Seaborn Chapter 76

What do you make of it?

Looks just the sa to now as it did yesterday.

I huffed in exasperation at Jorgagus reply. The orc knew the importance of discovering the chanics of the trap laid for us, yet after several days of scouting our targets out he was succumbing to his racial impatience. At least he wasnt as bad as Gnar, who after a few hours decided he didnt like having to restrain all his newly-minted professionals aching to prove themselves.

Seeing my irritation, my enchanter defended himself. She looks the sa from the port as she did from the starboard! Theres nothing unusual about her hull and theres nothing ominous about her decks. Shes a normal vessel, just escorting the prison ship on its way.

I had to agree with him on all counts but one: there was sothing ominous. Call it paranoia, but Andros had to know of my connection to Hali, and I couldnt believe that theyd just surrender her to without so trick.

When we first caught up to the ship carrying Hali across the high seas, I thought that the second ship was the surprise. After thorough investigations both visually and with my domain, it appeared decidedly average. So I considered that the escort ship was a decoy, and the trap truly was on the unassuming vessel carrying Hali. That assumption was also disabused, as the conditions aboard the prison ship were all too plain.

In the back of my head I wondered if Andros was giving Hali as a peace offering, or as a ans of sending a ssage. If that was their intention, however, they should have taken better care of her.

The ship Hali was on was categorized as a prison ship and looked like an ark ant to keep prisoners in and rescuers out while managing to float. Adding canvas for sailing appeared to be an afterthought. Their speed across the ocean had not been due to adverse conditions or a leisurely pace, but because the prison ship just couldnt manage any better. It was an abysmal sight that wounded my sailors pride. In the week wed shadowed them Id seen how their escort vessel had to work to stay a consistent distance away from them, their maneuverability was so bad.

If the construction of the ship was a horror, there werent words for the interior. The ark had four sub-decks and each one was a descent from the one above. On the first deck the crew was housed along with the supplies for the journey. It was clear that the deck had been repurposed to hold a crew rather than prisoners, but their state wasnt worse than so ships Id served on.

The next deck was filled with human prisoners, so chained but most free. The greatest restriction was space, as they were all pressed against each other. I didnt think they had it so bad at first either, since I was spying through the ship with my upgraded Domain rather than taking a direct peek. If I had, I would have noticed imdiately that they werent provided any sources of light and there was not any way for them to deal with their waste. Food and water were issued, but the crew supervised from the deck rather than enter and distribute it to each prisoner, aning that the strongest or sneakiest people ate while the others did not.

The third deck was worse. It was cramd full mostly with madu and tarish, though there were orcs present as well. They were mostly all manacled, received less food, and several of the prisoners were subject to a routine brutalizing from a strongman to keep them from recovering.

The bilge was as bad as the third deck, but with a shin-deep mixture of filth and seawater. There were a pair of cages there as well, one having a pair of orcs and the other a strapping young human who had so arrangent with the guards to get decent food.

It took hours of scanning, filtering through details before I was able to find Hali in the press on the second deck, and when I did my blood ran hot. She was injured and manacled in a corner where she couldnt even compete for food. The only sustenance Id seen her get was so water that a pitying tarish youth gave her.

I restrained my anger to properly assess the trap I was sure existed, but couldnt find.

Do we intend to simply be their unknown escort to their destination? Gnar impatiently demanded.

Drese? I said, depending on the steady life master to weigh in and tell if I was being paranoid or if the orcs were being hotheaded.

I am not a naval strategist, nor any other type of tactician. I cannot speak for the wisdom or foolishness of an approach. I can only say, given the state of affairs aboard the vessel, that we are on a tir and my heart aches for them.

A few hours ago the crew had cleared out corpses from the lower decks, those who hadnt survived the journey thus far. We dropped behind and I had the orcs pick the bodies from the water before the sharks could. Drese had examined them, and each had told a story of abuse and neglect that lasted longer than the prison ships voyage.

I clenched my jaw as I listened to my officers. Very well Gnar, lets draw up battle plans.

