Author notes: Okay, sorry, this is technically late as I'm releasing this at just past midnight UK time. So it's been over seven days since my last chapter, still I think this one was worth the extra time.

I was very excited writing this chapter, it's a bit different to what I usually write, but I enjoyed it. I don't know if everyone will though, do tell me if you think it feels out of place or anything, but just know that it was planned.

Anyway, do read the chapter, and I hope you enjoy it.

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~Day 96~

When most of the crew had awoken we were informed that there was no further sighting of the Dark Elves ship. Those that stayed up all night to keep a look out were utterly exhausted and were given permission to rest for the rest of the day.

The tension from last night had, luckily, mostly disappeared. Although nobody's forgotten that we also have to watch out for sea monsters. I must admit though, I am finding it harder and harder to worry about almost anything attacking us the more I train with Hawkwood. I realise that's rather naive of me, but it's happening sub consciously, no matter how much I tell myself there are plenty of things out there that not even Hawkwood could take care of.

I feel like I'm one of those screaming fans when a handsome young knight gains fame. Well, I'm not screaming and I'm not the same thing as a fan... Of course seeing his strength also makes me think... He said himself that Roland is more powerful than him and implied that there are also plenty out there far more powerful than him as well. Which makes me think, will I really be any use in the battle against Lavias? They have all these literal powerhouses and they're still not sure of victory. Even Gedill is probably many times stronger than me, as much as it pains me to say so.

Anyway, we were training as usual today, there's no way for me to level up unless I started killing those on this ship, which I certainly wasn't planning to do, so just improving my fighting technique and levelling my skills will have to do until I reach dry land. Today, Verros had taken a break from training, he happened to be exhausted from staying up all night on alert for the Dark Elves. Of course he could just sleep now if he wanted to, but for some reason he just chose to fish. He's really gotten attached to that fishing rod of his.

It was the usual routine, Hawkwood would defend and I would attack. Hawkwood is, unfortunately, in the same situation I was in before, he can defend, but attacking would do much for him as he would have to hold back. Of course the gap in strength between us is a lot larger than between the other soldiers and I, so he would have to hold back even more. There would be literally not a single benefit to him being on the attack and me defending... Well that's not entirely true, there wouldn't be any benefit to him, I would get to train my defence.

...Hold on... So either way only I benefit? My punches surely can't be helping any of his skills... So... It wouldn't make a difference if I asked him to go on the attack tomorrow right?

I guess I'll ask him after we've finished sparring this afternoon.

...

"No." He answered wiping a small amount of sweat off his forehead.

I was a little taken aback. Just as I planned, after we had finished sparring I caught up with him in the kitchen to ask him to go on the offensive tomorrow and he answered 'no'... Without hesitation too. "Can I ask why?" I asked in a strained voice.

If I didn't imagine things, Hawkwoods expression turned a bit troubled. "I, could end up injuring you..." He scratched at his sideburns looking away from me.

So he's worrying about hurting me? Could I interpret that to means he cares about me, at least to some extent? I giggled, a smile spreading across my face. "It's fine~ I can regrow limbs in a matter of hours." I replied grabbing my arm.

Hawkwood turned back to me, folding his arms. "...I consider it." He replied after a few seconds of silence. The usually stoic guard captain then walked off to get some food. I did the same, a grin on my face for the rest of the day.

Later that night, as I watched the stars as usual I still had a small smile on my face. Seeing him even show a tiny bit of an awkward side is an interesting experience. When I finally got in to bed I fell asleep excited for tomorrow.

~Day 97~

My mood dropped immediately as soon as I set foot outside, rain pelted the deck, every inch of sky was covered in dark grey clouds. The ship shook quite violently, to the point I'm surprised I wasn't woken up by it. We were in a rainstorm. Great, I guess that means no training today then. Especially since the rocking made me feel as though I would throw up any second.

Still, there's something even odder, all of the soldiers were still on deck despite the rain, all with a serious look on their face. "ELLENA!" Avalas shouted down to me from the ships wheel, trying to be heard over the storm. I ran up the stairs even in my bad state. Avalas, he as well wasn't smiling.

