28. Lirion #2
“No, he cooked some fish, and we put it in this basket.” Lirion held up the basket by both handles and opened it so Bel could see inside. “We’re wondering if you could throw it into the kraken’s mouth.”
“We want to poison it,” Maxie chimed in, water dripping down his face.
Bel looked skeptically at Lirion, who shrugged. “It’s worth a shot. Might buy us some time while Malfas works through spells.”
“I deduced as much, but someone has to get it to gape its maw.” Belstrom accepted the basket, grabbing both handles with his right hand. “Mal! When I say, I implore you to cast Fireball.”
“What?” the warlock squawked, his head popping up from the book. “Fireball? That’s nonsense. I can’t kill it with that spell. It’s too basic, and I already tried!”
“You speak truth, but when you cast Fireball earlier, you struck the target, and the kraken bellowed. I need the beast to open its maw so I can feed it the sustenance Puppy prepared.”
“Oh! Yes, that would be good fun.”
Lirion ushered Maxie off to the center of the deck near the mainmast, giving Belstrom plenty of room to maneuver while also trying to stay out of the path of the skelebabies and the random tentacles popping over the railing to make grabs at them.
Belstrom tightened his grip on the basket to the point all the veins and muscles in his right arm bulged.
He spun twice, building up momentum, and just before he released the basket, he shouted at Malfas.
A fireball exploded from the end of the warlock’s club and sped across the waves, straight for the kraken.
A half second later, Belstrom sent the basket roaring after the fireball.
The two followed an identical path, and unlike the bespelled harpoon, the fireball smashed into the kraken.
The creature screamed and the basket of poisoned fish went into its mouth.
“Yay!” Maxie cheered. He jumped and thrust both fists into the air. “Enjoy your poison lunch!”
Lirion chuckled softly. It was such a long shot. Was Maxie’s poison strong enough to take down a creature of the kraken’s size? Probably not. But maybe it would help lower the monster’s defenses enough that Malfas could get it with one of his more powerful spells.
“Hey!” Fenric’s shout caught Lirion’s attention and he whipped his head around to see the pantsless man racing toward them. “Get him below deck!” He pointed at Maxie as he got close enough to them to be heard.
“Lirion was helping me feed the kraken the lunch I made.”
Fenric shuddered and Lirion didn’t think it had to do with the cold water soaking him to the bone. “I saw. The kraken has been fed. Now get below where it’s safe.”
Lirion nodded and made sure he had a tight grip on Maxie, then he saw a tentacle slither across the deck toward Fenric.
He reached out to grab Fen and pull him close, but Hapi was even faster.
The elf slid across the deck like it was made of ice and slashed a black sword in a great arc, lopping a good two feet off the end of the tentacle.
The kraken roared again and withdrew the remains quickly.
Fen tilted his head toward the elf and smirked. “Just the tip, right?”
The sodden blond elf rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome.”
Lirion didn’t hesitate for another second. He hurried Maxie to the stairs, preparing to usher him to one of the bedrooms. He didn’t want the young man messing around in the kitchen anymore unless they knew for a fact the poisoned food was going to work. Maxie stopped him at the top of the stairs.
“Go help Fen and the others. I promise to stay below deck.” Worry filled Maxie’s wide eyes, and he stared up at Lirion while lines of strain bracketed his lips, which were pressed into a thin, hard line.
The relief was immediate. Maxie understood this crazy gang wanted to keep him safe. “Okay. I’ll help protect them,” he promised, hoping to ease some of the young man’s fears.
He waited only long enough to see Maxie charge down the stairs and dart into a cabin before hurrying across the deck.
With a dagger in hand, Lirion slashed at tentacles and dodged others in a whirling dance of blades, working his way over to where Fenric and Hapi were protecting a bickering Belstrom and Malfas.
Waves crashed like thunder and the ship continued to shudder and lurch through the rough waters.
“What’s wrong?” Lirion demanded, taking up position on the left of Malfas.
“My spells aren’t getting through,” the warlock whined.
“If we don’t kill this thing soon, we’re going to have to turn back!” Fen bellowed over a loud crack of wood. A chill raced down Lirion’s spine.
“Sooner rather than later if we want to remain above the waves,” Hapi added.