A week of scouting gave ti to do far more reconnaissance than we typically conducted, and Id taken notes on everything I thought relevant from shift changes to al tis. I couldnt sense or interpret every detail I saw through my Domain, but I saw and recognized more with my last upgrade than I had previously. When we boarded the vessel for the first ti, I was already familiar with it.

We had dropped off team of 10 orcs on the hull of the escort vessel under the command of one of Gnars sergeants. Their task was to sabotage the ships rudder and use so of Jorgagus trinkets to otherwise cause mayhem and trouble without actually boarding the ship and challenging the contingent onboard.

anwhile, I took the Rocs Eye over to the prison ship and stationed her on the opposite side, running parallel. The weather was stormy and had been for days, a consistent downpour driving the crew to hunker down and keep less vigilance than they were supposed to. The darkness didnt help matters either.

I climbed up the side first, my water whips silently lashing to the gunwale and pulling up. I dragged a pair of boarding hooks behind which I quickly and quietly planted. The first pair of orcs that scampered up those lines each brought sets of their own, and Gnars whole team was swarming up the side before Mirash and I even silenced the lookouts.

The decks were ours, and the decks were quiet.

Gnar had a love of charging into the fight, roaring and insulting his enemies. I hadnt had to teach him the value of stealth, though, he understood the importance of covert actions and perford just as well padding around as he did taunting his foes, even if he and most his team lacked the skillset of rogues.

I identified for him where the remaining crew were, and he stationed pairs and trios at every hatch before dropping the hand signals and in a normal volu saying attack!

My professional warriors and marines burst in on the unsuspecting crew in a bloody massacre. 23 seconds later, panting breaths and my boots on the deck were the only sounds as I stepped around pools of blood, making my way down.

So deaths Id caused would haunt . So would not. So that shouldnt would still visit in my dreams, but I didnt expect that from this lot.

I had a green glow-stone in my hand and resisted the urge to vomit at the stench from below. I was well aware of how ripe people could beco if there was no opportunity to bathe for extended tis and how the nose could get used to and filter out unpleasantness, but this was atrocious and I had no idea how the crew let it get so bad.

The humans of the first deck had realized sothing happened but the sounds had been too swift for them to realize it was an attack. Instead of cowering, they were pressed close around the ladder, the strongest thinking themselves threatening.

I lifted my tricorne to show my gaunt face and lowered my stats for public display. The starch imdiately left those whod thought they had spine and I had plenty of personal space around , even if I was the only one. I said nothing, rely continuing down to the third deck while Gnar and several orcs made their own presence known.

The wretched prisoners of the third deck were not so cowed, but they were not all as coherent either. Lack of light and irregular als ant they had no sense of ti and many were in a torpor. With the help of my boarding team, I cleared a path towards the corner with Hali in it, gently lifting away the wide-eyed tarish youth whod had pity on her and given her water.

Hali was clothed in torn, filthy rags caked in waste and dried blood. Her once long, luscious hair had been shorn so ti ago, and what had drown back was matted. When I lifted her I was shocked at how light she was. She had sores and rashes on her skin, and her lips were swollen and chapped. Yet she forced her eyes open and strained to focus on , fought to comprehend what was happening. The corner of her mouth twitched in an approximation of her old perpetual smirk.

Dread pirate Seaborn, she rasped. I knew youd co

Her head lolled as she fainted and I cast a minor heal on her, concerned about the stack of severe debuffs on her that limited her health pool to a fraction of her constitution. She wasnt in danger of dying in my arms just yet, though. We would take care of her.

Gnar, pass the word to Drese when he boards from the Eye and have

I trailed off as my eyes caught on another face. Id seen this man with my Domain and hadnt given him much thought because he wasnt the woman I was looking for, but still I had felt so manner of pity for him because he had a collar around his neck bolted into the bulkhead near the ladder. Now I saw the details.

