It was a behemoth. An island made of stone with strange, curved pillars dotted with holes that were sticking from underneath the water all around its circumference. The body of the colossus was made of a mountain-like rock formation, perforated through and through with a million holes and tunnels like the middle of an ant colony. Everything was wet and covered with algae and slime, with various sea life breathlessly lying above the water surface.

It moved into the firing range of the Luthra cruiser.

Suranihr was struck by a sound wave so strong that it almost cast him off of his feet. The whole ship was shaking, armor plates riveted together were creaking and breaking. Then, multiple thunderous booms filled the air, a mighty cannonade firing at the floating colossus of an island.

When struck, the rocks were breaking apart, twisted pillars were shattering and debris from them was flying tens of meters away, creating fountains of sea water as high as the chimneys of Luthra cruiser. The island was not slowing down however, it was racing to Luthra as if to ram her with deadly force. The sound waves were stronger and stronger, shaking the whole body of the ship so much that Suranihr had problems staying on his feet. „Keep firing!“ he shouted, his voice disappearing in the deep roaring emanating from the island. „Keep fucking firing!“

Other ships from the Citadel fleet finally caught up with Luthra, and immediately started their own cannon barrages. Piece by piece, shot by shot, the floating island was breaking apart, until it sank to the depths of the ocean, shattered.

„What the fuck was that, captain?“ The balding medic was shivering, standing only thanks to the railing he was holding tightly.

„I have no idea, commander Iarvahr.“ Suranihr muttered. He turned to his first mate. „Report on the state of Luthra. Check... damn it, check everything. Every rivet, every joint, every screw. Their sound attacks might have seriously damaged our ship.“

„Aye, captain.“ First mate ran off and Suranihr turned to face one of the Citadel’s military commanders.

„I have never seen anything like this.“ Suranihr spat into the sea. Some debris was still floating, and he thought that he could see deformed bodies lying motionless on it. „What are...“

A violent impact shaked the cruiser and both Suranihr and Iarvahr fell to their knees. Mighty warship Luthra was sloping to the side, thrown away off its course, moving perpendicular to its original trajectory.

„Starboard!“ someone screamed, and Suranihr immediately tried to stand up and look from the side of the ship.

Another island was right there, next to their ship. It was still rising from the water, and Luthra was located right above the desired path of the island. It moved the ship without too much effort, and Suranihr had hoped that the hull of his ship would not be torn open. Some ships however were not as lucky as Luthra – a corvette Galaga ended her service in a huge ball of flame.

Every ship that could started to fire on the newly formed island, but they were slow. From ten, hundred, thousand, million holes, deep sound emanated from the island. It was as terrifying as it was lethal.

Suranihr coughed out blood, supporting himself against the side railing. Iarvahr tried to help him and he turned the captain to face him. Suranihr’s face was covered in blood – his eyes, mouth, nose and ears were all bleeding, and small veins underneath Suranihr’s skin were all burst open. Iarvahr was sure that the sound attacks were causing all that damage and, acting purely on instinct, he threw the captain across the railing into the water.

He himself felt good, but he could not really see the state of his own hands or body. Encased from head to toe in light armor made out of Haraag sandsteel, he was just hoping that he would survive as long as possible so that he could help every...

Iarvahr found himself lying on the deck. He did not remember when or how he ended there. He stood up, and faced the monsters crawling and jumping from the strange island on the deck of Luthra.

The island must have collided with us... he thought to himself.

Everything was chaotic. The monsters, far from humanoid in their form and looking remarkably similar to the island – full of holes and with skin as if made of rock – were not merciful. Every sailor that had the misfortune of lying in front of them was quickly dismembered, their bodies being devoured by their monstrous mouth filled with hundreds of sharp, needle thin teeth, and their five limbs, scaly and ended with long claws made a quick process of butchering and portioning of dead bodies.

The constant pressure of sound attacks coming from the island were intense, but Iarvahr felt no more than a slight tingling on his skin. He could not help anybody until all the monsters were gone from the deck and so, with an axe in one hand, he marched to greet the monsters with blade and fury.

***

Watching from the bridge of his artillery ship Scythe, the mind of Morro Lyn was filled with numbers and calculations. His mighty ship was sailing away from the main fleet, usually guarded by three smaller corvettes, but they were of no importance.