"What's going on? Why does everyone look so serious?" I asked frantically holding in the contents of my stomach.

He grabbed my arm. "It's the rain, Ellena. We shouldn't be getting such a heavy storm this far south. There must be something making it, some sort of powerful monster. Everyone needs to be ready. Do you understand?" Avalas looked me in the eye, I nodded my head quickly in response. "Good, get you weapon and armour, and wake young Verros up!" I nodded my head again running back down the stairs, I need to ignore this seasickness for now. I saw Hawkwood stand in the middle of the ship calmly barking orders at the warriors and mages. Alvir was leaning over the edge of the ship, barking at something below, I need to hurry.

As I ran to Verros' bed I thought about my old home when I was human. I can't ever remember a storm this bad living there, it's undeniable that this storm is artificial. As a native from this part of the world I should realise such an obvious thing, stupid!

I found Verros already awake fully geared up gripping his spear. "What's happening?" He asked, his eyes focused.

"This storms unnatural, Avalas believes it to be caused by some sort of powerful monster!" I explained the situation as fast as possible. "You need to go, now!" I pointed towards the door.

"What about you?" He asked hesitating.

"I need my equipment." I replied. We heard screaming from outside. "Now go!" I growled, Verros nodded running towards the door, his spear pointed forwards ready.

I gritted my teeth, my blood pumping as I frantically put my armour on. I saw Alvirs health drop a few times and his level go up. I looked at Skullcrusher hesitating... Is it better to use it and risk damaging the ship, or not use it and risk more...?

...That's an obvious question. I grabbed Skullcrusher and ran to the door without further delay. As I reached back on to the surface of the ship, the scene that greeted me was a heated battle. Dozens off different legged sea monsters locked blades or fists with the mortal on board. Also attacking our side were several strange tentacled creatures. There were already two dead soldiers lying on the ground, one had his chest opened with his guts half mauled. It was horrific.

"YAAAAARGH!!" I heard a blood curdling scream that drew my attention. One of the sailors that Verros fishes with had one of the tentacle creatures on her chest It's ten tentacles wrapped around her, hundreds of teeth on each tentacle digging in to her skin like a hook, not letting her escape. Blood poured out from the sailors stomach. I have to help her. I dashed towards the beast, smashing in to it's side with Skullcrusher, the creature exploded in a rain of viscera. "Are you oka-" I was about to ask the girl, but as I looked down, now that the monster was dead I could see her rib cage, and her still beating heart.

The sailor weakly grabbed my sleeve, fear and tears in her eyes. "I- I- I don't want to d-" Her last words escaped her.

...What the f*ck is going on... What are these things? I turned the monsters body over. On the bottom of it's body was it's mouth, hundreds of small rotating teeth were inside. It's slimy black skin covered in the guts of it's victims.

"UURRRGH!" I turned around, another dead sailor, his head crushed by a large four legged dog like fish. I stood up with Skullcrusher in hand and charged at the monster, he lunged forward trying to bite my head, I slid down dodging his attack I swung Skull crusher upwards, the beast flew in to the air above the ship. Then he was cleaved in half by a giant sword, both parts of his body falling either side of the ship. Landing next to me after his great leap was Hawkwood. He flung the blood of off his oversized sword, his armour already covered in different monsters blood.

He grabbed my shoulder. "Ellena. I have the centre of the ship. Verros is protecting Lord Avalas. I need to go to the front of the ship." I stayed silent. "Ellena! Do you understand me." He looked me in the eye.

I snapped out of it. "Y- Yes. I'm sorry." I nodded my head.

Hawkwood sighed, then squeezed my shoulder. "We don't have time to talk right now, but... After the battle, if you need someone to talk to." Even though he was shorter than me, it felt as though his eyes were on my level, that he was just as tall.

