Another storm brewed on the horizon as they made their way to the edges of Old Pratea, following the single stream of a surprisingly fast seal. Fast at swimming at least. Elf couldn’t keep the grin off his face as he helped pull the sails, catching the draft of the changing weather as Ossory bounced violently against the water. It had been so long since he had taken part in that kind of fun, but it was more than that too. For a little while, he had been allowed to forget about the guilt that gnawed at the base of his gut. For the first time in a long time, there was a sense of optimism that he might finally be able to fix his mistakes.

They came to a stop around the edges of Old Pratea, where the line between selkie waters and the BloodBays became blurred. They sky was turning darker and darker, merging with the ever-flowing pyroclastic ash of the volcano in the distance, the thick plume stirring wings into another parade of lightning and tsunamis. The seal circled the boat once, twice, then leapt into the air. Its pelt slipped away as easy as water caught in the breeze, and two human feet landed on the deck of the ship.

‘You will find the map down there.’ The selkie guard pointed down to the churning waters below, then twisted around and held up his finger. ‘Only the one map.’

‘Yeah, I remember.’ Elf moved to the taffrails and glanced down, catching sight of the still shapes under the sea. There was more than a map down there, probably an entire hoard collected over the centuries. Elf understood why the selkie was placing emphasis on the one item. If he wasn’t in his current situation from raiding stuff he had found under the water, he probably would have taken as much as he could carry.

‘I go no further,’ the selkie said. He then leaned forward and pressed his chin into Elf’s shoulder, his breath cool and sharp against Elf’s ear. ‘But next time you’re in these waters…’

He finished the sentence by squeezing Elf’s behind, then turned and leapt from the ship, disappearing into the waters below once again. Elf let out a shaking breath, forcing himself to focus.

‘You whore,’ Mihri mumbled. She was sitting up against the bow, cuddled in on herself under an old and ratty blanket, her face green and drained. Elf had thought she was doing better building her sea legs, but this storm wouldn’t be worse than any other they had sailed and she was a sick as ever.

Elf shrugged. ‘You have your fun, I have mine,’ he said. He turned to where the others waited, Aitan dropping the anchor down, and Jian fixing the sails. ‘Alrighty, boys. This is our usual gig, and we’re only looking for a map in a chest. Who wants to go down first?’

Aitan and Jian exchanged a look.

‘You,’ they chorused.

Elf snorted; he had to have seen that one coming.

Opening the gate where the gangplank usually sat, he ran through the practised motions of unscrewing the metal supports that held the plank together, then with Aitan’s help, they lifted it onto the deck, resting it to the side as Jian untangled the rope ladder and fixed it into place. Both men moved over to the old fishing post - what let them pass as a fishing vessel anyway - fixing a single rope to its end rather than the usual net. Elf shook himself, regarded the distance to the water below, then stepped from the deck and dropped into the sea.

The cold water shocked any fog still clouding his mind, ice stabbing into his skin in a strange blast of pleasure and pain, a familiar bite that awoke all of his nerves. Elf stayed still and straight as the ocean enveloped him completely, letting his weight drag him down into the depths that went further than he first thought. He closed his eyes as the salt stung them, then forced them open once more as the darkness reminded him too much of Quotinir’s home. Plumes of dust rose as his boots hit the sandy floor, and he squinted against the murky grey at what he could only describe as a kingdom of forgotten history.

Rather than the few murky shapes he had seen from above, Elf stood amongst rusted shells of shipwrecks and old crates and chests that had long since burst open from the pressure. Small crabs had made their home in the hilts of old swords, and small fish darted in and out of furniture that had rotted away at the edges. Elf’s chest grew tight, and he kicked off the ground, pushing himself back up to the surface. Aitan and Jian were both waiting on the dock, watching.

‘This is going to take a while,’ Elf said.

Most of the diving equipment they had abandoned in the lower levels of Ossory weren’t in any condition to be used. Instead, each of them settled with simple masks before diving back under. The masks themselves didn’t help breathe longer, but the small air sacs on either side limited the air that was released, in thin streams instead of large bubbles. Elf always hated the heavy, bulky thing sitting over his face, and it had nothing on the proper diving tanks - as heavy as they were when they powered up - but he didn’t want to waste a day trying to fix them.

Wordlessly, each of them separated under the water, taking their own section of the ship graveyard to search. Elf focused on the part cast in the shadow of Ossory. He scanned the husks of old captain quarters from the days of explorers, now simple tunnels of eroding metal that formed a part of this great labyrinth. He saw broken masts like pillars, crooked in the sand and waving the ghostly rags of empires long gone. He pulled at ropes that crumbled at his touch, regarded old trunks filled with rusted junk, and coral-merged objects that had long since lost their identity.

