Far to the east of Fanswald is a land controlled by fear. A place they call Auralasti. The island nation is surrounded by a deep ocean, protected by a nightmarish sea monster. On the southern coast sits the capital, Ashenstone city. Made entirely out of rock from a long dead volcano. The walls around the city are vast and, in the middle, stood a tall, grey stone tower.

Deep within the Ashen spire and far beyond the reach of any hero the evil witch Queen shrieked in rage.

“Where the bloody hell are they?” The Queen threw her chalice across the room.

Smash!

Thick red wine and shattered glass painted the rich tapestries of the throne room. Her temper-tantrum had reached boiling point. She screamed once more and stamped her feet.

A servant strode into the room, then froze in shock. His eyes bulged as he spotted his Queen’s enraged fit. He had just witnessed something that he was not supposed to.

The servant edged backwards as silently as he could. But it was no use.

“You! There!” The Queen yelled at the intruder.

“Shit.” The servant mumbled.

“What was that?” She demanded.

“I said, Yes, your majesty.”

The Queen examined the servant with scorn. “Come here.”

The servant bowed his head and timidly approached the incensed monarch.

“Sit!” she commanded.

The servant obeyed and squatted in front of the throne. The witch turned to her right and pulled a large dusty tome off a shelf. She blew on the dusty book and a giant cloud billowed over the servant’s face. He fought off the urge to cough. Then failed.

Cough.

“What was your name again?” the Queen asked.

“Nugget, Your Majesty,” he replied.

“I haven’t been able to contact my mages,” she informed him. “My ogre is dead, and the culprits have yet to be...” She eyed her servant with disgust, “dealt with.”

The servant looked up into the menacing eyes of his Queen. He wasn’t liking where this conversation was going.

“Fear not!” The Queen smiled at Nugget. “You won’t be harmed. You will be the instrument of these interlopers’ downfall.”

These words, however, did little to allay the man’s fear.

“They have a traitor in their midst.” She said triumphantly. “My spy has informed me of their leaders’ greatest weakness.”

The Queen burst out laughing. The servant joined in, maniacal chuckling with a pained expression.

With a flick of the wrist, a wand appeared in the evil witch’s outstretched hand. The spell book flew open, floating in mid-air with a sparkle of magic and a whiff of doom. Her spare hand landed on the pages and magic flew from the end of her wand.

“Partum ingenii imbecillitate praedonum!”

The evil Queen cast the ancient spell...

And Nugget vanished.

************

Melly lay under the shade of a sail. She was enjoying the warm sea breeze. It was incredibly soothing and relaxing. She was stretched out on a deck chair while the boat gently rocked up and down. They had been travelling for over two days and the ocean had shifted from a dark and depressing shade of blue into a gorgeous tropical aqua. The air and her mood had warmed considerably.

Her travel pack hung upside down across the ship's railing. Below the pack lay a propped up the opening of a wooden pipe which had been sawn in half. It ran down like a slide onto the lower deck, right next to the feet of an over enthusiastic Clemiticus who was wielding an oddly shaped weapon.

Plop.

Melly’s potato landed on the halfpipe and rolled down towards Clemiticuses feet.

Swoosh.

Thwack!

“Oh, nice shot!” Derrick whistled.

The potato soared far into the distance and landed with a splash.

The potato reappeared, then fell out of Melly’s pack and back down the pipe, completely dry.

Derrick had fashioned what Clemiticus had called a ‘golf club’ by using his multi tool. To Melly’s surprise, the potato didn’t explode each time they hit it. Clemiticus had said that since it was a legendary potato, its durability was extremely high.

Whatever that meant.

“My turn!” Derrick grabbed the club. The multi-tool instantly shrank to the dwarf’s size.

Smack!

The dwarf clipped the spud, and it went considerably higher, yet closer.

“I’m getting the hang of this.” Derrick smiled.

Melly closed her eyes as the sails above shifted and covered her in warm the sunlight. The heat washed over her skin, and she smiled. Now this she could get used to.

