Eternal Entities

Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

The sun hung low in the sky. The battle against the deabru ambush on the vessel still raged. Crew and deabru corpses riddled both deck and sea. Most of the surviving attackers were harpies and gargoyles with a handful of goblins, while only a third of the crew was still alive.

Valgus flipped a goblin over his shoulder and off the boat. He caught a glimpse of something in the water. It looked like a siren with its fish-like tail and scales running up the torso, but it had no fangs. There were no gills and it had curled ears with multiple ear lobes. It pulled out a conch shell and blew into it. With the clashing of swords and splashing, whatever sound it might have made was drowned out. Then the figure went below the waves. Where she disappeared, bubbles rapidly surfaced. The ship rocked heavily to the side. A low rumble went through the wooden ship. Everyone rattled to the bone.

Aavistus and Nağme were double-teaming a harpy as the ship tilted. They watched as the harpy plummeted into the sea once it was slain. When the body slapped into the water, a large shadow swam underneath. The siblings' breath hitched as dread filled their blood.

"It couldn't be," Aavistus shuddered.

"Couldn't be what?" Nağme prodded.

"They should be extinct."

Nağme looked down to where Aavistus' gaze was fixated. A red and white tentacle broke the water's surface. The two avinians screamed to those below, "KRAKEN!"

More tentacles erupted from the sea and wrapped around the ship. The sound of wood cracking as the ship was ripped in half sent the rest of the crew in a panic.

Crew members and the remaining goblins fell into the ocean to become the food of the Kraken. Those who weren't eaten became trapped under the debris that broke off and sank to the ocean floor. Aavistus and Nağme dove into the crumbling ship in search of Prince Valgus. Once the small elven prince was found dangling from the remains of the ship's guard rail, they grabbed either arm and flew up into the air.

Vanajja grew her nails out so they were like claws. As the section she stood on began to tilt, she dug her nails into the floorboards. Slowly, she clawed and jumped her way to a flat portion of the mangled deck. She crouched on her hands and knees in a somewhat stable area. As her nails retracted, a gruff moan caught her attention. Vanajja looked up and saw the captain a few yards away. He was bruised, bleeding, and trapped underneath a fallen mast.

"C-Capt'n...," Vanajja coughed. She went up to one knee, wincing all the while. She was covered in crusted blood and sweat. A surviving goblin hobbled into view. Its sights fixated on the captain. Vanajja's pupils went sideways like a goat's and her nose scrunched up in a snarl as anger consumed her, "Get. The fuck. AWAY FROM HIM!"

Her red aura flared to life as she changed into a lion. Vanajja charged forward. She lept over gaps that would otherwise block her. She lunged for the goblin and took its feeble neck into her jaw. She bit down. Vanajja heard the crunch of bones resonate in her skull and tasted the metallic blood wash over her tongue. Long, black claws ripped through the goblin's torso. Vanajja tossed the now limp body to the side. It slid down the wreckage into the sea.

After Vanajja changed back, she began to push against the mast that pinned down the captain's lower half. More detritus fell around them. The flooring around them broke away to show tentacles and corpses.

"Vanajja, leave me. Get yourself to safety," the captain meekly pleaded. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and his fins were torn.