Anna's pupils expand, letting in enough light for her to see the Reaper as it dives. She extends a hand, those golden tendrils whipping out to link the two of them to each other. Her other hand reaches down, a blast of that brilliant color firing out and catching the beast at the end of its tail. The golden tendrils flare, draining a little strength from it as Hope swims down toward the shark, readying her weapon. The etchings along the armor glow as she moves, stopping to take a defensive stance.

Tyrion holds up his new crossbow, a bolt already locked into place, and watches the creature's movement carefully for any openings. Unable to spot an immediate weakness, he takes careful aim as he moves a bit closer, the beast still out of range of the Gust Shot. And that's when the Reaper shoots upward, rocketing toward the wounded Hope with jaws wide open. He takes a massive bite out of her side, tearing a deep gouge out of the fighter who cries out. Blood gushes into the water around her as the shark's eyelids roll upward to protect it's vulnerable peepers. Hope's pain turns to rage, a blast of flaming energy erupting from her form. The water around them vastly decreases the heat of the flame, and the shark moves away before he can get too scorched, his dorsal fin taking some burns.

Amadeo clenches his fists as he curses himself for not better choosing his spells for the day, and launches a firebolt at the beast, catching it in the side as it turns for another charge. Anna holds a hand out to Hope, sending a wave of regenerative energy through the devilkin to help heal her wounds. The bite begins to stitch itself back together, right as Anna fires another blast of force at the shark. It doesn't hit very hard, and the creature rounds on her in angered response.

Hope raises her shield defensively, her lungs burning with pain as she tries desperately to hold her breath. "Just a little longer" she thinks, steeling her resolve and banging sword to shield like a gong. Tyrion studies the creature a moment longer and aims the Gust Shot, firing it off. A blast of air speeds through the water behind the bolt, which hits the shark in its belly. The air collides with the beast, though it resists the strong push before speeding forward to attack Hope again. This time, she blocks the gaping maw with her shield, shoving the hunk of iron into the shark's mouth and wrenching a tooth loose before it breaks free and swims downward. Hope swings her blade quickly, slicing a hunk of flesh off the beast as it escapes toward the depths.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Can't let it get away" Amadeo thinks, grabbing a few rose petals from his component pouch. An energy grows from his palm as he releases them, casting an arcane net across the shark as it tries to escape. The beast's movement slows before stopping completely. Amadeo gestures to Hope, who goes down and pulls the beast back to the surface with Tyrion's help. The creature doesn't stir even as they and Matthias pull it aboard the sloop.

The old man whistles, looking over the numerous scars and burn marks across the Reaper's body. "You hit him hard. Bloody Hells." He picks up a knife from his belt, carving a notch into the mast of the sloop and sighing. "Thirteenth hour of the eightieth day. Unlucky for him."

Hope climbs aboard, helping the others out of the water. "You guys alright?"

"We're not the ones missing skin, lass." Tyrion gestures to the holes in the devilkin's right side, and she nods with a sigh. "Yeah. It doesn't feel great."

Anna leans down, checking Hope's marks. "You'll be alright. Your wounds are mostly healed up. This armor saved you, that's for sure."

"Good thing I let you buy it, then." Hope tries to smile, but drops it when she looks over the chaos in the water. Clasping her hands and bowing her head, she whispers softly as if speaking only to the air itself. Amadeo watches her curiously, nudging her shoulder. "Care to share the secret?"

"I was praying for the souls of the departed to find rest. Old habit from my time at the orphanage. They pushed faith and religion on us hard. Sometimes it helped, sometimes it didn't. But it never hurt." Hope sighs and turns away. "Let's just get back to dry land. I've had enough ocean for a bit."

The sloop sails back toward the city of Kaina, the calm blue waves doing little to ease their minds from the memory of the frothing red sea. As they disappear over the horizon, more bodies disappear beneath the surface, tugged by some unseen predator. One wreck of a boat soon follows much the same, dropping under with a sudden swell of water.