Boy, these travel-times across the sea are no joke, I thought to myself during my breakfast hiatus from playing the game. It was now Saturday, and I had gotten off about fifteen minutes ago to do some actual living for a while. I had about twenty minutes before I was expected back in-game, so after a shower I headed back up with a breakfast sandwich in one hand and coffee in the other. My dad, of course, was nearly asleep with the cartoons on; and my mom had left practically the moment I'd gotten downstairs for some job-related thing or another.
As I settled down in my desk chair I switched on the computer, and then logged on to the Panarena forums. About half the posts were commentating on the developments in the Wildlands; there were about five speculating on the future of King-Priests and their involvement in the competition, around thirty (at least) about the Guardians of the Eternal Citadel rebuilding their fleet, a good chunk about the Skulls and Bones Alliance, an assortment of others dealing with various crafter-guilds, and one post about the expedition--ours, that is--that had been posted around midnight or so.
Still... everyone's focused on the Wildlands... nothing about those freaky cannibal-players up around the Borderlands? Nothing about the Vales of Aergondi? I know there's been an uptick in skirmishes and squabbles there; hey, what about the other side of Panarena...? I suddenly wondered, clicking through pages to find information about the Onyxus side of the competition.
“Gyeck!?” was my initial reaction to the frenzy of posts I found.
I think someone had mentioned this to me before, if I hadn't somewhat known it already, but seeing it like this was bonkers. The Onyxus guilds really were at each other's throats with this competition. One of the big telling points was that the competition rules had not been adjusted for them. Each and every one of their guilds, insofar as I could see from the forums, was out for the other.
One post in particular caught my eye. It happened to mention in its headline a very familiar name. Garth.
Blackwall Monarchs taken over by second-in-command, Garth.
The article described the apparently ingenious take-over (apparently Garth, if it was the Garth I thought it was, had actually learned to think and fight in this game) in detail, then moved on to describing Garth's plan to build a confederation of guilds as the Blackwall Monarchs reconquered their economic-hotspots to retake their top spot on the board over there.
If that's not our Garth, I don't know who is, I mused upon reading the fine details. Creating an alliance of sorts to try and monopolize resource spots? Yeah. Couldn't be any other Garth in my book. At least he's doing it... honestly...? I guess, I had to remark with a wry frown. I closed out the forums with a sigh, and checked my messages. There was one from an unknown sender marked as urgent. With a shake of my head I deleted it. Really? Spam mail like that in the late twenty-first century? Come on, people, get original.
After I had checked through the more valid stuff and sent replies to a few (some out-of-town family that we kept in touch with), I decided I'd had enough of real life for now, and went back to using the Dream Machine.
“Saaaafe,” I said with a groan as I landed as Lana on the deck of my ship.
“Yay! Lana's back,” Caylee smiled, clapping her hands.
“Anyone else?” I wondered as I turned towards her.
“Heali and Der are here; Maryn's here; Anhe just got back a moment before you; that leaves the other half of your guild, I guess!” she told me.
“Gotcha,” I nodded.
Just then, our three college-age girls loaded up, and a moment after they did Ariana arrived. Ari ran over to hug me at once, and I smiled as I hugged her back.
“Lizzy got called in for an emergency shift, so she'll be on later.” she told me.
“Right,” I said in reply. “How far to Covenhame?” I then asked Caylee, who crossed her arms over her chest as she answered.
“Jannie and Hua Ling estimate that we should be there by the time Saturday's over.”
“A full day, huh?” I remarked as Ari and I let go of each other.
“And we've still got them to worry about.” Derwydd noted as he nodded towards the port side of the ship. It was obvious from his tone that Venomheart had not given up their pursuit.
But why...? I had to wonder as I turned towards the direction Derwydd had indicated. Our sea-dragon ally could easily sneak under them before Clara or whoever can set off their poison spell and sink them... they *have* to know that, or at least be aware of the possibility, I mused. What is Melody playing at?
“You think there's something more to her following, too?” Ariana whispered to me, and I nodded back. “I wonder if she's not as loose a cannon as we think her this time; I wonder if her following us is actually helping the Deep Blue Kings somehow,” my partner wondered to me softly.
“Almost as if... as if they're a spotter,” I remarked quietly, and she nodded back. “But if they're just doing the spotting... then--” I began, but my thoughts were interrupted by several ships sounding an alarm with their horns or bells.
“Off the port bows! Enemy off the port bows!” Lysandra called out. I looked.
From below the sea, seven ships rose up out of the waves. The terrifying man-of-war with its dragonish-looking prow, the jaws agape, took the lead, the galleons and fluyts taking up a V-formation behind it.
“Venomheart's increasing speed!” Sky Belle reported.
“Snap!” I swore.
I didn't think they could actually do it!! They actually, really can travel below water!! And it's instantaneous?! That's why Venomheart chased after us, to give them more accurate coordinates for the skill or technique to work!!
