The sun slowly sets into the horizon, the clouds cotton candy drifting throughout the sky. Many vessels are docked at the harbor, but a single ship stands out among them. As black as a starless sky, a massive boat with white sails billowing in the ocean breeze. Bright lanterns are strung from line and mast, illuminating the drunken froth of gaiety that overflows from the ship onto the docks, and throughout the streets. The clanking of tankards and the clattering of dice are mostly drowned out by the shouts and cheers as money is rapidly exchanged from one pair of hands to another. 

Music, laughter, and the smell of spiced rum and seawater fills the air. 

Liana strides beside Eldaren, a man a few inches shorter than six feet, wearing a white silk shirt, leather trousers, and matching boots. His black hair hangs just above his vibrant green eyes, a sword sheathed at his waist.

"You look tense, Lieutenant."

"I'm not. I'm just on guard. There's a lot of unknown variables here," and she sidesteps a man falling onto the ground, the crowd erupting into dance around them. 

"I wouldn't be too worried. Somehow I don't they have half the training you do."

"That's not the point, Eldaren. There's power in numbers."

"True, but I'm always a stern believer in quality over quantity," and Eldaren stops walking.

Liana wonders why Eldaren would stop in the middle of a loud, rambunctious crowd, but then she sees her.

Eldaren picks up his stride, and heads to meet Ravina at the aft deck, both him and Liana pushing through the various crowds of people.

Liana immediately notices Ravina's beauty, a well-toned, lightly tanned body dressed in snugly fit clothing. She also notices that Ravina is talking to a lizard man, his scales a dull green glittering beneath the lantern lights. 

Eldaren instantly inserts himself into the conversation, "A most wonderful party, my Prince. A most auspicious day, the Crowning Festival for the second ship of your fleet."

Ravina turns away from her conversation with the lizard man, "And who might you be?"

With a bow, Eldaren introduces himself "Eldaren, at your service. I'm here to discuss business at my father's request."

"I see," Ravina says. "What kind of business are we talking about?"

"A chance for mutual profit."

"Get to the point."

"Right," Eldaren says. "It's very simple. My family would provide you and your budding fleet with the finest mercenaries money can buy and you will refrain from attacking our ships that may pass through this region to lands beyond. In addition, we would be willing to pay you to intervene in the eventuality that any of our ships were attacked."

Ravina pauses for a moment before replying with, "Why would your men be loyal to me."

"They are loyal to whoever pays them, of course." Eldaren steps forward, an aura of confidence to him. "And with that coming from you--"

"I don't give a fuck about your money," Ravina sneers, her eyes like fires dancing on dry wheat. "My crew is my family. They aren't just here for money. They aren't tools to be used. If you can't understand that, get the fuck off my ship."

The lizard man chuckles lightly, "Yes. Yes my mistress. My spice will bring you far greater profit than any mercenary scum."

"SCUM? How dare you, vile beast. I'll have you know that I come from a proud and powerful family. I will not have their honor questioned by some outsider. Know your place."

"Ah yes, I know my place, hoo-man. It is here, and your place is off this ship, far far away where no one will have to suffer your intolerable voice ever again."

"The only thing intolerable here is--"

Liana watches the two men go back and forward with their prideful bickering. She looks at Ravina. Ravina looks at her. They smile at each other, perhaps a little awkwardly, before Ravina steps forward and yells "ENOUGH."

Eldaren and the lizard man stop.

"I don't have the time or patience to have my party sullied by your arguing. No more discussion of any of this, or I will refuse both of your offers," Ravina then walks away, the crowd parting at her wake, their faces painted with awe.

Eldaren glares at the lizard man, "Why would my deal be incompatible with yours? What's your problem?"

With a hiss and a lisp, he replies with, "You see, the great Shazah gets everything and will settle for no less."

The two men begin to size each other up again when a high pitched scream cuts through the festivities. 

Liana turns towards the crowd and sees that a short, bearded man has been taken hostage by a taller man. The short bearded man shivers as a knife is held against his throat. At this point, civilians begin to flee as the crewmembers draw their own blades.

"You'll let go of my sailor if you know what's good for you," and Ravina emerges from the running crowd, her sword drawn and her eyes steady and fierce.

But the tall man snarls and continues to focus his attention upon the short man, "At long last. Do you know how long it took to find you, swine? I will--"

A dark-skinned, six-foot-three man grabs him from behind, his strength enough to lift the would-be assassin from the deck. With a sly twist, the assailant pulls away from the man's grasp and kicks off the considerable bulk, and escapes into the waters below.

Eldaren goes to check on the short man. Liana unsheathes her blade. 

Another scream follows.

A hideous amalgamation between fish and man begin annexing the ship, emerging from the waters and crawling onto the deck. Their pale, bloated skin gleams in the lantern light, the reek of rotting fish and bile coating their barnacle-encrusted, fish-like skin. Each of the fish-men holds a cutlass or two, their movements fluid and calculating. 

Liana stands in front of Eldaren, her sword steadied on the nearest fish-man, "You ever been in a real fight before, Eldaren?"

"Define 'real fight.'"

The entire deck erupts into a symphony of violence as the crewmembers charge the intruders. 

A fish man lunges at Liana. She dances around him to his flank and slashes off his arm,  and immediately follows with a savage, diagonal strike to the man's neck. Her blade cuts through the man like butter, and the blood begins to stream as the body topples to the floor.

