Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering, only my own characters.
CHAPTER 41-The Storm
Arrathir was nervous. Scratch that, he was extremely nervous. This was a totally new experience for him and he wasn't sure about it. His stomach churned just thinking about it.
"Eva, are you sure?" he asked, breathing heavily
"Shh," said Eva, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder "It's gonna be OK. Just go along with it."
"But…"
"No," said Eva "Just do it. Get it over with."
"I'm scared, Eva."
"Don't worry. I'll help you."
"It's going to hurt, isn't it?" asked Arrathir.
"You mean you've never done this before?"
"Well, not quite, no," admitted Arrathir.
"Well, I only did it once," said Eva "But it'll be over fast. You'll feel better afterwards."
"All right," said Arrathir. Plucking up his courage, he leaned over and regurgitated the contents of his stomach into the sea below. He hadn't quite gotten used to the constant rocking of the ship, resulting in him getting seasick. He wasn't the only one either. Both Eva and Erik had thrown up shortly before him and Khell admitted he wasn't feeling so good before retreating to their cabin. The only Keeper seemingly unaffected was Charles.
As Arrathir stood up, wiping the vomit from his lips, he heard some sailors laughing at him from behind them.
"The lad's not a seaman, that's sure!" one of them laughed.
"Ignore them," said Eva "We'll get used to it in a few days."
Arrathir nodded, trying to keep his temper. It had been a day since they'd set out from Ers. Arrathir had woken up in a bed, not knowing where he was and had almost killed one of the sailors before Khell stopped him. He'd spent the rest of the day in a drunken stupor, but the worst had been the next morning when he'd been introduced to the wonderful world of hangovers. The pounding headache he's woken up with was only beginning to diminish, Arrathir having categorically refused to stoop down to asking Erik for help.
He'd been horrified when Khell had told him of the slaughter at the bar. The death of the elves still weighed heavily on his conscience so the news of further deaths brought about by him racked him with guilt.
"I'm a monster," he told Eva "I killed those people in cold blood. The fuck is wrong with me?"
In frustration, he punched the mainmast, grimacing in pain as his fist met the hard wood, scraping the skin off his knuckles. "Fuck!" he exclaimed.
"Stop that," said Eva as Arrathir went for another assault on the mast "You'll only hurt yourself."
"So?" snarled Arrathir "I'm a fuckin' hanyo! I can take pain!"
"Arrathir, stop hurting yourself," said Eva.
"Why?" asked Arrathir "With all the pain I've caused, why shouldn't I share in this pain?"
"It's not healthy," said Eva "I mean, if today you're punching masts, next thing you know you'll be cutting yourself!"
"So? It's my escape; helps me forget what I've done."
"You're starting to scare me," said Eva "Please promise me you'll stop. Do it for me."
Arrathir hesitated. Pain was the only way he could deal with the guilt inside him. It devoured him constantly and every time he saw the mourning elf families in his mind he swore he could hear the demon cackling in glee. His self-inflicted pain helped him block out his guilt. If he accepted, he would be alone against his painful memories. He couldn't handle that much guilt.
Arrathir opened his mouth to respond, but staring into Eva's eyes, he couldn't bring himself to refuse. She was staring at him expectantly. He could read several emotions in her eyes: sadness, concern, and fear. He knew if he refused, it would only hurt her more, something he'd sworn he would never do again. He couldn't stand to see an ounce of pain in those eyes. His decision was made.
"OK," he finally said "I'll stop it."
Relief immediately flooded Eva's face. "Thanks," she said "You know I don't blame you for what happened."
"I know," said Arrathir "It's just hard to convince myself of that."
Eva smiled mischievously at him. "Come here," she said "I want to try something."
Curious, Arrathir followed her to the bow of the ship.
"All right," said Eva, stepping onto the figurehead "Now grab my waist so I don't fall."
"Oh no," groaned Arrathir, realizing what she wanted to do "Not this!"
"Come on!" said Eva "It'll be fun."
"Fine," sighed Arrathir, placing his arms around Eva's waist "But just once."
Eva flung out her arms perpendicular to her body. She stood straight up and gazed out at the horizon as the wind whipped back her hair.
"I'm flying, Jack!" she laughed "I mean, Arrathir," she corrected herself.
"Actually," muttered Arrathir "I'd rather you not use my real name right now." He glanced back nervously at the sailors on deck. A few were pointing at them and laughing.
"Come on, Eva," he said "Let's go."
"Just a bit longer," she protested.
"You'd best be getting down from there, missy," said a sailor, approaching them "And bet getting down below. Storm's a-coming." Sure enough, they could see the telltale dark line of clouds on the horizon. Already, the wind was picking up, flapping the ship's sails wildly.
