“Keep firing!” Thalios bellowed, feeling useless as he watched the battle unfold against the abomination. It had torn through a dozen of the most hardened and deadly pirate ships as a snack.
The cannons fired as fast as they could reload. Every weapon they had was pointed at the beast.
The waves from its emergence had pushed them back but they were still in range of the massive creature. Their sails were out and enchantments to help their movement active to make it harder on the creature.
“Water blast!” Someone yelled, the ship jerked as the blast hit the barrier. Blow holes occasionally fired blasts as strong as a cannon’s at their ship.
They weaved through tentacles aimed at them, the mage engaging them before they reached the ship.
People were tossed as more water blasts hit the barrier. There was a moment of hope, which snapped as the barrier broke, the blasts tearing through rigging and sail.
Half of the mizzen mast fell down, hitting the deck and the people there, before digging into the water, turning the ship as the helmsman fought the tiller.
Thalios grabbed onto the helm and held it, the wood creaking.
“Axes!”
Crew ran to clear out the broken mast. Another blast hit the ship, tearing through the lower decks. A tentacle smashed through rigging till it got caught in it, shaking the ship around.
It dragged them across the waves to the beast’s maw, the ship dragging on the waves. People fell overboard.
“Cut the rigging clear,” Thalios drew his saber keeping one hand on the ship as he hacked at ropes, cutting them away from the caught tentacle.
A cannon rolled, crushing Olei, he screamed as Thalios kept hacking, unable to help. Cannon balls rolles on the decks. Canons shifted.
The ship swung; enough ropes free. Thalios looked forward of the ship, a smaller group at the bow hacking away.
Lirina jumped to a tangle of ropes, her blade tearing through in one cut, dropping the whole vessel.
A tentacle swung over the small group as the ship dropped and skidded on the water. The tentacle slapping the broken masts but doing little of extra damage.
“Mages get us moving! Gunners on your cannons! I want reports on below decks! Wounded into the officers cabins!” He was betting there was some damage below decks and he didn’t want to put the injured into that.
Two rolled the cannon from Olei, pouring precious healing potions on his wounds and down his throat. Another opened a bottle that had his eyes near rolling back in his head, washing away his pain in a breath.
Thalios sheathed his blade and headed back up to the helm. Thankfully they had the healing supplies to care for the wounded. Several colored flotation devices marked the waters, those that had gone overboard.
Reckoning pushed onwards, the water around them hurried them away. A bit too fast to be sustainable. I’ll tell them to pull back in a bit. He wanted to get out of there quickly too, there were too many blow holes and tentacles in reach now.
Beasts of air attacked the creature, a fire beam spell drove a charred path through a multitude of eyes.
A ship in the maw of the creature exploded, tearing out the mouth.
The creature contracted size and the wounds healed quickly.
It can use its mass to heal.
Thalios shuddered looking at the size of the creature.
They had barely a third of their original sails.
“Cap’n!” someone yelled out. Thalios was confused for a second before looking where the woman who’d yelled was pointing.
A section of the sea glowed deep blue and fell downwards creating a waterfall in the middle of the ocean.
The prow of a massive ship colored deep blue crested the opening and pushed out onto the waters. It was a true behemoth, six decks tall water poured from her as runes weaved into the dark blue material glowed with a dangerous lighter blue.
Cannon ports opened along the ship’s side.
Large shells with cannons sticking out of them rotated to point at the abomination. The blast of the cannons depressed the water below, the ship rocking.
Impacts hit the creature and detonated, blasting out ship sized sections of the beast.
Spells cut across the space between ship and creature, the cannons opened up as one.
The hits spattering the creature and battering it backwards.
Water golems jumped out of the foaming water, hacking at the beast in anyway they could find. Water turned into spears and blades, tearing at the beast.
“That ship,” Thalios had heard of something looking like it before.
“The Water Lord has come,” Lirina said.
The cannons reloaded as a figure shot towards the behemoth, they grew in size, diving into the water.
