Maledictus Terra Book 3: Vetitum Nemus Part 89
Greetings Readers
I hope that your week has been amazing. I actually had some decent time to sit and write. I really like how this update came out.
Anyway, be sure to read @zakludick's update before getting stuck into mine. We're currently covering two different angles.
Robert thought that he would be chained at the bottom of the ship but was surprised to find that most of the crew of this ship carried their own secrets. But unlike him, they weren’t hiding what they were.
The very first night that they had been out to sea, he had noticed two sailors sprout fur under the full moon as if it were a nightly occurrence for them. Their shipmates weren’t scared of them, they continued as if nothing had happened at all.
While Zathon had given Millmor and Gorox strict instructions to maintain whatever spell was on Robert, there had been no order to keep him chained up or under guard. The man found himself sitting on deck with Rex enjoying the odd freedom he felt surrounded by those who were somewhat similar to him.
“Kai takes on all callers.” Said Gorox. “Even you, if you wish it.”
“I already believed in one false god. I don’t think I could stomach another betrayal like that.” Muttered Robert.
“False gods, real gods, at the end of the day, you have to live for you.”
Gorox was right, but he had such a simplistic view of the world, that Robert couldn’t bring himself to believe it. He had spent decades becoming who he was, and it took one event to ruin everything.
He felt the beast stirring within him and Rex gave him a look. Robert waved him away. It was contained, for now.
The second night out to sea, the sailors had dragged huge tables from the depths of the ship and placed them all over the deck. The galley cook had whipped up a feast that Robert wasn’t even sure was possible out at sea.
Zathon let him on a little secret about the chef. He was a mage who would open portals to where he kept a variety of goods. It saved a fortune on transport costs for food and the crew never ran out of fresh food. A necessity when traveling out to sea.
On the third night, the crew included Rex and Robert in their guard duties. They had noted the two men for what they were and felt the need to welcome them into their pack. Being closer to the sailors, it was now possible to see several glamour spells that protected the identity of several creatures trying to look like men.
From kobolds to gnolls, to more elves of all kinds, this ship was truly one of unity. Robert felt at home, but the beast was furious. It didn’t like this unity. It wanted to rip and tear, but between sheer willpower and the binding bracelet on his arm, Robert kept it at bay.
On their second last night, with the first of the small rock formations of the welcoming islands just coming cresting the horizon, Robert woke with a start. He lay in his hammock, listening to the steady breathing of those who had had the first shift of the evening.
The ship was silent. Too silent. He couldn’t hear the water lapping at the sides or the rigging snapping above. There was no wind, and they weren’t moving. The ocean was silent. So unnerved by this, Robert decided to get to his feet.
Rex’s eyes shot open, they almost seemed to glow in the dark as they watched Robert pull on his boots.
“What?” he asked.
“The ship isn’t moving.”
Several sailors seemed to move at the conversation and more started to awaken. It was clear that this was abnormal, seeing as the ship was moving under a constant magical wind. It was gone and there was no natural wind. Something was very, very wrong.
Gorox groggily rolled from the hammock and managed to pick up his weapon in one smooth movement.
“Let’s see what this is all about.”
Several other sailors pulled weapons from hidden compartments before silently creeping up the stairs. The deck was silent, but a sickly fog was creeping up the sides of the ship. The tendrils looked like fingers closing around the vessel.
Before anyone could ask where the second night crew was, a strange moan was heard deeper in the fog, close to the front of the ship. This moan echoed toward the sides, and then the gurgling and squelching sounds started.
Rotten and sea-bloated fingers gripped the railings around the ship as bloated corpses started to pull themselves over.
“Floaters!” screamed one sailor as magical fire erupted from his hands.
Then a body fell from the crow’s nest. The sound indicated that there was no way this person hadn’t suffered multiple fractures from the fall. But there was no scream. Only a low moan as a shattered head on a broken neck tried to lift itself and moan.
“Undead!” hissed Gorox. “Now my night is made!”
A sword was thrust into Robert’s hand and then battle fell upon them. The screams of the living and the moans of the dead soon sprung into the air. His decades-long training kicked in and he jumped into battle.
These were undead, what harm could they do? But too late the crew and party realised that the dead from the water shouldn’t have been able to climb the sides of the ship without help.
The first rotting tentacle slapped onto the deck right in front of Robert. He had known large sea monsters existed but nothing that would match this single tentacle that was before him. The large appendage flailed for a bit before returning over the side of the ship, only to return with several more undead gripped within. And not just any undead, the second night shift. They had never stood a chance.
Someone was controlling the beast, but how far away Robert didn’t know. The longer the creature was allowed to be around the ship, the higher the risk of being overwhelmed.
Gorox revelled in attacking the giant beast, but it felt like the more tentacles he hacked away, the more came back and with more backup. They were going to be overrun, and soon.
Noxus and Zathon were both using magic, but it seemed ineffective. Robert looked at the tentacles, he knew where the bulbous head of this sea beast would be, but going through with the plan that was formulated in his mind could mean death.
He looked around at the fighting happening around him and knew that either he had to make this choice, or their journey would end here. He took a deep breath and bolted between the undead and over the side of the ship.
He allowed the chaos to consume him and weaken the mental barriers he had been taught to control the beast. It revelled in the freedom and the last thing Robert remembered was his fingers digging into rubbery, undead flesh and there being a shriek, then nothing.
It was nails on his face that woke him sometime later, followed swiftly by a startling splash of a wave. Gasping for breath, Robert reared out of the water. It was day now, and he found himself on a beach of black sand. Another wave slammed his head into the sand, and he knew that he needed to move further up the beach.
Dishevelled with his ripped and soaked clothes, he dragged his bruised and battered body until he was no longer in the swell. He flopped down in the sun-warmed sand and almost fell asleep once more. The claws raked his face once more, and this time, when he opened his eyes, he saw a flash of a white tail disappearing in the undergrowth. Then a set of ice-blue eyes looked at him.
He lay in the sand a little longer, waiting to see what had been attacking him. His patience eventually paid off as a large white fox stepped from the undergrowth. It was so large that he had at first mistook it for a wolf. It came right up to him, and he struggled to sit up as it sat down before him.
It looked him up and down with an almost human expression of curiosity on its face.
“Well now. Thought the squid did you in.” it spoke.
The words felt like ice to Robert’s ears, and he sat back in shock.
And back to you Zak!
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Mortis Custos
Sanguifex
Vetitum Nemus
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Sea undead! Awesome expansion!