Unity & A Bounty!

Spirit Animals, Episode 3

The smell of rotting fish swept through the entire village, clinging to Zan's skin long after they entered the Captain's cabin aboard a merchant ship known as The Rooster.

When they first found the coastal town, it was like walking into another world for the boy. That fishy smell had long foretold their approach, but was nothing compared to being among it all. He remembered the feeling of unease all the buildings gave him as they rose up out of the landscape, how every hair on his body stood on end at the sight of the seer amount of smoke pouring off this supposed small community. When they had first entered, Zan suddenly felt the weight of the sky above him, the only escape from the ever-encroaching thatch and bricks of this place. The air itself felt filthy to him, finding total relief when they finally reached the docks where he could finally breathe and gaze upon the sea.

They had been negotiating passage across the endless water for the better part of an hour, and the boy grew tired of the bottomless grimace from the man known as Hebrig. He was the Captain, and owner, of The Rooster. His suspicious eyes continuously searched Zan and Noro for... something, which made the boy uncomfortable. More, Zan couldn't help but pick up on a mistruth or two the man had espoused. The cabin was richly designed, moreso than the other man-dwellings from Riba Village. He judged that by the mud walls and thatched roofs, at least. These walls, however, were made of finely sculpted wood and the air within was warm.

Zan caught himself fidgeting as Noro continued to haggle, calming himself by focusing again on the craftsmanship of the cabin. These people all have the same eyes, he thought, sighing. So suspicious and haggard. His mind wandered to Vara and Turo just outside of the ship, waiting with the wagon filled with all their belongings. He knew it would all be safe, but couldn't help but miss them both already. He also couldn't help but think how useful it might have been to take a few more coins or valuables from the man-camp before they parted ways with Durim and Guld. We took what we could carry, but I never thought village-dwellers would be so focused on coins rather than commodities.

Noro snorted. “How about we work for you during the journey, eh?” The orc had been saying. “Surely a couple of pairs of hands could come in handy, what do you say?”

Captain Hebrig's lupine face tightened up, revealing a network of stress wrinkles across his cheeks and forehead. “Ah, but two more mouths to feed—four if you count your beasts. The metal you posses is shod and must be reworked, which costs me coin!” He groaned, rubbing his eyes as if Noro had gotten something in them. “Listen, I can make some room aboard my ship and get the pair of you all the way to New Duma, but that would mean inconveniencing others who paid fairly and fiercely. I'm sure you can understand, Sir Orc.”

“I don't, actually,” Noro quipped, “seeing as how this is a merchant vessel.”

Hebrig's face relaxed into a smile. “Exactly, Sir Orc. I'm in the business of belongings, not bodies. I'll not sully my crew with arrangements unless the proper payment has been made. Are we clear?” He shot a glance over to Zan before continuing. “We wont be leaving until sunrise. If you two want passage across the Sapphire Sea, best be paying with sapphires.” He seemed amused. “Sapphires... or something that wont lose me money. Something worth having the extra weight aboard.”

Zan let out a loud groan, not even trying to mask it. “You talk so much...” Hebrig's face tightened back up with his words, but the boy caught himself. “Uh, Noro.”

The captain snapped shut a dusty ledger in front of him and stood, adjusting the frills of his coat. It was a dark blue fabric of some kind unfamiliar to the boy, trimmed with silver filigree. “I've said my piece, and so now the burden is on you—whether or not the boy and the orc will fly away with The Rooster.” With that, Hebrig knocked thrice upon the wall and waited.

A moment later, the door flung open to reveal the silhouette of a wraith. The Captain's mysterious bodyguard wore a tattered gray cloak with a deep hood pulled down over the silver scales of his Reptilian face. His gloved hand clasped the hilt of a masterfully crafted stiletto hanging confidently at his side. Within the abyss of his hood, two golden Reptilian eyes stared back, frozen and focused. “Need somethin' Cap?” the bodyguard asked.

“These two were just leaving, Silverhood.” Hebrig shot back. “see them out, would you?”

Noro stood, bowing with a polite smile. “We humbly appreciate your time, Lord Captain. We shall return, come sunset then.”

As the Reptilian ushered the boy and orc to the exit, Zan could feel the weight of his lizard eyes bearing down on him. More, he could feel something deeper as well. Then it clicked just as they left the cabin. “You have a Spirit Bond, don't you hooded one?” Silverhood only laughed, urging them off the ship, but Zan knew the answer. A fresh wave of fish smell made the boy flinch, but he continued to speak all the same. “Well, silver man, where is it—your Bond?”

A shadow cast across The Rooster from above, like a cloud passing in front of the sun. “Off huntin'” the Reptilian grunted, a scaly smile the only visible feature in the shadows of his hood. “It's what we do, child.” He pushed the boy away and turned back to The Rooster. Their eyes went to the sky, where they saw Silverhood's majestic mount hovering on an updraft—the enormous silhouette of a vulture circling slowly like an airborne sentinel.

“Well that was unnecessary,” Zan mumbled, rubbing at his shoulder as the canines came surging up to greet them with open mouths and flapping tongues.

Noro laughed. “Yeah, in places like this, you'll find that many things are.” Nin poked his head out of the fringes of the orc's tunic. “Good job staying hidden,” he murmured to him, giving a few scraps of food. The rabbit cooed his approval and burrowed back into the safety of the tunic. With that, the orc took the wooden reins of the wagon they had all their belongings piled on and drew in a deep breath. “'Spose it's time to find someone who'll take a bunch of junk and give us minted coin,” the orc grunted as he hefted the weight of the wagon, readying it for departure. “How hard could it be?”

Zan chuckled. “Harder than that salty Captain's head!”

They both burst into laughter, and even the canines took to howling along with them.

“Aye, harder than that,” Noro finally said, his voice saddening. “Look around. These people aren't like that shrewd Captain.”

The boy did just that, and everything he took in only reinforced what his friend was saying. There was a clear difference between what Hebrig's cabin offered and the hovels of Riba. An even clearer difference between man villages like Riba, and places like what used to be my home, Zan couldn't help but remind himself. It was true, when he first entered this village with Noro it had been a shock. The broken streets, the exhausted fishermen, the beggars, all sharing this tiny strip of coastline—for what? I... never knew something like a beggar existed until now, the boy mused. Why don't they just go hunt for food? Make a shelter? Find a cave? Why cling to something like a man village? Zan's confusion swallowed any pity he might have had, though he found himself unable to look away whenever they passed one. Is it because of these wooden structures? Images of Hemdom aflame flashed in his mind, allowing him to find his pity. Not for the beggars, but for the fragile idea this entire village had, that this might be a permanent thing.

Even now, passing through the muddy streets, Zan could see that these structures man has constructed would wither away in just a few seasons without the upkeep of the people here. Like a whisper, here and then not. Barely heard; barely remembered.

Noro grunted as they traversed a particularly stubborn patch of mud. “Err, perhaps we should try another plan.”

From midday until sunset, they had gathered all the beggars of the meager fishing village known as Riba. From there, Noro promised food and coin for anyone willing to assist them in their mission to book passage to New Duma. Some refused, half mad from starvation or some other unseen blight, but most were willing to at least hear what he had to say. They would each take an object scavenged from the camp, and scour the village for anyone willing to pay any amount of coin. Some made off with their tasked object, others with the coin, which is why Noro and Zan took on the most valuable stuff themselves.

