.”

“Alright!” The captain jumped off the ship with his floating skates. With his Lifeform Radar and Skater spells, he was the best fit for the task.

“Greggor,” Scarlet says in a strong voice: “How many?”

“I can't tell, but they are above us. Lookout? Ah...” Of course, the lookout was among those who were abducted.

“We need to do something about their scream.” While creating a waterbarrier would have been possible, the bats would waited it out and then she would have been exhausted. So they needed a barrier the bats didn't see. “ALL MAGGOTS ON DECK! TURQUOISE, SWING YOUR LAZY ARSE HERE! YOU STOP WANKING AND START WALKING AS WELL, HANK!” Scarlet had a plan.

The bats were confident, as their tactics always worked. They would scream, attacking the ear-drums of their opponents. Their loud scream would easily travel through the water of the body of their victims, rendering ear-plus quasi-useless.

Then they would fly in, grab the prey, and leave. They had only little opportunity to eat humans, but they already knew how delicious those were. Their echolocation allowed them to look for those who were away from the group and in fact, all of them started to huddle for a while, and then they spread out, probably thinking that they would be able to cover the whole ship.

Or they forgot about the scream.

The swarm started its next attack, another scream, then they swooped in, but then the mist around them dispersed suddenly, and they saw these humans armed with harpoons and crossbows all around the ship, leaving no blind spot.

Harpoons with the power of horses ripped through bodies and wings, bolts shot through ears and eyes, and those who were not hit by those, fell as sudden gusts of wind threw them off, and one bat after another fell into the cold water, either to be crushed by the currents or eaten by the predators of the sea.

Scarlet stopped pushing the mist away, which quickly reclaimed its territory. She said something, but she couldn't hear herself and no one else either. She was next to Hank and pointed at her ears, and he restored that organ.

Hank was the ship doctor and he was not only able to disable the reproduction organs to a degree of his choice, but most other organs as well. Like the hearing apparatus. This canceled the scream, but to detect them, Turquoise had to use her spell to read the air currents and give Scarlet the signal to push the mist away.

Soon afterward, the captain returned, with the living lookout, and a dead body. “Let's give him a sea funeral,” he said in remorse, but even a man as capable as Captain Sebastian Bluerose could be too slow and it would be only the first of many casualties of this journey.

And the crew knew it.