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Chapter 5 - Jurojin Straits

For a while, Trojanu actually thought he had a chance of winning, but his demise was preordained.  His wife was the better player. Sumi moved her knight to the top of the seven-tier board and elegantly bumped Trojanus king from its position.  She clapped her victory and lent forward to receive a kiss from her defeated opponent.

        'I cannot kiss you, Sumi,' he joked.  'You’re the enemy.'

        'To the victor go the spoils.  Come on,' she urged.

        Trojanu playfully shook his head, refusing to acquiesce to his wife’s demands.  'You have won the battle but you will never win my obedience!' he said dramatically as he picked up the ornate poniard he had been using to peel pokpok fruit and held it to his breast.  'I would rather die than give myself to you!'

        'Alright! Alright!' Sumi protested, unsuccessfully trying to hide a grin.  'I'm not the enemy anymore.  The battle is over and now we’re at peace. So, kiss me!'  She stood up petulantly and kicked a gold-laced velvet pillow at him.  He ducked swiftly and it went flying over the port railing of the wedding barge.

        Trojanu looked over the side of the boat to see the square pillow land in the gentle waters lapping the sides of their boat as it carved its way through the Jurojin Straits.  He then lay back on the ornate Ankaran rug and smiled up at his wife.  'Kiss you?  No. I do not recognize your authority,' he said assuming an obstinate air as he took a gorseberry out of the bowl at his side and defiantly placed it in his mouth.

        Sumi stood above him and snarled.  'If you will not submit willingly, you will pay the price with your life,' she said trying to sound intimidating.

        Trojanu laughed. 'You're running out of pillows, miss.  What will you use now?'

        She reached behind her and pulled out her dagger.  'I thought I'd use this.'

        Trojanu grinned.  Now this sort of game I like!' he said rising, wiping the pokpok juice from the poniard he was holding.  As he rose, Sumi swung her left leg around, sweeping her husband clear off his feet.  His face would have hit the wooden floor hard if it were not for the plate of gorseberries between it and the deck.  When he regained his feet, Sumi was delighted by the purple juice that stained his face.

        The crew of the royal sail barge barely gave them a second look.  These antics were typical of the newly-married pair.  Trojanu rose slowly, staring coolly at Sumi.  Although he stood a full foot taller than his wife, it was clear she was neither intimidated by his size nor concerned about his apparent anger.  'That was uncalled for,' he growled through gritted teeth.

        'You should wipe your mouth before you speak,' she instructed and lent down to pick up a napkin from the deck.  As she did so, Trojanu's foot came down heavily on the edge of the bowl of pokpok fruit, sending the soft, yellow fruit hurtling through the air to land on the bodice of the expensive dress that had been a wedding present from the Queen of Acoran.  'My dress! This is Acoran samite!' she screamed, her entire body frozen with horror. 

Trojanu sprang between her legs and swivelled, drawing up the flat of his blade and slapping it on her rear. 

'Ow! That really hurt!' she cried as she wheeled around to see her husband grinning like a marrok.

        And then the real fight began.  Sumi sent a flurry of kicks at her lover.  He defended himself adequately but was forced backwards against the beautifully carved door to their cabin.  The tapestried, clinquant wedding barge was quite a radical shift away from the military vessels a shogun like Trojanu was accustomed to fighting on, but he took it in his stride, accepting it as one of the many changes that took place when one married a daughter of the Emperor of Susano.  The magnificent ship had been one of the many gifts Sumi’s father had bestowed upon the newly-married pair.  The Princess Orani, was the Emperor’s way of displaying his approval of the partnership, his contentment seeing his daughter married to one of Kompira's finest soldiers.  What better way to recognize the steadfast bond between the two island nations of Susano and Kompira than with a boat worth more money than most Myrrans could dream of?

        Sumi smiled.  'You're trapped, cur.  Submit!'  She dropped to her haunches and in a blink of an eye pulled out two sai from her ornate cloak.  The next thing Trojanu saw was the quivering hilts of the sai on either side of his head as they thudded into the wooden door behind him.

        'Hey, you could put out an eye with those things!' he remonstrated, but it was obvious he was delighted by her determination to teach him a lesson.  He grabbed hold of the sais and pulled them out of the timber.  In the same movement he released them, targeting his wife's flowing gown.  The sais thudded into the deck, pinning the dress to the glossy wooden beams of the quarterdeck.  Sumi, not realizing she had been fixed so, sprang forward only to find her forward motion halted.  Caught off balance in this way, her forehead slammed into the deck with such a heavy sound, even the battle-hardened sailors lining the deck winced in sympathetic mortification.

        By contrast, Trojanu was ecstatic about his Sumi's fall and clapped his hands feverishly, appreciating the complete lack of grace exhibited by his wife.  He looked across at some of his friends who had moved to the taffrail encircling the stern when they saw the approaching melee.  'What say you, ensigns?  Have you ever seen such a sight!' he called, pointing to Sumi who was glowering as she rubbed her bruised forehead.

        Ensigns Hegira, Ikiryo and Jikoku did not like the thought of saying anything against Emperor Kimura's daughter, and as one they slunk off to the relative safety of midships.

        Meanwhile Sumi tugged at the sai pinning her robe to the deck but could not pull them free.  'Ah, Trojanu, you’ll use any excuse to get my clothes off!'

            She shed the dress and stood before him in her bridal undergarments, unabashed and defiant. At that very moment, the door to The Princess Orani's opulent dining room opened and one of the ship's elderly passengers – the retired Rear Admiral Kenji Kishimojin – walked out onto the deck to take in the sights.  The royal bare skin of the Emperor’s youngest daughter was more than his vision could cope with.  He made his apologies and returned the way he came.

        The Rear Admiral's hasty retreat was worth more to Trojanu than the entire ship and he reeled over laughing as his wife strode over to him, half-naked and angry.  Trojanu lifted one hand to wipe away tears of laughter that had gathered in his eyes.

        Sumi's kick sent him halfway across the deck.  The crew in the rigging above roared in delight and using their approval as momentum, Sumi launched herself after her husband.

        He blocked her roundhouse kick to the head and struck her with an open palm to the chest.  He then vaulted over her head in a display of incredible gymnastic ability.  She pirouetted to follow his move but was too slow. Before she had a chance to block, he had grabbed her in a headlock and lifted her smaller frame off the deck.  She kicked and twisted but her legs just futilely cut the air.  His arms were locked around her neck, but she kept struggling.

        'Kiss me!' she hoarsely demanded.

        'Never!' he whispered proudly into her ear.

        She let go of his forearms and momentarily stopped resisting.

        Suddenly, Trojanu’s vision went black as her knuckles slammed into his temples.  Letting go of his wife, Trojanu dropped to his knees trying to clear his head.  Sumi clenched her hands together and struck the shogun with such force that her uppercut lifted him off his feet and over the railing that ran between the quarterdeck and midships.

        Trojanu landed with a thud ten feet below.  Above him on the ship's railing, his bold wife stood in her undergarments.  Trojanu looked up at her in awe.  Her lissome body was lit with the dappled, early morning light reflecting off the docile waters of the Jurojin Straits.

        'Look at you standing there naked and proud.  You know, you're not the diffident, humble girl my mother thinks you are, Sumi.”

