“Onward!”
“How long do you have until the sign-up ends?”
“Two weeks!”
“What!?”
“I said two weeks!”
Liz held her temples, trying to repressing a headache coming up. Vio grinned and placed her bag on the ground. She took out her world map and pointed.
“Currently, we should be around the eastern edge of the southern continent, making the trip to the capital from here would take at least a year. This seems impossible, right, to make it in two weeks?”
Liz agreed, it made sense.
Vio continued, “Right there”
She pointed on a marked spot, “There is a marine city, not just any marine city, Shell city!”
She looked over the Liz, expecting a reaction. Liz just stared with a dull look.
“You know, the world’s second largest marine city? Basically, a very important landmark?”
Liz stood up and continued to walk. Vio caught up, “Come on, don’t be such a bumpkin. We may be able to cut our distance considerably if we look around the city. They might have teleportation spells, or even mages!”
Vio stood infront of Liz, Liz stared at the sky, “Fine, but you’re doing all the talking”
Vio smiled, “Like I don’t already do all the talking!”
Vio started to run, Liz quickly following behind. The salty wind blew against her face as she pondered about last night. Whether she finally lost it and started to imagine strangers, but something told her she knew the man. That last night wasn’t just a dream…
Liz shook her head, she’s going delusional. She should know better than anyone else, all she dreams about is rain and lightning.
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After a short while, they entered the city. Liz followed Vio around as she asked the locals. Many shrugged, and went on with their day. Vio stomped her foot in frustration. She quickly went to the weapon shop, asked about any mages. Liz looked around, testing the weapons as Vio frustratingly walked out the door. Liz payed for a bundle of arrows and went after Vio. Shop after shop, Vio got denied, until she went to the most obvious place, a scroll shop. Vio ran up and talked to the keeper.
“Oh, a mage! I heard there was going to be a mage in the auction today!”
Vio laughed and thanked the keeper, Liz shook her head.
“Why didn’t you go here in the first place?”
“Shut up” Vio snapped.
Liz shrugged and followed Vio. The action house was located in the center of the city, Vio walked up saw a sign, auction starts at sunset.
“Let’s rent a room” Vio walked back to Liz.
Liz shook her head, “You can, I’m not.”
Vio raised an eyebrow, and shrugged, “Alright, just get here by sunset”
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After walking around the city, Liz walked over to the ports. Sailors talked and laughed with each other as she walked up.
“Where is your captain?”
They got startled and looked at Liz. They inspected her, leather gear, covering with knifes and a bow strapped to her back, they sighed in relief, not a noble, “In the ship cabin, what about it girly?”
She walked on the ship, dumbfounding the sailors as they stared. She stood in front of the door, and knocked.
“What is it morons?” An annoyed voice came out the room.
“I’m here to join the hunt”
The door opened with a large man coming out. The boss eyed her, “Look here missy, this isn’t just a safe journey, now just g-“
Gold flashed in Liz’s hands, a piece of gold stood there.
“One gold to join”
The boss looked and repeated, “Sorry miss-“
“Three”
“Like I-“
“Five”
“Deal”
The boss opened his palms and gave Liz a badge.
“When will we get back?”
“Just before sunset”
“Perfect”
The ship set sail, a bucket of fishing rods was placed in the middle, the sailors picks up their rods and nets and started to fish. Liz sat down on the side of the ship, took out her bow and tied a rope on an arrow. She tied in to a pole and waited. A shadow of a fish appeared a few feet from the ship, Liz pulled back her string and shot. A miss, the fish quickly swam away. Liz frowned, and tested her bow. The arrow was a bit heavier than she liked, probably due to the rope. She sighed and pulled back the arrow from the water. More shadows appear, she tried again and was able to shoot one down.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
After a while, she finally got used to the rope attached to her arrow. She now caught every other shadow of fish. Her bucket of fish now half-way full, she felt proud of herself.
“There she is! Isn’t she a beaut!” The captain yelled out as he looked overboard.
The sailors quickly ran over and looked overboard. The ship swayed causing Liz to stumble. Liz also stood up and walked over. A titan whale appeared in Liz’s view! She looked at the captain, is he crazy?
The captain armed his men in the ship's interior, the cannons were stocked and ready. He laughed, “Sweety, step back, this are star cannons, the strongest commercial cannon, we’re gonna blow up that whale once and for all!”
Liz stared as she saw the men quickly arm the cannon. The whale patiently stared at them, the captain smoked his pipe. Liz lazily looked at him, this isn’t going to work.
“Ready men!”
“Ayy!”
“ATTACK!”
The cannons blasted, Liz quickly covered her ears, loud! The shells hurled at the whale, each one harmlessly bouncing off! It didn’t do any damage. Liz sighed, the captain looked shock.
“Those cannons cost 10000 gold and they can’t even hurt a whale! I got ripped off! I’m gonna have a word with that merchant!”
Liz looked at the whale, it didn’t look happy. Liz told the captain, only to get laughed at.
“It’s a whale, what’s it gonna do, spout water at us? Ha, why don’t you go calm it princess.”
Liz shrugged and continued practicing.