“I tried Cast Shrinky-Dink, but that’s all I got.” Malfas waved to where a distant cliffside behind the kraken now smoldered as if the rocks had caught fire.
“We are fortunate that did not rebound into the ship,” Belstrom snapped.
Lirion wiped some seawater off his face and blinked his eyes against the burn. “What was it supposed to do?”
“Shrink all the kraken’s tentacles so they became stubby little arms and he wouldn’t be able to reach us.” Malfas glared at the grimoire in his arms. “Why isn’t anything working? The only thing that’s gotten through is that stupid fireball, but even beginner mages can cast those.”
“That is it!” Belstrom suddenly shouted, making all of them flinch and stare at him.
“The kraken undoubtedly has a natural magical defense that works to deflect your most powerful and complicated spells. Shrinky-Dink. Organ Reversal. Even the Tentacle Knots. The only one that got through was the Fireball. The kraken lacks defense against the lower frequency spells, and as seen by its reaction, such spells wound the beast. Switch to the simpler spells and we will vanquish the monster!”
“But-but-but….” Malfas stammered, looking utterly defeated and saddened he couldn’t use his fanciest spells to beat a kraken.
“Do it, Mal!” Hapi snapped. “We’re out of options. This tub is about to snap into kindling!”
“Fine,” the warlock huffed.
A hand caught Lirion’s wrist, and he looked up to find Fenric standing next to him. “Puppy?”
“Promised to remain safely below until we’re away from the kraken.”
Fenric heaved a deep, but brief, sigh of relief. “Can you go up and watch Rain’s back? Tell him Mal might have this figured out. Either way, prepare to watch for an opening and make a run for it.”
As he spoke, the ship gave another ominous creak. Hapi was right—this ship wouldn’t last much longer.
“Got it!”
Lirion darted off, heading for the bridge.
The grabbing tentacles seemed fewer now as Malfas unleashed a barrage of relentless fireballs into the kraken.
A wild—and somewhat mad—cackle rose above the crashing waves.
At least Malfas was delighted at making some progress.
He seemed oblivious to his sodden robes and the dark red hair clinging to his face.
Now Lirion was left to dodge the skelebabies, who were frantically bailing the water from the lower level and repairing broken pieces where they could.
“Fen said to get ready to make a break for it when you see any kind of opening,” Lirion blurted out as he reached Rain.
“Mal pulled his head out of his ass?” Rain said, sounding unperturbed by the continued chaos and churning ocean.
The dark pirate king’s muscles bulged in his arms as he fought the wheel to keep the ship under his control, but otherwise his expression was at complete ease, as if they were sailing through calm waters on a sunny day.
His hat floated in the tub behind him and his hair and beard were thoroughly sodden.
His grey shirt was now black and clinging to his powerful frame.
“Unexpected spell issues. Bel worked out the problem.”
Rain threw his head back and cackled, sounding as mad as Malfas. “Guess there is some benefit to reading all those books.” He shouted orders to the skelebabies, telling them to prepare to loosen the sails that had been taken in.
The kraken screamed in pain under the onslaught and drew back all of its tentacles.
A second later, it surged away from them, but as a result, it sent a powerful wave in their direction.
Rain was ready for it. He banked the ship hard, turning into the wave while shouting for all the sails to be opened.
The wind caught as they crested the wave and whoooosh!
“That’s what you get for touching the Dark Lady, you pus-filled, algae-brained bottom-feeder! Run back to your cave, you hippo-humping mud cake!”
The ship raced through the waves away from the kraken and away from the last of Dead Man’s Curve into clear and smooth waters. The kraken was long gone, assuming it had survived Maxie’s poison and Mal’s fireballs.
Lirion stumbled under the sudden rush of the ship, but Rain caught his hand, saving him from crashing into the railing. And the damn pirate didn’t even look up from where he was staring.
“Careful now, my beauty. Don’t want to lose you overboard.”
Lirion smirked as he got his feet under him again, trying to ignore the fine trembling racing throughout his entire body as he came down from the rush of adrenaline and fear.
This was weird, having so many people watching out for him.
Fen relying on him to protect Maxie and then Rain.
Each time he looked up at the little team, he found them protecting each other, always watching out for one another.
Was that what it was like to have people you could depend on? To not be so very alone in the world?
This could become very addictive if he wasn’t careful.