Erika lay passing in between darkness and consciousness, her eyes flashing from gold to dim black.

Barely breathing and dazed, she lay surrounded by the horde of hell, as the monstrosities of every shape and horrific size swarmed around. Coming from the doors, the hole in the ceiling, and the stairs taking below, they covered the floor, the walls, and the roof, their demonic visages clearing each moment with the lightning flashes.

All that stood between her and their maws, were two standing tall.

As silence hit the deck, as Zen and Fang stood before her and creeping death.

Each took in a breath of eagerness, each took in a breath of preparation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYpChPfnk9s

As Zen popped his neck.

And Fang ran his claws against one another.

Suddenly the horde descended onto them.

A wave of red, black, and violet, like a hole in the ocean refilling itself.

Zen and Fang breathed out.

As Zen clenched his fists, the water covering his body suddenly hardening around his fists creating two mauls of ice.

He stood his ground, bashing them left and right, crushing and squashing demons as they swarmed him. Running into him, leaping over him, crawling onto him, and latching onto his limbs. Zen was not stopped, nor slowed, his vicious attacks crushing skulls and torsos alike.

As Fang hissed forth, the scales across the front of his body suddenly shuddering in unison, sending for a wave of disorienting sound which paused the demon's assault.

Stepping forth, Fang danced across their lines, his claws cleaning sinking along their tendons and open throats.

A hurricane of power and a whirlwind of blood, the sound which echoed through this ship was unmistakable yet indescribable.

As flesh and bone were mortared into each other.

As hide and muscle were cut apart from one another.

As the horde continued to flow in, trying to overwhelm, trying to push its strength in numbers.

But they were severely outclassed.

As the beast armored in rain descended upon them like an enraged monster.

As the slippery serpent clad in blades fell upon them like a grinder of flesh.

Slowly but surely, their very spirits were broken.

More than half their numbers now laying as mounds they had to climb over.

The remaining demons paused their assault, watching the seemingly weary two as they lay still standing yet breathing heavily.

Until, both their gazes rose, to reveal wide amused grins.

Slitted eyes accompanied by a fanged smirk, surrounded by darkness, they both shone in the lightning's flash.

But before they could even turn tail.

Zen bellowed out, sending his armor of water blasting forth in several tendrils, cutting down demons left and right with the icicle ends.

Fang too, suddenly burst out with great speed, slithering and sliding across their numbers, cutting them down one by two by three.

Until moments later, only two standing remained.

Caked in violet blood, coated in black viscera.

Neither spoke a word to the other, as Zen willed his water to wash the remains off of himself and Erika, before leaning down and picking her up in his arms.

As she lay still struggling, as if caught in a nightmare she could not wake from, yet her eyes were wide open and warping with every moment.

Still caked and coated, Fang approached the doorway to the stairs, checking for any danger. He silently signalled Zen when he saw it was clear.

Nodding, Zen quietly followed the pirate up and out.

Few demonic stragglers remained onboard, most seemingly having swarmed down to them as Fang's crew had now complete control of this vessel.

As the Hag lay hiding behind it, and another hellish ship to its right, where the other half of Fang's forces were still engaging the enemy. All the while, the other four ships were maneuvering themselves to get a broadside onto the Hag, but with its greater control and sudden bursts of speed, the Hag easily kept them behind the engaged vessels.

Until the four ships broke formation and began surrounding the Hag and its cover vessels. Each went a different direction, and the Hag would soon have nowhere to hide.

Fang sneered, "Man the cannons on this forsaken plank!" He ordered his men aboard, who nodded and rushed down into the ship. "Fire at will!" He spoke out, as moments passed, one enemy vessel very cleanly passing beside them opposite of the Hag...

Moments more passed, of not a single-

One cannon suddenly fired, as a shout came from below, "I figured it out Cap!" said an enthusiastic pirate.

As the ball of flaming violet sank into the enemy ship's bow, taking away their rudder.

"Well I'll be, thought we'd have to board that one too!" Fang mused with a chuckle, taking a few demonic fingers off his coat where they'd stuck themselves.

