4

In this chapter the heroes overcome one of the enemy ships but still the enemy manages to get a temporary advantage. But our heroes board the remaining enemy ship and their evil captain is slain.

 

 "Lourdes, am I ready? I want to push nooowww!" Nabal screams as another contraction starts. "Not quite yet but very soon. Look at me and listen to my voice. I am here to help you. I'm sorry about the pain.  Now look out the window.  Focus on the storm.  See the lightening.  Hear the thunder.  Can't you feel the presence of Thor?  It is obvious he is here with us.  Use his strength to get through this."  Lourdes tries her best to soothe Nabal. "The pain is too much!"  Nabal sobs and begins to cry her tears and sweat drenching the sheets even more.

 

Axel fires the ballista again, but misses this time. The four remaining crew of the Nightshark will most likely board now. Rex fires again as well and hits the crew member with the plank and injures her in the leg. The woman is wounded badly but still conscious. Kizzar fires at the monk and the bolt goes through the side of the Shark and hits him in the foot yet still, the monk stands strong. Vendar reaches into a small pouch at his side and takes a pinch of the white power and smears it on the right side of his face. With his other hand he gets out a small vial and uncorks it and fingers some black substance out of it and streaks it on the left side of his face. He says for all nearby to hear, "If there are any survivors, let me talk to them.” And then waves his hands in a hypnotic way and says his magical spell.

 

Rhianna directs Rasmal to fly towards the Kraken to see how they can help. Rasmal is graceful as usual, even through the storm. Sabrin and her Pegasus Anton are already there. They caught up quickly to be side by side with Damaris and Brun. Sabrin looks at Damaris with a nervous smile, awaiting direction.  Damaris makes a decision. "Valkyries! Land on the Brotherhood ship and take control of it!  I would be much more comfortable with his feet on a ship anyhow.” he states.  In front of them, Cait begins a quiet chant which will grant her and her nearby allies favors with her goddess Elonna and curse their foes.

 

Grace and Maiya fly around close to the Seahawk. They circle around, checking for possible hidden enemies but see none. JeAnn and her dragon, which is barely big enough to ride and whose name is Ruby follow. JeAnn nearly falls off due to the fact that she is barely dressed and the rain makes the scales slippery against her skin but manages to regain her balance. As a young girl, she got big responsibilities quickly. The oldest of eight children in a world full of constant battle. Her father, Artorius left for war against the Armada when Je Ann was very young and he hadn’t come back.  She was a young adult now. Her mother sent her off to Valencia to fight by her Father's side where he died in action. Je Ann was depressed and angered to the extreme. All she wanted was revenge. She traveled from place to place, establishing law and order. She came across Skull Island. It was rumored to be controlled by an evil man.  As soon as Je Ann entered his fortress, a man overcame her by hitting her from behind and she got knocked out.  She woke up a cell with bars and the jailers being hobgoblins who would tie her to a post and gang rape her over and over.  One day a big explosion happened. A few people came to her cell. Asked her a few questions they untied her and then set her free and gave her clothing and basic supplies. Je Ann joined the group eagerly there and then, becoming an adventurer. 

 

Gunther and Wileen circle tightly and head back toward the Nightshark. Gunther pulls out his short bow and loosens a couple of arrows at the woman with the axe and both arrows miss unfortunately. Natashia and Genesee take Gunther's lead and also turn around. "Let's go boy." Natashia says as she pulls out her two deadly short swords which both glow brightly.  Natashia is always ready for a fight.  At the age of six both of her parents died.  They were the criminal type of people.  Her older siblings looked after her.  She spent a lot of time at the castle grooming the horses in the stable.  She made friends with not only the horses but the people around there too.  The guards taught her how to use a sword, ride and properly address nobility.  They turned her from being a mean, rude and disrespectful child to the even tempered and heroic woman she is today.  So she pledges her loyalty to way of good.

