The water lapped at the ship’s edge.

“Wake up” a deep gravelly voice spoke from behind her.

“I already was.” She turned over on her wooden slat to look at her captor. A large Rakt, wearing the garb of some clan she had probably never heard of. He loomed large in the doorway, his frame taking up too much space. Large twisting horns come out of his head. He was hunched, though they all were, as if ready to fight at any moment. His body was covered in a thick mat of fur, still wet from the ocean spray. His snout scrunched as he snarled at her.

“You are needed on deck, captain’s orders.”

She sighed as she got off of her poor excuse for a bed, and did her best to sidle past the other prisoners. She had been on this damnable boat for weeks, barely eating, huddling with the survivors of her village and others. The tight quarters only grew less tight as her people starved and grew thinner. She was only able to maintain her strength due to being favored by the boat’s captain for having magical ability, and so was fed more. This revelation would have been cause for celebration back home.

Before the raid, she had lived in a peaceful village near the southern coast of the northern continent, where most of the People lived. They were mostly non magic, unlike the rest of the races. When they did have magic though, they had a minor affinity for everything. Her own village Maman helped their crops grow healthy and strong, healed their sick, and more. Akna's magic manifesting on her 25th birthday should have been a cause of celebration, the birth of a new Maman, only one generation separated from her grandmother who was the previous Maman.

As she left the hold and went up on deck following the one who woke her. She heard the crew of Rakt around her growling some song as they rowed the ship. It would have been beautiful and haunting if she hadn’t been a prisoner, or at least if she had understood their language. She shook her head as she looked around for the captain.

“Good, you’re here.” a particularly large Rakt said as he saw them emerge. “You know the drill.”

The captain tossed her a green orb, snarling a smile as he did so. Akna let out her breath and nodded at the captain, before turning towards the sails. She let some of her magic flow into the orb, which caused the surrounding wind to slightly adjust its heading in the direction the crew were rowing. She put more magic in, the wind changing more. This is what the captain had been having her do over and over again for the whole trip. She was being used as a battery to make the trip easier on the crew. Used before being exhausted, fed, and shoved back in the hold. There was one benefit of this though, other than being able to leave the cramped quarters she shared with her fellow prisoners.

“We will be passing close to the Zamani land soon. If we keep our course, we will be back in the sands in another month. You will be needed to get us through an upcoming squall, and away from shore. We will work you hard for the next week. Understood girl?”

Akna grimaced, and did what she did best. Kept her mouth shut with a curt nod. She was lucky she got any information. They had let slip a few details to her over their time on the sea. She knew her village was only one of many raided. She knew they had only minor fire talents aboard, discounting the captain and first mate.

They had also let slip that her village had been split in the raid. Her ship was in front, leading the fleet with the most promising of her people to be put to work. This meant her family might still be alive on another ship.

Without this knowledge, she didn’t know if she would have had the will to keep going. The lack of food and poor conditions had changed her just as the worry and anger had taken its mental toll. She hadn’t seen a reflection of herself, but she knew she looked different. No longer was she the slightly tanned, muscled form she had previously. She was starved and kept in the dark, losing color and body fat. The Rakt had chopped her hair short, and ripped her beads out of what remained. She didn’t know what her face looked like, but based on the other prisoners it was sallow and thinning, large bags under her eyes most likely.

As her magic ran dry, a deep bone chilling exhaustion hit her, as it always did. Thankfully the Rakt captain always fed her enough to recover and never pushed her too far past her limits. He didn’t want his free wind battery dying after all. So she was sent back down to the hold with a sack of stale bread to pass out to the others, and one small fish for her alone. She tried to share it once, but the magic chills made her think twice the next time.

“What’s the news this time?” a villager asked as she came down. She didn’t know their name, her village far enough from theirs that most of them didn’t know each other. If them being grouped as prisoners was by design, she didn’t know.

“We’re passing by the Zamani continent soon. We will be on this blasted boat for another month if all goes well. And a squall is coming.”

The others cursed at hearing this, knowing just how bad even a small storm could be. Akna nodded in agreement as she passed out the food. She wasn’t as tired this time from the magic, it got better each time, but it was still bad enough she just wanted to eat and go to sleep.

As the last roll was passed out, she went back to her slat to eat her fish, her mind tiredly thinking of her brother. He was her twin, and he had not a bone of caution in his body. He had a chance of gaining magic, similar to her, as Maman tended to run in families. She only hoped he would keep his mouth shut and focus on survival. Her parents were likely fine, if they survived, but she couldn't afford to think of the alternative.

Akna finished her fish, and rolled over to sleep, slowly drifting off as her dreams came and went, hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel.

