Chapter 19 - The Princess of Puraloke

Dumbfounded, Archer gawked at the princess for a couple minutes before she finally piped up. "Is there something the matter?"

"What are you doing so far from home, and without escort to begin with?" Archer asked. Typically when anyone of noble or royalty blood left the castle grounds, they were always accompanied by escorts. It was common for thieves and bandits to do try to make a move against important people to gain either money or status.

"Long story.." Alora stated, obviously not wanting to continue the topic. Raising her tone a little, she added "You must not tell anyone about this. The moment anyone finds out that I'm from the household Shermast, it will lead to nothing but trouble. I only told you because you are the prince of Draconvale and I already know what has happened there. That is why I'm on my way home."

Archer paused her for a moment, placing his hands up in front of himself as though to steady Alora. "I know you said this was for my ears only, but my master is on board this ship with us and would know more about this stuff than I would. He has to be a part of this as much as I am."

Before Alora could open her mouth to object, Archer sprinted up the steps that led to the deck and spotted Shuien towards the bow of the ship. Archer lightly touched the side of Shuiens arm, due to the cloth still being in his ears. Shuien turned around, alert and noticed it was Archer. The prince motioned for Shuien to remove the wads of cloth from his ears and the master did so. In a quiet tone, Archer explained what was going on. After the mention of Haven actually being Alora, a princess from Puraloke, Shuien cut him off. "Lead me to her."

The duo briskly walked across the deck of the ship and climbed back down the steps to where Archer had left the princess. She had walked back into her corner and was consoling one of the older women there who appeared to be crying. The womans head was on the princess's shoulder and Alora was slowly stroking her hair, quietly shushing her as she did so.

"M'lady, I'm forever in your debt for what you have done for my prince and for saving my life. I'm glad to see you are in good health, from what I can tell." Shuien bowed slightly, avoiding eye contact.

Archer elbowed his master in the ribs fairly hard, causing the master to straighten up a bit. The lady who was crying now seemed to sit up slightly and glance up at Alora. Alora stood up and walked past them, obviously slightly irritated now. Archer quietly explained Alora's want to remain incognito as they followed her across the room.

As though ignoring what had just happened, she turned to face the men. "What was that we just faced outside?"

The men both shrugged, not knowing what to tell Alora. These creatures were as new to them as they were to her. Archer recounted his tale and mentioned the face he saw before he hit the water and blacked out. Alora looked intently at Archer as he did so, playing with the ends of her hair as she listened. A light flickered across her eyes and she cried out, "SIRENS!'

"Excuse me?" Shuien asked.

"Growing up, my sister and I were always taught about the past war. The names of creatures in particular that lived around these parts due to the terrain. It makes sense seeing how this is where we ended up living. Besides the point, the sirens are seductresses to men who are unlucky enough to come across them. They are incredibly powerful in the water, or supposedly."

"Is there a way to kill them?" Archer asked

"That I don't know. All I'm really good for is names and an idea as to what they do."

"Do we have anything else to look forward to on these waters?" Shuien asked, rubbing his finger across his temple as the words passed his lips.

"I certainly hope not, cause those things just now would be childs play compared to whatever else there is. The water holds many mysteries and this isn't the time for mysteries to come to light."

"Its not just the ocean," Archer interjected. "It's on the land too. You saw the wolves and the demons that attacked the city. In Draconvale there was a giant creature, as big as three men. There were pointy eared humans and even half horse/human monsters."

Aloras eyes got big as she heard this and she sighed. "Seems there is no getting away from it anywhere at this point."

Both Archer and Shuien nodded their heads in agreement. Looking back at Aloras blood stained dress, Archer points towards the blood spots and asked her about what happened. She seemed to smile slightly as he brought up the question.

"When I climbed on board, some of the people of the ship seemed to be injured. I did what I could to assist them, but all I could do was apply a bandage here and there. Once they finaly rested their eyes, the lady over there.. " she nodded her head towards the lady she was consoling earlier, "was leaned against me and had a large laceration across her lower back. I remember wishing to help her and that I wished to ease her pain, and then I got a pain across my lower back as well."

She undid the bottom button of her dress, causing both Archer and Shuien to look away. She scoffed at Archer, "Why so shy now? You act like you haven't seen it before."

