“Deacon… wake up. You have… wake up,” came a strange voice.

Scattered around a dark expanse were tiny points of starlight. There was no sense of push or pull. There was just being. The knowledge that everything was as it should be. Then cracks started to form in the void. Lances of red light pulsated through the environment. A large goat rampaged through the cosmos tossing starlight over its back with its jagged and twisted horns. Pain flared through Deacon’s body in the next instant.

The sound of waves and cannon fire crashed into Deacon’s ears. Light bloomed in his eyes as he bobbed up and down in the water. He gasped huge lungful’s of air before noticing a blue arm snaked around his chest. Deacon looked around to get his bearings. The boat he was fighting on was listing to one side and on fire. The next ship in the blockade had turned toward it and started firing on it. The body of the Carachorus floated in the water nearby and he was being dragged to it.

“Finally. You’re awake. Sophie told me to jump in the water to retrieve you. There are still slaves in the hold of the ship. They were trying to sink it because of the still burning Carachorus. I’ve never seen anything burn in the ocean before,” said Jerimiah.

He didn’t seem to be having any trouble swimming with Deacon in tow. They made it to the corpse of the monster and Jerimiah helped Deacon onto it. There was some protesting from Deacon citing they were firing cannon balls this way. That was when Jerimiah refocused his attention toward the docks.

“They aren’t firing at the ship anymore, look. The Dwellers have launched vessels to intercept. I think the illusion keeping them hidden is broken now. Do you have a plan to save the prisoners?” asked Jerimiah.

“Give me a second. My chest hurts real bad,” Deacon forestalled the question to check his current status.

His health was down to one hundred and thirty percent from the water attack. There was enough force in that attack to shatter treated wood, it reminded Deacon of a pressure washer. He touched the spot on his chest the spout hit, and his skin was tender. He immediately resent a party invite to Jerimiah having lost his original from unconsciousness. Thinking about it, that horn must count as an enchanted item. Normal water shouldn’t have that much of an effect on him, but he did remember it hitting like a log trap.

Deacon started healing slowly and looked down at the carcass they were floating on. He immediately placed his hand on the now dead and still cooking from the inside monster. Consuming it’s soul gained Deacon a fifty percent soul energy increase. That meant the Carachorus counted as a greater soul. Then Deacon turned his attention back to the ship.

“Ok I’ll go in from the bottom just like the first time. Our timetable has decreased. The Dwellers will just sink the ships without regard for the slaves on board. I will need to make a hole facing the ship we captured so you can evacuate the slaves. Can you take that information back to everyone? And Jerimiah, Thanks,” said Deacon before hugging Jerimiah.

He turned and ran toward the opposite end of the dead beast. It’s head was melted off from the infernal flames and the rest of the body was resisting the effects. Several of Deacon’s steps on the carapace sounded hollow. The internals likely boiled out of the hole both he and Ralph created. Once he reached the far end of the monsters corpse, he used Spectral Jump to reach the ship.

Deacon timed it just right so as he hit the hull of the ship, he phased right into it. On the inside he found some exhausted slaves, an empty seat at the back of the ship, and an open door to the steps leading up. There wasn’t even one of those energy sapping crystals this time. To Deacon’s eyes it looked like the slaver in charge just abandoned his post and left the slaves to die. Deacon quickly jogged toward the seat looking for the key ring and found nothing. He sent party invites to everyone seated on the benches and began his collar breaking trick. There were less than fifty slaves in here this time, so the work went much quicker. That made Deacon very worried about what he’d find in the holding cages above. After calming the slowly regenerating slaves he explained the situation they were all in, then lead them up the stairs to the next floor.

They were all hesitant to step foot on the holding pen floor and Deacon quickly understood why. There were no cages on this floor like the other ship. Just chains and large wooden crosses that looked like a giant letter X. They had manacles attached to them. In the center of the floor was an altar. It had a large goat skull with twisted black horns on it. The horns were caked with old dry blood. As Deacon got closer the eyes lit up with an unholy energy. That was enough for Deacon to nope out of that challenge, he backed up to the stairwell and started ripping the ceiling free. There was enough damage done to this ship already that making a makeshift ramp to the next floor that bypassed this deck was possible. He needed to extend his dragon claws to make purchase. After a few minutes of heaving he managed to warp the floor above enough that two people at a time could walk up his makeshift ramp.

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Once they were on the crew deck, Deacon noticed the ceiling was on fire. It was his Infernal flames from the attack on the monster. It must have rolled around on the top deck before deciding to dive back into the water. Time was up and he turned to the nearest room to look out of the port hole. He could see his captured ship closing in on them. This was as good a place as any to make a hole. Deacon began punching and kicking his way through the wall. After another five minutes of work he had a sizeable whole opened to the ocean.

