Part 22
Queen Ompera's POV
"Leave us." I ordered my staff. "Svend and I must have a private conversation regarding important matters of state." Immediately, they all left my private chamber, leaving myself and Svend alone; finally. We laid down in my roost, my head resting on his wing. It had been a long day, full of boring military and diplomatic talks and meetings. All I wanted now was to rest and enjoy my time with him alone.
"Important matters of state? I am certain they all know the truth by this point. Why bother keeping it secret from them further, Ompera?"
"Those gossips would tell our whole kingdom if I ever actually confirmed anything. Let them keep whispering rumors quietly." I told him, closing my eyes and relaxing.
"Did anything interesting happen today?" Svend asked.
"The campaign to push out the Union from the Island of Sangu has officially started. Forces left today, prepared to use Tactical-Scale magic. Evacuations will begin immediately. But I do not want to talk about that." I told him.
"Okay, then what about the Viking familiar. You went and watched his training today, yes? What did you think?"
I stopped for a moment, unsure how to answer. "He terrifies me."
"Someone is scary enough to frighten you? He must be quite the intimidating fellow then." Svend joked.
"Never once in my life have I met someone with so much mana, and such complex and powerful spells. When I requested the General to test him under the guise of training the Royal Mages, I knew what to expect somewhat. I've used my Mana Gaze on him before, but I have never seen his complex spells in use until today." Images of the training flashed into my mind.
"What did he look like?"
"The sheer amount of mana that the spell he used to protect himself with was staggering. It would burn through the entire mana reservoir of the Royal Mages in less than a minute. Yet he sustained it for almost ten minutes. Maybe longer. It looked like wave after wave of mana was just devoured by the air itself. Mana flickered in the air like lightning. Regarding complexity, the only thing I have ever seen even come close to it was Ritual-Magic, and Tactical-Scale magic. But none of that was what truly frightened me."
"Then what?" Svend asked, listening intently. Clearly uneasy with my descriptions.
"He won."
"His team won?"
"He fought alone, and still overwhelmed an entire attack squadron of Royal Mages, twice. He was only defeated because he ran out of mana; sacrificed to that monstrous spell. And even when he was finally hit by attack magic, the injuries he suffered minimal injuries; until all of the remaining mages seized the opportunity to attack him all at once. But still he refused healing, preferring to have his master heal him instead. Despite how severe his wounds were, he was able to contact his master and left without complaint after receiving his permit."
"Is this true?" Svend asked, then after a moment of silence he had another question. "Permit?"
"He went through all of that just so that I would issue him a Rune-Crafter's permit."
"So, he is insane?"
"Perhaps… But still, to use spells so advanced that they outclassed rituals, and were more powerful defenses than most of the spells used by the dragons; if the records are accurate that is." I said, suddenly very sure that asking him to go to the islands was the correct choice. "His Drake Squadron should arrive tomorrow. I look forward to seeing the results of his mission."
Part 23
Suma's POV
(Another mission inside enemy controlled territory.) I thought, perched and watching the horizon as the sun moved behind the Yggsdrasil tree, causing its green and orange leaves to shimmer like a sunset. (Hopefully not like the last.)
"Suma," Jake said though our private connection, "squad's here; at the base of the castle. Ready to go?"
"Yes." I answered and flew down to meet them. All the while, wondering how Rou had handled Odens' passing in the past week and a half. Would she be there? Spotting Jake, and landing on the perch in his armor, I got my answer after looking around. I saw Captain Gigoales, Lieutenant Datahu, and Nine, but Rou was nowhere to be seen. However, there were two new faces. Perched on a Black Serpent was Lauric Isbala, and one other Neame I did not recognize.
"Lady Suma." Lauric said curtly.
"Sir Lauric?" I asked, surprised to see him again. I knew he had joined the Drakes just as Jake and I had, but not once in all our training had we encountered him.
"You are well it seems, as is your familiar."
"Hey Lauric." Jake said hesitantly. He and Lauric had never gotten along, and neither had we. "How have you been?"
