Lucy pulled her foot from the sea creature's grip and kicked the creature's face. The mermaid screamed a screeching cry and swam away into the depths.

Mermaid Level: 10 HP: 95

Although the kick didn't damage the creature much, at least Lucy drove the creature away. Sometimes little attacks create better results.

Lucy paddled faster to the surface. The moonlight glimmered high above.

Almost to the surface, Lucy spotted hundreds of white bright eyes glaring in her direction. They hissed and charged like missiles.

Lucy kept swimming, although her chances of survival were low.

Suddenly, a dark figure dived into the water above her. It shot toward the mermaids and attacked them, slashing and biting each one.

Whatever it was, Lucy continued to the surface. Her breath returned after she emerged. As her feet paddled in the water to keep her body afloat, she lifted Ivy’s head to the surface. The poor cat was still unconscious.

Lucy glanced forward. The ship was close to the gap, but it stopped. But why? The mermaids will climb aboard and swarm her crew!

However, light flares flew from the ship and flashed over the water. Good! Charles and the crew must be scaring the sea devils away.

Something splashed toward Lucy. She turned around and screamed at a dark figure with a shark head.

But she calmed down when she realized who it was. "Byron!"

The wereshark drifted closer toward her. "Sorry. Hold on to me! More is coming!"

"Ah! Okay!" Lucy handed Ivy to Byron, and she held onto his back.

Like a cannonball, he sprinted through the water, carrying two women. Lucy closed her eyes so the spraying water wouldn't blind her.

Byron was quite fast in his shark form. It might be magic or his physical natural form.

"We're here!" Byron shouted.

Lucy opened her eyes. Byron drifted toward the ladder steps on the ship.

Her eyes widened. "Wow! That is fast!"

The shark clambered up the steps with one hand. He reached the rail and waited for Lucy to climb over him. Then he handed Ivy to her.

She laid Ivy down as the crew gathered around her. She placed her paws on Ivy’s chest and pushed.

"Come on, Ivy!" Lucy pushed harder and harder until she placed her mouth on Ivy’s lips, blowing her breath into the cat’s lungs.

Push, breathe. Push, breathe.

Lucy kept compressing. She knew Ivy wasn’t dead, or else the girl would have vanished into data.

"Come on!" Lucy punched the cat’s stomach.

Ivy’s eyes shot wide open and vomited the water out. She sat up and coughed to clear her lungs.

She glanced at Lucy. "Captain?"

Lucy sighed and hugged her cabin girl. "Oh, thank the sea gods, you're safe!"

Ivy looks dumbfounded. "What the bloody hell happened?"

Lucy padded the girl's back and got up. "Mermaids are here. We have to escape."

"Oh!"

Lucy raced back to the stern castle deck. Charles was there as he shot one flare over the water. It flashed toward the distance.

"Why did you stop the ship!?" Lucy shouted.

Charles glanced at her and sighed. "Goodness, you're safe. We have to stop so Byron can rescue you."

"But we are still here! The mermaids are coming!"

"Then you better get this blasted vessel moving now!"

Lucy snarled and turned around. She gripped her paws on the steering wheel. "Lower the sails! Let's speed the hell out of here!"

Her crew scrambled around the decks. One of them pulled the sails down, and then the ship continued toward the gap.

As soon as they sail through the short canyon, they should be safe. Worst-case scenario, the mermaids might never stop chasing them.