“USE THE SWORD AND STAB IT!” Jeremy cried.

Jonah turned to look at the second mate incredulously. He raised the steel sword and pointed towards the screeching beast which thrashed in the sea, hurdling walls of waves in every direction. “YOU THINK I CAN KILL THAT!”

“IS THAT NOT WHY YOU’RE HERE?” Jeremy questioned, pressing at the bilge pump to let the water escape.

“I KILL PIRATES AND SMALL SEA SERPENTS! NOT IN WHATEVER THE SALT THAT IS!”

“POSEIDON FUCKING LET HIS PET LOOSE!” he shouted back. “WELL, IF YOU CAN’T KILL IT, WE’RE ALL DEAD AREN’T WE!”

It was a sobering thought that was annoyingly true. Was there a point in resisting? There was no way that they would escape this alive. He knew it, Jeremy knew it, the entire crew must’ve known it. Yet, as Jonah panned his gaze around the ship, they were all still fighting back against the inevitable, pumping the water, tugging at the sails, and trying to pin down moving objects.

“If I’m going to die anyway…” he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

Jonah turned his attention to the cause of the commotion. He had no doubt that the irregular weather was because of it - he didn’t know how, but if they lived, Delia would surely tell him.

Focusing on the task at hand, he squared his shoulders and took in a deep breath. His grip on the sword tightened and the leather of the handle embraced him, the hilt moulded to the shape of hands. Then Jonah channelled mana into it. The sword – Midnight Ode, as the engravings had called it - was an artifact. It was perhaps the most expensive item on the ship, and also his only possession outside of the clothes he owned.

The weapon was simple, a gunmetal two-sided blade with a leather-wrapped handle. But if anyone paid closer attention, they would have noticed runes inscribed along the blade. Runes which lit up as Jonah’s mana trickled into it, giving the edge a silver shine: a fitting name now that he thought about it.

Throughout the years of training with the sword, Jonah had learned two things: the more mana he supplied, the sharper it would get; And if he released the mana as he slashed at the air, then he could cut at a distance. Considering how easily he had cut the tentacle, he hoped his air slash, as he called it, would be enough to kill the shrieking fiend.

Jonah recklessly approached the edge of the ship and raised his sword, but instead of using the air slash, he was forced on the defensive as a 3 feet wide tentacle struck him with speed. The force from the blocked blow knocked him back and he smashed into the deck.

Pain blossomed in his spine and the copper taste of blood filled his mouth; his cries echoed that of the furious beast.

“Jonah!” Delia ran towards his sprawled body, ignoring the stones that crashed from the sky and the tentacles that loomed in the air. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Jonah – ”

“I’m fine,” he croaked back.

Delia kneeled beside him and helped him sit up. Questions of concern poured from her, but Jonah ignored them. Instead, he spat out onto the deck and confirmed it was clear of blood. Nothing broken yet, he supposed.

“Jon- ”

“Go below decks,” Jonah interrupted.

“No, I c-”

“No, Delia. Go below the decks. Go grab the crossbows, and tell the captain.”

She paused for a brief second and Jonah thought she was about to argue back. Before he could say anything further, she nodded resolutely, her azure eyes gleaming with purpose. She got up and ran off towards the old man wherever he was.

Jonah staggered to his feet, his knee still screaming in his mind, and his back now joining it. He limped forward, determination and spite the only thing driving him.

“One hit… if I can land just one hit.”

Another appendage emerged out of the water, smashing into the hull.

Jonah flinched, expecting a gaping hole, but the ship simply rocked. Violently. He was thrown back into the same position he had been moments earlier, all progress undone, and only more pain to show for it.

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The fact that the ship could take on the punishment surprised him. But even if The Flightless Owl could withstand blows from the monster, if they went under, they would still drown.

“GET OFF YOUR ASS AND KILL IT!” Jeremy screamed, “BEFORE THE FUCKER TOSSES US INTO THE WATER!”

Jonah could barely hear him over the still pounding rain and hurtling waves.

He stood, using the sword as a cane as his knees buckled. “I’m trying, Jeremy!” His voice was hoarse and dry, coming out more like a wheeze. Some part of him wanted to tell Jeremy to go kill it himself, but that was suicide, and he didn't have the breath. He didn’t even know if his friend had heard him, but it didn’t matter.

Jonah stumbled towards the Kraken's direction.

Once close to the edge of the ship, he took in a deep breath and raised his weapon. His knees protested, the support of the temporary cane absent, but he ignored it. Instead, he closed his eyes and concentrated, letting power accumulate in the sword. When he felt the weapon pulsate like his beating heart, he opened his eyes and slashed in a diagonal motion.

