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The ship was absolute chaos. Our presence wasn’t even noticed while the sailors ran around with rifles and sabers.
It took a cabin boy carrying extra guns literally running into us for anyone to pay attention to us.
The cabin boy dropped the rifles, and Ace and I bent down to help pick them up while the boy apologized.
“Sorry, I’ll get these to the men right awa—hey, you’re not part of the crew,” the boy said.
“Nope, we’re not,” I agreed. “But I know how to help. Who’s in charge?”
“How’d you get on board?” the boy asked, which was a fair question, I supposed.
“You want to argue, or do you want to kill the monster?” Ace asked.
The cabin boy glanced at the monster. “The captain is at the bow, this way.” Gathering up the rifles, he led us to the front of the ship where most sailors were battling the demon. They were quick to notice the replacement rifles, already loaded, and grabbed them from the cabin boy.
“Captain!” I yelled, getting the attention of a man in a gold ascot.
He had thick, curly black hair pulled back in a ball pony-tail and a well-trimmed beard. He fired off one more shot and then backed up to check who called for him, dark brown eyes narrowing when he spotted us. “How’d you get on my ship?”
I took a page out of Ace’s book and ignored the question to focus on the bigger issue. “This thing’s weak spot is internal. Aim for the eyes and the mouth!”
The captain glanced at the demon curiously. “We’ve hit an eye already, but we can’t find a mouth to aim for it.”
A tentacle slid over the deck, breaking the rails. Attempts to shoot the tentacle or slice it proved ineffective, and the ship creaked.
“If you’ve got anything more helpful, now would be the time,” the captain said, taking a loaded gun from the cabin boy and firing.
That was about all the useful information I had. Ace and I stood there, in the way and useless, while the ship pitched back and forth. There had to be something else I could do before this demon broke the ship in half.
Another creak, and the ship rocked violently under our feet. A sailor stumbled over the tentacle, dropping his gun. It slid off the slimy limb and clattered to the deck.
Steam hissed into the air. The tentacle recoiled, springing back over the deck and whipping over the rail, retreating to the waves.
I looked at the gun. It was a typical bronze rifle, but something about the weapon was toxic to the demon.
That was exactly what we needed. “Did you see that?” I asked.
“See what?” Ace asked, arms flailing to keep his balance.
“It doesn’t like guns,” I said.
“Are we fighting the same monster?” the captain asked, back to me while he aimed for the demon’s eyes.
“Not the bullets, the gun itself,” I said, snatching one from the cabin boy.
“Wait, that one’s not loaded!” the cabin boy yelled.
I approached the rail where another tentacle waved soldiers aside.
“Jack! What are you doing?” Ace yelled.
Holding the butt of the rifle like a saber, I swung at the tentacle. Its flesh steamed and bubbled where I slashed it, and the tip of the tentacle curled up as the appendage pulled away from the ship.
I turned back to Ace and the captain, triumphant. “It doesn’t like guns!” I repeated.
The captain blinked and shook his head. “Men!” He raised his rifle and approached the bow where more tentacles wrapped around the rail and threatened to break the ship. “Use the guns as swords!”
Taking hold of a rope reaching up to the mast, he jumped on the railing and demonstrated, sending another tentacle back below the water.
“Come on, we’re not beaten yet!” he shouted.
With a loud cry, the sailors rushed the bow. Tentacles were beaten back, slowly releasing the ship one sucker at a time.
The sailors couldn’t kill the demon, but they did force it to retreat to deeper water, sinking far enough that we couldn’t see it.
We waited around the rail in silence, wary of a surprise return.
Five minutes passed, then ten.
It did not come back.
I melted with relief, body trembling with the leftover adrenaline.
“Mister Springer, get us out of here,” the captain ordered.
A man towards the back of the ship jumped to attention, shouting more orders for sails to be lowered and the broken wood cleaned up.
Then the captain turned to me and Ace. “Now then. How did you two get on my ship, and what else do you know about that monster?”