"Thank you." I replied. I turned to look up at the back of the ship, just as Hawkwood said Verros and a few other soldiers formed a protective circle around Avalas, who controlled the wheel. He had a bit of blood on him, but it seemed that he could handle the monsters up there. At least temporarily satisfied I made my way through the main battle on the centre of the deck. Taking a swing at a few monster nearby. I glanced at Hawkwood, he shielded his men from what looked like the most powerful monsters, easily dealing with anything that came his way. Even though he sent most almost in to the horizon, he was only one man, and the creatures swarmed the ship in the hundreds now.

As I arrived at the front of the ship I found Alvir and several soldiers being overrun by a bunch of the tentacle creatures. Alvir jumped at one ripping through it's skin. Another jumped at Alvir from behind tentacle outstretched.

Without thinking I leapt in front of Alvir the tenticles wrapping around my arm. I winced at the pain then activated Earthen armour, the rock crushing the teeth of the beast. As he fell back writhing in pain several soldiers stabbed in to him. I turned back around. "ALVIR! Stay by me, understand?" I ordered him. With a happy bark the wolf did as he was ordered.

Several other monsters made their way from the front, the soldiers and I prepared ourselves and charged in to their lines. Ducking, weaving, punching, saving. I reacted to the battle happening and the world became a blur.

~Day 98~

Skullcrusher made a loud thump as it hit the deck and I fell to my knee. "Finally." I wheezed. Sweat and blood covered my body, my clothes were ripped and scarred, but I was alive and so was Alvir. "They finally stopped." I forced out.

We carried on fighting well in to another day until the storm finally let up around thirty minutes ago. As it dissipated so did the monsters. After I caught my breath I looked around, mountains of monster corpses littered the deck, the ship was large and strong, even so I'm surprised it can handle such a weight.

"ELLENA?!" Avalas came running up to the front of the deck with Verros and Hawkwood in tow. "Oh thank the Gods." Avalas dropped to his knees whilst Verros ran up and hugged me. Hawkwood breathed a sigh of relief.

All three were also covered in scratches and blood. Avalas had a large deep claw wound on his left shoulder, he arm waving limply at his side. Verros didn't suffer any serious damage, his spears blade seemed to be chipped, but other than that he was lucky. Hawkwood, however, had a few small light scratches on his body. Other than that all the blood covering his body seemed to be monsters.

After we had all composed ourselves and thrown the bodies overboard, whether they were monsters, or otherwise Avalas called a meeting. I noticed that we lost about a tenth of our crew. Many of the survivors cried silently as the mourned their dead friends. Other comforted each other, or just tried to look tough, but the mood was beyond depressing.

Avalas waited until everyone could at least concentrate. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'm... I'm sure you're all surprised about what happened yesterday... We were not expecting such a thing to happen in the sea around the Demons continent, let alone here. I'm sorry." He bowed, a troubled expression on his face. "still... You probably want to know what that was, why that happened. Well, Hawkwood and I believe we might know. It's a Sea Lord, there's no other explanation for it." After he finished many of the soldiers and sailors gasped in shock, and began chatting amongst themselves. I glanced at Verros who seemed just as confused as I was.

"What's a Sea Lord?" I asked raising my voice.

Avalas looked at me. "We told you about the corruption caused by the Kraken correct?" I nodded my head. "The Sea Lords are the most powerful monsters created by the Krakens power. They are unique evolution's that have power over their own kind. This one we believe to be Dectopod Lord." He announced.

I stood there blank faced. "Dectopod?" I asked confused.

Avalas nodded. "Yes, those black tenticled creatures are know as Dectopods, and judging the storm and the fact that the Sea Lord send them after us, it's the logical conclusion." He lent on the railing exhausted.

"So wait, he purposely attacked us?" Verros growled in anger.

Avalas sighed. "Yes, it's in their nature. Sea Lords will attack any ship that comes in to their territory. What's troubling is this isn't his territory. Every ships knows not to take a route through a Sea Lords territory, so we didn't think we would need to worry about one."

