Alexis nodded and tossed the fireballs she had summoned towards the creature, not really concerned on where the made contact with it. “do it….”
“Then we better make this quick.” Alexis steeled herself for what was to come next. she cleared her thoughts and focused only on what was required of her. “I trust you.”
Yes. I do. Mako said… a few moments passing, before asking: Could you return me to the ship?
“Alright, I’ve never done this outside of class. Here’s the plan, I’ll put a portal up underneath him you lean through and grab him as he goes by.” Tharos begins to concentrate, staring at the mast where a small glow was beginning to take shape. Opening a thin crack through which they could see blue sky.
Unfortunately it was opening too slow. Tharos saw it begin to close as his concentration slipped. He redoubled his efforts, and in what felt like an eternity, a portal opened in the sky.
“I will grant you strength to speed you on your way. I shall not risk being drawn into a battle however.”
Thank you. Mako said as he began his ascent.
There was a satisfying hiss of cold steel against the hot flesh of the squid’s slippery limbs, and his swing struck right at where he had aimed his initial skewer attempt, almost completely severing the head of the tentacle. Its grip on him weakening, Dolphus hissed at the joints in his knee flexing to alleviate the changing strain until finally, with a slight effort on his part, he dropped.
The raised tentacle almost matched his speed for a moment as it descended, but quickly pulled off to the side, and he heard it smash into the water once more. So this is it. I’m going to die. The end.
The idea of a painless plummet from grace was a pleasing one. Pain could be worked through in the moment, but pain at the last moment had? A horrible concept. Closing his eyes, Dolphus let go of his military cape and let it smother his wing in the wind, trying to imagine his mother’s voice once more before the end.
That…
Dolphus’ brow furrowed. It was more than a vivid memory, it… It felt like he had just heard Alexis speaking to him. And worse, she was speaking words that were making his steel mask slip a little.
No. I must be strong here… She’s just a poor lookalike. Nothing more. She doesn’t care about me, she never did. I’ve always been alone. But now… I’ll have her back-
A change in atmosphere. Directly below him, the air was suddenly different. And all of a sudden the noise from the ship had become immediately audible, with no buildup. It was far too soon for him to turn his head around and look, and yet the thought crossed his mind.
What just happened?
Alexis motioned towards mariner to grab ahold of her to make sure she didn’t fall through. in her defense Dolphus was beginning to pick up quite a bit of speed and she would hate for them to have to rescue two crew members today, or worse… bury two of them.
Alexis shook the thought from her mind and leaned through the portal, extending her arms. she trusted tharos’ ability, but even then, she was skeptical of this. she had heard stories from her previous crew about freak magic accidents, especially from portals closing on people while parts of them were still on the other side. and being honest, Alexis wanted nothing less than to join their ranks, especially not before she had the answers to her missing past.
Mako suddenly felt his fatigue fade, great reserves of strength filling his body. The Dragon followed him for a time. Keeping it’s distance to avoid the ships.
Mariner did some quick math, and decided a quick harness would be more efficient. He pulled a length of rope from his belt, and looped it around her waist. Ensuring it was secure, he nodded, knowing if she suddenly fell through they’d have some wiggle room before they were in trouble.
A feeling.
Suspicious, unpredictable. It was a nagging feeling he had felt almost thousands of times, and each and every time his intuition had proven correct. When it had been ignored, it almost immediately lead to regrettable consequences; when it was followed, it sometimes lead to regrettable consequences, but at least they were informative.
Something was happening directly to his left.
The mask wanted to stay put, but Dolphus’ heart refused to stay still. One more glance at the people on the boat- SHIP, perhaps? One final goodbye to everyone he mildly cared about and Alexis?
In spite of what appeared to be his better judgement, the steel mask slipped enough for a cold, dead stare to be sent to his left.
There, just a few inches from his shoulder, were the fingertips of Alexis, almost framing her concerned face.
The mask immediately shattered into a thousand cruel pieces, blowing away in the rush of wind. Time slowed to an impossible crawl, his expression one of forced realization, staring at Alexis’ eyes, lips parted, bewildered by the quite obvious fact that she did actually care about him and that he had been blatantly lying to himself this entire time.
It was a rough couple of days so far, alright?
…Not that the situation was about to improve, as Dolphus’ fixation on her dedicated effort to save him and the understanding that she truly did care conveniently neglected the point of her not successfully catching him until he was well away from her. The creaking of the ship was becoming more audible, and the thrill of terror at the prospect of dying now when somebody actually cared for him - that the idea of splitting his skull open on the water’s surface right as him opening up to someone could actually be fulfilled - brought the blood away from his face in spite of the fall.