Sporadically, each of them came up for air, their lungs remembering the taught practice of holding air longer and longer the more they worked, as they searched every cranny and corner and hole, caves made by old cabins merging into the rocks. Elf could only pray the chest this map had been stored in was waterproof; they couldn’t afford to waste any more time.

He pulled himself up for air again, noticing Jian a little way away doing the same thing. Elf wanted to take a moment to float, to clear his head and remind himself that he did love being on the water more than land, current circumstances be damned.

Jian called out, a loud call that didn’t give away any individual words. Elf cleared out the excess air in his mask, then swam over. The muscles in his thighs already ached - out of practice - but he pushed over anyway.

‘Aitan found something,’ Jian said. He was as out of breath as Elf felt. He pointed down at where a small shadow darted back and forth beneath them. With a single nod, Elf pushed the mask over his head and dove back down, his arms and legs working hard to pull himself back down to the ocean floor. Aitan noticed them as Elf landed on the sandy floor, sending up another plume of dust. The other man motioned to a pile of rocks digging out of the ground, releasing bubbles from somewhere beneath. Small fish burst from the holes as Elf swam over, and he noticed a collection of flat, wooden boxes sticking out of the gaps in the stone. He motioned a thumbs up towards Aitan - a dual signal - and both of them pushed back up to the surface.

Aitan ripped his mask free completely, letting it float on the water in front of him. ‘They got names on them,’ Aitan said. ‘If we got any chance of finding this thing, it’s in here.’

Jian broke the surface next to him, pulling his own mask off. ‘What name are we looking for?’

‘Stefan Volker,’ Elf said. ‘Let’s make this quick and get out of here. I’m getting an itch to explore.’

‘Don’t,’ Aitan growled. He fixed the chain around his neck for a moment, then pulled his mask back on and dove under the water.

Elf turned to Jian. ‘He knows I’m not serious, right?’

Jian shrugged, then dove under the water after Aitan. Elf sighed, following close behind.

One by one they pulled the boxes free and scanned their names, Elf tracing the letters to match the sign he had seen on Stefan’s door. Some of them had been there for a long time, the wood brittle and soft, some of them merged with the rocks and barnacles and coral that ate away at them. Wordlessly, they started making a pile of the ones that had been checked, building up a pile as they were searched and discarded. As they pulled one free, four more would come tumbling out of the nook, revealing another cave full of even more chests, where more could be discovered underneath. Elf had to wonder how many centuries had passed, how many homes had been raided, how many invaluable items lost because of a pelt of fur.

When Jian screamed, letting loose an impossible slew of air bubbles as he backpedalled, both Elf and Aitan charged forward, Aitan reaching for the blade in his belt. Elf caught Jian before he could stray too far away, holding him still to stop him from spinning. Aitan pulled the box in question away, then recoiled.

The skeleton beneath the box was ancient, and much larger than any human could possibly be, twice the size of tall-as-a-tree Aitan, and that was after decay had eaten at the bones. Four large swords - ancient blades of decades past - protruded out of its chest, rust making them misshapen and ghostly. The skull had been turned towards the beams of sun above. One of its bony hands were wrapped around the hilt of the largest sword, while the other floated out towards them, reaching for the chest that had been pried from its fingers. Elf pushed Jian towards the surface, watching as the great giant’s free hand fell towards another chest they hadn’t checked yet. Elf rushed forward and pried it out of the ground, checked the name, then shoved it towards the outstretched bones. The giant snatched the chest as it hovered towards it, then with a rumble that shook the ground beneath them, the great creature hugged the chest into its rib-cage, sinking down into the rocks and disappearing.

Aitan and Elf exchanged a look, then Elf checked the box Jian had taken from the skeleton. He handed it to Aitan to double check, and he nodded. Stefan Volker. Then, without so much as a glance at the creature beneath the rocks, they kicked off and pushed back up to the surface.

No-one said a word as they hooked the box onto the fishing pole and climbed back onto Ossory, silently pulling the one treasure they were allowed on board. Elf wasn’t a stranger to the terrors of the water, and he knew Aitan and Jian weren’t either, but it was something else to see these things in person. Much like living with a volcano in view for an entire lifetime, and watching it erupt violently were two different things. Elf only felt small and weak and breakable, reminding him that he was a simple swipe away from turning into sea dust.

He exchanged a look with the other two, meeting their gaze, knowing they were all thinking the same thing, knowing there was nothing he could say. After a beat, they turned away.

Mihri was kneeling in the middle of the deck, still wrapped in the ratty old blanket, but surrounded by a mismatched pile of trinkets and shells, from where, Elf had no idea. One by one, she laid them out in front of her, pausing after each one and frowning in concentration.

