End of Days: Rebirth XVI

The Return of Jorgund.

The splash of the liquid tentacles falling on to the deck and washing off the of the Kraken’s Beak followed by the loud thud of my sword embedding into the splintering wood. The lightning that that arced around my blade set the smaller chips of wood ablaze, the embers danced through the air until they floated on to the deck and were snuffed in the puddles of water.

The longer I thought about it the more it had begun to bother me. I wasn’t all powerful. There was a reason I was brought back but it wasn’t to be this world’s savior. Not yet at least. I had failed Uther with my selfish thoughts and now I needed to atone. Being unable to do much of anything on this ship was showing me how to accept this penance. It was Balfore’s time to shine. I looked out into the sea the waves were still calm. As if we had tamed the very waters around us by beating the elemental.

A spout of water off of our port side startled me. The spray came from some sort of large white creature. Shortly thereafter a few more burst through the surface.

“I don’t believe it!” Balfore yelled excitedly. “Whale ho! A whole pod of them!” The pirates all jumped with joy. My mind flashed back to the caravan and Haeys’ prophesy. We had found the whales, now to find the brothers. The ship was alive with such excitement you would not be able to tell we were just in a battle with a colossal elemental from a different plane of existence. We sailed along with the whales through the night. It was as if they were leading us to our quarry. Their tales would beckon us forward in between their surfacing for breath. It was majestic.

Through all of the night and the next morning, we followed them. The Northern Sea was full of the largest icebergs and strongest currents. Morgan and Balfore struggled to keep control of the ship and follow the whales at the same time. It was a daunting task for sure. We eventually got separated from the pod. We had to sail between two of the larger icebergs. The Ice shifted and broke as we sailed. There were numerous times where it had appeared that we would crash but Morgan had demonstrated excellent control over his vessel. As we exited the gap between them we saw the tail of the leader of the pod, The white whale. The pirates cheered when it came into view.

It’s large muscular tail called to us with each wave. The sound of its tail coming in contact with the water was a deafening crack each time. Then it would rise back out of the water and fall again. Once we were free of the icebergs it gave us one final wave as a series of harpoons rocketed through the air from a ship just as large as ours only made from bleached white bones. The Fury had found us and there on the bow of the ship were Balfore’s other sons. William with a triumphant fist in the air.

“By Jorgund’s name that boy will pay!” Balfore commanded. “Let us show them what we are made of then!” I looked over the edge of the ship and could see the blood of the whale dispersing through the water.

“Balefore! It is time” Haeys yelled. The elf had that look in his eyes. He knew what needed to happen next. He walked to the edge of the ship and blew his whalebone whistle. The sound pierced the air and everything stood still. Without a word after that he jumped into the sea. The winds went from a calm breeze to a strong gale. A strong current began to pull the Kraken’s Beak and The white bone hull of The Fury into a circular motion. The two ships moved closer to the center as the Whale struggled against the ropes pulling it towards The Fury. A whirlpool was forming and the winds pushed our two ships faster into the center. As we began to circle the center both vessels fired upon eachother. The sound of unending canon fire matched with the frenzied screams of the pirates insults and orders were deafening.

A bright flash of light accompanied by a cerulean bolt of brilliant lightning. It struck into the heart of the whirlpool, the electricity danced in the form of a giant glyph of an unknown ritual, lighting up the sea in an unnatural glow. Then just as the water behaved when the elemental attacked us, the center of the whirlpool began to rise into a towering water spout. Higher and higher the spire of spinning water spiraled until it reached into the clouds as if to connect the sea and the sky. The midsection of the spire began to bulge and grow until it was a massive sphere of liquid that floated above the waves and hung just below the clouds. The electrical glyphs faded as the spinning water ceased.

Silence had taken to the air as the crew of both vessels were both in complete shock. Then the sphere burst open revealing Balefore standing on the head of a colossal blue dragon. Jorgund God-Dragon of the Sea had been returned from his banishment. He flapped his mighty wings and sunk his fangs into the center mass of the White Whale. The rest of the body fell motionless into the sea sending a large bloody wave at both ships.

“A FITTING FIRST MEAL FOR A RETURN TO MY DOMAIN. MY BROTHERS HAVE ALL TOLD ME OF YOUR WORTH, BALFORE UESTLER.” Jorgund boomed. The sheer power of the voice of a God-Dragon always struck to the core of my mortal body. “THE WHITE WHALE IS A SACRIFICE FITTING REDEMPTION FOR BANISHING ME ALL THOSE YEARS AGO.”

“There it is! The egg of the Lordling!” Shrieked William as the flesh flayed from his body revealing two void black wings. His arms stretched out over the edge of The Fury’s deck and hanging from his hands was a set of bronze scales hanging in balance over the water. Another crow, another false image cast to disguise one of The Murder. “Finally I can return to the Queen and end this hunt.” He said as he flew towards the egg sitting in the center of the White Whales bloody corpse.

“NOT SO FAST FAMINE, UTHER’S HEIR DOESN’T BELONG WITH YOUR KIND!” Jorgund countered as he breathed a blot of lighting towards the speeding crow. Famine was able to dodge as two spinning discs flew at Jorgund’s neck striking him one on both of his front right shoulder in front of the base of his wings. The discs flew in a large arcing path and landed back with the crow as he outstretched his talons to grab the egg. He was just too fast to hit. He picked up the egg and was gone dodging bolt after bolt of Jorgund’s lightning. Then he just vanished. As if he teleported. Famine had won this round and his prize was the heir to Uther’s domain.