The plan succeeded in ridding them of everything, including the wagon, but after filling the bellies of everyone involved and squaring up a penny or two, Zan knew it still wasn't enough. “I got quite a bit for that spear I snagged,” Zan said, trying to alleviate the growing sense of despair they could both feel. “It was too heavy anyway, with that metal tip.”

“True,” Noro said curtly. “I can't help but feel it was still metal, though, no matter how shod Hebrig claims it to be.” The orc sighed and stared up at the stars, tossing a twig into the campfire they had set up for the night. “All we can do now is hope. Plenty of people in Riba confirmed how few ships pass through these days. This might... strand us, Little Brother.”

“Pie-rats and brigands,” Zan mocked. “What's a pie-rat, anyway?”

Noro smiled for the first time in hours. “Pirates, Brother. Thieves of the sea. Barbarians, really. If the stories are to be believed, best to avoid them.”

Zan blinked twice. “Pirates,” he repeated. “Hmm... the name makes me hungry.”

That one got Noro to laugh for the first time in hours, which made the boy happy. “I thought you were off meat, Little Brother?”

Zan scoffed, suddenly feeling cornered. “I never said I was back on!” His stomach growled to underscore the point. “Only...”

“The sound of a rat pie makes you hungry?” Noro interjected, laughter intensifying.

Zan's face cherried. Vara and Turo began to growl. “You... shut up!” He suddenly stood, but they both knew he wouldn't do anything. “They made me eat meat anyway when Colitar captured us, so it doesn't even matter!” Noro stopped laughing. Rotting meat in some cases, the boy remembered. But I had to do it in order to regain my strength... I had to.

“Listen,” Noro said, interrupting his thoughts. “I'm sorry.” Nin poked his head out and cooed.

Zan suddenly felt guilty. “No... no, Noro. I am. You've been really nice and generous to us.” As the boy spoke, the orc's eyes grew wider and wider. Turo appeared at Noro's side and licked at his massive hand and arm. “I'll always be grateful for you.”

Noro sniffed, quickly wiping one of his eyes as if Zan might not notice. He scratched Turo behind the ear. “Turo has never approached me like this before.”

Zan chuckled. “Aye!”

Noro stood and stretched out confidently. “I think everything will work out, Little Brother.”

“Yeah,” said the boy, smiling as he scratched his wolf under her enormous jaw. “I think you're right!”

At first light, they set out for The Rooster and its Captain. A woman clad in red and purple met them at the side of the ship. “Halt! No beggars, no beasts! The Rooster will be embarking shortly!” she barked at them.

“Surely!” Noro called back. “The animals shall all remain here until we finish speaking to the esteemed Lord Captain!” he offered her a respectful bow.

The woman spat a brown streak over the side of the ship, a sickening red smile spreading across her face as she offered back her own mocking bow. “Twas you I was referrin' to, orc.”

Noro ignored that, presenting one of the only things they had left—their sack of coin. “I have gold!”

The look on the woman's face at the orc's declaration made Zan laugh, he couldn't help in. “Gold, you say?”

“Gold!” Noro called back again.

Moments later, Captain Hebrig appeared beside the woman with the red teeth. “Gold, you say?” he announced.

“Aye!” Noro barked back.

Hebrig's eyes narrowed, staring daggers through the both of them. “Lower the bridge!” he eventually commanded.

Back in the Captains cabin, they found themselves back in negotiations for passage. “Now, I heard your men mention The Rooster is bound for New Duma regardless, so there would be no inconvenience having us along,” Noro was saying.

Hebrig grimaced, examining a gold coin pulled from their purse. “Who are you to speak of my convenience, Sir Orc?” He tucked the coin into a pocket on the breast of his coat and leaned back. “You promised me gold, yet here you've brought me but a single coin.”

“Its gold, we said we had gold!” Zan interrupted, backing away again when met with glances from both of them.

“Hear us,” Noro continued. “Allow us passage and we shall repay any outstanding debt tenfold. We searched Riba for coin, as you requested, and actually returned with it. The village is but a poor thing, as I'm sure you've heard from the stories recently. The Rooster is one of the only remaining ships passing through this area.” Noro paused, but Hebrig remained silent, so he continued. “That is... until the Trinity War touches this place.”

The Captain's eyes widened and he sat upright, clearing his throat. “It's true, there has been an uptick in pirate activity as of late. It's also true that I'm one of the only merchant ships because of it, this is why I keep a tight crew—all hands experienced and battle tested mercenaries.” A confident smile relaxed across Hebrig's lupine face. “So you can see why I might need coin—all of the coin. How do I know you ain't just pirates in disguise.” He laughed heavily, Zan and Noro didn't.

“What do you want?” Zan interrupted, but his voice was sincere. “I'm tired of talking... what do you want?” Noro turned back toward the Captain, both of them filling with hope.

His eyes searched them again. He scratched at his goatee, mumbling something under his breath. Through the lingering scent of fish, Zan picked up on something from the Captain. He wasn't afraid, nor hiding anything at the moment, but there was something there all the same. Whatever it was, the boy knew he didn't like it.

Lord Captain Hebrig cleared his throat, standing to face the stained glass window of his cabin. “I can see that reaching the capital city of Ponium is of utmost importance to you.” He paused dramatically, and Zan caught another whiff of whatever this man was giving off. “Hand over whatever you have, labor for me, and defend the ship from brigands if need be... and passage shall be yours. I am a charitable Lord, after all. This wouldn't be the first time, would it?”

“Done!” Noro blurted out, pushing the meager pile of coins further to the Captain's side of the table.

“Whew!” Zan let out, exasperated and relieved as he plopped down onto his rear and stretched his neck out.

The Captain scoffed at that, sneering. “Alright then. Hand over whatever you have.”

“We did,” Noro shot back, gesturing to the coins.

“No, you mistake me.” Hebrig knocked on the wall thrice, then took his seat behind the coins. “I can see you have more, even from where I'm sitting over here. We agreed—everything.”

Noro's muscular, orc jaw tighten up for a moment, then relaxed. Hebrig's hooded bodyguard came barging in then, gloved hand to stiletto as before. “Aye,” the orc relented, pulling the necklace from his throat. It was the tip of some kind of horn, intricately carved with different spirals and shapes, overflowing with craftsmanship. Then, he pulled two rings from his fingers. One was bone and the other was brass, Zan knew both were important to him for some reason.

Satisfied, Hebrig turned his gaze to the boy. “Your turn.”

Zan chuckled. “I don't have any fancy rings, but you can take my necklace too.” He plucked the cordage from his neck, and the long row of different teeth that came with it. “Its the teeth of all the creatures I've encountered. I don't know what a couple of them are because I just found those, but most—”

“Okay,” Hebrig interrupted.

Zan could feel his face flush, but he suppressed it best he could. “There!” He cast the teeth onto the pile of coins.
The Captain laughed, shaking his head. “Everything.”

Zan angrily patted his body all over. “What? I have nothing!”

