The minotaur

The beach became just a dot in the distance, the minotaur watched as the soldiers he left behind had became just specks in the distance. He was standing with one foot on the wall of the stern of the ship wearing his golden bulls head helmet, he looked intimidating ( which was the whole point) he and his crew had to sail uncomfortably close the the ire. The elves of the ire did not care too much for uninvited visitors and if the fleet came to close to their waters there could be an altercation. He did have the techno-drivers but it would take some time to activate them and deploy them and even then they may not be enough, elves were immortal beings who's magic was un paralleled even by Autumn witches. If they had a few hundred techno drivers and maybe an army of mages could take on just a handful of elves.

" stay alert you sorry bastards! We have the ire coming upon us and the horrors of the deep below. I do not plan on making the ocean bed my final resting place today!" He bellowed at his crew as they sailed out of denezins bay and safer waters. Beyond the bay lay darker waters, home to monsters who rule the deep black waters of the sea of horrors, also known as the western waters by the smaller civilizations and less evolved continents to the east. Monstrous shadows passed below the ship, none paying much attention to the vessels but there was still static in the air as if at any moment one of those collossal creatures could decide the men on board were worth the trouble of meeting the cannons. The ship had to round the savage lands coast line while staying far enough away from the ires water space so they didn't provoke the elvish navy to attack them. The minotaur was a great captain but commanding a fleet to do the same with helmsmen of different skillsets was quite the feet one he had hoped to master( but found himself falling short because of his lack of experience). The crowsmen signaled their commanders orders to form a single file line. There were jagged rock formations able to shred the belly of even the biggest frigates and battle ships, remnants of destroyed ships littered the shoals.

This task was already hard, but the clouds looming over the horizon gave the black sea an even more ominous look as they threatened the fleet with a storm. To round the southern most portions of the continent would take them at least a month and even with them a few miles from the shore a storm could prove dangerous.

The Goblin isles would be their only hope if something did occur, the goblins there were weak and were not really a threat if they had to make camp there, his real concern was the freight ship carrying their Techno-drivers. It was already a tight squeeze through the pass as it was, additional choppy waters and strong tides could cost them their greatest weapons. The great ships creeked as the wave caused them to rock side to side as they narrowly missed the rock formations that had begun to litter their path.

"The true test is ahead boys, we've made it through once already we can do it again. You see those clouds on the horizon! We have to turn the coastline before she hits the sea!" The ship came alive like a million ants to a fallen sweet, climbing the riggings and lowering the many sails that clung to the ships. Even the large freight ship carrying the techno-drivers seemed to pick up its pace, dropping four large sails embroidered with the royal seal.

The helmsmen had to be alert as well as their crows man and runners to make sure the formation remained tight enough at the speeds they were achieving to miss the giant lance like rock formations in either side of them. One wrong move and the whole fleet could be lost to the horrors of the sea.

Surprisingly the shadows had stopped following the ships and seemed to have receded to the deeper areas away from the shoal and closer to the incoming storm.

The air began to change around them, slowly, it began to get heavier and have a slightly static feel as it entered your lungs, as the crew faught the shoals the waves around them began to move more aggressively pounding the sides of the ships causing them to rock harder causing the helmsmen more trouble as the began to round the shoals. " come on you dogs! We're almost clear of the shoals and the storm is beginning to bare down on us."

Anxiety had begun to grip the minotaur, the storm which should have taken hours to come this far in to the shoreline had snuck up on them almost the same instant they entered the shoals. The water had begun to rise making the rocks harder to see as a large amount of them were now flooded and disappearing to the waves.

"To the sides! We need to see the rocks unless you want to feed the monsters who live below!" Many men headed to either sides of the boats straining their eyes to see the rocks against the black waters below.

In the distance the many giant shadows that had congregated in the distance had either disappeared or melded with the dark water itself as it began to churn and ebbe. Multiple whirl pools began to form along shoal line, the large black clouds that had been miles away were now bearing down on the fleet. Lightning crackled as it struck the pools, the waves began to grow more violent and larger towering over the ships and sending gallons of black water rushing over the decks sweeping some of the less aware of the sides to the depths below.

Some of the men threw ropes and floatation devices to try and save those who had fallen to no avail. The waves overcame them muffling the screams as some were sucked under by outside forced. Thunder boomed as one of the ships towards the rear scraped the rocks losing more of its human cargo and sending large splintered pieces of wood slamming men into the railing spilling blood across its deck.

The minotaurs worse fears were soon realized as the many small whirlpools had begun to meld to form one really large one and a booming roar began to fill the air as large black tentacles rose from the water to wrap themselves across the ship. Dozens of them began to emerge from the water tearing at the ship and snagging any of the crew they could. The few who had the state of mind to unsheathed their weapons and tried do battle with the tentacles to find them not able to even break the skin before being dragged below or torn in half.

The minotaur had been stuck in a daze, watching the events all unfold unable to react. He had never seen one of the great horrors of the sea of monsters before and he was certain this was a great horror.

He finally regained control of himself and dodged a tentacle that came his way, he pulled his short sword from its scabbard and slashed at his attacker. Sparks sprayed as the blade scraped the skin, he dodged again trying to counter this foe and land some sort of damage to it but the sword only left thin scratches. Luckily the tentacles had been more concentrated on the other now sinking ship and the freight ship which had allowed his ship and the two behind him exit the pass( something that had not gone un noticed)

" to the ire! Set course straight for bru'ttain!" He yelled to his helmsmen, the men had been able to get the ship steady and were now manning the cannons. "Fire" followed by cannon blasts began to ring as they had begun to level to playing field a small amount against the monster. It wouldn't last long, the cannons were able to harm the tentacles but the creature they belonged to was intelligent and had started to focus on the ships themselves making the cannons less effective and more dangerous.