Across The Sea: Part Four

TWO DAYS LATER:

"Lani still ain't back then?" Amilia says as she sits down beside the group.

"It's only been two days" John responds.

Terra interjects, "Actually, it will have been twelve days for Lani. If you remember correctly, one hour here is six in the fairy realm."

"Do you think they have fairy rooms? And doors? And hallways? Cause that building was huge, even for us. Jeez, could you imagine how many rooms it has if they're fairy sized?"

The trio just look at Kyuala, amused looks on their faces as Kyuala ponders away.

Just then, a bell is heard ringing, and the four wonder what is going on with Kyuala saying to the others, "We need to get up top immediately."

Terra, Kyuala and John rush to their feet, but Amilia is a little slower in getting up before eventually following behind.

---

TOP DECK:

The four get up to the top deck where they see the crew rapidly moving around, shouting orders to one another as they do. The four then head over to the bridge where they see Auro manning the helm.

"Auro! What's happening?!" John shouts.

Auro whips the helm to the left, "Pirates are attacking! We managed to avoid a harpoon just before you got up here! Look to the left, by the rocks!"

The four look and that's where they see a large ship about five hundred feet or so away from them, a purple glow encompassing it as it sits stationary.

"If it's attacking us, why isn't it moving?!" Amilia asks as she continues to stare.

"They were waiting for us to get past those rocks and into the open water, so we'd have nowhere to hide!" Auro then looks up, "Brace!"

The four do as Auro says as they see a large purple bolt coming their way. As it is just about to hit the mast, the green-ish magic sails form a barrier which causes the bolt to evaporate upon impact.

"Ha ha! Get it up ya, you filthy pirate bastards!" Auro shouts in glee.

The pirate vessel then begins to move, making it's way toward the Maiden with worrying speed.

"Are they going to crash into us?!" Terra asks with worry in her voice.

"No lass, they'd just crash into my sprites barrier! They'll be looking to hook onto us before boarding! So, I hope you're all good with those weapons!"

The pirate ship then slightly banks about a hundred feet away from the Maiden, angling themselves to pass right beside the Maiden.

"How will they hook onto us if the barrier is up?!" John asks Auro.

Just then, the pirates quickly pull up beside the Maiden, and suddenly, magical hooks fire from the side of the pirate ship and latch on to the Maidens barrier.

"That's how son! Now, prepare for battle! If any of you get the chance to kill that captain, take it! If we take down the captain, my sprite can finish off the rats!"

The two ships then come to a complete halt which causes every person to stumble forward. The four on the bridge grab onto the railing ahead of them whilst Auro holds onto the helm.

"Captain! Twenty seconds til they board us!" One of the crew shouts.

"Alright! Ready yourselves men! Let's show the newcomers how we fight on the seas!"

The crew all cheer as they ready themselves. Auro then unsheathes his sword with the four doing the same a moment later.

"So, what's the plan here?!" Amilia asks.

"We stay together and fight as a group! We don't know how these pirates fight, and what type of magic they may possess! But like Auro said, we have to kill the captain! So, if we get a sure shot to take down their captain, we take it!" Kyuala says, laying the plan out for the others.

The group all agree, preparing themselves as the pirates are just about to board.

Soon after, some pirates leap off of their ship, disappearing from sight as they fall between both ships. Just then, they pop back up, beginning to climb over the side with weapons in hand.

The crewman immediately rush over, some slice and slash at their hands and heads to get them to fall whilst others thrust at their chests for quick kills. The crews reaction however, was anticipated by the pirates as soon after the first wave is being hacked at, another wave swing over on ropes extended from the mast and land directly on the Maiden. Some of the crewman quickly shift over, their steel meeting the pirates' as they engage in the dance of life-or-death.

The group also meet some action as pirates swing over to try and swiftly take out Auro. Kyuala however, has different plans as she immediately cleaves one of their heads off. Amilia is next to add to the kill count as she leaps onto a pirate, digging her daggers into his neck repeatedly. Terra also gets in on the action, using her staff to strike at two pirates before kicking one away. The second pirate doesn't get off so easy as Terra conjures up a small concrete spike before driving it into his heart.

The first pirate gets back up before rushing back over to Terra. John then gets his hands dirty as he pulls his sword back a little before slashing the pirates chest, cutting him down.

As the pirate drops onto the deck, Terra looks at John, "Nice work!"

"Thanks!" John replies.

Kyuala then says, "Solid slash beloved! Make sure to not spend so much time on the wind-up though!"

"Got it!"