She heard footsteps on the stairs and the clinking of glasses. Mister Winston had returned.

“Your cocktail, madam,” he said as he handed over a tall glass.

Melly’s eyes were still closed when she took the drink and had a sip. A tropical concoction that was out of this world.

“Mmmm.” She heard herself moan. “So good.”

She finally opened her eyes to see Winston smirking with pride. “Thank you, madam.”

He walked to the helm and gave another glass to Rupert, who had been guiding the magical vessel for the past few hours.

“Cheer’s mate.” He thanked the butler and downed it in one gulp. “Ahhh! That’s the stuff!”

The butler took the now empty glass and retreated down below.

The newly appointed pirate turned to her. “Do we know what we are doing yet?”

Melly shrugged.

“No idea. Clem will think of something.”

Rupert looked concerned. “You must have a lot of faith in the man.”

“I have no faith in him.” Melly chuckled.

Rupert’s expression worsened. “Then how can we trust he will think of something?”

Thwack!

“Yeah boy!” Clemiticus roared with his arms in the air. “Beat that!”

Melly rolled her eyes. “Every time we get into trouble, Clemiticus gets us out.”

“Isn’t he also the one who gets you into trouble?”

Melly nodded. “It certainly seems that way.”

“Then..”

“Look.” Melly interrupted. “You will have a much better time if you just roll with it. I’ve tried fighting against the storm that is Clemiticus only to be swept up into a tornado of EXP and WTF.”

Melly sighed. “Plus, the dolt has a high Luck stat.”

Rupert crooked an eyebrow. “A what stat?”

“Luck stat,” she replied nonchalantly. “Something will come up.”

“What the heck?” Derrick spat. “What did you just hit?”

Clemiticus laughed. “No idea.”

Melly and Rupert looked up to see the golfers pointing into the distance. A large pale shape was moving underwater. It was huge.

“It’s coming right for us!” Rupert shouted.

Melly sat up and watched the shape. Her perfect relaxation, gone. She sculled the rest of her tropical cocktail and readied herself.

“Can we outrun it?” She asked.

“I don’t even know what it is?” Rupert replied brusquely.

The pale shape moved faster as the water surged forwards before its massive bulk.

“Oh, shit!” Melly swore.

“Brace for impact!” Rupert yelled.

The crew sprang into action. Clemiticus and Derrick stood still and watched as the potato rolled down the pipe and stopped between them.

The shape was fifty feet away.

Then forty.

Thirty.

“Hold on to your hats!” Rupert shouted.

Twenty.

Ten.

Melly closed her eyes and clung to her chair.

But the impact never came.

She squinted her eyes open to see the entire crew transfixed by the pale shape. It had stopped. Melly got to her feet and walked to the side of the ship for a better look.

A giant spout of water shot up into the air and drenched the crew in the warm, salty embrace of the ocean.

“Whale!” Clemiticus cheered.

Melly’s jaw dropped. He was right. Directly beside the ship floated a humongous pale whale. It was easily as big as the ship, bigger even.

“Why hello there, Mister Whale?” Clemiticus greeted the sea creature. His tone reminded Melly of how some adults talk to their dogs. “Who’s such a big boy?”

“It’s just a dumb whale, Clem. It can’t hear you.” Melly rebuked.

Clemiticus poked his tongue out at her and then turned back to his new friend.

“Don’t listen to her.” Clem continued. “Who’s a handsome whale?”

A high-pitched whale song rang out as the whale cooed. The tail end sunk further into the ocean as its head breached into the open air. Intelligent eyes watched the crew and its mouth parted.

“I am. I am.” spoke the whale in a deep, eager voice.

“Holy shit!” Derrick spat.

“Of course!” Melly’s hands shot up. “Of course, it’s a bloody talking whale.”

Clemiticus’ eyebrows shot up, and a look of jubilation swept over the man.

“Hello Mr Whale, what’s your name?” Clemiticus asked.

Melly shared a look with Rupert. “See what I mean?” she whispered. “Luck stat.”

Rupert gave her a nod of understanding.

