A million holes for a million souls, locked within their imperishable bodies; once a vessel to traverse the waking world with lips that kissed, eyes that widened with wonder and hearts that loved and hated, all pinned under the toe of Uxhandrickal. No longer would a soul swim to the Divine Heart’s gates when it was released. Their freedom sat upon the head of the House of Zale, a house ill-equipped to deal with demons, war and the inspiration of those who would rise against such an unconquerable foe, yet fate is a twisted mistress that gives no thought to ability. Kaleb and his apprentice Iridia now faced a weight to challenge their mighty strength, a blade to cut through their unending resilience and a darkness to blacken their brazen hearts.

“Up you swine hounds!” Captain Wurtheim bellowed.

The crewmen; along with Kaleb, Iridia and Flencer scrabbled from their hard beds and poured out of the cabins. The piercing horn of the Veil Breaker crowed and woke the remaining members of the ship. Some pulled up their breaches while others tied up their greasy hair finding their stall and manning the rigging. 

“This isn’t one of your drills is it, Captain?” Kaleb rubbed his eyes, sleep had been a rare commodity on this voyage since they set sail six months ago. Kaleb’s hair had grown back some and his beard was plaited with crude ties. 

Wurtheim said with a smile that roused concern “Not this time.” Testing his prowess at the high seas seemed to be a hobby of this man’s. He had already guided them through the jagged teeth of murder bay and out-flanked three pirates, then there were the stories he’d tell.

Iridia approached yawning wide. She had aged considerably since her adventure began; the bustle of Angelspree, the scent of Happywood and the bleak melancholy of their predicament had been washed away in the salty waters they bobbed on. “What’s happening?”

Morgan fell out of his cabin pulling up his pants while on his back, “I’m up, I’m up!”

Flencer shook his head and helped him up, “On yer feet wee lad, it’s lookin’ grim, the Captain’s smiling.”

“Something in the distance approaches.” Wurtheim's eyes flashed and his smile grew wider.

“The fog?” Kaleb probed, “We can outrun this yes?”

“Nay, not the fog.” Wurtheim shook his head with a disappointed pout. The fog was a creeping entity that stalked the deep waters was a myth for land lubbers but a stark reality for the poor seamen who were caught by its misty grasp. One could only guess what happened within, apart from Wurtheim, or so he claimed. 

“What then?”

“Hard to tell, but judging by their swiftness and the silhouette…” Wurtheim cleared his throat for effect, “Hollow men.”

Morgan gasped and placed his hands over his mouth and everyone turned to him expectantly. He let his hands drop and met their gazes one by one. “What are Hollow men?”

Kaleb rolled his eyes and Iridia rubbed his back with a smile, she found his timing comical, she couldn’t help it. 

Wurtheim gave a shake of his head, “Imagine suits of armour, yet they walk without bodies within.” 

“Soul-infused armour? The steelmen know of this…”

“Nay!” Wurtheim blurted over Kaleb, “No soul, no man, they work without minds…mechanical types, they will catch us soon.” His smile returned. 

“Well thas just bloody brilliant, metal men…I hate the sea.”

Kaleb sighed and rubbed his beard, “Was it not this dangerous when you first visited the Elves Flencer? Surely you had experience of it.”

Flencer bit his bottom lip, “What terrifies me about this world, Kaleb me lad, is that I needn’t cross the ocean when I visited them, the Elves can shape the land at a whim…”

“Then why don’t they bloody well shape it for us!” Iridia stamped and blew a strand of her from her mouth. 

Flencer shrugged, “Odd are their ways…perhaps the Demon tricks them.”

Wurtheim waved his hands, “See you topside.” He walked away, his voice boomed through the decks and danced up, wobbling the rigging. “Man the cannons you filthy Dwarf lovers!”

“Ha, imagine loving a Dwarf!” Iridia’s shield called from behind where it had been laid at Iridia’s cabin entrance. 

The party went top side and where hit by the sun’s unhindered glare, no wind or breeze offered their sticky faces respite and yet the ship in the distance approached at sail speed without the need for a single oar. 

Oars pulled the Veil Breaker through the blue and toward the horizon. Captain Wurheim stood on the helm, his raggedy black coat sat heavily on his shoulders and his sea-bitten hat flopped over his skull like an old sleeping hound. His features were portly with cracked, red cheeks. “Seems they are enamoured with us, Paladin!” He lowered his spyglass and chuckled, “How are you lot in a fight?”