What was important was the mayhem that was in the middle of the fleet. Massive island appeared out of nowhere, hitting and pushing multiple ships from their original trajectory, breaking their hulls, filling the air with smoke and fire.

And that sound, that damned sound... What the hell was that?

„In range?“ he asked in his dry, cold voice. First mate next to him nodded. „Yes, Captain Lyn. We can open fire. However, if we were to hit Luthra or...“

„It would go down in the blaze of glory. That is why we will not hit Luthra. Or Gala...“ In that moment, Galaga exploded in a ball of flame. „Aim at the side of the island where that ship just exploded. No more lives to worry about on that side anymore. Fire all three cannons at once, the shockwave from them will steer us off course. Signal all sailors to brace for impact, and steer the guarding corvettes away from us.“

First mate Layana signaled his commands right as he was speaking them, and everybody obeyed at once. Not ten seconds later, three massive cannons fired, and the ship Scythe was thrown to the side and off of its course by a strong shockwave.

„Good job, Layana.“ Morro Lyn nodded thoughtfully.

***

With an axe in his hand and a furious cry coming from his mouth, Iarvahr was smitten off his feet by three massive explosions that shattered the floating island. His world went black.

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***

It felt like the sea was boiling. His skin, eyes, mouth, ears, everything was burning, every little wound, every little rupture on his body was painfully reminded that the sea water was indeed salty.

But he was alive. He swam to the surface, only to be pushed back under the water by a massive explosion. He knew exactly what it was – the Reaper, the butcher-captain, heartless, cold and brilliant, Morro Lyn has unleashed the full might of his warship against the floating island. Nothing else could make such an explosion. The only thing that Surnaihr could do was to try and swim on the surface again, and hope that no falling debris would find its way directly on top of his head. Finally, he broke the surface and looked around. Even though he knew that it was probably a bad idea, he swam to the floating island and after a few moments, he was lying on the rocky island, breathing heavily.

Strange humming and murmur made him open his eyes. A creature like he had never seen before was crawling out of one of many holes in the island, its movements shaky and erratic. The creature used its five limbs, each coming out of a segment of its body, to crawl through the tunnel, but it was clear that it was struggling to move outside of it. Either it is not used to move above the water, or... Is it blind? Or somehow... damaged?

He had his gun holstered on his belt, and even though the holster was made to withstand the damp sea air or rain, Suranihr doubted that it would fire after being submerged into the sea. Still, he was not unarmed.

A short, naval axe and a pointy, three-bladed dagger. With both in hands, he moved slowly and silently towards the creature... at least he thought that he was silent. After a few steps, the creature quickly turned towards him.

The scores of holes on the creature's segmented body started to rapidly close and open, and a soft, buzzing noise filled the air around Suranihr. He had noticed that the creature indeed had no eyes, but perhaps this was how it perceives its surroundings - with sound. Yet it seemed... disoriented.

He quickly closed the gap between himself and the creature and he rammed the axe into its head – or at least what he thought was its head, due to the mouth being located there. How the fuck does it breathe? I can't see any gills...

The creature emitted a violent sound that came from every hole in its body, and Suranihr’s hands and legs started to shake. His vision became blurry and reddened and his mouth tasted like blood... This is how it hunts. This is how it kills.

A sudden sharp pain in his leg returned him back to reality. The creature's claws pierced right through his leather thigh armor, and even though only one of its limbs could reach him thanks to his positioning, it was more than enough.

Before he staggered back, he rammed his axe into the creature's body again, and then again. Its rock-like carapace was hard but brittle and the naval axe in his hands was well suited for the task of crushing the creature's body like a bug underneath the heel.

„Suranihr, you dumb idiot. You are not a zoologist to wonder about strange creatures.“ He cursed himself loudly while checking the wound on his thigh. Thankfully it was not deep and he was not in imminent danger of dying. He knew that he was probably too cruel to himself – to study the adversary and to learn as much as possible was only natural. But there was a time, and a place…

Yet the creature intrigued him. He has never seen anything like it - it did not resemble a bug or a crustacean, its limbs were almost humanoid-like, with seven long, clawed fingers with multiple joints, almost like fingers… He could not discern which limbs of the creature should serve as arms and which as legs, it had no discernable tail or fins… Suranihr imagined the creature, crawling through the tunnels of a floating island while it was underwater, and the only thing he could think of was a giant, five-legged, clawed parody of a spider with too big teeth and too rock-like skin for his liking.

