The heavy fog that covered the sea had become black, massive tides had appeared and on them, swarms of deads’ heads floated towards the little boat.

A familiar old voice shouted through the chaos, getting louder every second.

The daze of coming out of a slumber still gripped Jack, but his instincts worked for him, getting him to stand. Suddenly, he fell.

Phobia-fueled adrenaline shot through his veins and his arms grabbed on to the boat’s ledge. His legs dangled in the air -- now, from the fear of heights, he was dizzy. But, he managed to take a look at his surroundings.

Underneath was a three feet fall leading to the uneasy water. A massive obsidian rock, sticking out of the sea like a big finger with stairs along its sides, had impaled the front half of the boat--raising it to an almost completely vertical state--and stranded the door with the cat far on its other end.

To fight the nausea, Jack took a deep breath and climbed up, holding on to the side of the boat. To fight the awful mood he woke up in, he laughed at the castaway feline.

That’s what you get for making oaring this boat a living hell, you bastard!

Hunter stood on the boulder, turning from side to side, his face deep in frantic thought.

“What happened?” I sleep for a minute and we’re already dying!

“You can see, can’t you? A little storm decided to form and veer us off course.”

And how the hell did that happen here, Jack opened his mouth to ask, but kept his tongue -- there wasn’t time to waste in a situation as shit as this one.

“We’ve gotta get out of here,” he said instead.

“What led you to that brilliant observation?!”

“What do I do?” It’d be nice to hear some orders instead of being shouted at for no reason!

“You get this boat unstuck while I-- no, you get the cat, I get us out of here!”

Jack nodded -- climbing a rock and getting a cat weren’t hard. He jumped on the rock, landed and slid down a few of its stairs. Then something whooshed in the black fog. Knowing that sound, Jack covered his head and kept going.

A cloud of crimson dust soared over and crashed into the rock, adding an extra inch to its height. The molding caused a shaking which blew Jack off the boulder and waves crashed on him, descending him deeper.

Jack’s heart beat with panic as he oriented himself, swam to the surface and grabbed a bulge sticking out of the rock. He clawed up and dashed to the cat.

Screw it, going carefully and slowly is in vein -- it’ll just make me fall back in the water.

Behind, Hunter grunted and cursed, trying to get the boat moving once more.

Jack reached the half-shattered door and stopped for a breath. His heartbeat’s intensity gave him a headache and the adrenaline made his fingers twitch.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I’ll never sleep again knowing this is what I could wake up to.

Now ready, Jack put his foot on the white door. It creaked and cracked under his leg. He fell back, but then determined, stepped forth once more. Close enough to the cat, he extended his arms and purred.

“Come on,” he murmured. “We’ve no time -- if you waste another second, we'll get devoured!”

The black cat simply scratched the door.

Jack showed a smile and softened his voice. “Come on, kitty! We have treats for you! Dead bodies and the sorcery of half-gods!”

Damn the things I have to do like bascalles…

The cat jumped into Jack’s grasp and meowed.

Finally, he thought. Only getting our asses out of here is left.

The waves became bigger and now a very thick layer of heads surrounded the obsidian rock, slowing making its way closer.

Jack got back to the boat, slowed down by the fact he couldn’t use his hands to balance. Once he reached it, he dropped the soft ball of evil on the deck and turned to Hunter.

Hunter kicked the boat then--when he saw the cat ahead--lost his balance and crashed. The vessel moved from the old man’s weight, not by a lot, but gave hope showing that it still could be unstuck.

As the heads swam to only a dozen feet away, white auras swirling around them became visible, contrasting with the black fog.

Powers that be, we’re a thousand times too slow!

Jack pushed the spot on which Hunter had crashed with haste.

The boat moved by a little

“I feel it!” Hunter said. “Another good one and it’ll be free!”

Jack gave it a bit of his strength then backed off. Hunter got into position and together they pushed. After ten seconds of groaning and grunting, the boat moved closer to the sea.

“No, I don’t feel it. Not good.” Hunter backed off. “Get in the water while I push from up here -- then it’ll surely be good!”

Are you insane?! Jack shook his head, frowning.

“This doesn’t look like a good time for disagreeing! You do it or we die!”

“No, it’s not a good time, but I won’t get in. We push from here!”

By the time I free the boat, the deads reach me and maul--or drown--me.

“Well, you either take the damn gamble or we--.”

Then something splashed behind Jack, followed by wood splinters and angry meows. Hunter dashed past, grinning.

Jack turned as well, interested.

They'd pushed the boat far enough that a large wave caught it and flung it into the water. The cat on board was drenched and had a face ready for murder.

Hunter hopped on first and Jack followed. The old man jerked his head towards the oars.

As Jack sat to paddle, the boat started tipping. The cat screamed. A hand landed on the boat’s side. And another. Then a head popped up.

Jack’s eyes widened at the sight. In a moment, a deteriorated deadman was on the boat.

Jack kicked the creature, but it grabbed his leg. Losing his balance, he screamed for help.

Hunter reached for his weapon with one hand, pushing the dead with the other. The soggy creature ignored the old man and started descending into water, leg in grip.

Jack screamed louder, tearing the decaying wooden rims to hold out for a second longer. He kicked the deadman’s face with his free foot.

Its nose fell off while one of its cold eyes squished. Then a gunshot thundered and one of the creature’s arms turned to dust.

Jack broke out and crashed into the boat’s deck, shaking the whole vessel. Hunter used the moment to kick the deadman backed into water, grab the oars and start paddling as hard as he could. In seconds, he managed to get them away from the crowd of heads poking out of the uneasy sea.

Hunter growled and gasped, switching his gaze from the deads to where the cat pointed. He kept at it until the fog hid the creatures behind them.

Jack jumped to his feet. “Alright, I’ve slept for long enough. I can take over.”

“Sure, sure… What do you mean?” The old man pointed. “We’ve arrived.”