"Well." Lauric said flatly. "Shall we take our leave and begin the mission?"
"Indeed. The team has already been briefed on the mission, and each moment we stay here, our objective grows further away." Captain Gigoales said. "We can make proper introductions while we travel. Third Squadron, get into tunnel formation." One by one we all followed after the Captain as he took the lead. Flying into the sky, our formation was single file. Captain in the lead, then the Lieutenant, followed by Suma, Nine, Lauric, Fourteen which was the designation of the newest team member, and finally, Jake; who was riding Chariot.
The reason we traveled like this was to increase our speed as much as possible. The one in first position, in this case our Captain, was to cast and maintain a wind spell that created a tube of air that would push all turbulence aside, while also creating enough lift and directional winds to pull anyone inside forward faster than most could fly. Since Ambos-Ompera was so far away from the coast, every moment counted. Jake was the only one outside the wind tunnel as we traveled, since he was too large to fit into it, but he kept up with us by using fire magic to create what he called a 'jet stream' for himself. Apparently, it was already similar to what the runes on Chariot did, but more effective.
Due to the wind tunnels excessive noise, Lieutenant Datahu cast a Mind-Magic spell that allowed us to communicate. It was Jake who used it first. "I know we are already in the middle of a mission, but I guess I just wanted to properly introduce myself. You said your name was Fourteen? Mine's Ja… Sentinel."
"Ah yes, Sentinel. It is a pleasure. Though, I have no name, my current number is fourteen. I was transferred to your squadron just a few days ago."
"Lauric and Fourteen are Odens and Rou's replacements." Lieutenant Datahu said.
"Does this mean Rou is leaving the Drakes?" I asked.
"No, she is on modified-assignment. Until further notice, she will remain on guard duty at base. It was by her own request." Datahu said.
"She took Odens' loss hard. Really hard." Nine said.
"Fourteen was sent to fill Odens' role, and Lauric volunteered to fill Rou's for this mission." Datahu said, to my surprise.
"Lauric, you volunteered to be on the same squad as me? Really?" Jake asked, rather tactlessly and equally surprised. Though I could not blame him. The last time we spoke to Lauric Isbala, he effectively called Jake a monster, best used for war. "You're not still worried I'm a danger to the country, are you?"
Without looking back at anyone, Lauric responded, "No. After reading the reports and having the events explained to me firsthand, I believe you are neither a danger to the Drakes, nor a hindrance. My reasons for joining this mission are personal."
"Reasons that I expect you will not allow to interfere with the mission." Lieutenant Datahu said sternly.
"Never, Lieutenant. The mission comes first."
"So, Fourteen. How did you get that… designation?" Jake asked.
"Probably the same way I got the number Nine. He was the fourteenth nameless Neame to join the Drakes this year, and the number was available."
"Quite so. My skills with both battle and support spells allowed me to join, and I was placed on Seventh Squadron. Until recently."
"Why did you leave?" Jake asked.
"Seventh Squadron was dissolved after a mission gone wrong, and all remaining members were reassigned."
"If I might ask, how many survivors?" Nine asked.
"Two." The Captain said, finally interjecting. "Their Sargent, and Fourteen. Now let the singing dive. I need to focus on maintaining the spell. Keep all nonessential communication to a minimum until we arrive at the sea-flyer."
We flew for hours in silence, except for the sounds of winds roaring just a wingspan away, going so fast just touching it could break bones and rip out feathers. Just as the sun began to set in the distance, Jake said something strange.
"I think I smell the ocean."
"We must be getting near our transport." The Captain said. "Keep an eye out. We should be able to see it soon."
"Captain, there it is. Forward left, under the sun and just above the horizon." Nine announced. The Captain readjusted our formation, and soon we were landing on the shore by the ocean.
"A dockyard?" Jake asked aloud, now that we did not need the wind tunnel anymore.
"Indeed. I shall go and speak with the dockmaster, they will know which sea-flyer will be our transport. Wait here." Captain Gigoales said.