"More dickless assholes incoming!" Amilia shouts to warn the group.

The group turn around to see more pirates dropping in. Some fresh pirates seem to be glowing purple, and are noticeably bigger than the first wave.

The newly boarded pirates immediately get to work fighting the crewmen, and the crewmen are quickly getting cut down.

"Let's go!" Kyuala calls as she rushes down the steps with the others close behind her.

As they get down the steps, Kyuala digs her axe into the back of the knee of the closest pirate before John cuts his head off before saying, "Man... I'm never gonna get used to seeing that."

Terra and Amilia then move onto the next pirate. Terra leaps to the side, avoiding a diagonal strike attempt from the pirates axe. Amilia then takes the opportunity, slashing away at his right leg and side. The pirate then swipes at Amilia with the axe, giving Terra the opening she needs to run up and form a concrete block over the tip of her staff before cracking it over the pirates head. A hard thud is heard as the pirate lays there with his skull cracked open.

"Is it weird that i'm hungry for eggs now?" Amilia asks as she stands next to Terra. The elf let out a lone chuckle of disbelief as the group move over to help more of the crewmen.

One by one, the enhanced pirates aren't enough to take on the group, and the Maiden's crew seem to be winning the battle. Things quickly change however, as the pirate captain pulls out his ace in the hole.

Just then, the remaining pirates are all imbued with the purple glow from the pirate ship, causing their shield and sails to dim.

The pirates then begin fighting with their newly invigorated strength, but the crew are still putting up a good fight with Auro strongly holding his own.

Not long after the tides seem to be turning in the Maidens favour, Terra notices something as she takes down yet another pirate. She looks at the remaining pirates, and sees that they're glowing a little bit brighter than before. She then sees one of the crew is somewhat struggling against a physically less imposing opponent, As Terra rushes over, the pirates glow gets a little brighter and has the crewman on the defensive in a matter of seconds after his glow increased.

Terra then rushes up, cracking the bottom of her staff over the pirates head. The pirate trips backward, recoiling from the hit as Terra helps the crewman up.

"What the hell?! I was about finish him off, but then he started glowing!"

Terra then says to the crewman, "It's the captain! He's using his sprite to empower the rest of his men!"

The pirate finally snaps out of the hit from Terra, and looks at the two, he then smirks before charging toward them. Terra is quick react however, planting her staff onto the planks below to steady herself before lunging forward with a kick which immediately impacts due to the pirates momentum. The pirate then falls back, his side cracking against the taffrail before tumbling over the side, falling head first into the water below.

A loud splash is heard just a few seconds after the pirate fell, and a moment later, Terra turns to the crewman, "Well, that's him taken care of."

"Thanks."

Just then, as the two start to move to fight the rest of the pirates, they hear a thunderous landing right next to them.

Everyone, including the pirates, turn to see what just landed.

Everyone is then shocked as they see a hulking mass of pure muscle in the form of a minotaur. It's deep black fur with red streaks through it almost weave around its muscular torso, and its enormous arms cling onto what can only be described as a battleaxe on steroids. Low, guttural growls are heard mixed with large exhales that escape through its flaring nostrils.

The minotaur then looks around before growling the words, "Fresh meat."

The minotaur then sees Kyuala, "Orc... you shall be the first to taste my steel."

Kyuala grins, readying her axe, "Gladly."

Kyuala then storms up to the minotaur, ready to end him quickly. She then swings her axe, but the minotaur simply catches the swing with his axe, evilly chuckling after he does, "Foolish woman... your kind is only good for breeding cannon fodder."

The minotaur then pushes Kyuala back with one hand, sending her back at least fifteen feet. Everyone sees this display of strength, and almost everyone is immediately wracked with fear.

Kyuala gets back to her feet, fury strewn across her face as her grip on her axe tightens. She then roars as she charges forward for round two as the minotaur simply smirks as he stands firm.

Kyuala swings first, just barely missing as the minotaur dodges at the last moment. The minotaur then tries to decapitate Kyuala, but she grabs the handle as it passes by, pulling the minotaur forward to hit him with a nasty sounding head-butt.

The minotaur stumbles back, holding his now bleeding head as he grunts in pain and frustration.

His tar-coloured eyes then snap back to Kyuala, "Hmm, good. At least my efforts won't be wasted here."

The minotaur then spits out a loose tooth along with some blood before heading back over to battle Kyuala. As this is happening, all the fighting has stopped. The pirates along with the Maidens crew has simply stopped, just to watch these two physical titans face off.

