[center][h1][u]Marlowe Vallis[/u][/h1][hr]• [i]The Skullfish, Hold[/i]. Southern Seas • [/center]
[hider=Incidental Music] [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFBXcl6FW6M[/youtube] [/hider]
[indent] The sudden sound of the commotion, mixed with Marea breaking towards the deck, nearly caused Marlowe to freeze. The distant yelling of the young man who’d caught them exiting the crate just a few moments ago spoke all he needed to know: monsters were attacking. Marlowe nearly yelled out as well, before the large man held a hand out in front of him. 

“Damnit,” Bron muttered, glaring at Marlowe. “I’ll deal with you later. You stay here and stay out of damn trouble.” He quickly ran to the deck, following close behind Marea. Marlowe, however, felt…frozen for the first time. Anxiety, fear, or perhaps a sudden lack of knowing [i]what[/i] to do. He’d never heard of this [i]Savorask[/i] before. Was it a huge, terrifying monster? Was it a deadly leviathan? 

Something finally clicked in his head, and he quickly reached back in the crate where his sword was still laying and dashed out onto the deck. The sudden gust of wind and the sight of so many odd creatures nearly blew Marlowe backward. The bald man was already running on deck, placing something onto his hand; like a glove. Suddenly two sharp metal blades seemed to jut out, covering his right hand. One of the creatures shot its tongue like a missile, and he simply sliced into it with his gauntlet, causing the creature to recoil. 

The others were fighting as well. Terhikki was bashing one of the frogs, causing it to convulse in pain, Marina was fighting several of the creatures at once with little effort. One of the creatures leaped at another girl holding a shield—Marlowe had not met her—but she seemed to knock them back with little effort. Even the blonde man who had found them was fighting; holding a curved saber up against one of the creatures, before bringing it down to split into the creature’s thick head. 

“Look out!” The voice of a crewman above him seemed to echo out as one of the creatures leaped onto Marlowe, knocking him backward onto his backside. He yelped in a mixture of surprise and sudden sharp pain as the creature brought it’s fangs down onto his left shoulder, tearing at his flesh. 

Marlowe cried out, yanking his sword with an awkward lack of finesse, driving it at first in a weak, inaccurate slash which simply bounced off the side of the beast. As the pain seemed to make the world shrink away for a moment, Marlowe felt a burst of adrenaline kick in and brought the blade forward into the creature’s side. The odd, hook-like nature of the blade’s tip seemed to split and tear at the thick hide, piercing it deep. The creature roared in pain, and pulled back, but the hook had dug itself deep into the creature. Marlowe used that moment to force his own weight against the creature, causing it to roll over and finally free itself from his sword’s “hook”. But now the creature had rolled onto its back, and Marlowe quickly drove the sword into a [i]coup de grâce[/i] into the soft underbelly of the beast. It spasmed for a moment, before stopping. 

“Marea!” Marlowe called to the girl, his left arm hanging awkwardly limp on his side, as blood trickled down. He saw her further down the deck. “Their stomachs! That’s where they’re weak!” 

“That’s a good observation island boy!” The bald man yelled as he threw a smaller Savorask overboard. It seemed that outside of Marlowe’s wound, everyone else was dealing with the beasts in a quick and easy fashion. [/indent]