{"sf1_id":1615059,"sf2_id":"V1Y8Ky2n","title":"52 - Trouble at Sea","author":"SciFurz","words":3148,"posted_at":"2020-08-12T19:00:31.000Z","tags":["Demon","Elf","Erotic","Fantasy","Female","Harem","Human","Knight","Male","Orc","Otherworld","Rogue","Romance","Squirrel","Undead","Wolf","alchemist","harpy","sorceress"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1615059-52-trouble-at-sea","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/V1Y8Ky2n","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/54/f4/54f4ae17-f8ca-4eed-a2ad-100ff4570195","description":"Wet troublr, and not the nasty good kind.","content":"'Indeed.' said Unsar when the party met up with him again at the Down by the Water tavern. 'You have to be either a pirate, or a pirate's unfortunate victim, to be able to set foot on that accursed place.' He drank his beer. 'Now that I think about it, I wouldn't be surprised if it were pirates who delivered that entangler to the family as a seedling. A creature like that is forbidden to possess by law.'\n\n \n\n'Then they must have been in business together for a long time already.' said Valdys.\n\n \n\nHe nodded. 'So, unless you have something to show off that you're criminal enough to be a pirate, you won't come near that city fortress.'\n\n \n\n'City fortress?' asked Elzbieta.\n\n \n\nUnsar took another swig from his beer. 'Yep. Originally, it was a small rocky island, then over time they hollowed out the rock to live in it like great houses, and kept on adding to it until it became like a great building rising from the sea. The bay still exists inside of it and is known for the abundance of red flowers. They call them pirate flowers now.'\n\n \n\n'What would be a good reason to be seen as pirates, apart from bloodshed?' asked Ulric. 'I'm not fond of a reputation as a killer.'\n\n \n\n'Stealing, of course. Big treasure, special treasure, kidnapping for ransom. Anything involving lots of valuables is good.'\n\n \n\n'We did bring down the most powerful family here, that must account for something.' said Iphigenia.\n\n \n\nUnsar laughed. 'True. They like mayhem as well. And since they were broke already it's no wind out of the sails for Sharktail.'\n\n \n\n'Sharktail?'\n\n \n\nUnsar grinned. 'You haven't yet heard of the most vicious terror leading the pirates of Red Cove yet? Not many have stood against her and lived to tell. And those who did, didn't live long enough anyway.'\n\n \n\nUlric looked at the others. 'All the more important to not make ourselves stand out too much. Just enough to set foot on land there and not be bothered while we snoop around.'\n\n \n\n'If we can find someone to take us there in the first place.' said Elzbieta.\n\n \n\nUnsar put down his mug. 'Oh, I know the right person for that, and you're in luck, he's here today.' He gestured with a nod to another one of the old men present, who sat talking to the former guard they had met at the estate at the opposite wall. 'Short Joris. He's an old pirate who sails often between Red Cove and here with small cargo like mail and packages. Send a drink his way and he'll hear you out.'\n\n \n\nIphigenia had the host take two beers to the men with a message, and they soon joined the party with a toast to their gracious offer. Unsar hit his mug with Joris's. 'Short, these people are interested in acquiring your services to ferry them over to your place.'\n\n \n\nJoris lifted his eye patch and looked over the girls and the hooded black canine. 'You don't exactly look like the right kind to take that trip.' he said, and pulled the patch down again.\n\n \n\n'We were the ones to bring down the Drukkna family when we discovered their empty coffers.' said Iphigenia.\n\n \n\nJoris gazed at her. 'Did you now.'\n\n \n\nHis friend, the old guard, nodded. 'They did. I found them when they broke into it at the estate.'\n\n \n\nJoris hummed slowly. 'Well, if Theseus says so, then I'll believe it.' He took a swig from his mug and sat forward a little. 'Are you sure you want to go there? It's not a nice place, and certainly not for pretty lasses such as yourselves.'\n\n \n\nIphigenia smiled a little. 'We know how to not be nice ourselves.'\n\n \n\nJoris chuckled. 'Good, good. You'll need it.' He gestured at Theseus next to him. 'Even he knows some very nasty tricks.'\n\n \n\nElzbieta raised an eyebrow at the old man, focussed on sipping his beer.\n\n \n\nJoris grinned. 'You didn't think they let him guard the treasure room just to keep him occupied, did you?'\n\n \n\n'Indeed.' said Elzbieta.\n\n \n\nJoris leaned back. 'I'll take you, if you still want to go after I tell you about a few of the unwritten rules and the frequent events you'll witness there.'\n\n \n\nIphigenia nodded. 'Of course, go ahead.'