Fang then studied the field, a clusterfuck of ships, one side a snake without its head. He knew exactly how these situations usually went, and if nothing was done to de-escalate, someone was gonna sink.

What he didn't realize, was the word de-escalate, was not in Zen's diction.

As the Mer laid Erika down on the ship's floor, before turning to the rudder-less vessel, unable to control its own turning anymore. He stepped to this ship's edge, then raised his hands forth, groaning as he poured his every drop of concentration into this one move.

As the water around the ship came under his control, turning the enemy vessel to his will, he made it stop then turn a clean 180.

Pushing the hellish ship forth then, he watched as the demons aboard panicked and began jumping overboard, swimming off into the lava it produced seemingly unharmed.

Controlling its turning, and pushing it to regain speed, he then sent tendrils of water to rise up and slash the open sails apart as it was now sailing against the wind.

Speeding the vessel up, it easily and quickly caught up to another that was positioning itself to fire upon the Hag.

And with a loud crash, the two vessels bashed into one another, Zen's ship piercing into the other's side like a battleaxe through a shield.

Its front was mostly fine apart from some breakage, but the targetted vessel had been severed from the middle, as it then began to quickly sink.

"Shit." Fang grumbled, "Well no taking that back now!" he sighed, then noticing movement beside himself, as did Zen.

The two glanced down at Erika, who seemed to be regaining herself, as she leaned off the ship's railing to puke out blood.

Raising her disheveled face, her gaze fell upon one of the two sinking ships, her eyes focusing on a blade that lay embedded to the side of the rammer.

Raising her right hand forth, it trembled as she willed the blade back to herself.

Pouring her every drop of power into it, the blade briefly shuddered.

But did not move.

As suddenly Erika's eyes flushed with black once more, sending her screaming in agony as she grabbed hold of her head and fell back to the floor.

"No!" she screamed in pain.

"Sink in your teeth!" she growled with a grin.

"I can't!" she responded, rolling onto her back and arching up.

"Let the storm bellow!" she snarled, slamming both hands to either side of herself, sinking her claws into the wooden plank flooring.

"What's wrong with her!?" Fang shouted, glancing inbetween the seizing Erika and Zen.

"I-I don't..." Zen shook his head, crouching down beside her, unsure of what to do either.

As her expression flashed back and forth, between a maddened grin, and a pained grimace.

"No!-"

"Avenge!-"

"Cut!-"

"Burn!-"

"Go Awa!-"

"Destroy!-"

"It's!-"

"Devour!-"

"It's not!-"

"Ascend!-"

"Me!-"

Until her gaze set upon the storming sky above, her left eye encased in shadows as it glowed a piercing blue, her right eye shining white with gleaming gold.

Her left half grinning madly.

Her right half grimacing in restraint.

Suddenly then Erika smashed both hands down as fists, the flooring cracking as to the left blueish flames charred through the ship, and to the right golden tendrils of electricity sparked through shattering the rest.

The entire vessel exploded, as seemingly the very parts it was made from burst into splinters.

As from its side, Erika bellowed out, her mouth open wide with fangs bared like a beast.

Erika roared, louder than she ever had before.

A Dragon's cry which shuddered the very air around them all.

A Dragon's bellow that sent each ship flowing back and away.

A Dragon's roar, it threw each and everyone around her soaring into the ocean.

A Dragon's beckon, it immediately cleared out the sky from each and every cloud, dispersing the storm in an instant.

...

As Erika lay hovering in the air, the sound a constant wave, as everything around her was pushed away.

As all watched in horror and confusion, as it seemed to have no end in sight.

...

As within Erika, two parts of her clashed for control.

Until, just as suddenly, two more voices filled the sky.

Two bellows joined her own.

The sky beckoned back.

As two more Draconic roars filled her ears, making her own voice crack and pause.

Erika fell, the energies which clashed in her body and out dispersing, as she fell out of the sky down towards the ravaged waters filled with debris.

Her eyes, closing, as her mind fell into unconsciousness.

Her tears, dripping out of her eyelids as she fell.

As a single line of thought now filled her mind which previously lay savaged.

Those two roars.

Those two familiar voices.

She knew them.