“And now they might have us in a net!” I softly fumed.
“Shuĭyŭ!” I heard a voice call; the sea-dragon hastily wriggled out of her harness, and began moving towards the enemy fleet.
A deafening roar erupted from her jaws. I saw two of the enemy ships veer off from sheer instinct, but four of them, including the flagship, kept coming. The name I saw etched onto the side of the man-of-war gave me to know that Squidclaw's ship was named The Black Brine. It was definitely blackish in color, and it certainly looked... well, brine-y. There were all sorts of sea-pests and coral that had lodged themselves into it at random intervals, giving it an almost derelict appearance; but the ship that was racing towards us was far from derelict. Shuĭyŭ headed for it, and I saw a certain player standing at the prow, sword raised towards the majestic beast. His right hand, which held the sword, was normal; but his left hand was a great claw. In place of hair he had tentacles, and his countenance was almost shark-like.
“Hi-ho, beastie! Hi-ho, Lana Windstrider and friends!” Admiral Squidclaw called out to us. “That was a fine trick ye played us a while ago; allow me now to repay the favor! Lads!” he called back to his crew.
Then the most epic and terrifying thing I'd seen in the game so far happened. The sea-dragon's head of the man-of-war with its open jaws was no idle design. It suddenly blasted out a huge stream of flames, catching two of our lead ships on fire.
Ho-ly...!!! I stood in dumb amazement.
“They have the Greek fire device?!” I heard someone practically scream out as Squidclaw laughed.
He and his fleet veered off, but not before Shuĭyŭ managed to put a hole in one of the galleons with a ferocious smack of her tail. The dragon then quickly turned to us, and let loose her own breath: a breath of water. It doused the flames, thankfully, and we hurriedly took the damaged vessels in tow as we continued on our course towards Covenhame.
“Lana?? Lana!!” Ariana clutched my arm, lightly smacking my face to snap me out of my trance.
“Hmm?” I suddenly turned.
“We need help with the sails!” she told me.
“Got it!” I said, and I helped the others get us into the wind.
“In this world, it is called, 'Sargon's Breath', after an ancient sea king,” I heard Myanihia remark.
“I can imagine why,” I heard her sister reply. “That was nuts! I didn't think that weapon had gone live yet!”
“Leave it, to Squidclaw, I guess you could say,” the other twin said.
“Right?” Lysandra agreed.
“They're still coming after us, though that one galleon isn't going anywhere.” Healina reported.
“Nope, they're going somewhere,” I said.
“Hmm? Where's that?” our healer wondered.
“Down.” I quipped.
“Pfft!” the Sea Elf began chuckling.
“Venomheart's ship is regrouping with them.” Belle then noticed. “Ari, I'll change size and help; use your skill to keep an eye on them,” the older girl remarked as she turned human-sized, hastily placing one of her other outfits on as she began helping us with the sails.
“Got it!” Ari nodded, activating her far-seeing skills. “You want me to keep an eye out for that mage, yes?”
“Def,” Belle nodded.
“Oh right, he's still a threat... probably,” I recalled. “Speaking of which, I wonder what the cooldown on that Sargon's thing is...”
“I... don't know,” Myanihia said with a sudden curiosity. “All I remember, is that it was slipped in, with a recent patch,” she told us.
“I can't believe we missed those patch notes,” Cloveroak scratched his head.
“We'll have to talk to MacYnduff after this escapade.” Peaches said. “If anyone besides Squiddy over there knows about weapons and armaments, it'd be him.”
“Oh for sure,” I agreed.
We hurriedly got our fleet into the wind, picking up a bit of speed. Our pursuers did the same thing, and they were slightly faster overall. By unspoken consensus, the mages and archers amongst us began assembling at the rear of our ships or in the crow's nests, readying our skills and such to try and repel them.
“Found him!” Ariana told me. “He's on the ship to our right, just beside The Black Brine!” she reported.
“Tch!” I hissed. “I can't see him!”
“He's definitely chanting.” she said with a frown.
“Keep your skill going,” I told her. “Angelfire!!” I then shouted at the top of my lungs, loosing fire-arrows towards the direction of my target.
The flame-haired girl took my meaning at once, and began unleashing her own arsenal of fire and flame towards the ship in question, as did a few other mages and archers. But as soon as they got near, they were repelled by a shielding spell.
“Hyeck!?” I gasped. That's what we get for getting him so easily the first time, I guess...
“We can break it!!” I heard the other guild leader cry out as she resumed her attack. With that confidence-booster in my ears, I activated Dragon Breaker again, followed by Shadow Barrage and Rapid Fire.
“Shuĭyŭ! We may need your help!” I heard Hua Ling say.
“We may need the others as well!” the sea-dragon replied, taking in a deep breath and loosing a howl-like sound that practically echoed around the blue expanse of sea surrounding us.