A confused chorus of 'What was it doing here then?' and other similar trails of though echoed throughout the crew. Hawkwood strode forwards and raised his hand for quiet. After looking around and making sure everyone was listening, he began talking. "We believe that it was attracted towards the power of Lavias. It makes sense when looking on the map. The Sea Lord, who lives on the other side of the Demons Continent head straight through the middle, directly towards Laviases current location." More muttering, more shock, more despair. "The Sea Lords must be attracted to a power similar to that which created them, and with their strength they can sense it from this far away. That means more Sea Lords might be populating the sea between the Central Continent and the Demons." He carried on.

Great, so now the sea is full of monsters that command armies. Avalas nodded. "Which is why we must reach the Demons Continent evermore hastily. We must warn them, and let them get word out to the Central continent." Avalas looked around at the crew. "Our mission has become one of utmost importance. The Sea Lord will attack again, but if you survive and make it to the Demons Continent with the rest of us, you will be heroes. That is all, dismissed and get some rest. You must be at your best when they come again." Avalas headed for the captain cabin, probably to attempt some sort of plan.

I made my way through the debris of the ship, it wasn't as damaged as I thought it would be. It must be made of something almost as sturdy as Moonwood. I arrived in the kitchen, there were a few crewmembers scattered about silently eating their food. One or two unable to hold back their tears for felled friends.

I sat in a corner of the room and silently ate my dinner too... No one that died was a friend of mine, but... I liked them, I liked these people. They treated both Verros and I as members of the crew. They laughed with us, ate with us... They fished with Verros. "Are you okay?" I looked up to see Hawkwood sit opposite me with a bowl of soup. He actually looked a little worried.

I put down my fork and sighed. "It's not like that's the first time I've seen human die. I've killed bandits before... But."

"It's the first time you've seen allies killed?" Hawkwood asked.

I hesitated before nodding meekly.

I felt something warm on my head. My eyes widened. I looked up to see Hawkwood gently brushing my hair. "You'll feel better soon enough. I swear" He said a small smile on his face. My body froze as my eyes widened further. He stopped smiling. "What is it?" He asked.

I slowly lifted my finger to point at him. "Y-You smiled..." I said, still in awe.

Hawkwoods face turned back to it's usual stoic ways. "I am human you know." He replied.

I began laughing leaving Hawkwood looking slightly bewildered. Everyone in the kitchen started to stare at me, so I caught myself quickly. I grabbed his hand that was now resting on the table and looked in to his eyes. "Thanks, Balud." I replied, a warm smile on my face. A lot of the soldiers in the room seemed to cheer up a bit as I did.

I left soon after to get some sleep in my hammock, I was exhausted after all. I also noticed that Dryads Charm levelled up whilst I was finishing my meal, but we'll ignore that.

However what I can't ignore is my own level... From that entire battle I managed to gain an entire 13 levels, putting me at [Level 72]. I shouldn't be surprised really, the battle went on all night. Even if most of the monsters I fought weren't particularly tough, there were still hundreds off them. Although I'm happy that I got stronger through that battle... I also feel conflicted... I'm sure everyone else has also grown at least a few levels, but we also lost a lot of people... We have nothing to brag about, nothing to happy about...

Still, I don't think anyone grew as many levels as Alvir. Before the battle he was [Level 22] now he's [Level 74]. That's a ridiculous 52 levels. Now I know he's going to evolve before I am. Possibly very soon too. Avalas says we will be attacked again, my guess is if we kill the Sea Lord the attacks will stop, but they're apparently very powerful monsters... I wonder if even Hawkwood could kill one, if they're that powerful?

With heavy worries in my heart, I went to bed. Cuddling Alvir tightly, I'm amazed he survived the fight. If another one happens, he'll either die, or evolve... I wonder which...

~Day 99~

It was midday when the storm began again. This time we were a lot more prepared to fight the oncoming waves. We set up rows to fight, then fall back. We also made sure to keep Hawkwood in reserve as much as possible, we needed to keep his strength in case of an attack from the Sea Lord.

The rain fell on our ripped and damaged armour and the ship rocked hard. It was not a pleasent situation, not even I could enjoy this fight. Even Alvir seemed to be taking this situation seriously, I'm not sure about how much he actually understands though.