"These are sea-flyers then?" Fourteen asked. We all examined them. They were colossal things. There was no stone anywhere in them that I could see, despite their large size. Rather, they were made entirely of wood, with large swaths of fabric strapped to and hanging from a set of, what appeared to be, comically large perches. The shape reminded me of the pit of a walgo flower if it was cut lengthwise, but brown instead of red. Along the top of the ship were runes engraved into perches and filled with clay.
"On my world, we call them ships." Jake said. "Or, sailboats."
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Jake's POV
Of course we would hit a storm less than an hour after setting sail. The waves were choppy, and despite being several feet above the water thanks to runes that made the ship float while its sails were open, the waves were still tall enough to reach the hull and beat against it; causing the ship to rock back and forth violently. I clung on to one of the many birdbox like structures scattered around the deck, because not one inch of the ship had railing, and below deck was where the cargo was haphazardly stored. All the Neame were lying in their boxes, looking more green than blue, but I doubt I looked any better. Not a drop of rain made it to the deck at least, thanks to runes carved into the sails which created a sort of bubble of fresh air around us. For that, I was very thankful, because I doubt I would have been able to hold on if everything was wet. That deflection did result in a sort of thin film of water flowing down around the ship, like a pane of wet glass surrounding us. Suddenly, I was reminded of one of Zachariah's memories, when he also traveled on a ship, after Deyja lashed out and lost his name.
"Jake, are you okay?" Suma asked. Her's was the box I was clinging onto, so she was just above me.
"No." I said.
"Neither am I."
"Suma, on the way back, you can just summon me once you arrive, because I am never doing this again."
"How do the crew of this sea-flyer make a journey like this every time?"
"We don't." A voice inside a nearby box called out, but I couldn't see it from where I was. "The voyage is rarely like this. Actually, we knew this one would be rough, so only the experienced crew came this time."
"You knew, how?" Suma asked.
"The clouds and the waves?" I guessed, remembering a show on TV about sailors I'd seen a few years ago.
"Good guess. The clouds came in quick, and the waves were regular. Our Captain tried to warn yours to wait a day, but it seems you group was in a rush." The voice said.
"Shouldn't you be, I don't know, flying around and keeping the ship sailing or something?" I asked.
"In the middle of a storm? The runes will keep the ship on course, and the rain off us, but they won't stop a bolt of lightning from turning our feathers from blue to black." The image of Zeus wearing Colonel Sanders' red and white apron and black bowtie flashed in my head.
"Yeah, good point." Without warning, a wave swell collided with the back of the ship, causing us to turn almost a full ninety degrees in two seconds. My head smashed into the pole I was holding hard enough to daze me. My grip loosened, and I fell flat. Stunned, and limp, I didn't even notice myself rolling.
"JAKE!" Suma yelled, just as the wood of the deck splintered apart, and wrapped itself around me. Once I could see straight again, I noticed Lieutenant Datahu hanging halfway out of her box, with both wingtips pointed at me. Then I looked around and saw I was less than a foot from the side of the ship. The wood let me go, and went back in place.
"Thanks, Lieutenant." I said, and Suma cast a healing spell on me. Apparently, I'd started bleeding from the nose without realizing it. She nodded, and pulled herself back into her own box. Once I was healed, Suma did the same.
"Maybe your familiar should go below deck?" The voice asked, his head now popping just barely out of the box. "We don't normally transport anything as large as he is, so we have nothing prepared, but at least below deck he can't fall into the sea."
"No thanks, I didn't see you strap down a single thing when you were loading up the ship's supplies." I protested.
"Well of course we didn't. Who uses straps anymore? What is this, a fisher's sea-perch? We have runes that keep things in place."
"Jake, I think it would be a good idea. What would have happened if you had fallen off the boat?" Suma asked.
It was the Neame in the box that answered. "Well, we can't stop and raise the sails in a storm like this, so he would have gotten left behind, and you would have had to resummon him, assuming he didn't drown before you could, or die as soon as he hit the water. He doesn't exactly look like he can swim; no offense."