His eyes full of fear, and against his better judgement, Dolphus looked down.
Mako sputtered as he reached the surface of the water, looking around.
*Oh gods. Dolphus learned to fly. Mako thought to himself.
He started an attempt to climb up the side of the boat to no avail, before shouting: “Can someone dredge me up over here?!”
What he saw most likely cemented his fear. Shockingly close, the yawning beak of the Thauin eclipsed all, as it hungrily snapped at the air. It’s other tentacles still struggling with sailors on the deck.
Tharos gave a shout of warning, and Mariner quickly pulled Alexis back through the portal. Not a moment too soon, as it suddenly collapsed violently. Were it possible for such a manifestation of power to have malevolence, this one certainly did.
Mariner realized there was now one course of action. Handing an exhausted Tharos his sword, he ran for the wale and jumped.
A pair of sailors dropped a rope for him to climb.
Cemented it was, for as the Thauin beak opened again Dolphus quickly looked away. Suddenly staring death in the face was a lot less appealing when death was about to swallow you whole.
The last thing he saw before the beak eclipsed his vision was Mariner bolting for the side of the vessel, before the world went dark. With his sword pointed towards his toes, Dolphus could only hope for a quick end in the powerful maw of the beast.
Although the world no longer had any light, that did not mean it had ended. The seamless transition viewed from the outside was not nearly as seamless inside the throat of this monster, as the muscle inside it felt like stone, bashing and bruising his arm and sides as he entered. Water sloshed across his face from deeper within the squid, the sides of the tube were slightly acidic to the touch, and everything moved with organic and unsettling rhythm. With his first breath the air stung like a thousand hornets, all stinging the inside of his lungs with a spicy vendetta.
And then came the pressure.
The musculature of the squid started contorting and contracting, and the walls of its esophagus constricted around Dolphus, crushing him with a pressure that made the tentacle feel gentle and kind. Dolphus’ throat immediately locked, his eyes shut lest they suddenly pop out of his head. He cried, but there was no audible difference, as if the body of the squid simply chose to prevent him from issuing any noise.
Right below his feet, more towards the right side - what Dolphus could only assume was ‘up’ - two very large bumps rested. Unlike the rest of the squid, they were motionless, and did not constrict along with the rest of the creature, although they held their own share of the pressure. Unsure what they were or anything other than the fear of the agony he was in, Dolphus thrust the point of his blade towards one of the two, his last gamble in reversing the course he had drawn for himself.
In spite of his pain, the pressure on his head was not necessarily soothing, but limiting, as if the pain would simply go away if he allowed himself to stop fighting, to let the monster claim his consciousness. But as much as he would’ve wanted his continued resistance to be about Alexis, or his mother, or anything in the world, Dolphus’ frantic retaliation was only focused on one, simple thing.
He was in far greater agony than he had ever experienced before. And he was terrified of dying.
The squid reeled as Dolphus dropped into it’s mouth. The young man hit it’s throat with a considerable amount of force. The Squid abandoned the ship, sinking beneath the waves a bit. It thrashed, pulling the 3 Northern Ships in close as it struggled.
They struggled to sever the chains attached to the monster. 2 managed, and the Thauin tried to dive to get away from the 3rd. The third ship, unable to break the chain loose, started to sink under the massive weight it was now bearing alone.
All at once, the Thauin’s thrashing stopped as Dolphus pierced its brain. The tentacles coming to a stop, then sinking beneath the waves as the beasts open mouth filled it with water.
Mariner angled his descent through the waves towards the carcass. Trying to think quickly he pulled his knife out, cutting through flesh quick as he dared to rescue Dolphus from within. Eventually, after what felt like too long, he felt the small form of the boy brush his hand. Grabbing on he pulled him loose, kicking away from the corpse towards the Caelin’s hand. Tharos he thought desperately. A rope! Three fathoms, weighted! It was their only chance
Mariner couldn’t swim, his body lacking bouyancy he started to drift slowly to the bottom.
Karl slashed at the tentacle with his sword and his knife, filling it with holes and tears that oozed a nasty liquid, probably the squid’s blood (or a similar fluid).
“You better not kill him!”
He proceeded to slash and stab as long as possible, rendering the nearest sections of the tentacle unable to move without severely worsening their wounds.
The rush of water slammed into Dolphus, ripping his last vestige of resilience against the fate prescribed to him away from him. The chilling cold fighting against the dead heat of the insufferable monster, its crushing pressure had ceased its violence, but in return a hopelessness sunk in that this narrow tube was his organic tomb, imprisoned with no escape, drifting down to a water grave.