‘Weird time to start an art project,’ Elf commented.

‘Are you feeling better?’ Aitan asked.

‘Well enough.’ Mihri didn’t look up. ‘Did you find the map?’

Elf pulled the chest from the fishing line, holding it up, even though she was completely enveloped in her own project. ‘Did you want to look at it?’

‘In a minute.’

Elf stared at her, then exchanged a look with Jian, who shrugged. ‘Alright, I’ll bite,’ he said. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Did you notice the volcano roof back there?’ Mihri asked. ‘The carvings in the stone that were lit up in all different colours?’

Elf swore internally. ‘You’re trying to map out a drawing of the stars?’

‘Yes,’ Mihri said. ‘Did you notice it? All of the colours were grouped. I think it was marking out the different territories, but it’s hard to piece together.’

‘You can’t remember what it looks like?’ Elf asked.

Mihri did glance up then, the familiar look of annoyance knotting her features. ‘You’re an idiot, you know that?’

‘Stop reminding me,’ Elf said. ‘How about you explain it, and do something with that map we put effort into finding for you.’

Mihri rolled her eyes and snatched the box away, tossing it to the side. ‘Stars are millions, if not billions of lightyears away from us,’ she said. ‘There’s not parts of the ocean where some stars are visible and some aren’t, unless we’re willing to travel to the other side of the world.’

‘Which is not possible,’ Elf pointed out.

‘Not right now, no. So, I can remember the map and its colours fine, but I can’t makes sense of it and how it connects to the territories, though I’m sure it does.’

‘Okay,’ Elf said. ‘Why?’

Mihri narrowed her eyes. ‘We’re trying to find Anwen’s territory, right? It wasn’t with the selkies, and it’s not part of Opaska, or the BloodBays, or the Tundra, so what else is there?’

‘It’s not a map of the archipelago.’

Anwen leapt up from the water, landing firmly on her legs in the middle of the deck, dripping wet. She narrowed her eyes at Elf. ‘Planning on leaving without me?’

‘We went to get a map,’ Elf said. ‘Remember. We have it, by the way.’

Anwen stared at him for a moment with her usual, unblinking expression, then bounced over to Mihri’s makeshift map, taking one of the larger shells and tracing the patterns on it with her fingers. ‘This is prettier than the real Star of Vaskalin.’

Mihri raised her eyebrows. ‘That’s what you call Selixiti?’

‘That’s what I call this star,’ Anwen said. She placed the shell back down on the deck. ‘It’s an echo of the archipelago, but before it was formed by the ring. It’s an echo of the star system we came from before the moons collided.’

‘Oh boy,’ Elf mumbled. If he had known there would be two astro-geeks on his ship, he would have followed Quotinir’s orders and thrown her over when he had the chance. Both Anwen and Mihri threw him a mirrored look of annoyance. Next to him, Jian slowly raised his hand.

‘So… does this have something to do with where we’re taking you?’

Anwen nodded. ‘Everything. Do you know where mermaids came from?’

‘Space?’ Elf guessed.

Anwen nodded. ‘The moons crashed, and when the remains came down, the archipelago was formed from the parts that rained down. The map is a history of each star that now sits within its own territory.’

‘I thought Quotinir was a giant?’ Elf asked. ‘He came from space?’

‘Quotinir was not one of the original. Not every creature of the sea started in space; only the first ones.’

‘Maeraphe called you one of the first,’ Elf pointed out. ‘But that would make you nearly five thousand years old.’

‘I am the first follower, not the first,’ Anwen said simply. ‘Where the first moon fell, where the largest part tore the archipelago into creation with fire, that is my home.’

‘Crixilinja,’ Mihri whispered.

‘You could have told us that from the start,’ Elf muttered.

Both women ignored him as Mihri finally regarded the chest and yanked it open. The papers inside were damp and crumpled around the edges, but otherwise undamaged. She flattened them out next to her pile of junk, and traced the dozens of curving lines with her finger.

‘The shoal is a crater, isn’t it?’ she asked. ‘Literally, a ring carved by a hole in the world.’ She studied the map, still tracing the lines with her fingers. Elf hoped she could understand what they meant because he had no idea. She sighed. ‘The problem is that it was literally a rain of fire. Nobody has proven yet which asteroid hit first.’

‘How many possibilities?’ Aitan asked.

Mihri shook her head. ‘Dozens. That we know of.’

‘Here’s my question,’ Elf said. ‘What’s actually at this shoal?’

Anwen’s eyes narrowed. ‘You don’t trust me.’

‘You spent a lot of time with your selkie friend back there, and they made some very interesting comments,’ Elf said.

‘I come from sacred ground,’ Anwen said. ‘It scares Maeraphe, but they have agreed to leave us be and call upon Mr Yao when they are ready.’