Kaleb shrugged, “Not much for maritime engagements, I’ll admit.”

“Ha!” Wurtheim clapped his fat hands, “Sure as the heart you’re handy on land, but out ‘ere in the ocean, I’m the Paladin eh?”

“We’ll see…”

“Captain, the enemy ship is in range!”

Kaleb looked out and placed his hand over his brow, “What is it?” He squinted as the remarkable ship seemed to glide toward them. He could make out something that resembled a ship but it had no rigging, sails or oars, something was pulling it along somehow. “I’m no seaman, but there is not an orcs chance that thing is in range, our cannons aren’t that good.”

Wurtheim let out a wheezing guffaw, “Oh, Kaleb my tadpole, our cannons aren’t in range, theirs are!”

At that, a screaming whistle unlike anything they’d heard closed in and ripped up the side bannisters of the ship and sent a crewman flying overboard with a yelp and a spray of crimson. The party ducked in unison.

“What in the blazes!” Flencer scuffled along the deck towards the steps of the helm. 

The captain bellowed: “Bring our cannons into range! If they want a fight, they got one!”

Iridia kept her shield raised as she watched the other ship approach, “We are to reach the fog lands in one piece, this ship is no match for whatever that is!”

Another whistle flew over the deck and took a chunk of wood from the foremast, the splintering wood cracked up and rained over two seamen. “We can’t outrun them, but we have you Paladins, tough lot you no? We should board 'em!”

Kaleb ascended the stairs and took the spyglass offered to him by the Captain. “We cannot fail this quest, I don’t care for your legacy and legend, Captain.”

“If we die, we won’t know any different, eh?” 

Kaleb tossed the spyglass back to Wurtheim. “Oh, my fat tadpole, you’ll know about it. You would do yourself a great service to stay alive until we finish this, lest you like to lay with Demons.”

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Wurtheim dabbed his forehead with a dirty rag and puffed out his chest, “Demons? They haven’t met Captain Wurtheim!”

A crewman called from the crow’s nest, “Cannons in range!”

Shots from the mechanical beast swept across the ship's tween deck, ripping up the floorboards and crashing through the crew. 

“We can’t take much more of this!” Flencer called.

Morgan waved his sword in preparation. “Let’s try not to die.”

Iridia raised her shield to deflect one of the small pellets that had been ripping up their ship. “Ow!”

“You ok bard?” Iridia peered over to inspect the damage, a considerable dent on the upper right.

“Is it bad? Have you disfigured me?”

“It’ll pop out…”

“You’re a beastly owner, my face has remained smooth, now in your hands less than a turn I am a mangled mess!”

More whistles flew over. “Well, Paladins! We’re moving in for boarding action, destroy that controller on the top!” Wurtheim called as he ducked down.

“Controller?” Kaleb looked back. 

“Aye, that’s how you make ‘em stop! Use that hammer of yours!”

Kaleb pedalled back down the steps and placed his hand on Iridia’s shoulder, “I will board and deal with this controller, you keep Wurtheim alive.”

“I should be on there with you.”

“I agree, but Wurtheim is obsessed with a glorious demise, and we can’t afford to lose him, not yet anyway.”

Iridia’s brow lowered.

“I’ll hop over there, give them the swing and we’ll be gone.”

“Are you keeping me here to protect Wurtheim, or me?”

Kaleb paused, “What decision would you make if you were in my position?”

Iridia glanced up, “I’d have me babysit Wurtheim.”

“That’s my, Paladin.” Kaleb slapped her shoulder and moved to read himself. 

From the gunnery deck, the cry of the sergeant rang clear, “FIRE!” The Veil Breaker bit back with a fury, fire, smoke and gunpowder filled the air and the cannon balls dinged, pinged and bounced off of the metal hull of their assailants. 

Flencer looked to Wurtheim, “Seems as if our cannons are of no use!”

“Aye!” Wurtheim chuckled, “But it’s bloody good fun to shoot ‘em!”

Flencer stuck out his bottom lip in agreeance. 

Iridia marched towards Morgan and Flencer, “You two are with me, we must keep the Captain alive.”

“I don’t need protecting by a girl and her pet Dwarf…and, her nephew?”

Morgan narrowed his eyes, “You need protecting from these machines and yourself, the sea has addled your brain!”

