“Entrance fee please, 5 copper” a middle-aged man cladded in dented iron armour requested.

“S-sure. Oh, excuse me sir” Merl stuttered while handing the copper over.

“Yes madam?”

“Which way is it to port Mana?”

“Oh, travelling? Just to the west past the market.” He pointed with his left.

“Ahh, thank you”

Having paid the fee, Merl wandered through the market, a row of stalls on either side of the road clouded her vision. The sound of people talking, coins clinging together, and the footsteps of everyone around her drowned out any other sound. As she made her way through, the sound of people was washed out by the sound of waves and creaking wood. Merl was heading to Rimic, a small city on an independent island, due to having allies in nearly every direction they have little use for a navy of their size. Now many of the navy vessels are stripped of all weaponry and mainly used for transportation, however, the Otaua isn’t one of them.

“Whoa...” Merl was in awe.

The Otaua, Rimic’s flagship; a behemoth of modern times, at 55 meters long, lined with 12 cannons on either side it was a force to be reckoned with. Rimic city being a sea-locked country meant they specialized in naval warfare; they also boasted the largest. As dusk began to set, Merl was lying on the hardwood bed trying to get used to the swaying before it set sail. She’d already put her luggage on the shelf to her right, the window allowed a small amount of light to seep into the room, illuminating the edges a soft white.

Augh I feel sick, why’d my first time on the sea have to be in rough water.

As the rocking continuously worsened; nausea quickly set in. The floorboard beneath creaked with each step as Merl made her way to the deck atop. Sea spray-coated her as she stood at the edge of the deck overlooking the endless sea; skin glistening in the moonlight.

Agh! thrown against the deck wall, the impact of a massive tentacle tore through the middle of the deck. Crewmen and passengers; ripped from the deck floor by multiple large dragon-like heads, walls, and roofs; effortlessly removed by tentacles that dwarf the size of the ship. Each salvo fired shook the ship causing the very air around Merl to shudder.

W-what is that!? Oh god, why!?

Looking in the eyes, oh which it had four, a monster twice the size of the ship. She froze; fear, despair, dread flooded her mind, she was paralyzed as the people around her were being eaten and shredded from debris before her eyes. This half-humanoid monster, destroying all that she had left; enjoyment and hope. Its massive arms gripped the edges of the ship rocking it from side to side; knocking out those who tried to hide. Sitting wedged in a corner, surrounded by blood-stained wood, she stares at the monster before her.

I’m… going to die here? By the hands of some monster!? In a place, I’ve never been?

She’s soaked by blood and tears, wounded. Pissed and spiteful, but gutless, she can’t pick up a sword and help the others or herself, she’s weak. All she can do is ensure that it’s not the monster that kills her, she can’t let it win.

Splash, into the crimson-stained ocean she fell. Even in the depths, the cannon fire could be felt.