His mind tried to collect an effort against this fate, but his body only responded with pain, unable to move. As the last of his muscles relaxed, giving in to the lull of slumber, the only thing he could think of was to hold his breath.
Perhaps, if he fell unconscious first, he wouldn’t feel the water fill his lungs.
As the armored hand of Mariner dragged the boy from the throat of the massive squid, something brushed loose. It appeared to be a loop of cord, although it floated aimlessly in place while Mariner sank past it. With the band now freed, however, something large and grey began to unfurl…
Tharos heard Mariners thoughts, and quickly relayed the message. Hoping there was enough time. Sailors ran to retrieve cord long enough to suit the task.
This caught Mariners attention, and worried it was some sort of parasite from the Squid’s digestive tract, he inspected it closely.
It wasn’t, it was a wing. Feathers and all, as if the lad had a large bird of prey embedded in his flesh. Mariner wasn’t too familiar with human anatomy, but he was pretty sure this wasn’t normal. He carefully folded it again and adjusted the military cape to cover it. Whatever the reason for the wing, Dolphus had obviously gone to great lengths to hide it.
Mariners head swam with confusing thoughts as he watched the rope descend towards them, wondering if he was too late. How long could humans last underwater? No that didn’t bear thinking of, holding Dolphus tight, wing pressed against him to keep it hidden, Mariner began to climb. He put all he had into it, setting an incredible pace.
Eventually their heads broke the surface, Mariner kept up his efforts until finally he swung them both back over the Wale. Exhausted, he almost collapsed on the deck.
They weren’t out of danger yet however. “Dolphus!” He spoke clearly and with urgency, hoping he didn’t take too long.
Mako rushed over. Looking Dolphus over with a face of grimness, he felt for water in Dolphuses lungs with his magic, while muttering , “God of The Sea, protect this man’s life…” @Ghid
Alexis hesitated for a split second, slowly rising back up to her feet. she had missed her one chance to catch dolphus before he… she was going to kill this thing.
Alexis screamed and launched a volley of fireballs towards the retreating creature, she would make sure it would regret ever attacking them, she would make sure that it never any dares to attack anyone ever again, she would make sure it…
why did it stop moving? Alexis paused her barrage
Alexis froze at the sight of dolphus and immediately grabbed a nearby rope, tied it to the railing of the ship and almost began lowered herself into the water below to assist in the rescue. every bone in her body prayed that he was still alive. but evidently someone had already beaten her to it.
Alexis rushed down to meet the two of them. he’s still alive. he’s still alive. he’s still alive. she was panicking, that much was clear. she couldn’t bear the thought that he was dead.
As Karl disentangled himself from the remains of the tentacle, he realized that he’d missed the last few minutes of action. A dripping Dolphus was being hauled aboard, followed by Mariner and Mako. Alexis had arrived, and was clearly concerned by the kid’s condition.
He’d better be all right, he thought. He has to be alive…
He turned towards the group now gathering by the rail.
“Is he all right? You, with the bandages, is the kid all right?”
There was a stillness over the once frothing water, somehow not drawing any attention to the fact that one of the attacking ships was surely going under at this point, with the weight of the squid hauling it downwards. The pale skin of the last Gorov seemed impossibly white now, with the cold of the water and his unrelenting terror driving almost all the color from his flesh.
Dolphus remained still and quiet for a moment, then a moment more. But deep in his mind, there persisted a nagging feeling he had felt almost thousands of times before, insisting that what little power he had left needed to be pushed forward with all the force he could muster.
Someone was looking at him. Someone important.
…Someone…
His eyes flew open in shock, his neck retracting as a fresh stream of water erupted from his nose. Hurriedly rolling onto his hand and knees, a hacking fit released what felt like most of the water in his entire body, and after that came the tears.
He didn’t attempt to make any sort of mask. He didn’t try to uphold the well-practiced notion that being fourteen meant being a man. He was still a child, bawling for a second at a time in between hiccoughing gulps of air, trying to not let himself fall back onto the deck.
His wing was so used to being tucked in it made no effort to unfold itself thanks to gravity. At least that secret was still intact…
@N01InParticular @DuneToa @MakutaOisli @Winterstorm345 @Atobe_Brick
“Oh thank gods you’re alright.” Mako breathed a sigh of relief. “Any longer and you would’ve drowned. Take it easy. ” He stood up, before turning to Karl and Alexis.
“He’ll live, he had water in his lungs.” Mako said.
“It’s over.” He turned to Mariner. “Sir, what now?”
@Winterstorm345