by Skyler Grant
The rocking of the ship wasn’t bothering me at all and Ashley looked comfortable. Walt however was looking decidedly green.
“Thank you, Ensign, that will be all for now. Have someone come back before dinner to show us the way to the Captain,” I said. The Ensign bowed and scurried off.
“You aren’t looking that great, Walt. You going to be okay?” I asked.
“Ashley has the agility to roll with the ship, you have the endurance to not get sick despite being a lumbering lumox,” Walt said, in a foul temper. “Me? I just get to be smart enough to know why I’m miserable.”
“I am pretty awesome,” Ashley agreed with a notable lack of empathy. “They’re really wowed by the whole king thing, aren’t they?”
“I know, right?” I said. “Do you think it’s going to make the dinner extra impressive?”
“Six courses at least,” Ashley said.
There was a swirl of flame filling the cabin with light and heat, and then Yvera was present, clad in red and gold. Yvera looked as she always did, a vision of perfection that made my heart stop and convinced me that she was the reason the world needed poetry—because normal words seemed small and broken next to her. I was more than a little smitten. I’d thrown reason out the door the moment I first saw her.
“Where are we?” Yvera said, peeved. “Are we on a boat? Are we on a Goddess damned boat? Because really, that is what I think of them. They should all be damned, just so we’re clear.”
“Hi,” I said. “Nice to see you too.”
“Technically it’s a ship,” Walt said, as he struggled for pedantic accuracy however seasick he felt. “It’s carrying boats, you see.”
“I think you made the crazy lady mad,” Ashley said. “Isn’t that some kind of pun or something, Walt?”
“More a case of amusing synonyms,” Walt said.
Yvera looked at us all in disbelief, then said to Walt, “Thank you being entirely and completely unnecessary correct. Why, exactly, are we on a boat?”
“We’re hunting pirates,” I said.
“It’s still a ship,” Walt said. He walked unsteadily over to lean against one of the walls. “It doesn’t stop being a ship just because you don’t like the word. You should know that, you’re a glorified word processor. Don’t you have a dictionary and thesaurus built in?”
“Liam,” Yvera said sharply. “Get Walt to shut up before I find out how easily he ignites. Ashley, have you explained to Liam why being on a ship is an astonishingly stupid place for him to be?”
“Walt, shut up,” I said. I knew how to take orders.
Walt and Ashley were glaring at Yvera.
“I think what the unusually bitchy, crazy witch is getting at is elemental attunement,” Ashley said. “The mean, glaring lady here is a fire goddess when she isn’t playing seductress or deal-maker. Your sword is fire-based, your spells are fire-based, and we’re totally surrounded by water. You are so not where you want to be.”
“You didn’t think to mention that until now?” I asked.
“Am I your game guide? You aren’t an idiot and you should already know how elements work.”
“You could have gone and butchered elves,” Yvera said. “I like butchering elves. You’d like butchering elves. You’d like burning down forests filled of elves. There are sea elves too, but they don’t burn nearly as easily.”
“Why is this coming as a surprise to you? Aren’t you always watching? Why didn’t you say anything before now?” I asked.
“Do you think three people just happened to find a set of highly advanced, old-world pods and somehow they just happened to connect here?” Yvera said. “Do you think it chance I was freed from the prison that held me just in time to become your Goddess? Of course I’ve been distracted, I’ve been trying to find some answers.”
“And have you?”
“I found the original location of the pods and it wasn’t the structure where you found them. They come from the other side of the world and were once part of a far larger installation,” Yvera said, looking over the room. “Were you captured by pirates? Has the pirate queen now made you her consort and kept you prisoner in her tastefully appointed and massive quarters? I’m proud, truly, but she means you no good.”
Ashley said, “Do you get thoughts like that from him or does he get them from you? That is totally stupid.”
I thought someone needed to put Yvera in charge of the games plot.
“No, we’re on a warship from the Free Merchants of Theys who are hunting pirates,” I said.
“War… Ship,” Walt said.
Yvera ignored him. “If a Pirate Queen isn’t about to butcher you all, then you are all in some kind of other danger. Trust me, you need to get off this ship and you need to get off now.”
“You have some divine alarm bell rigged up to Liam?” Walt asked.
“Pretty much.”
“How is that bell fantasy working out for you now?” Ashley asked.
There went our dinner plans. I was really looking forward to it. Still, that’s the life of a Paladin—your Goddess says jump ship and you find a way.
“There was never actually a bell fantasy. I’ll have to think one up. We’ll head up on deck,” I said. “I don’t think the crew is a part of whatever danger you’re sensing, but if we need to then we can steal a boat.”
From underfoot there came a great rumble and off somewhere in the distance I heard the sounds of splintering wood. Heard throughout the ship, a drum began to beat a rhythm.
Yvera vanished in a swirl of flame as we ran for the doorway.
CHAPTER SEVEN
We stumbled out of the quarters. Only Ashley seemed to be sure on her feet as the rocking of the ship had become far more pronounced. Walt paused for just a moment to be sick, and Ashley urged him along as we made our way back up to the deck.