His hands had been cut off at the wrists, and angry streaks of infection ran from the amputations up his arms. He had a customized set of manacles around his forearms: they held him because there was a spike running through them, piercing him between the bones of his arm. He stood listlessly, with a talent born of necessity for resting on his feet as his immovable collar allowed no movent at all. It didnt an that he was rested, as it was impossible to sleep well like that and bruises around his neck showed where hed slumped against the collar before and faced strangulating himself if he couldnt find the strength to stand again.

The face of this wretched, abused man was that of Marcus Renshaw; the self-proclaid wizard who had taught magic in Tulisang before being abducted on the eve of the towns takeover.

One of the orcs had liberated a set of keys from an officer and I ordered him to release Marcus imdiately.

Know him? Gnar asked, looking distinctly uncomfortable holding Hali in his arms. Maybe it was her odor, but I thought hed have that look if any unconscious female from another race was foisted on him.

I know him well, I replied. I thought Id never learn what happened to him! To find him here is a shock, and I cant wait to get answers from him.

Does he owe you money?

What? Why would he owe money?

Gnar shrugged. Just how excited you were to find this guy, I thought he might owe you so gold.

I shook my head and centered myself. Id just saved by Hali and my old tutor. This was going better than I could have hoped. I focused on Domain again and saw that our team on the escort ship had succeeded in their sabotage and was swimming back to the Rocs Eye, leaving the escort ship a chaotic ss as they struggled to respond and hail the prison ship.

There were shouts above us. I turned my senses to the pair of orcs wed left on the main deck above; standard procedure for us. They were readying their defenses against so foe in the air? My senses extended to the water and the ships on it, but not to land and only very weakly to the air. In further upgrades, the air might be mine as well, but not yet.

Gnar, I warned.

I see, he growled, quickly but not unkindly setting Hali down next to a shocked madu who cradled her out of instinct seeing the care we placed on her. Whatever trouble is harassing those two

We both froze as both marines were subjected to a storm of attacks. One held his own defensively, while the other took a bad hit that cost him a third of his health imdiately. Before he could recover another hit took an equal chunk from his health pool.

And then the figure lightly touched the deck, giving a picture of a short humanoid, before latching their mouth on the marines neck. By the ti Gnar had pounded up to the second deck the rest of his health had been siphoned away.

Sensing a trap was closing, I tried to claim the prison ship. We could subrge and leave any attackers behind.

You are unable to raise this ship. This ship is under the control of a hostile force.

That shouldnt be possible. Unless the attackers above were part of the ships command, wed executed the whole crew. Even if they were, they hadnt been present during our takeover and I should be free to lay claim to the ship; if I had a contesting claim to soone else then wed both receive notice and have the chance to duke it out.

Sowhere, hidden on this ship, at least one crewman was hiding.

I could see everywhere with my Domain and knew the layout of the whole ship, there wasnt anyone hiding in so nook. No, if anyone was hiding it was in plain sight.

Mirash! I yelled. Soone from the crew is hiding among the prisoners. Find them and kill them! Now!

I darted up the ladder after Gnar and so others, coming in behind them as they burst onto the main deck roaring. Gnars roar turned into a chocked grunt as he stopped in surprise. I peeked over his shoulder to see what had stopped him and how I could flank our enemy.

I was faced with a pale girl no more than five feet tall, with vibrant blue eyes and pale blond hair in a braid over her shoulder. She wore a black cloak that billowed against the wind and seed like it wanted to lift her away. She had a rapier in her hand that was as pale as bone, and as I watched the blood that was on it disappeared, sucked into the blade.

And she had orcish blood on her chin, standing over the body of my dead fighter. She smiled at us, showing her fangs while she pulled a pristine white handkerchief from a pocket and soiled it by wiping the blood from her chin. Her eyes locked with mine and flashed red for a brief mont.

Are you wearing my hat? she asked.

Vampires, Gnar murmured, before shouting at the marines billowing up behind him to stay below, except for a few that he called forward. I recognized that those were ones with so sort of ntal resistance skill.

