Suta POV

A cold cloak of dread enveloped Suta, dousing his entire body in a thin coat of icy sweat. Ever since that demonic eye's appearance in the clouded red skies above. His anxious heart had found no rest, torn between disbelief whilst half-praying that all of these things were part of one terrible nightmare. That last thought was certainly foolish, since if this was a nightmare, he would've woken up in his own bed. With his parents in the next room.

Of all the mysteries and the strange creatures he had encountered so far, that giant eye staring right into his soul from above had to be one of the most terrifying things he had ever seen in his entire life.

"Y-y-you have to be kidding me!" Suta voiced unable to mince his words

"A g-giant eye? Is... is that a monster? If so, th-th-then-"

He swallowed harshly, with his thoughts filled with a terrible foreboding of disaster, if such a monster that size was to appear. What could they do to stop it?

"SUTA!" Anak's voice finally broke through his visage of helplessness. The boy's gaze finally shifted toward the pale-skinned vampire standing only a short distance away from him. Seeing Anak's usually cold features set in place, the deep emotion evident across his pale mask seemed to awaken his senses back into reality

'Wait, d-did he just call out my na-'

"Wake up!" Anaks voice thundered again, visibly startling Suta who finally opened his eyes to the reality of the situation at hand.

"You must stay sharp human. It's started, Lysann's spell has faded, and now the world will revert to what it once was, before we arrived here all those centuries ago-"

Suddenly, Anak's voice was held in his throat, and at the same time, his eyes shot open. Sensing something was amidst.

"Tsk! look, they've already smelled us."

"Huh?" Suta spoke searching the near enough empty boat for whatever it was the vampire could see,

He was halfway twisting on his heels when he laid his eyes upon two shadows torpedoing out from the sea in a flash. Their ascend filled with such force, that their movements created twisting pillars of water spiraling with ferocity into the air. Suta took a few steps back, at first he could hardly make out what those shadows were. Until the waters fell, unearthing two humanoid creatures free-falling from the air above, with a surprisingly graceful landing despite their large robust looking bodies.

The pair stood around 6 feet tall with bulky, shelled pericarps glossed with sheen from the water still coating their bodies. They had humanoid legs with rubbery-looking skin that hung loosely, and their wide feet consisted of three long toes. Their arms were a mixture of the consistent bulking shell covering their large backs, shoulders, and torso, whilst the rubbery, darkened flesh attached itself to their weighted pincers.

As for their heads, they both carried immovable, shell-shocked faces likened to what Suta could make out to be amphibious squids. He observed these very strange but real anomalies. He felt a troubling wave of anxiety as he observed their oily, dark eyes flickering around, clearly observant of both he and Anak. But strangely they both emitted a low growl, almost a harumph through their mouths. He then noticed their attention swiftly moved towards Anak. And those growls were beginning to appear a lot more apparent.

The one on the left was entirely a discolored green tint, while the other was a brighter salmon color. Just before he was about to search for Anak in hopes of formulating some kind of plan, Suta saw that familiar slender figure walking past his uncertain self, a mild flash of panic moved through Suta, before he realized those callous-looking bony wings of his had now folded closer into his spine.

Marching forward, Anak did not spare Suta a single glance, nearing closer towards the two creatures with a poise likened to an unrivaled predator.

"It seems we'll have to skip a few steps ahead with your training. Pay attention. Do not blink, do not cower away. I will show it to you, human. How to cleave away wretched monsters."

Anak cracked his neck to one side and exhaled a deep breath.

{Bloodlust}

Suta's gaze flickered wide. His ears were filled with the terrible slithering sounds of worms writhing beneath Anaks skin. He slightly narrowed his gaze to carefully inspect what he was seeing against Anak's unblemished body. Those black veins appeared again, this time conjugating towards his wide back, forming a hideous dark ring.

Anak held out one of his long, slender arms before flexing his pale fingers adorned with black, steel-like nails that glistened like throwing knives. Just before Suta held a chance to blink once more, the regal-looking vampire had sucked in a deep breath, he breathed out and finally made his move.

A shadow blurred forward, crossing the space between him and the monsters in less than a second. Not only Suta but the two strange creatures were noticeably caught off guard . Unable to adjust themselves quick enough, they were left at the mercy of Anak's ferocious attack.