 

With the Captain down, Corey picks his next target. He chooses the crew member with the grapple. He hits him in the shin and he goes down. Corey takes a second shot at the monk and barely hits. The arrow lands right in his chest but the man is still standing unbelievably. A wave hits the Seahawk and Eileen almost loses control but somehow maintains. The ship rocks heavily. Prida retains his balance silently in the shadows with his bow at the ready.

 

On the Nightshark the woman with the axe attempts to climb up her rope to swing over but is too disoriented and slips and falls down, her head hitting the planks on deck pretty hard. The crew member with the hooked plank doesn't give up and makes a go for it but is unsuccessful in doing so due to the tremendous wave. The monk, on his last leg, puts that blasted horn to his lips once more and blows.  The ultrasound blast doesn't do much more damage to the Seahawk, but it hits the foredeck.  Unfortunately, the two men that are up there, Axel and the Rex, both drop down to the deck.

 

The Kraken is in a close enough position now that a boarding attempt can be made.  With her hawk Haily on her way to inform the Seahawk of the plan, Rosemary decides to focus on neutralizing the Plow's captain.  Rosemary gets out a small straight piece of iron she had tucked in a hidden sewn in pocket on her leather belt and holds it in front of her, towards the evil woman and chants a holding spell.  It almost works.  But the woman in red manages to fight it off and now looks at Rosemary and grins menacingly while plotting her revenge.

 

Solangia decides to make a go for it and swing to the Purity's Plow but she hadn't climbed high enough and all she manages to do is land back down on the main deck safely. Tuanda does pretty much the same exact thing.  The women look at each other.  Tuanda just shrugs her shoulders and gives a little smile. "There is no time to try again." Solangia states. 

 

Rock asks Shannon with a grin on his face, "Are you just going to ask questions or are you going to reload this thing for me?"  "Here." She puts a fresh bolt into place and says,” Doesn’t seem to do much good though."  "We will see about that.” he responds and fires the ballista.  This time the bolt rips through more railing and then hits the man wearing plate mail, right in the knee. The man screams in pain, buckles and falls, with the bolt still firmly planted.  Rock laughs and Shannon just shakes her head. The victory song Brenna sings gets louder and she fires her longbow at the male in the red robe but slightly misses.  Korram finally shoots his short bow, aiming at the elusive beady eyed man and he misses as well. 

 

 Prince Vlad throws the grapple and hooks the enemy ship.  It is towards the bow of the ship which is perfect because that will make it that much harder for the Brotherhood vessel to escape.  Our heroes so quickly turned into the aggressors of this battle.  Vlad has learned the hard way that is what has to be done in situations such as this.  Vlad’s birth parents were on a ship to travel to one of the ports when it was attacked. The prince was only a baby at the time.  After an intense struggle, Vlad’s mother could clearly see that she was about to be murdered. She placed Vlad into a small escape boat with a small letter explained who he is and instructions to keep him safe.  The boat wandered in to Grizzleheim, a very tribal land.  Vlad was found by a couple who raised him well. He lived with them as a foster son and their only daughter who was the same age.  He grew up not even knowing they weren’t his real parents. He was led to believe the daughter was his twin sister.

His foster dad was a well-known sailor under the tribe and his mom was a medicine woman.  His foster sister served as a huntress for the tribe. His father taught his skills into him as if he was a real son to him.  He saw that Vlad could sail and fish pretty well. Vlad loved to hear stories of monsters and stuff from the fishermen at the nearby docks and grew fascinated by tales of lost treasure. His mother taught him of the Greek gods.  As he grew he adapted to the cold world of the land and forest and became a hunter alongside with his foster sister. His foster family had hit financial trouble, and he couldn't help but to see the only family he’s ever known struggle.