The beast screamed out of its mouths as it rose out of the sea a trident with each prong as big at the main mast of Reckoning driving through the abomination. Its tentacles lashed at the Water Lord. The water shearing off the tentacles.
The Water Lord’s head emerged from the water, his face that of an enraged fish.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The beast’s main maw extended forward, biting the lord in the shoulder. His holy blood stained the waters, the clouds stirring angrily.
The abomination started to shift, becoming humanoid.
Pirate ships that had gone silent ignited with white flames. Cannons fired at the beast, peppering its side.
“Raise the sails, still the waters and bring the wind! Circle that fucking thing! Cannons fire as you bear!” Thalios’ voice snapped people back into action.
An explosion froze the abomination’s face.
Purple magic crackled around a sole figure as the sea rose up around her, the wind stirring into a frenzy. Stone was crushed into a ribbon and flames ignited the air.
The elemental forces came together into a swirling light, like clear surface water lit with sun and gems.
It shot across the water, carving a path through it as it hit the Abomination in the head with the same force as one of the Water Lord’s shell cannons.
A blast of water as big as a ship slammed into the creature, freeing the Water Lord from the beast’s maw.
A green blur moved across the abomination, burning veins spread in along his path.
Thalios looked in the direction of the water blast. A fucking turtle the size of a damned Island cruised through the waters, runes seen through the forest upon its back.
Water and the Water Lord’s blood leapt back into his wounds, repairing them.
His own vessel fired their cannons, the abominations wriggling on the trident holding it aloft.
Mesurial surged out of the waters, her cannons pushing out of her cannon ports as her sails rolled open. Mya unleashed her broadside.
Some pirates took the distraction to flee.
Thalios blinked the tears away that came with the gun smoke. The deck’s planks singing their tune.
Where the Lord’s trident pierced the creature it whitened sections started to fall off into the water. They started transforming into smaller abominations.
“Target the ones in the water!” Thalios yelled.
Everyone was so focused on the large one they didn’t see the small ones.
Thalios grabbed up a lightning staff and ran across the deck, closing one eye he felt the roll of the ship.
Lightning arced from him to the beast, illuminating it and drawing others eyes.
Desari dove, her sword flashing with purple as she danced through tentacles, driving her weapon into a broken off abomination.
It cracked apart with purple light, steaming as parts of it rained down on the water.
She stepped on the water, carving a path forward as she jumped, her mount appearing under her, wreathed in purple flames as she took out a bow, unleashing arrows upon the targets she could see.
***
Petor stabbed his spear into the abomination as he ran. The damn thing’s tentacles lashed out. He used cavicate, blowing out a barrel sized wound as he threw ever-burning brambles into the beast. His feet touched upon the cape of the bramble spreading across the beast, digging deeper, constricting.
He jumped to another part of the beast, spreading mana through the brambles. Deeper, faster, sharper.
They creaked against one another, cracking scales and tearing up parts of the beast.
Tentacles slapped at them, coming away bloodied, seeds in their wounds that spread down.
The mana leaked out of hundreds of wounds. He jumped again, cannon shot hitting where he had just been.
He dragged his spear through the beast’s hide, running forward using cavicate. Should bring the tetntacles over here and less protection against the ship’s shots.
He fed mana to the rest of his team, teleporting through the plants once more to another part of the creature, Bloody patches greeted him. Petor grabbed handfuls of seeds and tossed them into the wound.
A water spear the size of a mast shadowed him as it stabbed into the creature. Water blades cut back and forth through the water. The creature fighting back against the Water Lord who held the creature up and out of the water.
Its water attacks aren’t working, might need to touch water to use them?
Petor jumped through his plants.
Valter drew his sword out of a section of the beast, the area smoking white with encroaching frost.
He smashed his foot down, cracking away bloody chunks that tumbled into the water below. His steps burned the beast’s hide as his sword flashed, cutting off tentacles, cauterizing them to slow the beast’s natural healing.
“Run,” The water Lord’s voice filled his ears.
