108 Look before you leap! (1/2)

Roma shuddered as wind wracked her body. Her hair warped around whipping all around her as a literal blow of wind rammed into her stomach. The boat bobbed ferociously while the Yuda roared with an odd amount of joy that caused a kernel of dread to sprout in the crew.

Who could blame them for cowering though? For before them was a behemoth the size that they had never seen! Its roars cracked stone and its every movement caused a wave of water so high that it eclipsed the vessel to rage towards the weathered crags.

The worst part however, was not the humongous monstrosity, but the whole host of tiny and medium sized Yuda that mobbed the ship almost immediately as soon as it entered the hollow mountain.

The largest of the wave seemed to resemble the snakes that they used as mounts, and this terrified them more than anything else..

With a quick mental slap Roma moved, roaring at the top of her lungs for the crew to act. In her hand she lugged a mace which she immediately put to good use. ”Iwa, to ME!” She roared in the loudest voice she could muster as she leapt at the first reptilian aggressor. With a mighty thud she lodged her black spiked mace into the creature's skull, kicking at it with her legs to dislodge before repeating the process.

To her side she could hear a roar of anger as a snake wrapped around the tail end of the long boat. ”Muster the ranks! Hold your positions and get us slowly back into the cave!” She roared at the top of her lungs. She would have gone to deal with the other serpent but her current foe made sure to completely tie her in place.

Every hit she dealt seemed to be shrugged off a trail of blood barely coming off the serpent's forehead as it reared back hissing.

A sudden roar sounded as a Yuda was thrown at the one that she was engaged with ramming straight into its bared fangs before pushing it into the horde that swam at the periphery of the ship.

Shortly after another two Yuda flew out, both plunging into the turbid sea before disappearing from sight. On any other occasion, Roma would have paused to peruse the cause of her immediate relief, but not now. Now she had to deal with the serpent that engaged with over half her crew as the other half futilely shot into the frothing water.

With a roar she lunged, pushing the wide end of her mace into the corner of the snake's mouth before twisting it out and slamming into its side with all the power she could manage.

The snake reeled back, obviously stunned from the hit, a line of cracked scales remained in the location that she had hit. Its head bobbed back for a second as it tried to shake off the dizzying slam before it turned back down with renewed fury hissing in obvious provocation.

”ORAAAAAA!” With a mighty heave she pulled the head backwards as the twang of arrows sounded in the suffocating air. With a bellow of agony the Yuda flopped downwards, its mouth bleeding profusely.

With a low growl she pulled again, breaking off the fangs of the mighty beast. Safe was always better than sorry in her mind, and even if they had taken out the snake they had to make sure that it was sufficiently non lethal.

Finally she shot a glance to the corner of the wave the roar of the water seemed to slow for a second as she marveled at the sight. A tiny rickety boat stood stoically at the centre of what looked to be dozens of typhoons. The large pillars rotated at mind boggling speeds, churning out a steady stream of blood and bits of muscle every second.

The water from that part of the hollow mountain looked particularly malevolent as the majority of the mighty horde of serpent's swarmed towards them.

Suddenly a loud roar sounded as a Yuda flew out of the encirclement, followed closely by a second and then a third.

At the stern of the tiny boat, Roma could finally see a grey haired young man staring out domineeringly. His hands stood at the ready in front of his chest as he ducked under a creature that had made its way through the perilous hurricane.

With a twist of his shoulders he rammed into the snake's lower jaw, before fearlessly plunging his hands into the corner of the snake's maw and yanking up the snake.

His bare hands did what her mace could not, penetrating deep into the sides of the snake's sides. The snake hissed in agony as it rose helplessly into the air before being brutally flung outward.

Behind the man he could see the silhouette of a lean women calmly fingering the hilt of a plain looking sword. Suddenly she moved, ducking under the rampaging man she pulled out her blade, and even through the din, Roma could swear she could hear the squeal of blade as it left its sheathe.

Her hand blurred for a second. In the next her sword once again rested in her sheathe, as if it had been untouched.

With a glance to her back she nodded to the man. The man too nodded before whistling and jumping off the boat. From under the water a blue looking head peeked out. A low menacing growl sounding out as he landed on its head.

The monster zoomed out of the encirclement as it raged into the thick of the never-ending stream. The terrifying storms slowed for a second before a crescendo of roars sounded out. It seemed almost as if the sea kings , as Roma realized they were, were encouraging the figure on.