Mid Afternoon - Early Spring : Strait of Western Elynnor

It had been several hours since Emelia got up and at this point, pretty much all of the crew had awoken.

Everyone on deck was bustling around organizing and collecting all of the treasure from the merchant ships as well as giving some temporary repairs to our ship as well.

"Captain, these merchant ships were loaded! It's our lucky day!" The crew all wore smiles of limitless excitement as they carried gold and artifacts up from below deck, barrels at a time.

"Haha! As a reward for everyone's hard work, each of you will get half of a barrel of your choosing! If there are any conflicts, you know what to do!" Adrian was enjoying the moment as well, but after a few more hours, that excitement turned to anxiety. "Quit lollygagging everyone! We need to get going!"

We had been sitting in the same spot for several hours at this point, and to make it worse, we were right over the pocket where the sea monsters were spotted.

-Im sure we'll be fine..- I tried to shake off the bad feeling I felt in any way possible.

Before that feeling could disappear though, I felt 3 distinct, slow and creature-like rumbles shake the entire ship.

*Wooom*

*Wooom*

*Wooom*

Everyone on deck froze the instant they felt it but Adrian quickly yelled out orders. "EVERYONE GET BACK TO THE SHIP! NOW!"

With the rumbles stirring my anxiety back up, I hurriedly jumped back to our ship with the overly calm crew.

"Dammit, we only had a few barrels left.."

"Right? It's a shame we all passed out, it ran our clock down."

"We got mostly everything though, right? I think the only barrels left were food, tools and weapons so we should be fine."

"Yeah, hopefully. It'd be a shame if we missed a barrel of gold."

"I got my half barrel so even if we missed one, I'm still happy."

"True, true."

They were all incredibly casual as they walked across the deck, but Adrian and Lynn both darted to the helm as soon as they landed.

To try and see what the fuss was all about, I followed them up as well.

"What are you lazy bast*rds doing?! We need to get moving!" There was a mix of anxiety and anger in Adrians voice as he yelled at the crew.

They all instantly started running around, tying off riggings and getting us moving.

As they all bustled around the deck, I turned to Lynn and tried to ease my curiosity. "What was that noise?"

She looked a bit shocked hearing me ask. "That was a 'warning' of sorts from a pretty big Colossal Crab."

"What? A crab?" -Why would we need to fear a crab as a huge ship..- Although my logic told me to not worry, Lynn and Adrians looks made me feel otherwise.

"They're massive monsters that usually dwell on the seafloor, but will occasionally swim to the surface to destroy ships that stay in their territory too long. They usually hang out around 20 kilometers down but it seems like this one came towards the shallows." She hastily tightened and moved around some of the rigging as she spoke.

After waiting for her to finish what she was doing, I couldn't help but ask another question. "How deep is it here?"

Her anxiety from earlier had steadily died down, easing my worries a bit. "12 Kilometers or so." She casually walked up to the railing next to me as if waiting for something.

"What? If it's that deep, then what was the 'warning' for? Was it a warning that some other monster is in the area?" I figured with how deep it was, that there was no way a crab, no matter how big, could swim to the surface.

"Nope.. not quite.." She looked out towards the merchant ships with anticipation. "You'll see what it was for here in a moment."

-What is she..- Just as I started to wonder what she was talking about, the water around the merchant ships became glassy and calm. -What the..-

The next thing I knew, a horrifically big, ship-sized crab claw broke through the surface of the water and clamped down on the ship.

*FWOOOSH-CRUNCHHH*

The claw had such ridiculous strength behind it that the ship simply crumbled and broke apart like a bundle of twigs.

The other ship didn't make it out unscathed either.

As the colossal claw started to slowly fall back into the water, it came crashing down onto the other ship.

*SPLASHHHH*

Under the weight of the claw alone, the ship was completely obliterated, with countless pieces of wood and metal being flung hundreds of meters in every direction.

It was a scene I could barely fathom, even as a dragon. -THAT'S A CRAB?!-

As the crab claw fell back below the water, the surface, lined with debris, quickly turned glass-like again.

-What the..-

Lynn's face wore a childish surprise like she was watching a show. "Wow! There's going to be a territory dispute?!"

Her words caught me completely off guard. "A territory dispute? WITH WHAT?!" I couldn't come to terms with the fact that the crab's strength wasn't a complete abnormality in the ocean.

"I'm not totally sure yet, probably a kraken though. They are known to be around he-"

*BBBAAANNNGGGG*

A deafening explosion rang out as the water around where the crab was, was blown into the air and launched several kilometers away.

Within the huge cone of water was millions of massive chunks of familiar crab shell and meat.

-It.. died? Just like that?- I couldn't believe my eyes.

"To think I'd see one in my lifetime.." Adrian slowly walked up to the railing next to us with a look of awe.

"W..what is it?" My eyes were locked on the plume of water.

"A real Sea Dragon.." As he said it, a massive dragon, nearly 3 times the size of my dragon form came bursting out of the water.

-It really is an actual dragon..- Unlike what I expected, it wasn't a halfie. -Is that.. an ancient?-

Unlike most of the dragons I had seen, this one was extremely sleek and had 4 wings, 2 large ones in the front and 2 more smaller ones behind it. -How beautiful..-

As I stared and admired the majesty and beauty of the massive dragon, its eyes moved from a chunk of meat in the air to me.

My positive feelings were erased as its stare pierced directly into my soul. Its stare alone felt so suffocating I struggled to breathe or think of anything.

"Found you." It was a gentle and enchanting female voice with faint hostility.

It sent a chill down my spine but before my thoughts could settle, the dragon dove back into the water.

*Splasshh*

"What a beautiful sight.." Adrian was totally calm, seemingly enjoying the moment.

Lynn wasnt any different. "Was that really a real one?" Her face was covered in a childish awe.

"Yeah.. just look at its destructive power.. it must be."

As they casually talked, I was frozen by the railing, watching a massive dark spot quickly get closer and closer.

A deep and instinctual fear filled me as the dark spot got close enough for me to feel it's unfathomable aura.

"W..what is.." Both Lynn and Adrian collapsed to the ground as they felt it.

*Splash-Fwooosh*

Hearing a splash, I snapped out of my thoughts to see a massive tail smash through the railing and into my chest. “Ack!”

*Fwoosh*

I was completely launched off the ship and into the water.

As the sensation of sinking into the water filled my mind, my instinct for survival kicked in and I changed to my dragon form. -I NEED TO RUN.-

Right as I transformed and thinned my reserve though, something grabbed my tail. "To be so strong when you're so young.."

Looking behind myself, I saw the ancient tightly gripping my tail. The dragon's mind bending beauty was beyond anything I thought possible, but its strength struck a deep fear in me.

The fear of being powerless.

"Calm down kid, I'm not here to kill you." Her gentle voice reminded me of Mothers, but my instinct didn't care who it reminded me of.

My mind wanted to flee, not from the dragon, but from the awful feeling of being weak.

The instant I tried to move though, the dragon just tightened her grip. "I'm here to make a deal."

Her words quickly pierced through my instinct and into my consciousness before filling my mind with a deep and distracting confusion. -W..wh..what?-