The metal ship came into range, port holes on the deck opened with a whizzing sound and leapt the metal men. They clicked and clanked and positioned themselves at the edge of their deck, ready to absorb the boarding. They had been quite loose with their shots as if they would prefer not to kill the crew or destroy the ship. 

Flencer raised his crossbow. “I ‘ave a feeling we’re in a bit’o trouble ‘ere folks.”

“Perfect,” Wurtheim smirked.

The metal ship was remarkably plain, with no decals or sign of a craftsman’s touch. On the centre of the deck was a disc about half a man in height, it emitted flickers of unnatural light of blue and red. 

“That’s the controller!” Wurtheim pointed, “Smash it, Kaleb!”

The ships bumped and Kaleb jumped across, some seamen joined him and the battle commenced with a clash of steel and another round of cannon fire from the veil breaker. Men roared as the mechanical ship crew jumped across in turn. They weren’t particularly fast, but they swung hard and true. 

Iridia stood in front of Wurtheim and deflected the blow of an approaching mechanical man, he swung a heavy-ended mace that clunked against her shield and pushed her back some. “Ow! Another dent I suspect!” 

She gritted her teeth and thrust her spear in response, the strike did not pierce the shell of the mechanical man but did force it to stumble. A crossbow bolt bounced off its head and forced it to stumble back once more. “We can’t kill these things!”

Kaleb had been surrounded, his mighty hammer swings were just the treat for them, however, sending them flying but not putting them down for good. Once a hole was made in their lines Kaleb dashed through toward the control disc. “Time to shut you down!”

The disc flickered wildly, sending out beams of multicoloured lights before it shot up in the air on a steel mast to escape the hammer’s blow. 

“Can you climb?” The Hammer of Zale glowed, he had been quiet for months, and the first thing he said had to be sarcastic. 

“I can throw.”

“Don’t you dare.”

Kaleb looked up, he knew tossing the hammer would be folly. “Fine, I’ll climb!” He looked over at the Veil Breaker just a moment, seeing Iridia and crew struggling to keep the mechanical men from Wurtheim. He could hear his voice booming, calling and gauding them to fight him. 

“You can’t bring me with you.”

“I’ll dismantle it with my hands.” Kaleb lay the hammer down and moved to start the climb, only to be slowed by the inhuman grip of prodding metal fingers on his arm. He wrenched it away but was struck on the temple by a strong blow from a mace. Dazed but not out, Kaleb roared and heaved up one of the metal men and swung him to knock the once again surrounding hoard. It seemed his presence near the controller had alerted them and caused more to return to their ship to stop him.

Kaleb dropped the metal man and jumped against the steel mast pole, it was thin enough to get his arms and legs around and he could start shuffling up. 

“He’s like one of them island coconut boys!” Flencer said as he watched Kaleb masterfully slide up towards the controller.

Kaleb grunted as he closed in but was halted by a low whining noise, it grew louder and the pole vibrated. He looked around and saw the metal men had made a circle around the base of the pole but had stepped away. “Odd…” he said through gritted teeth. As Kaleb attempted to slip up further he felt an ungodly surge of power course through his body. His muscles tightened then fell limp, he lost his grip on the pole and fell away into the mass of mechanical men. He made a dent in the ship and lay quiet. 

“Kaleb!” Iridia called. 

“Never seen that before, they must have upgraded since last I had them good!” Wurtheim chuckled. 

“Do you think this a game?” Iridia held her spear tip to him. 

“It’s all a game, wee lass!”

“Morgan and Flencer, watch Wurtheim!”

“What are you going to do?” Morgan blinked.

Iridia did not answer as she leapt over the bannister of the helm and charged into the lower gunnery deck. She tossed a shield at a sooty-faced gunner, “You, you’re serving boy, cannon balls on the shield.”

He blinked, “A..aye my lady.”

She prodded her spear tip towards a young boy who held a torch, “Tadpole, you follow me, bring your matchstick.” 

“Aye.”

“What’s going on ‘ere…” The gunner sergeant called but was cut off by Iridia.

“Close your yap hole, carrier boy!” She tossed her spear at him. “Look after that, if you lose it I’ll make a new one from your teeth!” Iridia snapped.

“I only got free teef!” 

“Then I’ll use your ribs!” Iridia turned and heaved a cannon up over her shoulder as it was a traveller's pack. “Waiter and match stick, follow me!”

They both called together: “Aye my lady!” 

“We’ve got a controller to deal with.”