Michael

It’s been almost two weeks since we set off from that abandoned isle packed like sardines into the deck and hold of the squat ugly vessel the undine shipwright calls a ship and it’s been constant struggle ever since. There is something terrifying about the possibility of dying out here in the open ocean that has me and a lot of the others fighting with absolutely everything we have every moment our spears and energies are called for, which is often.

Right now the vessel is steadily flowing forward surrounded by red mists conjured and maintained by three undine mages with their water powers I’ve given up understanding. One at the bow, one at the middle deck and one at the stern, each exhausting themselves to conjure and maintain the red mist without which we would all be fish food, if not bird food.

I look towards the red sun peaking between the mists with some paranoia leaning against the port rail collecting my strength. For now everything is quiet still, no piranhas flying about taking bites out of people, no large silver birds stunning everyone on deck with wind attacks and carrying people away. The past three hours or so has been relatively quiet and that has my arm hairs up in paranoid worry, I wipe down Silencer ready to use it at any moment.

From the moment we set off it’s been constant challenge after challenge. First from the marine people that attacked us on the isle shooting up out of the water trying to board with some initial success before we got our fighting rhythm going. These undine are not natural fighters by any stretch of the imagination but in the face of death at harpoon point they found their courage after only a few dozen dead. Some even standing out having learnt their fighting lessons well in the short time on the isle.

Those first few days we almost sank half a dozen times, to my horror having even had holes as large as a horse poked into our ship but thank God for physics-defying magics or we’d all be fish food at the bottom of this pitiless ocean 10 times over by now.

It isn’t just the humanoids we’ve had to deal with but strange fish that have rammed us, spiked nosed creatures that have drilled holes in us, the flying piranhas of death, saltwater mists that sweep through corroding everything even killing two people. The ocean water itself is corrosive eating away at clothes, ropes, sails slowly but quickly enough to have been a huge problem already.

So many people have died, so many in just two weeks of setting off and we don’t even know where we are heading or how long we’ll be on the water for.

‘’Squid!’’ calls the lookout.

‘’Squid!’’

Someone shouts; blinding lights as Zhen unleashes his lightning attack [ka-tra] that crackles loudly. My heart rate increases, I hold Silencer up tightly getting on my haunches ready to now face the next challenge.

[Splat] I blink before shooting into action stabbing pulling and stabbing into the giant tentacle with suckers firmly attached to the deck. I stabilise my footing my centre of gravity shifting with the shifting deck as the ship tips sideways with the wood groaning under immerse pressure applied to it.

Throughout the line along the deck people unleash attacks both magical and mundane, any and all water-based abilities bouncing off harmlessly and my spear though a powerful weapon in and of itself doing nothing to loosen the hold of just one of dozen such tentacles squeezing and pulling the bockety vessel towards the depths.

[Aarg]

[AAAh]

Screams sound out as people hack and slash struggling to cut the pale wiggling masses sloven about the deck, others screaming in horror as they go overboard. Those with swords, axes and cutting abilities making the most progress getting the masses to detangle and retreat but only to either be replaced by a fresh tentacle or re-immerge whole in a spray of corrosive saltwater that leaves the eyes red with tears. Onimore, Esuas, Damage, Gaia, Ava and Mira the most effective at detaching the limbs tottering about the deck moving from tentacle to tentacle helping those like me ineffectively attacking out of sheer desperation.

I step back grabbing onto the rail as Selah skids by slashing into the pulsing mass of white muscle I’ve been stabbing into but besides shivering whilst oozing blue blood it seems to only squeeze tighter cracking the deck loudly to my utter dismay. I don’t want to die by drowning at sea, I really don’t!

A gust of cutting wind pushes Selah back dangerously, dropping Silencer I grab her with my free hand whilst my other holds tightly to the rail. ‘’Are you crazy, drop the swords and hang on!’’ She would rather drown than drop her sword, is she completely insane?!

She sheaths one of her swords stabilising her hold. Mira cuts the giant squid tentacle with another blade of air before falling on it like a tempest with her katana.

[Tlaa] she cuts through it to a spray of blue ooze, it contracts whipping back overboard with a silent scream that vibrates the air. Saya’s ma spares us a glance, eyes as black as night a burning scent of sulphur irritating my sinuses from the shadowy mist wafting off her like perspiration, the moment stretches, then her bare feet and whipping air take her to another struggling pair of people trying to injure the limbs of the yet unseen cephalopod.

The air vibrates and pops as the head immerges from the water, what we’ve been waiting for. Nikita’s hand bombs go off in its face, [Ka-Traa][ka-tra] Zhen’s lightning flashing bright finally finding the real body to discourage, clad javelins find purchase in the large bulbous eyes. The thing sinks with a crashing wave that has the vessel bobbing precariously in the now foaming water, retreating.

Heavy breathing, some whimpers, and the surf sound of foaming water as air bubbles pop like soda acid where the creature immerged and retreated fill my ears.

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Everyone slumps in utter exhaustion, breathing heavily, each having had played their part. Those helping keep the ship together still busy draining the now repurposed mana stones repairing all the damage they can from this latest attack. My breathing slows down, a smile on my face as the euphoria of surviving another attack fills me.

‘’You alright?’’ I ask the scowling woman beside me leaning on the splintered rail feeling the adrenaline wash away from my limbs with pleasant tingles.

‘’That bitch almost killed me,’’ she says with an ugly scowl that does nothing to dampen her aesthetic appeal.

I shrug none committally, I’m not getting between these two.

Everyone gets back to their position slowly, with relief and dread both evident in the aura prevalent on the boat.

We wait for the next challenge to survive.

