Chapter 25: Shadows of the Sea

Shadowy clouds swallowed the stars. The wind churned the sea surface, turning the water choppy and banishing any hint of reflected moonlight. Beyond that was something far more baleful; lightning crackled and outlined the broken masts of ghost ships. Chrom bit back a curse as he watched. This was a delay he didn't need, especially now of all times.

'Ghost ships on top of everything else-!'

Chrom spun the wheel, bringing the Shepherd around to face the decaying ship. It was the vanguard of a fleet, crashing through the storm-tossed waves. Robin darted forward, hands snapping around the ship's bell chord. The clang of brass echoed across the deck and waves.

In answer to the alarm, the Shepherd crew spilled onto the deck. They made for a ragged collection, their movements almost as slow and broken as the Risen.

'What do you expect, after you pushed them so hard?' Chrom winced as he watched over them.

Vaike was the first to stumble to the front line, Lon'qu staggering after him as he fought to draw his sword from the scabbard. Chrom watched as his crew scrambled to form the beginnings of a line to stand the Risen, if it came to boarding… But it was obvious how exhausted they were. They wouldn't last long against a direct assault.

He looked back to the ships, and what they were dealing with.

A half decayed man stood at the wheel of the lead ship, painting himself as a clear target. The storm winds lifted the ragged clothing of the captain, and the stained robes tangled Chrom's sight. The gold was almost a match for Robin's robes, but far more ornate… At least in the patches that weren't rotted away by salt.

"Plegian…?" Chrom said. His answer was a crackle of lightning, and a wince from Robin. Why there was an echo between Robin's clothing, and on those of the long dead, he didn't know, but-

"Orders, sir?" Frederick broke them both out of their spell. "I fear we don't stand a chance against so many ships."

"…Can we outpace them?" The words were bitter on his tongue, but he forced them out anyway. "The tower isn't far… And maybe we can dispel them and the storm. If we get there quick enough."

"I… think we might be able to manage it." Robin told him, but doubt lingered in her voice. He followed her gaze, and tried to see the same thing she did. "We don't have much choice, do we? Make for the gap on their flanks."

She pointed to the cliffs rising along the sea.

"Skirt those. With luck they'll help funnel whatever wind we can catch."

Chrom gave a quick nod, before gathering air in his lungs. He'd need it, to out shout the rumbling thunder.

"Full sail! Every scrap we have!" His voice cracked from force and fatigue both. Sumia was the first to catch his orders, whirling around and pulling Vaike with her to help with the main mast. Gregor and Gaius took the second, Sully and Stahl pitching in. With a few other hands they yanked the canvas down in record time, battling against the growing storm winds and their own exhaustion.

Miriel was already on hand, and had set to work weaving a sigil. Her fingers almost needed to claw the air, to force the winds to listen and form into an Elwind spell. Ricken, Lissa, and Maribelle took their places beside her, pooling their magic until the wind bent around their fingers.

"…I pray this works. They'll be drained from the casting." Frederick murmured, eyes fixed on Miriel. A flash of lightning showed how pale her face had gone. The mages pushed their magic into the waiting sails. The Shepherd flew under their efforts, running parallel to the Risen ships and their storm.

"We might just make it-!" Chrom started to say… Only for Robin to fall away from him. She was all but curled into a ball, head ducked against something. Something that he suspected wasn't just the scream of the wind. "Robin!? What's wrong?"

He dared to take one hand off the wheel, and reached out to brush his fingertips over her shoulder. She blinked up at him, shaking her head… And still she kept her hands clapped over her ears.

"Didn't you hear it?" She wheezed out, eyes darting about.

"What, the wind?"

"N-no. There was something else. Like a howl…" She trailed off, shaking her head. A shiver worked through her, like her body knew enough to be terrified even if she couldn't identify the noise.

"I can't hear anything-" Chrom started to say… Only to pause, as a strange, low hum pressed at the edges of his hearing. Like a pack of wolves hunting, but out at sea. It echoed through his bones.

When the wind screamed again, he was half relieved that strange noise was drowned out.

"Wh-whatever it is, we'll give it the slip. The same as those ships. We have a wide enough berth. We'll make it." Chrom said, spinning the wheel and trying not to listen to the note, hidden in that whisper of wind-

Impact rocked the Shepherd, right as she tried to skate past the Risen fleet. The wind screamed and lashed at the sails, trying to drive them forward, but the Shepherd had suddenly turned into a stone in the water.

"Something's wrong with the rudder." Chrom glanced off the side of the ship, wondering if they'd somehow beached-

He didn't think there were supposed to be any reefs or islands, portside. Not the last time he'd checked, and yet suddenly there were clumps of what looked like rock.

…Although he became a lot less certain those WERE rocks, when one of them moved. The clump of green and gray undulated like a flexed muscle, rising in a hump above the waves in one breath, and sinking under the surface on the next.