His family decided to tell him who he really is and they sent him to Polaris so he could learn more, explore the world, and become smarter.   And so Vlad told his foster family goodbye, giving his foster sister a not so brotherly kiss, and traveled. He lived in Polaris for three years, during the beginning of his teen years under the house of his father, the King and the new young Queen, Nabal. There, he learned to wield a sword and shoot a bow in personal combat this time alongside the Queen, becoming a good sharpshooter almost as well as the Queen.  For three years, he lived in the wealthiest of places in Valencia, attended the classiest of Viking parties, and met a number of famous celebrities from Polaris, yet that sometimes wasn't enough. He had to admit, he loved Polaris and everyone there, yet he also enjoyed his more simple life. As he lived with his father, he took on a double life.   He was a Viking of the upper class and wrecker of havoc upon those low lives who decided to break the law.  He became a paladin of Zeus who would fight back for the people who could not.  He has sent some of his spoils of war to his loving foster family in Grizzleheim and has got them enough money to be out of poverty for many years.  He has tithed to the temple and kept some coin for himself. He has never forgotten his adoptive tribal family.  He writes to them about his journeys and misses them terribly. 

 

Byrn casts his grapple as well and he hooks the ship closer to the quarterdeck.  Now all they need to do is close the gap.  Captain Magnus shouts some encouraging words, "We got 'em hooked!  Pull the ships together and let's finish off these pathetic life forms!"  The captain also pulls out his pistol and shoots one of the Plow's scrambling crew members.  It hits her square in the chest and she is instantly killed. Magnus then has to quickly steady the wheel once again. 

 

The door to the captain's quarters opens and shuts.  Quarra goes to the quarterdeck railing to see what is going on, still invisible and staying out of the path of her lover's pistols.  She is relieved to see that the battle appears to have turned to be in our favor.  Now she only needs to decide how she will help.  "Unbelievable shot Captain."  Feng compliments Magnus as she pulls her katana out of its sheath and passes by to go on the main deck. 

 

Skarin runs down the stairs to the main deck to give Vlad a hand.  He positions himself in front of the prince and grabs the rope.  Gunner follows Skarin's lead and he grabs the rope in front Byrn.  It is unlikely that the prince and the young noble would have been pulling the ships together without help. Gondor gets up and stands between the two ropes grabbing one in each hand and tells the men to "Pull together when I give the command."  Up in the crow's nest, Chioptl reloads her crossbow for another shot.  She aims at the beady eyed man but again misses. She reloads again in a fury.

 

Thisbe pulls out her spiked clubs as her dragon Kaula bravely lands on the quarterdeck, right next to the Plow's captain.  Kaula claws at the young female mage and slices her shin.  The young woman falls to the deck either unconscious or dead. She swipes with her other claw at the captain and gets her in the arm.  It is a small scratch though.  Next, Kaula bites her.  Her mouth is filled more with stringy hair then flesh though. The captain's attention has definitely turned to Kaula now.

 

The evil captain wiggles free of the dragons disturbing bite and grabs uncorks a scroll case that was resting on the wheel and pops out and unrolls the scroll that was inside it letting the case fall to the deck.  She then takes a step back and reads off the scroll, her voice getting louder as she does so.  The monkey jumps off of her shoulder and grabs the scroll case where his master dropped it.  The red robed monk casts a healing spell on himself which makes him both look and feel much better.   

 

The female in the red robe gets her Kama out and advances towards the foredeck grapple.  The man in the plate mail with Rock's ballista bolt in his knee pulls out his sword and stands next to her.  Another male with a shield and a spear goes to her other side. Captain no neck gives the command to "Shoot their captain!"  Six crew members fire at Magnus with light crossbows.  He and a couple other crew members draw their blades and move to the quarterdeck grapple. The seemingly invincible beady eyed man moves to the center of the rail, pulls out his cutlass and snarls a challenge.  "I dare you to board us!"  A predatory smile on his face follows.  The remaining crew is scrambling to the quarterdeck to assist their captain with attempting to slay the dragon and the two female priests. 

 

Crew of the Nightshark can clearly see they are on the losing side but wish to fight to the biter end.  The nearly dead monk in the red robes wants to go out in a bang.  He chants a spell with blood pouring out of his mouth.  He raises his palm and a flame equal to a torch appears in his hand.  He uses it to light the titan hand cannon on the foredeck and aims it at Vendar on the main deck and it fires loudly.  Fortunately he is too disoriented to aim straight and it misses not only Vendar but the entire ship. He follows that up by hurling the magical flame like a missile up at Corey and again his aim falls short and he misses.  The pouring rain extinguishes the flame that hit a sail rather quickly.  The monk has failed.  The woman with the axe stands back up from her fall and screams in frustration.  The remaining crew with the hooked plank tries half heartily to hook the other ship.  She is now rather frightened.  The thunder roars, seemingly mocking the other woman's scream.

