The glowing barrier around Pajaran flickered as a thick blue paste was spewed over it. Where it hit the deck, the wood hissed and steamed, deep pits and divots appearing in the wood. Stathis swung her sword at a pirate, their flesh mottled and fuzzy, some hairy yellow moss or mould covering their flesh. The stench of their flesh was rank, some infection burrowing into them.

Semari made a disgusted noise as she kicked one, her foot splattering into soggy and waterlogged flesh, before she tried flicking it clean, sending a spray of the stuff through the air. When it passed near Vrintar, it puffed into flame, her aura of fire destroying it.

Stathis pulled her shirt up over her mouth, trying to avoid inhaling the stuff. The usual rushing sound of the wind had died away, a thick yellow haze suddenly filling the air around the boat, devouring all the sound, before the creatures had crawled over the side and started to attack. She stabbed at one, her blade digging into flesh, the thing barely bothering to defend – it seemed to be alive, but was either infected with some plague, or unable to feel pain.

She heard the blast of magic from behind, one of the things slowing, ice encasing its body as the air chilled, Hakara working some magic. Another slammed fuzz-covered fists against the protective dome, the whole thing shimmering into visibility for a moment as it repelled the attacker. Stathis easily blocked a strike, although could feel the force of it, before shoving her sword into the thing’s belly. It stopped for a moment, seeming slightly surprised, before trying to punch her again. With her sword shoved into it, she had little choice but to deflect the blow with her shield, trying to avoid getting hit herself, as another one lunged towards her.

Pajaran’s mace cracked into it, breaking an arm and making it lurch backwards, giving Stathis long enough to pull her own sword back out, ignoring the vile smell and the gushing acidic ooze, swiping it across in a horizontal slice, cleaving through the spine and sending the head into the mist, where it vanished from sight.

The body fell to the ground, the deck sizzling beneath it as Stathis moved backwards, back into the sanctuary of Pajaran’s protective aura.

‘What are these things?’

Arrows streaked down from above embedding themselves into a yellow-fuzzed torso, without seeming to slow the creature down. Vrintar’s axes cleaved through the air, the moss singing and bursting into flame before one cracked through ribs, the other severing the neck, not quite all the way through, the thing falling backwards. It sank to the deck, still flailing slightly, but no longer a threat.

‘Some kind of sea-zombie-demon? I don’t know, but they look infected. Can’t you try doing something shiny at it?’ Pajaran jabbed with the mace, shoving back a reaching hand, before the other one grabbed her wrist. She grunted in pain before smashing at the arm, hard enough that the thing released her. There was an ugly purple-yellow bruise on her wrist, the skin mottled and painful looking. ‘There’s a lot of them, though. It’s going to take forever to drive them back!’

One of them shot upwards into the air as Semari launched herself into a jumping uppercut, the body of her opponent landing with enough force to break the railing, before Semari punted them over the edge. Another tried to grab her, but she jumped up into the rigging, Parth dropping down with a sword in each hard and slicing it repeatedly, herding it towards the edge.

‘Hakara! Any idea how to get rid of these things?’

Rays of frost shot from Hakara’s hands, freezing another into place. Kivata shook a small bell, one of the beasts swaying slightly and clutching their hands to their head as magical energy shimmered.

‘They must be empowered by something nearby. Kivata, please protect me as I try and identify the centre of their power.’

‘Yes, Magus Trevant.’ Kivata moved in front of Hakara, looking nervous but determined, fingers on one hand splayed into a mystic gesture, bolts of energy darting from the other. They thudded into one of the creatures, slowing it for a moment. It shambled forward, Kivata ringing the bell between her fingers and the moss turned ashen and grey. Magical power swirled around Hakara, dozens of glyph-circles flashing into being, beams shooting into the mist.

As it got closer, hands reached out. Kivata shuddered, then cast something else, red and black energy swirling around her hand as she stepped forward and shoved her hand against its chest. The moss turned grey and dead, energy flowing into Kivata even as it punched at her, knocking her back. The rotting and tainted body stumbled and stopped, moss dying off.

Hakara pointed into the mist, a beam of light shooting from her finger, as a hulking and shadowy shape stepped forth. It had mottled and damp skin interspersed with patches of the moss and a flat and bulbous head with large protruding eyes on either side, with an oversized mouth and long, oddly-shaped limbs. It was holding an oversized sword in each three-fingered hand, swinging them around, a blow taking a massive chunk out of the mast. An arrow sunk into a meaty arm, without any effect.