We made sure to keep Verros and the same other soldiers with Avalas whilst he controlled the ship. Avalas isn't very strong, it's clear his best asset is his mind, not his body. Still, he somehow forced himself to control the entire ship in this storm, despite only having one working arm and not having much more strength than a normal human. That in itself is beyond amazing.

As for the actual battle, it was actually going quite well, with this organisation we had each others back, none of the Dectopods could sneak attack us and the other monsters could be kept at arms length. We hadn't lost any more soldiers by the afternoon, we were in high morale.

No one wanted to admit however, that the power of the monster was definitely increasing, we had become more and more exhausted, cold and miserable, but the storm and beasts only raged stronger. This could only mean the big bad boss was getting closer...

Our first casualty came in the night. A Dectopod twice the size as the others thrust it's tentacle in to our numbers, the large hooked teeth slitting the throat of one of the mages. This damaged the morale of everyone significantly. I looked towards Hawkwood, he was locked in battle with a few of the beasts himself, but he still restrained himself. It was clear he wanted to go all out, to protect us as much as possible, but he had to save his strength, the worst is still to come.

A few more of the larger Dectopod climbed up the walls of the ship. One of the sailors with us lost his composure running at the group screaming. His body disappeared in to the writhing mass of bodies...

Sh*t... Without Hawkwoods strength can we even last until the Lord comes? As the creatures crawled closer I activated Mushroom shield. I used it a few times yesterday too, it's quite useful to protect those nearby. I seemed to actually be able to increase the size a little. I willed it in front of anymore incoming attacks from the hooked tentacles. Even then, a few more warriors fell.

I felt my sweat mix with the rain as we carried on the fight, we had begun to split up, lose our formation. I saw exhausted warriors fight tooth to nail with an ever growing army of beasts. I saw mages fling balls of fire to singe the flesh of Dectopods.

I took a brief glimpse of the night sky, the ceiling of clouds hiding my beloved stars. Standing where I was I could clearly see the state of the battle and I thought 'can we survive the night?'

I pulled my shield and flung it in to a Dectopod flinging it off the side of the ship. Either way, I'm not giving up. This will be nothing compared to what I'll have to face later, right?

~Day 100~

It's my one hundredth day alive. If this were any other circumstance I would at least have some sort of mini celebration, but when every single inch of your body is covered in rain, blood or sweat you don't really feel like celebrating anything.

We kept on fighting throughout the night, somehow we managed to hold on until daytime, at least it felt like daytime, the clouds never parted so it was difficult to tell. Our enemies had become powerful enough to wipe out an painfully large chunk of the crew, even with our better planning. Just looking at the bodies scattered around the deck I would have to say at least a fifth of the remaining crew were dead and a further half were unable to fight.

I honestly didn't think we would last much longer, but suddenly, the monsters just stopped coming, I would say it's a miracle, if it weren't for the fact that the storm only gained in ferocity. This is just the calm before the storm, a rather awkward saying for the current situation.

In the brief calm the crew collected itself, we were lucky enough to have a surviving and capable Water Mage with us. We took the injured below deck to be healed, whilst the rest of us rid the deck of bodies. It was a sad thing to do, just dumping off our fellow crewmates in to the sea, but we honestly had no other choice. We'll save the words for when we get out of this, if we get out of this.

Verros stood injured, but not heavily enough to require immediate attention, hell he was healthy enough to carry a few injured at a time without getting out of breath. Hawkwood of course, stood almost untouched, although absolutely drenched in blood. He seemed troubled though, he could have prevented many of the deaths, if he had just gone all out, but he couldn't. If he went all out it would risk all of us dying later on.

As for Alvir... Hold on where is Alvir? I can't see him anywhere! Oh god... I haven't seen him for a while, where could he be.

"I'm guessing you were looking for this little guy?" I turned around to see Verros holding Alvir's limp body in his hands. His chest... Slowly rising a falling. I left out a relieved sigh, so he's not dead, he's just sleeping. "If you were worried why didn't you just check his stats?" Verros tilted his head.