“Dang it! They keep replacing the barrier!” I heard Angelfire growl.
“She's right,” Ariana turned to me. “There's a whole cluster of mages on that ship, each of them using some kind of barrier to keep the summoner safe from us!”
“Tch!” I grimaced. “Myanihia, Heali, Anhe!” I called, throwing down smoke-bombs to cover us as I dove into the water.
The three of them followed me without question, and we swam to the other ship. They might deflect spells and arrows, but we could probably get onto their ship without being repelled. Anhe and Healina activated support skills to help us swim faster, and we reached our target without incident. The four of us began clambering up the sides, Myanihia and I arriving first. We quickly vanished into the shadows, and began taking down the mages defending the summoner while Healina and Anhe supported us, the former with summoning skills of her own in addition to healing and Anhe with three deadly auras, an attack strength booster, a damage-negating aura, and an aura of reflection, which damages anyone who attacks us with five-percent of their own attack damage.
“Can't... reach him...!!” I frustratedly spluttered as I kept trying to break through the mages.
“Revivers!” Healina called out.
No wonder...
“I'll get them!” Myanihia said, hastily taking out one and then another in rapid succession before they could react. Anhe twirled the staff above her head and brought it down with a thump, jostling our enemies and knocking a few of them back. She then put the staff away and began using her own deadly martial arts, enhanced by the system, to deal with our enemies.
“Hya!” she cried out as she knocked one into the sea with a hefty kick.
I then heard a thunderous sound. It took me a quarter of a second to realize it was a cannon. Another quarter to realize it was aimed at me. And then the rest of that second to miraculously dodge the attack just in time as the cannonball flew a hair's breadth near to my head. It took out one of the Deep Blue Kings by accident, knocking him into the sea as well, and I heard Admiral Squidclaw berating the gunner for his hastiness.
Pheeeww, I sighed with no small relief as I resumed attacking the mages, still trying to get to the summoner. Angelfire and the others had resumed their attack as well, making it easier to identify those who were keeping the summoner safe. I heard him speaking faster. Boy that's a lengthy incantation, I quietly noted. Wait!!
Quickly, I recalled that in this game, mages in these situations do tend to speak faster when they're almost done with their incantations. Oh screw it. I threw down a few lotus-bombs and a poison grenade, vanishing into Shadow World as I rushed towards the summoner, whose health was not unaffected by the attack.
“Dang it! Where'd she go?!”
“Keep Captain Spellshot safe!!”
“Can't--see--!!” someone tried to say while coughing.
Meanwhile, the mage, apparently named Captain Spellshot, was raising his staff. I knew what that meant. He was getting ready to activate the spell. I started up that deadly combo Myanihia had taught me, striking him with it. He went down just as so many others had before him--but not before he had finished his summoning spell. A shiver ran down my back as I realized this.
Just a moment later, Cylodel appeared on the ship.
“Girls, here!” he called, and we ran towards him.
He ported us back to our own ship, where I gave him a pat on the arm as I made my way back to the rear of the ship. Myanihia and the others were right behind me, noticing the frenzied anxiety in my step.
“Lana?” Anhe asked me.
“I didn't get him in time! He managed to--” I said, my words suddenly cut off by the sight of very, very large tentacles rising up out of the sea around our own ship.
“Oh no!!” I heard Anna Belle cry out.
And then there was a thundering roar. Overhead, I saw Dracuoatlax grab one of the flailing tentacles with his taloned feet, biting into it deeply. Guntaru the Wise appeared a moment later, striking another with his claws and breathing flames upon a third.
“Ari! Wind spell!” I immediately said, and my partner activated a skill she had crafted just for moments like this called Fujin's Gale, which propelled us forward and away from the kraken's attempt to grab us as the dragons attacked it.
As the kraken retreated for a moment, the two sky dragons cast their breath towards the enemy ships, forcing them to retreat. Except for one. A certain galleon with a certain guild on it turned to meet the dragons, its spellcaster readying a deadly poison skill.
“Guntaru! This way!” Dracuoatlax said, flapping off towards the west. The other dragon followed him quickly as the poison-spell was launched after them.
“Tch!” I grumbled softly.
“Take this!!” I heard Angelfire shout as she cast a wild barrage of flame spells towards Venomheart's ship. The galleon was hit by at least a third of them, which was enough to set it aflame. Our two airborne dragons circled around to the other ships, blasting them with fire a bit before veering off once more to regroup with us.
“Lady Lana! The greatest ship among them will not take flame!” Dracuoatlax told me.
“That figures,” I said with a disgusted sigh. “What about the sea monster?”
“The kraken will soon come after you again,” Guntaru said as he looked towards its location. “It is rising now! Shuĭyŭ!”
“I must keep these ships going, or our masters will fail their quest!” Shuĭyŭ returned.