“Listen up! My people are going to make a way for you to get to the other ship. The upper deck is a mess, and this ship will soon be sunk. You need to get across as carefully and swiftly as you can. Help each other. We have a way to get you out of the water if you fall. I wouldn’t recommend that though,” Deacon said as he signaled across to his boat.

Ralph was frantically waiving at him and then pointed at Tantus. A spinning cone of wind sprung fourth from Tantus’s hands. It leapt the gap and connected to the hole that Deacon made. There was subtle tugging on everyone’s clothes the closer they got to the hole. There was some apprehension from slaves before the first woman launched herself forward. She flew between the two boats rolling to a stop within a net held up by Hani and several of the previously saved slaves. Deacon could see the Captain yelling at the crew frantically. It was like a damn broke after seeing the first woman make it. Deacon needed to calm them from pushing forward and jumping into the wind tunnel two at a time. As the last of the slaves leapt into the wind tunnel, the floor below Deacon buckled and he fell down.

He found himself back on the third deck. The chains were all rattling and Deacon could hear the remains of the top deck crashing into the second. The ceiling above him now started to billow black smoke. Deacon got back up to his feet and turned toward the wall he needed to escape from when he felt something moving through his aura. Instinctively he dove right as the horns of a humanoid demon goat smashed into the wall.

The creature had blazing red eyes and black fur that almost obscured its seven foot frame in all the black smoke that was filling the deck. It’s head was just a white ram’s skull. It had humanoid arms, but its knees were bent the wrong way and ended in hooves. Deacon spared a glance over to the altar while it was trying to free its horns from the wall. The altar was now just a small table nailed to the floor in the center of the room.

“I don’t know what your problem is but I’m leaving,” Deacon said as he backed away from the creature.

“Where is my sacrifice, Captain? Our Baaargain must be kept,” it bellowed.

“Fuck all of this,” Deacon said as he just phased his way through the floor.

Deacon knew up wasn’t a good option and he could get out through the hull down here just as well. He poked his head out of the ship just as a horrible burning sensation raked down his back. Deacon’s health plummeted down to fifty percent. He pulled himself back in to see the goat monster had raked its nails down his exposed back. His party skill was still active, so his health started to tick up slowly but now he was mad.

“Ok ugly. You want a fight you got one,” Deacon said as he shot out a lance of infernal flames.

It scorched the right side of the demon goat earning a Deacon a howl of pain from his opponent. Then it tried to ram him again. Deacon dropped down into monkey style and swept the legs out from under him. The demon plunged his horns an entire foot into one of the benches the slaves used for seating. Deacon decided now was good time for a coup de grace and spun up an infernal sickle. He stepped closer to aim it under the goat creatures neck and got booted with a double hoof kick. This sent Deacon flying to the other side of the ship. The kick seared the flesh on Deacon’s stomach making a double u burn pattern. Deacon received a notification he pushed away. His health had dropped to twenty percent, and he could now see the fire licking the ceiling above him. That was when the ship decided to roll over onto its side.

“I have had it. I’m just trying to save people and now I’m standing on the wall of a sinking ship fighting another goat monster. You seem strong, I bet your soul is quite tasty and it looks like your stuck in that position,” yelled Deacon as he stretched out his right arm.

Deacon activated Strike of the Phantasm Knight. This time a red tear opened in reality behind Deacon and wave of intense heat gushed into the ship. The Infernal flames crawling along the ceiling all got sucked into crack in space. Within the first second of activating this ability all the infernal flames from above raced down and into the portal. Then a flaming white-hot arm the size of shipping container smashed through the ship pulping the goat demon between its fist and the wood. Outside the ship there was a massive explosion that blew open the bottom of the ship. Water began pouring in but immediately turned to steam as it touched the outstretched arm of Infernal armor.

Lifting his jaw off the ground Deacon took in the flaming arm that shot out from the portal. He chanced a look back to the arm connected to a shoulder and that shoulder to a helm. The helm had two black horns jutting out from either side and all Deacon could see in the face plate were two burning white points of light. Then the arm retracted back into the gateway, and it snapped shut with a sound like sizzling meat. Deacon check his notifications as he made his way out of the now sinking ship. He stepped out onto the surface of the water and backed away from the listing wreck.

Curse Mark of the Hoof- you have been cursed for the demon Po Kotah. As long as Po Kotah exists on the Mortal Plane, he will find you wherever you hide. Healing potions will no longer work for you and only healing prayers of the opposing religion will heal you.

Curse Update: Po Kotah has been banished to the Infernal Plane and retrieved by a King of Hell. As Po Kotah was an escaped demon who made a pact with a human to keep him on the Mortal Plane against the will of the rulers of hell, your curse has been removed and a reward gained.

Hidden Quest Complete: Hells Fugitive- You have found an unholy shrine to Po Kotah. Return the demon to the Infernal Plane and gain a reward from the Rulers of Hell. Reward: Hellfire Crystal.