"I can swim… I might still go below deck though, if it really is safe."
The ship was rocking back and forth too much for me to stand and walk to the hatch at the back of the ship, so I had to spread my arms and legs out like a starfish and crawl on my belly to make it. On the way there, I heard what sounded like Nine's voice, moaning, only to be quickly followed by the sounds if retching and another pained moan.
Below deck wasn't much better, but at a glance, it seemed nothing was moving around; despite the obvious lack of anything keeping even a single box down. The only thing that was different between this room and one on land is that you couldn't stand up or you'd fall down, and the glowing silver runes that lined the walls. Suddenly, the ship lurched again, and I felt like I was about to fall, but some kind of force pushed against my entire body in the opposite direction, and kept me upright. Hardly even moved a centimeter.
"Oh?" I said, surprised. After only an hour of this, I was ready for it to be over, but the journey was scheduled to take several days. (Gotta at least make it through this storm.) I thought to myself. Deciding to pass the time by diving into Deyja's memories, I laid down, and waited for another sharp turn to make sure that I wouldn't move, even if I was flat on the floor. Once I'd confirmed it, I told Suma what I was doing, and opened the memories.
As soon as I fell into that hazy darkness, the feelings of the choppy waters disappeared, bringing a nearly overwhelming sense of relief. The memory I dived into was one I'd seen before, but hadn't yet finished. It was of Deyja teaching Zachariah what Ashem had taught him years ago, how to dual cast spells.
"The secret is to perfectly master both spells, and then perform them at the same time. Your body already knows what to do for both, as does your mind, but now it must learn to do them together. Daily practice is key." Deyja said, in his creepy voice. From context, I gathered that this was before whatever happened between him and Ahshem that caused them to fight, and Ahshem to die, but after the battle of Dragon-Fall Bay, which nearly got Zachariah arrested by that council.
"Rot." Zachariah said, casting a Death-Magic spell on a tree. As the bark turned black, and the leaves fell off in droves, my stomach sank, remembering both the first Death-Magic I ever saw in the alley, and the first I ever cast on Harbinger.
"Good, now using the residual magic, cast a spell of inversion." Deyja said, his massive head hanging over Zachariah like a looming shadow. With a wave of his hand, but without any words, the tree began to regain its color. New leaves sprouted, and the bark healed slowly. However, before it was fully restored, the spell stopped.
"I used all of the magic that was left, but it did not turn back to how it was." Zachariah said, frustrated.
"This is only practice, to help you understand the process. Casting both spells at the same time will fully heal the tree, because the magic that is inverting will not be residual, but active."
"I do not understand. You speak of tiny creatures that split in half, and that we are made of them, but this sounds impossible to me. I am sorry Deyja, perhaps you are wasting your time teaching me your world's magic."
"Zachariah, do not be so distraught. Look how far you've come after only a few lessons! If you had known of this technique when you fought at the Warring Grounds, then you could have killed that army by yourself. You must not give up!" Deyja waved one of his massive claws in the air, and restored the tree exactly how it was before.
Zachariah sighed, "Fine. Still, as awful as I am at this, it is still far better than what Ambos is doing now."
"What is he doing?"
"He is with the twins, Kukulkan and Indra."
Deyja scoffed. "Yes, preferable indeed."
The memory continued for a while, and I took careful note of what was happening. Without realizing how much time had passed, Suma eventually woke me up. "Jake, the storm has passed. Thank the dragons."
Ending the memory and waking up, I went back to the top deck. Most of the Neame were flying around, some were perched as high as they could get without actually leaving the ship, and others were leaning over the side, still more green than blue.
"How long was I down there?" I asked.
"Four hours. Did you learn anything?" Suma said.
"Yeah, a bit. I need to practice it though."
"Well, you have the next few days, and a whole ocean as a target."
"Thankfully, the Queen gave me special permission to practice Death-Magic. Now I need a target."
"What spell are you going to cast?"