Whale song echoed around them as the sea-bound creature approached the excited man.

“Dog.”

“What?” Clemiticus asked.

“My name is Dog.”

“Your name is Dog?”

The immense creature bobbed as it nodded, propelling the ship up and down.

“Well, nice to meet you, Dog. I am Clemiticus.” The adventurer bowed, then gestured towards the crew. “This is Derrick. Up there are Melly and Rupert.”

“Hello.” The whale twisted to look at the top deck. “Nice to meet... You.”

“Hello.” Melly and Rupert replied together with some unease.

They joined the rest of the crew down on the lower deck. Clemiticus looked as excited as a schoolboy.

“So where did you come from, little guy?” he asked.

The whale spouted them again with sea water.

“I have been swimming for a long time. A long time.” The whale looked sad as it spoke. “A long, long time ago, I had a friend. I was small back then. He’s the one who gave me my name.”

“Do you miss him?” asked Melly.

The whale nodded, and the ship rocked.

“Don’t worry little buddy.” Clemiticus added. “We’ll be your friends now.”

The whale's tail seemed to wag.

“Friends?” The whale spoke. “Yay. Friends.”

Rupert looked at the whale uneasily and twirled his moustache.

“Say, whale,” Derrick began. “I mean, Dog. You didn’t pass by a bunch of pirates recently?”

The whale somehow looked confused. “What’s a pirate?”

Clemiticus gestured to his getup. “They look like me.”

The whale thought for a bit, then replied. “Oh yes. I have. But they smell yucky. Your ship smells nice.”

Clemiticus gave Melly a quizzical look.

“Our ship smells nice?” He asked the whale.

Dog nodded. “It smells like happiness.”

“Um, Ok.” Rupert stammered.

Derrick silenced them with a wave.

“So, the pirates.” Derrick continued. “How far are they and how many of them are there?”

“Not far.” The whale replied. “And lots and lots.”

“And do you know where they are?”

“Yes, I do.” The Whale replied once more.

“What the bloody hell is that fascinating creature?” Nuecus shouted as he appeared on the deck.

“Dog, Nuecus. Nuecus Dog.” Clemiticus introduced the two.

“Pleasure to meet you.” Nuecus waved at Dog.

The whale smiled again.

“Say um, we better get going now.” Rupert said shakily. “If we are close to the pirates. It might get dangerous.”

“Can I come?” asked Dog.

Rupert shrugged and looked towards his fearless leader.

Clemiticus looked sad as he watched the whale’s joyous expression.

“I don’t think...”

“Of course, you can!” Nuecus cheerfully interrupted.

They all gave the crazed Thaumaturge a confused look.

“How exactly?” Asked Melly.

Nuecus clapped excitedly and rushed downstairs much faster than his age should have allowed him. Within seconds he reappeared huffing and puffing, carrying a small fishbowl.

“Seriously?” Melly asked flatly. She gave the old man a look she usually reserved for Clemiticus. “I don’t think he’s going to fit.”

Nuecus smiled back and turned to the whale.

“In here, my boy!” He called out to the whale. “I’ve been wanting to use this thing for ages.”

Clemiticus laughed and shrugged. He had his ‘just roll with it’ expression on.

Melly was about to abandon the crazies to their stupidity and return to her comfy seat above when Nuecus bounded forwards and threw the glass bowl at the giant creature.

Melly flinched, expecting it to smash.

Then the Thaumaturge's miracle magic kicked in.

Before she could blink, the whale disappeared, then reappeared within the glass bowl.

Derrick, thinking quickly, snatched his multi-tool from Clemiticus and whipped out a long net, catching the bowl before it could sink. Then he pulled the whale on board.

Within seconds, the glass bowl sat in his hands with one miniature whale inside.

“Good catch!” Nuecus complimented and strode over to Derrick.

He tapped the bowl, and the glass vanished. In its place floated a bubble of water.

The whale wiggled its tail, and the bubble glided forwards.

“Yay!” Dog sung as it swam between his new friends. “Let me show you the way to the stinky pirates!”