Kaden peered into the dark water as he swam down beneath the ship. The sea should have bene filled with golden bubbles of monster spawns or red orbs for the roaming bosses, but the ocean depths were pitch black. Explodius took Kaden down a few feet, as far as his chain would let him. In the far distance, dim pinpoints of gold said it wasn’t the entire sea.
*Sara, something’s coming,* He sent by mindspeech.
*Ready.* she answered.
Skully put one arm around Kaden’s leg, pulling him back toward the ship. Without warning, a [Bearacuda] whipped by, broadcasting alarm. Kaden couldn’t see anything, but the sea life said there were intruders.
Far beneath him, a monster spawn winked into existence—and disappeared. Kaden had only a moment to command Skully, to slice through the chain with the [Levicon Blade] and point himself downard as Skully hurled him down, down.
Explodius sensed something coming, and before Kaden could give it an order, jetted away, while Kaden swam deeper and deeper, as tentacles as thick as trees reached upward, grasping at the ship. He slammed into a monster, and [Identify] activated.
[Squidvard - Raid Boss]
This giant squid would rather be sleeping on the ocean floor, attacking whales, eating giant turtles, and living its best life. Instead it is forced to turn ships into toothpicks and hurl unsuspecting sailors to their dooms. It’s not like the sailors even taste good, but that’s what it gets for being [Tame]. *This Raid Boss is highly agitated and physically in pain from being so close to the surface.*
*Agony*
Kaden grasp a sucker the size of his head and held on, attempting [Soul Binding]
This beast is already [Tame].
Dissolving [Taming] to replace with [Binding].
Lower target’s health to speed the process!
The raid boss didn’t even notice Kaden as it jetted upward to wrap tentacles around the ship, and Kaden slammed into the hull so hard ribs cracked. A few feet from him, a beak the size of a wheelbarrow chomped, sparking on the enchantments and tearing chunks from the keel.
Kaden swam deeper, closer to the beak, and drew Remembrance for the first time in days. He couldn’t overpower the raid boss, but he could jam its mouth, forcing the axe edge down into the edge of the beak.
Sparks flew and Remembrance began to vibrate. Each time the squid thrashed, Kaden forced the axe further into its beak, preventing it from snapping the keel in two.
You have removed a [Taming]. Skum Feld is no longer master of this beast.
You have bound a beast (Squidvard).
For taming your first Raid Boss, you receive a minor bonus: +1 Soul
Kaden willed the raid boss to set the sailors it held down gently and slide back under the water, and took stock. Two massive pirate ships hung on either side of his ship, their hulls black, their sails glowing red, and from above water came the screams of combat. Two smaller sloops clung to their sides like pirate infested piglets suckling from much larger, also pirate-infested mother pigs.
With only a thought, Kaden went to work, sending [Squidvard] against one of the black monster ships and Explodius to destroy the second sloop. Then he cut the chain that ran the length of the ship and swam underwater toward the second black ship. Skully couldn’t swim—at all—but he could climb along the chain Kaden carried. As Kaden reached the black ship, the giant skeleton clung to the chain, then punched his fist into the pirate ship’s hull and began to climb. Kaden went with him, then, when Skully got stuck at the iron anchor, Kaden climbed over the giant to vault onto the railing.
The pirate ship was alive with row upon row of pirates waiting their turn to slide down the boarding ropes, which hung from spars on the four masts. Rather than announce himself with words, Kaden drew Remembrance and charged forward, activating [Moment of Speed] as he swung, driving Remembrance deep into the foremast.
In the second of confusion that followed he swung again, this time driving a chunk out of the mast.
“Get him!” A man at the rear of the ship screamed. His voice should have been swallowed in the dinn of battle, but the [Pirates] turned as one, drawing swords and spears. Kaden leaped upward, climbing the mast to the first spar and then from one mast to another, cutting lines with the [Levicon Blade] as he went.
[Split Second] let him twist out of the way as a pirate with twin daggers dropped from the crow’s nest in a leaping attack. Kaden cut the rope the man caught and let him fall to the deck in a swarm of pirates. The good news was, they’d all given up on boarding the ship, the bad news was that they were focused on Kaden.
“I challenge you!” A man below screamed out. He wore a fancy black had with a feather and an actual suit, but carried twin swords.
You have been challenged to a duel. Defeat [Dagger Dan] to win his surrender. Accept? [Y/N]
Kaden risked a glance at the challenger. Level forty, stronger, faster. There was honor in fighting a duel. There was also honor in surviving and Kaden wasn’t sure about survival. Besides, the drill fish had punched three holes in the hull and was working on a fourth. All of them small, but all of them holes in a place where you didn’t want holes.
He leaped from the mast he clung to, swung off a spar and landed near the wheel, across from his challenger. “You want to duel?”
