Recap:
General Ares settled back in the cushioned chair and sighed. It was going to be a long day for him.
A few minutes later, Betty the kau made her way over to his table carrying a tray on which precariously stood a large mug of cold beer filled to the brim and a giant pack of cheesy neos.
"Ahh… thank you, Betty," General Ares nodded contentedly as the cook set down his order in front of him. "Anytime, General," Betty drawled out in her distinct Southern accent. The striped kau batted her long eyelashes at the blue lupe. General Ares nodded again, and Betty made her way over to another table where a fresh load of sailors had just sat down.
Ares downed half the mug of beer in one long gulp, then licked the foam out from his shaggy blue whiskers. He was just about to use his sharp teeth to rip apart the bag of cheesy neos when a white blumaroo bounced through the doors of the Food Cabin and right up to his table. Ares noticed the red bandanna with white polka dots tied around the blumaroo's neck. "First mate Charles, is there a problem?" General Ares stood up at once.
But before the blumaroo could even answer him, there was a loud BANG and the ship lurched to the right.
Tables flew all around the Food Cabin, and all the neopets except Ares were thrown about. "ATTACK!" someone screamed. "General Anwar just spotted them, Sir. He sent me to tell you about it, but I'm afraid I didn't make it to you on time," Charles confessed, his blumaroo ears drooping sadly.
"Don't worry, Charles, I'm sure you came here as fast as you could. The Psellia is a big ship after all," General Ares told the blumaroo. He knew that blumaroos were one of the fastest neopets in Neopia. Before any of them could move, however, there was another loud BANG and the ship shuddered violently.
"Everyone out on deck! Prepare for battle! Women and children in their cabins, NOW!" General Ares' deep voice resounded throughout the Food Cabin, and calmed everyone down. Ares and Charles were the first out the door. Charles bounced rapidly out on deck, followed very closely by Ares, who was running on all fours. They were met on deck by General Anwar, who quickly handed Ares his trusty Sword of Domar.
"What are these creatures?" Ares asked General Anwar as they made their war across the deck of the Psellia. "Swarms of black things… still can't tell what they are, but one of the sailors claims it's something like a cross between a chia and a koi," General Anwar replied, withdrawing his Platinum Tech Bow. "But chias can't swim!" Ares growled angrily. "Kois can," General Anwar replied matter-of-factly.
By now, loud cannon shots were ringing through the air as the Neopia Army prepared to battle this unseen enemy. The six different kinds of frost cannons were being loaded and shot into the water simultaneously. At the sides of the Psellia, all the sailors and members of the Neopia Army were using all sorts of weapons to combat the enemy. Dozens of sponge shields suffocated the sea creatures, some fired Frost bow arrows into the water, instantly freezing up the creatures and others launched Stone Kacheek Heads into the water with Kacheek Pebble Lobbers.
Generals were busy shouting orders to the soldiers of lesser ranks.
A few minutes later, the battle was still raging furiously, but the soldiers and sailors aboard the Psellia were tiring out fast. The enemy was still coming in swarms, and they were now attacking the Psellia with even more vigour.
Just when the crew on board the Psellia gave up hope of ever surviving this attack, there came a whiz of colours in the sky. Red, green, dark blue, purple, yellow and light blue. "The faeries! They have come!" the crew cheered. General Ares squinted up into the sky, using one paw to shield his eyes from the bright light. Sure enough, clouds of faeries were streaming down from the sky. The normal faeries gave off a faint light the colour of their type, but the uber-faeries gave off a much more stronger light.
Suddenly, from within the midst of all the bright faeries there came a loud cry, "Faeries! Fight to the end!" And within the horde of magical creatures came forth their leader, the Battle Faerie. Beautiful, proud and fearless she flew down from the sky with her gleaming sword brandished. Her silky purple hair flew about her heart-shaped face and the simple green tunic she wore looked stunning.
Then all the faeries flitted swiftly down into the sea to battle the enemy. The crew on board the Psellia gasped as scores of rare and magical weapons were brandished. Here, a Greater Orb of the Fire Faerie was being used to blow the creatures to smithereens. Over there, a Water Sceptre turned patches of the sea into boiling hot seawater, causing the enemy to jump up in pain. And now the crew of the Psellia was fighting with renewed vigour, lobbing stone muffins, poison puffins, radioactive muffins and all sorts of other weapons into the water.
Ares stood at the bow of the ship alone, watching the Battle Faerie fend off thousand of those black little creatures. She had no fanciful, magical sceptres, necklaces or wands, only her shining sword, but she fought skillfully. Her wrist and her sword were one, deflecting each blow of the enemy with courage and tact. The lupe watched the Battle Faerie in awe, marveling her every move.
Suddenly, Ares heard a little cry coming from behind him, down below in the sea. Turning around, he peered down into the water and gasped. A lovely light faerie was struggling in the slimy grasp of one of the creatures. Her light was fading fast, because the creature was trying to pull the poor faerie underwater with it, and the faerie could not fly as her wings were almost crushed into the vicious grip of the enemy. "Help me, please! Anyone!" the helpless faerie called out.
Ares withdrew his sword fiercely and said, "Don't worry, light faerie. I'm coming!" and without any hesitation, Ares leapt over the edge of the Psellia and pointed his sword downwards as he sailed through the air and into the water.
Inside the water, Ares' Sword of Domar came into contact with the creature, and it let out a terrified shriek before falling to the bottom of the sea. The light faerie flew up in a fierce blaze of light. "Oh thank you!" she called out to Ares, and her light grew brighter and brighter as she flew in circles over his head. Then she flew away to rejoin the battle.
But when General Ares' sight left the faerie, he realised that he had thrown himself into much more trouble than he'd expected. For swimming speedily towards him were dozens of black creatures, snarling and snapping their jaws. Ares tried to fend off some of the creatures, but since he was in the water, it slowed his quick movements down, and soon the lupe was tired out. General Ares gave a last roar of defeat and slumped down into the water.
His vision went black.
To be continued…