Joe swam deep under the ocean, driving himself forcefully forward with the help of his magic. Between [Hunter’s Pursuit] and [Morphic Form], with [Efferous Endurance] backing them up, he figured he was swimming as fast as a normal person could run. That meant, in his remaining half an hour of breath, he could cross several miles of ocean.
The biggest problem was keeping a straight line. Twice, Joe fought his way to the surface only to find that, while the shore was closer, he had been swimming at an angle to it. He might have already reached land if he could stay on course.
His other worry was he was not alone in the ocean.
Large, dark shapes cut through the sea all around him. The normally crystal clear waters were murky with silt and bubbles churned by the storm. At first, he was certain the lurking forms were sharks. They had rounded noses with large dorsal fins and ended with strong, wide tails. As their numbers increased and the forms started closing in around him, Joe noticed inconsistencies with that theory. The torsos of the monsters were not streamlined and somehow lumpy-looking. Also, their tails were horizontal, not vertical.
When one finally circled close enough for Joe to see it clearly, he almost wished it had been sharks. The creature's rubbery hide was pitch black except for its white belly and a similarly pale patch just behind its eye.
If you asked someone what the most dangerous ocean predators are, more often than not, they’d reply with ‘shark’ or ‘great white shark.’ This is wrong. The fact is killer whales tear through great whites with no contest. While these particular creatures were far smaller than the OG orcas, any predator based on killer whales was not good news.
Similar to Earth’s orcas, these were clearly pack hunters, and like wolves, this pack was closing in around Joe, making sure he had no open route to escape. Finally, one cut through the foggy water close enough for him to get a clear look and an assessment.
The lumpy extensions and odd body shape were finally explained. The creature's torso contained powerful legs, shoulders, and hips. These monsters would be able to function on land as well as in the seas. They had a fringe of near-black fur that ran around their neck and down their spine. The pelt lightened to white across its chest.
Akhlut Reef-Terror: Level 16 - Chimera (Akhlut) - Brute - Strength - HP 688/688
Joe was not sure if this just got better or worse. He knew the myths of the akhlut. A Game Master had thrown these creatures at the party during an arctic campaign. They were from Inuit mythology, a mix of killer whales and wolves. Ravenous hunters who preferred the flesh of humans over anything else. Stories told of how they were just as happy to pull fishermen out of their boats as they were to charge them on the shore. The myths stated that often, the only trace of their attacks left behind were trails of blood and huge wolf prints in the sand leading back into the ocean.
While to Joe, it seemed they did not belong in the tropical waters around Fort Coral, yet, just the fact they were here in Illuminaria at all was another of those weird concurrences between the two worlds.
Joe realized that he had only one chance here. He was swimming as fast as he could, and the akhlut were swimming rings around him. He would have to take control of at least one of these creatures. He hoped there was enough wolf in these chimeras for him to influence them with [Pack Master].
Pack Master: You will be able to dominate lupine creatures. Your ability to command, intimidate, and charm these creatures gains a 10% to overcome emotional resistances plus 2% for each skill rank you have with this skill. Wolfen creatures will be naturally drawn to follow you.
The fact that the large hunters had been swimming alongside him for a while now and none had taken a bite might be due to the passive effect of the skill.
On the other hand, orcas were known to play with their prey before feeding, so Joe was not overly optimistic.
He saw a chimera angling to pass right beside him. He locked his eyes on it. When he flared the commanding skill, the connection was instantaneous. ‘One worry gone.’ Clearly, these beings were more than wolf-like enough.
‘HUNGER! curious. Alpha?’ the beast sent through the newly forged connection. It was not telepathy. More empathy. Feelings, not thoughts. Even so, Joe understood them easily enough.
This pack member did not know what Joe was, but it sensed the authority he possessed. That sense seemed to pass through the other akhluts. They stopped circling him and drew closer, seeming to be more curious now than hostile.
Well, most of them did anyway. Joe felt a wave of savage fury directed at him. The largest of the chimera sensed the threat Joe posed to his dominance, and he was not happy about it at all. Joe turned to see the huge orca-like beast charging straight at him.