"Well, going by what Zachariah and Dey… he were doing, I think the rot spell inverts to Healing-Magic."
"So, you need something that can rot?"
"Yeah."
"Just be careful not to accidentally sink the boat."
Part 24
I sat on the deck of the ship, the storm fully passed and the water calm again. The ship was finally sailing, or I guess flying, steadily. Neame flew around, fixing things with magic that got damaged from the storm, growing food for the crew in the giant dirt pit at the center of the deck, or just cleaning up. It was just after noon, so the pit was still filled with the plants from everyone growing their seeds, and they were getting ready to clear away the shrubs. Then, an idea occurred to me.
"Excuse me." I said, interrupting one of the crew members who was about to pull the various vines, shrubs, and small trees out of the dirt with magic.
"Yes? Oh sorry, did you want to grow something before I rip everything up?" She asked.
"No, actually. I already had a sandwich. What do you usually do with the plants after ripping them up?"
"Sand…? Um, we just toss them overboard. Why?" She seemed confused. Either at not knowing what a sandwich was, or over why I asked.
"I was hoping I could keep some of them. They're still alive, and I want to practice some spells on them."
"Well, as long as you're willing to toss them over after you finished. Wait, they are not fire spells, right? Or anything that could hurt the very wooden ship we are currently perched on?"
"No. Not fire spells. And I will be careful not to hurt the ship." I assured her.
"Okay. You probably need the Captain's permission first, but I will wait to throw them off until you get a yes or no. Captain is in his quarters below deck on the tail side."
"Thanks." I said, and made my way to the back of the ship. There was a large, open well in the deck, near the ship's directional sail; which I heard someone call a "tilt-sail."
Crawling inside the well and dropping about three feet to the deck below, and falling on my butt in the process, I heard a male voice call out from somewhere behind me. Through the dim light of one of those glowing braids, I saw a small head pop out from behind a tiny curtain covering a box. "What was that? Sounded like a borog fell over."
"Sorry, Captain. That was me. I can't fly, so I had to fall." I said, standing back up.
"Well, tell me what you want already, so I can go back to sleep." He said, gruffly.
"Can I use the left over plants from everyone growing lunch to practice my spells?"
"Are they fire spells?"
"No."
"Then I don't care. Now get out." He said, pulling his head back into the curtain.
"Thank you, sir." Looking back up to the edge of the hole above me, I realized how far away it was. So much so that even raising my hands above my head and jumping several times, I still came up short.
"Will you quiet down?!" The ship's Captain shouted.
"Sorry, sir." I said, and looked back up at the ledge just out of my reach.
From behind the curtain, a very small, annoyed, and tired voice asked, "You're stuck, aren't you?"
"What? Me, stuck? No. I'm not stuck. What would make you think that?" I told him, then immediately contacted Suma using our private connection. "Suma, can you summon me? I'm stuck."
"Then leave already!" The Captain shouted from behind the curtain, just before I disappeared.
I reappeared back by Suma's box, just a short walk away from the plants and ship-bound garden. "Captain agreed." I told the worker.
"All yours then. Just be sure to toss them when you are finished." She said, and flew away to her next task.
I spent a few hours practicing using a rot spell. I'd do one that affected the whole plant, then try and focus it so that only a single leaf withered; with varying success with everything. Sometimes the spell would cause the whole plant to turn black and crumble to dust. Other times it would go gray and get stiff, like it was petrifying. Once a plant was used up, I'd toss it overboard, which resulted in me accidentally smacking a Neame who was flying past with a bouquet of rotten leaves once. He squawked and started chirping loudly, but I couldn't understand him. According to another crewmate, he was cussing me out in his native language. Suma healed him, I apologized, and he gave me the stink-eye before leaving. Suma and I decided it was probably best not to ask to learn whatever language he was using. After that, dropping the used plants overboard became standard for me, rather than tossing them.
Just as I was on the last of the plants, one of the crew approached me. "What's wrong with your magic?" He asked. It was a reddish-blue Neame, a bit taller than Suma, who sounded apprehensive.
