by J. J. Egosi
“Right,” a frightened Ursula said as she looked back at the Blackwater deity.
He crushed one ship after another with his hands. His serpents would feed on the remains as the mermaid sang her praise.
“The whale is one thing, but I think the mermaid and that deity are planning some sort of coordinated assault,” Julianna said.
Alexa’s eyes widened with horror at the notion. “We need to stop them fast.”
“After we contend with this whale and the squids,” said Isabella.
“And retrieve our infinity bags,” Ursula said as she watched them sail further away.
Isabella watched with pensive eyes as they appeared to travel down in a single path leading toward the merfolk.
“What is it, Isabella? Do you see something?” Julianna asked.
“You said this was a coordinated attack, didn’t you?”
“What are you saying?” Ursula asked.
“I think they want our infinity bags and Michael,” Isabella said.
“You mean they’re trying to get our treasure back?” Alexa asked.
“That’s a very distinct possibility,” Julianna said.
“They can take the damn treasure. All I care about is Michael,” Isabella said.
The others nodded. Alexa, too, albeit more reluctantly for there was one other possession she sought more than gold.
Alexa led as they tried to swim toward their infinity bags. It was no use for any of them, however. The tides were against them.
“No, they can’t. My steamcraft is in there.”
“This is madness,” Julianna said. “Focus on Michael.”
She continued to swim, but the waves would fight her with each movement she made, plummeting her deep into the water.
“Alexa!” The others screamed.
Before they could come to save her, another tidal wave came towering over them. The sight of it made them unable to utter a word the ocean sought to swallow them.
They were sent deep under water, and they flailed their limbs trying to swim from deep below. They hadn’t a chance. Their energy drained fast and their visions faded. They were left now to the devices of the merciless ocean. They hoped Michael would not give up on them.
The currents forged by the Blackwater deity had taken them so far they washed up on the coast of the island they originally landed on.
After a moment of numbness, their bodies began to register the condition of sand beneath them. They rose with a series of coughs with water pouring out from their mouths.
“What just happened? Did we die?” Isabella asked.
“No, we just washed ashore,” Julianna said, catching her breath before she realized the immense distance between them and Michael.
The others could hardly see him and the merfolk now. They all panted with frustration and fatigue. They turned their attention toward Alexa.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Julianna shouted. “We nearly died because of that little stunt.”
“I needed my steamcraft. I’m sorry,” Alexa wiped her tears.
The others looked at one another, silently deliberating the remorse she wore. They sighed and nodded.
“Well, now we don’t have anything. Not your ship, the gold, and especially not Michael,” Isabella said.
“Speaking of gold; take a look.”
Ursula pointed toward the merfolk riding the whale. It carried their bags in its hand now, waving them back in a taunting manner.
“That finned little prick’s got them.” Isabella sneered.
“Oh, shit!” Isabella said. “What is it doing?”
The others were just as astonished as the merfolk sailed its way toward them, grinning as it plowed through the wreckage.
“It’s heading toward us, but why?” Alexa asked.
The merfolk then snickered, and the whale soared high into the hair, bringing the squids with it. It then hurled their infinity bags over its head.
“What in the hell? Is it returning them?” Isabella said. “I thought it wanted their gold back.”
“I don’t think their intention is to return them.”
The infinity bags landed on the coast of the island, sitting there in peace just as the merfolk and his legion prepared to dive back in the water.
“Then, what does it want? Why go through all this trouble?” Isabella asked.
The merfolk, along with the whale and the litany of red squids, dove back into the water and the splash climbed up the shore.
The girls screamed and held onto the nearest rocks for safety to keep from getting pulled into the water again.
As the sea receded, the girls returned to their feet as they caught their breath, utterly soaked and covered in seaweed.
“If they don’t want our gold, yet they went the distance to chuck them on the island, what is it they’re after?” Alexa asked.
They kept their focus on the island’s edge, then suddenly, a massive burst of orange light from their collective bags flashed the sky.
“By all that is unholy.” Alexa’s heart sank. “I know what they were after.”
The bright lights above could no longer contain the immense energy within. From the bags, they were summoned: every lizardman they had slain on the island, roaring with hunger and vengeance again.
“It can’t be. The lizardmen. They’ve returned…”
Ursula’s mind flashed with the memories of her childhood and how she would do whatever she could to evade them day and night.
She screamed then dove behind Alexa, whimpering.
“It’s alright, Ursula,” Alexa told her. “We can defeat them a second time.”
“Let’s hope we can prove you right,” Julianna said. “This situation has reached literally subterranean levels of doom.”
“And things are about to get even worse,” Isabella said.
The waters bubbled and then all the smaller merfolk they had defeated rose from the seas, looking at them vindictively.
“This can’t be happening! The entire dimension’s come to finish us,” Alexa said.
Then, the other deities arose: the five-headed shark, the humanoid fish, and the twin-headed serpent, and the squid larger than any other.