“We two can handle the vile demon of the sea with those poisoners occupied,” Dracuoatlax said to Guntaru.
“Agreed, yet it would be better if she herself could take him!” the other said.
“I understand your reasoning, my old rival, but now let us two go on the attack!” the first said as he dove towards the creature.
“As if I would let you alone take the glory!” Guntaru quipped as he flew after the other with a whoosh.
“Yet you'd both let Shuĭyŭ take it by herself...?” I said in a whisper, Ariana softly giggling beside me.
At that moment, our ship came to a jarring halt. I looked around in confusion for a brief moment, and then blinked. We can't have run aground, right? What's going on here? … waaaaiit a se-cond...!!
A scream suddenly left my partner's lips. There was a massive tentacle rising up out of the waves again, and about eight more with it. My eyes widened. A trick!!
“Lana!!” Angelfire shouted from her ship, The Sea Dragon. She immediately went on the attack with her mages, as did Johann Starson and his guild beside us in their own caravel.
“Taggart! Marna! Take the ones at the fore!” the valiant fighter called.
“Got it!” Marna Byn, his second, called back to him as she and Taggart hurried to do so.
“Silvernight Queens! Attack!” I shouted as I snapped myself out of it.
“Dreamers! Defensive formations! Support the Queens!” Peaches said as she and her guild gathered with us to repel the kraken.
“Where's the dragons?!” Maryn wondered in bewilderment.
“Where are the dragons...?” I wondered belatedly, knowing for sure that both of them would have come flying back.
“Don't tell me there's two of these dang things?!” Cloveroak remarked as he looked back. I did as well.
Sure enough, Dracuoatlax and Guntaru were fighting a kraken back there. Venomheart's ship was limping around, probably trying to get them while they were occupied. As quick as I could, I took out a horn and sounded a few blasts upon it to get their attention. Dracuoatlax noticed my meaning at once, taking note of the poisoners' ship coming their way. He ripped off one of the other kraken's tentacles for spite as he hurried off, signaling Guntaru to do the same.
“Is that why the first one retreated, to summon help?” Snow Dancer wondered.
“Maybe,” Heali agreed. “Where's Anna Belle?”
“I have her,” Caylee said. The Ragamis was snuggled up safely in a shoulder-carrier that she wore, smiling at me.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“I'm safe, Lana!” she said to me. “Though this is certainly a pickle! My ancestor didn't record anything about pirates or sea monsters at all!”
“Well, I half-expected the pirates, at least!” I had to grin back.
“Not the sea monsters?” Lysandra said with a wry smile.
“Ehh. Yeah... on second thought, I really should have predicted sea monsters...” I said with a soft groan. “But wild ones!” I added swiftly.
“True!” Ariana agreed as we attacked the massive tentacles threatening to come hurtling down upon us.
“Someone warn the others that the other might come after one of them!” Cloveroak said.
“Already on it!” Peaches told him.
“Personally, I hope that loss of a limb or two keeps it from trying again!” I remarked as I loosed some fire-arrows at our targets.
“No arguments here!” Cloveroak beamed.
“Oh def.” Heali nodded.
One of the tentacles did make its way down to the deck, followed by a lucky second, but that only made it easier for some of us to use our strongest attacks on it. We quickly dispatched these two before it could squeeze us to death, and a few moments later it let us go. Once again Ariana used her skill, and we began catching up to the rest of the fleet with the other two ships beside us. We thanked Johann and Angelfire for their assistance as we did so, to which they graciously replied that we would have done the same--which we would have.
Dracuoatlax and Guntaru then stopped for a brief moment to add some insult to injury on the kraken that had nearly gotten us, forcing it to dive deeper to escape their anger. I could faintly hear it letting out a long, bellowing sort of sound; it was almost reminiscent of whale song to my ears, but deeper and less soothing.
“Oh that can't be good,” I remarked as I heard it.
“That almost sounds like a call for help,” Healina said as she listened. Her hearing, as I may have said before, was better than most of ours in regards to underwater sounds.
“Enemy fleet is back on our tail!” I heard Taggart call from the ship on our right.
“How many?” I said.
“Looks like four of them are still game, including Venomheart's ship and the man-of-war!” he told us.
“Dang it! The Black Brine! Their ultimate weapon might be recharged by now, too!” I quietly seethed.
“And we're still a good ways away from Covenhame...” Ariana sighed.
“If you could all ride upon us, masters, we could have gotten you there by now,” Guntaru remarked. I then blinked as a certain thought struck me, turning to Cylodel. The mage sighed, a soft grin upon his face.
“I can do it.” he said in anticipation of my question.
“Take Heali and Der with you for support, just in case,” I said, and he nodded. “Guntaru, Dracuoatlax, can you get them close to Covenhame ahead of us?”
“Affirmative!” my own dragon ally told me, coming closer to the ship as the three in question headed up the mast to get aboard him from the crow's nest.