It looked up, eyes swivelling in different directions to each other, before opening its mouth, thick red tongue flashing out and shooting into the mist. There was a wooden crack as something above them cracked, part of the sail hanging loose. Shining on the creature’s head was a sparkling gemstone, a bead of bright yellow against soggy green-grey flesh.

‘That! That’s the nexus!’

The beast bellowed and swung the swords again, the mast creaking as another chunk of it was obliterated. Stathis and Pajaran both looked at each other, then charged forward. Sword and mace both swung out and sliced and smashed through one of the beasts, opening up a path through the mob. Parth suddenly accelerated, moving with lightning speed, blades slicing and flashing. The creatures were tough though, refusing to drop even when stabbed repeatedly, moving to block their movement.

One grabbed at Stathis, a mottled and oversized hand gripping onto her shoulder. She could feel clammy, sickly warmth, rough tendrils scratching against her skin before she stabbed it in the chest, blade sliding in. It spluttered at her, emitting a sickly stench before she channeled power through her sword, sunlight glowing and burning away the moss, revealing wasted and pallid skin beneath. Semari jumped onto its broad shoulders, stamping down with a foot and crushing its head, backflipping away as the body crashed to the deck.

Stathis vaulted over the body, ignoring its twitching death-throes as she charged towards the leader. One of the oversized swords swung towards her and she didn’t even try to parry, throwing herself to the floor and skidding along the deck, blade slicing through an ankle. It staggered but didn’t fall as she came to her feet, the wet and tainted flesh already regenerating, wound scabbing over and healing.

Parth charged in, blindingly fast, her first strike blocked by a sword, before managing to strike with the next. It kicked at her, connecting and sending her flying backwards, smacking into the ship with a sickening crunch.

It burped, before looking down at Stathis, mouth opening wide and spitting. Thick blue spit welled up around the foul lips, a great wad of the stuff forming as Stathis tried to dive aside, not quite fast enough to avoid it falling onto her leg. It adhered to the deck, only elastic enough to let her take a single step away from the wad.

There was no time to try and hack at it to escape, as the monster sliced at her with a massive sword. She tried to block it, just barely able to get her sword and shield aligned to take some of the force out of the strike, but it still slammed into her, making her arms throb with pain and pushing her backwards. The goop snapped taut and she stumbled, unable to get her feet under her in time, falling to the side.

Shockwaves from impacts rippled through the air as Semari paid out strikes, hard enough to leave impact craters on the thing’s wet and saggy flesh, although they were already healing, the body returning to its normal shape.

It raised a sword high into the air, ready to strike down at Stathis, before it suddenly froze, bulbous eyes fixed forward of it. Stathis managed to scrabble to her feet, following it’s gaze to see Skotadi, the air swirling around her to clear the mist somewhat, staring at the creature with a curious expression.

The door to the cabins burst open, Janaxia emerging, dress tight around her body. She glared at Stathis. This really shouldn’t be taking this long, should it?

One of the creatures grabbed at Stathis, rough hands grabbing onto both shoulders and pinning her in place. An un-word whispered through the clammy air, and then a column of darkness burst into existence around the leader. Skotadi tilted her head quizzically, before flicking her wrist and throwing bolts of darkness at the creatures. One approached too close and grabbed her, lifting her off the ground in a bearhug, before freezing in place.

The moss shrunk away into grey dust, the body beneath shaking and shivering before withering away into a desiccated husk. Skotadi fell and stumbled before recovering herself, wiping motes of dust from her shoulders, before stumbling again as the ship was struck by a wave.

One of the creatures reached into the pillar of darkness, then fell backwards, half of their body shorn away, a disconcerting glimpse of organs and gore before it fell to the ground, hopefully dead. Then the pillar vanished.

A yellow gemstone hung in the air for a moment before falling to the deck. The remaining creatures froze in place, Semari taking the chance to deliver a powerful blow to one, knocking it away and over the edge. Parth followed suit, wasting no time in flashing between foes, blades slicing and cutting while they weren’t fighting back.

Pulses of ochre light shone from the crystal, the creatures all moaning and gibbering as though in shock or pain, still not moving. The moss started to shrivel and die, fading away into dull dust, their bodies going stiff and tense before fading away as well, bones clattering to the deck.

There was a blink of darkness, Skotadi suddenly standing over the gemstone, picking it up and raising it high. She opened her mouth and dropped it in, then crunched down, the gemstone cracking as she bit through and into it. Stathis could hear her crunching and chewing, breaking the thing into shards before she swallowed, stretched and then belched.

