The Breakwater's Fury groaned against the towering waves, her hull creaking like ancient bones as she carved through the storm-lashed sea. Lightning split the churning sky in jagged forks, illuminating the crew scrambling across rain-slicked decks. The wind shrieked with the fury of a wounded beast, driving sheets of saltwater across the bow.
The lookout's voice barely cut through the gale.
"Captain! Something's rising off the port bow!"
Through the wall of rain and spray, six serpentine necks erupted from the depths, each crowned with a head the size of a ship's mast. Water cascaded from azure scales that gleamed like liquid sapphires in the lightning's glare. The hydra's eyes—all twelve of them—locked onto the vessel with predatory hunger.
At the ship's bow, a figure stepped forward, his red hair whipping in the storm wind like flames against the darkness. Raindrops beaded on freckled cheeks as almond-shaped eyes narrowed with unmistakable annoyance.
"Tch."