“Sure, if you’ve got the guts,” Dagger Dan replied, drawing both swords and activating a glowing shield that surrounded him. “Dagger Dan’s killed more men than he can count. Dagger Dan is the end of all you Adventurers what think you can just roam the seas. Dagger Dan—”
Went flying over the railing as Explodius wrapped tentacles around the man and swam downward. The ship shook repeatedly as Explodius dealt with the problem in the best way possible. But before the pirates could react, the clank of chains drew all attention to the front.
Skully heaved himself over the railing, dragging the ship’s anchor behind him. Then he spun and flung the anchor down the ship’s deck. It bounced, gouging wood from the deck and smashing [Pirates]. Skully surveyed the men frozen in fear and opened his jaw to bark in a rumbling voice. “Charge!”
He sprinted down the other side of the ship, still holding onto the anchor chain.
Kaden thought maybe this was what it was like to be a parent. The immense pride a parent felt the first time their child used one end of a giant anchor and the other end of the chain to maim a horde of pirates. It was great.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The foremast cracked and fell backwards, and men screamed as the chain around Skully whipped forward, tearing deck planks loose and limbs from [Pirates]. Kaden activated [Aura of Destruction] and leaped into the fray, using a pirate as a battering ram to knock three others overboard.
It wasn’t like the pirates didn’t fight back, it was just that what had begun as their ambush became his. An [Agony Cloud] exploded on one end of the deck, while Kaden used Remembrance to maim, specifically avoiding killing.
“Kaden!” Trella shouted—and pointed to the small sloop. “The plan!”
This time, Kaden led with an [Agony Cloud] that enveloped the entire sloop. Where was the other one? He had no idea but it wasn’t doing well, wherever it was.
Skully’s roar sounded distinctly like laughter. Skeletons weren’t truly vulnerable to bladed weapons, and Skully’s current body was a bladed weapon, so he’d stopped wreaking mayhem and started wrecking, pure carnage.
Kaden leaped from the black ship to the sloop, ignoring the burn of [Agony Cloud] as he helped [Pirates] into the sea, where his [Bearacudas] and sharks feasted. Lightning struck everywhere around Kaden, who stood as the king of carnage, surrounded by bloody waves.
*Let them go.* Sara’s message came loud and clear over [Mind Speech].
Kaden willed Squidvard to release the one black ship and instead focus on the [Pirates] filling the water—and almost attacked as Trella [Shadow Stepped] onto the deck. “Head to the front, grab that cut rope and hold on. Everyone else is fleeing, we’re going to flee, too.”
In four bounds, he grasp the rope and heaved, holding the sail tight as Trella swung it around, letting it fill with the wind. The sloop dipped and then surged on the wind, grinding against the hull of the black ship where Skully continued his carnage and then shuddering to the side free.
“No freeloaders!” Trella leaped from the wheel to stab a [Pirate] who clung to the railing. “We just have to keep moving. In a moment, I want you to let the rope go and hit the deck, or that boom will hit you in the chest. Now!”
Kaden didn’t hesitate, throwing himself down as the loose sail whipped right in the wind, and the sloop dipped to the side, taking on water.
“Get it again and pull mid-way. I want them to see us foundering. We were doing our best to control it.” Trella threw open a hatch. “Oh, that’s too much water. You work the bilge, I’ll steer us back and forth.”
Kaden charged down the stairs into the salt water. The sloop was more sunk than afloat, but [Waterborn] let him ignore the flooded hold and pump, every moment raising the hull.
“That’s enough, I need to hold the wheel!” Trella called. “Get the rope, let’s put some distance between us and the mayhem.”
The sloop was a fast, fast ship. It had swung far out, while the black ship—one of them—fled north, sails burning. Kaden flinched as Ashi’s messenger dragon landed on him. “Evelyn’s fears were well founded. Senegal killed four sailors, Captain Targ, and nearly killed Evelyn. His soul rotted from the inside. Sara says ‘do not risk a quick approach.’”
Kaden relayed to Trella, who swung the ship west.
She pointed to one rope. “Retie that, then lash to the port side. Left side. Other left. A quick approach isn’t possible. We can tack our way toward them, or move east and let them catch up, but the thing about boats is they don’t sail straight into the wind.”
Kaden reached out mentally. “We can. We’re not sail powered, and squids don’t care about the wind.”
A bright green parrot landed on Kaden’s arm. “Please give me permission to command Skully. He’s over-succeeding. Call him off!”
That gave Kaden an idea. Trinity took up a ton of space in his soul. Skully wasn’t anywhere near the same power. Kaden pulled—and groaned as his limbs grew so much heavier. It wasn’t as much a decision as a requirement to eject Skully from his soul. The sloop lurched to the right as the bone behemoth materialized on deck.
“Skully, move the boom to the right,” Trella said, not even skipping a beat.
“Boss.” Skull raised one hand to block the boom as it swung his way and pushed it aside.
With Trella at the helm, she steered them east. “Ok, we’re gong to work our way there. Have your squid friend move us back toward Sara and the others.”