—----------------

The next day, Akna awoke to the sounds of creaking, the boat rocking a bit more than when she dozed off. She was still tired, it was hard to get sleep on this boat, but she knew today she was going to be pushed so they could make it through the upcoming squall. She did her best to center herself and recover what energy she could, but she didn’t really know what she was doing. Lack of training aside, she also had just been in such poor conditions that she doubted she would be able to recover much anyways. Every drop would count today though, as she doubted she would be released until they were through the worst of the storm.

Sure enough, the same Rakt, came down to fetch her as she felt the boat start to stutter on the waves. As she came on to the deck, a constant light drizzle fell from the sky. The captain came, a more serious look on his furred face than normal.

“This storm is worse than expected, and it seems to be worsening. Get us through this in one piece, and you will be fed generously. We need your strength up, so eat this quickly and get ready.”

He handed her some hard tack and water, as well as the magic tool. She nodded and scarfed down the small meal, thankful for anything in her belly. As she finished, the wind noticeably picked up, and the rain started falling harder.

Pushing her magic into the tool, she focused hard to keep them steady and tried not to allow the mast to get too much wind on it. They couldn’t deal with a snapped mast, and while she hated the Rakt, she didn’t want everyone on the boat to drown no matter how vindictive she was feeling.

The storm battered the boat harder as they went deeper in. The waves grew higher, slamming against the front of the boat, the helmsmen doing their best to keep the ship faced into the waves. Akna did her best to keep the wind in the direction they were heading, but the storm was too strong for her nascent magic. She didn't even know if her magic was doing anything, it taking everything she had to even keep the wind from snapping the mast.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Hours passed, as she drained her magic, the rain pelting down in sheets now. At some point, the Captain had come and tied her to the mast to keep her from getting washed off the deck, but she was so focused on the magic that she barely noticed. Waves taller than the boat crashed onto the ship, threatening to sweep everyone off the deck.

One of the Rakt didn't tie themselves down well enough, a wave dragging him off the deck, his screams drowned in the shrill sound of the wind. Rain was belting down in sheets so dense and fast that it was forming welts on Akna's bare skin.

“Aim us towards the eye! Quickly!” the captain pointed to a heading as he shouted at the helmsman. She could vaguely see what he was referencing, and poured even more magic into the tool to push them faster towards the center, mast be damned. They weren't going to survive much longer in this storm if they didn't get out soon. She felt a chill bone deep, it was hard to tell if it was from the magic drain or the downpour.

A crack sounded from the mast, as the wood started to buckle under the strain of the wind. It wasn't going to hold unless something was done. Desperate to keep the mast together and get out of the storm, Akna did the only thing she could think to do, and channeled magic into the mast through her back. It was nothing, a trickle of a trickle, but the wood seemed to hold a little longer because of that. Finally with one final wave, the mast snapped as they emerged into the eye.

The sun peeked down from above, finally providing some warmth. The crew was exhausted, many of them slumped over where they were tied. The Rakt’s fur was all soaked and heavy. It wasn’t evolved for heavy rain, but it at least protected them from the worst of the rain. Akna groaned as she finally relaxed her body, the magic drain feeling like an ache in her soul. Her magic empty and strained, her body worn down, it was all she could do to stay conscious. The captain walked over, seeming exhausted as well.

“Well done. We will recover in the eye, repair the mast, see if the storm lessens before trying to push through the other side. Take this, recover your strength. Your magic is nearly empty, and I do not have the ritual to transfer you my mana.”

Akna perked up slightly upon hearing his final words, curious as to what he meant, before being distracted as he passed her a massive dried fish and some cheese. The first mate untied her as she wolfed down the cheese and started in on the fish, relief flooding her body. She had a fish, and they had survived.

While finishing her fish, Akna tried listening in to the conversation. Most of the crew simply seemed to be expressing relief, though it was hard to tell. She did not speak their tongue, so was mostly working off of guess work. It was a guttural language, many rough sounds and sudden stops. Any other time, she would have tried to learn a few words, but she was too tired to even consider that right now.

Realizing she wasn’t likely to gain more info, she simply focused on recovering her energy knowing that they had to get to the other side of the storm sooner or later. As she finished eating, her magic replenishing, she sensed something.

It wasn’t like she heard it, or saw it, and barely felt it. It was like a sixth sense was thrumming through her, pulling her magic… downwards? That couldn’t be right. Even if she was sensing something, what sea life would be pulling on her magic? She got up from her seat and went to the edge of the deck, and looked over the railing trying to see if she could spot what was pulling on her magic. It looked mostly dark and blue, though more placid than she expected. She didn’t see anything though, and was about to step away when the captain spoke up behind her.

"Fear not, the ocean's dangers are unlikely to reach us here."

"How do you know? I keep sensing something beneath us."

“What do you sense?”

“I’m not sure. It’s like something is pulling on my magic. I’ve never experienced it before.”