Next to him, Jian flinched.

‘What kind of sacred ground?’ Elf asked.

‘The territory of gods,’ Anwen said. ‘No king can claim it. What lays out there, Captain O Se, is an ocean where I am connected to what creates us, on territory your adversary cannot touch. Many people confuse it for powerful magic, but it is only a barrier. You are worried about nothing.’

‘Why are we arguing about this?’ Jian asked. ‘It’s too late to change our minds now.’

Elf remembered Quotinir’s orders to throw the chest over, and he shivered, reminding himself that he had to keep away from it until he could think of away to get around the direct order.

‘I’m with the cap’n,’ Aitan said. ‘Ain’t worth it to break one deal and get caught in another.’

'But what good is it going to do us anyway?’ Jian asked. ‘We can’t turn around. We can only take our chances with the new guy or face death with Quotinir.’

‘Death is an exaggeration,’ Mihri pressed.

‘Mine isn’t,’ Elf said.

‘So why are you against this?’ Mihri demanded.

‘I never said I was,’ Elf snapped. ‘It would just be nice to have all the details about what we’re getting into.’

‘So now this is a group thing?’ Aitan growled. ‘Or are you still just a captain and his boat?’

‘That is not fair,’ Elf growled. ‘I—‘

‘No, it is.’ Mihri got to her feet. ‘You were the one who got us into this mess in the first place, and you’re the one who’s best buds with the big monster that’s trapped us, so unless there’s a detail you still haven’t told us about, you’re outvoted.’

‘No!’ Jian cried. ‘I’m so fucking tired of all this being Elf’s fault. We all raided that ship. Aitan was the one who found the site, and I was the one who convinced you all it was worth extending our trip for.’

‘And I was the one who made the final call,’ Elf mumbled. ‘I was the one who went back for one last mark. This isn’t your fault, Jian.’

‘Don’t make this about yourself!’

‘Where is this coming from?’ Elf demanded.

Jian faltered, his face paling.

Aitan stepped forward. ‘You’re not allowed to be mad because your loyal little puppy is talking back.’

‘Don’t call me that,’ Jian growled.

‘Everyone stop!’ Mihri snapped.

Elf recoiled. ‘I’m not —‘

‘I said stop!’

He bit his tongue as Mihri glared at him, her gaze travelling from him to Jian to Aitan. ‘If you’re all done carrying on like babies, we still don’t have any idea where to actually go.’

Elf threw up his hands. ‘If any of you want to go home, then go home. I’ll find you when this is over.’

Before anyone could respond, he shook the water from his hair, spraying it everywhere, then pushed past them and down the stairs to the engines underneath. The arid smell of burning air and the hum of the great engines and pipes running through the ship filled him with a sense of calm. He ran his fingers across the piping, the valves and switches; the humming organs of his girl. Still, his hands shook, and Elf couldn’t tell if he was mad or afraid. He didn’t want to be responsible for all of this anymore, he didn’t want to have these people grow to hate him because he had messed up. Maybe he was wrong again - maybe going after all the details was the wrong move - but what would it take for him to start making the right decisions? They were closer and closer to the points that might mark the end of his life, and doom the rest of them with him, and he still couldn’t do the right thing.

When he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, he sighed and pulled on one of the bigger levers, letting a low rumble shake through the walls. As he pulled on a second, Jian peered out from behind one of the machines. He opened his mouth to say something, but Elf held up his hands.

‘I don’t want to hear it,’ he said.

‘I don’t blame you,’ Jian mumbled.

‘How long have you been blaming yourself instead?’

‘I was the one who twisted your arm.’

‘No, you weren’t,’ Elf said. ‘I know that, and you know that. I went back, by myself, from my own decision. So why are you really upset?’

Jian didn’t answer.

‘Don’t even think about blaming yourself,’ Elf said. ‘I’ve seen what you’re like when you’re down, and I remember how hard you had to work to pull yourself back. You know that more than I do.’

‘I don’t want to go home,’ Jian said.

Elf fixed the last lever, making the great machine shake dangerously under the stress. He then turned back to Jian, who wouldn’t meet his eye. A quick glance towards the stairs told him no-one else was going to come down after him, and he squeezed the smaller man’s shoulder.

‘My family wouldn’t accept someone with no soul,’ Jian mumbled. ‘They’d think I was a monster, and I… I don’t know what I can do to fix that.’

‘You haven’t done anything less than the rest of us.’

Jian twisted his fingers together, hard enough that it had to hurt. ‘Aitan got the chest, and in the fight with the Undine I only became a burden, and—‘

‘How often do you stab yourself in the leg on purpose?’ Elf asked. ‘I won’t let you call yourself a burden. Would we still be sailing together if you weren’t good at what you do? Don’t go down this road again, please.’

