The Captain Black Star

If part of the crew seems worried to hear about these missing ones, they’re but a minority. Most keep going about their business without much distress. Neither Calico nor the captain shows any flagrant concern. Classic geman mentality, I guess.

    We reach the middle of the afternoon without any more fuss when the watchman yells.

“We’re entering the tinakhsites’ territory! Bewaaaare!”

    And truth must be told, right after the words are uttered, the tension in the air shifts. Maybe it’s all apprehension’s work, but all screams about danger. The light getting abnormal as The Devourer ventures into an area cluttered with some sort of orangey clouds. The lack of absolute noise, not even the wind whistling. Even on the deck, barely anyone dares to speak, watching attentively their surroundings.

“It is your deeds, isn’t it?”

    Barely anyone… aside maybe from that Skutz guy. Focused as I was, lurking at the suspicious clouds, leant over the railing, I almost had a heart attack hearing his slithery voice.

“Damn it, Skutz…” I grumble, casting him a dirty glance. “Do that again and I swear I’m throwing you overboard.”

“Like you did with Balock and Telm?”

    Oh, so that is what he was talking about.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I didn’t kill them. I didn’t even know their names before they disappeared.”

“Mmm…” He leans in closer, prompting the opposite move from me. “Isn’t that the only reason a mercenary like you would get enrolled on an airship, leaving everything behind? I didn’t know their names before either, you know. There are too many people here for that. But you don’t need one’s name to cut off their heads.” He moves his thumb pointed at his neck in a brisk move.

    I blink, jaded.

“I am on a work break.” I end up imagining. “But, if you insist, I can take a break from my break and make you swallow your own heart.”

    Skutz was about to reply, and possibly shorten his lifespan, when a scream shifts our attention back to the clouds.

    Right where a crew member just pointed, I spot a brown-golden move. With a squint, I manage to distinguish what resembles a dorsal fin. A long, huge one. Soon immersing back into the clouds.

“It’s gone…” I mumble.

“And I want to be far away too. I miss my favourite blanket at the castle.”

    A massive thud. Crack. Suction sound. Crack. A mix of crushed bones and flesh.

    I’m terrified to recognise these sounds before I even have time to turn around and see the huge creature which just landed uninvited.

    The whole deck shakes under the weight of what resembles more a fish than a flying creature. Its body, long and slick, is covered in lilac scales. A thin appendix the colour of its dorsal fin dangles from either side of its monstrous head.

“Tinakhsite onboard!!! Tinakhsite onboard!!” A voice yells.

    From beneath the abomination, a large puddle of blood spreads on the deck.

“Why do I always end up in situations like this…” I mutter.

    The monster has to be about three-gemans long.

“What are ya doin’?! Don’t wait for it to eat ya raw!” Calico screams, jumping on top of a pile of crates, drawing her weapon. A thin and large blade which soon ignites as she mutters a command spell.

    Woken up from their daze, part of the crew screams to fill themselves with courage in an archaic way while they rush to assault the tinakhsite. Another part though, less experienced and prolly having nothing but weak magic, shy away.

    As I take a step back, observing the monster wipe away the gemans getting too close with its large, sail-shaped tail, I cannot pretend I don’t share their urge to flee.

“I should join the fight too…”

“Yaaarhh!!”

    Which isn’t the case of Skutz who draws his own blade and joins the mess. With too many people attacking it at the same time — part smart enough to do it remotely — the tinakhsite lets out a bestial hiss. All along its body, bulges show up. The bumps squirm, extend, until shaping into dozens of excrescences the monster leans onto like onto some sort of cursed legs.

“Couldn’t we make a detour instead of venturing into this damned place…” I pale at the sight of gemans fighting for their lives, barely managing to keep it in place when more bestial hisses arise from the orangey clouds.

“Ohh, no… Ohh, shit.”

    In no time, other tinakhsites emerge from the clouds, jumping from a cloud to wriggle on their way up or down, leering at us before immersing momentarily into another cloud.

    A second one smashes onto the deck, although at least nobody gets crimson-pancaked this time.

    A bestial hiss, louder than before… Too close. Fufu shakes around my neck, terrified, while I take a few steps back, trying not to get the attention of that monster. I’m really really too close.

    Of course, it turns its milky gaze at me.

“Look…” I begin, reaching out my hands before me. “I’m not the tastiest of them all. If it was a couple of lives ago, I’d understand your choice, but with only bones on my skin…”

    The tinakhsite hisses, the same excrescences as before appearing all along its body.

“Well, fuck me.”

    The moment it rushes in my direction, I feel my back hit the railing.

“Rekressare!” I scream, reaching out my hands before me in protection, begging for the monster to step back.

    Which, when I can see nothing more than the sharp tinakhsite’s teeth, when a strip of saliva brushes and sticks to my palms, it does. It steps back. Or, to be precise, it begins rushing in the opposite direction. Its teeth snatching at the void as it watches its dinner grow more distant by the second.

“It shouldn’t be legal to stink that much…” I utter, tears brought to my eyes by the fetid scent.

    I let other airship’s boys handle the monster as I instinctively turn around to face another tinakhsite rushing towards The Devourer.

“With how heavy they are, if another one of these horrors lands onto the deck, the airship is going to lose altitude…”

    It’s no guess since I already felt a slight drop after the second tinakhsite landed.