My mind was blank. I had no believable answer for him, and the truth was out of the question.
Thankfully, these were the exact conditions Ace thrived in.
“We were stowaways, sir,” Ace said. “Been on the run from the man controlling beasts like this for days.”
The captain grimaced. It was unclear what part of Ace’s lie bothered him more: the idea he’d had stowaways, or the idea of a man being able to control a monster like that.
“There are more beasts like that, then?” the captain asked.
“Yes,” I said. “We don’t know how many or where they are, but they’re out there.”
“And they’re after the two of you?” he asked, hints of suspicion and disbelief starting to color his voice.
I shared a glance with Ace. “More or less.”
He nodded and crossed his arms. “That’s a lot of effort to track down two boys.”
I did my best to control my face while I internally panicked. What should I tell him? How did I answer something like that?
“And the full story is none of your business,” Ace stated. “If you could drop us off on the bank, we’ll figure things out ourselves.”
“Now hold on,” the captain said. “If there are more creatures like that out there, we need to warn people how to fight them.”
He wasn’t wrong. That tentacle demon was a long way from the forest. How many others were wandering the kingdom? How many people would die because they didn’t know their weakness?
Was that weakness even universal? What if it was unique to this demon alone?
“You can handle that while we keep ourselves alive,” Ace said.
“Or we could all go to Chiari,” I suggested, hope fluttering in the back of my mind. “The capitol is the best way to get news out fast.”
The captain’s face twisted and he looked over his ship. “Our main mast is broken. We need to repair that before sailing anywhere.”
My hope did not get very far. “How long will that take?”
“Two or three days, depending on the nearest town and the supplies available.”
Was it worth it to stay put for a few days if he could give us a ride to the capitol? Or were we better off trying to walk?
Ace looked to me to decide.
I was reasonably sure we could trust this ship not to try and attack the palace if they realized who I was, and having a ship full of people to help if another demon showed up sounded like a good idea. “Would it be possible for you to take us to Chiari, then, so we can warn people about the demons?”
He swayed his head from side to side. “We still need to deliver a shipment down south. The delay to fix the mast is already putting us behind a few days, we can’t afford two more to go back up north.”
“That’s fine, we’ll figure out our own ride,” Ace said. “Just get us to land.”
“I don’t know how comfortable I am leaving two kids on their own with monsters hunting them,” he said.
“We can handle ourselves,” Ace said. “Don’t lose sleep over us.”
My face did not reflect the confidence that Ace felt at this proclamation. We’d barely survived the last few days on our own. We had no plan for shelter or dinner tonight, let alone for the next few days.
The captain raised a brow at us. “How about a compromise? You come with us to the nearest town, and I ensure you have a ride and protection back to the capitol?”
It would mean backtracking, but protection might be worth it.
I shared a look with Ace.
He shook his head. “We don’t know if we can trust him. It could end up like the last captain.”
The thought of Captain Ryan made my mood sour. Ace had a point. I’d been too quick to trust Ryan, and we’d ended up in even more trouble.
“I think you boys misunderstand me,” the captain said. “You leaving on your own isn’t an option. Not when monsters like this are out hunting you. I’d never sleep at night if I didn’t know you two were okay.”
“Not our problem,” Ace snapped.
“Well, unless you plan on swimming to shore, you’re stuck on board until we dock regardless,” the captain said.
Ace pressed his mouth shut and glared at the water behind us. Even if he did know how to swim, neither of us would risk it right now with that demon swimming about.
“Then we’ll stay on board until you dock at the next town, and we’ll revisit this discussion then,” I suggested. “Does that sound fair to everyone?”
Whether or not it was fair didn’t matter. It was the only option.
“Well, now that that’s sorted. What are your names?” the captain asked.
“I’m...Jack, and this is Ace.” I tripped over my introduction, so used to announcing myself with my title. It was better to keep that detail a secret, though, until we knew for sure this crew was trustworthy.
He nodded. “I’m Captain Lafiyet. Welcome to the W.S. Ekonaor.”