"Reef the main!" shouted the first mate from the wheel. (A/N: "Reefing" is a sailing term whereby a ship's sails have their area reduced in strong winds to maintain a low center of gravity to avoid the ship capsizing) Eva and Arrathir scurried down to the deck head (underside of the deck) while the sailors lowered the mainsail by a quarter of its luff length. (A/N: The luff is the front edge of the sail) The lower part of the sail was tightened to avoid further flapping. They could already head the distant rumble of thunder.
The deck head was dark, damp from its constant aqueous surroundings, and echoed with the creaks and groans of the hull as it sliced through the waves. The only light came from small iron lanterns and the occasional knothole in the deck planks. The whole place had a slightly unpleasant smell of sweat and salt.
While Eva had been given her own quarters, the Keepers slept with the crew in the deck head. Here, a dozen or so hammocks were suspended from the ceiling. Arrathir had found them to be quite comfortable, the hammocks moving in concert with the constant motion of the ship and preventing the sleeper from being thrown to the floor.
Arrathir saw Khell and Erik already in their respective hammocks. The Keepers had been given the four hammocks next to the bulkhead that separated the sleeping quarters from the cargo bay.
"Feeling any better?" Arrathir asked Khell.
"Not much," the Keeper admitted with a weak smile. Arrathir noted he still looked a little green.
"Well, we're heading into rough weather," said Arrathir "So if you're gonna hurl, you should probably do it soon."
"Great," sighed Khell, getting out of his hammock and wobbling up the stairs to the deck.
"So, how're you doing, Erik?" Arrathir inquired.
"Fuck off, Quinn," came the muffled response.
Same as usual, I see.
Eva went off to her quarters so Arrathir climbed into his hammock to try and get some sleep. The fabric enveloped him snugly like a big cocoon. Lulled by the rocking of the ship, Arrathir soon drifted off to sleep.
Night had fallen and the storm still raged on. Thick sheets of rain obscured the visibility in all directions and waves crashed over the railings, the water flooding the deck before regressing to the sea via the wash ports.
The helmsman had to fight hard to maintain the ship on course, only relying on his compass and the occasional flash of lightning to guide him.
"How are we doing, Mr. Garrash?" yelled the captain as he came onto the bridge.
"This bloody storm had thrown us off course, sir," replied the helmsman "By my estimates, we've derived several miles south of our original course and we'll only keep drifting. If the rain clears up we can get back on track, but I have no idea how long until that happens."
"Keep her steady, Mr. Garrash!" hollered the captain against the roaring gale "And watch yourself. We don't want to hit anything!"
At that moment, both men were thrown off their feet as something in the water impacted with the starboard side of the ship.
Eva was awakened by a loud bang next to her. It was followed by a low scraping sound, as if the ship were rubbing against a rock.
(We must have hit a reef or something.)
Stumbling out of bed, she channeled a small amount of red mana into the palm of her left hand, generating enough light for her to see where she was going. Leaving her cabin, she made her way through the deck head and reached the stairs leading to the deck. She could still hear the rain pounding on the deck so she decided to just take a quick look from the doorway.
At first, she saw nothing but the falling rain. Suddenly, she saw something moving on the deck. Peering through the slashing rain she was shocked to see a giant homarid crawling on the deck.
Its carapace was a bluish gray as were his two claws, which could have easily cleaved a tree trunk in two with a single snap. Its two antennae sliced through the air as it crawled, like two giant swords. She had no idea what the creature was, but something that big couldn't be good news.
Suddenly, a loud clanging rang through the air.
"All hands on deck!" yelled a voice from the stern "All hand on deck!"
Eva quickly extinguished her handful of mana and backed down the stairs. In the deck head, the sailors were waking up, hurrying to obey the pressing call. A call for all hands on deck in the dead of night could only mean an emergency and they were ready to spring in action. As they stormed up the stairs, Eva slipped by to find the other Keepers. She found three of them up, Erik apparently being able to sleep through anything.
"Wass goin' on?" asked a groggy Arrathir.
"There's some creature on the ship," said Eva "A giant lobster."
"It is hostile?" asked Charles.
"I don't know."
"I think we'd better get up there," said Khell "They may need our help."
"How can we help if we can't summon?" asked Arrathir.
"If the creature becomes a threat," said Khell "We may have to reveal our true identities to save the ship."
As they walked onto the deck, they found the rain had tapered off to a gentle shower. The homarid was now completely on the ship. It was a quarter the ship's length but it still looked extremely lethal. It glared fiercely at the men approaching it.
"All right, men," said the captain "Go in with the pikes and try to drive it back into the water. Don't get it angry or we're all doomed. Watch those claws. He'll cut you in half if he gets the chance."
The sailors began nervously advancing on the giant lobster, holding their pikes at arm's length. They jabbed tentatively at the enormous pincers, trying to get the creature moving. The homarid didn't seem to care and stood its ground against the approaching men. One sailor, braver or more foolish than the rest, got close enough to jab the homarid in its eye.