        'I'm sure your mother isn’t aware of your prurient mind either, Trojanu,' she retorted.  Her leg muscles tensed – she was going to jump.  'You should have kissed me!'

        She leapt off the railing, arms outstretched, like a predator about to deliver the killing blow.  Trojanu took the wingless flight of his attacker and used it against her.  As she swooped down on him, he grabbed her wrists and drew his feet up so they took her weight.  He curled backwards and thrust out with his legs.  Sumi flipped over and was sent sailing towards the fishing nets that had just been hauled in for the wedding guests' breakfast.  She wasn’t hurt when she landed but to her utter dismay, she found herself entangled in a wet and smelly mesh of jute ropes replete with marine specimens that wriggled feverishly as oxygen filled their burning lungs.

        There she sat, the Emperor's daughter, in a net.  Her undergarments were spattered with the scales and entrails of the morning's catch, her hair tangled with seaweed and her nose was bleeding from one of Trojanu’s earlier blows.  Her glowering eyes fired a look of contempt towards her husband who had made his way over to help her out.  'Kiss me,' she sneered.

        Trojanu's face beamed.  'How could I resist – you're beautiful!'  He knelt beside her in the muck and they embraced with the passion and vitality of newly-weds, their aches and bruises momentarily forgotten.

        'Excuse me Shogun, Princess Sumi.'

        They both looked up from their bedraggled situation.  Before them stood Kappo, a rather sombre-looking Spriggan who had completely failed to disguise how unimpressed he was with their blithesome behaviour.  He was dressed rather plainly for a Spriggan, his clothes possessing a harmony of colour usually absent in the apparel of that race.  He held on to an exquisitely wrought golden cane, which did little to assist his clumsy passage across the decks of the wedding ship.  Cloven-footed races rarely coped well with the undulating movement of boats, and like many of his race, Kappo felt more secure adrift in a skyshop than floating on the sea.

        He bowed reverently before Trojanu and Sumi.  'I do not wish to interrupt this subderisorious exchange, but Master Chief Petty Officer Sanaka has instructed me to tell you that we are about to clear the heads and enter the open ocean.  He suggested that you prepare yourselves for slightly less serene conditions and that you consider concluding your matutinal activities in the comfort of the grand cabin.'

        Sumi smiled broadly at the Spriggan and said with abundant affection, 'Thank-you Kappo, but I think Trojanu and I will stay on deck. This morning sunshine is too good to waste.” She stretched her arms and turned to the east to expose herself to the sun's lambent embrace. As she did this, she added, 'You can tell Mr Sanaka that Trojanu and I are big enough to cope with a few waves.'

        Trojanu's eyes lingered on his wife’s lithe form as she soaked in the sunlight.  He smirked when he noticed the Spriggan’s gaze similarly tarrying upon Sumi’s sylphlike body.  'Excuse me Kappo, did he actually use the word matutinal?'

        The Spriggan, fearful that he had been caught staring at Sumi, looked about at the sky, the sails and the deck before responding.  'I am sorry Shogun.  What did you ask of me?' he said awkwardly, pretending he had not heard the question.

        'Kappo, I was wondering whether Petty Officer Sanaka said the word matutinal.  Or subderisorious.  They do not sound like words the Petty Officer would use.'

        Kappo frowned, annoyed with the glib tone Trojanu was taking.  'Perhaps he did not use those exact words, Shogun, but certainly words to that effect,' he said sharply.  He had been travelling on the Orani for a week, selling his wares to the wedding guests on board the boat, and was growing tired of having to constantly explain his meaning.

        'Kappo, excuse my husband – he is teasing.  But I am curious.  What does subderisorious mean?' asked Sumi. Her voice was soft and Kappo could see that there was nothing mocking in her inquiry.  He started to blush as he did whenever he was around her.  She was beautiful in the ocular language of any race and he found himself occasionally tripping over his own words whenever they spoke.

        'Consul,' he began, concentrating hard not to stammer, 'the word subderisorious is Helyan in origin, though now rarely found outside the ancient texts that lie in the vaults under Sulis.  It means mocking, but affectionately so, as between friends or lovers.  It seemed an appropriate choice for the interplay between yourself and your newly married shogun.'

        'Kappo!' Sumi squealed with delight.  'That's the sweetest thing I’ve heard since Trojanu spoke his vows seven days ago.'  She leant down and placed a thick, wet kiss upon the Spriggan's cheek.

        Kappo's mouth dropped but nothing came out.  He could feel his already red face take on a brighter hue.  If he had mind to speak, he would claim his radiant colouration as being the result of too many hours spent under the argent rays of the southern sun; certainly he would rebuke any claim that Sumi’s pulchritudinous beauty had anything to do with it.  But speech was suddenly something of which he was incapable, so he just bowed deferentially to the pair and walked up the companionway to the bow of the ship.

 

 

'Trojanu, you should have a word to Sanaka,' Sumi said sternly.  'He shouldn’t be sending Kappo on silly errands like that.  My father has given us enough seamen here to send messages to every guest on board.'

        'Oh, I don’t think it's the Petty Officer's fault Sumi.  That Spriggan could talk the ears off a Mabbit.  I imagine Sanaka was just using the errand as an excuse to end a conversation he didn’t want to continue.  He can't stand on the bridge listening to Kappo drone on about everything under the sun.'

        Sumi scowled at her husband.  'That's a bit harsh, isn't it?'

        'You know he talks too much!  In fact, I think Kappo even has a word for it.'

        'A word for what?'

        'His excessive flow of words.  All Spriggans suffer from it. What was it?'  He bit his bottom lip as his mind rummaged through drawers containing words he had heard but never intended to use.  Suddenly his eyes twinkled as he remembered the word he was searching for. 'Logorrhoea!  Kappo suffers from logorrhoea!' Trojanu slapped his own knee in triumph.

        'You know Trojanu, this is not you at your best.' Sumi said quietly.  'I don’t think my father would like to hear you besmirch his –'

        'Besmirch! Sumi, you’re beginning to talk like a Spriggan.'

        He could see she was upset by this and for all his kicks, throws and punches, he was saddened to think he may have actually hurt her feelings.  'I’m joking Sumi.  I'm joking.  You're right.  I'm sorry.'

        'Kappo is a guest and he's a long way from home,' said Sumi, slowly and unequivocally.  'He holds a favoured place in my father's court and what's more, he did give us our golden armbands.'

        Trojanu looked down at his left forearm.  It was a Susanese custom to celebrate the union of two young lovers by presenting each with a golden armband encrusted with precious jewels that would remain upon their person for the rest of their days.  Respecting this tradition, Kappo had given the bridal couple matching armbands that were so richly adorned it would be impossible to put a price on them.  Spriggans were usually frugal in most transactions, but Kappo was unlike most Spriggans.  He had given up a life of travelling the world selling Kobold goods, preferring instead the quiet life he had discovered in Susano.  He was made an honorary member of Emperor Kimura’s household and had lived contentedly despite not acquiring the wealth most Spriggans associated with true happiness.  It was enough to live surrounded by wealth albeit someone else's.  But of late Kappo had been unsettled, largely due to the complete lack of news coming out of Camulos. He had expected to see his younger brother Mulupo who often came to Susano in the early months of summer, but summer had faded into autumn which had in turn given itself to winter

and Mulupo had not showed. It was now spring. Kappo decided to use the wedding boat voyage to the Isle of Antaeus as the first leg in the long journey home to Camulos.