Silverhood notched his stiletto, showing the thin, silver edge. “That's a nice pelt,” Hebrig offered.

My skin? The boy realized. He remembered the piles of skins the poachers had acquired in their search for bear cups. Each animal hunted for food. Each animal defending the young these men sought. The thought sickened him, but this was common ground he could find with the man world. He didn't realize how much he valued his skin until the prospect of parting with it arose. Truth be told, Zan couldn't remember a time without it, nor how he acquired it.

“Well?” insisted the Captain.

Zan swallowed dryly, then inclined his head. “Sure.” He pulled the fox-eared pelt free from his body and cast it onto the ground. He felt cold and vulnerable almost instantly. What will I do without it? The thought came unbidden, but he managed to push it aside. “There. Are we good?”

Silverhood's stiletto clicked back into place and disappeared beneath his tattered gray cloak. Captain Hebrig chuckled. “We're good.” He cleared his throat. “Get your beasts below deck and keep them there for the entire journey. Then, report to Daffodil for swabbing duties.”

“Yes, Captain,” Noro said as they both stood to leave, not unkindly. “Thank you.”

Just as they reached the exit, Hebrig's voice rose up again. “Oh, and... you're lucky I didn't make you hand over that rabbit you've been hiding from me. Lucky indeed, to have such a generous Captain. My men would've loved some stew to start this journey off right.”

Days passed aboard The Rooster, the boy and orc acclimating to their roles as laborers whenever needed. They would swab the deck, hoist the sails, tie knots, and anything else Daffodil could think of. The man was just as shrewd and well-dressed as the captain, though infinitely more charismatic. In the moments he wasn't berating them for not working fast enough, they could find respite while the suave first mate flirted with the female members of the crew. Zan didn't see the point, but at least they could relax, so he looked forward to it.

The most surprising aspect of the journey thus far was the knowledge that the ship was neither cramped nor lacking in supplies, which gave both of them a bitter taste in their mouth about their new Captain. Still, at least they only had to deal with Daffodil most of the time. Zan still hadn't quite gotten to the feeling of the deck swaying around beneath him. Vara and Noro seemed just fine, but Turo had been almost constantly in a state of drooling lethargy. The sea didn't like him, nor he the sea.

If they were to take Daffodil at his word, though, the sea hated everyone. “Arm yourself with vigilance, Little Bonder,” the lanky man had warned. “Arm yourself with the mop as your sword when the kraken rises up from the deep!” He broke into laughter then. “Be sure to finish draining the lower decks first! The quicker you work, the quicker you can escape from the sea monsters.”

When he had wandered off with one of the other crew mates, Zan inquired more about sea monsters and brigands. The lady with the red teeth overheard. “Spend enough time at sea and you'll see your fair share of monsters, boy.” She spit a brown streak onto the ground in front of him to underscore her point. “Missed a spot.”

“Not all monsters are as big as a mountain and swallow ships,” Noro interjected, mopping up the oily spatter Lady Orchid had offered them. “I heard tell of entire ocean cities beneath the waves from some traveling goblins one time. Cost me seven eggs for that story, but it was worth it.”

“What?” Orchid shot back, genuinely surprised. “Like... fish people?”

“Aye, fish people,” Noro confirmed. “They said it would account for some of the ruins folks have found just offshore in the past, in places where land grows and water shrinks.”

Zan was too enthralled to say anything.

“Fairy stories,” Orchid dismissed. “I've heard of those. They're probably just temples from ancient humans swallowed up by the sea, you see?” She gave the orc a sly look, as if she had defeated him. Her teeth almost glowed red every time she spoke or smiled from whatever leaf she was chewing. “You have it backwards, love.”

Noro finished the spot where she had offered them her gift, then moved on as he continued to speak. “A sound path of logic, but doesn't account for the way these things are designed.”

“How so?” Orchid sincerely asked.

Noro chuckled, continuing his work with enthusiasm. “It seems the allure of a good mystery finds even the best of us, eh? No matter how we flee from it.” When she said nothing, he continued. “A thousand windows, for example. No doors, no roofs.”

Orchid burst into laughter, nearly choking on her red leaf. “This?” she sobbed, “probably some strange temple, as I said. Right away I can tell you they probably worshiped the sun because of all those windows.”

“Did they?” Noro mumbled. “You know more than you let on, Lady Orchid. I guess neither of us know the truth.”

She spat another smear of brown into the air to dispel any illusion he might have had. “You as well, orc. But I'm no Lady. I am a maid, however. The Maid. One doesn't earn a moniker like that without learning a thing or two.”

Noro was the one laughing now. “I'm sorry, you just don't seem a maiden, either.”

Zan lost track of whatever it was they were talking about, but the end of the conversation had caught his attention again.

“Let me get this straight,” Orchid had said as she brought them their evening rations. “You honestly believe there's some race of fish people in the Sapphire Sea somewhere?”

“No, not at all.” Noro waited until she was satisfied before finishing his answer. “Those goblins said there's many, and they don't like us very much.

“Us?” Orchid asked.

Noro leaned in close. “Air breathers,” then took a bite out of his evening biscuit.

Orchid's scarred face wrinkled up with anger, her red teeth glistening beneath stained lips. “Back to work after you choke down that biscuit, orc. You too, little Bonder. Storm clouds are gathering on the horizon and Daffodil wants the sails ready to stow.”

“What did I do?” Zan protested, crumbs raining down from his mouth, but she had already stomped away.

Sure enough, by the time they finished prepping the sheets it already began raining. Within the hour, The Rooster was in the jaws of the Storm God. The sudden violence of the waves battering the side of the ship churned Zan's stomach, but he managed to keep his footing. The tree trunks and moss-covered stones of Hemdom proved more formidable than The Rooster's deck, but there was no way the boy could shake the rhythm of the sea. Men scrambled to secure lifelines, sliding about and colliding with various sections of the ship. The storm only intensified with each passing minute and it was all he could do to hold on to whatever he could. When two of the crew went overboard, Zan could feel warm tears mingling with the freezing rain upon his cheek.

He felt his jaw clench up, his face flushing with frustration. I need to help! Zan thought. No one else dies!

As if she had heard his promise, Vara came exploding out from below deck.

Thick saliva ran from the wolf's snarling mouth, her blue moon eyes blazing. Half a heartbeat later, she was beside him and Zan's mind began to clear. He saw Orchid hit the side and begin to slip, reaching her just as her footing gave. Vara was growling just as Zan caught her purple cloak, and she came barreling back clinging to Vara's fur. The boy got her to the mast, where other crew had already tied themselves down and could embrace her. She gave a fleeting look to Zan, physically reacting to the fire in Vara's eyes, but said nothing.

Together with Silverhood and his enormous vulture, Hetta, they managed to get most of the crew to safety before a minute lull in the storm came. “Drain the deck while we can!” the Captain was shouting, among other commands, and the crew bent to their tasks.

“Daffodil?” Zan heard one of the laborer girls say. “Captain! The First Mate is gone!”

Hebrig's lupine face wrinkled up. “What!”

Moments later, another of the crew chimed in, “The Maid, too!”

“Orchid?” the captain snarled. “We've lost too many crew to this blasted storm! Take precautions before the next wave! Bind yourselves to The Rooster lads!”

