Chương 50: Chapter 49 - Run for Cover.

A tentacle writhed over the gunwale. Followed by the beak of the biggest kraken she had ever seen. Red stripes patterned the beak, glowing vibrantly. Heat radiated from the menace, waves of supercharged flux pulsing off it at set intervals. It was coming up between two of the starboard ballistas. Without a thought, the ballistas pivoted and launched their payload straight into it. Two giant arrows ripped straight into the flesh… and stopped. The eye breached the edge, coming to rest just above the gunwale.

It was bigger than she was. Halt walked straight up to the eye.

"My student is on her journey, would you kindly not interfere" Halt said. The tentacles that writhed over the deck stopped. The eye stared straight into Halt. The beak opened and released a pained screeching sound, tentacles receding from the deck.

"Thank you" Halt bowed. Is he half kraken? She focused on the never-ending battle with the sea, confused about Halt's interaction but unable to spare time to contemplate it. Just in time to see a wave looming over their portside. It eclipsed the wave ahead by a factor of two. Did Kronan send Pelagion to kill me? She screamed, throwing her arms around the mast. Water rushed past and through her, salty, violent, deadly water. She coughed and tried to clear her eyes as the water receded and the ship tilted back up.

Thank Kronan, if I get swept off I will die. Now to get back to- Two eyes stared straight at her, rather big eyes. Attached to a mouth with rows upon rows of glistening jagged teeth. Aether Culverin was beside her before she could even think.

"FIRE" She screamed, jumping back as the jaws came snapping forth. The only thing they managed to reach was a shell packed full of flux. It whistled, piercing straight through the Ripfin and out the back. As another wave crashed down on deck the already listless corpse rolled off deck and into the abyss. I hate this season. She let the cannon dissipate, pulling her attention back to the wider sea and storm. Grandport was in view now, or where Grandport should have been.

Huge earthen walls rose around the city, bearing the endless assault of the sea. Forty meter waves crashed against them only to fall off the flux-reinforced rock. Just how many earth mages do we have? The dock was completely gone. fucking Hell!

"I guess further upriver, might have a calmer spot to dock?" She shouted above the storm. Halt laughed. Her target, the river past the city, appeared to be a calmer environment. Waves had far less space to build up to a roaring wall and the bigger krakens didn't seem to like shallows much. Talvik unleashed yet another blast of air into the main, cutting them straight through a ten meter wave and into the river. Rowen once again worked the prow, easing their passage with words of Storm.

As the ship glided through the considerably less-kraken infested river, Nythera watched the coast with [Preicision-Sight]. There has got to be a place we can pull the Sea Queen into. I am getting stone docks built at the next meeting, Kronan damn it. There! The river had swollen well past the banks, turning farmland into swamp. And giving her a unique opportunity to dock. Tugging on her skill, The Sea Queen pivoted hard to starboard.

"I am pulling us in!" She screamed above the crack of thunder, gripping hard to the gunwale. Off the port side, as the ship tilted outward from the force, she could see wide hungry eyes staring back here. These fucking squid never leave us alone. Flux: 2, 354/18, 462 Could be worse. She grit her teeth. All three of the ballistas on the port side swivelled directly for the beast. The ship rocketed forth beneath her, kraken tentacles in pursuit as they sought to latch onto their newly found meal.

The twang of three cords whipping in tandem sounded as she let loose the barrage. Two struck into the flesh by the beak, gouging deep while a third went low, disappearing into the sea. CRAWWWWWWWWWW it screamed and submerged itself. You're lucky the weather's terrible or I'd be stopping to cook you. She lamented, her hunger had grown to a dull roar, only suppressed by survival adrenaline. The Sea Queen moments later glided over what was once land, riding on a wave.

Her fingers dug into the railing, she wrapped her arm around it as best she could.

"BRACE FOR IMPACT" She shouted. She glared out into the fog ahead. Oh … shit! The ship ground to a stop, throwing everyone forward. Halt stood, parked in the same stance with nary a chance, but rowen was nearly thrown off the front of the ship. The ship that was now stuck on the base of a collapsed windmill. I am never going to hear the end of this, the farmers are going to be pissed! How am I supposed to get her back out to sea when she's stuck on a fucking windmill!

Looking out over the farmlands, anchorbreakers were scattered throughout, ravaging the lands for anything edible washed ashore. This is not going to be fun. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. She opened the door to the cabin.

"We've beached the ship near Grandport, the city walls are no more than an hour away. You can either stay here or join us in making a break for the city" She said, as if the herald of doom.

"Kronan, save us please" One of the sailors prayed. The other stood beside him, face pale, stuttering out words to Veymur.

"Nythera? You look strange, what happened out there?" Shelly asked, peeking out from under the table.

"God's Wrath will take us all unless we get moving, I don't have time to explain" She replied. Sorry Shelly, but the longer we stay here the more likely we are to attract kraken. After a short deliberation, everyone, even Old Edgar would make a break for Grandport. Gathering all their belongings, the crew assembled on the deck, under the constant assault of sheets of rain. Lightning arced down at random, providing sporadic illumination in an otherwise pitch black night.

Halt stood before them, unmoving and face blank as always, hidden behind a stony mask.

"We will now head for Grandport. If you manage to reach the earthen walls, there will be safety within" He paced around the group.

"You will stay as close to each other as possible, I cannot protect you all at once, if the darkness takes you, I will consider you lost" His words came down like a death sentence.

"Dontcha worry laddy, we'll make it back, Wrath ain't nothing to us. We're Myrravalans!" Edgar pumped his fist in the air. The sailors and Shelly joined half-heartedly.

"I'll take vanguard and lessen the storm before us" Rowen said.

