The Monster Inside: The First Vampire 163 A Shadow Magician...or more?*

For days Illai had led the Pirates from their fog encompassed island to where the Miranda sailed. She had corrected their course when she needed to, but otherwise kept to herself within the depths of the ocean as she dragged the ships through the water at a pace far faster than what they could accomplish on their own. Now, finally, her Master's target was in sight. This final chase was meaningless. In daylight, the Shadow Magician was far weaker, but her ink in the depths of the ocean was as strong as ever. Light could not reach so far down. Still, Illai could reach up with ease from the depths and attach her ink to the hull of the merchant ship, slowing it down even further to allow the pirates to catch up.

Though, despite the grin on her face, she quickly felt a strain. Reaching so far ahead of her would of course be detrimental. She was not all powerful, the shadowy depths could only do so much for her. Still, with her efforts, the pirates closed in above the water.
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Illai held on for a little longer, then moved to the hull of one of the pirate ships to get a view of the coming battle.

She did not have to wait long. Though the sounds were dulled from her watery vantage point, the sound of the cannons firing was clear to hear. Illai grinned, prepared to snatch her Master's target, only to feel her triumph slipping away as she witnessed the massive streams of shadow that grew from the deck of the Token ship.

The shadow was solid, and with the movements they made they battered the cannonballs that would do the most damage away from the ship. The cannonballs sunk into the water without causing any damage, and an answering fire came from the Miranda as it turned.

The Pirate Ship that was first in pursuit and therefore closest to the Miranda, was hit mercilessly with the cannon fire. It had turned about itself to fire, and now found itself a sitting duck as the crew recovered from the shocking display of the shadows.

Illai's expression turned into a frown as she moved up onto the deck.

"That ain't no ordinary Shadow Magician," said the Pirate Captain with a growl, "He's more powerful than any I've seen, especially with it being broad daylight".

"A Miscalculation, he is still a target," Illai replied.

The Captain frowned at Illai, "Don't give me orders, Inktress, I'll do this myself, you can pick up whatever is left for your master".

Illai decided not to argue with the sneering pirate, not because she thought she couldn't win, but because it was literally a waste of her time and energy to do so. Besides, she cared not what happened to the rest of those aboard the Miranda.

***

"Prepare to fire again!" called Midas from where he stood near Rassa. He'd had indications from the Captain that Rassa was not an ordinary kid, but batting cannonballs out of the air with dark shadows like he was swatting a fly? Midas hadn't expected that.

"How long can you keep it up?" asked Midas. As much as he wanted to believe Magicians were invincible beings, they were not. They would run out of energy eventually, and though Rassa was trying to hide it, he did not appear as confident as he had when he made his way onto the deck.

"I'd rather not have to," Rassa admitted. It was a strain, pulling shadows into the light. He'd done it before of course, but never on this scale. It was mid-afternoon, the sun still high in the sky. The only shadows cast on the deck where that of the masts and possibly the sails if they were lucky. And even then, those shadows were not thick. There were layers to shadows, a lot of people wouldn't think so, but there were. Light rebounded from all directions, and could reach even into the darkest of crevices. The more light that reached a place, the thinner the shadows. And thin shadows were not as powerful nor as easy to manipulate as the thick ones. He'd grown hungry from just that one display, hungry enough that he could have at least three glasses of blood rather than his usual one.

Midas looked up to the two oncoming ships. They'd made mincemeat out of the first one that had fired upon them after a few of Rassa's shadows had aided the Miranda's own fire in taking it down. Still, Midas didn't like the odds of them keeping it up with two more ships. Especially seeing as he was sure the only reason they'd been able to take the first ship out of commission was because Rassa's display had caught them by surprise. Rassa hadn't been able to bat away all of the cannonballs, but he'd kept them away from the important parts of the Miranda.

The two others ships were slightly bigger than the first, no doubt it was the main reason they were slower. They were still smaller than the Miranda though, which had allowed them to catch up.

Midas opened his mouth to give the order when Rassa spoke.

"I've got an idea, but I've got to wait until they get closer," Rassa said.

Midas raised an eyebrow, "Closer and we're sitting ducks".

"Not necessarily," said Rassa, "The barrel of a cannon is pretty dark, right?"

Midas frowned, "What's that got to do with anything?"

"You'll see," said Rassa, "But I can't reach that far, they've got to be closer".

Midas grumbled and turned to Jeremiah who just nodded, "Fine, but if it doesn't work and this ship goes down, you're going down with it".

Rassa smirked, "Just get ready for a fight. I can stop the cannons, but not all the men".

What he was about to do, he'd be weaker for it afterwards, but he was not alone here. At least, in the sense that he wasn't the only one who could fight and they weren't facing those horrid creatures his blood had happened to create a few months ago. These pirates were probably ruthless and foul, but they were human. And he'd learned long ago that humans were awfully frail creatures.

***

Illai watched from the shadowed hull of the Pirate Ship as it drew up alongside the Miranda. It's partner taking the merchant vessel from the other side as it prepared to fire. The Captain above was no doubt grinning in triumph as he opened his mouth the give the order.

Illai's attention was not on the Pirates she had brought across the ocean however, her attention was on her target as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his hands reaching out either side of him to the pirate ships.

Illai then felt it, that shift as the Mist worked to answer his call. She felt it condense and target the spots he asked it to without a word of protest. The sheer scale of what he asked of it...she'd never seen a Magician command that much power, not even herself. And she could tell as well, this was not going to exhaust the man. Rassa Moonshadow would not feel faint from this exertion of power. He would be a little weaker perhaps, but that was all. It terrified her.

She'd never seen any being with that much power before, and the mere possibility of it frightened her. What would happen if she were to bring this man to her Master? Could she bring him? If she did manage to capture him, she wasn't sure he would submit. From the response of the Mist, Illai doubted that he would. He was too dominant. Too powerful. She would only put her Master in danger if she were to bring this man, this beast, back with her.

Illai watched as the boom of the cannons rung out, and the pirate ships' hulls splintered, yet the Miranda remained almost unscathed. The Mist lingered in the barrels of the cannons of both pirate ships.

He'd blocked the opposing cannon barrels, no doubt causing plenty of damage. Their cannons would be useless now.

But this fight wasn't over, the Pirates had caught up, and the crew of the Miranda were severely outnumbered. Illai resolved herself as she watched the abnormal speed at which Rassa Moonshadow moved onto the deck of the Pirate Captain to the Port Side of the Miranda.

If her Master could not have him, no one could. And it would be detrimental to allow him to survive this encounter.

Chapter end