He had noticed something – everything was silent. No buzzing, humming, no roaring of cannonades, no vibrations that shaked his whole body... He looked around, and was pleasantly surprised that his ship, Luthra, withstood the attacks of floating island with minimal visible damage, at least on the surface level. He waved his axe, trying to make it glint in the sun to signal somebody that he was alive and soon enough, sailors from a small corvette Amana signaled him back. Nobody is signaling me from Luthra. Something is horribly wrong.

***

Suranihr along with five sailors from Amana climbed aboard Luthra. The deck was littered with bodies of half eaten sailors, and a few disoriented creatures staggering around, colliding with each other. Amidst the creatures, a figure clad in bronze colored armor was trying to stand up, failing miserably in each attempt. Suranihr ran to commander Yhrsa, slightly limping on his freshly treated leg. He bashed the carapace of two creatures on his way to commander, with the rest of the sailors taking care of other creatures, and immediately knelt beside the wounded medical officer.

„Talk to me, Iarvahr. How are you wounded?“

„I am not.“ Iarvahr muttered through clenched teeth. „I can't seem to find a balance. My inner ear is...“ His words were accompanied by a lot of salivating and spitting.

„Rest, old friend. Lie down. No, not in the... Great job, you landed face down in your own vomit.“ Suranihr muttered more to himself than to Iarvahr. He undid the buckles of his masked helmet, his cuirass and took down his gauntlets. Iarvahr was really unharmed. Compared to his own, blood ridden skin with hundreds of small bruises and cuts, and compared to dead sailors, transformed into a pile of shredded meat, Iarvahr was in great shape.

„The sound... They were killed by sound, Suranihr. I have never seen anything like it. Your sailors... they crumbled to the ground, their bodies lifeless...“

„How did you survive?“ Suranihr asked him with real interest.

„Sandsteel... absorbed the vibrations somehow. The armor was shaking, I was not.“

Suranihr nodded. He knew practically nothing of the material, or even how Iarvahr obtained one of the priceless pieces of Haraag craftsmanship. Common folk thought Haraag products magical, and even though Suranihr did not believe in such nonsense, after witnessing how the armor protected Iarvahr, he had to admit that Haraag craftsmanship was special.

***

„How do you feel?“

„Good, thank you for asking.“ Iarvahr was looking at a shattered floating island, deep in thought, until Suranihr joined him on the deck of Luthra. The duty of cleaning up dead bodies and checking the hull integrity of the ship was not pleasant, but now that it was over, both of them were pleasantly surprised how well Luthra has fared.

„Thank you for saving my life.“ Suranihr patted Iarvahr on his back. He barked out a laugh. „Which time?“

„The last time.“ Suranihr laughed too.

„You know, I always wanted to throw you overboard.“ Iarvahr replied with a joyful grin that faded from his face as quickly as it appeared. „These sailors... I hope that their deaths were painless.“

„I knew each of them by name. They will be remembered.“

„I hoped that my return to duty would be calmer than this.“ Iarvahr nodded in the direction of the floating island. They both felt silent for a few minutes.

„I think that...“

„That we should explore the tunnels. The island. What it is, what it is made of, how the hell did it ram into my ship from below.“ Suranihr finished his thought and Iarvahr nodded.

„But I also think...“

„That you should be the one exploring it, alone, due to your armor. Yes, I know. But I have also been on the receiving end of direct sound attack from one of these creatures, and I live.“

„I know that whatever I say will have no effect on your decision, and that whatever I say, you will go into these tunnels with me. And with us, other insane sailors...“

Suranihr smiled. „You are the commander, and we have to obey your commands. But, I am the captain, and you are on my ship. And already, I can think of a few sailors from other ships that will join us... But I also know that you will tell me why it is a bad idea.“

Iarvahr turned to him, with seriousness written to his eyes. „You have survived a direct attack from one of them... on the ground. Under the clear sky, away from the tunnels. The sound can travel through these tunnels in a much different way than out of them... A single shriek – or whatever it is that they do – could turn everybody inside into a dead pile of meat.”

„I have already spoken with other ship captains. The voting was unanimous, two from every crew of the ship will venture inside. Regardless of danger.“

„Let us just hope that I am wrong about us all dying in there.“