Janaxia strode over the deck, heels clicking against the wood as she fastidiously avoided the puddles of spit. She glared at Stathis as she swept past, flicking her hand to shoot a bolt at the goop still tethering her in place and severing it. She approached Skotadi and patted her on the head, then they both vanished in a flash of shadow, before Stathis could say anything.

Stathis went to start hauling the bodies off the ship, in case any of them re-animated or were infectious, watching them sink into the sea. With the moss gone, most looked relatively human, although warped and diseased, their flesh withered and diseased.

Her own arm and shoulders were feeling strange, a spiking heat throbbing beneath her flesh. When she looked at it, she could see the mottled bruising spreading, tainted patches starting to grow. She touched her shoulder, golden light washing out and the spread stopped, leaving only the pain of the injury.

‘Hey, Semari, Vrintar – check your wounds. I think those things might be infectious.’ She turned to yell up to the raised deck. ‘Hakara, check Kivata, I think she got grabbed.’

Pajaran was already healing herself with magic as Semari stripped her shirt off. Her whole chest was covered with painful-looking bruises, mottling over more of her flesh as Stathis watched. She struck herself in the chest, fingers targeting nerve clusters and the growth slowed for a moment, before Stathis grabbed her by the shoulder and healed her, the growth completely stopping.

‘Ewww! Zombie gunge! Or were they demons? Or, like, both? Never seen a big froggy dude.’

‘No idea, some kind of weird monster, I guess. Vrintar, you OK?’

The heat haze around her was starting to fade, but it must have worked as protection, as her flesh was unmarked. She got a pole and used it to shove a body off the edge, as Stathis went to check on Hakara and Kivata.

Hakara seemed fine, but Kivata had broken out into a feverish sweat, eyes wide and focused on nothing, only standing thanks to Hakara supporting her. She looked at Stathis and groaned, taking several attempts to shape words.

‘I… I thank you, Magus Trevant, for allowing me… to help you… Please bury me… at…’

Stathis cut her off. ‘You’re not going to die.’ She reached out, feeling the staticky and snapping dome of energy. ‘Is there any way for me to get through?’ She pushed harder, the barrier getting increasingly solid as it resisted her. Kivata had sagged down, the veins in her neck worryingly dark and spreading upwards.

‘Give me a moment…’ Hakara brushed hair out of Kivata’s face as she twisted, body slick with fever-sweat. The solid shell turned gelid and she pushed her hand through it, the temperature around her arm changing to be warmer, energy tight around her shoulder. Hakara managed to drag Kivata forward, body straining as she held her up and Stathis could just barely reach her.

Golden energy flared over Stathis’ body, flaring into Kivata, and she gave a hacking sigh, before sagging into Hakara’s arms.

‘Is she OK?’

Hakara laid her down on the deck, rearranging her limbs. ‘I think she’s breathing more easily? I wasn’t expecting a demon out here though.’

‘Is that what that was?’ Stathis tried to pull her arm back, the barrier now tight around her shoulder, grabbing hold of her tightly.

‘I think so. Although I’m not sure how Janaxia destroyed it. The nexus should have been quite tough as a physical item.’

‘Didn’t you see Skotadi eat it?’

‘I saw Janaxia’s pillar of darkness, and then something that looked similar to her magic absorbed it.’

‘Not a young woman? OK, so there’s clearly something going on. If you see that blur of darkness or whatever you see from in there, then keep an eye on it. Uh, if a demon eats a nexus-thing, what does that do?’

‘It would likely empower the devourer? It is something that is quite hard to study, as trucking with demons tends to cause problems, so there is not much literature on the matter.’

‘I can imagine! Um, can you help me get out of this?’ She tried moving her arm again, but the magical barrier was too tight, starting to pinch at her flesh.

Hakara reached out a hand, palm compressing against empty air, a rune flashing from her palm, and a force suddenly propelling Stathis backwards, making her stumble over the pitted deck. The barrier flashed blue-white, turning opaque as Hakara cursed.

‘I’m sorry Stathis, I think your presence has affected the spell more than I thought. I’ll try and resolve this.’

‘No problem. I suppose I should go check Janaxia’s not infected as well.’ She sighed. ‘Keep an eye on Kivata, let me know if she gets worse. Don’t want her turning into a zombie and biting you or something!’

‘I hope she is healed, but I will make sure she is restrained, just in case. There’s some rope I can use.’

Did Kivata share her sister’s tastes? Well, hopefully she wouldn’t object to some precautions. Stathis sighed, trying to figure out what to do about Skotadi. The best-case scenario was that she was a magic-eating magical princess that had just consumed a demon’s soul. The worst case was that she was a demon herself, albeit one that seemed oddly content with learning whatever the hell Janaxia was teaching her.