“It’s not leaving, is it?” Cassiel asks as she watches the serpent dive beneath the water. Without that device attached to it keeping it near the surface, the serpent is quick to disappear beneath the surface.

“I can sense it getting farther away, but it’s heading in the right direction. Just have some faith,” Fenrir says.

“I can’t believe she used to follow somebody like you.”

“Come on, I’m not that bad.”

“I know… it’s more like my image of her is – I just can’t even start imagining what she must have been like when she played with you.”

“Don’t worry, she’s basically the same now as she was back then. She was basically our old version of you without the dere to go with the tsun. I bet Blackstache doesn’t even get any dere from her despite them being married now.”

While Fenrir and Cassiel talk, Tabitha helps load the new and improved explosive bolts into the ballista.

“These explode, right?” Serra asks with sparkles in her eyes.

“They really explode. And they’ll burst into shrapnel, and the gas will be toxic,” Tabitha answers.

Fenrir isn’t the only one to get along well with Tabitha, and this is evident in how both Tabitha’s and Serra’s eyes gleam with explosive excitement that has a hint of sadism within it.

“Captain, if I may,” Corwin says.

“What’s up?” Fenrir asks.

“About your plan… I agree that we should use the serpent’s assistance and let it go, but I worry about how the people may react.”

“The city?”

“Yes. To let it go would be dangerous to those sailing and fishing in the waters, and it is tradition to kill it and let the victor of the tournament keep the materials from its body. They will likely be disappointed and may hold it against us.”

“No big deal. I know the serpent won’t be sticking around, and I don’t plan on us staying around either.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you really think a serpent that just wants freedom is going to go and stick around in an area full of people who probably want to kill it? It’s only coming with us right now because we’re helping it and it can tell I’m not trying to trick it. If you mean what do I mean about us leaving – well, we’re leaving after this. I’ve had enough of pirates for now.”

Corwin looks away and takes a few seconds to bring out his next question. “After – after the tournament, may I sta—”

“Come on, you don’t have to ask that. You’re a member of the crew now. Besides, Olly would kill me if I didn’t let you come with us.”

“Thank you, Fenrir.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re one of us now.”

The tower at the entrance to Cape Tugator’s cove grows taller as they get closer, and before long, the ships waiting to its left and right can be seen.

“What do you think?” Fenrir asks Oleander.

“We’re kind of in trouble either way, so who do you hate more?” Oleander asks.

“The longship guys are assholes, but it’s more personal between us and Alexander, so let’s go with Alexander.”

“Then we’ll take them on. Think our new friend can handle the longship?”

“I hope so. It should be able to fight at full strength without that thing slowing it down and keeping it near the surface.”

The Shoebill sets its course to head directly into The Steel Tiger. The longship, seeing the set course, starts sailing over in preparation.

“How’s the serpent going to know which to target?” Oleander asks.

“It knows,” Fenrir answers.

…

Swimming along the bottom of the ocean is the serpent that they freed.

That odd thing that held her back before is gone, so now she can freely swim at her full speed.

Everything moves out of her way when they see her coming. Whether they are eels, jellyfish, fish, or sharks, everything gets out of her way. Right now, she is the queen of these waters. Even a juvenile serpent is nothing to take lightly. She may have been captured before, but she was small and weak then. Now, she is large and powerful despite only being a small fraction of the total size she may someday grow into.

There is not a single creature within these waters that poses a threat to her. Between her tough hide and spots of sturdy scales, teeth capable of crunching through wood with ease, and a body that can easily be wrapped around smaller vessels, serpents such as herself are the nightmares of those who want to enjoy a peaceful day fishing on open water.

As the depths grow shallower, the base of the tower comes into sight as do the undersides of two more ships.

She turns her head to see which one her temporary allies are heading for before turning to go for the one they aren’t heading for.

Were it not for that man with the animalistic ears and tail who removed the debilitating thing from her earlier, she’d never be able to get directly underneath the longer vessel like she is now.

The longship has no idea what lies waiting underneath the water for it.

…

“Don’t let them cross us; keep us at an angle where they can’t shoot us,” Fenrir orders.

Oleander is careful to position The Shoebill so that her cannons have The Steel Tiger within their range while keeping the enemy ships from being able to aim at it. Of course, while their enemies may not be able to shoot their cannons accurately at The Shoebill, those with magic and ranged weaponry are still able to take shots at them.

A few crossbow bolts get embedded into The Shoebill’s hull in addition to some magical bolts that go wide of the ship, but The Steel Tiger’s crew isn’t able to inflict any serious damage as they wait for the longship to join them.

Fenrir looks out to the water underneath the longship. “Get ready,” he says.

Everybody looks over at the longship, expecting to see an awesome spectacle of it being attacked by the serpent.

While the longship certainly does get attacked, it is not how they expect it to be. There is no flashy leap out of water, no tearing the ship in half, no super awesome magical attack – nothing like that.

Instead, the longship shakes from side to side as if being shaken around like a toy by a dog.

The serpent is latched onto the bottom of the longship with her deadly fangs sinking deeper into the hull.

There is no way for those onboard to strike back against her and she makes sure to stay away from its sides, instead staying directly underneath it while tearing into its hull.

She may not be strong enough to pull it down into the depths of the ocean, but she’s strong enough to tear some holes into it for water to start pouring into it. This also keeps them from joining up with The Steel Tiger, thus letting The Shoebill challenge their enemy to a one-on-one battle.

“Everybody ready?” Fenrir asks.

The crew of The Shoebill has the cannons loaded, ballista prepared, and weapons ready.

“What’s that?” Fenrir asks, looking at the strange hammer strapped to Tabitha’s back.

Tabitha takes the hammer from her back and shows it to them. It looks like a regular blacksmith’s hammer for the most part, but when she presses a button on its shaft, it extends to several times its size by growing into what looks like a giant sledgehammer with a head that looks comically large when wielded by Tabitha. Even in Fenrir’s hands, the hammer would likely look far too large.

“The Strism Hammer! Why do ya think my Strength is so high?” Tabitha asks.

Fenrir can’t even lift it when he takes it from her hands. “You’re ridiculous,” he says.

Tabitha smiles and swings the hammer around overhead, causing everybody to step back away from her.

“You couldn’t tell us sooner that you can swing around an oversized Mjolnir?” Fenrir asks.

“A girl’s gotta have her secrets!” Tabitha says before shrinking the hammer back down to a more manageable size and placing it back into its straps.

Fenrir is surprised when he sees that Cassiel looks the most impressed and inspired by Tabitha, but as soon as she notices him staring at her, she blushes and looks away.

“I want one,” Serra says, “that explodes.”

“I’ll see what I can do for ya once this is all over,” Tabitha tells her.

While the girls all bond over oversized hammers, the men of the crew look at each with worry.

A burst of magical fire just hardly missing their sails brings their attention back to the situation at hand.

“Alright! Let’s go win this,” Fenrir orders.

The Shoebill and The Steel Tiger approach one another for their final battle. Only one of the ships and their respective crews is going to survive this tournament.

Fenrir fights for the NPCs who have lost their lives, his friends, those who were betrayed, and Nell.

Alexander has a grand reason for fighting, but right now, all that matters is fighting for his pride and the desire to put an annoying dog down.

The crew of The Shoebill has no idea just how important this battle and its outcome will be.