While the female vampire before us was riveting, she was not the only one. Another floated actually floated, his own cloak of shadow gifting him so version of flight and towered over our second deck lookout. He seed content to let the orc stay behind his shield, and now that we had stord the deck seed to forget about him altogether.

Gevening, he called, continuing to float in the air. So youre the unlucky cursed fella?

Jared, the female one said, her voice chiding. Its not polite to call him unlucky!

Im sure hed agree hes had better days.

They both looked at . They launched a surprise attack and showed they were capable of quickly inflicting massive damage, but then bantered and played rather than strike. That was sowhat typical of what Id heard of vampires: either they were brooding deceivers or chillingly playful apex predators. Their condition wasnt too common, but it transcended racial lines. Vampires were usually treated very politely by all but were hardly welco by anyone.

And if they survived turning into a sapient being, then they had a frankly unfair amount of skills and attributes to wield at least they did at night. Which this was.

Bloody fishguts.

The death of one of my marines upset . Hed been honed in combat over previous boardings and had survived them all, even if healing from Drese and myself was sotis necessary. Now he was dead, killed in a few monts. I pushed down my anger, though. Having their attention and sensing this was a genuine opportunity to converse, I stepped into their banter to try and gain so benefit.

Jareds right, my lucky stars dont seem to be out tonight.

The woman grinned like Id said sothing very amusing. Or maybe she just wanted to show off her fangs again and see if Id shiver. I did not. I foresaw a tough fight, but didnt really doubt that we could gang up on the two.

In a way I felt vindicated: I was sure there was so hidden trap and here I was right. What would they have planned if Id attacked in the daylight, though?

Jared floated towards the gunwale, giving the wounded lookout a chance to escape below deck. He didnt look anything like the blonde woman; tall, lanky, with a mop of black hair and dark eyes. He was just as pale, though.

He shifted a bag he carried and I recognized it as one of the adventurers dinsional bags.

So, is this an adventurers society contract for my head?

Jared gave a look of disdain while the blonde laughed. The adventurers society, Jared said. Is an illustration of a failure in society. The armant and sponsorship of an unregulated, unaffiliated militia

Okay, so they werent adventurers then. I was proof that you didnt strictly need to belong to the society to get your hands on a functioning bag.

As Jared waxed poetic on the failings of the very principles of the adventurers society, he pulled a handful of things from his bag and tossed them overboard. As soon as they entered the ocean, I sensed them filling the water with a lure and a bloodlust. Whatever hed thrown in, it would pull in unintelligent sea creatures from all over and then create a feeding frenzy for predators.

This ship was sturdy, but it was usually considered utter stupidity to risk attracting sea monsters without having an idea of what you were doing.

so you would do well to consider the station of those you are addressing prior to assuming that they belong to rabble simply because of a wrongfully patented product.

Dont worry about Jared, the woman said. Hes a self-proclaid political analyst. You should really be worried about .

No sooner had her words fallen on my ears than she blurred towards . I cast a water shield reflexively and was shocked as each of her thrusts with her rapier removed between 60-70 points from it! Gnar stepped forward to broadside her just as my shield collapsed in a puddle and she darted away, still smiling like a cat playing with a mouse.

I grumbled and tried to claim the ship again. Mirash still hadnt found the hidden crewmber. I really hoped these two werent involved.

Jared threw another concoction over the side. This one had a more powerful lure, like he was deliberately trying to call so denizen of the deep.

Still, as long as these two were willing to simply banter and batter at that played into our advantage. Mirash had more ti to root out the survivor.

I also had other advantages to play.

The Rocs Eye surfaced with my direction and my constructs worked with Travis to smoothly bring it alongside, even in these seas. My skill combined with Remote Operations made for an easy process.

Drese had remained on board the Eye as backup in case either our team or the team sabotaging the escort vessel needed powerful healing. Now he climbed the rigging of my cutter and jumped over the gunwale to the prison ship.

Good, now we had a powerful dedicated life mage to extend our fighting capabilities and help us recover from injuries!

