The Galleon Chapter

Another fort had fallen to the Makool forcing Leohtrad to make another pit stop. He stood on the bow of the Serpent Hunter looking behind seeing the liberated fort over his left shoulder disappear behind four sets of sails from other ships in his fleet. Ilkabad stood next to him and walked away imagining what the Champion saw in through his eyes. Before he turned away Leothrad caught Ilkabad’s attention who just about to take a nap.

“Have the other ships…actually I’ll have the crews inform the other ships we’ll be headed to my home island of Mead.” Ilkabad nodded before going over to the nearest sack and resting on it before falling asleep. In his mind he recalled the island which had a different name but was well known for its nickname for all the taverns and inns where the world’s greatest mead and wine.

On the way to Leothrad’s home island and ancient Angothic Galleon emerged from the depths. It was riddled with heavily armored Makool. Some were heavily armored from head to toe. Ilkabad watched them leap down from their large vessel onto the decks of seven ships that came close to the galleon. Leothrad ordered for the other ships to get close to the large craft, letting these Makool come to them instead.

“Get as close as you can Clovis!” he could still hear Leothrad shouting at Clovis as he fought his way to the bow of the Delkyr.

More than a hundred Makool came aboard seven of the nearest ships attempting to overrun the Angoths and their new allies. Nineteen Makool lay dead on the deck by the time Ilkabad grabbed a loose line and swung his way to the massive galleon. It was one of the many but few ancient vessels the Makool Shaman or sorcerers managed to resurface the vessel with enough warriors to overrun four fortresses.

Ilkabad believed he was the only one boarding the Makool ship. When Ilkabad turned to his left and saw no one else from the Delkyr was attacking the huge galleon, he assumed he was alone in the assault. As he swung towards the galleon Makool threw the tridents and javelins at his line and body. Each one missed him by inches as he came closer to the sails, which nothing but shreds from the long periods they stayed under water. He caught himself on the dangling ropes on the yards and masts of the ship. The he slid down one of the lines to the deck of the galleon. There he landed on top of a commanding Makool warlord, chieftain.

He found himself aboard the enemy vessel surrounded by scores of enemies who didn’t seem to notice him there once he landed on the decks. Ilkabad drew a hand axe and his Kopis right as he commenced his own battle against the Makool. This single great warrior killed his way to the bow as more Makool poured out of the cabins of the galleon. He could not keep up with the amount of corpses he was adding to the deck full of skeletal remains. His mind went to how much he hated it whenever they entered a battle with the Makool the “The Champion of the Angoths” would send him or had him go in first. For Ilkabad it was always into the fray first as the rest of the warriors came in from behind him. In every battle with the Makool this would happen, perhaps Leothrad is trying to make him into another champion? His cousin Evnar often joined him at the front of every single encounter. Except this time Evnar was ordered to stay behind.

Nonetheless Ilkabad couldn’t be that angry with Leothrad, his lover’s twin brother, nor should he even hate the Champion. A hundred Makool glared at him with eyes full of hatred over the killing of their kin. For that moment Ilkabad felt isolated until he saw dozens of Velts and other new allies that Leothrad had picked up, climbing aboard the galleon. He was more than relieved when he saw Leothrad clambering his way up to the stern with a score of warriors armed with bows, swords, and axes following his lead. How many more were coming up to join them? Ilkabad thought as he fought to protect his position at the (bow) prow of the ship. There he took a stand as he watched another wave of Makool emerge from the cabin areas of the enchanted galleon. How were there more of them coming in from the hull? From his knowledge of Galleons those hull should only allow four hundred souls to fill their bellies. Were there more Makool coming in through the hull from the sea somehow?

Ilkabad had never seen this many Makool on board a single resurfaced vessel at once. He saw Leothrad’s allies force their way to the cabins. Seventeen warriors climbed on to the bow of the large craft next to Ilkabad’s position. They were Veltic swordsmen enslaved by the Cren Order once they were captured after battle. A dozen Makool were killed instantly by Ilkabad’s hand before the Velts reached him killing a few score of Makool.