“I will stay here to help, should those miserable beasts rise up from the waves again,” Guntaru said.
“A wise course,” Dracuoatlax agreed as Cylodel and the others got on his back. “It will yet take me some time to get to Covenhame; do not let yourselves be beaten by mere pirates and monsters, Lady Lana!” he then said to me as he flapped higher into the sky and then took off like a rocket.
“We'll do our best, pal,” I nodded quietly.
“We've been in worse situations.” Maryn patted my shoulder.
“Ehh? When?” I returned with mock surprise.
“Ahh...” she smiled bemusedly, trying to think of something.
“Like the time you almost got eaten by Mad Dog.” Ariana remarked with a pout. “Or the other time when you nearly got poisoned by Blackwood. And that other time when Myanihia nearly had you. And again when Venomheart literally had us surrounded.” she continued, an expression of discontent growing on her face.
“Ahh--!” I started, uncertain of what to say.
“To be fair... Lana, had me on the ropes, as well,” Myanihia said in support.
“Oh, true,” Ari said as she brightened up again. “But that ship definitely looks like it's ready to use its ultimate weapon again,” she then changed the subject as she took note of the enemy's lead ship.
“But now that we know it's coming, we can probably shield ourselves from it,” Snow Dancer said.
“Agreed.” my partner nodded. “Actually!” she then said in a delighted tone, readying Fujin's Gale for a third time.
Now, however, she pointed it towards the enemy ships when she activated it, giving them a strong headwind to fight against for a few moments. She released it about thirty seconds later, by which time w had gained a decent enough lead on them.
“I can probably use that about seven more times,” she told me as she recovered her magic. “Then it'll go on a daily cooldown.”
“Right,” I nodded. “Can we alternate how we use it?” I then asked.
“Propel ourselves with one use and stall them with the next?” she replied. “I like it! But I can only affect our ship, remember,” she warned me.
“Ohh, that's right,” I nodded.
“But we want to keep at least that ship from getting in range of us. Which I can do.”
“Good enough for me.”
“How soon do you think Dracuoatlax can get to a good spot?” Peaches then asked me.
“Ehh, he goes at least as twice as fast as a ship, more or less... I'd say about five in-world hours,” I replied.
“And that'll jump up our schedule for this expedition again.” Snow Dancer said with a nod. “All the same, I'd like to ensure they also have some damage holding them back so that they don't catch up just as soon as we set off again.”
“The krakens are probably still around, too,” Peaches mused. “It'd probably be easier to spot them if we had Heali here, but I understand sending her out with Cy and Der, in case they run into another sea monster.”
“Two of them is too much,” Anhe said sadly.
“You said it.” the older woman nodded in agreement.
“I can try and see if they're around,” Ariana then said, turning on her far-seeing skills again to check beneath the waves. A disappointed frown came to her face moments later. “They are.”
“Hrrmm...” Cloveroak rubbed his neck in irritation.
“Where's the mage? Spellshot?” I then asked, and she began scanning the ships with her spell.
“He's back on The Black Brine.” she told me a few moments later.
“Must be their respawn point,” Lysandra noted.
“If we somehow took them all out... their nearest respawn would be Paradise Island, right?” Maryn wondered.
“Oooh, ambitious.” Caylee smiled. “That's probably right, though.”
“Even if we can just take most of them out, that'd force them to retreat,” I mused.
“Let's rule out the Brine and Venomheart's ship right now.” Lysandra said. “That leaves the fluyt and the other galleon.
“Ruling them out because of the boss-level players?” Belle wondered, then shrugged. “Can't say I blame ya.”
“Squidclaw isn't just a tactician, he's also a clever and deadly fighter. Even Lana might've had a run for her money if that Spellshot character was on the Brine instead of the other ship when she went over there,” Lysandra remarked. “And of course Venomheart is too much of a wildcard, especially when they're all together.”
“They're probably on the lookout for any funny business, too, all things considered.” I added with a faint grin.
“Oh definitely.” the older girl nodded back.
Poisoners... dragon poison... krakens... hmm... my mind suddenly began fomenting a slice of mischief, and I turned to Ariana.
“Where are the krakens, exactly?” I asked her.
“Hmm... it looked like they were behind the other ships, still recuperating.” she told me.
“Which way is the current going?” I turned to Cloveroak.
“Eh? It's against us, heading towards the southwest, which is why we're in the winds.” he replied.
“I wonder where this is heading...” Maryn softly remarked, and Anhe nodded.
“Do we have any illusionists in our expedition?” I then asked.
“Hmm? Do we?” Ariana wondered, and we spent a few moments thinking about it.
“Wouldn't Magisteria have someone? They're right next to us, too,” Belle said.
“I'll go and ask,” I said, heading up the rigging a bit to jump over.
“What is she up to?” I heard Peaches wonder as I left the ship with a swing, landing on the Silver Swan with a light thud.