His arms moved with the force of a turning windmill as he slashed his claws diagonally at the same time. The salmon-colored one displayed an equally terrifying speed and dashed away from the brunt of the attack. But its counterpart wasn't so lucky, releasing a deafening squall as it found itself covered in deep claw marks against its arm. As a result an unnatural purple liquid begun oozing out from the gaps between the hardened shell.

Anak moved again, this time bearing close to the creature's torso. He dragged his claws low and swiped up, but the creature moved its head at the right moment. The sharpened nails sliced the air but grazed the green-shelled creature's chin, cutting off one of its writhing tentacles in the process.

The creature looked dismayed and used its thick, shell-like claw to swipe against Anak's midriff, attempting to crush his ribs.

{Serpentine Bones}

Suta watched on with the alertness of a small cub, watching its superior doing battle for the first time.

Anak's body bent into an inhuman angle, swooping himself so low his torso was almost laid flatly prone against the wooden deck. The hammer-sized pincer missed its first mark, but the sewer-green-colored creature adjusted itself quickly enough to deliver a bludgeoning blow against the top of Anak's lowered head. That strange, fluid upper body movement appeared again, and from a seemingly impossible angle, the vampire coiled its entire torso 180 degrees to one side, avoiding the creature's second blow. A cold, murky breath exhaled forth from Anak. His body recoiled itself back to its rightful poise. The creature was completely open now.

It tried to raise its other arm, but Anak had purposely tucked himself closer to the creature's center to engage it in infighting.

{Bleed}

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Suta barely saw the clawed attack rising upward; he first heard the horrible sound of flesh being torn apart, followed closely by the vertical splash of purple blood flailing out almost comically as Anak severed the creature's arm.

The creature let out a devastating cry into the air, staggering back before it lost its footing, slipping on the blood splashed across the ship's deck and losing its footing. Anak pounced, wasting no time to allow it to find its rhythm, but at that moment, the coral-shelled creature made its move. Flashing across the deck with a speed similar to Anak's strange movement, it tossed a hook forward. Anak dodged, and the creature's second pincer shot forward like a snake, almost timed to perfection waiting for Anak to appear where its own pincer would soon end up. But the vampire wasted no movements. Just when it seemed as though the creature's pincer might cause him harm, his two hands flashed forward and locked the creature's pincer in place, a tense standoff ensuing as the creature found itself held by Anak's inhuman strength.

Little snarls growled out in frustration, but Anak didn't move an inch. He held the pincer with his two pale hands and stared coldly into the creature's dark, soulless eyes.

"Human... this is the benefit of sensing one's intent. Sometimes the hunter allows its feet to brush over the fangs, feigning the jaws to snap down. For what the creature doesn't see, is the harpoon you have hidden."

A squall of defiance screeched forth, and the creature threw its free claw at Anak's head. The vampire wasn't worried and made sure that while his left hand could firmly hold the pincer in place, his right arm wrapped itself over the creature's forearm.

"Choose your moment. Know when to strike, when to retreat, and when to serve yourself up in a bid to draw out the beast lurking in the shadows."

Suta refused to blink for a single moment, he stood and watched the agonizing seconds tick by. Anak was too strong, too cunning and by far almost showing double the strength he used during their sparring. He couldn't stop himself from feeling slightly annoyed by that.

{Bleed}

A fountain of blood sprayed forth in a vertical arch as the creature's cry painfully reached a crescendo. Its arm was suddenly covered in revolving cuts, leaving it in a pitiful and tattered state. Anak released the arm and tossed his hand towards the creature's head in a bid to grab hold of it. He was inches away when his senses twitched, forcing him to retract his arm in retreat. Seconds later, a dark projectile landed at the same spot he had been standing on, a small puddle of black slime sizzling against the ship's deck. By the time Anak arrived at Suta's side again, the green-shelled creature missing an arm stepped forward and aligned itself beside its companion once more.

Suta's gaze remained locked on the greyish-skinned vampire by his side, a sense of admiration constantly building the more he witnessed Anak's way of fighting. He couldn't help but make obvious comparisons to his own movements, wondering if there was a way he too could move like that one day. For now, a simple thought appeared that encapsulated how he was feeling.

"A-amazing," he almost said to himself unconsciously. Anak's gaze never wavered, but he did slightly wince upon noticing the strange movements of the two creatures in front of him. Suta too picked up on this, watching with a curious stare. The two one-armed monsters started to perform what looked like a strange embrace, presenting their two wounds alongside each other.