As much as Joe did not like the idea of dominating creatures, he had zero chance of surviving at this point without doing so. It was unlikely he could even make it to shore any longer, having tarried among these monsters for precious minutes of his [Endless Breath Potion].
Pointing at the oncoming maw of teeth, Joe focused his thoughts into a spear. He flared the spirit-based skill and added the power of his bracelet to the attack.
‘YIELD!’ he commanded mentally, with both [Pack Master] and the [Band of Beguilement] behind the order.
Item [Band of Beguilement] (Wrist - Rare): If you overwhelm a target’s spirit, you can force it to obey your commands. Target will not obey an obviously self-destructive order, but it can be compelled to perform actions that conflict with its interests. Cooldown: Long. Range: Medium.
Joe felt the predator’s will crumple under the combined mental attack.
Your skill [Pack Master] has increased to rank 4
Not only was Joe’s Spirit twice what the akhlut’s was, but [Pack Master] and the band both amplified his command into an overwhelming compulsion. The chimera kicked out his webbed feet to halt the charge, gliding to a stop right in front of him. It then turned vertically, exposing its belly to Joe.
Wasting no time, Joe swam around behind the beast and grabbed hold of the dorsal fin.
‘Shore,’ Joe ordered mentally. He knew his ability to survive in the ocean was quickly coming to an end. This might be his only chance to reach land in time. Unfortunately, he underestimated just how strong the akhluts were. He was nearly left behind as the prime akhlut shot forward, almost pulling itself from his grasp. As it was, his arms felt as though they were almost pulled out of their sockets.
The rest of the pack followed. The creatures angled upward, heading upward to meet the crushing hurricane waves. Joe had his doubts, but he did not want to muddy his commands at this point. If he just had to hang on, then maybe he could survive the stormy surface.
The akhlut rejoiced in the towering waves and screaming winds. Joe could feel their savage joy as they rode the swells up into the sky before diving off into the churning seas below. He did not often use [Steadfast] on his hands, but he had discovered on his shipboard training with Hah’roo it was possible. He had needed all the grip he could get when she was trying to yank him off the ropes-ladders. He needed all of it now, too, in order to stay on the back of the beast he rode.
The pelt cushioned the hammering he took each time the great beast leapt out and back into the water. The hair was thick and smooth, feeling more like what he thought otter or beaver fur would feel like than the silkier coats of a wolf.
Joe watched the lights of Fort Coral grow quickly before his eyes. Huge lanterns had been affixed to the storm walls around the beach. The beacons dulled every few seconds as the storm surge crashed into the barricades, swamping both the lights and the defenders.
The surges also pushed whole squads of scaly green creatures into the ranks of guilders and guards. Shellycoats looked to be some sort of aquatic goblin-like creature. They were no more than three or four feet tall, but they had inordinately long arms. The raiders had rounded frog-like faces with webbed hands and feet. They also seemed to be covered in tall, pointed barnacles. These shell-like spurs glowed lightly enough, it seemed for the shellycoats to see in dark water. They were also both armor and weapons for the humanoids. The monsters seemed to rely on backhanded slaps that used the sharp edges of the shells to deliver slashing attacks.
On the whole, each of the creatures did not seem to pose much threat, but the sheer number of shellycoats was overwhelming. Hundreds of the squat terrors were climbing and clawing at those defending the storm wall. The wavering glow from the shells they wore overlapped and undulated to the point it was almost hypnotic at the distance Joe was at.
A sense of voracious hunger grew among the pack as they charged toward shore. So much food had gathered at the wall. There were flecks of worry as well. The akhlut recalled the ward pylons in the bay and feared crossing them, but their endless ravening appetites were overriding that fear. They were also smarter than normal animals. Smart enough to reason that if the feeble shellycoats could ride the waves over the wards, then surely they could as well.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
‘This might be a terrible idea,’ Joe mused. He might be about to make the problems for Fort Coral much worse. Each of the defenders was worth far more than each of the shellycoat marauders. If the chimeras attacked the guards, then the already precariously balanced battle could tip away from town.