        Suddenly an awful screeching sound filled the sky as a vast flock of quad-winged quawk flew overhead.  Instinctively, the passengers and crew above deck ran for cover, taking shelter under sails, yard arms and parasols provided for this very contingency.  The quad-winged quawk was one of the most spiteful, useless birds that ever took flight.  They were ugly to look at and even less blessed in their ability to catch food.  As a result, they often followed ships, vainly hoping to gather scraps to eat.  When none were given, the birds would indicate their disappointment by defecating all over the decks of the vessels they tracked. Fortunately, due to some biological quirk, they could not do this without releasing an ear-shattering, discordant squawk which alerted those below to the birds' malefic intentions.

 

 

Sumi just made the cabin doorway in time.  As she shut the heavy wooden door, she could hear the dull sounds of the birds' retribution raining down on the quarterdeck outside.

        She made her way down the lamp-lit passageway to the large royal cabin at the very rear of the boat.  It was luxurious to say the least.  If not for the huge stern windows overlooking the ship's churning wake, the room could have been easily mistaken for a king's bedchamber in some golden palace.  Ornate tapestries adorning the walls were complemented by thick, decadent Ankaran rugs.  Elegant furniture was carefully placed upon the floor where fulgent patterns of sunlight advanced and retreated across the room as she ship gently rocked from stern to bow and bow to stern.  One side of the room was dominated by a magnificent portrait of the Emperor painted by one of the great blind painters of Copacati.  Sumi stopped before the painting and sighed.  It had been only a week and she missed her father terribly.  She was accustomed to being away from him but his generosity and interest leading up to the wedding had brought father and daughter closer than ever before.  He had not been able to leave his court unattended for the slow cruise to the Isle of Anteaus but he had made sure that his daughter was surrounded by constant reminders of him: painting, statuettes and letters inked by the finest calligraphers his money could find.

        The wedding ship and its voyage to Isle of Antaeus had been her father's idea.  Since she was a little girl, Sumi had long desired to see the sea snorses of Arion and the remaining blue leviatha inhabiting the southern seas.

        Sumi's love for such wonders was a family trait.  Her brother Matsuo had travelled north many years ago to study the beautiful white leviatha of the Oshalla Ocean. In many ways her new husband reminded her of Matsuo.  Both men were confident and clear-headed but equally capable of saying precisely the wrong thing at the wrong time.  Although Sumi and Matsuo were hemispheres apart, just being on the sea made her feel closer to him.  It was comforting to know that all that separated them was water.  Unable to make it to the wedding, he had sent her a present she would treasure forever – a silken white gown with a filigree of sea snorses woven into the lace hem.

        Sumi's sister Mai had also not attended the wedding and this had been occupying Sumi's headspace for weeks.  She had not heard from her older sister since she had ventured north to climb the great Skyfall.  Months had passed and no sign of Mai was forthcoming.  The Skyfall was not so far away that Mai could not return by the wedding day.  She was normally a most reliable sibling, dependable to the last.  The Emperor had set off his finest soldiers to find her, but none had returned by the time of the wedding.  Sumi and her father would not say it, but both were gravely concerned for Mai.

        Sumi took a towel and dipped it in the silver basin of perfumed water awaiting her on an elaborately crafted sideboard.  In the sybaritic privacy of the royal cabin, she wiped the fishy smell from her skin.  Once this was done, she made her way to the magnificent aft windows that ran from port to starboard.  The waters beyond were playfully rolling back and forth, gently lifting and lowering a small flock of bellycans that bobbed contentedly in the ship’s wake.  They were strange birds, with tiny beaks and a fat spherical body.  They sat there on the ocean's surface, like small, fat clouds on a shifting sky.  The largest of the family, the matriarch of the group, swam forward a few feet, its eyes having spotted movement in the blue waters beneath.

        Suddenly, an Arion arrowfish shot high into the air.  The mother bellycan opened her wings to steady herself as she leaned back slightly, and positioned herself directly under the arrowfish as it reached the apogee of its brief flight into the air.  The fish plummeted back down and the bellycan extended a large pouch that had been hidden under the feathers covering the bird's stomach.  The arrowfish plopped straight into the pouch which then closed instantly, storing the catch for the family meal that evening.  Although books had been written on the subject, no-one truly understood the reasons for the arrowfish's perplexing suicidal flight.  'How lucky for the bellycan!'  Sumi mused when considering the arrowfish's dramatic exit from the world and the thought led her to consider her own luck.  She had everything a girl could desire, and whilst it pleased her so much her skin tingled, it also filled her with tremendous dread.  She had far too much to lose.

        To the north she could make out the island nation of Kompira where she had lived for two years whilst training in virtually every martial art known the Myr.  Kompira was also where she had been educated in philosophy, science and the arts.  But most importantly, it was where she had met Trojanu. He was a shogun in the Sato clan of eastern Kompira.  Ten years older than she, he had fought in numerous clan wars long before she first held a sai.  His abilities on the field were the stuff of legend and for many years he had been a member of the Myr's well-respected peace-keeping force, the Cessair Guard.  Trojanu had fought alongside the Arnakki when the Sessymirians defied the ill-fated embargo on exporting Keelii pelts.  He had turned the battle against the savage Sedomo when they attempted to expand their lands at the expense of the peaceful Tamuans.  He had also held the diplomatic position of Consul for ten years, deftly representing Susano and Kompira in the Assembly of Nations, held annually in distant Cessair.

        And Sumi had caught him with no greater effort than the bellycan had used to obtain its meal.  Wrapping Matsuo's white silken gown around her body and fixing it in place with a blue obi, Sumi made her way to the full length mirror at one end of the expansive cabin and said quietly, 'You are the luckiest person alive.'

 

 

'This doesn’t look good, Shogun!'

        Trojanu's hands tapped the aft rail apprehensively as he looked out across the waters.  'Sanaka, what… what is that thing?' he asked, trying to make sense of what he saw.

        'I'm not sure,' replied the Petty Officer.  'It's been following us for half a league.'

        Kappo, curiousity piqued by the urgent hushed discussion transpiring before him, trotted across the otherwise empty quarterdeck to join the conversation.  The two men fell silent as he approached but it only took him a second to realise where their focus lay.  'Oh by the three moons! My eyes deceive me!' he exclaimed with such horror that passengers strolling midships looked up at the quarterdeck to see what the source of such anxiety was.

        Trojanu, keen to keep the situation contained, knelt down beside the Spriggan, placed a calming hand upon his shoulders and whispered, 'Kappo, do you know what that thing is?'

        Kappo nodded, but everything in his demeanour suggested he was unsure of himself.  The Spriggan stood as high as his hooved legs would allow him, his gaze westward, behind the boat, where swam a dark red creature so large and so frightening in aspect, his pulse doubled at the sight of it.  No-one else on board had noticed it but it would not be long before the marine beast had the undivided attention of everyone on the ship.  Its head resembled the scaly lizacks of Tethra, only a thousand times larger.  A long blue tongue flickered in and out of a broad mouth lined with teeth as long as harpoons. The reptilian head was crowned with a massive scabrous frill that was comprised of a crimson ruff of thick skin that hung between long spines of cartilage that were at least fifty feet long. The frill lay half-closed like a parasol.