The presence of the Rocs Eye made the vampires curious, even excited as they watched a ship erge from the sea. Their expressions changed drastically as soon as Drese boarded, though.

They stared at Drese like theyd just identified the man whod poisoned their pet. For his part, Drese stared back like hed found a rat in his bed. The blonde said sothing to Jared in a language that Id never even heard before.

And then everyone attacked each other.

Unlike when the woman had taken down my shield or when Jared had toyed with our lookout, this wasnt playful or restrained. This was a death match.

The blonde woman attacked with her rapier and an unexpected strength for soone so petite. Jared floated up and back, getting range and casting spells. The orcs didnt hold back and began triggering professional abilities imdiately.

Ill admit that Id been punching above my weight for so long, tricking my way into victories or escaping wrathful retribution that Id begun to overestimate my power. My string of successes ever since taking on the orcs had bolstered my illusion. I knew that the professional warriors I led had a stronger martial prowess than I, but I was a fast skirmisher with enough tricks that I never felt like I was lagging behind. There was always a need for sowhere.

It only took a few seconds of embroiled battle with these elites for those illusions to be shattered.

One marine after the other activated buffs and blurred with movent as they launched attacks faster and more devastating than stats alone could support. One stomped his foot down and the deck seed to roil away from the epicenter. Anothers axe was suddenly covered in jaggedly sharp ice, soone elses hit as though it weighed three tis its actual weight. Another blade was swung and an illusory edge detached from it and grew several tis larger as it beca a ranged attack on the hovering Jared.

Yet each attack was absorbed, deflected or avoided by the two vampires.

Blondie didnt just flow with speed, she seed to grow or shrink as shadows and afterimages clung to her. The turbulent deck was ignored as her cloak lightened her step to a hover. I thought an attack had decapitated her only for the image to distort and realize that she was already riposting.

Jared didnt engage in the lee, but instead floated out of direct range. He first cast spells on his partner, presumably giving her the illusions among other buffs, but I tasted his first offensive spell shortly.

Deathly energies flooded . Even though I could tell that they were unable to adhere to my cursed constitution as effectively as a normal living creature, it still inflicted a harsh damage over ti effect, equating to a point or two of damage every second.

I had taken poison and each of the orcs had sustained so injury, ranging from simple wounds that stole large chunks of HP to critical points that limited movent speed. If either of the vampires had taken an injury, we couldnt discern it. Fifteen seconds into the battle, and it seed like wed bitten off more than we could chew.

Then Drese stepped it.

Hed been charging so spell, and with its completion he suddenly radiated so type of energy that made the woman hiss and imdiately back off. He touched and then each of the orcs, healing our injuries like he had on every boarding.

I checked his mana levels and saw that he was over empty, the healings taking up most of his mana but the life aura he gave off wasnt inconsequential either. I mutely handed him half a dozen mana potions and distributed stamina potions to the orcs to use instead of the ones they normally carried. In that first round Id been mostly useless, not having the space to use my damaging spells and lacking the skills to jump into the lee. Id thrown so blades, and those hadnt worked. My biggest contribution was handing out potions.

Blondie suddenly blurred and reappeared, her rapier poised to thrust into Dreses back. I used a wind push to knock her back, but whatever skill she used wasnt completely rebuffed. Drese spun around and used his forearm to deflect the blades tip while his other hand glowed with energy, hitting the woman in the stomach with an open-handed strike. She shot away from him and landed several feet away with an angry shriek. Three orcs moved to capitalize on her weakness, but Jared swooped down on Drese obviously the most important target to the duo.

Angry at my inability to help fight the blonde woman, I decided to try my hand with her flying partner.

Jared had claws extended, each finger capped by a sharp steel weapon and darkness swirling around them. The claws pierced Dreses hastily erected golden shield, but stopped him from reaching the life mage. The vampire retreated from Dreses harmful presence, his sneak attack failed as my own sneak attack sent our bodies colliding.

