Krall panicked. Limbs thrashing around in the water, the strange fish was fast approaching them. Even worse, Noah had blanked out.

He was confused. When the weird sound rings Krall could feel his mind slipping. But something deep within him cried out. Stopped his vision from blurring, and he could feel it coming from… Noah.

Shaking his head, Krall had to do something.

Krall grabbed hold of Noah and desperately tried to swim. To dodge. But the fish was too quick. With its maw open wide, it threatened to swallow Krall hole.

However, a two-handed sword sliced into its scales, causing the large fish to turn the other way, and thrash its tail.

“Let’s go corrupted. We need to move!” Thraz shouted, and rotated himself in the water so that he was facing the beach, but the moment his vision rested on the shore, his heart dropped.

Standing on the golden sand surrounded in dark green fog were dozens of hallowed all clad in golden armour. Thraz’s head spun, looking in all directions, trying to find out where to go.

What would Noah think? What would he do?

Then he saw the cluster of islands in the distance. However, there was one thing that made him want to go there. The fog refused to settle on the land. Like a barrier had been erected around it.

It’s safe there.

It was a long distance away, and by Thraz’s experience in the water, he estimated it would take around six hours of swimming to reach it. But it was far away from whatever monsters were chasing them.

As the only landmark in visible range, Thraz grabbed hold of the floundering Bat-Wolf, and began swimming towards it. However, it was evident that the waters were perhaps even more dangerous than braving the hunger of the hallowed.

Not even twenty minutes into their journey, they were beset on by a shoal of fish with razor sharp teeth. Thraz cleaved one in two. His brows knit.

You defeated a - Level 35 Hallowed Piranha

You have Levelled up!| Thraz ( Earth Sunderer ) level 41 -> Thraz ( Earth Sunderer ) level 42

Even the fish had turned from the fog. Even under the water was not safe.

They worked together, slaughtering the piranha as they continued on their way. But at this point, their path was now a murky scarlet through the water. Like a royal carpet painted in blood.

Finally, Thraz’s mindless swings of his sword ended up not striking anything at all. Before he realised it, there were no more targets to oust his anger on. Like a collective mind, they had simultaneously swam away.

“Yes, you better run from the future dragon lord!”

However, he scowled. They weren’t running from him. They were running from something else. Head snapping in multiple directions, he tried to spot whatever it was.

Thraz could feel something. Something in the water brushed against his legs. Heart jumping, he dipped his hand under the water, but he couldn’t see anything. After waiting for a few minutes, nothing attacked. Realising that he had to quickly make haste, Thraz beat the water with one arm, and Gluttony with the other.

Anxiousness pulsed around his heart, and judging by the restlessness Krall was experiencing, Thraz wasn’t alone in the feeling.

Despite that, they had swam for a further two hours, and the island was quickly approaching. The feeling of something wrapping around his legs wasn’t felt again, but there was a lot more variety of fish that attacked instead.

From bull headed sharks, to razor finned fish that had the palette for dragonborn flesh, and… well whatever the hell Krall was now.

Speaking of Krall, the beast used nothing but his back legs to kick the water. Both hands, or paws, were cradled around Noah to make sure that no harm came to him. Now and then, the water would splash over his face, but after a while, Krall placed Noah on his back.

Thraz watched as blue, almost translucent straps coiled around Noah’s body like a snake, then attached to Krall’s body.

Can the monster use Noah’s skills? Thraz clicked his tongue. Maybe the corrupted kobold wasn’t as simple as he once thought?

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

After cleaving through another one of those disgusting hallowed fish, the same sensation occurred once more. Something invisible coiled around his leg. It wasn’t a constricting feeling, rather, it was like when he was swimming in the swamps back home. Kelp would gently brush against the scales on his leg, if he didn’t concentrate, it was a feeling akin to the breeze blowing through hair, or languid waves bouncing on his flesh.

But obviously this wasn’t the same sensation as whenever it arrived, the monstrous fish belonging to the water retreated. With no hesitation, they bolted through the water as fast as they could.

Now the waters turned silent once more.

What is happening? Thraz couldn’t understand it. If it was a monster, then why was it letting them go. Whenever the monsters of the ocean became dense, and threatened them, the arbiter would arrive. SIlencing them, forcing them to flee.

Continuing to swim, thoughts began to gnaw at Thraz’s mind. The only conclusion he came to was that whatever was around them right now, wanted them to go to the island. It was guiding them, like an angel from the human stories.