\n\n \n\n**\\*\\*\\***\n\n \n\nKaui looked over the harbour and the wide ocean. 'Are you sure Isa will be all right, Master?'\n\n \n\nUlric kissed the side of her head. 'Don't worry, she's the type of person who can keep herself busy and enjoys time on her own, and Susi keeps an eye on her. And with Cat's ability to dig itself down into the ground, the only thing anyone who accidentally enters that piece of the forest will see is a stretched out heap of ground.' He took her hand. 'Did you charge your rings, or do I need to?'\n\n \n\nShe smiled up at him. 'I charged them from Cat's mana batteries, Master.'\n\n \n\nHe nodded. 'Good girl. We'll need you to take care of anything like that entangler thing if we come across it.'\n\n \n\nShe giggled and nodded.\n\n \n\nElzbieta gestured at one side of the harbour and a small cog near the end of a short pier. 'There's Joris's boat.'\n\n \n\nHe greeted them as he rolled a barrel on board when they walked up the pier. 'We're leaving as soon as the last of the cargo is on board.'\n\n \n\nUlric grabbed the last two barrels underneath his arms. 'We'll give you a hand then.'\n\n \n\nJoris had seen strong beast folk before, but Ulric still impressed him. 'Thanks.' he said and gestured towards the front of the boat. 'You can put them with the others there.'\n\n \n\nUlric noted a feline sitting with her back towards him at the front, fixing a piece of clothing, and her scent was familiar. He set down the barrels next to the one Joris rolled there. The old man glanced at the feline. 'She's also coming with us.'\n\n \n\nThe feline turned her head and her eyes went wide. 'You?'\n\n \n\nUlric chuckled. 'So we meet again. Trying out your luck at Red Cove?'\n\n \n\nCaylais nodded. 'I couldn't find any decent work or other party to work with, and then I sort of decided to try my hand at being bad instead.'\n\n \n\nJoris shook his head while he secured the barrels by tying a rope around them. 'I told her it was no place for her, but she insisted hard.'\n\n \n\nCaylais grinned a little in embarrassment. 'I showed off my unladylike claws and fangs.'\n\n \n\nUlric laughed. 'I'll bet that helped.'\n\n \n\n'Are you sure you'll be all right over there?' asked Kaui.\n\n \n\nCaylais nodded. 'I'm just taking the chance and hope for the best. If it doesn't work out there, Joris will take me back here and then I'm going home.'\n\n \n\n**\\*\\*\\***\n\n \n\nThe sea was calm and the wind just right to make the trip enjoyable and quick for everyone, and Valdys coached Iphigenia and Elzbieta on an enhancing spell they had the affinity for while Kaui went over her inventory, and Conchim tended to her wings. Ulric simply breathed the invigorating scent of salt water and air, and took the opportunity to relax because he hadn't been near the sea since he'd been a little kid. The sight of what Joris called the Shark's Teeth was another reminder of how fantasy-like his new world was. Jagged and pointy rocks with some vegetation bit through the water surface and up into the air. There was space enough between them for large ships to sail through, but only when they knew what they were doing, as many ship wrecks at the base of the rocks and masts protruding at shallower parts testified to. Joris wasn't worried about hitting anything with his flat bottomed cog and had used the shortcut for many years.\n\n \n\nUntil something hit the boat underneath and sent a tremble through it.\n\n \n\nUlric looked back at Joris, who let go of the steering wheel and came forward. 'Did we hit rock?'\n\n \n\nThe boatman stuck his head down the hatch of the cargo hold to listen for water rushing in. 'We shouldn't have. This is my normal route.'\n\n \n\nThe girls leaned over the side, peering into the water for signs of damage or the reason for the shock. 'I didn't hear any scraping against the hull either.' said Elzbieta. 'It must've been something loose in the water.'\n\n \n\nUlric went down and checked for leaks between the cargo. 'Maybe it was floating wreckage from one of those stranded ships.'\n\n \n\nJoris hummed. 'Possibly. I've seen pieces adrift before after a storm but everything's been calm lately.'\n\n \n\nAnother hit shook the boat.\n\n \n\nConchim gripped the side when she spotted a dark mass moving through the water. 'There's something here! Something big!'\n\n \n\nJoris rushed up to her and squinted into the water. 'What did it look like?'\n\n \n\n'Hard to tell. It was almost black and it might be as big as the boat.'\n\n \n\n'I found several descriptions of large sea creatures in my library, but it could be any of them without a better look at it.' said Valdys.\n\n \n\n'Here!' said Caylais when she spotted a large shadow at her side.