"Likely a deep sea beast. Your magic is attuned to water, so you sense what we must see. They will not bother us."

"Is there any way to get the pulling to stop at least? My magic is still sore, I don't want to cause us delays getting out of the storm." Akna hedged her bets here, hoping her compliant words would maybe allow her a small magic lesson.

The captain looked thoughtful before speaking. "You can shield your magic, to prevent others from observing it passively, and keep it contained. It will not hold up against scrutiny, but it will stop the pain."

The captain flourished his claws, a small ball of fire hovering above his hand, that slowly expanded into a hollow sphere.

"You need simply take a small fire, and wrap it around your magic. It will contain the fluctuations, and prevent passive magic loss and perception. It is called a Magi Shield to the Rakt."

Akna nodded, before closing her eyes for her first attempt at a Magi Shield. She pulled magic out and tried to make it swirl around her magic in a dance of flames, like she'd seen the captain do. It started for a moment, before expanding rapidly and flashing heat through her body before dissipating.

Akna winced at the heat, the captain nodding his head. "That was a good first attempt. Keep working on it. We do not want your magic attracting the unsavory."

Akna grimaced and let out a nod, before peering over the railing once more to look into the deep. A light. A red light. What was that?

“Do you see that light?"

The captain suddenly got very tense, leaping to the railing and looking over before grabbing her and staring into her eyes.

“What color light? Was it blinking?”

Akna stuttered for a moment before responding. “Red, I think? No, it wasn't blinking.”

She had never seen fear on any of the Rakt since boarding this ship. Yet the captain before her was emanating such fear, it seemed to seep into the air like a viscous soup. He turned around and barked an order, screaming at his men, the rasp of the Rakt language echoing over the ocean. The crew burst to life, scrabbling to do something, but she didn’t know what. The captain finally turned back to her.

“The Ozose are here. If what you told me is accurate, it’s a strider. Get below deck and-”

Before he could finish, something broke the surface of the water. Directly in the center of the calm, a massive… thing, arose from the ocean. Akna had heard of the Ozose. She had thought they were a myth to scare children. Yet as she saw the giant metal monstrosity keep going up and up, Akna realized they were all too real.

Before her, a giant metal spider loomed over the ship. It was covered in so many metal instruments, seemingly with no purpose. The strider's legs stretched deep into the ocean, its joints covered in red barnacles and rust, the screech of the joints as it stood to its full height so painful the whole crew bent over to cover their ears. Smoke belched from the innumerable orifices in its head. Steam rose from the ocean, the striders using the water to cool its internals as its lights blinked and instruments calibrated. It stood tall against the wall of the storm, its height dwarfing anything Akna knew, its head nearly going above the clouds. Most menacingly of all was the single red eye, staring into the distance.

“Magi Shield! Do not let it sense us!”

She felt many magical presences around her vanish, so small and so dim she had never noticed them till they disappeared. The largest of them belonged to the captain, as it too went dark. All that was left was… hers. Her magic seemed to be a beacon. She closed her eyes, trying to make a Magi Shield of her own. A bubble of fire slowly started to form around the light in her chest, she could do this.

A metal screech echoed over the ocean. Akna’s eyes snapped open. The strider slowly started to turn, its eye projecting a beam of red light across the storm wall. Akna tried again, more fire swirling around her magic, but it kept failing, kept flashing heat through her. The captain was boring holes into her with his stare, urging her to shield her magic faster. The red spotlight kept getting closer. Closer.

Akna flailed, trying and trying to get the Magi Shield to just hold goddamnit! Faster and faster, more magic, the fire flickering, she just had to keep the shield up! The ship lit up red. A giant eye, focused directly on her. A deep tone sounded from within the strider, unheard but felt in the chest and skull. It echoed through the cavities of the body, vibrating the organs, blood seeping from the crew. Akna's eyes, bleeding, her nose, her mouth. The Magi shields of all of the crew around her burst, their magic visible to all.

The crew sat on the deck, many crying, more frozen. The first mate prayed, others gripped their clans mark. The captain himself stood stoically, his eyes closed in acceptance, a single tear escaping his eye. Akna didn't even know the Rakt could cry.

A swarm of mechanical wretches burst out of the strider’s head, their spider forms scuttling in a wave down the strider’s legs, before somehow standing on top of the water, and rushing the ship. The Ozose arrived faster than was reasonable, crashing into the ship, chewing it apart, chewing the crew apart, chewing her people apart.

And then Akna's Magi Shield was created. Not with fire, but with all the elements. She hadn't even been trying anymore, her body just automatically doing anything it could think of to save her. Wood chips flew as if an explosion had gone off the ship snapping in half.

As Akna was thrown from the ship into the water, her magic bubbled to the surface, covering her body in a small flimsy bubble, her consciousness fleeing her, her body drifting down into the ocean to be carried away by the currents below.