Melly’s fingers gripped the wheel and a tremendous thrill shook her to the core of her being. This had been the first time she had ever piloted a ship, let alone one that flew. She loved every moment of it. Heaving upon the wheel, she felt the wind under the ship's wings. It was if they were a part of her. In that moment she knew; She was born to fly.

Everything that she had felt - everything she had gone through the chaos, the frustration - was all for this.

And it was glorious!

“We ain’t gonna make it!” Clemiticus shouted. He was struggling to hold onto the railings with both hands as the ship ploughed its way against a powerful head wind.

They were racing against time, a ship full of misfits versus the tide of the underworld.

The Emperor screamed and shouted while the minions charmed by Derrick clawed at his legs. “What are you doing? Noooooo!”

A low rumbling rolled across the sky sending deep vibrations through the ship and up Melly’s legs. She looked up to see dark grey clouds forming rapidly above them. The wind dropped for a split second before resounding in a deafening howl. A titanic gale buffeted their backs.

“Woah!” Melly shouted as the vessel accelerated. Clemiticus shouted something back but it was lost in the wailing of the wind.

Water sprayed out in a jet as Dog pushed them even faster. The only thing Melly could hear above the wind were the cannons exploding below peppering the enemies behind them.

To Melly’s surprise the increased speed emboldened her. Her hand shot out and grasped the lever labelled speed and pushed it further forwards. The wings tightened and the craft accelerated to an even greater speed. She didn’t have time to question. Somehow, she just knew how to pilot the craft. It just came to her by instinct. She was a natural.

Then she spotted their target ahead. Some hundreds of feet below lay the sweeping expanse of the untarnished coast. The waves of undeath were fast approaching like a smelly tsunami.

She needed to go lower. To go faster. Pushing on another lever labelled ‘altitude’, Melly felt her stomach flip as the ship’s bow dived towards the ground.

“More power!” she screamed.

Melly turned to Clemiticus and saw him fumbling with the Pearl. She held out a hand just as Clemiticus lost his grip.

The Pearl flew backwards.

A green light flashed as Midori the fairy caught the pearl before it landed on the sterns wooden railing. Melly sighed in relief.

The ship swooped over the Coral Desert a hairs breadth behind the sea of undeath. ‘Go! Go! GO!” Melly spurred on the magical ship as she tensed her entire body.

Midori gave the Pearl back to Clemiticus who forced his way through the wind and towards the bow of the ship.

With one last cannon barrage from Thea the craft vaulted over the undead tide and Clemiticus threw the Ocean’s Pearl into the sea.

Instantly the wind dropped and the boat slowed as Fairy’s voice rang out, “Clemiticus has left the Coral desert.”

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“Melly has left the Coral Desert.”

“Derrick has left the Coral Desert.”

“Nuecus has left the Coral Desert.”

“Dog has left the Coral Desert.”

“Clemiticus’ raid party has gained EXP!”

Melly eyed the azure fairy and asked, “did we win?”

Fairy gave her a warm smile and pointed behind them. The tide had stopped. It was frozen merely feet from the coastline. They had made it. Dog stopped his water jet magic and glided down to the deck.

“The tide of the Undead has been defeated!” Fairy cheered.

The green fairy flew down the length of the ship then disappeared over the edge.

“What’s Midori doing?” Thea asked as she appeared on deck beside Nuecus.

Fairy’s expression faded and was replaced with utter shock.

“What are you doing Midori?” Fairy asked.

Clemiticus turned to his blue companion in confusion. “What’s wrong little guy?”

For the first time ever, Fairy ignored Clemiticus and shouted, “We are supposed to help the players!”

The party members walked to the ship rail and looked down. The Ocean Pearl was somehow floating on the surface sea and casting an odd glow. Midori was waving a green light over its surface.

Crack!

“Midori has broken the seal!” Fairy announced.

A cloud of black smoke exploded outwards obscuring Midori from view. Melly flinched as an invisible force sent a shockwave of magic through them all.

A tall slender figure rose from the smoke of the broken seal. The figure of a man emerged. His long white hair and alabaster skin were as pale as the pearl prison from which he had just escaped. Midori sat on the man’s shoulder and was pointing towards the tide of undead.

“The God Soul: Neander, has been released,” Fairy reported.

The white-haired god Neander looked up at the ship then towards the frozen sea of undeath. With a wave of a hand the creatures within the tide disintegrated.

“The Undead Tide has been dispelled.”

“The event: Land Dwellers Extinction, has been interrupted.”

“Clemiticus raid party special stat distribution has been set to: None.”

“Clemiticus raid party loot distribution has been set to: None.”

Clemiticus let out a sob, “No! My loot!”

Melly ignored the swashbuckler and turned towards the undead tide and the Orange Mercrab. But all she could see was a clear calm inland sea. The Coral Desert had disappeared taking the undead threat with it.

“Is this a good thing?” Derrick whispered.

Melly looked back towards their blue announcer with its fearful expression. She was pretty sure that they had swapped one impossible foe for another.

“Hello Mr. Neander!” Clemiticus called out. “You owe us some loot!”

The god looked up with a puzzled expression then looked towards his green ally. They said something inaudible then disappeared into the shadows.

“Oh! That can’t be good,” said Derrick.

“The stinky ones have left,” commented Dog.

Melly saw Thea who looked devastated.

“You, ok?” she asked.

Thea shrugged faintly. She was seldom at a loss for words.

Melly strode over to the young girl and was about to put an arm around her when Thea blurted out, “That damn prick!”

Melly was taken aback.

Thea stomped over to Fairy and shouted, “Was all this task thing a lie? Was Midori just using me this whole time?”

Fairy examined the incensed girl and nodded, “I would say so.”

Melly interjected, “Fairy we need answers and we need them quick!”

Clemiticus and Derrick harrumphed and nodded, while Nuecus stayed silent and pensive.

Fairy sighed, “Ok, ok!” The azure helper sat on the side rail and said, “There are three of us fairies. I am the fairy of the sky, Midori is the fairy of earth and there is one more fairy in charge of life. We three were created to help those who would be the saviours of this land.”

Melly looked towards Clemiticus the ‘saviour’ and caught herself from bursting into laughter. She pinched herself just in time and continued to watch the fairy who gave them all a dead serious expression.

“There are forces at play in this land and they are intent on gaining power. I was sent to help the hero named Clemiticus to assist him in fulfilling his destiny in destroying this threat.”

“The evil queen?” asked Derrick.

Fairy shrugged. “That is his quest. It seems that this God Neander may also be a threat.”

Melly looked them over at them in turn. Her father, Clemiticus, Nuecus and then Thea. Worried she and asked, “And what if we fail?”

Fairy’s head lowered as it spoke, “Then the power that holds this world together will be torn apart. Those forces will become unstoppable and everyone will disappear into the void.”

Dog screwed up his face and said, “Naughty forces!”