Focusing on the creature in his grasp, Joe tried to work his way into that connection the creatures shared. He could hear them, but he needed all of them to hear him now.
He pictured the shellycoats and projected his thought.
‘THESE! Only these!’ he ordered through the link the pack shared.
Your skill [Pack Master] has increased to rank 5
A fierce surge answered him. There were a few stray hints that the beasts felt people were tastier than the sea-raiders, but overall, the akhlut were more than happy to gorge themselves on shellycoats.
Joe looked across the wall to see if there was someplace he should aim the pack for.
He spotted Edror with a pair of heavily-armored guards holding a thirty-foot section of wall by themselves. The old monster-hunter was tearing through the small predators. Everywhere he moved, the monsters fell. The two guard champions seemed equally as capable.
The middle of the wall was held by the main ranks of the city guard. They seemed hard-pressed but were holding.
On the other side, he saw a barricade of red energy walls and a defender in shining armor with a small squad of guards. Most of the shellycoats seemed to be falling to ranged attacks from behind this front-line, but clearly, the storm was forcing those attacks to be released at almost point-blank range. With most of their offense being hampered, it looked like his friends were the ones who needed him most.
Joe directed the pack in that direction. He again projected his command, stressing how they were not to attack his allies. He was very clear about how furious he would be if they harmed his friends. He could feel the wild part of his soul enhance that order.
The chimeras understood. He felt them shiver under the domination of his Spirit and the skill. Joe might feel bad about this later, but he was not going to relent or feel guilty now. He was bringing wild creatures to a fight. He was not taking a chance any of them would consider disobeying him.
As the pack rode the surge over the submerged beach, Joe could hear shouts of alarm. Most were in the common tongue, but some had a strange bubbly guttural sound, sort of like angry frogs.
Joe was surprised when it became clear the shellycoats thought the pack would go for the defenders. The green raiders scrunched to the sides, opening a channel to Vexor’s small magical bulwark. They were completely unprepared when the chimera ignored the opening and scythed through their ranks instead of into the defenders.
“Incoming,” Joe shouted to the magical bunker, forgetting he had the last traces of the potion left. A large belch of bubbles popped out of his mouth as he yelled. He gave himself a mental kick before grabbing a deep breath of air and diving off the akhlut’s back. His still aquatically configured digits pulled him to the wall, and [Hunter’s Pursuit] helped him bound up out of the surf.
“Who are …,” the armored knight began before recognition lit up his expression. “Oh, wait. Vex’s friend. The healer.”
“Yeah,” was all Joe managed before the warrior vanished his weapon, grabbed Joe’s gambeson, and practically threw him around his plate-mailed body into the forcewall bunker.
“They need you,” Kerrig shouted, resummoning his sword.
Joe saw RC and the other elf taking advantage of the momentary break in combat to refill their quivers.
He saw Vexor with a glowing stylus, scribbling sigils into his red energy walls.
And he saw Kendell trying to hold her stomach together. There was so much blood. Several loops of her intestines were tangled around her fingers.
The wildness in him screamed, and outside in the ocean, the pack howled in a sympathetic, primal rage. As the shrieks of the shellycoats outside grew in terror, Joe dove forward.
Her tear-filled face nearly broke Joe’s heart, but for once, his focus was absolute.
Your skill [Eyes of the Healer] has increased to rank 33.
He knew exactly what he needed to do.
“Kenda,” he shouted over the battle and storm. “I’m here. I need you to move your hands. I got this.”
She was in shock and didn’t seem to understand, forcing Joe to change tactics.
You have removed the Shaken affliction from Kendell Clarridge.
Your skill [Purge] has increased to rank 14.
“Hey, Kendell. It’s Joe. Can you move your hands carefully for me so I can heal you?”
“Joe?” she uttered in a shaky-sounding voice.
He cast [Deaden Flesh] to ease the pain of the wound and to numb her hands, allowing him to slip them out of the slick, bloody coils. Once that was done, he used his actual hands and his ghostly one to gently ease the organs back to where they belonged.