Zan craned his head, frantically searching for the two. She was just here! He remembered, but both her and the dapper second-in-command had vanished. Turo appeared from below deck, drooling and with an unhinged look in his eyes. They, too, had a faint glow to them. Gold flickering behind all the anxiety like embers. The hound's haunches were raised, Vara's too, Zan realized. Suddenly, his own hair all along his arms and on the back of his neck stood as well. Something is wrong.

“Man overboard!” one of the crew declared.

“Cast lines!” barked the captain.

When Zan's eyes followed where the man was pointing, they found the shape of a person in the water—standing. “Wait here you two, I'll be right back,” he whispered, and his canines whined in acknowledgment. Turo sat, drooling savagely as his eyes reeled, but Zan could still see the fear in his eyes. As the boy darted across the deck, he almost immediately slipped onto his side. Undeterred, he sprang back up and scaled the ratlines as if he was a rat. The deck and sea are one thing, but the ratlines aren't so different from branches, he thought. When he reached the Fighting Top of the rear mast, he could make out Silverhood brooding from the Crow's Nest. His tattered cloak snapped in the wind like gray flames at his back, his deep hood ripped away to reveal the mercenary's reptilian head to the boy for the first time. He looks so much like Ravos, Zan mourned, yet... not at all.

Lighting tore through the backdrop of the sea, illuminating a great shadow circling above the Crows Nest. It was Hetta, Zan knew, but a second shadow had also caught his eye. The boy focused again on this stranger somehow walking on the water, and when the sky ignited once again, his suspicions were confirmed. A second dread shadow, just beneath the surface of the Sapphire Sea and this new stranger. The shape was vast enough to compare to the ship itself, and the boy's heart began to frantically pound against the inside of his chest. When Zan finally got a clear view, his hair stood up again and his blood ran cold. This stranger was only visible from the knees-up, the boy realized. From this distance, that means he must be giant!

Another flash in the sky revealed the shadow again, inexorably approaching The Rooster. Zan climbed the rail and prepared to descend, stealing a last fleeting glance of the mysterious Silverhood. The sky lit up again, and the Reptilian was already gone. Probably somewhere above with his Spirit Bond, the boy concluded, wasting no more time dwelling on it. He made quick work getting back to the main deck of the ship, but no one had noticed due to the spectacle of this ever-approaching stranger.

“He stands on water!” one of the crew was shouting, hunched over the side rail in astonishment.

Captain Hebrig pushed his way through to get a better look. “Back!” he commanded. “Away, before the storm swallows you all!” but it fell on deaf ears.

“'Tis a miracle for the sea to part the storm and send us her herald!” a woman shouted.

Another of the crew disagreed, however. “No! The storm sends us a demon!”

They continued on back and forth like that, which made Zan more nauseous than the still-swaying ship as it danced with the ocean waves beneath them all. The rain hadn't lightened up much either, still as cold as ever. Freezing. Turo and Vara had found their place back at his side almost instantly, which, not only comforted him, but made it easier to keep his balance. “Captain!” Zan finally forced himself to say, burping and nearly losing his lunch. Hebrig regarded him, but all he could get out was, “Shadow... water!” before he finally succumbed and his stomach escaped him.

The Captain's face wrinkled up, turning back to the situation at hand. “Back!” he commanded once again.

By the time they all saw what Zan had been trying to say, it was too late.

The entire ship shook and shifted just then, far worse than any of the waves of the storm. Everyone aboard was thrown off their feet, some over the side just as the captain feared. A deafening scream tore through the air—cracking sounds. Lighting ignited the sky, and the silhouette of the stranger was visible. He was close enough now, however, for everyone to get a clear view.

He was a giant, as Zan suspected, with an appearance not unlike Noro. Orc-like. The large protruding lower tusks, the complexion, it was all there and the boy could've mistaken this person for Noro's long-lost enormous cousin at first. Any illusion was shattered, though, by the creature's large, central, and only eyeball at the heart of his brow. He wore little more than skins and leathers, his powerful chest exposed yet covered heavily in intricate spiraling tattooed designs. Bones and seashells lined the brute's body. His massive forearms were wrapped in rope with beast fangs protruding to hold it in place. He held a large, beautifully crafted bone hook in each hand, cut with spirals and designs that matched the ink covering his body. His posture was slightly hunched, his arms longer and larger that Zan was used to, but it only served to paint this stranger all the more menacing imagining his true height.

Through the disarray and shouting, the voice of Captain Hebrig rose up, “Ogre! Pirates!” he screamed, “They know! They mustn't get it!” The boy saw him scramble to the lower deck, but couldn't look away from the one eyed giant.

The same woman who had been praising the sea only moments before could be heard wailing. “Death comes for us! There is no hope here!”

The stranger, atop his deathly shadow from the sea, extended each of his arms out wide around himself. “Hiki mai ka makeh!” he bellowed—a sound so deep, it shook the ocean around them. He raised one of his enormous muscled legs out of the sea and stomped, sending a plume of white mist into the air. Smashing his hooks against his chest, the giant continued his declaration. “Aia ka manaolana maanei!” As if to underscore the point, he extended his other massive leg and stomped down again, another salty plume erupting into the air half a heartbeat later. He let out a roar, bearing his tongue as far as it would reach, as if he could taste them. His eye bulged, then ignited into an exiling yellow light which caused Zan to squint for a moment.

That was when The Rooster truly descended into chaos.

With Hebrig disappeared below deck, the crew took matters into their own hands. Some readied their crossbows, others took up javelins, the rest wept or clung frozen to the ship. What do I do? The boy wondered, he himself entranced by what was unfolding. He has starlight in his eyes. Though Zan couldn't understand the words the attacker spoke, he found it easy to connect with everything else. The passion, the fury, the fire. Unalienable purpose.

The giant continued to shake the sea with his voice. “He hoku ko'u lima!” Just then the ship lurched, more squealing, cracking sounds ringing out. Huge schools of bubbles suddenly broke the surface of the water beside the hull of The Rooster, and the crew took that as their signal. With surprising coordination, javelins and bolts were all loosed as if they were a wave of the ocean itself, but in vain. To everyone's astonishment, the stranger reacted by stomping once again, a wall of salty spray rising up to in front of him from the sea. As the missiles made contact with the mist, two were swatted aside with ease and the rest found only air or water. He continued yet again, as if even the projectiles had all been part of his strange display. “Hanu I ke kai, apo I ka makeh!”

The ocean began to swell up around the stranger, revealing the vast shape of the shadow below. “Velgore honu ma lalo, e houluulu I kou mana!” A second cloud of missiles surged toward him, blasted away by a sudden plume of ocean redirected from the end of one of the stranger's bone hooks. Seawater fell away around the giant's ankles as the shape beneath him continued to rise up out of the water, revealing the slick surface of an enormous turtle shell. The Rooster continued to lurch with it, a wounded bird in the jaws of a monster. “Elakai ka makau ia oe... makeh!

As if the prayer had beckoned him, Rudzik Silverhood and his vulture came exploding out of the sky. The stranger craned his head toward them, hooking the edge of the monstrous turtle's shell with one arm and defending with the other. Just as the vulture came barreling down atop the giant, he managed to catch the beast's talons and deflect most of the force. If it weren't for his hook, the momentum would've easily knocked him off balance.