“Flarek flarek helleo!” I remember the spell I used against Seveg and, as I cast it again, nine wreaths of fire shape one after the other, rushing at their target. If part are too large and bypass their prey without any effect, most hit the monster right in its large head. It’s enough to set the tinakhsite on fire. The flames consume its brown-golden dorsal fin as well as its long and thin appendixes, before it begins losing height, falling beneath the clouds level.

“One less…”

    I catch sight of Calico protecting one of the crew members, before cutting off the head of one of the monsters on board, her blade extended by a spell.

    But, already, a roaring voice rises.

“Thullux!”

    The brief command spell is all it takes for an erratic ray of light to make its way over the deck, zigzagging between the gemans until reaching its target.

    The tinakhsite’s whole body is lit by a blinding light, a smell of grilled fish spreading all over the deck. With a thud, the last monster on board falls on its side. A second thud follows, lighter, a geman falling on his butt. Just spared from becoming a monster’s meal by the thunderous light.

    The spellcaster steps forward on the board, his grey-blue boots tapping it at each step.

“You did well, but now you can all step back.” The captain announces. “Don’t risk your lives when I am here.”

    With a jump, he lands on the railing, gripping the thick rope at his side. His white blouse, left wide-open on the manliest chest I’ve ever seen, is proof he just woke up from a nap.

    This makes me jealous. I’m not sure which part… But this makes me jealous.

“I, Falown by my first name. Or, as everyone calls me on this airship, Captain Black Star.” The white stars in his eyes are directed at the multiple monsters still leering at their next meal. “With me on this deck, you need not fear the dangers of this airy sea.”

    Like the rest of the crew, I stare at the figure of the captain, bathed in the clouds’ orangey glow. How does he plan to defeat all of the remaining tinakhsites? Unless his aim is simply to scare them off?

“Kururu culleo.” The captain raises a finger he twirls next to his face.

    We all soon have to grip onto something since the wind suddenly arises out of nowhere. All around us, where clouds made the perfect hideout for these monsters, they begin to spin. Consumed by tiny tornadoes.

    The fabric of his loose blouse whips the captain’s chest, otherwise unbothered as he watches the monsters float away from the whirling wind. Deprived of any place to hide.

    A loud whistle makes me glance to my side, Skutz now standing there.

“I thought you’d be dead…” I grumble.

“Narhhh. This heart still beats in its chest.” Skutz vigorously taps said chest. “Sorry for you mate, you’re not getting it!”

    I sigh.

“I already told you I am on a break.”

“Anyway, we had it rough, let’s rejoice our captain is a tough one.”

“Rough?” Calico chimes in. “Be glad we didn’t encounter an ngu tinakhsite.”

“An…?” I trail off.

“The legendary form of the tinkakhsite.”

“Because it has an enhanced form…” I shudder, glancing back at the Captain Black Star.

“Thullux.” He commands. “Thullux. Thullux, thullux, thullux…”

    Multiple streaks of light form over his palm, each taking a tinakhsite for aim. Like mere bugs, the latters fall into the void one after the other.

    Fascinated, I watch the captain tame the elements, getting rid of a whole shoal of these monsters where we struggled with one.

“That man is built different.”

    It’s only when things begin to settle down that a thought crosses my mind.

“But, if the captain has such potent magic, he would surely be able to do part of the chores without the faintest effort. Like getting rid of all the starfish at once. Which means… He definitely doesn’t need such a large crew.”

    Something is off. Dissonance. Something is really really not like it should be.

𖢻 𖢻 𖢻

    Though we had a busy evening butchering the tinakhsites, setting aside their scales and dorsal fins for later trade, keeping their meat for meals to come, grinding their hearts into Orlofflesia… The next day was, at least, uneventful.

    The cursed tinakhsites’ territory left behind, we now overfly a forest of crystals so dense that no geman would be able to make his way through them. Well, unless wasting a significant amount of magic on it.

    Standing at my favourite spot, I observe the ever-blue horizon, relieved not to have Skutz tailing me, for once. Brief respite I’m not one to spit on.

“Juweld is so vast. When will we reach our next destination? Did I even ask once? Actually, I don’t even know where we’re heading. But, do I care?” My thoughts drift. “Broaden one’s horizons, huhh… It’s one thing to say it, but I can’t just travel without aim. The truth is that I’m searching for excuses again.”

    Pecce’s image passes through my mind. Cruel reminder.

“I have a promise to keep… But, to do so, I need to change this kingdom first. I always fled whatever resembled responsibilities. I still do.” My royal blue locks wave in the wind while, my chin leant against the palm of my hand, I notice a dot in the distance. “Why do I flee? Because I don’t care? Because I’m afraid of losing a life which isn’t mine? Because I lack confidence?”

    The dot becomes bigger by the minute, confirming it wasn’t a mere grain of dust on my glasses.

“Because I’m weak?” I remember how my magic has gotten stronger lately. Clumsy, it still is. But… I’d never have managed to defeat all these mercenaries before. Or that tinakhsite. “Because I think I’m weak?”

    Soon, the shape of a small vessel becomes discernible enough for the lookout to yell his report.

“Airship on starboard!! It’s heading towards us! Airship on starboard!! A one-person airship with a white hull! One man aboard,.. wearing the uniform of the Militia!”

    Wide-eyed, I raise my head and stare at the vessel. Dumbfounded.