Colin's posts

As it started to freeze, she heard the creature yell out in pain, but it continued to fly back towards their leader. By the time it was back, its entire foot had been frozen, and the leader was looking right at her.

"Still struggling." it said.

"You are persistent." it told her.

"However, we are stronger than you think." it then warned her further, as she saw its eyes almost pierce her.

She then noticed a few dozen more shadows in the distance coming towards them, all of them looking like drakes.

She felt more of the crashes and smashes, but, no other pillars were destroyed, oddly enough. She felt them continue to ram into them, however, until they suddenly stopped, and the leader looked to the third one.

"Do it."' they ordered.

The drake nodded in response, before inhaling. Deeply.

After holding it for a moment, they opened their mouth, hurricane winds were expelled from it, enough to smash the damaged pillars into shards of ice and snow, that fell all around Callie, exposing her to view once more.

"NO!" Kai shouted as he saw the heart, and realised what it meant.

"NO! LYSSA, NO!" he yelled, pounding again on the ice, but it did nothing. It was a barrier between the two of them.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" he said to himself, shaking his head and diving down into the water. He couldn't do this alone, he needed some kind of help... help in his own element.

The drakes looked at the pillars, before the leader huffed a breath.

"We'll destroy those walls." they said, as the three of them started to slam into the ice as hard as they could, causing Callie to feel rumbling and trembling.

Kai panicked as he saw the ice form on the surface of the water, and swam up to it, slamming his fist against it feebily.

"CALLIE! STOP!" he tried to call to her.

"Don't do this! You'll get yourself killed!" he yelled further, though it was extremely muted.

The drakes, meanwhile, paused when Callie did what she did, and made her declaration.

"...." the leader was silent, narrowing their eyes.

"She's up to something..." they muttered.

"Try it again." she told the other drake.

It nodded and did the same, launching another barrage of small ice spears at her position.

The one she commanded continued to pelt the area with fireballs, and she felt the water temperature beginning to rise. She knew it would reach boiling soon. It wouldn't be boiling for long, but it seemed like the drake was able to keep it up at an alarming rate.

That is, until it suddenly stopped, an arrow through its eye, piercing through its head, and into its brain.

It was silent, stunned, until it came crashing down into the water with an enormous splash.

"WHAT!?" the leader exclaimed, looking back at the ship, and seeing another dead drake floating by it.

"Damned centaurs and their archery." it hissed, before looking at another that was with her.

"Cripple her." it ordered.

The drake responded by opening it's mouth, and shooting a small barrage of ice spears at Callie, all of them missing, but coming too close for comfort for her, and almost hitting Kai down below.

In total, the number of drakes in the group that had attacked was 5. And of those 5, 4 of them chased after Callie, with one remaining behind. It watched them go, before looking at Karivyn.

"...we can also bring both the princess AND the girl back, and be rewarded handsomely." it said, as it opened its mouth, an orb of electricity charging up inside it.

"If I let you." Karivyn responded, letting an arrow fly.

"You!" the leader commanded to one of the ones that followed.

"Aim to make her life miserable." they commented.

The one nodded and opened its mouth, launching an orb of fire at Callie... which landed right beside her, dissipating in the water, but also causing the immediate area to heat up quickly.

"Again!" the leader commanded.

Karivyn watched as Callie jumped from where she was, landing in the water with a splash, as the drakes looked on with immediate surprise.

"What is that fool girl doing!?" one asked.

While they were distracted, Kai looked at Karivyn and winked.

"Later." he said.

He then dove off the ship, landing without even a single ripple, which was as impressive as it was eerie.

"..." Karivyn was silent, before he readied his bow and an arrow, ready to shoot down any that dared attack.

Kai was under the water, and looked to see Callie there as well, following under her, to keep her level if she started to sink, as most of the drakes started to follow her.

Karivyn accepted his weapons, and sighed quietly.

"Good." he replied.

Kai just smirked when Callie asked her question.

"Heh, you know I'm always up for that." he told her.

"No more delays!" the drake then yelled, as more came closer.

"Either the princess of the girl! One or the other, or we start destroying the vessel!"

The drake laughed out loud, before Callie, Kai, and Karivyn saw the sheer amount of people around them start to fade and become translucent... before they disappeared entirely.

"Your kinds are so easy to deceive." the lead drake said.

"Where are the people!?" Kai demanded.

"I tricked them into thinking it was night-time. So they're all in their rooms. And they'll stay there if they know what's good for them." was the response given.

"While we are not so barbaric as to attack others unprovoked... we will not hesitate to consider them collateral damage, if need be."

The drake that was in charge just laughed as it scanned around.

"How cute." it said.

"Trying to hide in cover that isn't really there." it said further, before starting to descend closer down to the boat.

"Come now, princess." it hissed.

"Hiding and crawling around REALLY doesn't suit you." it taunted her further.

One of the drakes looked over as Callie made her exclamation... and its eyes widened.

"Look...! Look, look, look!" they said to the one that had spoken first, the 'leader' of the group.

"Is that...?" they started to ask, trailing off a little.

"I know we were told to grab the child, but... surely the other one is a better prize, yes?" they asked. "She is one that the Master has been desperate to get his hands on." they reasoned further.

Meanwhile, Kai had paled when he heard Callie yell out.

"No!" he yelled. "No, no, damn it, NO!" he shouted, as he desperately searched his mind for a way to get to Callie so he could try and properly help defend her.

After a minute or two, one of the shadows came closer, revealing itself to be a black drake with red eyes, and dark purple membrane across its wings. It flapped in place, keeping its position, and glared at the centaur.

"...you!" it declared, its voice vaguely female.

"You have the girl." it said to Karivyn.

"Release her to OUR custody... and we will leave." it said further.

"Even if I believed that, I wouldn't do it!" Karivyn responded. "I swore I would protect her, or die trying!"

Kai clamped his hands over his ears when he heard that.

"Agh!" he yelled.

"EVERYONE! RUN!" he yelled to the crowd.

"NOW!" he screamed.

But nothing.

"...what in the world is...?" he started to ask, before one of the flying creatures yelled out.

"THE GIRL!" they commanded. "GIVE US THE GIRL!"

Adym just bit his lower lip and looked towards the door.

'Stay safe, Callie...' he thought.

Meanwhile, the shadows were getting closer, and they were definitely draconic in form.

"...damn it." Karivyn cursed.

"Dragons?" Kai asked.

"We wouldn't be in trouble, then." Karivyn responded. "No, these mean trouble, I'm sure of it."