The air split in two, whooshing either side of his face as a blast of energy hurtled towards the Kraken.

Jonah watched in anticipation, expecting a deep scar to form in the colossal octopus. Then his brows furrowed as the air slash fizzled into nothingness before it met its target.

“Salt…”

“Jonah!” Gregory shouted as he approached him, “Do we need to get closer?”

Closer? He wanted to get as far away as possible. He opened his mouth to respond, but clenched his teeth as their reality dawned on him.

There was no escaping it, not in this storm. He either killed it, or they died.

After a brief second, Jonah nodded, his shoulders sagging with the weight of responsibility. Responsibility and trust. The captain had watched his failure and still trusted Jonah. He still believed they could make it, that Jonah could fulfil his oath. That had hurt more than anything the Kraken had done so far.

He collected himself, taking in another calming breath.

If they were going to die, he would die first. He would die protecting the ship; it was his duty as the sole ship guard.

The captain barked further commands and Jonah felt the ship change course, no longer resisting the tyrant who dragged it. He also noticed none of the crewmates seemed to voice their complaints as the ship headed towards the maw of death, though if they did, he didn’t hear it over the sound of the ensuing storm.

“Are we eating teriyaki tonight?” Jeremy asked, suddenly standing beside him.

He flinched to Jeremy’s amusement.

“The pirate punisher is afraid, is he?” the man teased.

Jonah cringed at the name but didn’t entertain the jab, focusing on the beast before him. “I’ve never eaten Kraken before, but I doubt it tastes better than squid.”

“I’ve never thought I’d fucking see one,” Jeremy muttered back. He put a consoling hand on Jonah’s shoulder. “It’s not a bad way to go, right?”

Jonah smiled at that. It was comforting, accepting the certainty of death. “You think I won’t kill it?”

The second mate laughed as loud as the distant thunder. The man tended to laugh in the most serious situations. Only in the face of death did Jonah realise he didn’t appreciate enough.

“Never doubted for a second,” he said, lightly pushing his friend forward. “Go kill that fucker!”

The ship guard solemnly nodded as he limped towards the bow. The deck beneath him shook with each step as the Kraken’s limbs whipped the ship.

It surprised him that the Kraken hadn’t simply flipped them over. Its blows caused the ship to sway like a stalk in a storm, but somehow the flightless owl stayed afloat.

“Of course...”

The beast, realising the same thing as Jonah, changed tactics. The two assaulting whips joined the three tentacles wrapped around the ship, coiling like a snake; The flightless owl was wrenched with renewed vigour.

Ignoring the lurching, Jonah looked forwards; he could barely see through the curtain of rain and the darkness that enveloped them, but the looming silhouette of the Kraken, half submerged in water, told them they were a few minutes away from death.

The ship guard absent-mindedly thought about the stories of the monster. They were smart predators, capable of plucking sailors from ships like picking fruit. Krakens also had 10 tentacles, but if it was holding back, he wasn’t complaining.

The cries of the crew were absent now, most of the shipmates forced below deck. Jonah gave a quick confirming glance; only the captain and Jeremy remained above.

He was thankful Greg understood his message. He was even more grateful that the ship had been enchanted. Jonah recalled it being built - how every painted plank was sent away to be etched into. He had thought it to be a waste of time all these years, but never had he known that such creatures lurked in the sea. They were the stuff of legends; tales from folklore; stories of the superstitious. And yet, here he was, approaching the myth himself.

As the deep blue of its hide came into view, Jonah readied himself. He poured mana into the sword and raised it towards the sun, still hidden by a shroud of darkness.

The beast had calmed as it reeled its prey with little resistance, but if Jonah’s attack landed, he knew that would change. It would need to be a decisive strike.

Confident he stood within range, The Midnight Ode came down like a blacksmith’s hammer and a distortion of air raced towards the sea beast.

The air slash smashed into it.

The beast couldn’t even react to the sheer speed of the strike. It didn’t even react… the blow had done nothing.

Jonah’s chest tightened as though he were drowning.

“That makes no bloody sense…”

He was sure he had sliced the tail like tenderised meat, and that was without mana. The air slash was not just his only ranged attack, but also the strongest attack in his arsenal. For it to do no damage made no sense.

“JEREMY!” Jonah shouted.

The man came running forward, a crossbow in his hands. They both knew that was futile - if his air slash didn’t harm it, crossbows would be useless - and that wasn’t why Jonah had called him. “Go grab some rope. And tell Delia I’m sorry.”

“Wha-“

Jonah jumped into the sea, sword first.

“-at the fuck,” Jeremy finished, but Jonah had already gone.