"What the-?" Chrom tried to ask.

An explosion of spray stole the rest of his words.

Long coils coated in teal scales rose above the foam. They were crowned with a long line of veiled fins that opened like a sail. A crest of spines wound its way up the form, ending in a fanged reptilian head. The visage could have been a distant, savage cousin to the stained glass dragons in the cathedral windows.

'A sea serpent.'

He'd heard stories and frantic reports, but never seen one before. If that mad light in its eyes was a common thing, he'd be happy if this was the only time he ever glimpsed such a creature. A hush swept down the Shepherd, the silence filled only by the crash of waves and thunder… And a strange, undulating noise working its way from the throat of the serpent.

Robin flinched under the sound, and that motion was enough to spur the serpent forward.

'No!' Chrom surged forward, his eyes locked on the fangs. The steel sword didn't feel like much in his hands against that, and he longed to have Falchion back… But he couldn't allow the monster to strike at Robin. He wouldn't let living legends like Mer take her; he wasn't about to let a sea monster do the same.

The serpent's eyes focused on his sword, and sent the monster darting to the side. The head shot clear over them. A ship's length of coils followed, crashing down around the stern. Robin slammed into Chrom, knocking him clear of where the serpent thrashed.

The two were left leaning against the wheel, barely a spear's reach between them and the coils. And the serpent wasn't finished with them. A shockwave ran across the Shepherd, rattling the planks.

"Oh gods… I know what that thing is doing." Chrom managed, before another shudder tried to knock him off his feet. His hands clawed their way to the wheel, but it stayed dead in his grip. "It's tangled the rudder, and it's going to try to break the Shepherd open."

"Not on my watch!" Vaike must have either overheard him, or reached the same conclusion. His shout yanked Chrom's head up to the masts. Vaike ran along the cross section, before throwing himself off the edge. He gave something between a laugh and a war cry, drawing his axe as he fell. It was a lucky thing the coils of the sea serpent caught him, and provided a convenient resting place for his axe.

The battering on the Shepherd ceased. Instead the sea serpent wrenched up, hissing in pain. Jaws capable of easily swallowing a man gaped open, as the beast screamed and wrenched itself back and forth, trying to dislodge Vaike.

"If you don't mind." Miriel's voice was a hoarse whisper. All her energy was poured into the fire that blossomed along her fingertips. Miriel gave a curt gesture, and the spell left her hands like an arrow from a bow.

The fire magic sizzled the beast's face and the air stank of burning flesh. The wheel sprang back to life, as the monster writhed and screamed in protest. Vaike was thrown loose with a violent thrash of its side, and crashed into Lon'qu with bone bruising force. Gregor and Sully didn't fare any better, slamming into the floor as the serpent writhed away.

"We need to hurry!" Chrom clawed at the wheel, trying to catch a scrap of wind. "Get out of the reach of those things!" The ship leapt forward, struggling to slip from the coils. The serpent lurched away and fell into the ocean with a splash.

The seas boiled, blue and slate turning white as something roiled under the surface.

Several somethings, Chrom realized with a shudder. The lightning blazed off their scaly backs, multiple coils rising and falling with the tides.

"…An entire pack of serpents. Our luck is poor." Frederick spat.

"W-we have to outrun them. The same as the Risen," Chrom had just enough air to wheeze out. He pulled himself up, bracing on the wheel. His eyes stared at the sails, little more than fluttering scraps with the chaotic winds.

'We just need a breeze!' He pleaded. In answer the winds roared to life, almost heeding his call. Or at least they turned more constant-

Chrom paused. There was a new scream to the wind, something that set his teeth on edge. Something worse than the serpents churning the waves and howling for blood.

-o-o-o-

A noise like a shriek cut at her ears, shifting to a guttural roar. It echoed the call of some ancient beast, trying to breach the waking world. Robin pressed her palms closer to her ears, desperate to shut out the noise; the call didn't belong to the sea serpents any longer. It was something bigger, something that shook the skies and made the clouds churn.

There was something to the motion in the clouds that unnerved Robin. Chrom's hand trembled on her shoulder, betraying how he was worried. He pulled at her, trying to draw Robin close and protect her. But through it all, his eyes stayed fixed to the sky.

That sky slowly twisted down towards them.

A cloud of swirling mist formed between the Shepherd and the Risen fleet. Mist swirled about, rising like ghostly fingers off the sea and constantly spinning in place. The chill ran down the back of Robin's neck.

A single, long tendril snaked out from the sky; a line of gray-black blood spilling out from a wound between worlds. It bridged the gap between sky and sea, touching down on the swirl of mist.

"What the hell-!?" The wind stole the rest of Sully's words. She'd squared her feet against the winds, determined to stand against whatever they were facing.