Jian shivered. ‘I don’t know if I can go home.’

‘Then don’t,’ Elf said. ‘Stay on the waters with me. I’m heading back up north after this, probably picking up some old jobs, keeping my head down.’

‘No offence,’ Jian said. ‘But I think if we all stayed on the same boat after this is done, we would actually kill each other.’

Elf snorted. ‘You’re right about that.’

‘I just… I can’t go home yet. I’m not ready. I’m not… I’m not the girl who left to see the world, and I’m…I don’t know.’

‘Your family will have to accept who you are,’ Elf said. ‘But I’m not going to tell you when you’re ready. I’m just saying, you can stick with me for however long you need to. The boys up north always need an extra hand, and you’ve got one hell of a recommendation.’

Jian smiled. ‘Thanks,’ he mumbled. ‘But it’s getting tiring, just so you know, going off by yourself as though you’re the only one hurt by all this. If I’m not allowed to, neither are you.’

‘He’s a big old bitch,’ Elf said.

‘Made of rum and spite and hate,’ Jian quoted. He then sighed and squeezed the hand that gripped his shoulder. ‘Thanks —‘

A boom shook the ground beneath them both, throwing Elf into the engine and jarring his shoulder against the hot iron. Jian stumbled, then ran for the levers, checking each one as Elf straightened himself. Another loud explosion rocked the walls, and Elf swore, his hands dropping to his pistols. Jian checked each of the dials, then stared at Elf with wide eyes.

‘Get your guns,’ Elf ordered. Jian nodded, then pushed past Elf and back up the stairs, his footsteps echoing down towards the cabins. Elf took a second to feel the weight of his pistols - still loaded - then charged up the stairs. Another thunderous roar shook the boat, knocking him sideways, then he reached the deck and saw absolutely nothing.

Elf opened his mouth to ask, when a horrible grinding noise rocked through the ship, knocking the others off their feet. Elf staggered over to the taffrail, lurching over it so forcefully that he almost sent himself over. The ocean below was churning and smacking against the side of Ossory, spraying violently upwards. Elf hoped it was just the storm still brewing in the distance, until a large shadow passed beneath him.

Elf levelled his pistol at the shape, his gut telling him that it wasn’t a simple shark. Anwen gave a shout as a different shape burst out of the water, the great fish sailing through the air before landing firmly on the desk with two human legs. The creature had grey skin in the shape of a human, with scales reflecting in the harsh light of the oncoming clouds. He was completely naked, though where there should have been gentiles was smooth and missing everything. Long stems of thick, bent poles sprouted from its head, each one ending in a ball of gold light. As they swung back and forth, they threw horrible, strange shadows over its gaunt face. Elf swung his gun around, pointing it directly at the stranger.

‘Who are you, and get off my ship,’ he said.

The creature opened its mouth, and when it spoke, the voice of Quotinir came from its mouth.

‘You have failed me,’ he growled.

Elf’s hands shook as a familiar chill ran down his spine, and he fired. The shot fell short and blasted a hole in the creature’s neck. Luminescent blue blood poured from the wound, but the creature continued to stand.

‘You will cease this, or perish.’ Quotinir’s voice burst from the creature, loud and grating inside Elf’s head. ‘Drop the gun.’

Elf fired again, only for the pistol to click as the barrel fell on an empty chamber. He fired again and again, but the gun was empty.

You will drop the weapon, Elfyn O Se.

His fingers fell limp, the muscles uselessly dropping to his side as his pistol clattered to the deck at his feet. A cold, sharp pain stabbed into his chest, and he staggered back, reaching for the other pistol at his hip. Another explosion ripped through his eardrums, and the creature’s chest exploded, its body flinging over the taffrail and dropping lifelessly into the water below. Elf rubbed at his still ringing ear, then turned to Jian, who had a shotgun levelled at the spot where the creature had fallen.

‘Thanks,’ Elf said. He shook his now empty hand hard enough to make his wrist pop, then pulled his other pistol free and checked the barrel. A full set of six bullets.

‘We got more of them!’ Aitan called.

‘Everyone brace!’ Elf yelled back.

Another shape burst out of the water. This one kept its tail as two legs burst from its middle, and instead of a human head, the fish head remained, thick, long teeth bursting from its mouth as a light swung back and forth on its head. The shotgun blasted again, sending a painful whine through Elf’s head. The creature fell back into the water as a bloody pulp. Elf heard Jian yell something - his voice muffled and distant - before he ducked behind the mast to reload.

Two more fish monsters burst onto the deck, one of them ripping through the taffrail and sending the steel wires whipping through the air. Elf fired at that one, and it stumbled, and with another shot it fell back into the water. He swore, and Aitan pulled out his own, stronger pistol to hit the other one between large, white eyes.