 

Only two of the light crossbow bolts hit Magnus.  One is in the knee and the other in the throat.  The one in the knee went in deep but the neck one was only a scratch.  "Shoot him again!"  Captain no neck yells.  They do.  This time four hit. One in the ankle which hits the bone and hurts more than one would think.  Another scratches his shoulder.  The remaining two hit him in the chest.  Magnus's pain turns into anger and he growls.  Captain no neck looks behind him and the female in the red robes asks him, "Should I?” pulling out a small ceramic pot with her free hand from her robe's pocket.  He nods his head in approval and she throws the pot onto the Kraken.  The pot hits Skarin on the top of the head and knocks him clean out.  It lands square into Gondor's face and the ceramic breaks splashing oil that immediately bursts into flame.  Gondor does not scream but falls flat on his back unconscious.  So does the young prince Vlad, although he was only splashed in the shin.  The oil hits Tuanda's feet and she falls as well.   The bard Solangia got hit in the arm but she backed up so did not take full damage.  Gunner was hit in the leg and is damaged enough that he falls to the deck.  Rosemary backs up like Solangia did and takes minimum damage to her foot.  And lastly, Byrn gets a covered with the fiery oil right in his chest.  It invigorates him, causing him to be even more ready to battle.  The male next to the female monk takes out an even smaller ceramic vial shaped container and uncorks it and drinks the contents and makes a sour face as he swallows the liquid.  The man in plate mail does the exact same thing with his own potion.  Captain no neck steps forward lifts the grapple from the rail and drops it in the water.  Two monstrous looking crew members on either side of him look extremely satisfied.  

 

On the Plow's main deck, the beady eyed man snarls and raises his rifle and takes a shot at Solangia but misses.  On either side of him are men with shields and swords.  Behind him a large man with a pole arm watches.  The four remaining crew are crowding on the quarterdeck to help the female captain.  An elven male stands on the stairs and fires his bow at Thisbe.  He hits her once in the arm, hard.  The elf male on the quarterdeck swings at Kaula with his sword but does not pierce through her scales.  The two human males with pole arms jab also but both swing wildly. The male monk on deck slices his Kama at Thisbe and misses.   The female captain's spell from the scroll has no visible effect at first then a magical aura of armor appears around her.  She chants another spell and draws her tulwar sword and it develops a magical glow as well. The monkey scrambles toward the rudder for safety.  Then an awful sound is heard.  Five cannons ring loudly, one right after the other.  Three cannonballs tear into the Kraken.  The other two somehow miss.  Still, the Kraken is seriously crippled.

 

Damaris has Brun land on the main deck of the Purity's Plow next to the enemy's cabin boy, attacking one of the crossbow wielding crew with a kick as he does so.  Brun hooves one of the crossbow man in the leg, injuring him.  Damaris thrust his rapier at another crossbow man and misses.  With the other rapier sword he aims for the back of the large crew member with the pole arm.  He would of hit but the huge man does an amazing parry and ends up sticking Damaris in the thigh leaving a huge hole.  Sabrin and Anton land on the quarterdeck, close to the bow.  She lunges one of her long daggers at one of the monstrous crew members.  She would of hit but he dodges.  The other dagger goes for the man with the shield and spear.  He tries to deflect with his shield but she manages to slice him in the leg, wounding him further than he already is.  Rhianna and Rasmal get closer but not enough to land.  

