The captain's pillars of water that blocked the entrance to the cove had long since subsided as the sun grew low in the sky, but the mermaid's attack had yet to come. The final portholes were boarded shut, and Iris found herself nearly alone in the crew quarters. Her only company was Killup the gargoyle, who had taken to following her around in the absence of his boss, Autumn. He was currently perched atop the foot post of her hammock, where she lay staring at the planks above in boredom.
"Chef's a good fighter?" Killup asked abruptly.
"Yeah," Iris answered unenthusiastically.
"Good, I like this chef."
Iris sighed and placed her pillow over her head.
"What's that?"
"What?" Iris asked, muffled by the pillow.
"The fluffy thing on your face."
Iris withdrew the pillow and looked at Killup in confusion, "you don't know what a pillo--"
Cannons boomed on the deck above, their wheels rolled loudly across the planks and muffled shouting echoed down the stairs. Iris tossed the pillow aside and blipped out of her hammock, rushing to a nearby porthole to peer through the cracks between the boards.
Seconds later more cannons fired. The fins of warfish entering the cove weaved and dipped to avoid the explosions that followed seconds later. Some cannons appeared to be firing shrapnel that peppered the water with splashes and shredded the flesh of warfish.
More projectiles joined the barrage, mostly bolts of magic and arrows that Iris assumed were flung from the decks above. Every few seconds, a blindingly bright streak of white would shoot down from somewhere high above, blowing holes through warfish with every shot. She lost count of the number of fins racing through the waters somewhere after a dozen.
An overwhelming urge to do something overwhelmed her. She wanted to rush to the main deck and join the fight, but she had no projectile abilities or weapons, and with great disdain she heeded the warnings from Titus and others that she wouldn't be prepared for the fight that was coming to the ship.
"I'm going to check the lower decks," she said as she donned her wizard hat and pulled the magic walking stick from her bag. Before Killup could reply, she disappeared.
The storage deck was dark and still as usual, so she blipped down again. She appeared amidst the intricate mess of machinery on the mechanical deck, and again found nothing of note -- that was, until she noticed vibrations in the hull. After blipped up to the hull, she placed an ear against the planks. It was a long, drown out hum that faded slightly before ending abruptly. It reminded her of a trumpet or horn.
She then sensed the bodies of mermaids scaling the outside of the ship, rapidly climbing towards the upper decks. A chorus of dull booms from below reverberated through the hull as the ship rocked slightly, and the unmistakable overlapping roars of the hydra followed from the depths of the ship.
----------------------------------------
"They're below us!" someone shouted on the gun deck.
"Blow the charges!" Cameron called out in response.
Designated cannons were angled down as low as they could aim and fired explosive cannonballs deep below the surface near the ship. The fuses had been made extra-long, and it was several long seconds before they exploded in the depths. A chain reaction explosions propagated across the previously sunken charges, emanating from the activating shots and converging towards the ship. The sunken charges were too low to damage the hull, but with any luck would kill or at least disorient the mermaids no doubt converging on the ship as well. From the surface, the distinct explosions were indiscernible besides faint flashes of light, but the overlapping shockwaves combined with the wakes of the swarming warfish soon formed choppy waves throughout the cove.
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
Up above, shouts echoed across the main deck warning of the mermaids climbing the hull. Pirates leaned over the railings and fired projectiles downwards. The mermaids far below were obstructed by the curvature of the ship, while those who had reached the higher decks had fully formed their legs and deftly angled their climbs side-to-side dodge the incoming attacks.
Cannon fire continued to bombard the cove to the port side, slowing the charge of mermaids and warfish through the channel. To the starboard side was the inner cove, where the cannons were instead pulled back from the hull so more pirates could fire guns, bows and magic through the cannon holes down at the climbing mermaids.
One pirate was skewered through the neck by the short trident of a mermaid through a cannon hole, and soon a wave of climbing mermaids were crowding around the holes and stabbing blades or shooting jets of water into the gun deck. The pirates withdrew behind the cannons and promptly lit them, the resulting barrage exploded torsos and blew off limbs of the mermaids outside. A few blasts hit the hull, punching through the planks and exploding out in clouds of shrapnel.
The first mermaids reached the main deck, but fought an uphill battle below the strongly defended railings until jets of water began to bombard the main deck from afar, piercing through pirates like javelins. Those that missed hit the deck and splintered planks, or blasted chunks off of masts and shredded sails. The jets shot up out of the water and arced through the air towards the ship, increasing in number until dozens landed every minute.
----------------------------------------
In the open waters of the lake beyond the cove, the Shark Titan shot through the depths at blinding speed. On his heels was the mermaid queen, chasing after him with trident outstretched. Ahead, the fish wizard floated in the depths and raised his hands dramatically. Dozens of warfish rose from the darkness below, racing upwards and gnashing razor teeth at the Shark Titan who twisted and rolled to dodge as he honed in on the Fish Wizard.
The mermaid queen's trident shot forwards, quickly closing the gap and catching up to the Shark Titan. He felt it coming a second too late, and as he rolled aside the left-most point of the trident pierced his forearm. His speed slowed as he snarled and ripped the trident free and threw it down deeper into the water.
A warfish bit down on his abdomen, the large mouth nearly stretched across the width of the hulking titan but even the razor sharp teeth struggled to pierce his scales. He reached out and grabbed the warfish behind its head, driving his fingers through the scales with sheer strength and wrenching its thrashing body towards his mouth. With a single, slicing chomp, he bit through the creature's spine and its body went limp. As he pried the jaws from his abdomen, the mermaid queen hit him like a cannonball.
The pair tumbled through the water as they wrestled, the queen's sharp claws slicing across his scales while his gnashing jaws chomped for her head. Seconds later, the queen pushed away from him and spun around to slap him with her tail. The dizzying impact sent him spiraling through the water. As he found his bearings, he saw the Fish Wizard transforming.
The tattered grey cloak was shredded by bulging, scaly flesh. His arms transformed into fins as his legs merged together in a long, thin tailfin and his head shrunk into his neck. Within seconds his human form was unrecognizable as a wide, frowning mouth with jagged teeth ripped open across the scaly mass and a long, antennae like structure grew out his now beady white eyes until a blinding light formed at the dangling tip. The giant anglerfish moved towards the captain at shocking speed as the transformation completed.
----------------------------------------
Iris blipped down to the sixth deck of the ship, below the waterline and lower than she had ever gone. This deck was lit with dim glow stone lanterns and divided into various rooms branching off a narrow central hallway. One section appeared to be a brig with a pair of iron bar cells.
Another section was blocked by a thick iron bar gate, through which appeared to be an armory. Countless swords, buckler shields, spears and more adorned the walls. She saw a row of the metal not-crossbows hanging on the wall above crates labeled "bullets." The thought crossed her mind to take one, but she had no idea how to even begin to use them. She did blip inside, however, to look around for a great sword. To her dismay, there wasn't a single two-handed sword to be found.
She was preparing to blip down to the next deck, but stopped herself when she sensed something strange. She crouched to extend the range of her awareness ability deeper into the deck below, and paused for a moment to figure out why the air felt thick. Then she recognized it -- water. The next deck was full of water.
At first she panicked, wondering if the ship was sinking. She quickly blipped up to the machinery deck and over to the hull, where she sensed the waterline on the other side to be in approximately the same position it had been during her shift inspecting the mechanisms. With relief, she blipped by down to the narrow hallway of the sixth deck, and searched for a door or stairwell that might lead deeper.