‘What are these guys?’ Mihri demanded.

‘There with Quotinir!’ Elf called back. A thud slammed into the side of the boat, knocking Elf sideways, and he glanced down to see three more shapes in the water. He swore, then considered his bullets. He ran for the stairs leading down, skidding over to the hook where he had placed his flintlocks. Without even stopping to see if they were dry, he pulled both of them into his hands and rushed back out onto the deck, just in time to see Mihri duck as one swiped at her. Elf shot at the light on its head, making it shatter, and it screamed. Mihri slashed at its legs, sending it toppling back into the water. Another leapt up in its place, the broken taffrail slicing at its limbs before it plowed into Elf, the force knocking the wind out of him.

Stars splattered across his vision, and Elf fired wildly, a deafening boom screeching through his already pained ears as exploded next to his head. A burst of blue and red filled his vision as the creature shrieked, and Elf’s view sharpened just in time to see Mihri drive the blade into its eye. With his flintlock, Elf shot at the light dangling from its head, and it too fell into the water.

Elf rolled onto his stomach, staying low to the ground as the shotgun blasted again, ripping a hole in the door to the cabins beneath. He clicked the flint of his pistol down, then leapt to his feet. One of the creatures had Aitan in a parry lock, the man’s sword bending dangerously at the monsters hold, his legs skidding against the deck. Another one rushed straight past Aitan, making for the stairs beneath. With a growl, Elf readied his pistols and charged after it.

The creature with Aitan let go of the other man elbowed Elf hard in the stomach, robbing him of breath and sending a dull pain through his chest. His breath escaped in a wheeze as Aitan swung hard, but the creature caught the blade in its bare fist and shoved him away. Elf levelled his pistol, but the creature swiped at him, knocking the pistol from his hand. Elf shoved his six-shooter into the creatures face and fired in one swift motion, the bullet clipping the creature’s head before it too was knocked aside. Aitan took the chance to stab at its back, but the sword caught against the scales and bent dangerously.

The shotgun blasted out again, and the creature’s arm ripped free. Elf swore and threw himself down on the deck as Jian loosed the second shot, missing the fish and punching another hole in the cabin. Elf reached for his flintlock, but the creature kicked them aside then caught Elf’s arm as he reached for his six-shooter. Long claws slashed through his shirt and dug into his skin, digging into the ring marked into his wrist. Elf swore and struggled against the hold, but the monster squeezed harder and a familiar cold feeling washed over him.

Elf gave a low growl, struggling against the hold, but the creature had him completely pinned. Sharp nails stabbed into his skin as the familiar blast of water rippled through his bones, hitting the back of his throat and sending ice coursing through his veins. The fish creature gnashed long teeth inches from his face, and his arms screamed at the effort of pushing the thing back.

Stop fighting.

Quotinir’s voice pounded through his head, and Elf yelled in frustration, thrashing against the creature as his limbs grew weaker, as the scales wrapped around his wrist grew slippery.

‘Not now!’ he screamed.

Yes. Now.

The creature ripped his arm upwards, and Elf screamed as a horrible pain tore through his shoulder. The fish dropped his arm and he fell back against the deck, his head slamming into the wood and sending stars across his vision, and once again he was falling.

Elf thrashed and struggled as the ocean enveloped him completely, dragging him down and down, away from the light above and into the directionless abyss beneath him. Pain still radiated through his arm and head, echoing through the bones of a body he no longer had. He screamed out for Aitan, for Jian, for anyone with his body back on Ossory, but he knew it was no use.

Quotinir flittered into view above him, his massive body tearing the shadows in two as he hung over Elf’s tiny, shapeless form. The lights beneath his skin flashed quickly in reds and oranges, throwing sinister shadows over his gaunt, angry face.

‘You gave me six days!’ Elf cried.

‘It should have taken you one,’ Quotinir growled.

As angry and imposing as the great shark-man was, as helpless as Elf was in this state, he held onto his anger over everything else. He pushed the panic away, the reminders of being outside his body, the crushing reminder that he would soon be part of the sea as mindless, empty foam. ‘I want my soul back, you asshole!’

‘You have it,’ Quotinir said. ‘You always have. It just no longer belongs to you. You, yours, they belong to me.’

‘And when you use Anwen to free yourself, you expect us to still be your lackies?’

Quotinir didn’t answer.

‘Let us go, and you’ll get your damned chest!’

‘You lie!’ Quotinir swiped at the water as he said it, his long talons passing straight through Elf’s watery form and sending ice cold needles through his entire body, bringing his lack of solid form back into the surface of his mind. He thrashed as images of blood and dismemberment flashed to the front of his brain, the numb shock of being ripped in half with his insides bursting out of his middle. He screamed.

