05

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As Leah took her first step onto the wooden boat, her eyes widened with marvel. She had never seen such a thing in her life. She had been on a boat, but not one as big as this one.

“Leah, I want you to meet a few of the crew,” Raal said. A line of men and women stepped in front of them. “This is Trovii,” Raal said, pointing to a dwarf carrying a bow the size of him. 

“That’s Little Man.” 

Leah tried to search for another dwarf, but she didn’t see him. 

“Where is he?” she asked. 

“Right in front of you,” Raal told her. 

“I hate my name!” a large man in front of her said. “Everybody confuses me with Trovii.”  

Leah giggled and turned back to Raal. “I can see why.”  

Raal smiled and then motioned to another person. “Over here is Natala,” Raal said, pointing to a blonde-haired girl who stood up to the Auroites. “One of the best swordsman . . .”  

“Uh, hm,” Natala interrupted. 

“Sorry, swordswoman on the seas.” 

Leah nodded at her. “Gale is . . . Where’s Gale?” Raal asked. 

“Up here!” a voice called. Gale was on the bird’s nest keeping a good lookout. “Pleasure to meet ya, milady? Not too often we have guests on our ship . . . you know . . . cuz we’re pirates.” 

Leah laughed. “Not many people would like to be guests of a bunch of pirates. Don’t worry, I won’t get in your way.”

Miro walked over to her. “In the way?” he said with a hardy laugh. “Of these lazy scumbags? Ha, ha, ha! Your presence might be the thing that’ll get these landlubbers to act right.” Then he shouted up to Gale, “How’s it looking from up there? Are we ready?”

“All clear, Cap’n! Not a cloud in sight and waves no larger than my pinky toe! Should be smooth sailin’!”

“Okay, let’s set sail!” Miro cried out. “It’s quite a voyage to our destination. It will be best that we start early, agreed?”  

“Aye, aye!” the crew cried in unison. 

“Aye, aye!” Raal yelled. 

“Aye . . . aye!” Leah said with a giggle. It was her first time being with a group of pirates, and she was beginning to like it.

***

“What? Where are we going?” Leah said after sailing for many hours. “I thought the Atlohs continued sailing west, not north!”  

“Well, you don’t think we’re going to chase down a group of Atlohs without proper equipment, aye?” Trovii said in his funny accent. “Suicidal!”  

Miro walked up to her. “We’re headed to Ban-U-San,” he said. “I have a good friend there. His name’s Baag; he can hook us up with some pretty well-forged weapons and armor.”  

“And that’s a good thing,” Natala added. “We need to be ready out here on Mili’s seas. Especially with the Sea Raider plaguing the waters.” The entire crew moaned in agreement. 

“Sea Raider?” Leah asked. 

“Yeah,” Gale said, “Just the most feared pirate this side of Auroa. Katu, the Sea Raider.”  

“He’s very cunning,” Miro told her. “And he carries two strange-looking blades. We ran up on him not too many months ago. We were lucky to come out of it alive.”  

“Lucky?” Trovii cried. “We lost everything. We worked hard for our gleddies!”  

“Let’s not talk about this anymore,” Miro said, trying to raise the crew’s spirit. “We have the future to think about.”

That night, everyone was asleep except for Leah and Miro. Of course, Miro couldn’t sleep because he had to steer the ship. Leah stared between the two moons in the dark sky and sighed. 

“You should get some sleep,” Raal suggested, walking toward her. “We have a long day ahead of us. There’s no telling what may happen on the seas.”  

Leah still stared at the moons and did not say anything. “Hey, is something wrong?” Raal continued as he walked to her side. Dumb question, he thought. She just lost her mother. He followed her gaze. “Looking at the moons again, huh? You were doing that the other night too. Is there a reason?” he asked. 

Leah shook her head, not wanting to answer. Raal could tell. 

“I know,” Raal said, smiling. “You feel bad about your mother.” 

Leah still did not say anything. “I know how much it hurts,” Raal continued. “There’s nothing more powerful than a mother’s love and when it’s gone, there’s an emptiness that’s impossible to fill.” Leah turned to him as he sighed and continued. “My mother died when I was young. She was so beautiful. She mastered anything she touched and yet she was never prideful. She was headstrong and always made sure to get her point across, but she never angered. And her voice, it was so soft and soothing. I can still hear her singing her made up lullabies to me as a child.”

Leah looked up at Raal and watched as he looked out at the dark sea with a look of both reverence and melancholy. “She sounds like an amazing person. How did she . . .” She didn’t want to use the word.

“I don’t know,” Raal answered. “It’s still a mystery to me. But I plan to figure it out.” He turned to Leah. “But in the meantime, we have your mother to get back to you.”  