            Although much of it was submerged, Kappo reckoned that the beast’s entire body, from snout to fluke was almost two hundred feet in length. Upon the creature’s back a monolithic dorsal fin split the sky like a knife.  The bloody colour of the brute contrasted harshly with the vibrant blue waters through which it ploughed.  'I once read about an aquatic behemoth of similarly prodigious proportions in my studies on Caquix.  The frilled neck, the colossal size, the haematic and incarnadine colourings, and the pronounced dorsal fin running down the beast's back – if I am not mistaken, we are looking upon the The Ryugin.'

        'The what?'

        'The Ryugin.  It was dismissed by many as being a creature of fancy, dreamt up by sailors whose senses had been befuddled by inebriation, but there are tomes in the archives of the Caquikki libraries that describe in exact detail the cold-blooded vertebrate that now bears down upon us.'

        Trojanu was stunned.  He thought he was aware of most of the dangers the world held, but he knew nothing of the Ryugin.  'Kappo, I have never heard of this Ryugin before.  How can something be so large and go unseen for so long? I have sailed these seas countless times –'

        The Spriggan gave a sardonic smile.  'Shogun, the reason this monstrosity has not figured in your consciousness is simple.  It's not supposed to exist.  The Ryugin of which I speak roamed the Myr's watery tracts thousands of years ago.'

        Sanaka scowled at the idea.  'Well this has to be something else.  Perhaps it is descendent of the creature you describe.'

        Kappo shook his head.  'That is unlikely if the ancient texts are to be believed.  The Ryugin is a member of an anthropomorphic collective called the Cabal.  The Cabal have no offspring.  Time has no effect upon them.'

        Trojanu looked up from the Spriggan and out across the water to find the creature had significantly closed the gap between it and The Princess Orani.  Kappo followed his gaze and although the Ryugin's presence had clearly unnerved him, he was seduced by the opportunity to show off his intimate knowledge of all things obscure and forgotten.  'The origin of the Cabal is quite an interesting tale to tell.  Milennia ago, it has been postulated, a massive aerolith fell from the heavens and –'

        'Never mind the history lesson, Professor.  What's it likely to do to us?'

        'It will seek to dispose of us in ways so unsavoury, it would be wise not to dwell upon them.'

        Trojanu threw himself into action.  They had discussed the creature in enough detail.  It posed a threat and it was his job to deal with the situation. 'Sanaka, clear the decks of all civilians!  And raise the entire crew.  We need all men on deck.  You will probably find Commander Natane by the bar in the ship’s lounge.'

        The Petty Officer darted off, brusquely shoving civilians towards the doors leading down to the passengers' cabins.  At first, many of the guests protested, but Sanaka had no qualms about manhandling civilians when he had a job to do.  Within a minute he had cleared the decks.  All that was left was the nervous crew gazing west over the bow at the great beast that had appeared from nowhere.

            Kappo also stayed above deck, keen to observe and advise where possible.  He did not consider himself a brave Spriggan.  It just seemed clear to him that it really was no safer below deck than it was above.  The Ryugin was so immense that if it wanted to slaughter everyone on board the boat, it could do so irrespective of where they hid.

        Trojanu quickly cast his eyes across the unfamiliar ship, trying to ascertain its defensive and offensive capabilities.  The wedding barge was not really a barge at all – she was actually a flat bottomed carrack that had been ripped apart and rebuilt with only one thing in mind – comfort.  Although she had three masts, each equipped with three sails, she was not designed for speed.  Furthermore, although no expense had been spared on the refitting of the boat, the decorators did not think to furnish the vessel with armaments that would repel a sea monster out of the pages of long-forgotten history.

        The ship had a harpoon gun set at the front of the boat just behind the bowsprit.  This gun – powered by highly combustible Cold – no longer fired the long steel harpoons the Susanese of old had used until they had almost hunted the Myr's blue leviatha to extinction.  The gun had been adapted for fishing and was used to shoot weighted nets out into the ocean.  Trojanu had watched the crew fire the small square nets out above the bow and was amazed how far the gun could fling the jute mesh.  The gun would fire anything shoved down its smooth, iron throat.  Unfortunately for Trojanu, there was a dearth of harpoons on board.  The gun would be of little use to him.

        His mood brightened when he gazed down the port and starboard rails.  On either side of the deck were pairs of sponsons, small wooden platforms that hung out six feet from the hull of the boat and upon these were mounted brass carronades that had been transplanted from a decommissioned warship.  Trojanu eyed these weapons with a defiant glint in his eyes.  'Mr Sanaka, place two men on each sponson.  I want those carronades ready to fire just in case that thing is thinking of having an early lunch.'

        'Shogun, I'm afraid that won't do any good.  The carronades, they're not armed.'  He gave a meek shrug.  'I'm afraid the only things they fire are -'

        'Fishing nets!' Trojanu said irritably.  His hands went to his head and for a second it appeared he was about to rip his hair from his skull.  He looked back to the spar above the mizzenmast where one of the crew stood staring aft. 'Seaman Kumari, where’s the beast now?'

        'Still one point to larboard, sir!'

        'How far away is it, Mr Kumari?' Trojanu bellowed, exasperated by the seaman’s lack of detail.

        'About fifty yards now!'

        Trojanu strode up to the bridge which was situated on a small platform between the quarterdeck and the main deck.  'Helm, steady as you go there.'

        The helmsman, Able Seaman Miakoda, could hardly hold the wheel his hands were shaking so much.

        Behind the boat, the monstrous Ryugin had pushed through the Orani’s wake and the huge swell that ran before the creature thrust the entire ship to starboard.

        'It's coming up the larboard side!' yelled Trojanu in a flat, clear voice.  'To bracing stations.  I want to be able to turn this floating log at a moment’s notice.'

 

 

Sumi burst out onto the quarterdeck and seeing Trojanu by the helmsman, danced over the quarterdeck rail and onto the bridge.  Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw something vast approaching from the rear.  The enormous shape was obscured by the aft sails and for a fraction of a moment, she thought it to be a great vessel, like a Helyan dreadnaught.  The next seconds revealed something a lot more frightening than a battleship.

        'Sumi!' Trojanu exclaimed, noticing her next to him, her mouth hanging wide.

        She was only momentarily dazed.  She did not understand what the behemoth was and why it was approaching the ship, but with danger so close she was right where she was meant to be – at her husband's side.

        As the Ryugin came closer, Trojanu looked down at his wife and said, 'You look nice.'

        For the second time in the space of ten seconds, Sumi was completely dumbfounded.  She eyed her husband with an expression that perfectly balanced stupefaction and suspicion.  'You’re not going to tell me to go below?'

        He quickly shrugged his shoulders and said plainly, 'You’re my equal, not my concubine.'  His hand reached out for hers, and they stood hip to hip facing the very thing that would tear them apart.