‘You are not special, Elfyn O Se,’ Quotinir said. ‘You feel the ocean coursing through you now, you sail on it every day, and you do not stop to think that every drop, every spray and bubble is a soul of a creature. You are only joining the billions of animals and humans who have died by the sea. I won’t change your fate, but I will bring it to you if you disobey me again.’

Elf wanted to scream again, not just with his mouth, but from somewhere deep inside his chest, a release of energy that tore apart something inside of him and left the gaps to be filled by something he was in control of. He wanted the soundwave to tear apart the creature in front of him as easily as the shadows parted under the frantic lights.

‘Play fair!’ Elf yelled. ‘How am I supposed to do what I’m told if you keep me here?’

‘It’s not your role anymore,’ Quotinir said.

The great beast slashed at the water again; though instead of Elf, his talons tore through the sea around him. Once again the shadows of the abyss tore apart, blinding Elf as light poured into the space, and once again he was back on the Ossory.

He stood on the familiar deck, the carnage of the battle still raging around him; holes in the cabin, sections of the taffrail strewn across the wood or hanging over the side, ropes of the sails hanging limp at the masts. He spotted his own body, lying limp at Aitan’s feet, unmoving. Aitan fought off the same creature that had knocked him out in the first place, locked in combat and hardly making a dent in the scaley armour. Jian had lost his shotgun, and had trapped one of the creatures in the broken rope of the sail, pulling it tight into a grapple with one hand while the other beat at it with a broken mast.

The image shifted, tilting to the right, then the left, back and forth. Elf shut his eyes to ward off the wave of nausea, though it did nothing to escape the feeling of being in another body, of limbs and joints connected to him that weren’t his, moving without the signals in his brain telling them to move, with no feeling, no connection to the motion. When Elf opened his eyes again, he turned his attention to Quotinir, but the image was everywhere, glued to the back of his eyes and refusing to be shaken off. Quotinir raised a long, shining arm, and the limbs on the deck also raised a scaley hand, pointing at Jian.

‘You!’ Quotinir barked.

The creature grappled by the ropes stopped struggling, falling limp, and Jian froze. Elf felt a new, different cold wash over him. ‘No!’ he cried. ‘Not him!’

‘You will deliver the chest to me this instant,’ Quotinir ordered. ‘Or watch your leader perish.’

‘Don’t!’ Elf yelled, though he doubted Jian could hear him.

Jian glanced back at where Elf’s body lay, still and cold and broken, then back at the creature, his eyes wide. He squeezed them shut, and mouthed “sorry,” which made Elf’s heart leap. Jian then roared with a ferocity that Elf had never seen before, and Aitan kicked the shotgun towards him, which he scooped up and blasted directly at the creature’s face. The world spun, the sky vortexing around it, and Mihri appeared above, her face angry and bruised. Her cutlass drove into its face, and darkness enveloped them once more. Elf laughed, despite the nausea, despite the echo of pain and blood that filled his mind.

Quotinir growled, the sound rippling through the space around them. Again, he slashed at the water, and the vision appeared once again, this time partially obscured by the fuzzy edges of rope. This time, when Quotinir raised his hand towards Jian, the limb in the vision didn’t follow. ‘Deliver the chest to me, now.’

‘Eat shit!’ Jian snapped.

Elf laughed, and Quotinir whirled on him, the lights under his skin burning with an intensity that was hard to look at. Elf only shrugged.

‘I told you - we want the binds on our soul one.’

‘I will not do that.’

‘Then expect a hard time.’

Quotinir growled, then whipped back to the vision, turning it away from Jian and to Mihri who flinched back. She then narrowed her eyes and took a step forward. ‘Quotinir,’ she muttered.

‘Do not speak my name like a common fool,’ Quotinir growled. Mihri jumped, but inched closer still.

‘It is you,’ she said.

‘Release the chest into the water,’ Quotinir ordered. This time, Mihri’s flinch was nothing more than a twitch of her eye, and she crossed her arms over her chest. Elf grinned.

‘Why?’ she asked.

Quotinir gave another growl. ‘Your leader will die and I will drag your ship down into the depths until the pressure crushes your tiny, pathetic —‘

‘Oh, shut up,’ Mihri snapped. ‘You’re going to kill us either way. There’s nothing in it for us.’

‘You will not —‘

‘Hey!’

The image spun and blurred, fixing on Aitan. The creature he had been fighting lay as a slashed up and bloody pulp at his feet, and the chest sat on his shoulder. The sight of it pulled at Elf, tugging him towards it, knowing he needed to throw it into the ocean, consuming his every thought, muting the confusion at the sight of Aitan holding it.

