1.

It was a clear blue day on the Blood Sea. A frigate, tall and proud bobbing on the red waves was the only disturbance in the great crimson plain. Strung high with ropes and sporting twelve cannons a side. It was the royal ship the Neptune, bound from Dartnall to the Kingdom of Roy, returning with its precious cargo. Atop the crow’s nest on the highest mast, a deckhand was dozing in the sun. Despite having an important job, to keep watch for any danger, the seas had been peaceful for the past few days, with this being a regular shipping route cleared by the navies of both countries. Pirates seldom attacked anyways, their golden ages long gone, and the few that remained could wipe their ship out of existence, with or without his warning. He was awakened, however, when the sky began to darken. The rest of the crew felt it as well. Cries of puzzlement and confusion went up, and the captain came up on deck to see what the matter was. Sir John Patrick had served the Kingdom of Roy for almost forty years, beginning as a simple deckhand on one of the navy ships. He was promoted quickly for his clever thinking and innovative strategies and was knighted after saving the queen from a conspiracy. Yet in all his years, he had only heard of the sight he saw before him today.

The red seawater had evaporated, in large enough quantities to create a low hanging cloudbank rushing towards the ship. The mist reached so far into the sky you could hurt your neck searching for the top of it, and the sun was cast into shadow. John ran to wheel despite his shock, pushing aside the crew member on duty there and began barking commands.

 “Mages push the sails! Stow the deck cargo and prepare the cannons for firing! Every man on board to their stations!”

 The crew jumped to their tasks, some opening the deck hatches and temporarily storing cargo in the quarters while others rolled the cannons into the open and prepped crates of lead balls and explosive crystals next to them. The ship was going fast, as fast as possible and then some, but the mist was catching up.

 “Do not panic!” John shouted, trying to calm the whispering crew. “When we are overtaken by the fog, fire one shot from each side and listen for the impact!”

Seconds later, there was a whoosh as the red cloud passed the Neptune, reducing visibility to zero. When John looked over the side, he could not even see the water below. As ordered, a cannon from either side fired a shot. On the port side, a splash was heard. But on the starboard side, there was a clear and definite thump, like a fist striking flesh. “Fire! Fire all cannons on starboard side! Mages stop pushing sails and cast gust spell! Prepare for boarding!” The group of mages, five in total, placed their hands in front of them and chanted softly before pushing a small squall off into the mist instantly clearing it at the cost of destabilizing the boat. As the Neptune rocked violently to the side, John began to curse under his breath, hoping the boat didn’t slow down. But any curse he may have uttered was stuck in his throat as he saw what was revealed. Ask any sailor on the Blood Sea what their greatest fear was, and they would answer with the cursed mist that devoured any ship it came across, leaving no survivors. The only reason the mist was known was that the fastest ship in the navy, the Adia, was the only ship to escape its clutches. And the crew of the Adia it returned with a terrible tale of a monster that hunted within the mist, something no mortal could ever overcome. As John stood gazing off to starboard, he knew in his heart, ‘this is where I will die today’. With all the surety of a mountain pressing down upon him, he knew.

The monster before him was a ship made by no man. Close enough to touch, it sat with a deck twice as tall as the Neptune’s, made from unknown flesh stretched over an enormous skeleton. The spine lay at the bottom, curving up at the front to reveal a figurehead of a grinning human skeleton in armor, many times larger than an ordinary person. Its hands were tied back, arms pressed across the sides of the bow like a bird about to take flight. Its legs fused into the spine, and as John stared, he saw the skeleton turn its head till it was staring right at him, grin stretched so wide as though any second it would burst out laughing. John did not laugh.

“Fire again!” He called.

The second round of shots were fired, leaving no visible damage to the fleshy hull, only denting it before it bubbled out again. Looking higher as the crew screamed and reloaded futilely down below, John caught sight of the masts that seemed to pierce the sky. Made of a dirty white bone, on it hung thin trembling sail. He swallowed dryly as he realized that it was not conventional sail, but skin of many creatures stitched and fused together. ‘How many living beings would have had to be skinned to make that sail?’ He marveled to himself despite the horror.

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“Captain!” His first mate cried from behind him, concerned at his lack of action. “Our cannons can’t do anything Sir they just bounce right off!”

“It’s all right Anthony”, John replied in a calm voice that belied how he felt inside, “Abandon the cannons. Lead the crew to fight off potential boarders.”