Leah smiled. “Thank you, Raal,” she said humbly. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“Yeah, I did. I brought those Atlohs to the island when I stepped foot onto it.” He put his elbows on the railing of the boat and looked out at the dark-blue ocean. “It was the least I could do.” 

Leah looked at him with guilt on her face. “You did more than enough when you fought them off,” she said. 

“I said I’d look for your mom,” Raal said. “I don’t go back on my word.”

Leah smirked. “Never heard that from a bandit.”

Raal laughed. “A bandit would never say that.” Then, he lifted off the railing and started walking to the cabins.

“What does that make you?” Leah asked as he walked away.

“It makes me Raal,” he replied. “See you in the morning.”  

“Goodnight.” Leah felt better after the surprising comfort Raal gave her. Though it hurt to realize that he was putting his quest for his own mother’s mystery on hold to save hers. She turned her head back toward the moons and sighed, saying, “Daughter of Leoran.”

The next morning, still half asleep, Raal walked up to Miro steering the boat.

“Oh, Raal, you’re up early,” he said. 

Raal stretched out his arms. “The boat’s always swaying,” he answered with a loud yawn. He walked up to the tip of the boat and rested his arms on the edges as he looked out at the sea. “So, how much longer do we have until we get to Ban-U-San?” he asked. 

“A couple days. That’s only if this north-going wind holds up. Could be a little longer if the weather changes.”

Raal sighed. “Well, that should get me some good practice time in,” he said, stretching and flexing his arms. “I’m sure Natala’s waiting for our rematch.”

Miro laughed. “That girl’s been waiting for any kind of fight to be honest.”

Raal laughed as well as he thought about his last sparring match against this sea maiden. He barely won that match and knowing the type of calamities and crazy situations that Miro would lead his crew through, she’d most likely be greatly conditioned. “Perhaps I’ll just avoid that little scruff for now.” Then he turned to Miro. He watched as Miro diligently controlled the steer. “Hey, do you ever sleep?”  

“Sleep?” Miro laughed. “I wish. No, I don’t on the ship. Think about it. If I went to sleep and no one was there to steer the boat, we’d probably be out in the middle of the ocean, not knowing where to go.”  

“So you mean to tell me that no one on this ship can steer except you?”

“No, they know how to do it. It’s just a matter of if I’d let them or not.” 

Raal laughed and shook his head, astounded by the sheer ego of the pirate captain. “You’re genuine, Miro, that’s for sure.”

Raal and Miro continued to converse, bringing up multiple fond memories between them. They grew up together and were like brothers. Miro saved Raal countless times when they were younger, and Raal did the same for him. It was only natural for their wild pasts to bring their current occupations to fruition—a bandit and a pirate. And just as they reminisced on memories, they each had tons of recent adventures to tell each other about.

“I ran into your favorite arse-biter before you showed up on Oaka,” Raal said. “Full fleet and all. He tried to peg me as the culprit for that Atloh attack before a villager vouched for me.”

“So that’s who those Auroites belonged to,” Miro said as he rolled his eyes. “Of course he did. As if one man could do all of that. When those iron-heads have their mind made up about something, logic is out the door.” Miro looked at Raal. “Though, that was a pretty heavy strike by the Atlohs for a place like Oaka. Why would they . . .”

As Miro spoke, Raal spotted a large dark shadow in the water and interrupted him. “What’s that?” Raal asked. 

“What’s what?” 

“That.” Raal pointed at the shadow. 

Miro followed his finger and saw what Raal was talking about. He studied the shadow for a while until suddenly, he felt drops of rain fall on him. He looked up and saw the sky turning dark and cloudy. “This is not good,” he said with panic. 

“What is it?” Raal asked again, a little frightened. 

“Quick, go ring the bell to get the crew up!”

Raal started to run to the bell. While he ran, he turned his head to the shadow. A gigantic, grayish-blue fin raised out the water. It towered above the ship, blocking out the sun and casting a large shadow onto the boat. “What is that?” Raal yelled. He finally reached the bell and rang it furiously.

Leah quickly jumped out of her bunk bed and ran out into the hall. She saw the crew rushing to get their equipment and weapons. She did the same. “What’s going on?” she cried. All of a sudden, someone ran into her. Raal rubbed his head. “Raal, what’s happening?” she asked once she realized who bumped into her. 

“There’s something big in the water!” he said. “Something really big!” Then, he ran off in a hurry in the opposite direction. 