‘You want this?’ Aitan demanded. ‘You can have it.’

He then spun on his heels and launched the chest over the edge of the ship. The compulsion vanished in a second as a wave of anger and fear set in, bursting forth with the water that crashed upwards at its impact. Aitan brushed off his hands, then glanced at Quotinir, silent and angry.

Quotinir chuckled. ‘Was that so hard?’

He raised his hand to wipe the image away, when it spun again, fast and sending Elf’s head rolling with another wave of nausea. The image sharpened into focus once more, and Anwen stood inches from the creatures face. She was breathing heavily with a gash across her collar, her face twisted in anger and her hair standing on end like the spikes of a hedgehog, covering her shoulders and her back. She opened her mouth to say something, then grabbed part of the broken mast and smashed it against the creature’s head, turning the scene to darkness once more.

Quotinir roared and slashed at the emptiness, knocking into Elf with a force that sent him spinning, crashing through the water and back into his body. Air rushed into his chest that stabbed into the soft parts of his lungs. Coughing and spluttering, his body shot into a sitting position, his vision swimming and blurry. Pain radiated through his collar and his head, and he barely registered that he was in control once again, before salt water erupted from his mouth.

‘You okay?’ Aitan asked.

‘Fine,’ Elf rasped. ‘The chest…’

‘Gone,’ Aitan said. ‘Anwen said she wasn’t connected to it, so I made a decision.’

Elf nodded, then struggled to his feet. Aitan caught his arm in a strong grip that made his shoulder-blades click as Elf continued to gag and cough. Eventually, the taste of bile fell into the back of his throat and his vision sharpened, taking in the destruction of his poor Ossory.

He saw Anwen bring the broken mast down on the dead fish creature at her feet, before lifting her arms and bringing it down again, then again, and again and again. Her face was scrunched up with fury, the motions hitting harder and harder, faster and faster, even though the creature was still.

Elf stumbled forward and caught the pole before she could bring it down again, the wood splintering into his hand. ‘Easy, lovey,’ he said. ‘It’s already dead.’

Anwen only stared at his hand on the weapon, her breathing ragged.

‘It’s dead,’ he said.

Mihri stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, while Aitan gently pried the pole from her hands and tossed it aside. Anwen gasped, swallowing large mouthfuls of air as she regarded the body at her feet. Her eyes widened as she took in the rest of the destruction, as though she hadn’t noticed it before now. She began to shake, still gasping for iar, and a single tear ran down her cheek, shining like a strange diamond.

‘I want to go home,’ she mumbled.

She then burst into tears.

Aitan squeezed her shoulder, and Anwen crumbled. Mihri caught her before she could hit the deck, though she was shaking violently. Elf glanced down at the body of the fish at their feet, at the brutal mess she had made of it, when she spoke again.

‘Why… why does it have to be… be me?’ Anwen stammered. ‘Why am I the one who can do this? Why am I the only one…’

‘We’re going to get you home,’ Elf said. ‘No matter how many more fish demons we gotta fight.’

Anwen didn’t say anything, and Elf exchanged a glance with Mihri as the women continued to hug Anwen tight. The bruising around her face was swelling fast, turning yellow around her temple. She gave a small nod, which Elf returned. He wanted to point out that he had seen them refuse Quotinir, that he respected their decision to fight back even if it meant he would die, but he decided against it.

‘Sorry about everything before,’ he said instead.

‘Just letting off steam, cap’n,’ Aitan said.

Anwen straightened, jumping up and making Mihri yelp. Elf turned as another thud rocked the boat violently. Elf moaned, and before the next creature could land on the deck, he pulled his pistol free and fired once, then twice and the monster fell back into the ocean. Two more jumped up in its place, and Jian rushed forward with his shotgun. Elf checked his barrel. Only one shot left. He had no idea where his flintlocks went. The shotgun went off, and one of the creatures exploded in a mess of gore. Jian cocked the shotgun, and the remaining fish roared, displaying a large mouth of pointed teeth.

The explosion that blasted it to pieces didn’t come from Jian, but instead from the side. The shot punched a hole in the deck, sending splinters raining into the sky and making the original hole in the taffrail twice the size. Elf turned, in time to see another explosion send a mushroom of water into the air. It rained down over the deck, drenching each of them in a wall of salt water, and Anwen’s skin splattered with scales and frills. As it cleared, Elf glanced out over the horizon to see another boat in the water. An old fashioned war ship shifted ever closer with the blackening sky. It was wooden and curved, great white sails piercing the sky and a line of cannons pointed directly at them. A single flag flew on the highest mast - the shield of the Shiyze Empire.

‘Well, this oughta be fun,’ Elf mumbled.