“We’re here to lend a hand. Leothrad wants this entire galleon cleared of any Makool scum on board, he suspects there is a link of chains or lines connecting the galleon to the ocean floor.” A Veltic warrior named Dusbard told Ilkabad who seemed in a loathsome state towards the ship. Funny, Leothrad failed to mention that to me earlier. Ilkabad mutter to himself in his mind. As much as he loathed and yet loved this galleon full of Makool to kill he had a job to do for his lover’s brother.

“Alright what do we need to do about this link to the ocean floor?” Ilkabad asked Dusbard.

“Send the bitch back to the ocean floor!” Dusbard yelled at the top of his lungs as more Makool came after Ilkabad. Dusbard reached out and slapped the Makool with the fathead of his sword. The Makool fell flat on the floor and never got up until one of the others picked him up. It was punched in the face before meeting the blade of another behind it. Ilkabad and the Velts went on the on the attack butchering the Makool on the Galleon.

This ship was lucky it was about to return to the ocean floor. For the amount of the Makool would cause it to fall apart. No one could blame the ocean floor for having rusty iron links connecting itself to the ship. If anyone were to be blamed it had to be the Makool for creating the link from the ship to the ocean floor. All Ilkabad was to kill its entire crew of Makool and send her back to where she belonged. Even if the ship sank to the floor in pieces the floor would still take her and caress her wits soft touching sand. Yet the hard stones, rocks, and the coral reefs jutting upward would penetrate her like a companion who still loved him since she first saw him in his home and met him again somewhere else. It had always been Ilkabad’s duty to send this beautiful sleepy beauty to the soft caressing hands of the careless scholar full of joy and compassion.

Somehow the ship detached itself ocean floor, causing it to rock in the water. Ilkabad guessed the rusty links were fading away from being in the water for so long and stretching the distance between her and the sands she should be with. Now it was a matter of killing the Makool and the sorcerers inside, forcing the ship down to its resting place. It was after all for her own good since no ship in that condition could ever sail again. Even though he’d love to sail and ride this Makool infested beauty he had no choice but to send her down to the floor of the ocean. It felt as though he and his allies were raping the ship in order to get rid of the Makool inside. The very bowels of the galleon were full of Makool protecting the sorcery that kept it afloat from the place she belonged to.

Leading a contingent of warriors, Ilkabad jumped in first into a gaping hole near the prow of the beautiful galleon. He felt others were penetrating through the stern holes and the front entrances of the cabins. The great warrior found himself in the third level floor of the hull surrounded by Makool he had to kill in order to gain control of the stairs to prevent more Makool from coming up. The infestation was beyond count as scores of warriors butchered the Makool forcing them down to the last deck of the hull. There the Makool started to abandon the galleon leaving several sorcerers unprotected. Ilkabad hunted four of them down below the second level. Each one gave a good fight but failed due to the swiftness of Ilkabd’s blade and Kopis. One was found at the very end of the ship now regretting ever keeping the galleon afloat and away from the soft arms of the floor.

Another Makool gave up and dove out of the ship through a hole in the stern. A rather large looking Angoth with a thick black beard grabbed a scrawny looking Makool sorcerer by the neck and slammed its head repeatedly against a single beam. One larger looking sorcerer found itself kicked around by three long haired Angoths and finished off by a corrupted mermaid witch which slit its throat.

The last few were dealt with slowly as the ship began its descent back to the ocean floor. Two were crushed under the weight of the ships storage area collapsing in on two of the quarters. Three more died while Ilkabad made his ascent up to the outer decks of the galleon. One of the sorcerers ran for it but bumped into Ilkabad who had him stomped to death. Another on had control over most of the ship, which had it the one who had charmed it to rise up from her resitng place. Its brother appeared to have encouraged it to in the first place, but gutted the charmer with its trident. It was a betrayal that sent the entire galleon straight down to the floor never to return. For some reason five Angoths let the betrayer live and captured him for future servitude of keeping the ships from resurfacing. As Ilkabad dove from the sinking vessel he realized there were five Angoths left behind whom went down with the galleon. He watched the five comrades go down with the galleon. The corrupted mermaid swam up to him and as other allies returned to their vessels. Makkura was her name and she chose to be free of the Makool’s corruption. Several of the Makool sorcerers whom survived emerged before them offering their assistance.

“This may seem strange to you, but we have chosen to switch sides with the rightful powers of this world.” One of them said to the Angoth warriors. The Makools nodded their heads and expected to have a warm welcome for their assistance.