“Lana! What's up?” Johann asked.
“Where's Magisteria?”
“In the cabin with a couple of her officers; I think they were considering countermeasures for when or if the Deep Blue Kings catch up again,” he told me.
“Thanks!” I smiled, heading into the cabin.
“She's lively today, isn't she?” Taggart remarked.
“You're telling me,” Johann agreed.
I found Magisteria with Blueheart and Winter, two of her officers I had briefly met during the Garth-Queens War. They looked up as I arrived, breaking out into smiles at once.
“Lana! We were just planning some reprisals for Squidclaw; what brings you by?” Magisteria said as I came in.
“Oh, a bit of mischief,” I softly grinned.
“Oh...?” the other guild leader grinned back.
“You wouldn't have an illusionist, would you?”
“Right here!” Blueheart, a female Mumban player, said to me. “What kind of illusion do you want?”
“The dragon sized kind.” I said, still grinning.
“Dragon-size, huh? I can probably do that, but... why?”
“Oh, no special reason. Just thought it would trigger Venomheart's poison-mage so that she inadvertently kills off the krakens for us.” I said with a disarming shrug.
“Ahh--!”
“Huh?!”
“Pfffft!” the three of them said at the same time, Magisteria punctuating their bewilderment with a laugh.
“Oh Lana! You're insane, and I love you for it!” the other guild leader said to me. “Blue, you can craft an image of Dracuoatlax just behind or off to the side of Venomheart's ship, yes?”
“Hmm... I can do that, for sure!” the other woman smiled.
“Do it!” Magisteria nodded.
“One dragon-sized illusion, coming right up!” she said.
“Will we know if it worked?” Winter then wondered.
“The sea will probably change color for a few minutes, if she decides to use it. But I'm pretty sure she will. We've... made them testy.” I said with a wry smile.
“Of course you have.” Winter shook her head in amusement. She was a Snow Elf like Myanihia, by the way.
“Then in a few moments more, we should see a pretty poison sea!” Blueheart smiled as she began creating the illusion of Dracuoatlax. “I'll put him a bit farther out, to make it look like he did a big circle out of sight... I'll even add the players, just for fun!” she said, concentrating. “And I can see what my illusions see, if they're illusions like this; I'll be the first to know if she uses that poison skill.” she smiled.
“Oh, right! Duh!” her comrade made a silly face as she softly berated herself.
“We're in the water... the krakens are coming up to try and catch us; and now Venomheart sees us. It's the girl with green hair.”
“Perfect.” I smirked.
“She's looking back to her guild leader; now they're nodding. And, the poison's coming... she's done it!” Blueheart reported. “Of course, poison won't kill an illusion... but it is affecting the krakens. They're dropping off. I see their health bars going down, rapidly.”
“Good enough for me,” I said, and the illusionist then shut down her spell.
“I should have thought of that when the krakens attacked earlier; but then, we might've gotten Shuĭyŭ too,” she noted, and then cupped a hand to her mouth as she realized what she had just said.
“Don't worry, I made sure the current was going away from us before I came here,” I reassured her, and she sighed with relief.
“Good!” Blueheart replied.
“Now we just have the four ships to deal with...” Magisteria said with a soft frown.
“True...” I nodded. A sound of cannon-fire then reached our ears. “Eh?”
“What the--”
“Magis! Lana! Come quick!” Johann called.
The four of us exited the cabin and went up to the rear of the ship where Johann was. We then saw that the three pirate ships were attacking Venomheart's galleon. Of course, Venomheart being who they were, they had their sudden enemies quickly on the ropes with poison. I saw The Black Brine moving strategically away from the battle so as to avoid it, but the other two ships were not so lucky.
“What do you know? Your little plan had a side-effect,” Magisteria said as she gently leaned on me.
“Lana, what did you do this time?” I heard Belle call over in the exasperated-adult tone that I was used to hearing from my parents.
“Ahh... ah-heh; tee-hee!” I said with an innocent grin.
“Not buying it, chick.” the other returned.
Didn't think so, but it was worth a shot as Lana, I thought bemusedly.
“Well anyway, we've pretty much gotten them off our backs,” I then remarked.
“Except the monster ship, but sure,” Winter remarked, patting my head.
“Ehh? They're still--oh, so they are,” I said, watching them as they began circling around to try and catch up again. “Tch, eight warships against our line-up was a pain, but even just that monster could take most of us out before we manage to beat it... if at all,” I frowned.
“Exactly.” Magisteria said. “I've heard that, so far, only Rackham can overcome him in a naval battle, even though Squidclaw is usually the better tactician.”
“That's because Rackham's unorthodox, the complete opposite of the Admiral,” Taggart said with a shrug. “But anyway, we need to at least keep ahead of him until whatever other plans Lana has going are ready.”
