Synopsis
Grey and Itarim stood on the prow of the Wavesworn Fang, sea spray and lightning framed behind them like twin gods ready to descend.
Grey (adjusting his gauntlet seals):
"She's too massive. If we fight her on the surface, we risk sinking the ship."
Itarim (grinning, flames hissing in the storm rain):
"Then let's fight her where she thinks she owns the tide."
Captain Drayk (hearing this, barking):
"You do this, I buy you the opening. But don't die before I get my shot!"
Grey and Itarim dived into the ocean.The world turned dark sapphire. Weightless.
Their forms sliced through the water, augmented by energy-tech runes and combustion-charged boots. Visibility was low—but movement was fluid.
Vael'Zathar descended after them, crown-fins aglow with eldritch light. Her roar traveled as a low-frequency quake.
Grey (mental sync):
"Itarim. Rotate high and strike the crown. I'll bait the left fin."
Itarim (via telepathic pulse):
"Loud and clear."
He blinked to the side in a spiraling dodge, activating an advanced rune string—five miniature vacuums erupted, each pulling water and redirecting its flow, twisting Vael'Zathar's sense of pressure.
Vael'Zathar shrieks.She lunged. Grey dove—just missing being skewered by one of her tusk-like fangs. He released a rapid-fire volley of Voidfang Blasts toward her exposed side, one of them chipping a scale.
Itarim propelled himself towards the beast with a spiral spin and slammed with a Jab into her back fin.
> The impact cracked a bone segment.
The beast reeled—temporarily stunned.
Captain Drayk above deck,twisted the wheel sharply, legs braced, eyes narrowed. The storm was still alive—but the beast was no longer thrashing the surface.
Captain Drayk (quietly):
"Boys bought me time. Now hold her long enough..."
Underwater – 3 Minutes Later
Vael'Zathar shot a hooks from her spine, lined with venom . It sliced toward Grey—who couldn't dodge fast enough.Grey countered with a decoy,it intercepted the tail just in time to save his flesh.
Grey (panting):
"She's isn't letting off. We need to shake her up a bit."
Itarim:
"Say the word."
Grey:
" Go for it"
While Grey caught his attention Itarim latched himself beside the beasts gills, after he found his balance he drove his palm into one of her side gills. A burst of force ruptured the fluid pressure system within.
> The sea dragon convulsed—twisting, screeching in frequencies that made the trench quake.
Above – Captain Drayk's Viewpoint
Her shadow surfaced, writhing.
Captain Drayk (to himself):
"There you are... damn sea witch."
He yanked the wheel—Wavesworn Fang spun broadside in perfect drift over the dragon's rising arc.
> His ship. His ocean. His mark.
He drew the Leviathan Pike from the ceremonial rack.
A weapon not raised in a decade.
Grey and Itarimsurfaced, gasping.
,they yelled out to the captain in unison:
"Captain. Now. She's exposed."
Captain Drayk (from above, roaring):
"I'M COMING FOR YOUR HEAD, YOU SCALED WHORE!"
The Wavesworn Fang tilted as he leapt from the bow—pike overhead, boots landing on her rising back like a meteor.One strike. Straight through the spinal crown.
The pike shattered scales, bone, and core alike.
Vael'Zathar howled—water turned black with ichor. She thrashed once… then fell still.The storm quieted and the sea... calmed.
Grey and Itarim swam towards captain Drayk who stood atop the beast's corpse as the rain washed over his blood-soaked coat.
Captain Drayk (panting):
"Mark this day.
The sea no longer belongs to her." Captain Dryak yelled with a hearty laught to boot.Droplets of the rain still hissed on the still-warm corpse of Vael'Zathar as the rain softened.Her blood,thick and black like tar floated across the ocean in oily strands that glimmered with iridescent hues under receding storm clouds.
Captain Drayk's breath came slow, heavy. His coat was torn in three places. Salt clung to his beard. He looked down at the beast's corpse, then at the boys—still afloat nearby, chests heaving with exhaustion.
His voice, when it came, was quiet. Steady.