She quickly turns to assess Eldaren, who parries a blow from another fish-man before jabbing his blade through its throat.

Good, Liana thinks to herself, I don't have to worry about him as much as I thought I would.

Liana then ducks beneath a blade meant for her head and slashes through the soft stomach, entrails, and blood spill from the wound, the tainted smell threatening to make Liana vomit.

Liana regains her composure as two more blades, from two separate fish-men, come downward. She blocks both the blades, the weight of the impact causing her arms to shake slightly.

Eldaren lunges at the right fish-man, his sword going through its heart. 

Liana fends off the remaining fish-man and slams her sword through its skull, wrenching it free so that she can move forward to another target.

Liana then hears a voice, more so like a whisper, and then several of the fish-men start to shake violently, with blood erupting from their eyes and other orifices, collapsing over immediately afterward.

Liana notices Khain in her peripheral vision, and she can practically sense evil magic radiate from his body. 

Can Eldaren and I really trust that man, Liana thinks to herself.

Eldaren leaps deeper into the fray.

"Eldaren!" Liana dodges a fish-man and tries to make her way to him but is blocked off by several more. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING. You need to stay near me."

She hears Eldaren shout something along the lines of "I'll be fine," and "Handle yourself."

Liana parries and returns vicious blows to limbs and other vital spots, her heart pounding against her rib cage, the world slowing down as her instinct to survive takes over.

Blood paints the floor, her body, and her face.

They keep coming.

Every now and then,  arrows would sink into the skulls of various fish-men. Liana would notice. She would notice a single archer constantly repositioning himself, creating opportune moments to slay another enemy. As the battle rages, Liana continues to get a better grasp of the combat abilities of everyone around her. Her instincts are like a finely tuned instrument, perfected over the years. 

Liana evades, then attacks again.

She also notices the unconventional style of the dark-skinned man from earlier, a trident sweeping through the ranks of fish-men. 

The boat shakes.

An abomination enters the scene, far bigger and stronger than the ones before him.  It thrusts a black trident into a crew member, impaling him before casting him overboard.

The dark-skinned man engages the creature and savages it one good time before the beast overwhelms him completely. 

Eldaren goes to engage.

Liana screams.

A ballista bolt crashes into the creature's abdomen, but it seems more irritated than hurt. 

Liana blinks, and then the creature is on top of the ballista, shattering it with brute force, the fragments splashing in all directions. 

The ship's archer, who was manning the ballista, is thrown overboard.

"Fuck," and Liana dodges another blow, returning the ferocity with a decisive blow to a fish man's neck, lopping off another head.

Liana hears someone say, "Watch out."

Liana turns around and sees a giant piece of ballista debris just centimeters from her face.

Then everything is black.

...

But she regains consciousness less than a minute later.

Liana regains consciousness faster than she herself would have expected. She gets up from the floor, the chaos all around her.

But then the fish-men begin to flee.

Why?

Liana hears Ravina's screams pierce the night. She looks towards the direction of the scream and sees Ravina with tears flooding down her face like rivers.

Liana looks for Eldaren, and sees that he's soaked with blood, but otherwise unharmed. She runs up to him and says, "Thank goodness you're okay. I was getting worried."

"You can thank the priest for that," and Eldaren points at Khain, who is hovering over a wounded crewmate, mumbling in an unknown language with his hands over a gaping wound. Before Liana's eyes, she sees the sinew and epidermal form new cells, new layers, and the wound is stitched shut and flesh made new. "I got cut up pretty badly. I'm glad he was around."

Liana feels the heat rush to her cheeks, "So you're saying... you could have died if he wasn't around?"

"Maybe..."

"ELDAREN," and then Liana takes a moment to compose herself before saying, "It's good to be brave, but please. Please stay closer to me next time. I can't protect you if you run off like that."

"Everything turned out fine, Liana. Perhaps you're worrying too much?"

Liana felt a strong urge to slap Eldaren, but she resists the impulse. 

"They won't get away with this," Ravina's voice booms throughout the ship. "Show them no mercy. They might outnumber us, but we will cut them down. We will cut off the head of that snake, Hurask, and take back what is ours! Take no prisoners, comrades. Let's slaughter these animals. Ixi can track them down, but if we wait any longer, we will lose them."

Liana perks up at the name "Ixi," and wonders if she'll be able to meet this person.

Liana looks around. Though many, if not all, the men are tired and weary, they all had a shared resolve in their eyes.

Ravina makes her way to Liana and Eldaren. The dark-skinned man, the archer, and Khain follow suit.

Ravina says, "I know this is not your fight, but I promise you this. Aid me, and I will reward you."

Eldaren steps forward and bows slightly, "My lady, my sword is yours."

Liana has some reservations, but she knows that 1) this would help secure the contract that Eldaren needs, and 2) she knows deep in her heart that she wouldn't be able to rest if she were to walk away from this. So, she steps forward and says, "You have my support, as well."

The dark-skinned man steps forward and says, "Da'al Wan is at your service."

The archer steps forward, "I've always got your back, Ravina."

"I'm glad I can always count on you, Chance."

The priest, Khain, also steps forward and bows, "You also have my aid as well, sister. I will support you in your endeavors."

Liana looks around at the new party she is now associated with. Starlight begins to drip from the sky above.

Liana looks at Ravina. Ravina looks at Liana, and then at everyone else.

"I'll make this all worth our while when this is over," Ravina says. "But for now, let's ride."