“Just a few more in-game hours,” I said with a nod.
“Right,” the other replied.
“For now, let's get you back to your ship.” Winter said, suddenly turning into a large owl and flying me over to the Golden Clover, where I was deposited unceremoniously. Winter flew back to her ship, and I sat there on the deck, trying to sort out what had just happened.
Since when was -- no, I never knew what kind of magic Winter had... I just assumed it was snow or ice magic based upon the name... a shape-shifter, huh?
“O-kay, girlie, spill it! What on earth was that plan?!” Lysandra said as she hauled me up by the arms, hoisting me in the air and holding me there.
“Uh-oh.” I said as I saw Belle, now human-sized, inching closer, her hands twitching.
“Spill it, chick!” she said with a devious grin.
“A-Ari!” I squeaked out.
“I'm not stopping this,” my partner said with a smirk.
“Ari!!”
“Nope.”
“Anhe!!”
“S-sorry, Lana!”
“M-Mary!!”
“Ahh...”
“Too late--it's tickle-time!” Belle declared, and the merciless amusement-slash-torture began.
***
“There was no need to go that far...” I muttered after the interrogation, my pride thoroughly deflated as I hid myself in the crow's nest. All in all, it seemed they were more bent on tickling me to death than actually finding anything out about my scheme, which had ended up turning the pirate ships against Venomheart. Except for The Black Brine, which was still coming after us.
Ariana had just unleashed her wind spell on them after I had escaped my predicament, leaving her around six uses left before we could no longer keep them at bay. Having only that ship to worry about was both a plus and a minus; a plus because Ari could delay them without interference from the other ships, and a minus because it was that ship. Admiral Squidclaw had to keep his best players with him. It was likely that they might try thwarting Ariana's wind spell the next time she used it on them.
“To be honest, I'm surprised they haven't already tried to do so...” I said as I idly gazed back towards the massive ship with its fearsome and functional figurehead of a sea-dragon. For the first time, I noticed that the sails were a sort of blackish-green, and that the flag was of a blueish-green color; this had a white kraken with green eyes etched onto it in the center.
Turning my gaze ahead, I began thinking about Dracuoatlax and the others. Earlier, Hua Ling's dragon sent up that howling sound; I wonder how far ahead he and Guntaru were at that time, or if they were already heading back to check on us? In which case, how far have they gotten now? And anyway... I can't believe we really did get away with that prank on Venomheart and the pirates... I guess they really weren't taking any chances with us, huh? More importantly, I hope Dracky and the others get to Covenhame soon, I thought to myself as I stared towards the north.
Further away from me, I could hear the other crews on the other ships bustling about and repairing what damage they could from the earlier attacks. The sounds of activity against the backdrop of the ocean's ambiance had the effect of lulling me to sleep; I secured myself with a couple of lines to keep from falling out, and then nodded off a few moments later.
I woke back up with a jolt, and after untangling myself I scurried down to the main deck. There was nothing in particular going on, but somehow I felt uneasy.
“You okay?” Ari smiled as she came up to me. “You were asleep up there for three hours, after all,” she informed me.
“Eh? That long? Up there?!” I wondered in amazement. “Anyway... I'm fine, I guess...” I said with a slight pout, to which she replied by embracing me.
“Sooorry... really I am,” she told me, and I hugged her back.
“We're good,” I smiled at her. “But anyway... they're still on us, huh?”
“I have two more uses of Fujin's Gale left.” Ariana nodded.
“They haven't countered it yet? At all?” I said in disbelief.
“Not that I've noticed,” my partner shook her head, “Though now that you mention it, it is weird that I haven't had resistance to using it...” she suddenly mused.
Ariana then activated her far-seeing skills again, examining The Black Brine for signs of activity; things looked fairly normal, insofar as crew activity went. Admiral Squidclaw was standing near his helmsman, a fellow who partly resembled a hammerhead shark crossed with a seahorse. She then began peering below the deck with her spell, as if seeking something or someone.
“Looking for that Spellshot person?” I asked her, and she nodded.
“I know he was on the other ship earlier, but he probably respawned on the Brine when you got him earlier.”
“Most likely.”
“In which case -- ah! There you are,” she said as she alighted on the mage in question.
This time, he was in a sort of arcane-library that was on board their ship. He and several other mages were chanting around a runed-circle with seven floating orbs that glowed, each of them a different color as they slowly orbited a lectern with a stone idol situated upon it. It was shaped in the likeness of a kraken.
“They're summoning another kraken? But they'd only need him for that, right? And why are they in that special room now? Why not earlier?” Ariana wondered as she observed the scene. Lysandra and Peaches joined us to take a look for themselves.
“Huh; interesting!” Peaches said as she noted their surroundings.
“Is that--?! Myanihia!” Lysandra called to her sister, who came over at once. Our former rival now staunchest ally took one look at the room and then gripped my shoulder.