"You mean the spell?" I asked, thinking he meant the rotting effect.
"No, I mean your mana. When you cast a spell, it feels wrong somehow."
"Um, I think Suma and the others have mentioned that once or twice. I have Chaos-Magic, and they say it feels weird to them. But I can't feel magic at all, so..."
The Neame looked down, his feathers puffed up, and his glitter dimmed. "My sincere condolences. I did not mean to bring up such a sensitive topic. Please forgive me."
"No, it's fine. Don't–" Unfortunately, he flew away in a rush before my sentence was finished; almost leaving some of his feather behind trying to get away from a perceived awkward situation. "Whatever." I said, and dropped the last of the plants into the water below. By then, it was nearing sundown, and my stomach was growling. Looking through my bag, all that was left for today was an orange apple looking thing Suma gave me that she grew an extra of by accident, half a bag of crisps, and one breath mint. I ate those and sent the bag home with today's letter for mum. The letter was basically just a recap of today's events, and an update on how I was doing. But there wouldn't be any more food in it until tomorrow, after mum woke up, found the bag, and read the latest letter.
After thinking very hard about how I could catch something, I asked the group. "You guys want any fish?"
"Like… as a familiar?" Nine asked.
"That does not seem like a useful choice. Maybe if one fought over the ocean regularly, but for most cases, would it not simply die upon summoning?" Fourteen said.
"Are you considering getting a familiar of your own? There are better choices, certainly." Lieutenant Datahu asked.
"Do you know the summoning spells for familiars?" Captain Gigoales asked. "That could open up an entirely new way of fighting for you, but a fish seems a poor choice."
"Jake, I highly doubt you are asking about fish because you want one as a familiar. Why do you ask?" Suma wondered.
"I was just hungry, and thought I'd ask if anyone else wanted some." I explained, caught off guard by all the sudden questions. Suddenly, Fourteen flew away. As he did, I heard a faint gagging noise.
"Eat a fish?" Nine said, horrified, like I'd offered him a severed head.
"Jake. That is… no. Jake… please tell me you are making another of those jokes I do not understand." Suma said.
"What's wrong with fish?" I asked, confused.
"It's fish." Nine said. "They are slimy and weird and gross."
"I would like one." Captain Gigoales said.
"As would I." Lieutenant Datahu agreed.
"What!?" Nine and Suma both yelled.
"Seriously?" Nine asked.
"I ate them on a mission a few years ago, and was surprised how good it was. As did the Lieutenant."
"Yes, and since both the base, and Royal Capital are landlocked, finding anyone who both has a fish, and knows how to prepare it is essentially impossible."
"Do you know, Jake?" The Captain asked.
"Yeah. I grew up going fishing with my Dad. Plus, I live on an island, so we eat a lot of seafood."
A few minutes later, while I was using magic to lift large amounts of water to search for fish, I heard a small voice behind me. It was Suma. "Dragons, I know I have not prayed to you since I was very young, but if you are listening, please come back and take us to your perfect lands before Jake makes me try fish."
Turns out, Neame are fans of sushi, because both Captain Gigoales and Lieutenant Datahu assumed we would be eating the fish raw, and were very surprised when I started boiling water in a pot made of sculpted wood. Since I couldn't use fire, I had to directly heat the water with magic, which caused warping in the wood and poured boiling water onto the deck, but thankfully no one was hurt. An hour later, my belly was full of wild caught, boiled fish, and two Neame asking for seconds of raw fish. I did think about asking for permission to use fire magic, but on a wooden ship, it seemed to be a bad idea. Besides, most Neame start to get nervous whenever I use my purple fire, which is what I've gotten used to using in the last year.
Just after fixing the sculpted wooden pot I'd made, ready for another round, a call above our heads rang out. "Pirates! Sunset side! Three minutes away! One scout spotted!" Everyone flew around, calling out orders in a rush. Dozens of Neame all around began casting spells. Some of the spells turned the outer hull into a spiked mess, with hundreds of twenty-centimeter-long wooden stakes pointing outward. The eyes of all the crew glowed with a multitude of colors. The only ones left with nothing to do were our squadron.