 

In the royal quarters on the Seahawk, Lourdes grabs a hold of both Nabal and the glowing sword to keep them on the bed from the impact of a wave.  "What is going on out there?  I think something happened to Rex!  I can sense it.  Check on him.  Please."  Nabal is beginning to go hysterical.  "Okay."  Lourdes replies.  She moves the sword’s hilt towards Nabal’s hand and Nabal grasps it tightly.  Lourdes takes Nabal's other hand and places on a bedpost.  "Hang on.  I will see."  Lourdes grabs her staff and goes to the door and hangs onto it as she looks out.  "He is nowhere to be seen."  Lourdes informs the queen.  Then Haily the hawk flies directly in front of Lourdes.  She opens her beak and Rosemary's airy voice is heard saying, "We are planning on commandeering their flag ship."

 

Captain Magnus is furious.  He switches out his pistol for two others he had in is belt and fires, one at the female captain and one intended for Captain no neck.  The shot aimed at the female would have been a solid hit but somehow, magically it reflects off of her and comes back at him with three times the force it normally would.  Quarra jumps up in front of Magus and casts a magical shield spell which stops the bullet.  She becomes visible but saves his life.  "That was absolutely amazing."  Feng says and bows in respect to captain Magnus and Quarra and stumbles down the stairs to check on the prince.  

 

Byrn ties off his grappled rope and steps over his downed companions to the railing.  He times his spell as the boats are at their closet point.  He fans his fingers in front of him, thumbs touching, and recites an incantation.  Flames burst fourth in a five feet radius hitting the beady eyed man and the crew member next to him.  They both step back slightly and take less damage then hoped but the beady eyed man does take damage finally.  Rosemary kneels next to Gunner, the closet ally wounded and takes out her water skin and pours some of her whiskey on his calf to clean the wound.  It causes him to jump up immediately and he says "Now it is back in the battle."  Solangia begins to sing.  With the way the tides have turned she feels that she needs to change the mood of her allies by a different song.  She sits cross legged and puts Skarin's head in her lap and moves his hair out of his face and tries to gently wake him. 

 

On the quarterdeck, Shannon quickly reloads the ballista then grabs her spear and throws it at the woman who threw the pot of fiery oil but all the spear hits is the side of their boat.  Shannon looks very angry.  Rock fires the ballista at the same woman and also misses.  He says out loud, "I am very worried about the prince."  Brenna hears her fellow bard singing a different song and barely recognizes it and joins her in a harmony.  She also takes a shot at the exact same woman with her longbow.   The first shot hits her and sticks in her belly being an excellent shot.  Second shot misses.  Korram says' '"I'll finish the b***h."   He puts his bow on his back and launches himself off the railing as he draws two daggers.  He clears the railing of the enemy's foredeck and lands right in front of Captain no neck with a malevolent look in his eyes and a grin on his face.  Chioptl reloads and fires the crossbow with another miss and she growls in frustration.  Fray the talking owl speaks up from under the tower shield while putting his wing over the baby hawk protectively, "Calm you. Little Miss Crazzie is already terrified enough as it is now."   

 

Kaula telepathically tells Thisbe that she does not like this getting poked at.  Kaula claws the elf with the sword on the side of the face and he collapses.  The other claw is for the female mage captain but her magical armor protects her.  She snaps her teeth at one of the males with the pole arms.  Thisbe casts a cure spell on herself.  Cait swings her twin longswords around but hits nothing and no one.  

 

The Seahawk is still intact and Eileen is having no trouble controlling it.  She tosses a couple of her daggers at the woman with the plank.  One impales her on the right side of his waist and it finishes her off. Only two enemies on the Nightshark remain.  Corey thinks he can take them.  He fires at the red robed monk first.  First shot misses but second arrow hits him dead in the heart.  He is finally slain.  Now there is just one survivor.  Vendar speaks to her.  "If you surrender, we will not harm you."  His magical words fail him.  She spits at him, hoping the wind will carry her curse to him.  Kizzar grabs a rope and pushes himself off of the Seafarer and onto the Nightshark, landing next to the woman.  "Are you sure you won't change your mind?"  He asks her.  With her distracted, Prida figured he could glide in behind her.  He grabs a rope to mirror what Kizzar did and makes it over to the Nightshark but just barely, and not silently either.  But they are both next to her.  

