A second volley, this one much more accurate. Juniper looked away, feeling satisfied with their work, before the shots ever landed, looking to Beck. "I would love to set it on fire, but it's too far away, it's too cold out here, and that thing shouldn't be much more than frozen raindrops now." They looked back, to survey their damage, only to find the chimera still standing, unphased. It soon after charged them, and the changeling was shocked. It was ice, it shouldn't be in one piece anymore! Lucien was unharmed as well, for the most part, which was even more concerning, considering if any damage had been done to their foe, the vampire would have felt the repercussions.
Wait, where was Leo?
There was no time to worry about that question. The chimera was getting closer, and it was officially in range. Juniper had found their moment, and was determined to keep it away, and keep everyone safe. "Careful where you step," they said to Beck, the nearest person to them, as they raised a hand, palm towards the charging beast. They shouted over the wind and thudding from the footsteps of the not-ice creature, a warning to Lucien that they weren't sure would ever be heard, before sending a burst of flame, weaker than they would have liked but certainly hot, towards the ships aggressor.
It wasn't easy to make out what was going on by the chimera, but as they were drawing closer, it became something less difficult every moment.
Leo was almost certainly dead. Sinéad had caught a glimpse of him going down the monster's gullet, but casualties were they way of piracy. Fame and fortune, yes, but also an undoubtedly early death. Few were the pirates who lived long enough to retire - but in those short years, they lived enough for ten. Mourning would have to wait - it always did, after all, something patiently there for days or weeks or years. Sometimes it got easier, with time. Other times, not so much. Her eyes shifted to the other side, where Caleb was approaching the other beast.
I ask too much of him.
But there was no time for that sentiment, either, as the monstrous chimera was coming at them full speed, head lowered and jaws wide. Juniper's blast of fire flowed out ahead of them, not quite a smoke screen, but enough that perhaps the beast would lose some visibility as it approached, maybe enough to let them slip its myriad clutches.
"Hold fast!" A shouted command, and one everyone knew - it would be repeated, as quickly and loudly as possible, and sometimes it was enough. Beneath her hand, the wheel turned sharp, a drop of lift on a single side wrenching the Nox to the side, as if it were lying down. There were reasons, after all, that all the tables and benches in the mess were chained down, reasons why everything in people's cabins was carefully stowed, bolted to the wall or placed in a chest wrapped in cloth. Some times, the sailing was smooth. Other times...
Other times, not so much. The Nox shivered under the mistreatment, but it was used to it by now and knew there was nothing to do but get back up and carry on once more. Sinéad Spun the wheel the other way and adjusted levers, bringing the ship back to rights.
Glittering mandibles clacked together sharply, a sound that echoed down the crevasse - but nothing was between them. The annoying gnat was hiding behind a glittering tooth, jerking at it sharply as if the little creature thought it could remove such a great tooth. The tooth was solidly attached to the head it was in, however, and glass whiskers brushed at the fairy's arms, sharp as spines.
The totem twisted, pulling its segments into a curve, trying to find purchase where it could once again snap at the small thing that beleaguered it, but it wasn't to be, as the heads stacked atop one another simply did not have the flexibility.
So be it. It must be the tiresome way after all.
The snow-covered ground shuddered once more, not from the chimera's wrath this time, radiating out in spiderwebs from the totem's base as something pushed it up from beneath, the ears of a wolf piercing the ground from beneath, diamond jaws soon following and letting out a wind-woken howl. Tremors filled the ground, snow spilling its way down the canyon to topple on mountaintops below, and the creature pushed itself up further still - a bear, a reptile with ogling eyes and coiled tongue, a fish with razor jaws. Still more heads emerged, one after another, those that had been buried below sending out spindly bent legs to either side and pulling its skittering bulk atop the snowfield.
With one last resounding crackle, the tail of a scorpion emerged as a final barbed segment, quick as frost, darting forward in an attempt to pierce the object of its irritation.
The beast made terrible sounds, and Lucien could hear a faint pealing noise, presumably Leo’s work. The pup undoubtedly thought he could chisel through this monster if he simply believed hard enough. Come to think of it, Lucien was unsure if the mongrel even knew what a diamond was. Regardless, the beast shook from the blows of the Nox’s cannons, the metal shattering along its hide as it lurched forward, roaring towards the ship.