Archer felt his cheeks grow warm at her comment and as the men looked up together, they saw the multitude of scars across her back at though she had fought in a war and had stories to tell. "All of these markings came from these people here. Apparently, although I cant heal them completely, I can take a majority of the wound upon myself if I wish it and it heals incredibly fast. They were open wounds last night, but when I woke this morning, they were these scars you see here."

The men didn't know what to say. Archer spotted the claw marks in the back of her shoulders and asked, "I'm assuming you healed me as well, huh?"

"It's the least I could do. I know that for us to win this then you will be needed. I can't tell you how I know, I just do based on what I learned from our peoples history."

Archer still had trouble putting all of his faith into the woman in front of him. She was a thief, and the only reason he even remotely believed her tale that she was a princess was the marks on her body from healing all the people on board. The night when they had met at the tavern, she didnt have those marks upon her body.

They fell silent for a few and a cry from above caught their attention. "CAP'N!! LAND AHEAD!!"

The three of them rushed to the deck and could see the glimpse of an island in the distance, but it was still do far to make out any details. The only thing that was able to be seen from the water was the plume of smoke flying over the island. The princess gasped as she saw this, "I was trying to make it home before they made it there.. My people need me."

Partially feeling a relation to how she was currently feeling, Archer put a hand on her shoulder. "We are here to fight against this. I wont let you home end up like mine."

Trying to believe his own word, the prince pulled Spada from its sheath. Admiring the coloring of it as he had before it was stolen, he thanked the gods that it was back in his possession. He contemplated the hammer on his back. He had Spada back, but what would he do about Prides End? After several moments, he decided it wouldn't be bad to keep it around should he need it. The weapon had already proven itself useful in the swords absence. When he held the sword in his grasp, a warm sensation seemed to flow through his body. It wasn't quite like when he was in combat, but it was something he didn't notice until now.

As they watched the shore slowly grow closer to them, the boat began to lurch much harder as the wakes of the waves slapped against the wooden sides. It seemed almost unnatural that the strength that the water was hitting. Bracing themselves against the masts of the boat, there was an explosion in the water that showered everyone aboard in a torrent of rain. A loud hissing emanated as a creature rose taller than the railing of the ship from the water. Alora looked over at it and let out a blood chilling scream. "LEVIATHAN!"

Looking up at it, ignoring the salt from the water stinging his eyes, he gazed into the cold blue eyes on the monster. Its head hovered several yards above the railing of the ship and its tongue flicked out of its mouth on occasion, tasting the air as though a snake would. The beast was almost completely black, with blue markings the seemed to stripe down its side every few feet. Around the spot where its head attacked to it body, there were fins that seemed to flex as the monster bobbed itself back and forth along the railing of the boat.

A splash was heard on the other side of the boat and the tip of a tail appeared, it was the same black color and had blue at the very tip of it. The tail seemed to anchor the beast to the ship as the tail wrapped itself around the rear mast of the ship. "How big is this thing?"

The crew was frantic, some running below deck, hoping to leave the eyesight of the horror in front of them. Others drew their swords. After the initial clatter of people scurrying around, there was dead silence. The only sound that broke the tension was the low throated hiss of the serpent as it flicked its tongue. It didn't make a move, but the boat didn't move as well. It was beginning to frustrate Archer as he felt all forward momentum stop. The muscles around the the tail of the beast began to tense.

Tighter.

And tighter.

They tensed so tight that the beast began to shake, and Archer knew what was happening. The same thing happened when got bit by the snake in the garden growing up. Then there was a break in the silence that made Archer force his hands over his ears.

"BOOM!"

From below, Archer heard the faint voice of Olrick from the gun deck. "YEAAAAH, TAKE THAT YOU LIMP DICK LOOKING BASTARD!"

Archer couldn't help but let out a small smile, but he quickly regained his composure. The beast let out a bellow of pain that lasted a few moments. As it backed away from the ship, Archer saw the wound around the beast midsection. It was a thick chunk that appeared to be forcefully removed from its body. The beast opened its eyes, but this time they were no longer blue, but red with slits through their middle. Opening it maw and letting out a hiss that could be mistaken for a roar, it lunged at the boat, straight for the porthole where the cannon had wounded the beast.