Amilia however, has a different idea. As everyone else is distracted, she looks at the captain of the pirates who seems to be distracted by something happening in his quarters. Amilia then looks around, seeing that everyone is invested in the fight, so she starts enacting on her newly made plan.

Amilia quickly makes her way to the taffrail, leaping onto it before one of the pirates notice, "Hey! The cat's going for the captain!"

All of the pirates then start to rush to Amilia, but the crew plus John and Terra keep them busy so Amilia can kill the captain.

As Amilia lands, she immediately heads down the steps and heads around the guardrail to the door of the captains quarters. Amilia gets up to the door, ready to immediately rush in and kill the captain, but as she reaches for the handle, the door is busted open.

Amilia is flung back a few feet, landing on her back with a pained groan escaping her upon impact. She then gets back to her feet, seeing the captain is now walking towards her.

"So, the little cat has come to kill me eh?! Well, give it yer best try sunshine! I could use a new winter coat!" The captain then laughs as he draws his scimitar.

Amilia then twirls her daggers, "Alright shit-swallower, try it!"

The captain then runs forward, swinging his sword with Amilia quickly rolling under the attack and getting behind the captain.

Amilia then lunges forward, but the captain spins around and knocks her away once again, "Is that it?! C'mon! I expected a fight!"

Amilia grunts, the captains words frustrating her as she quickly gets back up before rushing the captain. Amilia slashes and swings, but the captain either dodges or deflects the attempts before counter-attacking. Amilia is nowhere close to being hit as her literal cat-like reflexes come in extremely handy. Amilia then dodges a diagonal slash, and sees her chance to strike. She then swings her dagger, and manages to actually connect. The captain reels back, putting his hand on his cheek as blood begins to pour down his face.

"Ahh, ya bitch! You've ruined my good looks! Now, i'm really gonna hurt ya!"

As the captain finishes, his body then starts to emit a familiar purple glow, and soon after, he begins to evilly laugh before trying to attack Amilia. His strikes are suddenly faster, giving Amilia even less time to dodge, she even loses a few hairs after an incredibly close call.

Amilia then just barely manages to dodge a downward slash before trying to counter-attack again. She then gets close enough to go for a killing blow, and so she lunges forward.

As Amilia's dagger is about to plunge into the heart of the captain, it's suddenly stopped in place. A shocked Amilia tries to stab again, but the same thing happens. She then attempts to slash away at his chest with a intense flurry, but as she does, a purple glow appears upon every impact, but the man is physically unharmed.

The captain then begins to chuckle, evil spewing from his mouth. He then quickly knocks away one of her daggers before grabbing her by the wrist and squeezing as hard as he can, forcing her to drop the other.

The captain then punches Amilia in the gut as hard as he can, thunderously sending her onto the wood with some of the planks cracking as she lands.

"You stupid little girl! You think you were gonna be some sort of hero?! You're just a disappointment!"

Amilia coughs, her stomach in agony due to the punch. She looks up, eyeing her dagger just before she takes a kick to the same spot to the gut, sending her a few more feet away.

"C'mon then! What are you gonna do, huh?! You just gonna sit there and take it?! You do look the type after all!" The captain then laughs as he kicks Amilia again.

---

MEANWHILE:

On the Maiden, things are still in utter chaos. The minotaur and Kyuala are still battling, and it's an absolute stalemate at the moment. Terra and John however, they're still fighting hard. The two are right beside each other, and are working fairly decently as a team. Terra takes down one with a strike using her staff while John cuts across the chest of his opponent. As Terra finishes off another pirate, she hears a scream coming from the other ship.

Terra then looks and sees that the pirate captain currently has Amilia at his feet, the tip of his sword dripping with blood.

Terra's eyes open wide as she shouts, "AMILIA!"

Terra then rushes forward, attempting to leap onto the pirate ship, but is quickly met with two pirates who are blocking her path.

Terra tries to fend them off as quickly as possible, so she immediately disarms them, but as she does, the pirates quickly resort to grabbing onto her. Terra grunts in anger, with frustration and worry filling her mind as she can only watch Amilia barely dodge another swing.

Terra uses all of her strength to try and push away the pirates, but she isn't strong enough, so all she can do is try to hold her ground. The pirates just keep Terra tangled up, hoping one of their comrades will rush over to help them. Terra continues to watch Amilia who is still managing to keep away from the captain, albeit barely.

Terra then feels herself getting pushed back, the pirates finally overpowering her enough to do so. But finally, Terra gets some help as John charges over, tackling the two pirates to the ground.

