CAPTAIN KORPER’S POV

I swung my cutlass covered in aurora up to block an attack from above me.

The battle was chaos.

They had crossed the gap between the two ships using rope swings and magic. Overall, their skills in combat and aurora largely outclassed my crew but I knew I could take on at least 10 enemies myself, more if I went all out with my auroral abilities. But what if I had to face the man who conjured all that aura before the battle began?

I shivered at the thought of it.

After fighting off those who dared to face me. I threw a torrent of water at the main deck below me where enemies had gathered. Some were knocked to the ground and others simply parried the attack. Those who did, turned to see where it had come from but before they could counterattack, they were engaged in close combat by members of my crew.

I stood at the wheel of the ship onlooking at the bloodbath that was amassing in front of me. We were in dire straits. My crew were slowly falling like pawns on a chessboard as more and more enemies poured onto the wooden boards of the top deck.

A sudden thought crossed my mind. Nori. “Nori NORI NORI!” I screamed. In the midst of the battle, I had forgotten about him. My eyes scanned the ship for a skinny brown-haired boy but to no avail.

I have to find him. 

He might be talented but he’s too young. He needs to get away from here. I leapt from my vantage point and entered the warzone. The turbulence of aurora in the surroundings affected my own magic control and I landed on top of two enemies.

Instantly I was met with an auroral blast and a sword. I blocked, ducked under the sword, and sliced through the bearer’s arm. He let out a scream and fell limp to the ground holding his stump of an arm as blood oozed out. I turned and sent the magic caster two water torpedoes that expanded as it hit her. The force on either side of her from my attack crushed her like an aurora beast and she fell lifeless to the ground.

I shot through the crowd of bodies looking for my little apprentice whilst taking enemies down in my way. I know he had gone down to the lower deck, but he could be injured from the shockwaves or lifeless from that bloodcurdling pressure.

Ducking and weaving I shot torrents of condensed water into the sea of bodies dropping them to the floorboards. I saw a soldier swing at me out of the corner of my eye and reacted by jumping over his blade and landing a kick to his face, before slashing down with my cutlass.

I broke into a sprint as I spotted a gap across to the stairs for the lower deck. Nearing the stairs, I caught a blur of a man dressed in black coming from them.

Bang

I soared through the air and pain radiated from my ribs through my body. I flew over the side of the boat towards the water below. My cries were silenced by the pain as I plunged into the water beneath.

A freezing cloak engulfed me as I sank. My body felt weightless as I free-fell into the depths of the sea. All evidence of the battle above me had extinguished as quickly as it had started. Why were we put through this pain? What importance does the heart have in this war, our own and Aurora’s? If it even exists.

I guess I will never know…

A final puff of breath seeped out of my mouth and I sank into the comforting water.

All pain ceased.

My eyes closed and let the last piece of light be filtered out by my eyelids.

 ***

NORI’S POV

Shortly after the man I had spoken to left, I managed to will my body to move and slowly hobbled to the stairs. The look he had given me gave me newfound confidence I didn’t know I had. Did he really believe we could make out of this battle alive? I sniffled up the tears. Selfish. How can I stay here feeling sorry for myself and be afraid of dying when everyone else is up there fighting for their lives?

I took a deep breath. The air revitalised me like a shot of life force had been injected directly into my body. I sprinted up the stairs determined to help only to be met with horror. Blood stained the floor and dripped through floorboards and bodies layered the deck like cobblestones. Flurries of different auroral affinities clashed together and weapons sparked and chimed.

Stay focused.

My eyes were suddenly drawn to a shift in aurora pressure. 

There he was. The stowaway.

He had unsheathed his sword, its rusty iron blade exposed to the sunlight. A wave of radiant heat hit me, and a blazing inferno enveloped the blade like a contorted creature. It distorted my vision and the inferno seemed to snake fanatically in every direction from the blade.  The man swung it to his side coalescing the fiery estuaries creating a more concentrated shape of inferno around his weapon.

Enemies stopped attacking the crew and turned to face the man. I had taken cover behind a wooden crate and looked on with my heartbeat thumping against my ribcage, matching the rhythm of the waves battering the hulls of the ships below. The crew started backing off, distancing themselves from the man and the crowd of enemies.

They charged.

Shouts of war and battle bellowed through the air and a mass of people hurled themselves at the man like mindless creatures. Aurora whipped around the charging mob and weapons flew through the sky. The stowaway stepped forward and swung his fiery sword releasing an arc of violent flame. The frontrunners of the crowd turned to ash instantly and the impact of the blow halted their uniformed charge, scattering the enemies.

I watched on in awe as the man like an elegant dancer ducked and weaved over and under attacks. Taking one enemy after another before releasing a blazing inferno when he had a spare moment to gather aurora. I could only figure out the concept of his technique due to my innate fire magic. However, this was not like my magic, it was more like a higher tier of fire itself. It was as if all the latent fire aurora was drawn to the blade, circling around it like planets orbiting the sun. The blade cut through any auroral blasts thrown at him and, within a short period, all the enemies had fallen.

A moment of silence befell the ship.

“He, HE DID IT!” a voice echoed across the deck.  

A cheer erupted from the thinned crew. Those on the deck started getting up one by one and the others came out from their hiding places to celebrate. There was Huif, Klaso, Sauler, Milre…. I spun around to check behind me. Terilas, Kio, Velkra....

Where was she?

“Captain?” I whimpered.

The cheers ceased. Eyes fixed on me like I was an imposter. A few looked at each other and others the ground beneath them.

“Oi” I hobbled to the first crewmate I saw. “Where is she Naya?”

The burly ship woman looked at her feet and let out a deep breath of air. She looked at me, but her face was blurry, and I felt a small something trickle down my cheek.

“I’m sorry.” She paused before continuing. “She got hit by an attack and went overboard. She hasn’t resurfaced.” She explained in a solemn tone. “With her water affinity, she would’ve come up by now.” She rested a hand on my head and pulled me into her and wrapped her arms around me. I crumbled into her, and once again felt like a hopeless good for nothing boy. No. No. She can’t be gone. I pushed away from Naya and walked towards the edge of the ship. Nobody dared to move. I felt all the piercing gazes drill into my back.

A sharp tug on my jacket halted me in my tracks. Fire erupted from my body, and I turned to throw an attack, I didn’t care who it was. The fire I had conjured vanished and in front of me was the stowaway. He knelt down. His face reached my own eye level.

“Kid..”

Before he could finish there was a sudden shift in the air.

Pressure.