“They were planning this from the beginning.” Julianna peered at the snickering face of the mermaid still holding on to Michael. “Capturing Michael, gathering the other merfolk, and separating us from the true treasures. The lizardman we slaughtered before. This is it. The ultimate fucking ambush.”
Shaking from fear, Ursula looked all around for a way to escape. They were cornered.
“We’ve gotta get out of here.”
“What about Michael and our bags?” Isabella said.
Ursula replied, “We’ll have to come back for them later.”
“That’s ludicrous,” Alexa exclaimed. “We can’t just-”
Before she could finish, the massive tentacles of many squids rose from the shore and wrapped around the girls.
“I had a bad feeling they’d get hungry,” Julianna said.
The grip tightened on them.
“Damn. Let us go!” Julianna kicked back and forth, but could not break free. She was encased like the others as they were carried toward the whale’s mouth.
“No.” Her eyes sank. “No. We can’t die here!”
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Isabella shouted. “How did the merfolk know we had those lizardmen cores?”
“And why did they summon them in the first place?” Alexa said.
“Isn’t it obvious? They’re trying to kill us in the most sadistic fucking way possible,” Ursula screamed.
“No. What I mean is: the lizardmen and the merfolk are rivals,” said Alexa.
“They are?” Julianna asked.
“Yes, the lizardmen not only pray to their god for things like bountiful harvests but also to keep the merfolk from resurfacing.”
Alexa clouded her eyes as the hot whips of air from the whale’s mouth beat across her and the other
s’ faces.
“I’m not sure what happened between them, but believe me, the lizardmen do not like them.”
“And what do the merfolk think of the lizardmen?” Isabella asked.
“Apparently, they’re pretty big fans,” said Julianna, sarcastically, as the whale’s jaw unhinged.
Just before the jaws of the whale could snap, the giant squids redirected the aim and swung the four of them in the opposite direction.
They were sent screaming as they flailed high in the air before crashing back onto the shore.
The fall nearly knocked the wind out of them. They rose, utterly disoriented amidst the sounds of crashing and beasts roaring.
“What the hell just happened? Why’d they let us go?” Isabella asked, rubbing her head from the painful landing.
“I think that much is obvious.” Julianna rose with a limp. The girls helped her to her feet. “They have us cornered.”
They paused and looked around. An army of merfolk blanketed the ocean’s turbulent waters, and the lizardmen were sitting on the cliff above them. The girls were trapped with merfolk on one side and lizardmen on the other.
“And it gets worse.” Julianna gulped.
“What do you mean? How can things get any fucking worse?”
“Over there.”
Julianna pointed upwards. In the distance was a bubbling volcano, oozing with molten lava.
“That volcano! It’s about to erupt.”
Chapter 10
Rise Of The Land Of The Ape King
A
lexa looked at the rest of the girls with immense despair in her eyes and fists clenched as the volcano crackled.
“I’m afraid there’s no time for a strategy. Just blast anything that gets in your way and ask questions later.”
“But what about Michael? We can’t leave him behind,” Isabella said, gazing over at the grinning mermaid still carrying him.
“I said to questions later. Now move!” Alexa shouted as both armies closed in on them.
The girls nodded in agreement. The four of them took to the sky, making their way back onto the island of lizardmen where the merfolk couldn’t reach.
“Crush everything in your way!” Alexa shouted.
They all unleashed an onslaught of shadow attacks from their hands: a collection of beams and orbs with the little strength they had. Despite striking many of the lizardmen down in the process, it still wasn’t enough.
With the calls of the merfolk still beckoning below, they descended onto the thick grass of the island, honing in on the lizardmen with all their focus.
“Damn it.” Isabella swung her ax at the lizard army, but their armor and swords prevailed. She blocked their attacks with her other hand with a shadow shield. “These things are relentless.”
“Yeah, my trident can only do so much damage.”
Ursula sent dark orbs at the lizardmen from her unholy relic. They’d merely bounce back their armor, leaving them unscathed.
“Ursula, what do I always tell you?” Alexa said, shaking her head.
“What?” Ursula asked. Struggling against her adversaries.
“If at first you don’t succeed, blast them with your titan again!”
“What do you mean? I don’t follow.”
Ursula and the others watched in wonder as Alexa summoned two titans, Quorthon and Lycanthrope, at once amid shadows. Their surroundings embraced the chasms they formed, trapping many of the lizardmen in the process.
Isabella watched in amazement. “You summoned mine, too.”
“I hope you don’t mind. You see, titans gain special powers when there’s more than one in battle at once.”
“Really?” Julianna’s eyes widened, watching now as the two of them entered the battlefield.
“For example, Quorthon gains resistance to any two elemental types of magic I choose. In this case, I choose water and earth in case the merfolk decide to try something funny from below.”
“That’s quite efficient,” Ursula said.
“Next, Lycanthrope can block the fire attacks by rampaging over anything in its path as its endurance doubles!”