He found he could alter the shape of his [Fetching Fist] almost entirely by accident. He needed to slip one tube of the digestive tract under another section of intestine. As he considered how to do so, the fingers of the force hand automatically elongated and thinned. The magical appendage moved the dislodged flesh perfectly while not stretching the wound any further. Joe suddenly understood that while the spectral digits were always going to be in the shape of a hand, it could be any hand he required, from this fine-fingered maestro-shaped one to a burly bruiser’s paw if he needed it.
Once the organs were all where they belonged, he could finally start applying his heals. The rest of the repairs only took a few more seconds.
“Joe,” she breathed. Her eyes cleared and focused on his. “Thanks. Bastard found the gap between my breastplate and kilt. That does it. I’m getting a good warbelt.”
While Joe invigorated her with [Efferous Endurance] and rechecked her with [Eyes of the Healer], he distractedly asked, “Why have you been putting it off?”
“They can be uncomfortable. Like wearing a heavy leather girdle.”
The lithe warrior popped up to her feet and extended a hand to help him up. “How are we doing? Wait? Why are you here at the beach?”
“I’ll explain the second part later, but I have no idea about the first part,” Joe exclaimed as he wiped the spray out of his eyes. “I’m going to see who needs me down the line. See you in a bit.”
“That won’t work,” Kenda interrupted. “It’s impossible to move much out there. Vex made us a bunker, and the guards have Formation magic to help them stay together. You’ll get hammered by the typhoon out there.”
“Good point. I need something big and heavy to shield me.”
“We don’t have anybody like that except Kerrig. And if he leaves, we’ll lose this end of the beach.”
“No worries. I have somebody better.” Joe let the feral feeling in him call the akhlut prime. The beast was happily tearing apart a shellycoat, yet it responded without question. While the beguilement from the bracelet had worn off, the creature seemed to have accepted Joe as his pack leader.
While that wildness raced through his blood, something instinctual took over. Joe suddenly reached out, grabbed Kenda, and kissed her. Even amidst the battle and the hurricane, that moment, that brief second, seemed to stretch time. Her hands grabbed his neck as she kissed him back.
Unfortunately, Kerrig’s shout and the sense of the chimera’s expectant presence broke the moment too soon. They separated, each taking a deep breath. Kendell’s eyes flashed merrily, while Joe was utterly stunned that he had just done that.
“Gotta go,” he uttered, looking into her brown eyes. It took a conscious effort for him to look away, but he wanted to make sure there were no misunderstandings between the armored guild defender and the wild beast he had called.
“Kerrig,” Joe shouted over his shoulder. “Don’t hurt him! He’s with me!”
He sent a thought to the chimera to meet him on the side of the sorcerer’s force structure.
Joe squeezed Kenda’s shoulder. Her hand slapped onto his and squeezed back even harder. Joe forced himself to slip free and exit through an open backdoor in the arcane construct. Vex must have made it in case the team needed to retreat.
As he stepped out of the magical bunker, Joe finally got a complete look at the akhlut prime. Out of the water, he saw just how big the black-skinned monstrosity was. The creature was over seven feet tall to its shoulder, with the dorsal fin extending its height at least three feet more. Joe guessed it was at least twelve feet long. Even though it had gorged itself on dozens or more shellycoats, Joe could still feel its ceaseless craving for food. He recalled the Inuit myth had mentioned something about a curse of hunger.
“I need you to help me do my job,” he shouted. He knew the beast would not understand the words, but he hoped that the meaning behind them would get through. “You have to block the storm for me.”
He stepped to the downwind side of the massive aquatic predator and wrapped his fingers deeply into the thick, ebon fur around its neck. Joe glanced back to see Kendell staring at the two of them with eyes wide in surprise. He couldn’t help but wave, hoping he was not smiling goofily at her.
“Stop being a dork,” he muttered to himself quietly enough no one, except maybe the beast, could hear him over the storm. “People need us.”
Looking to his bizarre new companion, he shouted. “OK, bud. Let’s go.”
Sheltered by a massive wall of rubbery muscled whale-skin, Joe headed for the center of the battle, where he could see numerous wounded guardsmen in need of a medic.