 

 

The Ryugin swam slowly by slowly, dwarfing The Princess Orani.  Eyes as large as topsails scanned every foot of the open deck.  As it swam past the ship's southern flank, the cool breeze blowing across the ocean picked up the smell of the creature and spread it over the deck.  The crew felt a wave of nausea wash over them.  The thing smelt so old and fetid that some sailors had to place their hands over their mouths to stop themselves from vomiting.  The Ryugin continued to rake the boat with its immense right eye.  It gazed at Sumi for a brief second, and she knew that it was not some dumb creature of the deep staring stupidly at things it did not understand. It was intelligent and it was looking for something – or someone.  Clearly, it had no interest in her, nor did it seem overly interested in any of the others who were on deck at the time.

        When the huge sea beast had completed its reconnaissance of the larboard side of the Orani, it continued travelling west, its interest in the boat seemingly forgotten.

        But neither the boat nor her passengers were forgotten in the ancient brain of the behemoth. About 100 yards off the bow of the Orani, the Ryugin turned, its fluke churning aside the gentle waters of the Arion Ocean. It paused a moment and then swam back towards the ship, effortlessly cutting its way through its own spumy wake.

 

 

A number of seamen on the bow had raised weapons – bows and spears – and were edging closer to the rail preparing to attack.

        Trojanu held his nervous seamen back.  He eyed the crew’s commanding officer Hiro Natane, buttoning his uniform as he raced up companionway towards the bow of the vessel.  'Commander Natane, do not give the command to shoot just yet,' he said calmly.

        Natane nodded and quickly turned to one of his men and barked, 'Able Seaman Tagaro, relax your arm. Do not shoot until you hear the command.'  His voice was slurred from much drinking down below.

        Sixty yards ahead of the ship the Ryugin dived, leaving nothing but a swirling convolution of water and foam to mark her presence.

        'Aloft there, do you see it?' cried Natane to Kumari who had scaled the mizzenmast to the topsail.  Kumari responded in the negative.

        'It's toying with us, Sanaka,' Trojanu said to the Petty Officer.  'Diving deep just to unnerve us.'

        'Well, it's working Shogun.  I consider myself well and truly unnerved.'

        'So am I,' added Miakoda trying to hold the ship on a straight line.

        'You just concentrate on steering the boat, helmsman,' chided Trojanu with a wry smile on his face.

 

 

Suddenly, an explosion of water off the bow erupted as the Ryugin breached the surface.  The creature's massive body arced into the air and then crashed down upon the waves sending a wall of water tumbling over the forecastle.  The bow of the Orani lifted dramatically, raised by the incredible volume of water displaced by the Ryugin and all hands instinctively reached out for the manropes lining the rails and masts of the vessel.

        The Ryugin then continued its leisurely perusal of the deck as it slowly passed the ship on the starboard side.  To Sumi's left a door which led to the wedding guests' cabins below the quarterdeck opened and out strolled an elderly couple – an uncle and aunt whose curiousity seemed to have gotten the best of them. Sumi was horrified.  The open deck of the ship was the worst place for these people to be, not just for their own safety but for the wellbeing of the crew.  The wedding guests would just get in the way.  She jumped over the bridge's small wooden railing and grabbed her relatives by their collars.  'Get below!  Get below!' she yelled as she unceremoniously shoved the pair back through the door through which they had come.

        Her uncle protested saying, 'Sumi, we thought we’d take a look!'

        Her aunt added, 'It's very exciting isn’t it!'

        Sumi pushed them back.  'Get down below – if you want to look at the beast, look out the windows of your cabins.  You're not safe up here.'  She slammed the door and slid its thick wooden batten into place to keep it shut.

 

 

Meanwhile, the great creature off the starboard bow had paused.  Although it had ceased any forward movement its massive right eye was busy looking through the portholes lining the hull above the waterline.

        'Commander Natane, what's it doing?' Trojanu called to the ship's commanding officer who seemed so bewildered by the occasion, he just stared blankly back at him.

        Leaning over the starboard rail, Seaman Tagaro yelled, 'It's staring through the scuttles sir.'

        'Staring through the scuttles,' Kappo repeated as he mused the significance of such an action.  He turned to Trojanu.  'The Cabal are said to be intelligent lifeforms, Shogun.  This is no insipient brute we are dealing with here. It’s noticed the wedding guests looking out the starboard portholes.'

Returning to her husband’s side, Sumi exclaimed, 'It's looking for someone!'

        Without warning, the aquatic beast slid beneath the surface, giving no indication of its direction or intent. Trojanu swivelled around and lifted his head to the mizzenmast.  'Where has it gone Mr Kumari?'

        'I've lost it sir.  It's gone deep.  I think it went under the keel, but I can’t be sure.'

        Trojanu stepped forward and gripped the railing that ran around the deck upon which he, Sumi, Sanaka, Kappo and Miakoda stood.  His demeanour was calm but his gaze was intense as he scanned the waters to the right and left of the ship.  'Damn!  I'd have a better view from the top,' he said to himself, looking at the mainmast.

        Trojanu hurtled the railing.  Landing on the maindeck a few feet below, he passed two seamen who were busy lashing down some barrels that had rolled across the deck when the Ryugin had passed on the starboard side.  'Get me aloft!' he instructed them plainly as he advanced towards the mainmast.  'Commander Natane,' he cried to his commanding officer who was still trying to complete the simple act of buttoning his shirt.  'Take the conn.'

        Natane stumbled across the main deck.  He was perhaps the worst person to take control of the ship.  But Trojanu was a stickler for the chain of command and he had no time for the dramas that would ensue should he relieve his inebriated chief officer of his duties.  As Natane staggered up the steps to the bridge, Trojanu gestured to Sanaka and mouthed, 'Keep an eye on him.'  The Petty Officer nodded and Trojanu was swung on high to get a clearer view of the situation.

 

 

The world was peaceful up in the main top.  Trojanu could not see any sign of the Ryugin.  A pleasant breeze blew and all he could hear was the crack and flap of the topsails and the creaking of the mast as the sheets and shrouds wrestled the wind for possession of the boat.  He always enjoyed the solitude of the main top and could stand on the small platform for hours, admiring the humbling, dispassionate majesty of the surrounding sea.

        But today was not a day for contemplation. They were in the thrall of some ancient beast that – according to Kappo – would think nothing of sending their bones and the ship’s timbers to the bottom of the sea.  He could see its submerged bulk carving through the waters behind the Orani.  It had not left them.  It would return.  Trojanu was not one to allow an enemy to dictate terms.  It was time to take control of the situation.  And in that instant he made his decision and slid back down to the deck to announce it to the crew.

        'All hands to the boats.  We’re taking this fight to the beast.'

        There was not a face on deck that did not betray its surprise, but only one person spoke in response to this alarming announcement.

        'Trojanu – you can’t be serious,' Sumi protested as she made her way to the base of the mainmast.  'There is no quarrel with this creature.  And we have wedding guests aboard.'

        Trojanu gave a nod of the head.  'That is why I will take to the boats.  We cannot put civilians in danger.'

        'There is no need to do this at all!' Sumi resisted.  'This thing – this Ryugin – it’s gone now!'

        Trojanu looked over Sumi's head and his face went pale.  'Would you like to have a wager on that?'

