What I saw could have been another ship. It cast a shadow that size — a vicious, churning darkness that swallowed the deck and blotted out the sun, turning day to twilight in the span of a breath.
’Just how big is this thing?’
The massive body was in motion, curling out of the water and arcing back toward it. Silver-gray armored scales blurred past, studded with red fin mbranes that caught the dying light as the creature dove.
The ship lurched. Sothing had crashed into the hull from below.
The waters churned, turbulent and violent, as if sothing beneath had declared war on the ocean’s peace.
In the distance, waves were climbing. A storm was forming.
All of this had happened in a single instant.
Derry, Tristan, Nisha, and Po strolled out of the cabin without a trace of alarm.
The large man shouted as he walked toward the bow.
"You dumbfucks! What’s the fuss about? It’s not even that bad!"
I turned to Captain Derry, staring at him in disbelief.
’What does he an it’s not even that bad?! There’s a beast two tis the size of this ship!’
"Mr. Cade, are you alright? You look sick! Oh — the seasickness?!"
I blinked at Po.
"If you saw what I just saw—"
The ship took another hit and shuddered violently. Sothing massive burst from the water — the scaled serpentine body, lashing upward like a whip cracking against the sky. A wall of water followed, crashing across the deck in a roaring flood.
Everyone scread and scrambled for handholds.
I was closer to the cabin, sheltered from the worst of it, but even I had to curl away from the spray hamring against the wood.
anwhile, Po’s tail wagged. A radiant expression split his face, mouth carved open by wonder.
"Waaaaahhhh... so big..."
Stars were literally dancing in his eyes.
"I want to have that!" He pointed at the beast like a child spotting the newest Lego set in a store window.
"It would be so nice to make stew with. Mr. Cade, you will love it!"
I just stood there. Shocked to my bones and staring at him with pure disbelief.
Just as the serpentine body rolled back into the waves, another creature followed.
This one had a head shaped like a hamr, with many eyes dotting its skull — each one radiating crimson light.
Its jaw split open, cleaving the hamrhead in two and revealing rows of teeth that looked potent enough to chew through the hull of this ship.
It was a nightmare from the deep.
And it was chasing sothing.
The leviathan eel’s body kept erging from the sea as if there were no end to it. The serpentine coils curved through the air, evading the snapping maw of the hamrhead horror. Every ti the nightmare lunged, the eel used its own body as a whip — smashing the predator back into the ocean and sending another deluge crashing over the deck.
The deck was awash now. People waded through knee-deep water, struggling to stay upright.
"Mr. Cade, we better grab sothing!"
Just as Po spoke, the hamrhead burst from the water again — and the rush of spray hit head to toe, drenching completely.
We both grabbed the railing on the nearest side. Other passengers clung to the opposite rail. The lady with the straw hat was among them.
The wind howled, whipping her ragged cloak behind her like a flag in a gale.
"Hold your position, everyone! This is a battle between two beasts — all we need to do is ride through it!"
’Yeah. Easier said than done.’
Indeed. But I had other plans.
I studied the two creatures as they crashed and thrashed in the rising waves, then looked down at us — the pitiful collateral caught between monsters.
Sothing sharp and bitter twisted in my chest.
After spending one week running and running, I was going to reach here and just run again.
I inhaled deeply. Let out a breath that seed to empty my soul.
Po’s gaze sharpened imdiately. He regarded with sudden wariness.
"Mr. Cade...? Do not do anything. Mr. Derry has this completely under control."
I looked at him seriously.
"The definition of that control is running away from beasts."
Po frowned. "There’s nothing absolutely wrong with that, Mr. Cade."
My gaze hardened. "You’re not the one who’s had to run every ti because running was the best option. And now you’re telling running is the best option again? They’re just beasts, they don’t have backup and they can be killed, so what’s the big deal?"
Po exhaled, tired. "The big deal, Mr. Cade, is that you’ll be disobeying Mr. Derry. And it will get him angry. Moreover, you don’t know anything about these beasts — they might have reinforcents, for all you know!"
His words almost made sense.
He added, "You could be putting the whole crew in jeopardy by acting rashly. And what if you lose? We’re dead!"
At first, he nearly had .
Until he said ’what if I lose’.
I might not have confidence in myself.
But my villainesses?
Po stared at my face, his frown deepening. "Wh—what is that look for?"
I touched his shoulder and smiled crookedly.
"I’m gonna bring you that giant eel. So you can make soup for us, okay?"
Po’s eyes widened with excitent. "Really?" He caught himself, shaking his head rapidly. "No, no, no. Mr. Cade, that’s not right — you’re not allowed to tempt !"
"It’s done."
I released my grip on the railing and looked up at the storm still forming — the sky churning as the two creatures continued to send wave after wave into the air and onto the ship. The vessel itself was beginning to tilt with the rising swells.
Amidst it all, I called forth.
"Kassie..."
As I called her, red sparks erupted around us — and the ship blazed with crimson light.
Tristan and Nisha, standing near the helm with Captain Derry, whipped their heads toward the commotion of sparks. I caught a flash of their expressions before I turned away.
Let them be shocked.
If anyone wanted a bite of my flesh, let them co.
Kassie manifested in a surge of fire — a silhouette forming within the sparks, solidifying in an instant. I rolled the daggers in my hands, and she rolled hers in perfect mirror, the movents synchronized without thought.
I leaped onto the ship’s edge.
Po’s face went white.
Kassie was already moving. One foot hit the railing, and the tal groaned and bent beneath her weight. Her hand closed around mine as she gripped like iron and lunged.
We launched into the sky together, trailing a shockwave of wind that slamd across the deck below.
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