"A waterspout." Miriel provided, now slumped against Kellam. The knight kept a hand on her hat, to stop it from whipping away in the growing gale. "But… It's one thing to read about such subjects, and another to see them."

"A-any advice?" Robin found her voice.

"Yes. Do… Do not let it hit us, nor get into a critical, affecting range." Miriel answered.

Chrom nodded to Frederick. He only had enough strength to hang onto Robin, and that left Frederick to take control of the wheel. The knight moved into place, his grip like iron on the wheel. When he flung his weight against the steering, the Shepherd listed with a groan... But it at least moved, dancing just ahead of the worst, rending winds.

"We might be able to avoid it…" Frederick said. But Robin didn't trust the way the waterspout snaked towards them. The motions of the funnel twisted her stomach up with dread. The path of the vortex was mirrored by the serpents, lunging out of the waves and trying to coil the Shepherd again.

"Mages!" Frederick snapped out, and three jumped to his command. Miriel was drained, but Lissa, Maribelle, and Ricken were still ready. They didn't have the same deftness as Miriel, giving the serpents time to close in. But when their magic sprung to life, the creatures didn't have room to dodge away. Their spells caught the serpents, driving them back to the waves… And kicking up smoke, with all the fire they burned.

The fumes of the mage attacks fogged their vision. No matter how hard Robin searched, she couldn't glimpse any sign of Risen ships.

"Naga's tits!" Vaike spat out. "It's like we're sailing into a cloud!"

They could hear the waterspout, the keen of the serpents, and the creak of the ships… But not see any of them. Up in the masts, Robin glimpsed Sumia and Cordelia; their heads both darted about, trying to catch a glimpse of the things hunting them, and almost looking like spooked pegasi.

She started when a flash of yellow floated into her vision. Robin turned her head up to see Lissa, stumbling from the firing line and closer to her and Chrom. Lissa slumped forward, eyes glazed from the cost of spell slinging. As she walked, something stirred around Lissa, picking away at the mist.

'How did she manage to call a breeze-?'

The thought vanished when Lissa's eyes snapped into focus and stared beyond Robin. She turned, following Lissa's eyes.

Out of the half mist and smoke, the waterspout bore down on them. It filled their world, a wall of roiling winds and waves. The waterspout column twisted in a way that promised nothing good for anything caught in its grasp. Robin's skin gave a quick crawl, trying to assure her that it was still on her body instead of getting rent by the winds…

Though that wouldn't be the case for long. It didn't matter how Frederick gripped at the wheel; they couldn't escape the water devil's path.

-o-o-o-

"We don't need this right now." Chrom growled. Emmeryn's face, and her orders, loomed in his thoughts. When he thought of her, the Risen fleet multiplied into hundreds more. In his mind's eye, all of the ships were draped in Plegia's pirate colors… And with Emm facing them alone.

Suddenly a set of ghost ships, sea serpents, and a waterspout didn't seem that big or impossible of an obstacle. But even when he thought that, Chrom still had to bite down on a sick feeling when he watched the vortex. Dread sunk into him as the waterspout lurched towards them, the motions twisting and alien.

They couldn't break free from the monsters, anymore than they could outpace the storm. The serpents kept low to the water, thudding against the Shepherd with a crash. They fought to slow the Shepherd, so either Risen or waterspout could pounce on them. And the closer the waterspout drew, the more the serpents called out to each other… And the more Robin couldn't shake the note ringing in her head. Begging for her voice to call out to it.

Stray bits of the Shepherd were picked up from the winds, and shards of wood tried to bury themselves in the crew. Ricken gave a pained gasp when one bit at his leg, before Kellam grabbed him by the shoulder and shielded him. Other crew threw themselves to the deck, hiding from the splintered hail.

Off to his side, Lissa gave a spasm that almost matched the waterspout… Yet she hadn't been hit by any Risen fire, or debris. But she still shuddered, flinching from something else.

"Lissa?" She didn't react to his voice. Nor the shifting of the wind that drove sheets of rain into their faces. There was a glassy quality to Lissa's eyes, that left her blind to the danger. Almost hypnotized, she lifted her head to the tempest.

Over the scream of the wind, a different note settled in Chrom's ears. Lissa's throat pulsed, and with a start he realized that she was singing. Answering that song of the storm.

"My lady…?" Came Frederick's voice. He hovered nearby, hand half outstretched-

"Don't." Chrom managed, moving between her and Frederick. "Don't stop her. I-"

There was something important, lingering in the back of his thoughts when he heard Lissa. From the way Robin went still, the same was true for her, too.

The waterspout seemed to shudder, twisting like a rope, when Lissa raised her voice.

The Risen ships followed on the heels of the waterspout, heedless of how the winds shredded their sails. Their only focus was on the Shepherd, and how it still floated in defiance of the storm.