Hetta tumbled end over end across the slippery back of the turtle, Rudzik along with him. Before they could respond, one of the stranger's hooks lashed out at them. In seconds, he had unraveled the rope around his forearms and bridged the distance like some horrific, jagged whip. The force of the impact caused Silverhood's mount to shriek, and when he saw the hook arc around for a follow up strike, he knew it was time to regroup. The mercenary and vulture scrambled, launching themselves into the air just as the huge bone hook would've found them.

The ship heaved again, and Zan knew it was time to stop gawking. “Turo, find the captain!” he called out, leaping atop his wolf's back. Vara kept her footing with ease, as if she had sailed a thousand ships and weathered ten thousand storms. It even surprised the boy, but everything Vara did surprised him so it was a fleeting thought. Silverhood and his vulture struck twice more, each doing little to stop the behemoth on turtleback and resulting in scratches at best.

From the side of The Rooster, Zan could see the turtle's head shifting beneath the waves as it ripped away pieces of the hull. To this creature, the ship wasn't much more than a hallow, overgrown gourd. The hole it was opening up grew at an alarming rate, so the boy acted. Vara leaped over the side of the ship toward this stranger and his turtle. Maybe I can distract him enough for the silver man to get a good shot! He thought. Just as Vara landed, her paws immediately slipped out from beneath her and Zan went tumbling from her back. It quickly became apparent why; the turtle's shell was completely covered with a thin layer of algae or slime of some kind. Vara just simply couldn't find her footing, slipping onto her belly over and over. The boy had the same issue, only he tended to land on his face. No! He thought, suddenly feeling stupid for jumping over here at all.

Zan could feel a deep voice vibrate out across the surface of the shell. “Young Spirit,” it said. When the boy found its source, he saw the giant standing over him. “Little warrior.” Vara erupted in a wild dance as she attempted in vain to scramble to her feet. An enormous fist enveloped Zan around the neck and under the arms, lifting him into the air with ease. The boy saw the creature's massive eye dart between him and Vara before he continued to speak. “Miotu Ho'okea, me.” Then, a warm smile spread out across the giant's face.

Zan smiled back, realizing Vara had finally recovered her balance.

The wolf engulfed the stranger like a shadow, taking him by surprise and off his feet. Zan felt the giant's enormous fingers loosen up as he landed on his back—just enough for the boy to wiggle free. Wasting no time climbing Vara, Zan found his place again and it came as a huge relief to him. “Back to the ship!” he called out, but the wolf already knew what to do. She used the momentary advantage to leap from the body of the stranger rather than the slippery shell, and it worked. The giant shot up to his feet a heartbeat later only to be met by another barrage from the mercenary and vulture. Zan could tell they would be busy for a while, deciding to find Captain Hebrig or do something about the turtle.

When Zan and Vara reached the ship, members of the crew were already preparing the longboat to launch. They scrambled over each other desperately, but the boy stuck to his plan. The Captain, he reminded himself, reaching the stairs leading to the underworld of the ship. The Turtle. He affirmed, descending with his wolf trailing behind. Almost immediately he heard another burst, and the ship heaved. For a moment, the boy was airborne, but the ground soon found him once again. The sound of Turo growling in the distance snapped him out of any daze the fall had inflicted, and soon he and Vara were passing through the flooded cargo hold.

“Where did you even come from, mutt?” the voice of Captain Hebrig rang out. “Back! Back!” Turo's snarling intensified as a response.

Zan exploded into The Rooster's store room and found Hebrig wrestling the hound over a box as if it were a bone. A gaping wound in the hull made it obvious where the flooding had come from, though no water currently poured through due to the ship's tilt. They keep the ship from taking on water while they rob it! the boy realized. Like some horrific window, Zan could see the clouds of the storm flashing just before the ship began to tilt again. It's gonna bite us again! “Turo! Down! Lets go—”

Before the boy could finish, the colossal beak of the turtle came crashing through the wound in the ship. The force of the impact sent everyone off their feet and into the waist-high floodwater of the lower decks. Layers of planks moaned and bent with ease until they snapped as if they were nothing but eggshell peeling away. Another surge of brine gushed in, flinging everyone against the walls of the store room like driftwood. The ship tilted again, causing the waterfall pouring in to choke out and stop. The turtle's enormous eye eclipsed the chasm in the ship's hull for a moment, insulating the room from the freezing storm wind. The breath of the sea soon returned, however, and that was all the respite they would get.

The Captain was hunched over his strange box, drifting along the surface of the flooded deck like flotsam or foam with Zan's loyal hound still tugging savagely at the opposite end. “Please, Boy!” the Captain pleaded, “recoil your beast!”

Frantic splashing and grunting heralded the approach of Noro and a waterlogged Nin. “Little Brother!” The orc was bleeding from one eye and clearly out of breath. “The Rooster is lost! The Bonded pirate defeated Silverhood!”

“Orc!” the Captain cried out, hyperventilating. “Cast down this creature and there'd be a castle in it for you!”

Hebrig's words caught both Zan and Noro off-guard. Did he just say what I think he did? The boy thought, face beginning to flush with anger. What could possibly be in that dumb box that he would threaten Turo right in front of me? Zan retrieved a plank floating by and waved it around like a club to test it. “Yeah! That'll do!” he declared with disgust, pointing the plank at the Captain. “Now I can crack you across the face next time you say something stupid!”

“I am your captain!” Hebrig bit back, Turo still tugging and snarling. “Call down your beast at once!”

Noro plucked a large coin from the surface of the water, his eyes widening with realization. Hundreds mores of its golden cousins floated beside it, shimmering whenever beams of storm light kissed them. Zan reached below the dark surface of the water and felt around, retrieving a fistful of whatever he could find. When he opened his hand, the boy found a cluster of sapphires, rings, rubies, and other valuables glittering back at him. How much wealth has Hebrig taken from people like us? Zan thought.

Noro tucked the coin into a small pocket on his breast. “Suddenly I'm not feeling so charitable.”

Zan stuffed the wealth into his only pocket and hungrily dove down for a second helping. I can get back everything we gave and more! he realized. The ship is lost and the captain is a jerk. He topped off his pocket, but the weight forced him to hold it in a ridiculous way. Zan caught a glimpse of his fox skin, little more than a damp rug hanging from one of the Captain's shoulders. The sight gripped his heart, but he swallowed the feeling and simply gave Hebrig a dirty look.

The Captain released his side of the box, laughing as his eyes danced out of focus. He fell backward into the dark brine flooding the room and his laughing intensified, becoming more erratic.”You... both of you,” he managed to eventually say.

Turo dragged the box over to Zan and released it, drool running in thick strings from his jowls. “Good boy,” Zan said, rubbing the hound vigorously around his floppy ears. For a moment, the boy considered opening the box on the spot, but then the ship lurched again. Two loud splashes echoed off the remaining walls of the storage room, and Zan traced its source to a giant standing where the opening in the ship once was.