"Captain Gigoales, should we do something too?" Fourteen asked.
"No, this is their ship, and their fight. They know how to handle it. We would only get in their way." He said. So there we all sat, or perched; like knots on a log. I tried to look for the pirates, but saw nothing in the distance. The seconds felt like minutes, the minutes like hours. Until finally, the whole ship shook suddenly.
"Contact, below the water!" Someone nearby shouted.
A group of six Neame flew into the air and began circling the ship, then shouted back, "Three familiars, one D.O.H.!"
The ship's Captain flew up at that time, or maybe he was already there, and I simply hadn't noticed in the chaos. "Teams one and three, drive off the familiars! Two and four, begin anti-ship spells! Team five, give us more speed!" As he was giving orders, I noticed something in the water. A fin, easily a meter long, broke through the surface.
"Brace! Brace!" A voice above the ship called out. A moment later, the rest of the monster broke through the water, and threw itself onto the ship, impaling its body on the spikes. It had a shark's fin on its back, but a body like a humpback whale. Rather than a head, it had something like a squid's beak, which violently bit and gnawed at the hull like it didn't even feel the dozens of spikes ripping huge chunks of its flesh off with each twist and turn of its increasingly mangled body. The impact threw me to the ground, and caused the still boiling water to spill out again, this time completely overboard and right onto the snapping maw that was less than two meters from me; it didn't seem to care. Without warning, a bolt of lightning struck its body, causing it to seize, stopping its attack momentarily. Using that opening, I took the opportunity to put my practice to the test.
"Rot!" I yelled, and the yellowed beak and gray skin of the sea-monster quickly darkened. At the same time, massive chunks of the ship's hull split off, and reared back, like they'd suddenly come to life. They moved like tentacles. Very thick, strong, and pointy tentacles; which wrapped up the beast like a constrictor snake, before squeezing it so tightly an audible crunch echoed across the ship. By the time the wooden tentacles loosened, letting the dead whale thing fall into the sea, the Neame above had already announced that the last familiar was retreating.
With the battle over, the Neame all cheered, and immediately started fixing the ship back to how it was. Three more minutes later, and you wouldn't have been able to tell there was ever a battle; except for the steam rising from the now empty pot, and the smell of rotten fish in the air. However, there was one other sign. Now, in the distance just cresting over the horizon as it fled, I could barely make out the tiny silhouette of a ship, sailing away. A Neame landed next to us, and spoke with the ship's Captain.
"Sir, the familiar and its ship are taking distance. Should we pursue?"
"No, we've chased them away. That will be enough for today. Our mission for this voyage is not to hunt pirates, but to deliver this squadron. And we cannot delay their mission." He replied. My mind wandered for a moment, like it was being guided by something else. The memories of Zachariah's battle on Dragon's Fall Bay, and how he sank the ship appeared in my mind, like I was reliving them again. Standing up again, albeit slowly as the ship was still slowly rocking back and forth, I turned to both my Captain, and the ship's.
"I might have an idea." I suggested.
"Jake?" Suma said.
"What if I sunk it from here? I could use my Chaos-Magic to rot the hull."
"Is such a thing possible?" The ship's Captain wondered.
"From this distance… even for you, that seems a bit… infeasible. Perhaps your long-ranged magic would be best. Your 'Railgun' spell would be better." Captain Gigoales said.
"Captains," Lieutenant Datahu, who'd been nearby, quietly listening, interrupted. "There would be no harm in letting him try. And it would be a good test of his current abilities."
"Alright then. Just don't sink my ship." Captain Gigoales also nodded, and I thanked them. Looking out at the quickly disappearing ship, I took a moment to imagine the spell, and how it would play out. Like when I first used 'Railgun,' the picture of a long stream of mana connecting myself and the ship appeared in my mind. Then, images of the ship's wooden hull rotting away, turning to mulch, and falling apart played out. The rot would start at the contact point between my mana, and the ship. Any metal, as I pictured it in my mind, would rust and crumble. It would spread to Neame touching the rot too, like a plague. And then, I cast the spell.