Id summoned eight water whips and used two to launch at the retreating vampire while the other six extended from in a wide net, fully expecting Jared to dodge like his partner did and ready to snatch at him to fulfill my attack. Actually catching him off guard and running into him surprised , but I still managed to make my dagger find flesh in our tumble.

A harsh punch knocked free and a few slashes broke my water whips hold on him. He looked at with anger and disgust, as though furious that soone so far beneath him would dare catch him off balance.

I cast feather fall on myself to lessen the effect of gravity, as my many arms extended to grab rigging and spars. I was intimately familiar with the workings of ships, and my Domain gave perception into what I couldnt directly look at. My talent with my water whips ant that I could hold these eight arms even stretched like they were for a long ti. They held supported in the air like a spider in the center of their web, ready to pull in any direction.

Jareds eyes widened slightly as he understood my technique gave my own form of flight, even if his was far more maneuverable. I was encroaching on his space, declaring the air to be our own battlefield.

He was more than ready to take the fight to .

I took him to be primarily a caster, but his tal claws spoke of martial strength and thats what he used off the bat, flying towards with an aim to slice my throat open. I pulled on two of my arms to pull in a direction out of his initial path as I removed my trident from my dinsional bag, but Jareds maneuverability imdiately proved its function as he effortlessly turned to give chase.

I lashed onto the crows nest and changed my upward montum into a parabolic arc around the topsails. Jared saw my trajectory and moved to intercept as I made a full circle, but he underestimated how well I could find new anchor points to adjust my course. I moved my center of rotation from the crows nest to the mast and suddenly shot towards him, my trident leading the way. He tried to avoid but I still hooked him with a tine, the impact nearly knocking the weapon from my grip. Swinging and flying around carried a lot more force and montum than a simple jab did!

Jared hissed in pain but lashed out as well and I felt several darts break through my protection and my skin, delivering yet another type of poison into my bloodstream. I cast my own healing spell on myself which mitigated the effect, but Id need to get down to Drese to fully deal with Jareds thod.

The vampire pulled himself off my weapon and dodged my follow up attacks. I cast a cone of frost that caught him in its area of effect. It didnt seem to harm him, but it did slow his speed slightly. That reduced his ability to dodge the air blades I targeted at him as well.

He did not take it sitting down. His response to my area spell was to launch out a cone of darkness that clung to , blinding even after I swung out of its area of effect. I was able to see with my Domain, letting remain in the fight to his apparent surprise, but it was harder to focus on details without practice.

After that, he launched bolts of miasmic energy at . I dodged each, but even a near brush brought chills to my skin and a sense of rot and decay. Hissing in frustration, Jared reached into his own dinsional bag and pulled out a staff. I thought it was his chosen weapon to contend with my trident, but I was wrong. Instead, he pointed and activated it, sending a string of webbing shooting out.

He didnt target , but instead pointed his staff all over, weaving sticky webbing to the sails, spars, rigging and masts. When the charge was depleted and the webs were spent, the vampire tossed the staff aside and grinned at , it being his turn to be the spider at the center of the web.

I could see his strategy. He had the maneuverability to flow around all of these threads, while they should seriously ss with my own thod of swinging around. He wasnt wrong, the difficulty for just went up; but the web wasnt just a sticky trap, they were all additional anchor points for my water whips which didnt care about the adhesiveness.

And when the battlefield got chaotic, I got to pull more tricks.

Jared didnt hesitate to move for , and I first swung away from the ship and the ss of webbing. He didnt imdiately follow, trusting I had to return, but the brief respite let check on the progress of the battle below.

Things seed to be going in our favor, but the battle was on a knifes edge. The main contention seed to be between blondie and Drese, with the orcs landing the occasional hit but also being a vulnerability. I could sense so sort of ties between the vampire and each of the warriors shed injured, creating so sort of slow, continuous drain on their health that bolstered her own. Shed essentially turned them into bottomless health potions, as Drese continued to heal them. The ultimate question was whether the 7 on 1 fight would be able to whittle down the vampires resources before Drese ran out of mana potions.

