Two men fell to the ground screaming, their hands replaced with bloody stumps. The cut had been exceptionally clean, the right wing had sliced through flesh and bone without issue. Already Cauaria and Vexariz had been engaged in this battle for quite some time, their clothes soaked in sweat, blood, and seawater. Even with the constant stream of reinforcements the only successful injury was that of the left wing, as the creature before them had been unable to regenerate the missing piece.
Also, it wasn’t as if they had escaped unscathed, Cauaria had barely managed to dodge some close calls, her armor sliced open in spots, a trickle of blood soaking her shoulder and left flank. It was only through her father’s quick actions that she had escaped death, however many of their reinforcements, their clan members and soldiers were not so lucky. A handful had died, ripped to shreds, their limbs spread across the deck which by this point was awash in the blood of the dead or dying scattered about. Even more were injured beyond saving, their wounds critical, but with neither Vexariz nor Cauaria having the opportunity to grant them mercy, their cries weighing on the two who continued to face off against the inhuman creature.
Glancing into the distance at the other end of the ship, nearby the enemy boarding bridge one could see the explosion of water, feel the vibrations of power in the air. The brothers Spurius and Paulus, although still engaged in combat were having a far less difficult time with their opponent. With their newfound powers they were capable of holding the enemy at bay without assistance from reinforcements, reinforcements who were redirected to stern of the ship, and ultimately to their deaths. Yet there was little choice, the enemy had to be held lest they disengage and move to support their leader. Cut the head of the snake and the body shall fail, Cauaria could only hope that her uncle’s teachings proved true here, because as it currently stood, they were unlikely to kill the creature, no matter how many lives they sacrificed, not unless something changed.
“Cauaria dodge to the right!” Following a decade of training, Cauaria was conditioned to respond instinctively to such orders, the hairs upon the back of her neck on edge at the specter of danger. She moved out of the way with the reflexes of a jungle cat, jumping to the side and rolling while using the momentum to rise into a half crouch position, swords at the ready.
What she saw was the stumbling remains of the infested pirates, their damaged corpses running headlong into the catenarii, its wings beginning to regenerate, the armor like wooden sheets thickening and growing by cannibalizing the flesh of the infested. Their opponent began to slowly grow, where once stood a creature six feet in height, now towered an eight-foot-tall monstrosity. Both father and daughter recognized the danger immediately, as well as the opportunity, if it was allowed to complete it growth it would be stronger than what they could handle. Yet at the same time, in this moment it had ceased moving, its body constricted by the fleshy growths, unable to attack.
“Kill it now!” Vexariz yelled out the order, they would carry out an all or nothing attack to end the creature here and now.
Whatever crew members who remained in the vicinity rushed forward, some hesitated and remained behind, but Cauaria and Vexariz led the charge. Slicing and hacking away at the monster as fast as they could, desperately trying to carve open the armor above its heart, to get to the core lying beneath. However, to their horror and dismay, their weapons did nothing, with only Vexariz’s axe making any mark worth anything, all other wounds left shallow injuries which rapidly regenerated.
The remaining Balearii fighters, both Vexariz and Cauaria included stood and watched helplessly as the creature’s new bulkier form started to take shape. Observed the scythe like claws replacing the hands, the wings swelling in size with double the blade like fronds. Only it’s chest and legs remained, the flesh and wood swirling together, beginning to form dark brown suit of pulsating armor, bristling in thorns. As Cauaria’s grip on her blades began to weaken and the strength in her legs threatened to give out, a familiar voice erupted from their rear.
“Don’t give up now, we still have a chance while its immobile… Don’t you dare waste this chance old man!” Sabina had spent the time during the fight readjusting rear ballista, turning it inward towards the creature. Loaded onto the wall and ship destroying weapon was a familiar clay pot, the second those nearby saw it they started screaming for her to stop.
Sabina did not listen to a word anyone said, her eyes focused on the monster, and more specifically the area on its chest where the armor had not yet grown. The crew members in the vicinity immediately broke off their attack and fled for dear life in the opposite direction, with Vexariz and Cauaria left alone to deal with the aftermath, understanding that there was little choice left. With a flick of the wrist, Sabina released the metal pin holding the twisted reeds in place, and with it the built-up tension, causing the projectile to go race past the fighting pair and slam into the mutating creature.