"Nythera, you will take the rear, if anything approaches, hit it before it can get close" Halt said. The procession descended from her beloved, horribly beached ship and quickly found a dirt road to take them to Grandport. The only time they could see was when lightning broke the sky, which happened nearly every minute. At one point it even landed on one of the dozen anchorbreakers scavenging the lands, killing it instantly. Three others jumped on the corpse.

Waves and sea-ripped fields to one side, and scorched, kraken-infested lands to another. Nythera watched the rear, stopping periodically and scanning the horizon under the light of lightning.

"BRACE YOURSELVES" Halt shouted. What's wrong? He's in the middle of the line, it should be Rowen or I calling out threats… She turned her head to face where Halt was looking, off towards the river. Oh It seemed God's Wrath wasn't nearly finished with them yet. How the fuck are we supposed to fend off the ocean? A rope is hastily passed to her from the sailor in front. It was wrapped around Halt three times and then distributed among the procession. She tucked in, wrapping the rope around her arm several times.

She breathed in deeply. The wave hit, a deluge of angry seawater is suddenly all Nythera knew, hanging from the end of a rope in the current. Something big from in front passed by her, nearly knocking her off the end. A moment of stillness came, the water no longer churning and pulling and yanking on her. And then it receded, rapidly. Pulling her and the rest of the rope with it. Bits of dirt and rock smacked her on their way out to sea. She found herself, lying in the salty mud, still huddled around the rope.

Spitting out salt water, she pulled herself up. I am going to get a flying power, a shield maybe, SOMETHING so I don't get submerged in muddy saltwater, ever, again.

"Talvik, go fetch Edgar, I saw his cane go floating off" Halt said, standing in the same spot, completely unmarked. Talvik stretched his wings, expanding his wingspan to several meters and taking off in a burst of speed and air. She took stock of her surroundings. Edgar was gone, as was one of the sailors.

"Continue marching, the sooner we reach Grandport, the sooner you all are not at risk of being swept into the sea" Halt said, no inflections detectable in his voice. Talvik swooped down seconds later, dropped a soaking wet old man off. Shelly put his arm around her shoulder, supporting the old man in place of his cane.

"Careful child, I cannot keep picking up you flightless bipeds out of the sea, Edgar was barely visible from the sky, I only found him because three different krakens were trying to eat him" Talvik said, perching on her shoulder at a normal size.

"I wonder what silver falcon tastes like?" she muttered under her breath. To which she got a sharp pinch for. The great earthen walls of Grandport loomed over them like a tsunami of dirt and rock. Seriously, how many stone mages do we have in Grandport, to make such walls in just a few days time is incredible. The crack of lightning revealed no gate, passage, or stair within the superstructure, yet they approached. These walls are what, ten? Twenty meters?

It was hard to make out the height being so close, and with such poor lighting, but they towered above many keeps she had seen throughout Greymere. Halt strode up to the wall with confidence, placing his hand flatly on its surface. She blinked, lightning cracked. And a tunnel, three horses wide, lay before them, smooth earthen walls offering no doubt of the magic used. That is some insane flux stores, to be able to open a passage that quickly.

The group proceeded up the passage, slowed by the hobbling of Edgar, who was now propped up on either side. Passing through the unlit passage, she was guided merely by the flows of flux, leaking from the storm-wracked farmlands outside, flowing up the tunnel with them into the city. Sure would have been nice if they could have made these walls when Damien was attacking. Dim flashes at the end of the tunnel was the only indicator of progress through the fluxmade mountain.

Nythera took a deep breath as she stepped out from the tunnel. Lightning cracked and the city lit up before her. They had exited at the highest point in Grandport, up on a hill with sparsely collected houses. No signs of Kraken and only the distant smell of smoke. Flowers and cloth decor was scattered amongst the streets, signs of a celebration long past. Home. Covered in the wrath of Gods, but it's still home. She smiled. The tunnel behind them was already closed.

"Alright, I will leave the rest of you to find your routes back home. Make haste." Halt said. I think we'll all be fine, Halt, we are already in Grandport, what could happen at this point?

"OW!" she shouted, clutching at her head. The sound of shattered ceramic reverberated off the ground.

"By Kronan, who just attacked me?" She asked of no one in particular. On the ground by her feet lay a shattered roof tile. Shit, can we not catch a break? The sound of several more tiles shattering on the ground followed a huge gust of wind, nearly knocking them off their feet.

"Bye guys, I'm going home" Nythera said with a wave, fleeing the scene. She darted down streets as fast as she could, torn between trying to figure out where she was going and when to duck beneath the next flying roof tile. As she descended down deeper into the city, the drains swelled with water, some overflowing out onto the street. She sprinted down a wide road and burst out into the central plaza. A tent was pitched up in the center of the plaza, stakes driven through gaps in the cobble.

Frank was sitting on wooden crate, throwing dead fish at Henry.

"Frank?" Nythera began. He dipped over a bottle of booze and Henry came running under it, slurping up the discharge. Nevermind, I know the way from here, I think its time to go. Darting down another dozen streets she arrived before Edwin's place. Smoke drifted up from the charred remains of a house further down the street and knee-deep water covered the entire road. Finally! She body slammed the door open, Edwin was nowhere to be seen and Shelly hadn't arrived yet.

The living room and kitchen were a mess, bottles of various liquids scattered everywhere, even on the floor. Little pathways between them marked where one could tread. What the flux is Edwin doing? She kicked off her boots. Just as she began weaving her way through the bottle paths the door flung open again. Shelly stood, arms stiff by her side, completely drenched, Halt and Talvik unphased behind her.

"Hey" She held her hand up. She forced her way up the bottle-ridden stairs, dodging precariously balanced vials and making her way up to the second floor. Her room was just as she left it. Finally… A letter lay on her pillow, Aurendorian script written clearly on the front side.

"To the bitch who keeps ignoring my letters"