"Rot." I said simply, and felt a split second of dizziness, but decided to ignore it for now as it quickly vanished; chalking it up to either sea sickness or the spell using more mana than I'd thought it would. There was a moment of silence before the ship's Captain ordered one of the crew to go scout the outcome.
"That felt like quite a lot of mana being released just now. Are you okay?" He asked.
"A bit dizzy for a second, but fine now."
"Jake's mana reservoir is plentiful." Suma said. I could feel through our connection she was proud to say it, and could hear a bit of smugness in her tone.
A minute later, the scout returned. His feathers were puffed up, and he'd lost almost all of his glittery sparkle. "They're sinking, Captain."
"Are you alright, crewman? You look like you've seen the Black Wyrm, ready to pluck you." The ship's Captain said. "What about the ship's crew. Are they setting their sails towards–"
"They're dead, sir. Almost all of them."
"Oh, looks like your spell did more than sink the ship then, familiar. Good work. What of the survivors, crewman?"
"Headed towards land, sir. Maybe Cambren, or part of Taldre?"
"Hmm… that might not be good. If they are working with the Southern Union, then word of our arrival could spread."
"I… don't think they will make it to the mainland, sir."
"And why is that?"
"They did not look very healthy. Like they were getting ready to fall out of the sky just from flapping what was left of their wings."
"By the dragons, familiar. What kind of spell did you cast?"
"I… just…" I started to say, suddenly feeling very ashamed. I knew what had to be done, and why I was doing it, but still…
"That will be quite enough. My team needs rest, and after that battle, so must your crew. I suggest we all prepare to roost for the night." Captain Gigoales said.
My mouth opened, and a few words somehow managed to stumble out. "Captain… did–"
"Get some rest, soldier." He ordered.
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Captain Gigoales' POV
The luminous braids hung loosely from the deck above, putting out just enough light to not strain the eyes. This ship's captain, one of his crewmen, and my Lieutenant were in the ship's Captain's Quarters.
"Tell us what you saw on the sinking pirate ship." I said.
"I'll be the one to order my Neame around, Captain Gigoales. This is my ship." He said, then turned to his crewman. "Tell us what you saw."
"A lot of dead bodies, sir." The crewman said, obviously shaken. "It was bad."
"How so?" Lieutenant Datahu asked.
"The ship, it was falling apart. But so were they. It was like everyone had died months ago, and they'd just been floating on the water." He explained, shaking his head. "Their mana felt wrong too. Like it had spoiled, somehow. All the bodies looked like they'd been pulled apart. Some had exploded, with their guts splayed out on what was left of the deck. It was awful, Captain."
"What about the ones that got away?" The Captain asked. "You said they looked sickly."
"They looked like flying corpses. Black feathers, curled beaks and not a single spark of life left in their besmears. Just… wrong. Sick and wrong." The crewman said, his eyes tightly shut.
"Thank you for this, Captain. And you as well, crewman. It was enlightening." I told them.
"That familiar, does it got a name?" The Captain asked.
"Sentinel. Though his master calls him Jake." I said.
"Sentinel? Bit gawdy. Well, just do me a favor with Sentinel, Captain Gigoales. Make sure that its master does not lose control of it. At least not while its onboard my ship." I nodded in agreement, and Datahu and I took our leave. Back on the main deck, far to the tail of the ship, where we could be alone, we had a chat.
"He's getting stronger." Datahu said.
"Indeed."
"That is good for us."
"Is it?" I asked.
"I hope so."
"A whole ship, and its crew… in one spell?" I sighed, and while I may not worship the dragons anymore, I did find myself praying inside my mind that we were right about him. Otherwise, there would not be much we could do.
"At least he is still ridiculously slow." Datahu said, probably making a joke, or perhaps it was an impromptu tactical analysis.
"He is, for now."