...Oh yeah... I could have done that. That was a bit stupid of me, I suppose I can check now... Oh.

"Still, why is he sleeping?" Verros asked leaning over Alvir to protect him from the rain.

I lent out my arm and stroked Alvir's head. "Because he's evolving..." I whispered with a smile.

I did expect him to evolve, but honestly! He could have chose a better time, he could have waited to choose an evolution after the battle. I told Verros to go put him in the captains cabin as he'll just be asleep until the evolution is complete. I have no idea what he'll evolve in to, but from my experiences evolution takes a whole nights worth of rest, so it won't be until at least tonight.

After confirming that everyone else was safe and being taken care of, those of us left and able to fight sat around the deck, to rest for whatever came next. The numbers of able fighters was now below half our original number. Some that were here didn't surprise me, the four soldiers who managed to pierce my Earthen Armour were all still alive and kicking. Their conditions also seemed the most optimal of the other soldiers. I should probably get to know them, they could be good allies in the future.

Verros and I sat underneath the overhang from the captains cabin, to try and keep out of the rain as much as possible, a few others joined us, but most saw it as futile at the moment. We were all absolutely drenched, yet we had to stay on the deck to be completely prepared.

No one said anything, no one wanted to say anything. For the next few hours we all sat in silence. The time seemed to drag on forever, how we stayed so still and quiet while the ship rocked so heavily I'll never know.

All of a sudden though, it stopped rocking. The storm still carried on, but the ship stopped. Then, the whole thing tilted forwards, in front of us, was what must have been the Dectopod Lord. It's body must have been almost the size of the actual ships, it's monstrous tentacles wrapped around the ship, gripping in to the sides and it lifted us up.

"Stay calm..." Hawkwood ordered us his hand outstretched as we all stood to face the behemoth in front of us. It's rotating jaw waiting at the bottom of the ship. Slowly the ship began to tilt more a more. It was trying to swallow us whole, did it think it could just wear us down, then eat whatever exhausted bodies were left. Is that what it's plan was. Still it wasn't us in the most danger.

I grabbed Hawkwoods arm. "Hawkwood, the injured..." He nodded to tell me he understood. If the ship tilted anymore then the injured would all fall in a massive pile, the would crush each other.

Hawkwood reached up and grabbed the hilt of his oversized blade, pulling it from beneath the cloak on his back. He turned back towards us, took a deep breath. Then leaped.

His sword came crashing down on the monsters face cleaving straight through to the teeth scattering them everywhere. Muscle and blood seeped out of the wound and the Sea Lord made a deep terrifying screech in pain.

It lifted one of it's spare tentacles up above us, the sea water falling off on to our heads. Just as Hawkwood turned to see it, the giant tentacle was sent flying down, with the intent to crush us.

"NOO!" Hawkwood yelled as he leaped towards the tentacle, his eyes showing genuine desperation, but he wouldn't make it in time. There's only one thing for it. Either this is going to work or we'll all die. I lifted my hands up, close my eyes and prayed...

A loud crunch assaulted my ears... However, there was no pain. I opened one eye to see a large bubble surrounding the rest of us on deck. It worked, it's been a while since I used it, but my Mushroom Bubble actually came in useful. The floor around us splintered and creaked under the weight of the tentacle, but everyone was alive. A few of the soldiers thanked me.

"This isn't the time for celebration." Hawkwood sighed outside of the bubble.

I smirked. "Be honest, you're happy we're fine." I replied.

He scratched his head. "I would have felt better if I'd known you had something like that to begin with."

"SCCRREEEE!" The Sea Lord interrupted our conversation by bringing up it's tentacle again.

"Not this time." Hawkwood muttered before launching himself towards the oncoming tentacle. He cut straight through it, grabbing the off cut as he flew past. He landed on top of one of the sails and launched himself towards it's head, swinging it's own gigantic tentacle in to the beasts head.