Lucien held on as tight as he could, eventually finding his target faintly glittering, buried beneath a glassy substance. An experimental claw revealed that it was not diamond, but regular ice, the wound scabbed by the elements. It seemed that this monster did not have a regenerative ability, more construct than beast. Lucien withdrew his rapier, promising to eviscerate Seamus Greyhammer if his craft was faulty, and stabbed forward, the blade chipping some of the ice out. A few more strikes, a sharp blade paired with vampiric strength, brought the ice barricade down inch by inch, until there was a small fragment left. Lucien pulled back his blade, and with a final grunt of effort, rammed the blade home, burying it up to the hilt in the monster’s gilded vein.
The slick surface grew more textured, as if the hand that had crafted the glittering monstrosity had failed to refine the interior as well. Leo slid down the creature’s throat and shortly came to rest in a belly like a sloped cavern, the light filtering through the shaped crystal around him in even more distorted shafts than in the mouth. A twisted and blurred shadow stretched and darted around Leo, reflections of the vicious Navigator dancing around the broken wing with ringing blows from his needle-like blade.
It was quieter in here, the roars seeming to originate from the throat or the mouth itself and not the belly, echoing out in muffled chorus with cannon blasts and roaring flame that cast away the vampire’s flitting shadow and bathed Leo in crimson light and a gentle heat that radiated through the beast and its hollow interior. He stood in the moment, letting the chaos around his crystalline womb wash over him as he bathed in the calm. Almost serenely he lifted his sword, bringing it down against the curved interior surface of the chimera’s chest in an echoing ring that was swiftly joined by another, and then another as he fell into a rhythm of strike and recover. As the sound surrounded him his eyes glazed over, consumed by the work.
His captain wanted him near, so that's where he'd find himself. The helm was the key, and maintaining their course was paramount. Ciaran could scarcely believe they'd come out the victors of this battle, the best they could do would be survive. The volley and attacks of his crewmates had hardly had an effect, so retreat was perhaps their best option now. There was no cowardice in surviving.
Still, one needed to be ready to defend themselves if their attackers neared - in Ciaran's case, the captain. As Sinead maneuvered and the crew organized their efforts, Ciaran took to loading the cannon bore within his prosthetic. Luckily, he'd had half a mind to retrieve the arm once he'd heard word of an attack. He'd been nearly done packing the powder when Sinead brought the Hard Nox into a sharp dip.
The master gunner took a wide stance and tried to find his balance with a hand holding tight to the rail, his other was still hanging from his belt. When Sinead brought the ship aright again, he slipped a ball into the cannon and closed the bore with his hand once more. He didn't know if it would be effective, but there was still merit in trying. She was his captain and he'd sworn himself as an officer on her ship - pirate or not, he'd follow.
. . . I could never hold enough of you in my hands . . .
Shaky ground was never a good sign. His attempts at plucking the tooth out was useless, but Caleb's firm grasp around it gave him something to hold on to as many more heads emerged from the underground.
“Fuck me.” He cursed under his breath, looking down at the rest of the creature’s body. When a scorpion tail darted in his direction Caleb rolled to the side at the last minute, hoping the statue’s momentum would be enough to damage it’s own body if he was lucky enough to escape it.
***
Beck couldn’t help but stand in awe watching the extent of Juniper’s power. She understood now how the fire had spread over Fen Manor so quickly, and a mix of fear and admiration distracted her from reacting to the captain’s command in time. As the ground beneath her tilted, Beck lost her balance and wrapped her arms around Juniper’s waist, the closest thing she could hold on to. It'd be up to the mage to hold onto something more steady, otherwise they'd likely fall and slide to the other side of the deck.
***
Swallowing an insect wasn’t unusual for Chimera. The last time it had happened it took them 24 hours to get frostbite, a few more for their heart to stop beating. Chimera didn’t feel any satisfaction in eating, as well as it didn’t feel any pain, not even when a sharp thing pierced its veins, fitting so perfectly that it’d demand a whole lot of strength to get it out. Quietly and swiftly, Chimera’s tail slithered over its own back, with a single thread of gold running through its body. Its mouth opened, showing two pairs of sharp teeth before it jumped forward, trying to bite the arm that held the sword’s hilt.
With the snake taking care of the other insect, the three heads had only one target to worry about. As it approached their opponent a small flame reflected in their eyes, but it didn’t take long until it wasn’t small anymore.
Eagle didn’t like the combustion on its face and pulled back, distracting itself, as well as the other two heads. The hull of the ship hit the lion’s chin like a hook, and the goat screamed in frustration. When the ship returned to it's upright position, goat tried to entangle it’s right horn to the banister, trapping the ship so it wouldn’t be able to escape.
The flames found their mark, bathing the chimera in orange light. With fire crackling and roaring from their hand, Juniper felt some sense of satisfaction upon seeing the creature's path diverted, the eagle head pulling away from the heat in a way that suggested it was maybe sensitive to it. The changeling began to prep for a second attempt, but over the rush of adrenaline and the dying sounds of the flames, they just barely heard the captains command.