The fear in his eyes was enough to tell Leah they were in for something really devastating. She picked up her glaive and ran toward the stairs that led up to the deck. When she opened the door of the deck, she walked out and looked in awe and fear of what she saw. The once clear and beautiful day had turned into a dark and stormy, lightning-filled catastrophe. Waves were crashing all over and against the boat, making it hard for the crew to maneuver while tumbling back and forth. The rain was falling so hard now that it was difficult to see what was right in front of them. What shocked her the most was the surreally massive fin in front of the boat. 

“Get the harpoon!” Miro cried out. He quickly turned the boat as hard as he could to avoid the fin coming toward it. 

“Captain Miro!” Leah yelled. “What is . . . that?” 

All of a sudden, the entire body attached to the fin leaped out of the water and over the boat. It was ten times longer than the boat and looked to be as wide as the boat itself. 

Once it did that, Miro, Leah, Raal, and the rest of the crew looked on in awe as the enormous monster flew over their heads. Its huge serpent body glistened from the water trickling off of it. At its head, its mane waved in the wind, and its daunting iris-less white eyes seemed to glow in contrast with its grayish body and the dark cloudy sky. It looked as if it was moving slowly through the air, but judging by the great speed of its blue tail that almost came in contact with the boat, it was obvious now that the sluggishness was an illusion because of its enormity and how high it was in the air. 

A low rumble could be heard as it flew through the air. It was so low and powerful that it vibrated the ship and everyone on it. That rumble was its growling.

Miro’s heart was racing as he stared in awe at the massive creature. He knew exactly what it was, and it put him in a momentary state of shock and disbelief. “It’s a water dragon!” he cried. 

When the dragon splashed back into the sea, tons of water rushed into the boat, knocking everyone around. Miro held on to steer. Natala and a group of other crewmembers ran onto the deck with a harpoon that was as long as three people. They carried a huge sling that served as its cannon, twice the size of the harpoon.

“Put it there!” Miro commanded them, pointing at the very front of the boat. After they set the harpoon in place, Trovii, the best marksman, got behind the harpoon, ready to fire. He waited for Gale, who was in the bird’s nest, to give the signal. 

Miro kept his hands on the steer, and his eyes were focused on the shivering sea. “This is our only shot,” he cried out to Trovii and Gale. “So let’s make it count!”  

Raal ran up behind Miro and, with a frantic expression, yelled, “You can’t beat that thing with one harpoon! Look at its scales! It won’t penetrate!” 

“You would think that,” Miro said, keeping an eye on the dragon’s location. “But the water dragon has a very vulnerable spot.” He placed his thumb underneath his chin. “Below its head is a hole where air and water enter and leave, enabling the dragon to breathe. If we pierce that hole with the harpoon, then we should be able to kill it.”  

“How are you going to hit the bottom of it?” Leah asked. 

“Once it jumps, the bottom will be exposed. That is when we’ll fire.”  

Suddenly, Gale yelled, “Captain Miro, it’s about to jump!” 

“Prepare, crew!” Miro cried. “It may drag us!”  

The shadow of the dragon got closer and closer to the boat. 

“Captain!” Gale cried. “It’s too close!” 

Miro kept his eyes on the dragon. It continued to come closer. “Jump,” Miro growled to himself. “Jump, you salty sea serpent.” 

The dragon continued to come closer. Now, it was dangerously close.

Gale hollered, “We have to shoot into the water! It’s too close!”

Miro ignored him and continued to murmur, “Jump, jump, jump.”

The dragon’s shadow was so close that the crew had to look down to see it.

“Captain!” Gale cried again in fear.

Suddenly, the dragon’s shadow disappeared. The crew looked at each other in astonishment. “It fled,” some of them started to say. An ominous silence engulfed the ship.

Miro then yelled at the top of his lungs, “JUMP!!!!”

The massive dragon leaped out of the water, roaring with a force so powerful that it blocked out the sound of the thunder and caused even the boat itself to shake with intimidation. It barely scraped the sling of the harpoon, and it caused waves of water to splash onto the boat. Because of all the water in Trovii’s face, he blindly shot the harpoon. It missed the hole completely, and instead, it hit the tail of the dragon. 

“Hurry, cut the line!” Miro yelled. Then suddenly, the entire boat jerked. It wildly knocked everyone around and caused many people to fall overboard. The inertia ripped a chain off of the railings of the boat and it swung toward Leah. With her head turned the other way, she didn’t notice it. At the last second, she turned around to see the chain no more than a foot from her neck. Then . . .

Darkness. Leah’s eyes slowly opened to the sight of Raal’s body over her. He had jumped on her at the very last second. “Raal?” she whimpered. 