“They're summoning the mother.” she told me at once.
Oh snap. I should have realized that myself. After all, there was a similar thing in that one game, Fantasea Online, though I didn't stick around in that one very long... normal sea-monsters only need one mage or summoner, but to get the special ones, you need a whole group or conclave of them. Oh, sn-nap!
“That's why they need the other mages, and that special chamber, I bet,” Ariana realized as my own thoughts came to the same conclusion.
“Exactly.” Lysandra nodded. “So that really is the rumored Mother Kraken statue...” she said with fear and awe, and Myanihia nodded.
“I... saw it once, in alpha testing,” the other remarked as she let go of my shoulder.
“More importantly, we don't know how long they've been at it, and we definitely can't get to them in time.” Peaches said.
“That's true; we'd get overwhelmed in no time,” Lysandra agreed. “I bet they even have countermeasures for Guntaru, though probably not as poisonous.”
“Oh I'd bet on that.” the older woman nodded back.
“Ari, if we get ourselves and the others in good positions, a reverse V-formation, could your Fujin's Gale move us all along at a faster pace?” I asked my partner. She thought about it for a few moments, and then nodded.
“I can adjust its spread to do that, but it'd have to be a very tight V; no more than fifteen degrees at most,” she told me.
“Right,” I returned. “Get the message out! Reverse V-formation, now!” I ordered.
“Got it!” Lysandra and Myanihia nodded, and within a few moments our expeditionary fleet was getting into position, ourselves at the tip of the V.
Just as we did, I saw an eerie glow coming from The Black Brine behind us. A shudder ran through me. That probably meant the Mother Kraken was about to appear. Several horn-blasts snapped me back to attention; we were ready. I nodded to Ariana, who activated her wind-spell and angled it so that it affected all of us. The fleet began picking up speed just as we felt the ocean start to rumble.
“This little trick might be for nothing, but I'll be darned if I give up now!” Snow Dancer said worriedly, using her power to augment and support Ariana's spell.
At that exact moment, a large portal opened up before us. Cylodel!! They made it! I realized with a spurt of hope rising in my chest.
“Dead ahead! Stay on course!” I shouted out as we made for the portal.
“Lead ships are almost there!” Johann called back to me. “The sea-dragon is taking them through it!”
“Guntaru! Hold here and wait to go through with Lana!” Qi Lin said to his dragon ally.
“I understand, master!” the dragon replied, taking up a defensive position in case the sea monster appeared before we were all through--which was definitely likely.
I saw the first ships heading through the portal, and breathed a sigh of relief. Nine more to go, I thought to myself as I turned back towards The Black Brine, then towards my partner. Ariana looked strained; I put a hand on her shoulder, and she briefly smiled over at me. I returned my gaze to the enemy after giving her a smile as well, and my breath caught as I saw it emerging from the deeps.
“Ho-ly...”
“Whoa--!” Maryn and I exclaimed as we saw the bluish creature rising up, its black eyes glowering at us with rage.
“Th-those t-t--tentacles... they c-could, p-p-probably...!” Caylee stuttered out as she witnessed the monster's arrival.
“Y-yeah...” Cloveroak agreed with his own stammer.
“Five left!” Angelfire called over. “And ho-ly--”
Whatever word she was about to use was drowned out by the unearthly bellow that burst forth from the massive deeps kraken. The hull of our ship began vibrating from it; I looked up at Guntaru. Even he seemed to be having trouble with the sheer force of sound that was coming our way.
“Just us three now!” Johann called out.
“Guntaru! Fly through, now!” I shouted up to the dragon, who paused reluctantly. At that moment, Ariana had to let the spell go.
“Ugh!! Out of magic!” she said exhaustedly, falling onto me for support.
“Snap!” I said softly, patting her back. The Sea Dragon and the Silver Swan made it through ahead of us, but the Mother Kraken managed to extend one of its massive tentacles to grab our own ship.
“Oh boy...” Peaches cringed, quickly getting a spell ready.
Guntaru then lunged for the tentacle, blasting it with fire and then raking it with his claws. At once the sea monster let go of us, and then the Heavenly Dragons' dragon took hold of our ship by the rigging and dragged us through the portal with a few hefty flaps of his wings. We made it through just as the Mother Kraken tried to get us again, and the portal closed behind us. I almost fainted in relief, and so did Ari.
“Woo! You rock, Guntaru!” Snow Dancer called up to the dragon, who looked quite pleased indeed.
“Thanks for the assist!” Maryn said to him, and he dipped his head in acknowledgment before heading to check on his guild.
“They're gonna hold that over us for the next year, I know it,” I said with a soft smile.
“Ya think?” Ari grinned back at me. “Not that I'll blame them!”
“Not even a bit!” I agreed.
“Would you look at that? We're here!” Peaches then said. There was a large island less than a mile to the northwest; it was Covenhame.