They lurched forwards, wrapping both arms around the railing before the ship was thrown off kilter, the deck beneath them suddenly becoming a wall to lay against as they pulled away and to the side of the creature. Juniper felt a weight around their waist, and pulling theirself up to hold the rail with one arm, they reached down with their other, hooking it beneath Beck's armpit and holding her up as well as they could, providing what little extra support they could. Curses were mumbled under their breath as they heard an impact from the other side of the deck-wall, and slowly, the ship began to right itself.
"Hold on, it's almost back to normal," they said, voice straining with the effort. As the Nox approached level once more, they looked over the side to see the chimera, now within touching distance, and the goat head of the beast lashing out, trying to entangle the ship. Still holding both Beck and rail, they pointed their palm towards their adversary and sent another stream of flame, hoping to dissuade and even repel it.
His blade slammed home, the guard clanging against the diamond. The beast lurched as a gout of flame flashed, but otherwise it seemed to have no reaction to the wound. Of course. Anyone who would go through the trouble of crafting a beast out of diamond and gold would naturally elect to have it ignore any feelings of pain. That was no worry, it simply meant Lucien had to deal more damage to draw its attention.
Something caught the vampire’s ears, a rough, glassy sound that rumbled towards him, barely perceivable. Lucien glanced upward and saw the tail of the chimera, a translucent snake that lashed out at him, fangs bared in a display of glittering death. Lucien pulled hard, the rapier sliding free as he fell, the serpent’s fangs missing his arm by inches. He slammed into the wing as he fell, free hand scrabbling to find some purchase, slivers and shards of razor-sharp diamond slicing into him.
His hand caught a ridge, a flaw in the ruined wing, and Lucien jerked to a stop. He would be panting if he had any reason to breathe. Dull stings radiated from his body, but one pulsed a touch harder, almost pulling his attention. The vampire moved to stow his rapier and saw the cause of the wound: a shard of diamond, lodged in his right side. It must have gotten stuck there during the fall. Lucien stowed his rapier, gripping the diamond with his now-free hand and pulled it free with a wet noise. A thought occurred to him, a new way to approach the situation. Lucien’s gaze flicked back upward, and he waited, shard in hand, to see what the serpent’s head would do.
Her request barely had time to settle when the ship began to shift sideways. The Captain's command lingered amongst the chaos, alerting Alys to the purposeful nature of the movement. Frozen fingers instinctively grabbed onto the doorframe, her body suddenly perpendicular with the Nox. Blue wings fluttered slowly, keeping her steady, graceful even, a contradiction to the wooden moans and creaks that surrounded her.
Using this moment of nothingness, Alys dared to glance towards the combat. Leo was nowhere to be found; perhaps flung off by the beast and dead, buried in the snow. Lucien slashed mercilessly at the injured wing, Juniper sent a powerful blast of their magic at the eagle head, and thanks the gods, Ciarán had appeared and was leading the cannon attack. Still, despite their effort, it felt like they were losing, soon to be entangled with the heads of the chimera. A pit in her stomach formed, and only intensified upon seeing the second statue rise from the snow, the heads of various animals forming a grotesque chain of tusks and teeth and pincers. A tiny flutter of orange barely hanging onto a massive tooth caused the faerie to inhale sharply. There was no time.
As the ship corrected itself, her boot-clad feet connecting with the deck once more, Alys turned away from the clinic and towards Nessa. "Fuck this. Ca- the quartermaster wants you out there. Are you ready?" The faerie extended her tired arms, as she had done with Leo, and waited for the vampire to take them too.
Beck closed her eyes, holding as tightly as she could. She nodded at Juniper's words and was relieved to find out they were correct and it didn't take a long time for the ship to return to its upright position. When her feet met the wooden deck, the blonde's arm around her kept her steady, and Beck wasted no time loading another arrow onto her bow.
The Chimera was close. With one eye closed and the other open, Beck searched for the best spot to shoot and ended up choosing the base behind the goat's neck, exposed due to its head being lowered. Beck noticed how much the joint had damaged itself by simply frictioning against itself for probably many years. She released the arrow and smiled when it bounced off the creature the same way the other arrow had, but this time the impact had left a small crack.
"Look!" Beck screamed in excitement for her achievement. It was such a tiny crack that Juniper would likely not be able to see it, but she pointed at it anyway. Looking down at the Chimera, below it's heads and through it's back, the archer noticed there was something inside it. Something that seemed to be moving. "Is that Leo?"
