Devoted to The Tide

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHARLIE

All rage drained from my body from the moment I laid eyes on the creature beneath the surface of the water. I had an idea what the creature could be, but my gods, I had hoped my suspicions were false. The faint purring continued as the serpent swam underneath the ship. I silently prayed that it was just simply following our path as we tread the water and not trying to circle us a threat. The floorboards creaked as I took small steps, trying to follow the path of the serpent. But when things got eerily quiet, my body tensed. All that could be heard was the creaking of the ship as it slowly swayed. Men from below deck came up to the main deck to check out the ruckus. I kept my hand up to keep everyone silent, signaling with my palm to ensure nobody moves or speaks aloud. I walked over to the front of the ship, peering down at the water. Everybody stood very still, including myself. All I needed was one good look at the serpent to see what we were up against. I silently scanned the water, my eyes glued to the surface of the water… until I finally caught a glimpse of the face.

“Gods be f*****g good.” I muttered. The blood drained from my face as realization settled in. My hands go numb at the sight of the beast, calculating in my head that my suspicions were in fact correct. It was an Ethereal Sea Snake.

“EVERYBODY GET DOWN!” I shouted at the group of men who stood by as witnesses. The moment we all flew ourselves to the ground, a large thud, followed by a loud crack hit the bottom of the Gallient, forcing the nose to shoot up into the air. Gravity worked against us as we all tumbled to the other end of the ship, desperately grabbing onto anchored objects to avoid plummeting off the ship. Like it was slow motion, the nose then came crashing back down, smacking the water just right to lift the tail end just enough to rock us back and forth as the Gallient tries to even itself out.

The ship levels out, now once high pitched purring turned into ear piercing screeches as the Ethereal rose to the surface, towering over the ship. “Archers! Ready your weapons!” One one of the veterans commanded the others. Perseus, Caspian and Bishop stood behind me as we watched in horror, taking in the sight of the Ethereal before us, screeching and crowing. “What the f**k is that?!” Caspian shouts above the chaos. “It’s an Ethereal Sea Snake. One of the largest sea species to tread the waters.” The group of us continued to watch, the Ethereal now diving back into the water. I turn to the men behind me. “Ethereal’s offense mechanism entails trying to flip the ship over. We need to stay low. Caspian, Perseus, I need you to ready the scorpion. The only way that fucker is going down is a shot in the heart.” I directed firmly. Bishop grabs me by the shoulder. “Is this the mother? Tell me this is the mother!” I turned my head to look for another sight of the Ethereal. “I don’t know for sure! Young Ethereals have pink fins under the belly! I will need to get a closer look!” Before I could run back towards the chaos of men scramming around to get in defense positions, Bishop grabs onto my shoulder again to stop me. “We need a plan! If that fucker is a hatchling, we will need more scorpion arrows to take down the damn nest! If this one is alone, then the rest of them aren’t too far ahead!” I thought to myself for a moment, tension increasing with every passing second. I ran to the left side of the ship, signaling the surrounding fleet to ready their scorpions. Bishop follows me and signals the men to light a flaming arrow to signal the others. “I put a scorpion on all the ships. They’re just stored beneath the main decks. Signal them all to bring out all of the scorpions! I want my best archers running them! They all only get two arrows!” “Aye!”

Bishop and I attempted to go our separate ways, but another thud to the bottom of the ship crashed against us, forcing all of us to plummet to the floor. The men shouted as they fell, smacking into walls as the nose of the Gallient shot up once again. I gripped onto an anchored pole, holding myself up as we all dangled from the floor. The Ethereal made itself visible once again, towering over us, belting out a loud screech as the ship came flying back down to level itself up. I carefully scanned the b***h, searching for any sign of youth. The Ethereal uses force to dive up into the sky, showing off its size and length. But my heart sank at the sight of two prominent pinkish, purplish fins. The surrounding ships had just then started shooting flaming arrows at the demon spawn, catching its attention to them. I took this opportunity to buy us some time. Sprinting across the deck to meet where Perseus and Caspian stood. “It’s a f*****g hatchling!” I shouted above the noise of the mayhem. “The other ships are readying their scorpions. I need you two up there and wait for my command! Our scorpion is the only one that has a good chance of hitting the mother! Go! Be ready!” Perseus and Caspian book it to the ladder of the main mast where the scorpion bow rested. I watched them climb up for a brief moment before turning back to the rest of the men who now stood in position. I caught sight of the Ethereal banter with the other surrounding ships of my fleet. “ARCHERS! ON MY COMMAND! NOCH!” I shouted. Twenty archers notched their steel arrows, grounding their feet onto the floorboards. “DRAW!” The archers then pulled back their arrows, aiming at the beast that stood before us. “AIM FOR THE EYES! READY!” I watched the beast from a distance, its fins beating the waters causing large waves, waiting for the right moment. “FIRE!” All at once, the arrows went flying at its head. I knew those arrows weren’t strong enough to pierce the skin, which is why I instructed them to aim for the eyes. But to my surprise, one of the arrows penetrates the skin of its neck, forcing a bellowed screech of pain. Of course. The hatchlings don’t have their scales yet. It’s all flesh! The Ethereal turns its attention back to us, diving into the water to come up from underneath the ship again. “HOLD ONTO SOMETHING!” Everyone grabbed onto the railings and poles just in time for another thud, this time pushing the back end of the Gallient into the air, forcing us to nose dive into the water. Looking up, I could see Perseus and Caspian holding onto the top of the ladder as they hang from the top. I turn to my other veterans nearby. “THE SKIN IS FLESH! READY THE CANNONS!” I commanded. The men immediately jumped into action the moment the tail end leveled back unto the water. Any more hits like that, and it’ll sink the Gallient.

As soon as the ship leveled out once again, I searched around the surface of the water to locate the Ethereal. Finding it came up right where I wanted it. It bellowed another screech, piercing my eardrums and everyone else’s. “READY!” I shouted. “LOAD!” The veterans loaded the cannons with the ammo, trying to stay balanced on their feet as the ship aggressively swayed. “AIM! FOR THE HEAD!” “AYE!” I watched them carefully aim the cannons at the head of the serpent who still had the arrow stuck in its neck. “LIGHT AND FIRE!” One by one, the firing of the cannons were lit with torches. We all stood back, a loud explosion ringing through the night as it shot off seven cannons right at the head and neck of the snake. A couple cannons hit the neck just right to cause the Ethereal some pain, but the others hit it square in the eyes. More screeching came from the beast, its head swaying back and forth as its eyes were smushed right into its damn head, blinding the bastard. It rocked back and forth, shrieking and howling as it went down. Blood and goo-like substances splattered onto the deck, pouring out from its head. More arrows from the other ships were shot into its long fleshy neck, weakening the beast. After it swayed and rocked and thrashed in the water, It finally fell on the surface, slowly sinking to the bottom, still and lifeless. “RAH!” The crew cheered. I raised my hand to silence them, listening to the quiet for any more Ethereals that may not be too far. “CAPTAIN! THERE!” I look up to see Caspian pointing ahead of us. Sprinting to the front end of the ship, I looked over the bowsprit, and my stomach twisted in knots as I caught sight of several slippery snake-like body’s swimming right toward us.