        Sumi spun around to see the red-skinned leviathan breach the surface about a hundred yards off port.  With a flick of its monstrous tail, the Ryugin surged forward.  Suddenly it expanded its frill to its full circumference.  This minatory display had the desired effect.  Sumi gasped; some men fell back from the port rail; on the bridge Commander Natane vomited and Miakoda screamed.

 

 

The Ryugin slammed against the aft bulwark, shifting the entire ship thirty feet across the waves.  The hull splintered and cracked.  The crew members who had enough presence of mind to grab hold of a manrope were the only ones on board who were not thrown by the impact.  Three men on the starboard rail toppled overboard and were swamped by the surge of water created as the Ryugin pummelled the vessel.  They were Hegira, Ikiryo and Jikoku, the three ensigns Trojanu had bated during his play-fight with his wife only an hour earlier.  Unfortunately, that was the last time Trojanu could hope to engage them in such frivolity. Their bodies were swept under the Orani's broad keel and vanished in the deep.

        The Ryugin dived.

        Commander Natane and Petty Officer Sanaka raced across the quarterdeck to the aft rail to track the beast, impelled by their desperate hope that the monster was now leaving them behind.  As it submerged itself, the Ryugin brought its fluke high up into the air, sending a spray of seawater across the ship's deck.  Sanaka realised the threat and stepped back from the rail, but Natane whose senses were either dulled by alcohol or shock just stared stupidly at the massive crimson tail that rose high above.  The fluke hovered malevolently in the air for a few seconds before it came crashing down upon the deck.

        A fraction of a second before the tail hit the ship's stern, Natane felt himself being lifted up and thrown across the deck.  Sanaka had taken hold of Natane's collar and swung him with all his might out of harm’s way.  It was a heroically tragic act of selflessness for it left the Petty Officer no chance to avoid the Ryugin’s tail.  It pummelled him with such deadly force that it broke almost every bone in his body in an instant. Such was the beast's almighty strength that parts of the deck just disintegrated.  The entire ship was pushed downwards and water swamped the deck.

        Commander Natane scrambled away.  Upon reaching midships, he hurled himself through a hatch to what he considered to be the relative safety of the decks below.

 

 

Trojanu had witnessed Sanaka's death, but he had no time to dwell upon the loss.  Miakoda had been struck with one of the shards of timber that had exploded across the decks when the Ryugin first struck.  A three inch long sliver of the quarterdeck had embedded itself in the helmsman's eye and his screams sang out across the sea.  Trojanu wrestled with the crewman, trying unsuccessfully to calm him.  It was a futile act of compassion.  Trojanu had seen this sort of injury on the battlefield and knew that Miakoda would be dead within ten minutes.  He held the helmsman tightly against his chest and stroked his head. But the screaming did not stop.

        On his left Trojanu could see Kappo lying in the centre of the deck.  The Spriggan's body had been thrown hard against the ship's windlass.  The impact had been terrible, the sound of Kappo's spine hitting the brass post making Trojanu wince.  But he could not help him, could not leave Miakoda.

 

 

Sumi had also noticed Kappo.  When the Ryugin's fluke struck, the force had propelled the princess ten feet into the air over the bridge.  She would have been thrown clear across the ship if it were not for her quick reflexes. Her arm had shot out, snared the buntline, a rope attached to the middle of the Orani’s square sail, and swung herself up onto the yardarm above the canvas.

        Below her, Kappo was sprawled awkwardly on the deck.  She gracefully jumped down to the fallen Spriggan. 'Are you alright Kappo?' she asked tenderly, her hand shaking his shoulder ever so slightly.

        He opened his eyes slowly and smiled.  'I am alright but the beast's dithyrambic assault has left me breathless.  I'm afraid your connubial celebrations have been brought to a premature end.”

        She laughed, more from relief than amusement.  'Come on, Mr Kappo.  Let's get you somewhere safe.'

 

 

The Ryugin breached the surface directly behind the Orani.  It had turned and was staring down the ship.

        Trojanu gently placed the dead body of his helmsman at the foot of the steering post and took the helm.  He turned his head aft to see the Ryugin open its broad jaw in a show of hostility.  It was taunting them, arrogantly waiting for their anxiety to build before it commenced another assault.  It worked.  Some of the seamen had left their posts and dived overboard, considering their chances at sea to be better than on the deck of the battered barge.

        Trojanu felt limited behind the steering wheel.  'Ensign Kumari, take the helm,' he shouted to the nearest seaman.  Without a moment's hesitation Kumari sprinted up the steps to the bridge and took the wheel, ignoring the dead body of the previous helmsman at his feet.

        'Turn her about, Mr Kumari,' instructed Trojanu.  'I'd rather look at what I'm fighting.'

        'Sir, we can’t turn,' Kumari protested.  'The whipstaff is completely shattered.  We've lost all control over the ship's rudder.'

        'I don't care if you have to place the hawser in your mouth and pull her around with your teeth, Mr Kumari.  Just get it done.'

 

 

Fortunately the Ryugin's delight in seeing the tiny Myrrans running around the decks in a panic-stricken frenzy gave Kumari enough time to rig the sails so the barge was swung to leeward.  She drifted around in an ungainly circle and five minutes later Trojanu got his wish.  They were facing the monster head-on.

        Suddenly the Ryugin released an ear-shattering cry and the frill encircling its skull spread out like the mainsail of an Acoran clipper.  If the Ryugin had intended to instill fear in the hearts of the people on board, it had succeeded.  Even Trojanu gulped as the beast, now seemingly twice its original size, began bearing down upon the Orani.

        'Keep her steady,' Trojanu said to his new helmsman.  'I have an idea.'

        Within seconds, he had disappeared from the bridge.  He was running at breakneck speed towards the ship's bow, jumping over the crates and debris that were now strewn across the decks.  Upon reaching the foredeck, he clambered up the foremast, displaying uncanny agility for one who had not grown up on boats. 

Standing on the thin spar, Trojanu wrapped his left hand in a length of cord that was tied to the mast.  With his right hand, he drew out his short sword and raised it high.  'So you want to butt heads with me do you?' he yelled out across the ship's prow at the swiftly approaching Ryugin.

 

 

Sumi placed Kappo against the port rail, under the eaves of the raised foredeck.  'I'm sorry Kappo.  I'll have to leave you here,' she said as she lay the Spriggan down on the deck.  'I'm afraid my husband is planning to do something stupidly brave.'

        Kappo grimaced as she let him go, but forced a smile upon his face, saying, 'Princess, he is both brave and stupid.'

        She stood to see her husband standing defiantly on the spar to which the top of the foresail was tied.  He was silhouetted heroically against the bright sun, framed by the vertical mast, the horizontal spar and the diagonal jibboom, a hinged length of iron-clad timber which ran from the ship's bowsprit back to the foremast when raised.  The jibboom was little more than an extension of the bowsprit, and as it was more decorative than it was practical, most ships sailed with it drawn up, its sharp end lashed to a fixture high up on the foremast.  Sumi saw the sword drawn in Trojanu’s hand and realised what he was planning to do.  Although desperately fearful for her husband, she could not help but be impressed with his resourcefulness.  'Why you wily marrok!' she said to herself as she watched him crouch slightly, preparing for the Ryugin's attack.