***
When the rapier was pulled out, golden liquid poured out of its recipient. Chimera bled, and the insect on top of its wing had finally managed to piss it off. The serpent had missed, but after its enemy stood back up it hissed and striked again - this time aiming to dig its fangs into his neck.
Eagle had an enemy of its own, who kept firing fire blasts at it. After the second blow it opened its beak, screaming so loudly that snow trailed down from mountaintops. Lion licked its fangs, but before it could attempt to bite once again the ship was pulled away by the goat, who shook its head violently from side to side, dragging the Hard Nox with its horn.
Juniper held Beck tightly, hoping to keep her from falling away as the ship righted itself. The moment the ground was level enough to stand on, the changeling sprung to their feet, turning away from the chimera for a moment to help the girl, who was surely less surefooted on terrain such as this. She fired off a shot at the now distracted beast, and they heard the impact, a sharp sound similar to metal on metal, but not quite the same, and as they both got their feet under them, Juniper followed the pointing finger to the creature.
Their eyes scanned the shimmering surface, searching for what Beck was trying to reveal. As far as they could tell, nothing had changed, but focus soon shifted as she pointed something else out; movement, from within the creature. It couldn't be Lucien, as he was still attacking the thing from behind, so it had to be Leo. Had he been eaten? When had this happened? "Shit! Beck, find a- a rope, something, we have to get him out," they said quickly, looking over the deck and the creature, trying to reason out some plan to rescue their crewmate.
Before anything could happen, however, the chimera struck back, now within range to do so. The goat head, the one the sorceress had up to that point mostly ignored, lashed out, tangling it's horns in the rails and wrenching it back and forth. It's goal was unclear, but the ground once again became unsteady, and Juniper's arms jumped into action once more, one around the banister and the other around Beck's waist, to hold her steady and keep her from going overboard.
Lucien held on as the chimera shifted and swayed. Out of the corner of his eye he could see it attacking the Nox, the ship turning parallel to the ground before righting itself. He could not help but grin slightly, knowing that there was a strong chance the Captain was doing the same, making her ship perform the aerial acrobatics that she was no longer capable of. Golden liquid trickled down, and Lucien got his confirmation that this monster could bleed.
And if it could bleed, he could kill it.
The serpent corrected itself, hissing and launching once more at Lucien, seeking to sink its fangs into the vampire. But Lucien was prepared. He waited, patiently, a predator who stalked their prey, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. And as the serpent drew closer, that moment was found. Lucien launched himself to the side, letting the viper’s jeweled fangs graze him, almost teasingly, before striking out with a jeweled fang of his own. The shard of the chimera was held firmly in his grasp, and he lashed out at the offending attacker, seeking to wound it with a part of its own body.
“Goddess,” Nessa said between her teeth as the floor suddenly vanished from beneath her feet. She reached out claws catching the floorboards of the clinic and biting deep into gap between two as the vampire tried to keep from tumbling off the side of the ship. Her fingers creaked with the sudden force, little ignorable pains, as her stomach jolted with the feeling of weightlessness. It was only a moment before the ship righted itself, though another tremor followed soon after as Nessa bounced up to her feet, though that did little to her balance. Wood in the distance groaned, creaking and snapping with the stress.
Nessa wiped her fingertips against her cloak as she turned back to the group, dislodging a piece of wood she had scraped from the floor. The inside of the clinic was in rough shape, no doubt, but putting it back together wasn’t her problem at the moment. Nessa turned to Alys, who had found her own elegant way to keep from being flung off the ship, Nessa’s lips curling away from her teeth. “Aye,” She said, reaching out and taking hold of Alys’ forearms. Har almost saying Caleb’s name but correcting herself was curious against Nessa’s ear, but she tucked it away.
“Emer, keep safe.” Nessa said, with a quick glance over her shoulder. For Emryk she only offered a nod before her feet left the deck.
//... into the dark she stepped, but never did she feel free of the gaze...//
The two rose above their wooden home, Alys being careful to avoid the chimera that had entangled itself in the bannister - a severe complication to their situation. Cold nipped at her once more, though the weight she carried was much lighter. Gripping onto Nessa's forearms tightly, they continued their ascent to meet the second statue. It was equally as terrifying as the first; a series of stacked heads and the pointed tail of a scorpion. Alys wondered whether it carried the same venom as the creature it shared a likeness to, and if not, was it sharp enough to pierce diamond? The quartermaster seemed to have the same idea, or perhaps it was simply instinct to roll away from an impending assault. From her vantage point, she could only hope he was fast enough.
"What's the plan?" Alys shouted, glancing down at the vampire within her grasp.