Captain Drayk:
"…She's dead."
Grey and Itarim said nothing. Just nodded.
[Aboard the Wavesworn Fang – An Hour Later]
Grey sat on the deck, gauntlets off, his hands bare for the first time in days. He turned them over—blood beneath the fingernails, calluses broken. His shoulders trembled,From the comedown. The adrenaline gone. The rush drained.Itarim stood at the ship's edge, watching the captain sever a piece of Vael'Zathar's corpse.
Captain Drayk grunted as he tore away a jagged scale from just below the spine—thick as a war shield, still humming with residual eldritch charge.
Captain Drayk:
"Proof. Not for coin. For memory."
He sheathed a smaller blade and looked over his shoulder at the boys.
Captain Drayk (smirking):
"And for legend."
[Nightfall – Below Decks | The Celebration]
The mess hall of the Wavesworn Fang roared with song and slurred shanties. Barrels were cracked open, firelight danced on every wall, and the crew feasted on fish, roasted root, and spiced kelp wine like they'd won the gods' own treasure.
Someone carved a likeness of Vael'Zathar's eye on the wooden wall. Someone else offered to paint a mural of Drayk riding the beast down into the trench like a cowboy of old tales. Laughter. Music. Freedom.
Itarim stood off to the side, a tankard untouched in his hand.
Itarim (low, to Grey):
"Feels strange. Celebrating… after that."
Grey (nodding, slow):
"Yeah. But maybe that's the point. We live. So we sing."
Captain Drayk found them not long after—face flushed from drink, but his eyes sober. He waved them toward his quarters with a nod.
[Captain's Quarters – The Next Morning]
The room was quieter than expected. No storm. No voices. Just the creak of wood and the scent of ocean parchment.
Drayk leaned forward over a sea chart, a steaming mug in his hands.
Captain Drayk:
"So. Where to from here?"
It was an honest question. A small one. But it carried weight. Like it mattered more than it should.
Grey (shrugging):
"We were going to ask you the same."
Itarim (half-smile):
"Wherever you dock next. We'll head that way."
Drayk's mouth twitched into a smile.
Captain Drayk:
"Hah… then fate's playful today. Our next port—Manalith."
Both boys looked up at that.
Drayk continued, voice lowering.
Captain Drayk:
"You two. You don't fight like wanderers. You've got talent—raw, but bright as hellfire. Manalith's not just a village. It's a proving ground."
He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a yellow diamond-shaped badge, its center etched with a spiral resembling a coiled dragon.
Captain Drayk:
"Take this. Show it to a man named Master Argone. Tell him I sent you. He'll know."
Grey took the badge slowly. The symbol hummed faintly. It was old. Important.
Itarim:
"You trust him?"
Captain Drayk (quiet, nodding):
"With my life. And now... yours too."
[Two Days Later – Arrival at the edge of Manalith's Borders]
The cliffs of Manalith stood like sentinels above misted forest. Tall, jagged, beautiful. Vines hung like banners of green, waterfalls glittered from hidden caverns, and wild energy buzzed faintly in the air like static before a storm.
The Wavesworn Fang anchored quietly on a rocky inlet. Crew lined the sides, hands raised in farewell.
Captain Drayk stood at the helm, wind fluttering through his coat.
Captain Drayk:
"You boys take care of yourselves. Learn fast. Keep your heads low. And if the sea ever calls…"
He held up his fingers, two pressed together like a symbol of old pirate code.
Grey and Itarim returned it in unison.
Grey:
"We'll ride the tide again."
Itarim:
"And next time, we'll bring you a sea beast's heart, not just its scales."
Laughter. Cheers. Then silence.
The Wavesworn Fang pulled away from shore, white spray trailing behind.
Grey looked ahead. Manalith called to them like a breathless drumbeat. The beginning of another adventure.
Itarim tossed the badge into the air and caught it.
Itarim:
"Think Argone's as crazy as Drayk?"
Grey (grinning):
"Only one way to find out."
They stepped forward—into the forested wilds of Manalith, unaware of the dangers them within.