\n\n \n\nEveryone hurried over just in time to see something glide further down, then grow big again as it rose fast and hit the hull hard. 'It's attacking us!' said Joris, went for the mast, and unfurled the main sail completely. The cog tilted slightly at the extra thrust. 'Secure yourselves and look out for any cargo shifting loose!'\n\n \n\nUlric gave him a hand and pulled on the rope. 'Anything we can do?'\n\n \n\nJoris wound the rope around a hook and secured it with a knot. 'Nothing much. Hope that the wind will pick up and speed us along until we're safe.'\n\n \n\n'Maybe I can help with that.' Conchim said and moved to the stern. She braced herself with her back at the outside of the short railing at the rear, spread her wings, and closed them with a boost from her wind magic.\n\n \n\nThe boat accelerated forward enough for the others to grab something to keep steady and Joris laughed as he took the wheel. 'Great going, lass. If you can keep that up we might be out in the clear real quick.'\n\n \n\n'Hang on!' said Caylais as she looked down into the water. 'It's coming again!'\n\n \n\nThe shock rattled the boat harder this time and a crack sounded from below. 'Shit!' said Ulric as he rushed down. 'I'll check!' He groaned when he found water spreading out between two crates. 'We have a leak!'\n\n \n\nJoris hurried over, cursed, and dove into the stern. 'Move those crates aside! I have to seal that leak!'\n\n \n\nUlric pushed the crates away quickly to clear the spot before Joris returned and nailed a short board with a layer of tar and hemp on top of the crack in the hull. It was barely in place when Kaui shouted. 'Here it comes again!'\n\n \n\nUlric looked up at Conchim. 'Can you muster more power!?'\n\n \n\nConchim groaned as she flapped her wings again and thrust the boat forward. 'I can't do more than this!'\n\n \n\nThe hit from below shook the boat and the new board sprung loose. Joris cursed at the water spraying out from underneath and hammered it down again. 'We won't survive like this! Someone steer us to the nearest rock!'\n\n \n\nIphigenia hurried towards the steering wheel. 'On it! Conchim, push us more to the left!'\n\n \n\nThe creature kept ramming the hull while Ulric cleared the cargo and Joris nailed tar boards as fast as he could to plug the cracks in the wood, but the damage and the water level increased with each hit.\n\n \n\n'We're almost there!' said Elzbieta at the bow. 'I see a cave of sorts in the rock!'\n\n \n\n'If it's large enough for the boat, head into it!' said Joris.\n\n \n\n'The mast won't fit!'\n\n \n\n'Doesn't matter! Steer into it!'\n\n \n\nIphigenia turned the steering wheel. 'Here we go.'\n\n \n\nKaui and Caylais lowered the sail fast and with another push from Conchim, the boat scraped its side along the edge of the cave as it entered. The top of the mast hit the top of the entrance, bent, then snapped under the force and tore off.\n\n \n\n'Watch out!' said Caylais and ran away from the mast with Kaui before the top fell on the deck.\n\n \n\nThe hull and the mast scraped more along rock as it went further into the cave, until the boat hit the bottom as it sank further and rested motionless on the rock, halfway submerged into the water.\n\n \n\nJoris and Ulric waded out of the cargo hold and climbed up on deck. 'At least the boat and cargo isn't lost for now.' the old man grumbled.\n\n \n\nA loud splash of water startled them and the creature surfaced outside the cave. The flat, elongated body glimmered in the light, its black skin covered with a pattern of large, irregular dark green blobs. Its eyes at the side were pure black, its mouth, a slit underneath the front of its flat head was paired with two shorter tentacles, with a row of longer ones trailing along the middle of its body. 'What is that!?' asked Ulric.\n\n \n\n'A sea vulture.' said Valdys. 'It's known to attack ships but not often. Only if there's not enough fish to feed itself on or if it's mating season.'\n\n \n\nJoris sat down hard. 'Great. There's plenty of fish here, so that would mean they're breeding here now. I won't be able to use this route all year long when they're around.'\n\n \n\nUlric turned to Joris. 'Can we repair the boat?'\n\n \n\nHe thought for a moment. 'I think so. At least well enough to reach Red Cove. But not with that monster swimming around.'\n\n \n\nUlric turned to Valdys. 'Anything in the books on killing it or chasing it away?'\n\n \n\nValdys shook her head. 'Nothing.'\n\n \n\nUlric took a deep breath and looked at the creature swimming around just outside the entrance. 'So we might have to wait until it leaves on its own.'\n\n \n\n'We'll need time to repair the boat anyway.' said Elzbieta. 'Maybe by then it'll have moved away.'\n\n \n\nJoris stood up with a groan. 'Indeed. Might as well begin so we can leave as soon as it's gone.'