Raal stood up. “There’s no time,” he breathlessly said. He put his hand out to help her up. However, he did not see the enormous object that was falling from above him. Leah did and she quickly scissored her legs around him and flipped him to the ground. She then rolled herself on top of him. As she did that, the large object hit the floor right where they were previously positioned. 

The impact broke the wooden floor. Raal and Leah both turned their heads to see what it was. It was the top of the mast. The chain that almost killed Leah went past her and had cut through it like it was nothing. 

They looked at each other with Leah still lying on top of him. Fear was evident in their eyes. They both quickly got up and looked around to see the damage that had been done.

Before the line of the harpoon was cut, the water dragon had pulled the boat completely around. The dragon was now underwater, swimming around the ship like a predator stalking its prey. Miro, with all his strength, turned the boat back around as quickly as he could. “Hurry!” he cried. “Get another harpoon!” 

“That was the last one!” a crewmember announced. 

“Damn it!” Miro shouted. “What are we going to do now?”

Raal held his sword and thought for a moment. Then, he tightened his grip on it and ran to a ladder. He jumped and climbed his way to the broken mast, surprised to see that Gale was still alive in the bird’s nest after the chain had cut through it. 

“What are you doing!” Gale said. “It’s way too dangerous!”  

Raal jumped and caught onto the roof. “I have a plan,” he told him as he swung himself to the top. 

At that moment, Leah spotted him. “Raal!” she screamed, afraid for him. Miro quickly turned around and saw what Leah was looking at. “What in Sem’s name is he doing?” he said. “He’ll kill himself!”  

Raal watched the shadow of the dragon come closer and closer to the ship as he stood on the highest point. He gripped his sword tighter, and both sweat and water trickled down his face. The rain created a haze that seemed to separate him from the inbound devastation that was the dragon’s shadow. He paid no attention to the crew yelling below him. 

“Raal, what are you doing?” Gale asked again. 

Raal smirked. “I’m about to kill this dragon,” he said.

Coming through the haze, the dragon was now only a few yards away from the ship, and Raal quickly stiffened his body in a squatting position. Time seemed to slow down. He could vividly see every drop of rain. Each fold of the flags in the wind was lucid. And the shadow of the dragon had disappeared like before. 

Finally, at the last foot, the monumental reptile flew out of the water. Its entire being intimidatingly branched forward toward the lonesome Raal, who was staggeringly small in comparison. He waited for the right time. A little longer, little longer, almost there, and . . . NOW!!! Raal, using all the power in his legs, leaped backward off the roof as the enormous head of the dragon went over him. As he was in the air, he spotted the hole, right in between the dragon’s jaws. And before it passed him, Raal took in a deep breath, pulling his sword back over his head. Then, with a forceful scream, he thrust the sword into the hole. The dragon let out a thundering roar and crashed into the water with Raal still hanging on.

“No! Raal!” Leah cried. She ran to the front of the ship and looked overboard to see if there was any sign of him. All of sudden, without thinking, Miro jumped over the edge and dived into the water. 

Underwater, Miro could see the gigantic reptile. He swam next to it, trying to find the head. It felt like he was swimming next to a sinking mountain. After several strokes, Miro finally reached the head. As he predicted, Raal was there, but he was in obvious distress. He was close to unconsciousness as he tried hard to get his sword out of the dragon. 

Miro swam up to him and motioned  him to leave the sword and come to the surface with him. Raal shook his head and continued to try and pull out the sword. This aggravated Miro, but he helped him anyway. As he tried to help Raal, he realized that the sword was stuck. Miro motioned to Raal so that they could both pull at the same time. That would probably do the trick. 

Raal nodded and gripped the sword tight. One . . . two . . . three!!!  Both of them began to pull as hard as they could. The sword came out a little. Half of it was still in the hole. They decided to do the same thing, again. One . . . two . . . three!!! They pulled with all their strength. The sword came out inch by  inch, and then, finally, the sword was free. Blood surged out of the dragon. Raal and Miro didn’t bother to look at the hole. They desperately desired oxygen. 

“Raal! Miro!” Leah cried. 

“Captain!” crewmembers yelled with fear for Miro. They looked down at the water, trying to find any sign that their friends were alive. 

“Over here!” Miro screamed as he tried to hold both his and Raal’s head above the outlandish typhoon water. Natala jumped in the water, swam over to Raal and Miro, and then tried to drag both of them back to the boat as Little Man held a rope over the edge.

Raal’s eyes could barely stay open, but he could make out the large wound on his side where the dragon’s scales scratched him. He didn’t know how he had survived. The dragon’s body had fallen on top of him.

Once they reached the rope, Raal wasn’t capable of keeping his eyes open and lost consciousness.