        The waters before the beast bulged and parted as it carved its way through the sea. It could see the small man standing audaciously above the sail, it could see his stern face staring boldly back at it, declaring proudly his unwillingness to submit to the fear it had elicited from all the others on the boat. The unmitigated effrontery of his stance upon the beam angered the creature and it opened its mouth to swallow him whole.

        But Trojanu was too canny to become the Ryugin's lunch so easily. As it spread its jaws wide, it lost sight of Trojanu for an instant and he used this opportunity to great advantage. Trojanu slammed his blade into the fixture that held the tip of the jibboom in place. Holding on tightly to the length of cord in his left hand, he swung his legs up high to kick the jibboom into its horizontal position. The beam swung through the air in a sweeping arc and clicked into place below, extending the bowsprit by a good twenty feet. Trojanu had effectively turned the bowsprit into a lance.

            The Ryugin didn't know what hit it.  The iron-clad jibboom speared into the back of the beast’s throat as ít attempted to bite down on the Orani's bow.

        It was a daring gambit and it had paid off. The immense sea creature shrieked in pain as the jibboom shot out the other side of its neck just below its massive frill.  The entire bowsprit broke off, firmly wedged in the monster’s throat.  For a short, violent period, the Ryugin thrashed about in the waters off the bow, sending a massive volume of water cascading over the boat.  Then there was silence and Sumi guessed correctly that the beast had dived to somehow extricate the jibboom from its throat.

        Trojanu jumped down next to his wife, a smug look of triumph on his face.  'Do I impress you as much as I impress myself?' he said playfully as he wiped his hands on one another as if he had finished the job.

        Sumi nervously bit her lip, ignoring her husband's jocularity.  'I doubt that,' she sighed.  'I don't think it's just going to slink away.  If anything, the only thing you've done is make it madder.'

        Trojanu frowned, pretending he was hurt by her unwillingness to congratulate him on his ingenuity in repelling the creature.  'There's just no pleasing some people!' he grumbled.

 

 

Sumi was right.  The next half an hour was the most harrowing thirty minutes of her life. The Ryugin returned and recommenced its attacks with a frenzy she could hardly believe. The monster buffeted the ship relentlessly.  Its massive fluke hammered down upon the deck. Its savage teeth tore the timbers to shreds.

        Trojanu's cocky spirit quickly disappeared as the ship around him was ripped apart.  Every minute that passed placed his wife in graver danger as more and more crewmen fell before the Ryugin.  Only a handful of sailors were still alive on deck.  The ones who had thrown themselves overboard were quickly discovered by the beast which wasted no time in swallowing them whole.  Trojanu could hear the screams of panic rising up from the terrified passengers below.  In minutes the lower decks would be exposed and then the real carnage would begin.  And over by the port rail, his wife squatted attending to her Spriggan friend.  Trojanu could not - would not - lose her.  It was not an option.

        He scanned what was left of the deck looking for anything he could use to turn the situation to his advantage. Miraculously, despite its shrouds being in tatters, the mainmast was still intact, standing contumaciously against the Ryugin's wrath. A few spears lay scattered across the deck, but the monster had already proven itself to be impervious to such petty attacks.  The sponsons on the port side had been completely smashed and the carronades they held had dropped to the bottom of the ocean, but the starboard carronades were still intact.  Trojanu eyed them dismissively.  'Little good they’ll do me, unless I want to go fishing.'  He looked at the Ryugin thirty yards off the starboard bow and then back to the carronades.  An insane, desperate and potentially magnificent plan formed in his head.

        He swivelled around to face the bridge.  'Ensign Kumuri,' he called to the helm.  'The carronade nets, how large are they?'

        'Just under twenty foot square sir,' came the reply.

        'That’ll do nicely,' he said to himself, his plan defining itself in his head.  He turned to some crewmen who had gravitated to the mainmast which seemed the only remotely safe place on deck.  'You two!  Take the weights from one of the nets and attach a grapnel to each corner.  Once you’ve done this, load the grapnels into the carronade and await my orders.  Is that clear?'

        The men were stunned by the directions but Trojanu's tone was so decisive they found themselves swept up by it.  'Yes sir!' they answered confidently and scurried off to fulfil his wishes.

        The Ryugin dived again.  The uneasy wait for its inevitable attack was taking its toll on the surviving sailors.  The crewmen fastening the grapnels to the net were only too happy to have something to occupy their minds between assaults.  They completed the task without delay, taking care not to impale themselves on the small anchors’ surprisingly sharp pointed heads.  Within minutes, the grapnels were loaded into the carronades, two in each with the net hanging between them.

        Trojanu was impressed with how quickly the sailors had expedited his request.  'Good work!' he called.  'Now, man the carronades!'  The men took up positions on the starboard sponsons, taking hold of the gun's handle with their left hands whilst their right automatically went to the firing mechanism.  Both carronades were loaded with a small lump of Cold.  All that was required to fire the gun was the press of a finger which would release the hammer upon the volatile fuel in the carronade's chamber.

        'When I give the signal,' Trojanu continued, 'I want you to fire on the right flank of the creature, just behind the frill.  Strike above the nape, where its gills are!' he bellowed.  'You must cover the gills with the net, no matter what.  Do you understand?'

        'Yes sir, aim for the gills on the right side,' one of them replied.  The other shook his head vigorously to indicate he also understood.

        'And you must fire no matter what.  Without question.'

        'Yes sir!' they dutifully answered.

        He walked to the starboard rail, standing between the sponsons, scrutinizing the waves. 'Now where are you, you damned monster?' he muttered to himself.

        'Trojanu, what are you doing?'

        He spun around. Sumi stood there, eyeing him with more suspicion than he could bear.

        'Sumi,' he said guiltily. He could not explain to her what he intended to do. He stepped forward. Their hands touched. Sumi.  His wife.  His reason for risking all.  It was a moment of dreadful sobriety for them both.  She knew her husband intended some noble act that would save her and all those souls below deck.

        He knew she was not going to allow it.

        There was a time when she would have applauded whatever deed he intended.  But marriage had changed all that.  'Whatever you intend, Trojanu, I do not want you to do it.  Do you hear me?'

 

 

Trojanu heard nothing.  All sound, all sensations ceased as he focused his mind on the desperate act he was about to undertake.  He turned from her and quickly made his way across midships and picked up two discarded spears which he attached to his back before climbing the rigging of the mast.  He made his way up onto the broad gaff that suspended the remaining shreds of the mainsail.  His fingers curled around the parrel which fastened the topsail yard to the mast and waited for the beast to breach the waters to starboard.

        But he was looking the wrong way.  The Ryugin had changed its tactics.  Rather than rising away from The Princess Orani to give itself space to ram the ship, it had quietly slid up beside the ship’s hull and now hovered high above Kappo on the port side.

 

 

'Kappo!' Sumi screamed as the massive head of the Ryugin crashed into the deck in a sickening eruption of gnashing and biting.  Timber, flesh, blood and bone burst out from the monster's jaws but its appetite was not satisfied.  It gulped and chewed at the deck.  Somewhere in the middle of it all was Kappo.

        The Ryugin was so absorbed in its attack it did not notice Sumi's presence until she had driven her sai throughthe skin of its left eyeball.  The beast bellowed in pain and rolled from the deck to the safety of the waters below.

