In the early morning, as the rest of the city of Farajaro were just starting to wake up, all six of us had gathered at the airship docks, dressed in our best. I was donning polished and strengthened armor, Alocertha had her cloak and staff, as well as her tome and belt of assorted magical items, including the runic stones. Finana had her original dress on, with it having been cleaned and everything, and she had her lute in her hands with the flute she stole from Jeebs strapped to her back. Her glaive was also there, and it had been cleaned and sharpened, rivaling my Halberd. BahnBarr had her staff and tome, Ormgaul had his twin short swords and cleaned armor, and Haneen was holding her staff at the ready.
"Everyone ready here?" I asked.
I was met with determined nods, and I noted that Alocertha looked a little bit giddy, while Finana eyed Alocertha every now and then. Hopefully, they could just work together long enough to get another job done without one of them initiating a fight.
"Alright, lets just get this done. The sooner, the better."
We boarded our airship, paying our respects to Bartholomew, and as we were getting ready to fly, Finana came up to me.
"Hey." She said. "Uhm, haven't talked much."
"Yeah, had a nice day with Alocertha yesterday." I said.
The moment I said that, she noticeably winced, and I felt stupid. Damn it, Trevon, she's jealous of you and Alocertha! Save it!
"Well, I mean, yeah we had a nice day, but I'm really happy to see you again!" I said.
That seemed to do the trick. She smiled at me, then tightened down some of the rigging before turning back to me.
"Can't believe we're going to kill my brother." She said. "I know he's my godly brother, but its still weird."
"I know. You really think Umberlee won't be upset?"
"I'm certain of it. I'd actually be surprised if she wasn't upset if we fail this. She really is ride or die on the whole 'survival of the fittest' thing."
"Sounds like it." I said. "How hard is it gonna be to kill this sea serpent?"
"Extremely." She replied. "Sea serpents are really hard to kill. There's a reason that they're the top of the food chain. Even dragons can get eaten by them."
"Is it even a good idea to take the airship?"
"Yeah, we're gonna need it. If we had a regular ship, it would probably just come from underneath and snap the ship in half."
Shivers started going up and down my spine. "Yeah. Sounds like fun."
She gave me a smile. "We should be fine. Just lure the sea serpent, blast the hell out of it with the ballistas, and cut it to ribbons."
As BahnBarr and Haneen started letting the sails down, I gripped the wheel, easing the airship out of the hanger, and over the still half-asleep city. We soared over the gabled blue rooftops of the city, looking at the rest of the people below, and I looked back at Finana.
"You make killing the serpent sound easy."
She laughed. "I hope so. But, we're going to find out. Either it kills all of us, or we kill it."
And with that happy, uplifting note, we forged ahead.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Five hours later, we had completely left the mainland behind, and we were nearly there. The sea was rather calm, but Finana was fidgeting around, clearly uncomfortable with something.

YOU ARE READING
Dungeons & Disappointment
FantasyOn a cold night in Connecticut, all Trevon Hawkins wishes for is a second chance. A chance to make a better life for himself through a fresh, clean slate. But, when he finally gets the chance he's been wishing for, it isn't what he was expecting. F...