She didn’t understand.
Kaden made a gentle ask, not a requirment, and smiled as the raid boss surfaced from underneath them, seized the anchor, and jetted forward.
“Less fast!” Trella called frantically as waves crashed over the bow of the ship. “The goal of sailing is to keep the ocean out of the boat!”
[Squidvard] slowed his pace, though a wave of annoyance said the giant squid didn’t understand. Kaden asked him to go, he went. Four squid-lengths from the main ship, Kaden let Squidvard sink in. The Raid Boss was made for the pressure of the depths, and being in water this shallow made its skin ache.
“Go deep,” he said.
Explodius hadn’t returned, but Kaden knew from the soul bond the squid wasn’t dead. The feelings he picked up said the squid was enjoying a good meal with some crab friends. Or maybe a good meal with a sprinkling of crab meat.
Trella raised the sails to slow the ship, and sailors swarmed aboard to help. When she approached Kaden, her hands dripped blood. She held them up. “Don’t let Eve or anyone else heal. This is the nail that pins in the story.”
Kaden had suffered as a minotaur for using [From Hell’s Heart], but not like this. Minotaurs were simply built better. He waved as Ashi came floating downard from high above. “The lightning was you?”
“It was.” She turned off the hover fifteen feet off and let Kaden catch her. “Your monster was magnificent. Trella, do you need aid?”
Trella shook her head. “Absolutely not. When we sail into that port, we do so full of water and with burns caused by [From Hell’s Heart]. No one will look twice at us.”
The sailors lowed a ladder, and Eve climbed down, joining them, while Sara shouted louder and louder. “You’ll do it because I said so. And because you really don’t want to explain to me why you didn’t. I’ll see you in Xiao. Charge the dock fee to me.”
Sara looked to Trella. “Do you have the pendants?”
“All ready changed.” Trella handed off pendants. “Listen up, everyone here is going to show as a level two [Pirate]. Your story is that you were on a merchant trader and given the choice and joined up. Sara, you were a traveling merchant, Eve, their cook. Ashi, you were a servant girl. Kaden, I have no idea what to do with you.”
“Bandit,” Kaden said. “I’m a bandit.”
Trella focused on the pendant. “Close enough. You’re a bandit. The King of Verona hangs bandits and has a Quest out and you’re allergic to rope around your neck.”
“What of the argument?” Ashi asked.
Sara didn’t want to talk. “Later. I swear I was this close to stripping Captain Targ of his authority. He works for me, but this far out at sea, I have to accept that the crew’s loyalty is powerful. What are we waiting for? We should be sailing north.”
Trella raised the sails and turned the wheel, sending them north, while Captain Targ’s ship bobbed slowly east with the black pirate wreck clinging to it. “Kaden, will we be safe?”
“Close enough.” He still had two [Bearacudas] and a shark, and Explodius, who was resting in a torpor, digesting Iron Dagger Dan. If the worst happened, he’d jump in and rebuild the army. Sailing in with an army of monsters wouldn’t get him the chance to find Rey.
They sailed through the night, with Sara stopping to check Rey’s location regularly. Near dawn, Trella lowered sails to slow. “We need to take on more water. Also, Kaden, take out that front mast. Don’t cut it, just break it and leave it hanging over. I’m on the wheel from here on out. Kaden and Sara are at the ropes. Remember, rival crews, lucky to escape. Hungry, and angry.”
“There’s nothing out there,” Kaden protested as he headed down into the hold and cut into the hull in eight spots with the [Levicon Blade]. And to finish it, he broke the overhead planks and pushed his way up, then commanded Skully to leap on the edge of the hole.
“That’s good,” Trella called. “Break the mast and then store Skully.”
Skully didn’t hesitate, swinging one arm at the foremast and then following it up with a punch. With a shower of golden sparks, the foremast crushed the railing and sank into the water, still bound to the ship.
“It’s shallow,” Eve said, looking down. “There’s no land ahead but I can feel the ship grazing the bottom. It’s so muddy.”
Kaden knew exactly how to hide Skully.
The behemoth stumbled to the side railing and tore it as he fell off, sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Then he turned and began to lumber after them.
Eve gave a gasp of surprise. “It’s an illusion. It’s all—”
A wave of magic swept across Kaden, and the empty ocean was now a chain of islands with heavy stone sea walls and dozens of black ships docked.
You have entered a Tidal Lock.
You may not leave without permission of the owner (Harrigan).
Trella swung the wheel and shouted, angling toward the far end of a dock. “Slow us down! Slow us down or we’re going to crash!”
“We don’t have anchors!” Kaden shouted back, as [Pirates] began to boil out along the dock like rats.
“Hard dock!” Trella shouted—but dozens of hands reached out to grab the ship and cushion the blow, then rope after rope lashed them to the dock.
“You!” A man shouted out as he lumbered down the dock. “You’d better have a good explanation, or I’ll cut your throat myself.”