Anthony nodded with grim determination before drawing his cutlass and running to the main deck to rally the crew. As Anthony was getting the crew together, the pirates finally appeared on the deck of their ship. As they appeared, they began throwing lines, due to the height disparity it appeared as though they were preparing to rappel down onto the Neptune. Anthony led the deckhands and surrounded the thrown lines, waiting for the pirates to come down. The mages stood farther back, prepared to use their limited abilities to help support the frontline.

 But they were unprepared for what they would face. When the first pirate came down, they rushed forward to attack only to stop in horror as the figure turned around exposing its rotting face.

“Zombies!” one of the younger crewmembers cried.

Anthony’s face hardened even more. Zombies were a hardy foe that didn’t tire or feel pain and could only be killed by a priest with holy magic, or barring that, breaking it into enough pieces it couldn’t move. Not a true death, but good enough. Fire could work, but he wouldn’t risk it on a ship. What was bad was that they were resistant to bladed weapons, which was what most of the crew were armed with. In the wake of the shock upon its appearance the zombie surprised them once more.

“Not going to attack?” It drawled slowly; Anthony could hear its smirk. “Then don’t mind if I take the first move, then.”

Springing forward with more ferocity than any of them could comprehend, it drew a short blade from its waist and drove it through the nearest deckhand’s chest. Removing it just as quickly, it turned and dived in the opposite direction, avoiding several attacks and gutting another man like a fish. The man dropped to his knees, numbly holding what was left of his guts. There was a moment of silence, then the crowd quickly devolved into a mass of chaos, as it slipped agilely through gaps leaving more and more bodies in its wake. The chaos only grew as more zombies, armed with their own weapons reached the Neptune’s deck and joined the fray. ‘No!’ Anthony screamed in his mind. ‘This isn’t right! Aren’t zombies supposed to shuffle and groan?! What are these creatures?!’ Anthony’s musings were interrupted as a long sword punched through his chest from behind. Barely managing a groan, he managed to turn his head only to see a skeleton with blue fire in its eyes in a long coat and tricorn hat grinning at him.

“Stop staring at me like that,” The skeleton turned his head away in what could only be embarrassment. “You’re making me blush.”

Anthony’s last bit of reasoning slipped away as he fell to the deck motionless. The skeleton sighed and mumbled to itself, “better clean this up quick, don’t want to keep the captain waiting.” It adjusted its tricorn hat and turned away to help clean up the resistance.

The last few survivors had gathered by the John next to the captain’s wheel, using long boathooks and boarding spears to push away any of the zombies trying to climb up. The men were panting with exhaustion, terrified that they would die. John was fighting calmly, swinging his officer’s sabre to ward off the monsters. He knew he was only prolonging the inevitable, but he hoped that a miracle might save some of his men. John swung his sword again, only to frown when instead of knocking a zombie back it was parried. Focusing on the figure in front of him, he saw a skeleton in a long coat and tricorn hat standing in front of him holding a long sword. Behind that skeleton, he saw the zombies falling back subserviently making way for more skeletons dressed similarly to the first. The survivors backed off to form a final line at the back of the ship, and the skeletons climbed up to join the first and faced them. The first skeleton cleared his throat.

“Ahem. We are the senior officers of the vessel known as the House of Life. We applaud you for your bravery and strength in the face of adversity!” The skeleton paused, and John and his men looked at each other in bewilderment. “I can see that you are confused.” The skeleton continued, “So I will make this simple. I offer you the same choice that has been offered to every other ship we have boarded. You may choose one of you. They will fight me. If you win, you all go free. If you lose, however…” The skeleton grinned wickedly, “You will voluntarily give up your mana soul to empower the House of Life. I don’t need to tell you how serious that is, without it, you cannot reincarnate. So, I will give you the choice. You have one minute.” With that ominous final declaration, the skeleton fell silent and they all stood still.

The remaining crew turned to John and he sighed, resigned as the strongest among them. “Perhaps this is the miracle I prayed for,” John spoke to the men with a smile, “When we win, drinks are on me at the Salty Anchor.” “Yeah!” “For sure!” “We’ll hold you to that cap’n! Don’t regret it!” John turned to the skeleton. “Alright, I’m ready.” The skeleton smiled, “glad to see you’re so cooperative! Your opponent will be here shortly.” John frowned, uneasiness roiling in his gut. “…I thought I was fighting you.” The skeleton shook his head. “Oh no, the captain likes to do this part you see. He rarely needs to fight nowadays, so this is his little treat.” The piercing looks the skeleton gave John made him shiver. “Make sure he enjoys it.”