Chirping, squawking, cawing... no. "THE MERCHANDISE IS FUCKING SCREECHING AGAIN!" my compatriot yells enraged, before shoving a stun baton in my hands and opening the door to the cages.

Armed with our batons we enter the cargo hold, checking the dirty grey one first. Seems it learned its lesson pretty quickly, a good sign. So we move to the next cage and check the small red one. Seems it elected to try and hide in the shadows, fine by me. We get to the third cage and find the blue one, staring at us with what our translators tell us is either some form of anger, or reverence.

Probably anger.

I look at my partner and she nods and says "Open it. Teach this thing a lesson." So I do, holding my data slate to the control panel of this cage, and the barrier falls.

We slither forward with our batons raised ready to beat this thing into submission, we laugh as it holds its hands out in front of itself before my partners laughs to turn to blood curling screams and to my horror I see she is bathed in fire. Her scales blacked and peel away as her muscles cook and bones charr. I immediately turn and run back outside and go to seal the cage but... "No no no! Where is it!" I turn to the door and see death standing before me before my world becomes pain. My screams join my partners as this fire refuses to kill us outright.

I stand over my handiwork, the acrid smell of burnt meat fills the air as the light around me turns red and a loud noise begins ringing forth from an unknown origin. I kneel down and pick up their strange metal box. I saw them hold it to the side, maybe to show the strange lights? No time to dwell on how it all works. I open the other cages by holding the box up to the lights and opening the doors. One has the girl who showed me the falling stars from before, the second has an elder... he didn't survive the stress. The last has my father wrapping me in the most painful bear hug I've ever suffered. And it makes me smile. "I love you too dad. Now let's try to get out of this mess and hopefully get decent."

At that moment he immediately let's go and step back. "By the gods I'm so sorry Arcadia. Yes let's find something to wear." He doesn't hide his shame. But given the circumstances I understand.

"You two wait here, I can fight them with my spells so I'll head forward and see if I can find anything to wear and bring it back." And with that I march onwards towards the only door in this hall that doesn't end in a cage. As soon as I walk through that door I meet a third demon who hurries out wearing armor of some kind and holding something, my thoughts on what it is stop when he points it at me like one does a crossbow and I do not hesitate to bathe him in fire as I did his friends. I walk into the room he came out of to find several shelves line the walls full of strange items. I noticed the pile of clothes in the corner of the room and began rummaging through them, finding my robes, and the clothes of the others, so I get dressed and bring the clothes to the others. "Here, there's some kind of supply room around the corner so we should go there and see what's useful."

Meanwhile on the bridge. "HOW IN THE DARK UNIVERSE DID ONE MANAGE TO BREAK OUT AND KILL THREE MEN WITH FIRE!? I THOUGHT THEY WERE PRIMITIVES! HOW DID ONE GET FLAMETHROWERS?!?" the captain roard as he throws everything at everyone. Database, half eaten rations, everything in arms reach including another bridge crewmember. "Sir we don't know. They went to beat one of them a she just started killing! We don't know how." A crewman, a Faison, a batlike biped with a long whiplike tail and scaly hide, says while hiding behind a console. The captain leers at the Faison and says in a low tone "Then find out."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Arcadia, her father, and Leeda as she learned the young girl was called find themselves in the storage room again when suddenly her father calls out triumphantly "Haha! My hammer. I'd hate to bloody it but we don't have a choice."

I look over at him and let out a sad sigh. "No, you stay with Leeda and keep her safe. I'll fight these demons." I say, placing a hand on his shoulder. He gives me a hard look but nods. "Alright. But you better not get yourself hurt or killed." I nod and hug him tightly before stepping away. "I'll be back as soon as possible. And we can go from there."

I begin making my way through these strange corridors before finding a stairwell and climbing it up. I make it to the door at the top of the stairs and try using my box on the lights, only this time it doesn't work. "Time for a different approach then." I drop the box and use my fire spell to begin heating and melting the door, it's not ideal and it takes longer then I'd like but it works. I look through to find, well bodies would be a generous term. Charred bones with molten metal around them. As I walk forward I cast a frost spell in front of myself, rapidly cooling any metal and putting out any fires. Miraculously I find another box, undamaged, and showing a blue color on one side so I take it and use it on the doors in this corridor finding, bedrooms? They were keeping us in cages when they had beds right above us? One is very lavish so I walk into it and see a window showing a flurry of colors streaking from one side to the other. I also notice a shelf filled with items, including my armor, helmet, and bow and arrows. However my blade is missing.

Taking the boon for what it is I put on my armor and grab my bow and arrows before turning back and walking up to the final door. I open it like I did the rest and my blood boils. The room is filled with demons on each wall and one on a raised chair yelling something before freezing and turning toward me, and rising to its full height and says something before the odd little box clasped to my belt suddenly talks. "So, you think you can just kill my crew and take my ship primitive?" It then draws a sword, no, it draws MY sword! It starts talking again but I don't give it the time, putting a steel tipped arrow down its throat. Killing it near instantly. The others decide now is a good time to attack, and to be honest it would be, six on one is usually good odds, unless the one has a magical advantage.

I take a deep breath breath and a loud thunder crack occurs as I open my beak and unleash a breath with so much force behind it that the closest demon is liquefied inside and the rest splatter against the walls with the sound of sickening crunches and snaps as bones break and organs rupture. I look over the carnage before grabbing my sword and heading back to get father.

Alive. Im alive! Hiding from the captain is the only reason why. That creature has so much power, it killed the captain and his crew with ease. After so long waiting I slowly come out only to see a blade before my nose. I looked up and may have soiled myself. I slowly raise my hands. "P-please. Don't k-kill me! I beg of you!" The translators kick in as the tiny red one looks up at the blue monster. "Is it a monster too? It talks like us. Kinda." The blue one looks down at me with malice in its eyes. "It doesn't look like a demon. Alright creature you have one chance. Take us back home."

I began to walk towards the captain chair only to see that it's gone, as well as a lot of the other consoles. I gulp, my fate sealed. "I cant..."

"Why?" The large grey one asks.

I look at them, trembling. "Because all the equipment was um... destroyed. However n-not all is lost. We will arrive at the next port in just a few hours." I say hurriedly.

"Well fuck." Is all the blue one says.