Judging by how Jared also seed willing to let things play out, he was confident of his partners abilities. However, Gnar had a trick that he hadnt activated yet.

Gnar had used his stoneskin and so empowered strikes of the bat, but had held off on using the orcs signature rage ability. Now, using the power he had as a tribe leader, he not only activated his rage, he coordinated it with the other five orcs to all rage simultaneously!

The blonde vampire was finally pushed to be not only on the defensive, but on the run.

Jared noticed the change and moved to intervene. I lashed onto a web to pull myself back, causing Jared to hiss in anger again. He moved to reengage , but not before shouting sothing in that other language and throwing his dinsional bag to the blonde.

Oh. That might impact the orcs ability to whittle her down.

I had never given my bag to anyone else, it had been so integral to since I picked it up that the thought had never even occurred to . Seeing that this battle was almost as much defined by resources as it was power or skill, I decided to do the sa thing.

I pulled a trap from my bag and stuffed it in my pocket before throwing my bag to Drese. It was harder than I expected. Not my thod of slinging it down to him, but my sense of watching a safety net disappear out of reach.

And then Jared was upon , fangs exposed and claws extended.

I imdiately regretted giving up my bag, as my trident proved unwieldy as I dodged through Jareds web. Nearly taking out the vampires eye with it gave another second of breathing room, enough to place my first trap. I made it look like I desperately reached towards a web as I was out of balance, but really stuck the rectangular plate full of spooled wire against it before altering course.

The vampire had a sense for danger, as even though it didnt pick up my trap imdiately it realized sothing about my actions was off and slowed. These traps were based on a magical proximity sensor, however, and it detonated as he passed without needing any tripwire.

The trap was one of my favorites: razor wire rapidly deployed in an area. It was good for slowing down enemies who didnt want to press through it, and by adding different powders and solutions to it I could inflict different effects on the victims. This one had a slowing agent on it; again leaning into restricting enemy movent.

The razor wires lashed against Jared and cut several webs. The vampire roared roared in anger, a primal sound that nearly made regret using the trap. He pulled himself free as I cast mana absorption in place of downing a potion to stem the ongoing cost of using my water whips, the razor trap tumbling down and alternately getting tangled and cutting the webbing.

I underestimated the fury of a vampire. Jared didnt jump back into his pursuit of he lunged straight at and cut every web between us into shreds. I pulled myself away but he cast a spell. At least I assud he did, since my sense of direction was suddenly skewed even through my Domain, and Id swear the whips I pulled on to take away from the vampire were pulling towards him.

I flexed my Domain, leaning on its claim of space as I fought the disorientation. I felt the illusion snap, bringing a sense of vertigo as reality suddenly shifted.

But before I could escape, Jared slashed at with his claws. Shocking cold and warmth struck my abdon with what I associated to be a deep and dangerous wound. I could only be grateful that the strikes werent imbued with poison or magic, but they still hurt .

He had a hold of , and he slashed again, and again. I let my water whips dissipate as I reached up with both hands and grabbed his head before channeling shocking touch directly into his skull.

Jared spasd and roared before his cloak seed to forcible tear him away. I slowly drifted with feather fall, but didnt have ti to even summon another whip before Jared was streaking towards again. I didnt want him that close to again: close enough to use shocking touch was close enough for him to mangle with his claws. Instead I brought my hands together in his face with a thunderclap spell that again sent us in opposite directions.

Jared looked at and his eyes flashed red.

Jared has tried to engage you in ntal combat!

I thought I might have been able to resist his engagent, but feeling blood pour from my abdon I thought this gambit was worth it. We could take our battle to Tadra, the ntal realm, and see which of our conditions gave us more power my curse or his vampirism.

The answer was the sa as an age old question: what happens when an unstoppable force ets an immovable object?