"GO!" John shouts as he drives his sword into the pirates beneath him.

Terra doesn't even think twice, simply looking over at Amilia before running to the edge of the ship. Terra then jumps onto the taffrail before leaping off. As Terra soars, concrete covers her orb as Terra is ready to hit the captain as she lands.

Terra then starts to fall downward, bringing her staff upward as she does. Terra then starts to swing down with the staff perfectly aimed to connect with the back of the captains head.

The staff then comes down and a loud crunch is heard as Terra lands onto the deck below.

Terra then looks up after landing, and sees that the captain... is still standing.

The captain then turns around, a purple glow shimmering over his head as her smiles. Terra is then picked up by the throat and her staff swiped away from her grasp, "You poor, pathetic, little elven cur! I'm gonna enjoy breaking you and your little cat friend here!"

The captain then begins squeezing on Terra's throat, but he is then barged in the back by Amilia, causing him to drop the elf. The captain slightly stumbles forward, "Hmm, guess I'll get to have a bit more fun."

The captain turns around, sword still in hand as he looks at the two women who are beside each other.

The captain immediately walks toward them, swinging his swords which makes the dodge in separate directions. The captain swipes at Amilia which gives Terra the chance to run up and take the sword away. The captain then kicks Terra away as his sword batters on the planks, "Alright, I suppose I can kill you both with my hands."

The captain then backhands Amilia, sending her reeling back to the taffrail of the pirate ship. He then stands in the middle of both women, ready to take them on.

Amilia and Terra then run up, trying to use the numbers to their advantage, but the captain uses brute strength to immediately negate that disadvantage. He kicks Amilia back before turning around to go hand-to-hand with Terra. Terra is still fast and precise with her strikes without her staff, but the magical shield stops all damage the hits would cause.

Terra takes a few steps back, surveying the captain before getting ready to try and put him down again.

---

BACK ON THE MAIDEN:

Kyuala and the minotaur crash together with a sickening thud, but neither appear too hurt by the collision. They immediately go back to fighting, both swinging their axes which barely miss the other.

Back with John, he puts his sword through the chest of a pirate before quickly retracting it and slashing another to his left. He then sees Captain Auro is dealing with a pirate, but John rushes up and stabs the pirate in the back.

"Thanks lad! Saved my hide there!"

"No problem! There's only a few pirates left, so I'm gonna go help Kyuala with the big guy!" John replies.

"Be safe! That minotaur is more powerful than any other I've face before! He's got to be using some sort of magic!"

"I'll be careful, you just finish these bastards off!"

Auro then lets out a laugh as John rushes over to Kyuala. John then gets within a few feet of the two and narrowly dodges a swipe from the minotaur that was meant to end Kyuala, but succeeds in knocking her axe out of her hands. John then sneaks up from the side, plunging his sword into the minotaurs side which causes the beast to roar in agony.

The minotaur then kicks his leg back, kicking John directly in the chest which probably would've killed him upon impact if he wasn't wearing Xanvetl's armour. But instead, it just severely dazes him. The minotaur then grabs his sword and removes it from his side before tossing it away, "You think a pitiful warrior like you could kill me?! I am the scourge of the seas! I have torn apart squids bigger than you with my bare hands! You are nothing, but whelp made to be a slave!"

The minotaur raises his axe, ready to cleave John in two, but the minotaur is quickly blind-sided as a large green fist rocks his jaw, "No one speaks to my beloved like that!"

Kyuala, now enraged, grits her teeth and balls her fists before beginning to wail away on the minotaur. Kyuala hammers down with strikes that would shatter the bones of a normal person, the minotaur however, isn't normal in any sense. He blocks the hammering blows with his left arm, but he feels the strikes taking a toll on said arm.

The minotaur then takes the slight window between blows to bash his handle against her jaw. Kyuala then falls back, grabbing her jaw as the minotaur gets back up before swinging his battleaxe once again.

Back on the pirate ship, Amilia and Terra are in dire straights. They lean against each other, holding themselves up as Amilia says, "We can't do shit to him cause of that fucking shield."

"It won't last forever. He was powering up his ship and his crew at the same time, the sprite must need to take a break soon. We just need to hold out until then."

Amilia sighs, "Alright, but I get first kick at his nuts."

Terra chuckles, "Gladly."

The two then get ready as the captain walks forward, but he's obviously more fatigued than before. He immediately tries to hit Terra with a right hook, but the elf dodges before trying to get in a few kidney shots which are blocked by the shield however, the shield isn't as strong as it was. Terra notices her punches are seemingly doing more than they did earlier. Before, they were almost completely blocked, but now, they seemed to be lessened, but still doing enough to help them.