Huge chunks of it's flesh were carved out as it writhed in pain. More tenticle smashed down on to my bubble, but I held it. Then the Dectopod Lord stopped, it began to emmit a low growl. I think we p*ssed it off.

Then, more monsters streamed in from the sides of the ship. "F*CK! NOT THIS AGAIN!" One of the soldiers yelled, I had to agree with his sentiment. Still, I have to see this as a good thing, if it called backup, then that means it's scared. That means we're winning.

"We have to keep their attention. We need to stop them from getting to Hawkwood." I ordered the other fighters around me. The soldiers nodded, Verros' grip just grew tighter around his spear.

I turned to see how Hawkwood was doing, he seemed to be hanging in, although there was something difficult to comprehend going on. A ship sized lord of monsters and a human Guard Captain were exchanging blows before my very eyes.

Before I admire that battle though, I have to concentrate on this battle.

We fought side by side, back to back. All of us to prevent them from reaching the main stage. At this point everyone was slowing down, but not just on our side for once. Hawkwood certainly began to slow down, but as he weakened the Lord so did he, not just that, but weaker monsters came the weaker the lord became.

It became doable, it became rhythm. We kept it up for another few hours, dodging, weaving, saving each other, helping each other and killing our enemies.

Until finally, their numbers began to dwindle, and the Sea Lord made one final screech. A screech that sent Hawkwood flying towards us. I opened my arms and caught him. Contrary to our previous battles he was ridiculously scarred, blood leaked out of various wounds all over his body. His breathing was ragged.

"Is it dead?" He asked, rain wiping the blood on his face away.

"I think so." I replied, as I wiped away more blood.

He nodded his head and patted my hand to let him go. He struggled to his feet, using his sword as a crutch. "We need to make sure." He whispered through gritted teeth.

I grabbed his arm to stop him from walking any further. "You need healing, I'll make sure it's dead." Hawkwood looked down at his feet, then nodded. He called two soldiers to help him to the healer. Just then the creature began to move.

"SCCCRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAARR!" The creature let out one last deafening roar, as a strange energy seemed to grow in it's mouth.

"What in the name of the God's is it doing?" I yelled.

Hawkwood limped over to me. "It must be some sort of last ditch suicide attack." He grimaced.

Sh*t, a suicide attack? What can we do... Is there anything we can do? Think! Think! THINK!

...Wait... I've got it. I've always assumed Mushroom Bubble can only be used to protect those inside from an oncoming blast, but maybe it can be used the opposite way? "Hawkwood, I have an idea... Can you gather enough strength to kick it away from the ship?" I asked. He thought for a second then nodded.

"But I believe we would still be in the radius." He replied.

"Just do it." I told him. He nodded and stood up. After taking a deep breath he ran at the beast. His kick connected to it's mouth and it's weakened state the force of the kick detached it from the ships, thousands of splinters separated from the sip along with the Sea Lord, but that wasn't important right now.

Alright now let's do this. I concentrated on the place that the beast had landed, and tried to control the Bubble like I'd control the Shield, but it wasn't any good.

Sh*t, I have to be touching the bubble for some reason, which means I can be on the outside, but I still have to be up close... I guess I have no other choice. I got a big enough run up, and ran past the place Hawkwood fell to his knees after the kick. "Ellena, what are you doi-" I didn't listen to him finish the sentence, I jumped towards the giant creature, as I reached it I activated Mushroom Bubble.

Just as I'd hoped, I spread the Bubble to cover it's entire body and I was on the outside of it. Which means I wouldn't get caught in the blast.

Speaking of which whatever it was doing it didn't seem like it would be long until it's ready.

"ELLENA! GET BACK HERE, IT'S TOO DANGEROUS!" I turned to see Avalas gripping on to the rail with his one working arm.

"Don't worry, I'll be fi-" I was interrupted, by a very loud explosion next to my ear. The force from the Sea Lords self destruction popped my bubble and sent me flying towards the ship. I hit the ground hard pulling up the wooden planks and crashing in to the wall of the captain cabin. My vision blurred.

...