*

Solomzi

I scowl, the shorter kid giving me a whimpering look. A stern finger in the face is all it takes to shut it up and we keep moving, Imba running ahead impatient with the pace we’ve set. So am I to be honest, it’s a slow pace but I see the rock outcrop up ahead, not far now; I think with an inner sigh. That crazy bitch better not have killed my son, sourly I look at the two kids with me struggling to keep up on their short legs. Miserable little things, hopefully this exchange goes with some semblance of civility.

‘’You brought my siblings?’’ the voice asks from the darkness of the stuffy cave.

‘’I have them outside, that’s where we’ll do the exchange,’’ I say gazing at the darkness as best I can but still seeing nothing of the creatures I know to be around me.

Silence meets my declaration, I wipe the sweat from my forehead. Heart racing, blood uncomfortably warm from the venom coursing within me. I need another dose of that antidote soon or things will get uncomfortable.

‘’You wouldn’t double-cross me would you dear ‘uncle’?’’ As she speaks her head floats forward appearing out of the darkness, startling visage glaring at me. I scramble back at the ugly aberration the girl has turned into.

‘Qgwirha!’’ I exclaim warding with a Sign against witchcraft. My amulets don’t activate nor do I feel a hex fall upon me but the face would induce nightmares in a lesser man for sure.

Composing myself I stand with dagger in hand heart pounding in my throat, these foreigners are all crazy, I see it clearly now. Saliva wets my dry throat, ‘’I’ll- be outside.’’ I turn, jump, pull myself into the hole scrambling out of there fast.

A snake slitters out of the hole first, the head broad, its long forked tongue darting about tasting the air in silence. The light of the sun glitters off its scales creating a gay collage of colours as the large thing slides smoothly over rocks onto grass with still more of its long body exiting the hole.

I’m a far distance away with Imba at my right whilst I hold the two children to me as shields but still I step back. Was that thing this large all along, this thing could have swallowed me whole! I step back, the things almost phasing into the grass in silent camouflage that creates deception of its size. I keep track of it as the last of its body silently clears the opening coiling itself as if ready to strike.

Imba’s hackles are up, his mane shaggy and bristling as he stares at the thing, now suddenly larger than he was before the thing came out emitting a dangerous air about him. ‘’Easy there boy, easy,’’ I say comforting him, glad I’m not the only one unnerved by that thing's size.

Next comes Dishna daughter of Sachihiro and she is a sight only a mother would love. Hair knotted in shiny dirty locs, face black and white in ugly contrast between her skin and whatever it is she’s applied. Her gaunt bony face making her eyes pop unnaturally glaring about blinking at the light, then at me with a death stare that has my anus clenching shut. I hold the kids tightly to me staring back at the ugly witch ready to duke it out to the death here and now.

‘’Orochi, Anya!’’ her voice cracks as she lays eyes on them, her arm coming up as though in unbelief.

‘’Didi, is that Didi?’’ the boy child asks in astonished hopeful fear.

The smaller one tries to wiggle out of my grasp but I clench down on her shoulder hard stifling all resistance.

The witch composes herself with some effort, dirty black rags for clothes seeming to be falling off in places under the light of the sun.

‘’Where are the others?’’ she asks staring at me with fear and hate in her eyes. I see my chance to renegotiate as her resolve wavers at the sight of the children.

‘’There are three others in my care, I know not what their names are but these two will confirm this to be true as they were in my care together. You will take these two in exchange for Anga and his mother and head to the closest border-‘’ she tries to get a word in. ‘’At which point!’’ I increase my volume, ‘’you will receive the other three for a full antidote and depart.’’

Silence between us as she gazes at me, heavy silence. One of the children tries to speak but a thumb in a shoulder nerve has it whimpering back into submission. I watch her watch me, the wheels are turning in her head and from the state of her living in a hole this whole time has not been easy on her at all. She won’t last much longer in there unless she finds food, and her snake alone must be demanding in its appetites, how will she care for two other children in there with her.

I see her come to realisations and discard them, thinking and rethinking. I nudge her along, ‘’a powerful stranger came through our lands and bought the rest of your family. By now they could be anywhere in the wilds, there is nothing else I could do for you.’’

Shock, disbelief, suspicion, despair, resolve then blankness I can’t read all within the span of a heartbeat written on her face. ‘’You expect me to take your word on this ‘uncle’?’’ she says with venom in her words, spite that comes from deep within her heart for me leaking out even as she reigns herself in.

[Ssshhhaa] the serpent hisses in my direction, [Prrrrr] Imba vibrates in threat. Young but prideful enough to take no threat lying down. His presence gives me comfort.

‘’Take my word or not I do not care, either way they are beyond both my or your reach. Now, will you take these five that you know you can save or do we all die pointlessly here and now?’’

Silence, she signals.

A dirty but otherwise whole Anga comes out of the hole, his one-armed mother a step behind. She looks at bad as the bitch Dishna, thin with sagging breaths, sweating with a malaise of disease hanging over her.

‘’You’ve ruined her,’’ I say under my breath.

‘’What was that?’’

‘’Nothing,’’ I say quickly. A bear-like thing coming out last crawling then with shambling steps, what even is that?

We gaze at each other, then she signals Nwabisa forward. She moves towards me slowly, limping, her gait unsteady.

I push the girl child forward and she runs to her sister without looking back, they collide into each other hugging tightly speaking words I don’t catch before the child is shuffled behind the woman closer to the bear thing.

Anga is signalled before Nwabisa even reaches me, I’m disgusted by her appearance but a weight eases off me as the boy runs forward without issue. I let the other child run towards his sister watching my son rush forwards, he stops to help his mother, them reaching me together. I hold them despite the sour sweat and urine in their scents.

‘’You alright?’’ I ask Nwabisa looking at them both carefully. She’s been utterly ruined, one-armed and no longer a beauty.

‘’We have returned to you lord husband,’’ she gets out in a winded feverish voice.