A strange squall cried forth between the pair and a horrible scene began to unfold, their wounds starting to bubble and contort, merging through this peculiarly unsettling display of melting muscles fusing.

Suta felt his stomach churn watching the dismaying scene. Their once-shelled bodies were being broken down and forcefully merged into one another. It took him a good while before he could peel his gaze away from the horror, setting his faltering gaze toward Anak, who too seemed quite troubled by what was taking place.

Suta noticed Anak's arm slightly tensed in a way that suggested he was prone to attacking, but what caught their attention suddenly arrived from the blood-red skies above - a song of crows, cawing with dark echoes. What marred the air was far from the expected class of black-feathered birds. These creatures were more akin to ostriches in size, with most of their bodies covered in thick pale and black feathers. Their heads reminded him of a scaled lizard with a bulky orange beak half the size of his head. And last time Suta checked, he was sure ostriches couldn't fly like that.

'This nightmare just keeps getting worse.'

Suta swallowed the gathered moisture in his mouth harshly again, unable to begin making any sense out of how strong those flock of troublesome-looking birds were. His fears forced him into a desperate call for Anak's name, but before his broken voice could reach out, Suta captured another disturbance against the sea, this time stemming from behind him. By the time his stiff body managed to twist itself around, his mood sunk even worse.

He spotted three more strange sea creatures climbing onto the ship, unlike the duo from before. These creatures had short pincers with a long, hardened shell covering their entire backs before forming into a tail.

They walked on very short legs, frothing at their mouths covered in oily black skin, with most of their upper torso covered in plates of hardened shells. Suta felt his heart plummet into his stomach,.

At that moment the boy felt despair crawling closer to his heart again. Just before he could process this uncertain reality, a cold, frail hand gently fell against his shoulder. Surprisingly, there was a familiar warmth in that touch that held his tides of anguish at bay. Suta nervously moved his gaze towards Anak, those glittering scarlet eyes scanned across the boat, moving between each of the approaching monsters. With his firm hand still pressed against Suta's shoulder, he twisted slightly towards the air where the trio of fairies watched from above.

He sucked in a large breath before a spirited voice rose free from his lips.

"You three over there! Yes, you! Be brave and do what you can do right now. You're aware of the wards placed around this ship, aren't you? Words of Abjuration! Of protection bestowed to you by the Goddess of the true moon!"

The trio of fairies, visibly shaken, shared frightened looks before Jett softly bounced his red-colored hair.

"I need you to activate that rune behind you. We need the veil of the moonlight to fall! Or else... or else we will all fall instead."

The trio of little whimsical sprites tossed their frantic gazes between one another. It was clear this situation had seized any last remnant of joy away from their little hearts as they internally battled amongst themselves with how to react. After a brief moment of deliberation, the little green-haired fairy rose up with his two fists clenched and his little cheeks puffed up.

"YES! We-W-w-we'll do it!"

"We will?"

"Mm-hmm, we must! Th-they need us... the fairies on board need us too."

Jett scratched his helm out of frustration, his lowered gaze gradually being filled with an undesirable sense of resolve replacing the fear soothed over his little bones.

"Alright... alright! Let's do this!" Jett fist-bumped his chest before giving Anak a thumbs-up.

"Okay, boys, we have to activate this seal... Eh...any...anyone knows how we go about doing that?"

"Hmmm... N-no I don't"

"I've seen Mother Ruora do it a few times, but I'll have to search my noodle about that, hmmm."

The little green-haired fairy, Verdi, was staring at his tiny hands in wonder.

"I... I didn't know we could do magic?"

"Of course we can! We've received the gift from the moon! Br-brightness remember"

"T-the moon... rweally? Auaaah! Th-that's incredible!" Verdi clenched his two little fists with stars glittering within his eyes.

"You little boy, didn't our dearest Mother Ruora tell you about the benefits of the moon before? We are close descendants of the Goddess of the moon, after all."

"Oh-ri-right, I do sort of... remember," he spoke with a bewildered look on his face.

"Fellas, this doesn't seem like the time to be bickering about this... W-we need to figure out how to cast magic?"

"You're right... hmmm... let's try and put our heads together and work this out." Jett concluded, leading the trio in gawking at this strange azure rune in hopes of figuring out how to work it.