It was an unsettling thought. Was it guiding them to their death, or perhaps it truly was trying to save them?

Thraz didn’t care. He wouldn’t allow something to interfere in his life. With a swing of his sword, the water split, and the arbiter disappeared again. Only for the fish to swim back and begin biting at their heels.

The water was now hazed with their own blood. Gluttony would fire spectral blades from the side of its arms, while Krall would bite, and claw anything that came into his vicinity.

It was four hours into their journey now. One hour was left, and the guess was more or less correct. But it was difficult to make out the islands. It was as if an enormous wall of fog blocked off the area from anyone that dared approach.

Not only that, Thraz noticed that just below the wall, hundreds of tall fins were circling. In an instant, they caught the scent of blood through the ocean around them, and shot straight for Thraz.

Gritting his teeth, Thraz placed Gluttony on the back of Krall, then swam until he was in the lead. With his greatsword at the ready, he treaded water, and awaited their assault.

Not one looked the same, and sometimes they would even attack each other on the way. In a flash, the sharks arrived. Dagger-like teeth were faced right at Thraz, at the ready to taste blood.

Come then. Thraz’s eyes turned razor focused. The first to arrive was a massive shark with black spots all over its body. The green in its eyes told Thraz everything he needed to know about the beast.

It wanted his life.

Hefting his sword, he swung it in a mighty arc. Just as his weapon reached the apex in the air, a bundle of rock grew from the back of the blade, making it far heavier than it was before. It descended against the shark, and just before it made contact, the rock grumbled.

Thraz had activated [Weighted Earth] as his blade cleaved through the shark.

He only managed to kill one and then they were beset on all sides by the fish.

“Continue swimming, we are almost there! Ah!” Thraz ordered, but a sudden bite raked at the scales on flesh.

Not able to use his Earthen armour in fear of sinking, he had to rely on whatever armour he had managed to collect during his adventures.

They fought against the tide of monsters, losing pieces of flesh each second that passed. But they were close. So close that Thraz could almost reach out his hand, and put it through the veil of fog surrounding the island.

Slicing through another monster, Thraz kicked his legs, and reached out for the fog. His hand passed through, not feeling the difference in air. Then he looked back, Krall was surrounded.

The water was so dark with red that it was impossible to tell whose blood it belonged to. But Thraz knew it belonged to both. He looked past the veil of fog once more, then spat. Roaring, Thraz turned, his sword flashing in every direction he could.

There was no technique, it was just how he liked it. Wild, chaotic, and destructive. It was how a dragon lord should be. Field with noble might, Thraz carved out a path out of flesh, and bone.

Finally, kicking, and swinging, they broke past the wall of fog, and reached the beach of the island.

Thraz wasn’t aware of it until now, but he was truly exhausted. Wounds marred his body. Some grievous, and others not so serious. Chunks of flesh had been torn from his arms, and legs, and not even Noah was free from the snapping jaws of the aquatic monsters.

It was the same for Gluttony, but even Thraz couldn’t help but take in a cold breath when he looked at Krall. There wasn’t a single centimetre of skin and scales that hadn’t been torn apart. Teeth marks were clearly visible, and the pink flesh underneath was a gruesome sight.

Despite that, the first thing Krall did was take Noah off his back, and make sure he was okay. But when he saw the wounds inflicted onto Noah’s skin, Thraz swore he witnessed raw emotion flash behind those beastly eyes.

Thraz turned around, gazing at the enormous wall of fog surrounding them. No monster seemed to enter. Or perhaps they were feared of whatever was hidden within the island? Whatever it was, Noah could worry about it when he woke up.

Summoning whatever strength was left in his weary body, Thraz took out whatever health potions he had left, and forced them down everyone's throats.

Krall was stubborn at first, but no one was more stubborn than a dragonborn. In the end, Krall was forced to consume the red liquid as his wounds soon scabbed over.

Now that his wounds were on the mend, he turned his focus to the island that they were one. It was an island of three, and it appeared that they had landed on the smallest of them.

Just beyond the rough beach filled with stones, was a set of ruins that almost blended into the jungle behind it.

Then, a horrifying roar pierced outward. Thraz only knew that it was coming from deeper within the island, but whatever it was, was a monster he doubted they could kill.

Noah, please wake up. Thraz cradled his sword as he awaited any beast that may wander in their direction.