Amilia is next, attempting to scratch his face. It doesn't have the desired effect, but the captain obviously feels it.

The captain then brings his knee up, catching Amilia in the gut and knocks the wind out of her. He then turns his attention to Terra, grabbing her arm to stop her next attack. He then uses his left arm, grabbing Amilia's top before driving her into the mast. The captain then throws her toward to the side of the ship, so he can once again focus on Amilia.

The captain is then surprised as Amilia leaps onto his back, clawing away at his face, neck and eyes to try and get finish the shield as quickly as she can.

On the Maiden, Kyuala is taking a knee, being put in that position as she's holding onto the handle of the minotaurs battleaxe to stop him from swinging it again. Kyuala also feels her arms beginning to struggle as she fights against the sheer never wavering strength of her opponent.

The minotaur then leans forward, "When I take your head, I shall proudly display it on my wall of trophies! Then, I shall give your body to the goblins of the forest to use for breeding practice!"

"You... talk... too... much!" Kyuala strains.

The minotaur sees he's close to breaking Kyuala, so he puts even more of his weight onto her. He then hears the clang of a sword, but thinks nothing of it.

Just then, he hears footsteps rushing toward him, but before he can look to see what it is... a sword is plunged into the side of his neck.

The minotaur gurgles in agony as he lets go of his axe to reach for the sword. The minotaur then looks to his right, seeing John standing there, "Surprise fuck-face."

The minotaur then goes to pull out the sword, but as he grabs the hilt, he sees Kyuala with his axe in hand. Kyuala then winds up before swinging with all her might. The minotaur then stops in place, no more gurgles of pain, no more struggling to remove the sword. The minotaurs eyes then open wide before his torso falls sideways toward John, with his legs falling toward Kyuala.

Kyuala and John look at each other in shock, as they finally killed the big bastard. Just then, Kyuala falls to a knee and John rushes over to the obviously tired Kyuala to try and help her.

Back on the pirate ship, Terra is kicked in the face, sending her back down to the planks below. As Terra falls, she looks up to see the captain now has his sword back in his hand, and is making his way toward Amilia.

"Bout time I skinned you, kitty cat. You won't be getting saved this time."

Terra sees Amilia is grabbing onto her seemingly injured foot, and is trying to crawl away from the captain who is slowly stalking his way toward her.

Terra then tries to get up, but her ribs and abdomen are in so much agony, she can't even get up to her feet. She then looks to her left, seeing her staff sitting a good thirty feet away, realizing that she won't be able to get there in time.

She then looks back over at the two, and her mind, body and soul goes into overdrive. Terra realizes what is soon going to happen, and so everything starts going a million miles a minute. Nothing, but pure adrenaline kicks in for Terra as her body goes into autopilot.

Terra immediately shoots up, pain be damned. She then runs over to the captain, and leaps onto him like a hungry wolf. The captain then turns around before being tackled and immediately falling hard with a solid thud as he lands, his sword now just out of reach as scatters across the wood.

Terra's hands then lift up, and they come back down with furious speed and power. Lefts and rights connect with the captain, his shield barely holding on, but Terra doesn't care at this point.

Finally, the remainder of the shield fades, but Terra just keeps on going and going. Sickening thud after thud is heard as flesh and bone collides with flesh and bone.

Terra's vision is blurry, but her expression is one of pure rage.

Amilia looks up after checking her ankle, and is shocked as she sees Terra's face, top and hands are covered in pure red. Amilia then looks at the captain, seeing that he no longer has a face, just a mangled pile that consists of pieces of bone, and a red paste covering it all.

Amilia then says, "Terra, that's enough."

Terra doesn't listen.

"Hey, that's enough!"

Terra keeps going.

Amilia finally gets up, heading over to Terra and puts her hand on her shoulder, "Terra! That's enough! He's dead!"

The words and the touch of Amilia's hand finally get Terra to stop. The elf just pants as she looks down at the mush that used to be the captain's skull, and shock fills her entire being. Amilia can hear the frantic change of breath, and realized that Terra is back to being herself.

Amilia then leans down, "Hey. You're okay... you saved us. You saved me."

Terra doesn't respond, she just looks into Amilia's eyes before looking back at the captain. Amilia then says, "Don't waste anymore energy on that bastard. He isn't worth it."

Terra then looks at her shaking hand, blood completely coating them.

"What have I done?"