\n\n \n\n**\\*\\*\\***\n\n \n\nBy the time the boat was patched up and drained well enough to be put to sea again, the creature still hadn't subsided. It swam casually around in front of the cave, sometimes far enough to make them think it had left, only to resurface nearby again a little later.\n\n \n\nElzbieta looked up at dark clouds gathering in the distance when rumbling rolled across the sky. 'And we're looking at a thunderstorm on top of this.'\n\n \n\nValdys checked the book of monsters again when she remembered something. 'Oh, that's not good. These creatures seem to go wild during thunderstorms.'\n\n \n\nElzbieta looked back at her. 'Wild?'\n\n \n\n'Yes. It's noted in the description that sea vultures react to stormy weather and are quick to attack anything at that time.'\n\n \n\n'That's definitely not good.' said Ulric. 'We'd better move as far away from the entrance as we can.'\n\n \n\nAt the first crack of lightning and thunder, the sea vulture swam more erratic, and when the sky darkened more with the thunder clouds, it jumped up from the water and dove more violently.\n\n \n\nUlric growled softly as he watched the creature become more agitated. 'I have a bad feeling about this.'\n\n \n\nIphigenia sat down beside him. 'It can't come in here, so maybe it'll tire itself out during the storm and leave after.'\n\n \n\nLightning struck a nearby rock and the creature shot forward. Ulric stood up at once. 'I wouldn't be so sure about that.'\n\n \n\nIt hit the entrance of the cave and whipped its tentacles towards the ship and everyone, hitting the side of the ship hard.\n\n \n\nUlric pulled Iphigenia to the side at the back of the cave. 'Everyone to the back!'\n\n \n\nJoris grumbled loud. 'It'll damage the ship with its tentacles!'\n\n \n\nThe creature wriggled slowly forward into the cave and splashed wild, hitting the shield spells that Valdys had raised quickly.\n\n \n\n'It's trying to enter all the way even if it might become stuck here and die.' said Elzbieta. 'We have to stop it.'\n\n \n\nUlric turned to Kaui. 'Kaui, we'll have to see if you can repel this thing as well.'\n\n \n\nKaui looked at him with large eyes full of fear, but she clenched her teeth and nodded. 'I will try, Master.'\n\n \n\nHe focussed on his wings and grew them large enough to embrace her for their protection. 'We'll move just close enough to hit it with a blast from your rings, all right?'\n\n \n\nKaui trembled slightly but his arms and wings around him gave her enough reassurance to do it, and she nodded. 'Yes, Master.'\n\n \n\nThey stepped forward carefully, estimating the reach of the sea vulture's tentacles while they swept left and right. When Ulric thought they were close enough, he threw a rock at the creature to taunt it.\n\n \n\nIt lashed out a tentacle at the pair.\n\n \n\n'Now!' said Ulric and Kaui pressed her ring trigger on her outstretched hand. An arc of lightning shot from between her rings and lashed out at the tentacle.\n\n \n\nThe tentacle jerked back with a frantic spray of water from the creature's mouth, but it swiped at its attackers again.\n\n \n\n'I'll add more mana to the rings.' said Ulric and took Kaui's hand in his paw, steering some of his mana towards her rings.\n\n \n\nThe creature whipped its tentacle at them again.\n\n \n\nKaui took another shot and again the creature reacted with a violent jerk and spray of water.\n\n \n\nFor a moment it seemed to work, but the sea vulture continued wriggling forward and kept on attacking.\n\n \n\nValdys looked at Caylais. 'Isn't your ability lightning magic?'\n\n \n\nCaylais clenched her fists as she watched the sea demon. 'Yes, but I don't have enough mana to attack a demon this big.'\n\n \n\n'What if we channel mana through you?'\n\n \n\nCaylais looked at Valdys. 'I never tried that before, but that might work. But it'll take a lot of mana.'\n\n \n\nValdys grinned slightly. 'Don't worry about that. He has plenty.' She turned to Ulric and Kaui. 'Love, I think Cay can do it when you give her your mana!'\n\n \n\nUlric pulled back with Kaui. 'What!? Right here and now!? I don't think I could do that even if she agrees to do that with me!'\n\n \n\nShe let out a quick laugh. 'I mean like how you charge mana stones.'\n\n \n\nUlric cleared his throat. 'Oh! All right, we can try that.'\n\n \n\nCaylais raised an eyebrow. 'What did he mean?'\n\n \n\nValdys shook her head. 'It's an alternative method us girls have to increase our mana tally permanently. Never mind that now, go and hit that thing with all the power you're given.'","series":{"name":"A Monster Life","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1600242-51-quest-impossible.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1638146-53-red-cove.json"}}