 

Grace yells back to JeAnn.  "Looks like the Seafarer is secure.  Let’s fly by and take out some of this scum."   She has Maiya dive towards the Purity's Plow.  One of the crew with the sword and shield blocks Grace's first attack with her longsword.  But he is unable to stop her berserking blade and it cuts him clean in half.  JeAnn and Ruby go on the opposite side of the ship and try to take out the guy with the shield and spear but he is able to block with the shield just in time.   

 

The emerald dragon Wileen and Gunther land on main deck of the Nightshark and he asks the woman, "Have you surrendered?"  She only glares at him in a response.  Natashia and Genesee fly past and catch up with Rhianna and Rasmal.  Natashia does not approve of Rhianna being alone.  Rhianna was born an only child to nobles.  She was quite spoiled.  Rhianna had a thirst for knowledge though that could never be quenched.  She wanted nothing more than to learn.  And when her parents arranged her to marry at sixteen, she wouldn’t have it.  She felt there was more to life she hadn’t explored, including true love.  The man they wanted her to marry was powerful and influential but not a romantic handsome type.  So she ran away.  Her parents are angry with her but the man is extremely mad.  He was looking forward to having a young wife.  And if this man finds out she is now married to Vendar, he will most likely try to kill her. 

 

Being that he has the best vantage point, Corey saw the hawk Haily fly to the noble quarters and even heard what she said in Rosemary's always gentle voice.  He also is aware that the female is not surrendering and decides putting her out of her misery would be the kind thing to do considering certain men that are there to take her captive.  He fires.  Both arrows impale the railing.  "She is a lucky woman.  Good or bad luck is yet to be determined.” he exclaims to the large bat up there with him.  Eileen yells out to Vendar, "Check on Axel and Rex!"  "Yeah, I will."  Vendar answers and sprints towards the foredeck stairs and begins to go up to them.  He is surprised that a human female can resist his charms.  But Eileen is right.  Axel is one of his closest friends and Rex is our future king.  

 

At the bow of the Kraken Brenna struggles at the harmony of Solangia's song and at retaining her balance to fire her bow again.  She aims for the female in red robes she hit last time.  First shot misses but second one hits her in the shoulder.  Rocks stands up and pulls out his whip and uses it to wrap up the rail of the Purity's Plow where Vlad had the grapple.  Shannon positions herself in front of Rock and grabs the whip and together they pull.  She slips on the wet wood and falls on her side but Rock roars as he somehow pulls the two ships together.  Gunner ties off the quarterdeck rope, removing the slack.  "We got em now!"  He boasts.   Byrn tumbles over the two railings with a flip and lands between the beady eyes man and the one with the sword and shield.  Byrn then pulls out two longswords in a blaze and the one in his left hand lines itself with fire after Byrn speaks a command word.  With the normal sword Byrn swings low and slices the shield guy in the foot causing him to drop to the deck.  With the flame blade he swings at the beady eyed man but he turns and avoids the fiery blade. 

 

Captain Magnus says, "Thank you my love."  He fires his last loaded pistol at the man with the sword next to the female captain and the bullet goes through his neck, killing him.  The body falls into the stormy ocean.  Quarra unsheathes her two longswords and actually feels brave at the moment.  Solangia's and Brenna's song is filling the air and Skarin opens his eyes just as the lyrics being said are "Go forth brave warrior."  He stands, stretches and prepares himself.  Chioptl is watching and says to Fray," I am hoping Vlad will get back up next."  She shoots the crossbow again and this time she hits the elf on the stairs firing at Thisbe. It hits him in the knee and he is not injured much but switches his attention to Chioptl now.  Rosemary steps to the next closet wounded which is Gondor.  The oil to his face will disfigure him badly so she kneels and quickly decides to use her most powerful curing spell on him with the intent to allow him to retain his most handsome face.  It mostly cures him which pleases her.  He has some redness but will be fine with no scarring.  Feng tells Rosemary to "Heal the prince next." and begins to climb over the railing but she takes it easy as not to fall since she can't swim.  

