The ship shuddered as the great wave crashed against the hull. The Captain, long used to sea travel, tried to brush it off, but the look in his eyes told his crew this was a storm of the Gods. Onward the ship ploughed, rising on the crest of one wave only to fall into the deep valley formed by the trough. The bow drove down, biting deep into the water while the next wave swamped over the deck, sending men scrambling for safety. Another great heave of the ocean carried the wooden vessel soaring up, but as it plummeted down again, the ship gave out a mighty groan as the hull began to split.
Beneath the deck water sluiced upon the kennels that held mighty Kurathian Mastiffs, bred for war, each capable of tearing the legs from under a galloping horse. It was an expensive cargo; these creature