The monstrous pirate's one eye swiveled, searching the cabin until it found the boy. He filled his enormous, tattooed chest with salty cabin air. “Flee!” he bellowed, the turtle's head crashing through the hull and bulldozing one of the other walls of the storage room. The turtle's powerful jaw peeled back the hull again until it snapped, causing a fresh wave of seawater to rush in. The pirate surged forward unhindered by the water, taking hold of the box with one meaty fist. “Mine.” His voice seemed to shake the entire ship, rippling the brine around him.

The Captain drew a small blade from his sleeve and charged. “No!” he cried out. “You can't!”

In a flash, the pirate caught Hebrig at full tilt with the back of his offhand, sending the feral Captain slicing through the flooding ocean water and into one of the remaining walls of the store room. The man slumped, floating motionless after that. The turtle's head crashed through the opening in the ship again, peeling away a mouth full of coin and jewels from beneath the brine. Zan watched in awe as it tilted its gargantuan head back and swallowed it all down. Then, it went back for more.

The giant laughed, shaking the ship again. Zan looked on with his canines, mesmerized by it all. The water was up to his chin now, and Turo had been treading water for too long already. “Wait!” the boy called out as the turtle swallowed down a third helping of treasure. With a quick huff, the pirate dissolved the wooden box in his giant's grip, causing Zan to swallow his words. As shards and splinters fell away, only a spherical object wrapped in a fine red silk remained. “What is it?” the boy finally blurted out.

The one-eyed pirate broke the surface of the water with his laughter again, shrugging his giant tattooed shoulders. Zan's eyes found his. “Flee.” The turtle's enormous jaws opened up wide again, and the stranger cast the strange object into the darkness.

“What?” Noro barked, the turtle's jaws crashing closed. The pirate smirked, leaping from the gaping wound in the ship and leaving them to their fate. “Brother! We must go!” The orc pushed his way through floodwater toward the stairway topside.

Zan went the opposite way. “Wait! The Captain!” The boy clenched his teeth. “I won't leave another person to die if I can help it Noro!”

After only half a moment, Noro relented. “Okay, but we must be quick!” it was harder than expected dragging the unconscious Hebrig through the water, with his jacket and Zan's fox skin dragging him down. But once Noro reached him and helped, they made quick work bringing their Captain above deck.

“Quick!” Zan called out when he saw Rudzik Silverhood tying down a satchel to the side of Hetta, wincing with every movement. “The Captain!”

The silver Reptilian let out a pained, guttural cackle. “The Captain can learn how to swim in his sleep, Little Bonder.” He spit a pink plume to underscore his point. “Between coin and castle,” he tied down his final knot with a grunt, “I choose life.”

Zan swiveled his head, searching the ship for crew but found no one. Not even the longship. “The crew?”

Silverhood cackled again, pulling himself atop is vulture mount with a pained moan. “Gone with the ship, child.” Lightning lit up the sky as he spoke. “As am I.”

The enormous vulture kicked his powerful talons off the deck of the ship, launching into the air through raindrops. There was another flash, and the pair disappeared into the dark skies.

Biting his lip, Zan grabbed ahold of the Captain by the scruff of the fox skin. “Noro! Help!” The orc rushed over, and together they hoisted Hebrig up to the side rail of the ship. Zan's grip slipped, and the unconscious man began to slip over the side. “No!” Zan struggled to grasp at the fox skin. “No!” Captain Hebrig slipped into the air, dragging the boy along with him.

As the boy fell through the air, he heard Vara and Turo howl out just before crashing into the water. Through the shimmering surface, he saw the shape of Noro as he climbed over the side high above. The wight of the Captain drug him down as he struggled against him, but he refused to release his grip.

As everything went dark, the boy continued to struggle with Hebrig until he, too, lost consciousness.

Zan awoke to the sound of Vara howling.

The sun beat down on him angrily, and his lips were chapped, but was relieved to find he was no longer in a storm. “The runt is wakin' up! Haha!” A deep voice called out.

A cold nose and flat tongue drug across his cheek, and he knew it was Turo before his eyes could adjust. When they did, he found Vara beside them still howling. “Where are we?” he mumbled, finding a new deck beneath him. This isn't The Rooster.

“Thirsty, Runt?” the deep voice asked, and Zan traced it back to a one-eyed giant—just like the stranger who attacked the ship. Only, he wasn't. This was someone new, and he held a dripping waterskin out for Zan to take.

Vara growled at him, but Zan rushed over and took the water as if he had never tasted it before. He drank it down eagerly. “Thank you for such charity, stranger.” The boy wiped his mouth, burping as his body took in the hydration.

“Oh, I wouldn't call such things charity, Runt.” Laughing, he tossed him a rock hard biscuit. The laughter shook the entire ship and brought painful memories of the storm surging back. “Probably just a good idea to be keepin' you alive is all.” The giant continued to stare, unblinking. “Name's Mosquito, Runt, and you can stop staring any time.”

Vara continued to howl. Zan felt his face flush and quickly turned away, realizing the giant was right. A shrill voice rose up behind him. “Oh! Go easy on the lad, Boss!” Zan turned to find an orc was the source of the voice—or at least he thought it was an orc at first. “Oh look, now he's stuck on me, haw haw!” The creature's laughter was biting, somehow more shrill than his voice. “Ain't you ever seen a goblin before, Lad?” Zan shook his head and returned to his waterskin. “You can stick with me, Lad. I swears by it, no one gets off messin' with me.”

Next, a more familiar voice appeared from one of the two canoe-cabins with the heavenly tune of a harp carrying it. “Probably the last thing you should do is listen to our dear friend Leech here, I'm afraid.” A well-dressed bard came into view with his harp, shooting the boy a sly grin. “He's The Killer's Son, and you're aboard The Locust, Little Bonder.”
Vara growled again. “Daffodil?” Zan spat, choking on his water. “I thought you were lost in the storm!”
A wave of laughter surged up around him, and soon the boy realized he was surrounded by many strange faces watching him come back to life. How many are there? He wondered, barely able to keep his thoughts straight as moisture rushed back into his muscles. An entire crew I bet... The Locust, did he say?

Indeed, as his thoughts cleared and the laughter echoed in his mind, the rest of the faces became apparent. “Daffodil?” another voice mocked, this one from what Zan knew for sure was an orc this time. “Is that what the squid just said, Dale?” The orc was better dressed than Daffodil and held a beautifully crafted longbow as he reclined in the nose of one of the ship's front tips. The orc let out a series of guttural snorts, and it took the boy a moment to realize it was laughter. “Now I know why they call ya Daff Dale, ho-ho humph!”

Daffodil's face cherried like Zan's would when he got upset, but the bard only chuckled. “Another word out of you, Pigface, and I'll be slicing myself off a piece of bacon.” the goblin hooted at that, others quieted. The bard continued to pluck at his harp and pace the ship. “Been a while since I've tasted orc bacon.”

“Oh now you're just makin' me hungry!” Pigface grunted back, slapping his belly.

The mood seemed light, but Zan couldn't get over the fact that Vara would not stop growling and Turo clung to his side even more than usual. More—he still had yet to see any sign of Noro or Nin. I hope they're okay, he found himself thinking. The boy stood, which made him lightheaded for a moment but he shook it off. “Where is Noro?”