The reaction was immediate. The lobster's claw shot forwards, grabbing the unfortunate man. The sailor screamed as the homarid began implacably to squeeze him, crushing his rib cage to a bloody pulp. The man slumped forwards as his internal organs were reduced to a bloody mess. Tossing the man nonchalantly aside, the lobster charged at the other men, ready to kill.
Suddenly, a jet of fire struck the creature's shell, bouncing off into the night. The spell had the effect of making the monster pause as it looked confusedly about. The sailors took this opportunity to retreat to the bow.
"Hey!" yelled Eva "Over here, you oversized hors-d'oeuvre!"
The lobster's beady eyes focused on her, full of hatred. It snapped its pincers menacingly as it advanced on the Keepers.
"Looks like the cat's out of the bag!" said Khell "Terror the bugger, Arrathir!"
"With pleasure!" said the Keeper, unleashing his spell.
"No! Wait!" shouted Charles, but it was too late. The spell ricocheted off the creature's exoskeleton and shot through the mainsail, burning a hole through it. "Idiot!" yelled Charles "That's a Deep Spawn! 6/6, can't be the target of spells or abilities! Why did you think Eva's Magma Jet had no effect?"
"Look out!" yelled Arrathir. The lobster had recovered and charged at them, pincers open wide. Arrathir grabbed Eva and jumped over the monster, landing safely behind it. Khell began changing to his wurm form, leaving only Charles to face the homarid's onslaught. As the giant claw was about to close on him, Charles disappeared in a small flash of blue light and reappeared beside Arrathir.
"Looks like you got that Teleport spell down," said Arrathir.
"Good thing too," said Charles "We should probably summon to help Khell out."
"I can't," said Arrathir "Most of my creatures require too much mana. I'd wear myself out."
"You know," said Charles "This is the one time I wished Erik was here. He could set up a Circle of Protection or something!"
The wurm and the homarid faced off on the deck. The wurm charged at its opponent, ready to bite him in half. As his jaws closed on the carapace, a sickening crunching sound was heard. As the two combatants separated, the onlookers were shocked to see the homarid's carapace was intact but the wurm had lost several teeth that clattered to the deck.
Charles lost no time. He immediately summoned his Palinchron (4/5, Flying). As the illusion appeared on the field, he leaned against Arrathir, exhausted.
"Whew, remind me never to try that again," he said "I feel winded."
With a loud roar, a flaming tiger appeared alongside the illusion.
"You didn't think I'd let you have all the fun, did you?" asked Eva as she finished summoning her Blistering Firecat (7/1, Haste, Trample). "Attack that lobster!" The Firecat charged at the homarid. As it pounced to attack, the homarid skittered sideways, nimbly avoiding the attack. The Firecat, not having had time to modify its trajectory, overshot the railing and fell into the sea below, its flaming body extinguishing in a hiss of steam.
"No!" yelled Eva, distraught over the death of her creature.
Charles sent his creature to attack. The illusion flew over to the lobster and pecked at it with his long beak, trying to stay out of range of the deadly pincers. Unfortunately, the lobster managed to grab the airborne creature, crushing it until it exploded into blue mana.
The wurm came back for another assault, trying to crush the creature with its massive body. Very agile for its size, the homarid dodged again, the wurm crashing through the mainmast. Slowly, slowed down by the surface of its sail and the riggings, the mast leaned over in a sickening groan and splashed into the ocean, sending up a geyser of water.
The homarid lost no time in the confusion. It scuttled towards the stunned wurm and grabbed its body with its two pincers. The wurm roared in pain and turned to face its attacker, but the homarid snapped its pincers shut, severing the wurm's body into two sections. The wurm gave a final roar and collapsed, its blood soaking the deck.
I can't let this go on! I don't care if I over exhaust myself; I have to stop that thing!
Collecting his mana, Arrathir called upon his Havoc Demon. The mana flowed from his hands and collected on the deck, shaping into the creature. As the winged demon appeared, the homarid did not seem intimidated by the new threat.
And since the demon's ability is a global effect, the Deep Spawn's protection against spells and abilities doesn't help it at all.
"Havoc Demon!" ordered Arrathir "Kill that overgrown shrimp!" The demon flew at the homarid, teeth bared. The lobster scuttled underneath the demon, lashing out with its pincers. The demon roared in pain as the claws found a hold in its scaly hide, mortally wounding it. He exploded in a shower of black mana with a piercing scream that echoed over the dark water. The homarid seemed severely affected by this and collapsed to the deck, twitching in pain before exploding into blue mana.
Arrathir was already by the wurm's side as it began reverting to its human form. "Khell! Are you OK?" he asked when his friend had completed his metamorphosis.
"I'm fine," said Khell "Good thing wurms can take a beating."
"And now I'm guessing we have a lot of explaining to do," said Eva as the sailors surrounded them.
To be continued…
Author's Note: Whew! Sorry about the late update. Had some computer problems and wasn't able to type up the second part of this chapter.
No rant tonight.
Review responses in the Academy forum.
Until next time, see ya!