Earlier, the seas had been calm. Now massive waves were battering the ship although the evening sky was clear.
I expected crewmen to be panicked, but they all moved with purpose. Even in danger everyone had roles that they could fall back on. I admired that and hoped that one day our little group would be as skilled.
From the bow of the ship I heard the splintering of wood once more and caught sight of the source of all the commotion.
Annua
Legendary
Level 100: Type: Sea Dragon HP: 99987/100000
Defender of Atlantis and the Goddess Atlantia the dragon Annua is the great dragon of the seas.
QUEST GRANTED
Survive
I’m terrified and I’m just a quest prompt. Seriously, good luck with that.
We all froze for a moment and I knew the others must have pulled that prompt as well.
‘Why don’t I have dragon? I should really have a dragon,’ Yvera whispered in my mind.
‘Could you stop obsessing on the dragon and help out?’ I thought back.
‘Like you can’t sympathize with wanting the biggest snake. Best I can do is a call for help. You can handle this, Liam.’
In the air above the ship a massive pillar of fire reached into the night sky. It was brilliant beacon that lit up the heavens. Great, I’d thought that all I had to do was deal with the level 100 legendary dragon.
I was afraid it would just be luring more ships to die. The rough seas alone might be the death of a ship, but when you added in the dragon I didn’t know what we could do. The crew of the Ebon Star seemed to have less doubts about the capabilities versus such a threat.
Broadside
The ship rumbled for altogether different reasons as the cannons along one side fired in unison. The dragon was thrown backwards. Even its might wasn’t immune to the sheer destructive force.
Thick smoke wreathed the air and Walt was being sick again. Waves continued to rock the ship violently as we made our way carefully towards the longboats.
“What do you think we’re going to do?” Ashley asked. “Even if we find one, we can’t launch it. Not in these waves.�
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“Yvera says we can’t stay here,” I said.
“Use your fucking brain. Yvera was afraid of that thing coming, it’s come. The time to jump ship is gone,” Ashley said. “The best thing we can do is get below decks and out of their way and let the crew try to keep us all alive.”
Tsunami
Broadside
The sea dragon appeared again on the other side of the ship and once more the cannons roared even as it launched a massive wave in our direction.
I braced as best I could and held onto the others hoping my elevated strength score would help. It did. The wave crested the top of the ship and I saw more than one crew member washed clear of the deck and fall to their deaths in the icy waters.
There was a deafening crack and one of the masts snapped in two. I shielded the others. Wood splintered and flew through the air with incredible force. My back and shoulders were peppered even through my armor and I felt a giddy sort of intoxication.
I checked my stats and saw I was down to 15 HP. My passives were kicking in and boosting my health regeneration, which must be why I felt so high despite the agony.
Walt and Ashley took hits as well. Ashley already looked to have her health quickly refilling though and she passed a healing potion to Walt and then another to me. I didn’t object and chugged it. I should have them prepared and ready.
The deck was empty, most of the crew either washed out to sea or killed when the mast went down.
Elsewhere the brave crew of the Ebon Star fought on.
Broadside
Whenever the dragon appeared the cannons continued to fire and they weren’t without effect. A few scales were out of place, the ship had clearly done some damage, but it was also obviously not enough.
Terror of the Depths
I didn’t even see the dragon appear this time, but I felt the rumble from beneath the lurching ship and from below decks came the horrified screams of a crew that had finally broken.
“I don’t see any other ships,” Ashley said, searching the horizon. “We’re going to have to chance the boat. I just don’t see any other choice.”
There was a quiet sort of thudding from below decks somewhere and more sounds of wood straining and splintering. I didn’t know ships, but I could tell this one had suffered a mortal blow. The Ebon Star was going down. I started to move towards the railing to free the longboat.
With a flash of white and blue scales the dragon leaped from the water. It was majestic up close, awe inspiring, I wished this thing wasn’t not trying to kill us all—and I wished its close passage hadn’t caught the longboat and smashed it into flying splinters.
Once more I flung myself between it and my companions, making myself a human shield. My armor and health points were all that had kept them and me alive when everything else on deck was dead. I was nearly delirious between the pain and the rush of feeling of every heart beat still echoing through my body. Normally a mundane sound, at the moment it was screaming that I was still alive. Still fighting.
Drawn by the movement, the dragon twisted in the air to face us. Up close I could see the intense black of its eyes with only the tiniest hints of green near the center. It saw us, its eyes locked, and I knew that this was it.
This mighty warship hadn’t taken this thing down, but we’d do our best. I drew Intemperance as Walt readied his staff and Ashley fondled her daggers.
There came a roaring crack from somewhere overhead. Startled or distracted, the dragon peeled away to dive back into the sea. I knew it wouldn’t be gone for long. I searched for the source of whatever had driven it back and to my surprise saw a small ship hovering in the air over ours. A ladder was thrown overboard and dangled in the air.
“That’s unexpected,” Walt said.
“Don’t know who they are, but I like their style,” Ashley said. She sheathed her daggers, leapt onto the ladder and began to nimbly make her way upwards.