        Amid the splintered timbers left behind lay Kappo, his rapidly rising and falling chest indicating that he was still alive. He was covered in a thick coat of his own blood, but he was conscious.  Sumi knelt by his side, tears filling her eyes.  The Spriggan was almost unrecognizable.  His skin was torn and his cheek bone broken so severely, she struggled to look him in the face.  She lifted his head to cradle it in her lap and made a horrific discovery.  Both his arms had been ripped off.  They lay there on the deck beside him in a perfectly parallel line.  Kappo seemed unaware of the catastrophic condition of his own body.  He did not scream nor did he give much indication that he was even in pain.  He just lay there, smiling sweetly at the Susanese princess he so adored.  And then he spoke.

        'I'm afraid I will not live to see Sarras again, dear princess.  I am sure this brute intends to masticate upon my bones.'

        Sumi did not know what to say.  She looked around helplessly but all those who were still alive on the deck seemed unable to respond, transfixed by the horror before them.  Only Trojanu moved, making his way across the yardarm to join his wife.

        'You stay there!' she snapped at her husband.  'You stay there and you finish this!'  Her voice was harsh and strained.

        Trojanu stopped in his tracks.  He gazed down at her, a twisting ache where his heart once was, feeling her pain.  Her eyes widened like a cornered animal and he backed away.  Sumi did not break the stare until her husband had resumed his position in the centre of the yard.

        'Oh Kappo,'  Her voice trembled with such poignancy, the Spriggan blushed under the film of blood that covered his face.  'This is just so… wrong.'  Her voice trailed off into mute hopelessness.  She had nothing to say to him.

        Kappo smiled gently.  'It is enough to gaze upon your lentiginous face.'

        'Lentiginous?'

        'Freckles. You have freck-'

        Suddenly Kappo's eyes widened as he looked over Sumi's shoulder.  He brought his hooves up swiftly and wedged them between his chest and her stomach.  With explosive force, he thrust his legs outwards sending her flying away from the larboard railing.  Then in a deafening blur, the timbers of the deck shattered as the Ryugin's teeth fell down around the Spriggan like a cage.

        Sumi slid across the wet deck until she snagged some cordage that lay around the capstan in the centre of the boat.  By the time she had gathered herself, the Ryugin had completely devoured Kappo.

        Beside the capstan, Sumi spied a discarded sword.  She rolled over, picked the weapon up and rose to her feet in one fluid movement.  She knew by the hot fetid air on her back that the Ryugin was only a few feet behind her. She spun around to see a huge opaque eye staring back.  Her sai was still embedded in the beast's pupil and she realised instantly that the monster could not see her with that eye.  The creature had brought up two long scaly claws onto what was left of the port rail.  It was trying to board the boat.

        Suddenly, the Ryugin screamed in brutish delight – it had just noticed Trojanu standing high above the deck. It shot a thin, sinewy arm out to grab him. As it did so, Sumi thrust down with her sword and nailed the creature’s tongue to the deck. The beast howled so loudly, Sumi felt her heart skip a beat. Trojanu watched his wife lean down heavily upon the hilt of the sword, refusing to be intimidated by the snapping teeth above her head. The Ryugin thrashed about wildly but its tongue remained pinioned to the timbers.

        Its claws pummelled the deck but Sumi managed to evade each attack.  She decided to press her advantage, committing to a course of action that would have even unnerved her husband.  The princess pulled the sword out of the deck and the Ryugin’s tongue shot back into its mouth.  Its head rose up and it opened its jaws to strike.  Rather than retreat from the beast, Sumi dived towards it, the Ryugin’s acrid breath belting her in the face with the impact of the heaviest blow.

        In an insanely brave, almost suicidal display of athleticism, Sumi leapt up between the Ryugin's open jaws.  Before it could attempt to swallow her, she rammed her sword into the roof of its mouth.  The jaws spread even wider as the monster released a high-pitched screech of pure agony.  Sumi rolled out and fell ten feet to the deck below.

        She landed awkwardly and the fall winded her.  The Ryugin meanwhile was thrashing violently in the sea off the ship’s port side.  Her broad tail cracked across the surface of the ocean like a whip, and then it swung around and sliced into the deck, missing Sumi by inches, shattering the capstan to pieces.  Sumi took a deep breath and lifted her head to see where the creature was, only to have her entire view obscured by the Ryugin's thrashing tail.  She had no time to react.  Her body took the full force of the fluke sweeping across the deck like a scythe.  The next second she was airborne flying out across the water, three of her ribs broken like twigs.

 

 

From his vantage point on the mainmast Trojanu saw what had happened, and although every instinct in his body told him to go after his wife, he knew her best chance for survival lay in him defeating the creature.

        'You stay there and you finish this!'

        The Ryugin had disappeared beneath the ship's hull and Trojanu prayed that it would rise to starboard.  If it didn't, all would be lost.

        He did not have to wait long for his prayers to be answered.  The beast broke the surface thirty yards off starboard.  Without hesitation Trojanu ran full pelt along the wet beam on which he stood.  It was a feat few could emulate on dry land, but Trojanu did not falter. He covered the length of the spar in seconds and reaching the tip hurtled himself out into the air.  At the same time he screamed, 'Fire!' and the two seamen on the sponsons did not let him down.  In perfect synchronicity, the carronades erupted.  Trojanu was momentarily disoriented as the ship's net pounded into his back, carrying him towards the foul beast.

        As planned, the net and Trojanu slammed the soft fleshy skin behind the Ryugin's frills. The grapnels embedded themselves into the scaly hide of the beast and Trojanu was pinned to it.  But he was exactly where he wanted to be.  In front of him huge gills puffed open and clammed shut.  He pulled out the spears he had fixed to his back and went to work on the Ryugin, ramming the long, iron lances into the pink spaces between the gills.

            The searing pain behind its head was more than the creature could bear. It churned the ocean trying to remove the cruel torturer that had somehow fixed himself upon its neck but it could not reach him with tail, fang nor claw. Again and again Trojanu struck. The Ryugin became so wildly agitated that it had lost all sense of itself. All it knew was pain and it would endure anything to rid itself of it. It twisted its spine to breaking point trying futilely to end the torment. The sea became a cauldron of white foam and boiling blood and still the pain continued.

 

 

Sumi had landed far from the ship.  She tried to swim to it but found that her ribs made any concerted movement impossible.  She could do little more than stay afloat and that alone took a supreme effort.  She had not seen Trojanu's valiant leap from the ship, nor could she see what was driving the creature into such a mindless rage.  She watched the beast senselessly ram her right flank into The Princess Orani’s broken hull.

        And then the Ryugin turned towards her.  It did not seem aware of her; rather it seemed to be fleeing the scene.  This seemed inconceivable at first, but seconds later, everything made sense.  Sumi could see a spout of dark blood had sprung from the behemoth's right side.  A wave momentarily obscured her view of the beast but when Sumi rose on the next swell, she saw an horrific image that would stay with her to her dying day - her husband draped in blood, trapped in a net on the side of the terrible creature, stabbing it with the ferocity of a demon.

        The Ryugin dived into the water before her.  It was the last time Sumi ever saw her husband alive.