She sat down. The ship rocked. She stood back up and balancing herself. The ship dangerously rocked again with the captain holding on to a ledge. Waves of water crashed into the ship, Liz grabbed onto a rail and looked over, this isn’t natural.
The captain went into the steering room. Liz crashed into the lodge just to see the captain panic as he steered.
“What’s going on?” Lis held to wall for support, “This isn’t natural.”
The captain yelled, “Of course it isn’t natural, that’s because the whale’s doing it!”
Liz heavily swayed to the left, this ship is about to get capsized.
“Can’t you get rid of the whale?”
“We tried, didn’t you see it! How could I guess it was a magical beast! I did warn you about the dangers!”
Liz sighed, “This boat is about to tip over!”
“You don’t think I know that!”
The captain steered violently to the right to steady himself.
A sailor rushed in, “Sir, the whale is about to crash into us”
“Just use to star cannons! Use every shell we have on board!”
“Yes sir!”
Moments passed, the situation getting worse by the minute. Liz sparked an idea,
“How about I kill the whale for you?”
The captain laughed, “Nice joke, this isn’t time to jokes though.”
Liz’s eye harderned, “I’m serious”
The captain, not even bothering to look at Liz yelled out, “If you do, I’ll give you all the money this poor sailor has, plus extra”
“Deal” Liz walked out as the captain laughed.
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Liz shakenly stood on the deck, in front of the whale. She grabbed her bow, and aimed. Arrows flew and hit the whale in the eye, only to get reflected off. Liz frowned and looked around. She ran to the side of the boat and grabbed a harpoon bolt, and armed her bow. A bolt flew to the whale and like the arrows, got reflected off. This don’t work. Liz looked around the ship, she spotted a pile of barrel. She propped it open, a gunpowder barrel. She grabbed a barrel and kept it at her side. She dipped an arrow in lamp oil and lit it in fire. She tossed the barrel at the beast and quickly aimed. She shot and heard a loud blast. She sat down and smiled. That’s all, right?
The whale surfaced from the water and brought Liz back on her feet. Liz bit her lip, failure. She looked harder, no, not complete failure, she harmed in the front. She grabbed a handful of arrows and rapid fired, she laughed pathetically, like a bunch of splinters could kill a whale. She felt a hand on her shoulder, a sailor who was shaking his head, know he was going to die. Liz stared, and stood up, she could breath, what’s wrong with her?
“How long till we’re back at the shore?”
The captain screamed out, “30 minutes”
Liz smirked, she grabbed a barrel and tossed it, quickly lit her arrows and shot. The other sailors started to come out and throw barrels too. Liz quickly lit her arrows and kept shooting the barrels. The whale sensing the dangerous submerged once again. She signaled the sailors to stop.
The whale, with a false sense of security, surfaced once again, only to get hit in the face with a barrel, then blasted. Liz smiled, she might live after all. The whale submerged again, Liz patiently waited. A few feet from the ship, the whale surfaced and quickly charged at the ship, a barrel was tossed, but this time, the whale controlled the water and grabbed it. Liz frowned, and ordered the sailors to continue throwing the barrels. The sailors complied and keep throwing the barrels, just to get catch by the whale’s magic.
Moments later, with only around a foot left, the whale charged the ship, the sailors braced for the impact. Liz laughed, and kicked the barrel in front of her. The whale saw her, but with its attention to the sailors, didn’t react fast enough to her. Liz kicked the barrel into the mouth of the whale, who tried to close its mouth, however it was too late. Liz shoot the flaming arrow, blowing up the barrel in it’s mouth. The whale blew up, completely dead from explosion. The shockwaves knocked Liz down, the sailors rushed forward and looked at the whale, they cheered, they survived!
Liz got supported up and smiled. The sailors cheered as Liz had saved them. The captain rushed out,
“There is something bigger coming up! Something stronger…”
The water erupted in front of them, another whale appeared, seemingly angry that they just killed its kinship. The sailors froze, and quickly reacted and looked for more barrels. There were no more barrels…
Liz looked and sighed, her luck…
The whale rushed forward, the sailors braced once again, Liz joining them. The whale slammed the ship, almost knocking it over.
The whale swam back for another charged. Liz looked around. Some sailors were crying, some were praying and some just accepted their death. Liz looked at the captain,
“How far are we from the port?!”
“Around 10 minutes!”
“Can’t we just swim there?”
The captain looked at her like she was crazy, “No, the whale can easily kill you once you’re in water”
Liz sighed and laid on her back, maybe it is time to give up…
“Impressive.”
She stood up.
“Your shooting that is.”
Why is she remembering those words?
“Very rough, but still very good.”
Why…
“Good luck Elizabeth.”
Her eyes flashed, she drew back her bow, and spoke,
“First scripture, The calm before the storm”
What is she saying?
She remembered the man’s shooting. His fluid motion, his stroke, his words, his arrow.
A loud crack sounded from her bow. Liz looked at her hands, sore from shooting, her bow shattered on the ground.. The arrow was sent flying with a boom. It touched the whale and ripped apart it’s skin, muscles and finally it's head. Liz stepped back and fell. She rose her arms, shaking. The sailors looked at her, and captain bug-eyed.
She had killed the whales.