Valter changed his direction and headed for the part of the creature nearest the water. When a demi-god tells you to move, you do so.
Petor jumped across the creature through his roots, having them draped down to the water. He came out a dozen meters above Mirradon bursting into reality as he jumped on her back, her hoofs dug into the water, at full gallop.
Ignus with Valter riding him landed beside him. His duplicate armor disappearing into his storage as his Mithril gauntlet switched for the Dimantium one.
Desari cut across the water on Rezzie, meeting them as she shot at globs of things in the water.
“The parts that come off the abomination gain sentience, or at least hunger and try to attack,” Desari yelled.
Petor lashed out with his spear at a chunk.
It flipped over to try and attack. Petor’s cavicate tore it asunder.
Valter’s arbalest thrummed in his hands his arrows detonating upon impact.
Irshon unleashed another mouthful of water, it cleaved off a side of the beast. The Water Lord pushed the beast higher with one hand on his trident. The beast dried up in real-time as the water Lord’s hand glinted, turning into a blade of ice as it pierced the beast’s abdomen.
A scream tore out of its throats as it thrashed in panic, its tail, barely touching the water raised waves measured in meters.
The water lord tore his hand out. The abomination peeled apart as the water lord’s hand glowed with hundreds of lights.
“Cores,” Valter said.
Petor shuddered. The colored orbs disappeared with the bloody meat, the water lord’s hand dove in, tearing out more cores.
The beast shuddered and fell limp on the water lord’s trident. He threw the beast to the side, his trident descending till it hit the bottom of the water plane. Water rushed in, creating a circle of water two hundred meters tall, dimming the rising sun.
A spell flared around Irshon. Water orbs picked up out of the water, smooth swirling marbles. Bolts of water shot out of them in the hundreds. Hitting the animated remains of the abomination.
The Water Lord’s forces, mounted on beasts swam below, the wall of water reaching the bottom of the ocean.
Spells and weapons across his ship killed the broken creatures enmasse.
Fast boats cut through the waves at speed, moving to the pirate ships caught inside the wall, as well as what remained of the pirate cove’s docks.
A sip of Essence spread through Petor’s core.
“Well that was like someone farting in a goddamn hurricane,” Petor grumbled.
“Little wet and vastly unimpressive,” Valter said.
“Yup!”
“Well we are alive.” Valter and Petor shared a look.
“Pretty cool story.” Petor shrugged.
“Wonder if we’ll get anything from the remains. You know that Legendary items are usually crafted from creatures bodies or things that are really fucking old.”
“Cutting that apart is going to be a nightmare,” Petor said.
Cannons fired, the pirate shooting at the wall the Water Lord had thrown up, others shot at the fast boats.
Petor and Valter shared a very different look, Petor took out his crystal.
“Hey, you want to get some loot. I see some ships that are up for grabs too!” Petor said.
“Barely a sneaky pee in the sea of essence that! Yeah lets get some booty!” Mya declared.
“I’m just going to fast forward the well worded argument against it. Sure, lets go raid the pirates,” Desari said.
Petor and Valter aimed for Mesurial, Desari coming in from a different angle on Rezzie.
“Might be too late,” Valter said.
The Water Lord shrunk down to size and leveled his trident in the direction of the pirates.
Elementals surged out of the water, moving through every opening in the ships, water sharpened to blades as they tore through the pirate crews, their movements unlike any that would move with a humanoid body. They’d slide through defenses, mist turned blade to cut out knees or lose limbs, wrap up the pirates in their own bodies and stab into them, turn to mist and congeal around the weapon going through them, pulling their opponents off balanced before they blasted them back with pressurized water.
The water lord stepped onto a ship, smoke puffed across the ship as he stepped off, landing in the water to appear in another ship.
As he stepped onto each ship, smoke puffed up, catching the sun.
“Well at least we’re going the right direction,” Petor said. “Wonder what a Water Lord is like?”
“Willing to fight at the front.” Valter said, begrudging respect with heavy skepticism.