A female shape pushed her way through the crowd, crimson beams of sunlight glistening off a crooked smile. For a moment, the red smile was all that was visible as the silhouette moved. “Orchid?” Zan couldn't help but blurt out as the realization came to him.

She was no longer dressed as a worker, her new outfit significantly more colorful and with far less material to it. It made Zan blush for some reason, an unknown embarrassment oozing over him. “Little Bonder,” she began, her voice like honey. “Don't you worry about your little friend. He's taking a nap in that canoe over there,” she gestured to the starboard side of the ship, spitting a greasy brown streak overboard. “Relax, drink up... celebrate surviving an encounter with Mighty Mio'tu!”

Zan blinked at her. “Meow too?”

She cackled back at him, genuinely amused. “Mio'tu Ho'okea, child. Wasn't he cute?” she sighed, eyes fluttering, but none of it could distract the boy from her red smile. “He who commands a Spirit of the sea and bends storms to his will.”

The final stranger, a heavily robed figure, took this opportunity to step into the shade of the The Locust's sails and drop his heavy gray hood. “Aww, here we go!” he wetly croaked, clearly exasperated. “This thing again!”

Zan gasped, cringing when he saw the man. Is it a man? he wondered, unable to look away as his mind wrestled to comprehend it all. His appearance made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

The man's eyes were too far apart, dark and huge—his skin too gray, too scaly, and too oily. He had tiny forked ears, barely noticeable at first. The same was true for his nose, flattened to merely just two slits across the center of his face. His mouth was wide, too wide like everything else, to an off-putting degree. Even in the shade of sails, the man's greasy lips glistened as he shambled about. “How many times we 'gon hear this one then?” This time, the man's voice gurgled and Zan was sure he could see gills.

Daffodil offered his own sigh, loud and exaggerated. “Oh, take a bath, Father Frog.” the bard's voice was protective, yet elegant. “You saw the ship and storm like the rest of us. Don't act like that bloody cyclops didn't eat lightning right in front of us all!”

Pigface snorted, stuffing a fistful of salted meat into his mouth. “Aye! I saw his beast eat the ship with me own eyes!” drool ran around his tusks and into the creases of his chins as he chewed. His eyes fell out of focus. “What a legend!”

Their leader, Mosquito, traded Zan a fresh waterskin. His face tightened up around his enormous central eye. “Say the word cyclops again, and we'll wrestle... Orc.” He took two steps toward Pigface. “That ogre is better than us all!” The giant's bronzed face suddenly flushed. “I hope to be half the warrior he is. Ah, that would be the day I take the Spirit of the sky for myself and reclaim the homeland of my people.”

Orchid burst into laughter, undercutting the passion behind his words. “Depending on if Father Frog is cooking or not, we can usually smell which Spirit you've taken to.”

The rest joined in raucous laughter—but still Vara was howling.

He shared his remaining water with Turo, unable to shake a growing feeling of unease. “Where's the Captain?” Vara's hair stood continuously on end.

The rest continued laughing and quipping at each other, but Orchid leaned in. “Oh... I don't know,” she said.

Her brother chimed in as well. “Probably the same place as The Rooster, I'd suspect. Haha!”

Zan didn't like that. His stomach sank and his hands grew sweaty. I need to see Noro, he decided, starting toward the starboard side of the ship.

Leech, the Killer's Son, appeared in front of him suddenly. “Woah, woah... woah.” The goblin stood eye-to-eye with the boy, holding his arms out in front of himself. “Take it easy, Lad.” His shrill voice caught the boy off-guard each time. “Yeah, yeah, just take it easy Lad.”

That upset Zan for sure. “No, let me see my friend!” he demanded, Vara's growling dissolving into a constant savage snarl. He looked around at this new crew, heart beginning to race. “You aren't workers are you? Move!”

The laughter aboard The Locust stopped.

Father Frog slipped his hood back up and shambled over. “Have some food, you'll feel better.”

His wet voice made Zan's skin crawl again. What is he supposed to be? He wondered, but was too afraid to ask for some reason.

Daffodil cleared his throat and continued to pluck at his harp. “It... would be best for you to get comfortable, child. Haha, long journey back home to my love!” he sang.

Orchid cackled again and spit a greasy wad overboard—Zan noticed it every single time, her voice just seemed to carry. “Ah, my soft, daft brother. Nay, it's Meaty Mio my heart is after, and he'd be a fool to deny The Maid, wouldn't he?” She danced a bit as she spoke, making lewd hand gestures.

None of them were taking him seriously, and both his canines could pick up on it. Turo was growling now. Mosquito and Leech exchanged grim looks, but Pigface was still chewing loudly from the front. Daffodil plucked at his harp again. “We saw what you pulled off back there aboard The Rooster, Little Bonder.”

“Yeah!” Pigface blurted out, spitting a chunk of gristle. “Bonders would be scary pirates, eh?”

Zan's eyes narrowed. “You're all pirates, aren't you?”

Mosquito chuckled, rattling the ship. “Oy, pirate is such a loaded word. Like cyclops.”

“Yeah!” Leech added, his shrill voice standing stark against their one-eyed leader's. “Fortune seekers. That'd be better, methinks!”

Zan caught a sly look slide across Orchid's scarred face from his periphery. “It just so happens that fortune seems to follow that Masculine Mio'tu everywhere he goes!” She couldn't help but giggle.

Father Frog's voice gurgled out. “He cracks open the eggs, and we swoop in to sssslurp up that yolk!” That got them all laughing again.

Vara howled over the sound of their laughing.

Mosquito plopped down on his rear, lurching the ship, and took a deep swig from his own waterskin. “We usually don't take in strays,” he boomed, wiping his huge jaw. “But, here we are.”

Zan thought back to when the ship was attacked. I saw how Mio fights. He didn't kill anyone, he recalled. “You just wait... then, you don't save anyone?”

It seemed Zan had said something funny. Pigface burped, but was still first to answer. “The treasure, usually.” He trailed off in his series of grunts again, kicking over a barrel of salted meat. “Better reason to celebrate! Eat up, Squid, cuz this one's on Captain Hebrig!”

Zan looked at the meat as the crew laughed on, and his stomach churned. So hungry, he found himself thinking, but he pushed the thought back. He had to. “Well,” he finally said, trying to cut through the laughter, “if there's no problem, then I'll just talk with my friend and—”

“Uh, no,” Orchid interrupted. “See, I let everyone know about this little Spirit Bond you got going on here.” She waved her hand dismissively toward Vara. “So, they were all smart enough not to get too close with that... thing skulking about you.”

Daffodil put his arm around his sister. “Like I said, get comfortable. Because, we're gonna have to make you comfortable as soon as that beastie of yours gets tired.”

“No strays,” Mosquito concluded, “but in you, we saw something...”

“Valuable,” Pigface finished, laughing.

The entire ship heaved just then, sending Frog and Daffodil off their feet. It was a familiar feeling, causing Zan's heart to flare up like a drum. At the rear of the ship, the gargantuan head of the turtle had returned, and it had a significant amount of the ship in its jaws.

No damage was done to the ship, not yet, the turtle holding fast to The Locust. Not a single sound was made for a long moment as everyone looked on in awe, but then a looming shape rose up out of the water. The stranger, Mio'tu Ho'okea as Orchid had referred to him, climbed onto his mighty turtle's shell, slowly advanced up the back of its spine and neck toward the ship.