Against all that chaos, the note in Lissa's voice still tugged at his memory, and tried to coax a similar note from him. His throat shivered, and a memory seeped into his head.

The storm faded out, replaced by a cove. And the white scaled sea dragon, asking them to sing.

'I heard your voice on the currents, and the power in it.'

The image danced in his head for a breath before it flickered out, in favor of the storm. Dimly, Chrom realized that he was singing as well… And the waterspout was answering. It seemed to slow in its path towards them, stilling. The Risen ships flew out from the sides of the vortex, not about to be stilled by any half-forgotten song.

A rain of spells were launched from the lead Risen ship, bolts of fire giving a red glare to storm clouds. They crashed into the Shepherd, trying and failing to coax fire from the sodden planks. The best the spells managed was gouges, and smears of soot.

His skin was far more vulnerable to the attacks. Chrom winced when a shard of fire slammed into his arm. His body jerked from the sudden burn flaring across his flesh, dimming the chill of the wind and rain. The smell of burning fabric stung at his nose, showing the fire had found its mark on some of the others. Frederick grunted, showing he couldn't leave the wheel and had taken his share of pain; the Shepherd almost flinched, as his jerking motions translated to the rudder. Chrom's throat tightened for a moment, wanting to scream from the pain. But the song refused to falter, or give him room to cry out.

But still, the storm focused on them, and the winds of the waterspout tried to silence his voice. He and Lissa couldn't out sing something like that-

A hand wrapped around his arm, trying to soothe the pain, and he glimpsed Robin's gloves. She fought her way upright and shaking legs, trying to stand beside him and Lissa. As she raised her head, Robin joined her voice to theirs… And the waterspout did more than halt. It twisted back, towards the Risen ships. Its path cut into the fleet, rain wrapped tendrils reaching out to rend the ships.

The rotted wood was scant protection against the tempest winds. Each blast of wind made the masts splinter apart with a crackle. The ships were blasted to sticks, the crew faring little better as their decaying bodies broke apart, piece by piece. Chrom turned his face from the sight.

As for the serpents-

Robin's note pitched, almost turning into a wail. At the end of her cry, a bolt blasted down, splitting into dizzyingly bright forks and striking the sea. The lightning cooked whatever it touched, and at last the hunting calls of the monsters faded out. A snarl of thunder slammed into his ears… But at the end of the rumble was almost deafening silence; the last slam from the storm had yanked the song out of his throat, and did the same to Lissa and Robin. Even the waterspout's roar vanished. Leaving Chrom free to blink his eyes clear.

When his vision returned, it was to a gray, but much calmer sea. In the stillness, he saw a collection of confused crew. Many of them nursed bruises and burns; some of them couldn't rise without help from others... But they were all still alive. Lissa bumped against him, utterly drained from her spell work.

"How on earth did you-?" Frederick motioned to the Risen wreckage. The storm had vented its fury for the time being, and was gathering its breath for the next attack.

"…Lucky turn of the waves?" Chrom offered. Frederick didn't look the least convinced. Neither did Miriel.

"Feel free to disprove this hypothesis… But I felt a strong current of magic from the three of you. Would this be how you're activating the lighthouses?"

Chrom couldn't bring himself to say no, instead glancing at the floorboards.

"Well… I suppose for now it's inconsequential." Frederick said. "We're all alive, and-"

"And all of you need a rest." Chrom found himself saying. When he lifted his head, he glimpsed a hint of the damage. The dim quality of the light hid the bloody spatters splashed across the ship. But he could still imagine the cuts and broken bones people had taken on; Vaike was walking with a noticeable limp, and Miriel couldn't even stand without help from Kellam. Most of the mast crew looked like wraiths, and everyone was nursing some form of wound, moving slower than ever.

"Frederick, just bring us into the harbor by the lighthouse, and Robin and I can take care of things. The rest of you should get your strength back… Please." He tried not to phrase it as an order. Frederick still seemed to take it as such, when he gave a reluctant nod and pointed the other Shepherds back to the cabins.

"You… All of you heard the captain. Rest if you can; heal up if you need it, either from medicine or healers." Maribelle nodded at that, dusting ash from her clothing with a brief grimace. She looked sluggish, trying to shrug off her fatigue from spellcasting. She only perked up when Virion shoved a potion into her hands. Frederick nodded in approval, before turning to the rest of the crew with a frown.

"...And Vaike, I remember that curse; that will be one copper in the blasphemy jar for you." Chrom bit back a snort as Vaike complained; at least that showed Vaike was still himself, even with all the damage he'd taken. Knowing that, Chrom shifted his focus back to the lighthouse. It seemed closer than before, like the storm winds had thrown them forward.

'Just get us there.' He wasn't sure what he was begging; the lingering storm, the waves, Naga, or all three.