Alexa watched with confidence as the titans swiftly pummeled through both armies, casting down their howls and elemental strikes in perfect tempo.
“Impressive!” Julianna said proudly.
“Indeed.” Isabella smiled.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the mermaid and the deity king moving toward them through the raging seas.
“Oh, no. They’re heading this way.”
The mermaid placed an unconscious Michael between her breasts to free her hand and grabbed a small wooden ship.
“What is she doing with that?” Julianna asked.
The mermaid’s grin left her and contempt replaced the emotion on her face. She pulled her arm back and hurled the ship toward them.
The four of them let out violent screams, freezing for a moment before they flew out of the ship’s direction.
They took to the sky and listened to the sounds of screams and crashing down in the midst of air now plagued with dust.
“Talk about being a spiteful bitch,” Julianna said.
They looked down, seeing the blood of the ship’s passengers splatter all over the island where the dead lizardmen lay. Their titans were left severely wounded.
“To cause that much damage with merely a ship’s throw? How sadistic…”
Julianna stared at piles of mangled bodies and almost lost herself in all the carnage.
“At least she solved that problem,” Isabella said.
“All while cradling our Michael between her stupid tits,” Ursula added, scowling at the sight of him resting between them.
“We can handle that later. Right now, we have to deal with that volcano,” Alexa said.
She turned toward the quaking mountain in the distance as steam spewed from the top, following by flecks of magma.
“What’s the big deal with the volcano again?” Isabella said.
Ursula gazed over at its bubbling brim. “The big deal is the god of the lizardmen, Ornox, lives in there.”
“Are you serious? He dwells in a volcano?!” Isabella said, stunned.
“What’s worse is if it erupts, the magma may melt this entire island into a giant scar.”
Alexa dove toward the ground. She landed beside the corpses and picked up her infinity bag. She held it to her chest like a smile.
The others joined just after, reclaiming their possessions.
“At least we have the steamcraft back so we can get out of here before that happens,” said Isabella.
“It’ll take a while to repair this time. It was sliced in half, after all.”
“Do you have a spell for it?” Julianna asked.
“I do, but it’s longer and more energy draining. Just hold on.”
Alexa opened her bag and recited a different spell. This one was more intricate and lengthier. She took a deep breath as she finished her spell and closed the bag tight.
“There. The ship is fixing itself from inside.”
“For real?” Isabella asked.
“That’s right. It should be good as new soon enough. After all, the engine’s still intact and there’s plenty of electrical reserves to make up any difference.”
Julianna recalled Michael striking the ship with his scepter. A smile formed across her face as she nodded.
“That’s right. However, time is of the essence. If the ship isn’t fixed soon, we will be trapped here with nowhere to go but the ocean.”
“So, we need to stop the volcano to buy us some more time,” Julianna said.
“But, how?” Isabella asked.
“Remember what else I told you.” Alexa smiled. “The gods in the volcano accept sacrifices.”
The others looked at one another with confusion. A sense of unease began to sink in their chests. Alexa didn’t pay any mind to it. Instead, she took back to the sky and proceeded to fly toward the erupting volcano in the
distance.
“Hey, wait up!” Ursula shouted.
She and the others quickly followed with little idea of what she was planning.
After moments, they realized just how far their target was.
Julianna’s breathing grew heavier. “We’ll never get there in time. There has to be another way.”
“There is no other way,” Alexa replied.
From behind them, they could hear the sounds of roars and weapons clanging against armor.
“Oh, no. Please tell me it isn’t”—
Isabella turned and gasped. The lizardmen defeated just moments before were pursuing them on foot and in the air.
The others were just as mortified as the army came rushing toward them once again.
“How is this possible? They were completely slaughtered,” Ursula said.
“The merfolk must have revived them again.” Alexa sneered.
She descended at the foot of the volcano and caught her breath. The others did the same, looking over their shoulder.
“What now?” Ursula asked. “I’m too tired to keep flying.” The others agreed.
“We’ll just have to outrun them,” Alexa said.
“You mean up this volcano?!”
Isabella looked up at the colossal entity before her. The tip was miles away. The air was scorching hot even at night and magma dripped down the side.
“What other choice is there?” Alexa said. “It’s that or fight them head-on and that clearly isn’t an option.”
Julianna looked all around. She noticed trees and larger boulders covered the volcano’s surface. Her eyes widened with an idea.
“This could actually work. So long as we’re a bit stealthy, we can evade them.”
“Stealthy how?” Isabella asked.
“Look at the terrain. It’s covered in places to hide.”
Isabella smiled at the realization. “And we can use our small bodies to our advantage.”
“We can even ambush them if we wanted,” said Ursula.
“Great thinking,” Alexa said. She glanced at the lizardmen’s weapons from the distance as they fast approached. “Now, move!”
The four of them nodded with smiles of determination. Together, they sprinted their way up the volcano, leading the lizardmen into a few traps of their own.