"ELLENA! ELLENA!" I heard a voice. It was Avalas, unusually wide eyed and scared looking. I must have blanked out. I was propped up in the arms of Verros, who also looked worried. Hawkwood sat next to me, covered in more wounds than a lesser human could survive, but still fussing over my wounds.

"Did I do it?" I groaned weakly.

Avalas sighed angrily. "Of course you did, we're still here aren't we?" He asked.

I grinned. "Then my plan succeeded." I chuckled.

Avalas smiled gently. "Really. Such a reckless plan." He let go of me and fell backwards. Above us the clouds had begun to part, leaving only the stars visible.

"Ah, the stars are visible again." I smiled. They all looked up along with me. We survived, we won. We beat something so dangerous. It's blown all of my anxiety about my old home away.

A yawn escaped my lips. "Is it alright if I just go to sleep here?" I asked Avalas.

He looked down from the stars. "As long as you promise to wake up." He mused.

I chuckled. "I have enough health left to not die in my sleep, don't worry. I'm just, really, really.... Exhausted." I had to force out the last word, I could barely keep my eyes open.

"What about him?" Verros asking meekly raising his finger to point at Hawkwood. Who lay next to me, already snoring.

Avalas snorted. "Him? Don't worry about him. He could survive double the punishment he's taken today. Besides, some of my men will come to get him... Soooon enoough..." Avalas began to fall asleep mid sentence.

I turned to Verros, who had also begun to drift off. Hmph, even though I asked if I could sleep, I'm the last one to go, huh?

Honestly, if we managed to survive this, what do I have to worry about. heh, Lavias be prepared... Right?

Either way, falling asleep watching the stars, surrounded by friends? It's not half bad, once in a while.

As my eyes closed and I drifted off to sleep, I remembered one thing. Oh yeah, I'll get to see Alvir's evolution tomorrow, wont I?

[Name: Ellena]

[Age: 99 Days]

[Species: Virga Ferrea, Dryad]

[Height: 7'-3"]

[Sex: Female]

[Title/s: Kin of Ellephwen, Wolfmother, Slayer.]

{Level: 90] + 31

[Health: 1112/10469] + 4112

[Mana: 991/2134] + 602

[Stamina: 235/8935] + 3189

[Hunger: 2003/8935] +3189

[Attack: 8180 + 2992

[Defence: 11773] + 4415

[Magic Attack: 2201] +585

[Magic Defence: 5109] + 2011

[Skills: [Pain Resistance lvl 10 (Max)] [Poison Resistance lvl 8] [Mind Resistance lvl 2] [Venom Resistance lvl 7] [Night vision lvl 10 (max)] [Amplified Vision lvl 9] Up! [{Mushroom Helmet lvl 65}] Up! [tough stomach lvl 7] [Unarmed Combat Expert lvl 7] [Polearm Journeyman lvl 9] Up! [Demifoot lvl 5] Up! [Warriors Heart lvl 42] Up! [Warriors Will lvl 29] Up! [Warriors Strength lvl 32] Up! [Greater Regeneration lvl 6] Up! [Guardian lvl 9] Up! [Dryads Charm lvl 9] Up! [Skinning lvl 5] [Tanning lvl 4] [Leatherworking lvl 4] [Carving lvl 2] [Earth Magic lvl 7] [{Wolfmother lvl 8}] Up!]

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Author notes +: So, what did you think? I feel as though it had a bit darker tone than my story usually has, I also feel as though I might have rushed some of the combat, or dialogue? At least something doesn't feel quite right. was it because Hawkwood smiled maybe? XD

Anyway, do tell me in the comments what you thought, a lot of people were asking for combat, so I was just waiting to get to this chapter. ::)

Looking forward to Alvirs evolution?

Anyway, if you haven't already I would ask that you leave a review of this story, it's up to you if you do, but it would make me very happy for some more reviews. Or you could just rate it, if you don't want to leave a review. If you don't know where to go then here: link.

Just scroll down to the review bit. Like I said you don't need to leave a review, it's just nice to get them. :D

Thanks for continuing to read!