"Rowing at double speed!" Drinian ordered as men began to rush about, readying themselves for escape or battle….whichever came first. Raelyn tightly grabbed onto Edmund's hand for support.
"We'll get through this." Edmund murmured to her. Raelyn nodded quietly, still reeling from all that was happening. A small bird call caught her attention and she spotted a patch of sunlight. From it a pure white seagull easily flew through, passing the boat, before disappearing out another patch of light. In that small ray of hope she felt as if she could finally breath. Her head cleared and she drew her blade, steeling herself for whatever was coming.
...
As the ship began to sail away, everyone was on high alert looking for the sea monster. Raelyn turned her head towards the back of the ship, her eyes widening as she spotted the dreaded thing bounding after them.
"Here it comes!" she warned with a shout, backing away from the railing. Within seconds the beast had caught up with them and leaped over the top deck of the ship. Everyone quickly ducked. As it cleared, the serpent made a hole in the railing where it continued to pass over and under the ship.
"Lucy get Gael out of here!" Raelyn ordered, spotting the two girls near the mast. She yelped and ducked out of the way as the serpent returned to wrap itself around the ship again. Lucy quickly bolted with the young girl in tow. Raelyn scrambled away from the body of the beast as it passed by her. Edmund spotted her and tried to run that direction but was cut off by the serpent body before he could reach her. As the sea monster fully wrapped around the ship twice it began to squeeze, the boat creaking violently under the pressure. The beast reared its gruesome head above the water, snarling at the occupants. Edmund quickly scrambled under the slimy body and pulled Ray out of sight of the monster, both panting from trying to remain standing despite the violent rocking of the ship.
"Ed! Ray! We'll ram the serpent, smash it on the rocks!" Caspian called out from where he had taken over the wheel. The two looked over in the direction he had gestured to, spotting the large rock jutting from the water.
"Steer it to port! I'll keep it on the prow!" Edmund called back over the chaos. Caspian nodded, letting him know he heard the plan. Edmund quickly turned that direction and started to run but a hand stopped him.
"What do you need me to do?" Raelyn asked seriously.
"I need you to stay here."
"That's not happening, I'm coming to help you." she quickly countered, holding his arm tighter so he couldn't take off. Edmund swallowed thickly as he stared at her. The hysteria and worry was quickly building up. Seeing his emotions elevate she reached her hand to hold his cheek, getting his focus back on her.
"Hey! I'm your second, alright? Now what do you need me to do?" she gently asked, her eyes never losing their determination. Edmund nodded.
"Keep the serpent focused on me. And if not on me then keep it up front." He told her before darting off towards his destination. Raelyn licked her lips and glanced warily at the monster by the boat. She quickly darted out of the way as the beast lunged for the ship, not caring who it grabbed in it's jaws. Once it drew back she sprinted after Edmund. During this time Edmund had managed to crawl up and into the mouth of the dragon on the front of the ship, settling himself on its wooden tongue. He reached for his torch but frowned, finding it missing from his belt.
"Ray I need a light!" he called, spotting her darting across the ship. Raelyn finally reached the front, gasping for breath. Hearing his call she looked down and tried to bring up a light. But nothing happened.
"Ugh come on!" she shouted angrily. At her shout a burst of light quickly lit in her palm before fading. She pursed her lips.
"Alright anger works, so we'll go with that." She muttered sourly. Raelyn never was a very angry person but she hoped with the darkness influencing her emotions that she could use it to her advantage. Focusing on the serpent she glared at it, thinking of all the things she blamed it for. As she had hoped, it was working. Keeping her gaze on the beast she sent a light at it's eyes, getting the creature's attention. It chittered irritably and followed the light to where she had redirected it to reveal where Edmund was perched.
"Come on I'm here! Try and kill me!" Edmund taunted, holding up his sword. Raelyn's light immediately faltered.
"What? Ed!" she shrieked in alarm. She hadn't planned on him actually wanting it to attack. Just to keep it distracted or move it up to the front. However the beast had seen him and lunged, taking off a large chunk of the false dragon face.
"Edmund!" came a frantic shout across the ship as Caspian and Lucy also witnessed what had happened. They held their breath as the serpent backed away from the damage. Edmund slowly slid out from the back of the mouth, panting and staring at the damage with wide eyes.
"Edmund what are you thinking!" Raelyn snapped, the light quickly coming back.
"Just keep it focused on me!" Edmund ordered, crawling back up the head and down the neck. Still in view but no longer trapped. They were getting closer to the rock. Raelyn snarled at him but did as he asked, using her anger once more to fuel the light.
"I'm still here!" Edmund taunted. On the other end of the ship Lucy aimed Susan's arrows at the monster. As the beast began to lunge for her brother she released her arrow and it found it's mark in the serpent's eye. It jerked back in pain, green mist coming out of the injury. Edmund stared at the familiar arrow and slowly backed away.
"Brace yourselves!" Caspian warned as they came up on the rock. Edmund jumped off the top of the dragon head just as they made impact. Raelyn watched helplessly as his body was flung across the ship, thudding along the deck before he rolled to a stop.
"Edmund?" She called, but she received no answer from his limp form. Raelyn ducked down as the serpent flailed, retracting it's long body from around the ship. The rowers down below quickly began to reverse the ship now that they had control back. Raelyn took this opportunity to dart over towards the boy.
"Ed, wake up. Are you ok?" she worried, pulling his torso up. Edmund groaned and shook his head weakly.
"Everything hurts." He muttered lowly, his eyes opening. Raelyn sighed in relief and pulled him into a hug.
"Good, that means you're still alive." She weakly joked. Edmund groaned again, this time adding a small chuckle. Caspian soon joined and assisted in pulling Edmund up to his feet. Once again Raelyn ran her hands along his torso to make sure he didn't have any major injuries. Edmund grabbed her hands and pulled her closer, holding her forehead to his tenderly.
"I'm ok. Just some bruises." He quietly assured. Raelyn nodded.
...
Their moment was broken by the shrieks of the sea monster. Looking back to where it was rising they all watched in horror as yellow lights streaked across it's chest. Moments later it split in two, pulling its skin back to reveal thousands of leg-like attachments within. Raelyn flinched back in shock at the sight. The monster quickly keyed in on the culprits responsible for it's pain.
"Hey watch out!" Caspian shouted, lunging for the couple. All three fell into a heap as the monster snapped right where Edmund and Ray had been standing. Raelyn growled.
"I'm so done with all of this!" she snapped, grabbing a fallen sword from the deck and swinging it violently onto one of the legs beside them; effectively chopping it off. The monster reared back in pain while the two boys stared at her warily. This was a whole new side to her. Raelyn watched in fascination as the leg disappeared in a gust of smoke. She grinned, turning to face them.
"We can beat this." Caspian and Edmund stared at the spot where the leg once was.
"Then let's do it." Edmund chimed in, grinning back at her. The three stood back up, ready for another round. Edmund walked up next to his girlfriend.
"You're very effective and all but after this is over I would very much like my gentle redhead back." He told her with a grin. Raelyn blushed.
"I think that can be arranged. I'm not to fond of it either, but it keeps popping up." She admitted with a shrug. The island messed with all of them, but at least she wasn't letting it dominate her actions. She just tweaked it to work in her favor.