Ertimus

Ertimus stuck to the shadows hopping through them trying to find an opening to land a strike on his opponent.

"This bastard won't give up the ghost." He thought to himself as his dagger met the blade of the titan sword again as he tried his hit and run method a little longer.

Both of them were getting tired but only one of them had magic. The titan sword was a heavy sword to wield and the soldier ( who was fir enough to wield it) was not used to the weapons and did not have the stamina for a long fight with it. He hoped the blades power would allow him to finish the fight quickly before he started losing strength.

"Surrender now deadman and i'll let you live!" The cabin began to grow darker, it was still early in the afternoon and the sun was still high above the open doors of the deck below but it was as dark as the cell Greggan was kept in.

"You and your shadow tricks won't" his words ended abruptly as a black swords edge exited his throat through his adams apple.

The light returned to the room and Ertimus smiled at the bodies he had managed to accumulate. He dematerialized the sword and walked over to the still gargling body of the young soldier.

" i guess you truly are deadmen now." He picked up the titan sword and grabbed the cloak off of one of the man he'd just slain and wiped the sword clean of blood. He took the scabbard as well and hooked it to his belt and put the blade in its sheath. It was a little clunky for him to wear because he wasn't quite big enough for it to hang gracefully and would tap the back of his legs.

He walked up the stairs and onto the deck and squinted as the sun shined on his face and arms.

He looked around and found the other boys all piled into a small escape boat.

" come out boys, i'v taken command of this ship." Ertimus smiled a big boastful grin as the boys climbed out of the little boat and back on the deck of their newly acquired ship.

"What about big boy down below?" Avery asked, they assumed they'de all be leaving the ship after a daring escape not taking control of the ship and actually try to man it. " i'll let him sot down there for a while before we set him free, a little payback." He laughed and set off to the wheel of the ship, " im kind of shit at wayfaring during the day, hopefully no monsters take an interest until i can get our barings."

"monsters!" the little one named Greggan asked, he was a little big for his age but he was still just a child, one with no magic of course he was afraid of monsters. The other boys weren't too much older except for the talkative one named Avery. Even he was showing fear to the idea of sea monsters.

"Yes monsters, the westerners call this the sea of monsters and for good reason. These are Kraken infested waters, Mammoth sharks and other nasty beasts live in the waters here.' One in five ships never come back to port when traversing this ocean, and if you did make it to an island off shore you may die there as well. Most of the island were inhabited by different races of goblins. Some were somewhat civilized and may not harm you, but most would rather eat a cast-a-way.

The boys stood there too afraid to move from the middle of the deck for fear of a krakens tentacle scooping them off the side and drowning them before eating their lifeless bodies.

" Grow some stones! You are now crew aboard a ship of the House Windal and we must not sully my house with cowardice!"

Trying to rally scared children was not one of Ertimus's strong suits, " look guys, I have magic and a daemon, we are already coming into view of the vitadel and Denizens bay. After that itll be nightfall and we will be crossing into eastern waters where the krakens don't go. It's smooth sailing till we reach Aerios."

"Why Aerios? isn't your home at Windals Keep south of there?"

Avery seemed to be more educated than the others, he loved to talk but most of the time it was about odd facts or things he had read. He was a natural teacher it was just too bad he was not a mage. His magical library of spells would be uncontainable.

"My cousins are the ruling family over Aerios and would give us an escorted passage back to my home so we don't have a repeat of our enslavement. "

"Now i am the acting captain and we must get this ship in working order!" he headed the wheel while giving the boy tasks to do as they lazily sailed around the northern cost towards denizens bay. So long as there were no storms or other Dangerous events on the horizon they should make it to Aerios in a month.

The boys went below deck and retrieved the corpses of their would be captors and dropped them into the dark water below. The water frothed and bubbles as the bodies were ravaged by what lied beneath.

"I sure hope that was a good idea, feeding the monsters in the water. Now they know there's food on the ship."

"you worry too much Avery, besides did you want to smell the corpses as they rotted below deck?"

Greggan was carrying a bucket with some water and scrub brushes, he had been tasked with Avery to clean up the mess down below so they didn't get pests and have the wretches stench of death lingering on their ship.

Ertimus had them unchain the boy they had left and made him the crowsmen. He couold tell the order was not to his liking. "i hate heights! I can't be up there what if I fall!"

"Then you'll die in the water hours from right now, which is when you'll die if you don't go up there" Ertimus put his hand on the handle of his sword and smiled. "glad we are in agreement"

He handed the boy a telescope and sent him up the rigging to the crows nest. there was still a lot of sunlight left in the day and it was a hot one. Ertimus chuckled at himself as the boy climbed. "a few days up there should be enough punishment."

In the black depths below the eyes of the monsters who hunted these waters were focused on the small little ship sailing lazily through their ocean. slowly closing in on them as the sun began to rest on the horizon. The shadows moved in closer behind them, staying in the suns reflection tailing the vessel.

The children didn't notice the birds that were circling their ship and perching on the rigging had been gone for hours, not a feather could be found. The sea was a dead silent, even the waves crashed at a low whisper. in the shadows massive sharp rocks seemed to move behind the ship, at first it was just the tips of these rocks. the longer they trailed the ship the more they protruded, it was late and the boys had made a fire in a firepit that was already on deck.

Ertimus had opened a barrel of whine and the boys had gotten very drunk and Averya had gotten sick off the side of the ship while Greggan had fallen asleep with the hiccups nestled in some wheat sacs down below. Ertimus himself was holding the wheel watching the path ahead not thinking about what was behind him.

If he had would would have noticed the rocks rising from the water and large crimson eyes like that of a viper protruding from inbetween the gaps of darkness the shadows of the rocks were casting. The rocks weren't rocks at all, but dorsal fins of a creature larger the the ship it was following. They were being hunted by the second most feared creature in the western waters. The maw of a the great Mammoth shark opened wide behind the staggering Ertimus casting a shadow over the ship that hid the moon itself. water dripped from its rows of giant sword like teeth.

Two or three bites is all it would take for the beast to completely eat the boat and the current young crew.