“You next,” I said to Walt. I took up the rear, figuring it would allow me to best fend off any attacks from below, if they should come.
The airship wasted no time once we were all on the ladder. It began to zoom away, just in time.
Waterspout
The dragon’s head broke the surface and a devastating torrent of water shot through the air towards where the airship had just been. I had to give credit to them moving so fast, perhaps this wasn’t their first dragon fight.
Ashley reached the top and vanished from view. I hoped that they were friendly up above. The wind was violent and shook the rope ladder wildly, which made progress very slow for Walt and myself. Eventually he too reached the top and climbed over, then finally I did the same.
QUEST COMPLETED
Survive
You managed to live. Shame about every other person on board.
If I had hoped for a friendly greeting I wasn’t entirely reassured when it became clear we were surrounded. There were three of them, what appeared to be a human woman, male dwarf, and an elven female. It was the human woman in the center of the group who caught my eye. Dark hair with that windblown and tousled look nature is supposed to deliver and almost never does. Eyes of a startling blue initially drew my attention, although I confess the revealing outfit with a brilliant green top that left her midriff bare and showed off her athletic form held it better. Well, that and the pair of strange pistols she was aiming in our direction. I finally got my mind out of the gutter long enough to observe the others were pointing similar weapons.
Ashley had her daggers drawn and readied although no violence was yet underway. Good.
“Hi,” I said.
“I’m waiting here forever for you to come up and use your powers of speech on them and that’s what you open with?” Ashley said. “At least I expected you to offer to sleep with her or something. Where’s the pickup line?”
“I’m not going to sleep with her,” I said.
“Wait? What? Why am I not being slept with?” The blue-eyed woman looked at the bearded dwarf. “Is it my hair? What did you do?”
“Must be,” the dwarf said. “Sorry lassie, I thought it looked good. You don’t have a proper beard though, so it’s hard to tell.”
“Does now seem an appropriate time to discuss styling?” the elf asked.
“Really? ‘Hi, I’m not going to sleep with you,’ is your new opener to people pointing guns at us? That is just going to make us loads of friends,” Ashley said.
“Statistically speaking, we have previously had a number of highly dangerous encounters resolved by your sleeping around,” Walt said. “It does seem foolish to abandon that strategy now.”
I wanted to scream at them both. The conversation didn’t seem to be inspiring anyone to lower their guns. Fortunately, they seemed to be swapping their own inappropriate banter.
“I mean how bad does it have to be?” The woman said. “Normally it’s all, ‘Thank you for saving our lives dashing strangers, how can we ever repay you? Oh I know I’ll take off all my clothes and ravish the lot of you,’ kind of thing.”
“We’ll get it fixed lassie,” the dwarf said.
“Perhaps we could start this over again?” I said.
“I think you’d better,” she said.
“Hi. I’m Liam. Thank you for rescuing us and I’d like to reward you by having absolutely improbable amounts of sex with you. This is Walt and Ashley, could you please put away the guns?”
“What is an improbable amount?” she asked.
“Knowing you, none at all,” said the elf.
“So he just reworded the same thing?”
“Lots. Lots and lots.”
The three exchanged glances and the woman shrugged.
“Cobalt,” she introduced herself. “The dwarf is Riggs, the elf is Lea. We’ll put away our guns when you hand over your weapons.”
“They aren’t getting my daggers,” Ashley said.
“We just rescued you off the deck of a pirate hunter and we are pirates,” Lea said. “If we wanted you dead
we’d have let Annua finish you off.”
Cobalt nodded to the elf. “One of us has cause to be suspicious of the motives of the others and for a change it’s not us.”
“What are the odds?” Riggs said, amused.
“They are making good points,” I said to Walt and Ashley. “Ashley can hand over her daggers and Walt his staff, but my sword is a divine relic prone to bursting into flame. I’m not sure it will like being separated from me.”
“Divine relics aren’t as loyal as you might think,” Cobalt said. “You get into all kinds of trouble going against alignment, but otherwise they tend to cooperate. Lea, mind taking his sword?”
“You’re evil too?” I asked, as I pulled Intemperance from my side and offered it over. Lea stepped forward and accepted it.
“Black-hearted as they come,” Lea said, cheerfully.
Ashley continued to glare, but she seemed to accept my lead and she offered her daggers over to Lea who took them as well. Walt followed with his staff.
We waited them to see if Cobalt and Riggs would lower their guns.
“We’re good,” Cobalt said, and slipped her pistols back into the holsters hugging her hips as the dwarf lowered his gun as well. “Welcome to the Vainglory. You’re so fucked.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Cobalt knew how to make us feel welcome. There is nothing quite like disarming you and then saying how fucked you are in to make you wish you had a weapon to wave about. They are reassuring things, weapons.
“Does that mean you’re going to shoot us after all?” I asked.
“Then I’d have kept my guns pointed at you and said that you’re fucked. Actions matter,” Cobalt said brightly and glanced over to Riggs. “Set course back for Archaton.”