The effect was instantaneous, the Salamander’s Breath ate away at both flesh and wood, the wooden exterior simply adding to the fuel and speed of the destructive flames. Luckily only a few wisps of flaming naphtha landed upon the deck, not enough to truly begin to burn the deck, instead the creature’s body began to attempt to defend itself. A roiling mass of flesh and wood trying desperately to smother out the intense flames melting away its defenses.
A mountain of flesh may have worked, but the wood and fat simply added fuel to the fire, like kindling the creature’s body burned and still it remained rooted in place, unable to move until its transformation was complete. That task would never see fruition, as the body lost more than it could remake, the bodies and lifeforce used as fuel drying up under the onslaught of the cloying flames. Yet somehow, after considerable exertion and an exponential loss in power, managed to kill the flames, but losing much of its body in the process, its transformation incomplete and its body a disgusting mess of partially melted and charcoaled meat.
Vexariz saw his opportunity, having retrieved his newly developed crossbow in that time, the man took aim, sighting down the central stock and pressing the trigger. All four arms of the heavy crossbow released their tension at once, there was a loud twang as the bolt shot out at insane speeds, slamming into the creatures masked face. The wooden owl mask which appeared to have the same consistency as its armor and should have been as strong as tempered iron shattered. The bolt penetrated the defenses, impacted the skull, and tore the head from the body with the sheer force of its forward momentum. Even if the flames had weakened the muscles and tendons connecting the head and neck, this action proved the sheer power behind that single attack.
“I’ll check if its dead.” Cauaria moved forward towards the downed creature, no one else had the energy remaining to celebrate, falling onto the ground, or attempting to locate their comrades mangled corpses nearby. Her father falling onto his rear with a loud thud, muscles straining as he attempted to loud another bolt into his crossbow in his weakened state.
Ignoring the rest Cauaria continued to approach the still corpse, waiting to see if it reacted to her presence. Yet when noting happened even after a minute or two, she approached more confidently, even still she did not take the monster lightly. Taking no chance she plunged her sword into its chest, impaling its heart numerous times, seeking to slice it to pieces. Once she was confident in the creature’s death she began to walk away.
“Sis!” Sabina yelled out in alarm, Cauaria had only enough time to witness the mangled corpse swing its mangled arm in her direction. There was nowhere left to dodge, no strength left in her body to dodge. She simply remained rooted in place, watching as the end headed towards her, eyes fixated on the instrument of her demise.
However, luckily for her today would not be her time. The crumbling catenarii was attacked from the side, a large furry shadow crashed into its flank, throwing it to the ground, its attack glancing harmlessly of the nearby mast. Cauaria cried with joy as she witnessed her crimson furred child mount the downed monster, using its bulk to pin it and using its powerful jaws to tear away the soft flesh and decayed wood in its path.
Enraged, Gulgul had unleashed his base animal instincts, his desperation to save his mother manifesting in his violent destruction of the enemy before him. Each time the catenarii attempted to raise its arm and strike back, Gulgul’s massive paws would come down, tearing large gashes in the creature, spilling black ichor onto the deck below. Gulgul gave his enemy no opportunity to defend itself, whatever attacks that did resulting in only minor scratched and flesh wounds, his thick coat of crimson fur negating much of the weakened attacks.
Gulgul continued to attack the chest area, until finally he found what he had been looking for, a palm sized green and black crystal with tendrils of wood and flesh connecting to its many facets. The bear recognized the item for what it was, the true heart of this creature, and with a bestial roar he thrust his head forward and clamped down with his jaws. Weakened from battle and having used up all their power the tendrils holding the crystal in place snapped, the jaws of the bear slicing through and allowing him to consume the crystal in a single bite.
“NO!” It was too late by the time Cauaria had realized what had happened. She had little idea what Gulgul was doing, but mere moments after he ingested the mana crystal, he released a pitiable groan before falling on his side, hitting the deck with a loud crunch. Cauaria rushed to his side, trying desperately to soothe the massive creature, small wisps of black smoke escaping from his lips, a worrying sign. She could do little but cradle Gulgul’s head in her lap and hope that her uncle returned soon, if anyone could help cure the lovable creature it was him.
Hey everyone, just a heads up, Book 2 is now officially complete and has been sent over to the editor.
So, just wanted you all to know that editing will take about a month at which point it will be sent off for publication, so looking at an April release. I will work on Book 3, but I will also be looking at releasing my new sci-fi series once the Alpha7 series cover is complete.
Here is the new Alpha7 series sketches, consider it a little taste. Hope you all end up giving it a shot, but you will have to wait until the cover is complete before I start releasing chapters.