There was a heavy strain on my mind as I sensed my familiar dark ship below , but above were the upper levels of a stone tower, dark and lightless. I could sense it was trying to form a base even as my ship tried to form masts and sky. When Id battled my father, our minds had at least cooperated on the realm to an extent. Between this vampire and there was no common ground. My curse resolutely anchored to a ship on the ocean, but Jared seed equally anchored to so type of belfry.

This is MY realm! Jared roared from the darkness above . You will give in, you insignificant abomination of cursed energies!

Pound sand, I retorted. A mont later our battle was decided as our realms ripped apart and we were both forcibly ejected from Tadra.

I didnt know how much ti had passed, but I was lying on the deck and my wounds had been healed. That was the danger of engaging in ntal combat with a broader battle going on, you were helpless to other foes. Thankfully, Drese and the orcs had been able to look out for .

I sat up to get my bearings and instead got a shock. Two more orcs were dead, and the remainder were exhausted after their rage expired. That wasnt the most stunning thing, though. What was stunning was the power Drese was wielding.

Seemingly unfettered by the mana supplies Id given him and by virtue of being the last man standing whole, he had gone all out. He had turned into a beacon that repelled the vampires seeming to eat away at their flesh if they dared get too close. Floating wisps nurtured myself and the orcs who set up a ragged defense around . As I watched a portal opened to so dinsion and a tawny, six-legged mountain cat erged. It imdiately focused on the blonde woman and attacked, each of its claw swipes seeming to cut the air in an extended swipe.

Drese didnt watch the attacking cat, but instead eyed Jared, who was floating back in his dark cloak. They didnt imdiately attack each other, but it was clear there was still no love lost between them.

Why pursue this end? Drese asked. You were not aware of my involvent, so it wasnt on my account.

The Antarus monarch called in a very old favor, Jared hissed. Being free of it would let my clan operate freely again.

Judge for yourself whether you deem the benefit of this undertaking worth the risk, Drese warned.

Jared tossed sothing overboard before holding his hands a foot apart, darkness beginning to swirl between them. Drese prepared several layers of shields, and after an eight second casting ti a bolt crashed into them and broke several with burst of blinding light.

A sharp pain erupted in my chest. When my vision cleared I saw the handle of a blade sticking from my chest.

Our clan needs this to survive, Jared said. And Seaborn is the only one we need to kill.

Drese sent a wave of healing magic towards with a glance but then frowned and looked at closer.

I for one was feeling very wrong. It wasnt just the sight of the dagger with barbed hooks along both edges, or the fact that it was protruding from where my heart was supposed to be; it was the golden-orange film on the blade and the heat that was building in my chest. The heat spread throughout my body quickly, making my head feel hot and feverish and my limbs feel like theyd been burned. The feeling worsened as it seed like my blood began to boil and sweat evaporated from my skin even as is poured from my pores.

I activated my healing spell, replenishing waters. The deeper magic spell ate through my whole mana pool but had always been able to instantly heal .

Except this ti. Relief hit as the fire abated, but it quickly fanned up again and I was out of tricks.

I was dimly aware of more fighting going on around , but I couldnt focus on it. My vision was blurring and filling with white, my eyes were burning along with the rest of my body as the heat seed to ramp up exponentially, molten fire filling my veins. I tried to get up and stumble over the side to the sea, but flopped on the deck like a fish.

I had to cool down! I had to get into the sea, I had to get to safety!

I activated my ability, and this ti there wasnt any restriction on claiming the ship. Mirash had done it, hed found the last hiding crewmber. Neither of these vampires were it.

I brushed the ssages aside and instead focused on subrging the ship below , sending the whole thing down to the sea, carrying with it.

Water finally crashed over the main deck and struck , sending steam upwards. It didnt fix whatever was wrong with though, and I continued to burn up from the inside. Distantly, I knew that the battle continued on as the vampires forewent the need to breathe in order to continue trying to eliminate . Sea creatures that we all should be wary of were in the water around us, attracted by the bait Jared had thrown out.

All I could think of was that safety would co in the deep, and urged the ship down as much as it could as delirium and finally unconsciousness took .