 

The dragon Kaula manages to move a bit into a better fighting position.  She claws at the female captain again.  It is a magnificent hit, ripping her heart out, instantly breaking the spell and killing her.  The other claw gets the male monk in the leg, leaving a small gash.  "That's my girl."  Thisbe says to her bonded mount and swings her clubs at the two remaining foes on the quarterdeck but misses them.  Cait does the same with her two longswords.  

 

Ruby circles then dives for the beady eyed man.  There is something particular about this man she doesn't like.  He smells like a rat.  She claws at him and again he ducks.  Second claw is a strike, although a small one to the hand but still he bleeds.  Then she attempts to bite his face off.  There is contact and blood spews everywhere.  He falls to the deck.  Ruby twists and lands next to his bloody body.  JeAnn swipes the large man's head completely off of his huge body with a slice from one of her long daggers.  The head land at the cabin boy's feet.  Byrn says words only JeAnn or another from their land would understand.  She repeats those words back to him.  Grace and Maiya fly along the seaboard side now choosing new targets.  Maiya hooves and bites at one of the crossbow men but he ducks the hoof.  The bite is in the forearm and it's enough to draw blood.  Grace leans forward swipes her sword at another and he reaches his hand up to block and she chops it clear off.  Blood squirts out of his stump and he quickly bleeds out and dies.    

 

"I can't see Rex.  I think he is on the foredeck because I just heard Eileen telling Vendar to check on him.  It does look like we are winning the battle.  I told you Thor was watching us."  Lourdes looks at Nabal happy at the turn of events and sees her pained face.  "Come in here Haily."  Lourdes says to the hawk and goes back to Nabal.  The bird flies in and lands on the table.  "Nabal I think it is time for you to start pushing.  Nabal cries out and pushes.  

 

Brun rears up to kick and Damaris slides off a bit clumsily.  The crossbow man avoids the hooves but gets bit on the elbow.  Damaris slices a different crossbow man in the shin and he falls.  Sabrin stays on the back of Anton and stabs at one of the monster types again.  On close inspection she recognizes his race as a death slaad.  Which is a great frog like being that have huge heads and their claws are extremely sharp.  There are powerful symbols embedded into their foreheads signifying rank.  She pierces him in the side of the throat and when she rips out her dagger a chunk of his putrid green flesh comes out too and he is dead.  Her other dagger slices the man with the spear's upper leg leaving a large gash mark.  

 

Rhianna follows Grace's example and flies on the starboard side to finish off the crossbow men.  She takes her dagger and impales one with a massive hit in the side of the leg that leaves him dead.  Natashia focuses on the one in plate mail.  She stabs at him and he reaches his foot up in effort to kick her off her mount but her short sword goes all the way through his foot.  He screams out in pain.  With her second short sword she sticks it in his head right through his ear and puts him out of his misery.  

 

The only remaining brotherhood Captain Lars "no neck" Helvur draws his scimitar and lunges at Korram and slices him in the throat.  Blood pours down his tattooed body and Korram wavers but does not fall.  The captain also pulls out his pistol and stunned that the wild elf is still alive he fires at Korram who moves in the nick of time.  The female monk in the red robe says a spell and fire appears in her hand and she hurls the flame at Brenna, hitting her square in the face and another set of flames immediately appears in her hand. The remaining monstrous crewman stabs at Anton with his spear and pierces him in the front flank.  

 

On the main deck of the Purity’s Plow two of the crossbow men pull swords.  The one left with a crossbow shoots at Maiya and hits her hard in the rear flank.  The elf on the stairs fires his bow at Chioptl up in the Kraken’s crow’s nest.  First arrow hits her in the forearm and the second shot misses.  The two left on the quarterdeck are doing all that they can just to stay alive by dodging the dragon and the female priests. 

 

The female on the Nightshark wants to do as much damage as possible before she is killed so she raises her axe and goes after Wileen, swinging madly.  Prida throws a dagger at her to stop her and it gets her in the arm but she is still moving.  Kizzar claws her in the shoulder and again, she is still charging.  Wileen slaps her with a dragon paw and knocks her off her feet and the woman is knocked down and no longer moving.  

 

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