Pigface choked on salted meat, Orchid blushed, Daffodil panicked, Father Frog fell to his knees in reverence, Mosquito stared on in utter awe, and Leech drew his two thin blades in anticipation. Zan only waited. Mio'tu's central eye burst into golden light, each step falling with purpose until he came upon the deck of The Locust.

As the legend stood before them all, only the sound of the ship cracking could be heard for several heartbeats. Then, the giant spoke. “Young Spirit,” he said, the sunlight of his eye finding Zan.

Vara stopped growling, and Zan smiled.

“Winter's mark!” Pigface cursed.

Leech shrieked. “Ready to defend the ship!” his shrill voice cried out.

Zan cleared his throat. “Meow Too, will you please help me save my friend Noro? He's right over there!” He pointed to the starboard canoe. Turo barked to underscore the statement.

The giant laughed, and unlike any of the Blithe Brothers, it brought comfort to the boy. “Yes,” he hungrily bellowed, a wry smile wrinkling his muscled face. One by one, the crew made way for the giant with each step he took across the ship, bowing their heads as he passed. When Leech stood his ground, blades drawn, Mio'tu simply took another step and his enormous foot crashed through the planks of the deck with ease. His point proven, Leech surrendered and stepped aside, letting loose a string of curses far worse than any orc would say. They were outright nasty promises this little goblin made to the towering Legend, but Mio'tu shrugged them all off, laughing.

“Storm tamer,” someone whispered.

“Lightning eater,” another said.

“Spirit bender,” entoned a third.

Mio'tu Ho'okea laughed, threatening to unravel every knot on the ship. “Defender.” he finished, reaching into the canoe as if it were a nursery basket to retrieve a bound and gagged Noro.

In his arms, the orc truly was only a child or a baby by comparison. The sight of his friend confirmed all of his suspicions, and suddenly Zan regretted accepting anything from these people, even if he needed the water. The boy didn't even know what to say at first as the giant stood before him with his friend in his arms, but then something came to mind. “Thank you, Turtle Man!”

Mio'tu used two enormous fingers to pull Noro's binds free with ease, delicately setting him beside Zan. His knees shook, then buckled, but the boy caught him before he fell. Wordless, he simply offered his friend water, and the orc drank it down even more eagerly than he had earlier. The sight made Zan sad, and when the boy looked over to Mio'tu, he saw the same feeling there written on the look in his eye. The giant gestured toward his titanic turtle, smiling. “Follow.”

Zan's face lit up. “Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you!” And, with the help of his canines, assisted Noro to the edge of The Locust, where the turtle still held the ship.

“Wait,” Noro weakly interjected, retching up water and bile. “Wait! Nin! My chest!” He fumbled at his tunic with shaking hands until Zan jumped in and helped him. Beneath his tunic, Nin had been bound tight and was unconscious.

“Nin!” Zan cried out, Vara and Turo whining behind him.

Mio'tu craned his enormous head toward the Blithe Brother and grimaced menacingly. He raised his enormous fist and pointed at them. “Pray,” he suggested, and they all felt the weight of it.

They unbound and worked at Nin, pooling tiny bits of water into the rabbit's mouth. He was still breathing, but they couldn't get him to wake up. They would have to be satisfied with that for now. “Please,” Zan called back to Mio'tu, “can you just help them? I can climb, but they can't.”

The giant waited until Zan and the rest were on the back of the turtle, then slid the orc and rabbit up onto its head. “Thank you again,” the boy said, but then his eyes went wide.

Leech had finally struck, to the horror of everyone watching. The goblin hung from Mio'tu's back with one of his blades buried in the giant's muscles, the one in his offhand rising and falling repeatedly.

By the third stroke, the giant had grown beyond anger, seizing the goblin around the throat in the blink of an eye. One of Leech's tiny blades still hung lodged in Mio'tu's meaty back, a trail of red running out of it. The giant closed another enormous fist around Leech's head, the goblin laughing madly as his world went dark around him. Zan saw Mio'tu's muscles squirm as he tightened his grip even more, but then he lightened up for some reason. Holding the goblin by one arm out in front of him like a doll, Leech still cackling, the giant took a moment to eye up the brazen goblin.

Satisfied, Mio'tu snorted. Then, clamped down his grip with full force, crushing every bone in Leech's hand, wrist, and forearm. It reminded the boy of tree branches breaking, but the more horrifying sound was the goblin's laughter. Zan and all the Blithe Brothers flinched, but Leech only continued to laugh louder and more madly. The giant grunted, then dropped The Killer's Son sprawling onto the deck. “Fair trade,” his deep voice echoed, then he turned back to the turtle. Leech began to shiver, then fell unconscious from the pain. A relief to him, and everyone watching.

Once they were all safely on the turtle's back, Zan finally asked. “What's the turtle's name?”

Mio'tu scratched near where where Leech's blade was still lodged in his back, then pulled it free without a second thought and tossed it aside like refuse. Zan heard him chuckle again, watching from the corner of his eye. Then, he stood and stomped one foot on the turtle's back. “Velgore!” he proclaimed, and Zan knew the answer to his question.

With that, Velgore ripped the port canoe in half pushing off from The Locust. The planks all dissolved like seaweed in the turtles jaws, and it truly put how much restraint the animal had in perspective for the boy. Leech's blade slid across the turtle's back, but Zan caught it before it slipped into the water. I... might need this, he concluded, tucking it away for now. Shouts and panic could be heard from the deck as the Blithe Brothers all struggled to keep the ship together, but soon that all faded into the horizon with everything else.

After a time, Mio retrieved a basket filled with fresh fish from just beneath the surface of the water and plopped it down in front of the boy. “Eat,” the giant bellowed, “regain your strength.” He plopped down beside him, and for a moment there was only the sound of the fish flapping around in front of them filling the air. That, and the smell. Zan made no move, which he noticed made Mio raise his eyebrow at him. Finally, Turo broke their fast, shamelessly digging into a fish. Vara joined after, and it was all of just a couple minutes before Zan had enough and was right there beside them gnawing at the refreshing meat. Mio only laughed and nodded. “Good.”

There must've been seven different ocean fish in all, and with the hunger they were up against, they were just bones within the hour. Zan had been so focused eating that he didn't even notice the sun had already been setting. How did I miss that? But then he realized how safe he felt once again.

Zan wanted to check on Nin, but he knew if there was a problem Noro would say something. For now, he decided to just let them have their peace. The orc hadn't said anything since they parted ways with The Locust, but he could tell it wasn't cause for alarm. Safe, like when Noro had found him in the remains of Hemdom or when Turo kept him company in the cages. This was a feeling he loved, and he only seemed to feel it when he was around people he trusted—never alone. He was so full, so content, as he watched the stars come out. One by one they flickered to life, beckoning the boy to sleep until his eyelids grew heavy and he had to concede.

He wasn't sure when he fell asleep exactly, only that everything made sense with that feeling in his heart. It was always enough.

Watch for Spirit Animals, episode 4, “Message In A Sparrow”

Audiobook will be featured on YouTube HERE

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