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Shouts could be heard coming from above. Derrin began to make for the door when Kayla grabbed his arm, “They told us we’re not to go up during the entire voyage. I’m sure they can handle this.”

The cannon-like contraptions he’d seen early flashed through his mind, and he nodded, “Yeah”. The others around the room seemed to be of a similar disposition. None of them wanted the boat to be destroyed, yet they weren’t willing to risk getting in trouble by going above deck. The pair returned to their seats, and listened to the sounds echoing from above. Explosions rocked the boat, and a mixture of roars and shouts echoed through the wood and into the lobby below. As minutes passed, the sounds changed. There were fewer shouts and more moans, and the roars changed. They were more barbaric now, almost inhuman. Slowly, Derrin made his mind over. “I don’t care what the man said, we’re losing the battle above; it’s obvious. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to die in a boat on the way to Orbis. I’m going up,” he said as he rose from the couch.

She followed him, and as he turned around she said defiantly, “I’m coming too.” He began to protest, but then thought about before. He hadn’t even thought of her possibly being hurt when the Dreaded was attacking the city, so why did it now? If he held her back, he’d be just like her grandfather in not letting her do anything. After a second of thought, he simply nodded again and continued on for the door to above deck with Kayla behind him.

As they reached the hallway and their intentions became clear, the leader began to yell, “Don’t even think about it Kayla! This is ridiculously foolish! Don’t. . .” His voice faded away as they opened the door and the sounds of the battle filled their ears. As Kayla climbed through the door, Derrin stared at the left side of the ship: a humongous boat was rammed against it. The boat was in bad condition, but it was obvious that had once been one of the greatest to ever fly. The boat itself was painted a reddish orange with a yellow trim along the edges. Its sail was tattered and yellowed from age but still flew majestically in the wind. The most intriguing part though, was located right in front of the mast: a purple symbol glowing brilliantly in the air. It seemed to resemble a clock, but it was much more complex than one Derrin had ever seen. The clock had four hands, and had dozens upon dozens of characters. Drawing his attention away from boat itself, Derrin suddenly noticed the captain himself. His heart went cold as he stared at the man. He looked like any other barbaric pirate he’d ever imagined, but there was one major difference: he was transparent. Derrin finally understood the ship’s strange appearance—it was a ghost ship. “Ghost ship,” he simply said, and Kayla slowly nodded.

A howl brought their attention back upon their boat. At the opposite end of the deck, five monstrosities stood. The monstrosities could only be described as that; they were demented, disgusting creatures that went against nature itself. They bore some semblance to lycanthropes, but it was obvious that they had long since become something much worse. The fur on their faces had changed to dark silver, and a pair of curved black horns jutted out from their forehead. Their claws were twice the normal length and dwarfed large daggers. Blood dripped from their horns, teeth, claws, and anything else they’d been able to rip apart the crew with. However, it was the eyes that affected Derrin the most. Through the eyes of the creatures shone death itself.

Another bloodcurdling howled erupted from one of the things and they advanced forward like a blur. Their speed was like that of the assistant’s. What would have thrown others off put Derrin at ease: they were just like the assistant but larger and with horns, fangs, and claws instead of a dagger. His speed had increased tremendously since his duals with the assistant. They had only taken place two weeks ago yet they seemed incredibly distant in Derrin’s mind. So much had happened in those two weeks. He darted forward, and sent four stars flying towards the beasts. They dodged them with unnatural speed and leaped in the air, preparing to strike. It was a great mistake. He unleashed six individual stars, five connecting with the abominations, before flipping back to Kayla’s side.

The abominations made no visible reaction to the stars, but blood flowed from their wounds as they landed with a thump onto the deck again. Derrin begin to roll strafe left, but then realized something. While he could avoid the creatures with speed and a constant barrage of stars, Kayla couldn’t. She simply wasn’t fast enough; where any normal monster would slow after an arrow landed in their leg, these things kept going. They made no reaction to any form of pain. They’d have to make a stand here, he realized. A familiar sensation passed through his body as the desire to protect Kayla rose from the depths of his being. His shadow solidified and assumed a humanoid form behind him. He grabbed two stars from their pack, the shadow following suit, and threw them with all his effort at the first of the approaching pack. A blur shot past his stars and connected with the thing’s shoulder before it even had time to react. The momentum alone sent the shoulder backwards, and the arm hung limp at the beast’s side. As if that was not good enough, moments after the first blow that stopped the beast in it’s tracks, the second pair of stars, Derrin’s pair, sunk into the creature’s neck, breaking it in the process. As the ones behind it stopped, the monstrosity underwent an incredible change. It stunk to its knees as its mouth hung open. Suddenly, a great dark light shot out of the mouth and eyes of the beast and dissipated into the air.

It was then that Derrin made the connection. The captain was not the only ghost within their midst. Each of these lycanthropes had been possessed by a ghost and transformed into their current state. It seemed as though the ghosts themselves were destroyed, or at least dismissed once their hosts were killed. As hope grew within Derrin, the horns on the lycanthrope receded into its skull. The four remaining creatures regrouped as the other changes were reversed. Without a word, they moved in unison towards Derrin and Kayla. He grabbed another pair of stars, his shadow doing likewise, and waited. The stretching of string came from behind him as Kayla notched two arrows. As soon as the pack was halfway across the boat the pair attacked. The shadow’s stars shot forth and impossible speed as the pack once again leaped into the air. The stars connected with the feet of a creature and sent it into a spin as it sailed through the air. Derrin’s attack whirred under the group, it being to slow, but Kayla had aimed high. She had made a note of the group’s tactics and shot into the sky while Derrin fired low. There was a howl of pain as the arrow landed miraculously in the head of an abomination and the dark light shot out even as it soared through the air.

Excitement coursed through Derrin as he realized they were winning. Excitement quickly changed to dread as the beasts flew over Derrin’s head and landed in a circle around Kayla. The effectiveness and disregard for life involved in their plan was chilling. They’d gone against any living man’s logic and gone after Kayla even when they knew some would be killed or injured greatly. Three arms rose swiftly into the air and descended as Kayla’s scream pierced the air. Derrin’s shadow flared to an incredible size as hatred and anger roared within him. Its arms shot forward, hands now sharp as swords, and pierced each of the abominations in five different ways before they’d come within a foot of Kayla. Their howls of pain and misery only fueled the hatred that Derrin had for the captain. The shadow roared like a fire behind Derrin as he stared down the captain. It was not only the desire to protect Kayla that had caused him to act this time, but his pity towards the lycanthropes, and his hatred for the one that had done that to them.

The captain’s face was devoid of emotion and simply radiated with the evil that was the undead. Suddenly, it jumped forward and sunk into a hole in his ship’s deck. For a moment, there was nothing, and then a roar ten times louder than any howl of the lycanthropes came from the hole as something much, much worse flew out of it: a possessed crimson balrog.

Okay, so yeah there was a crimson balrog, but was it at all what you expected? Didn’t think so. Anyways, my inspiration came from the Gigantic Spirit Viking. There’s probably a few typos and the like because I couldn’t thoroughly proofread as I have to leave soon. Anyways, if you liked it, click the button and rate out of ten if you want. As a side note, if anyone wants to draw Derrin, please PM me.