The sky bled black rain onto the backs of the blue-eyed pirate riders, who rode flying beasts, while hurling ice spears at commercial riders who in turn tried tried their best to evade or attack.

The sky had become a battlefield, the bodies of the unfortunate thrown into the roaring sea, a bottomless, realm that threatened to swallow anything that came in contact with it.

Waves the size of skyscrapers swirled chaotically, sometimes crashing into each other; wind was strong enough to lift any normal man; and random lightning strikes that did nothing to quell the darkness beyond.

But in this chaos, one would be drawn to the main fleet, pirates who commanded the sea calming the roaring waves as they passed laughing in the face of stray lightning.

The lead pirate ship was humongous (200 feet of survival, designed to ride monstrous waves). The double hauled craft, when observed simplistically looked like two canoes strapped together similar to a wa'a kaulua but at a much larger scale.

"Brace, haha!" a blue-eyed woman with messy grey hair laughed as their ship all but crashed into a wave.

She was pirched atop the ship's singular flagpole, holding onto thick sinewy ropes as she swayed with the crashes.

Before them, yet another monstrous wave rose, and the men onboard lowered their stance.

The sea was chaotic, with monstrous waves clashing with each other at every opportunity, the air smelling of damp, stinging mist and sour fish.

But this did not seem to be a problem for the ship.

Standing by the sides of this craft were more pirates, who moved their arms as though controlling the waves; the waters calmed drastically before their ship.

To absorb the residual force was a kind of keel structure, 5-foot-tall, curved wooden fin (similar to a dolphin's dorsal fin, but thicker), mounted dead-center between the two hulls.

This fin also served as a stabilizer, keeping the craft stable as it rode the huge wave, rocking violently as though attempting to throw everyone overboard.

Such a fate was prevented or at least regulated by two mighty slabs of stone, hanging behind the boat, serving as anchors in the chaos.

Two smaller ships of the same design rode beside this large ship, all propelled by waves towards the monolithic tower, but as they got closer, the barrier trembled, sending ripples through the air.

Immediately, most of the pirates groaned, a strange mark appearing on their foreheads: a black sigil depicting a four-armed monster.

"Newbies, ready ya sorry asses and get off my ship," she yelled, her voice swallowed by the roaring waves but she was heard.

Immediately after, the pirates on the three ships (specifically the ones who had no marks on their foreheads) jumped overboard into unswimmable waters.

One man, a blue-eyed wizard who stood upon the main ship, looked above at the grey-haired woman with blue eyes, and she looked back at him, nodding slightly as she mouthed, "Get gone, Hunter!"

This wizard, a tad hesitant at first, clutched a certain pendant within his shirt and thought, 'I must complete my mission.'

With that thought he jumped into the roaring sea, but just before his feet could touch the water, he chanted. "lābor!"

"Swoosh!" The crackling of extreme cold rang out as a platform (a board of ice) formed beneath his feet, his knees lowering as he landed, swaying with a stray wave, his form soaked in the endless rain.

His sense of smell had already been numbed by breathing in the misty bits of rain and sea, but despite the discomfort, he stayed focused.

He was surfing atop a seventy foot wave, unmarked brothers and sisters moving along with him, it was a sight to behold.

The tower was not at all stationary, though; its defenders dispatched archers (green and red-eyed Moonsworn) to the island's shore, who fired arrows with precision.

"Argh!" Hunter grunted as he dodged a flame covered arrow, narrowing his eyes at the incoming archers but he resolved not to garner too much attention.

'I can evade, the shots from green eyed Wizards but if I'm ever attacked by a red eyed Wizard, evasion will be tricky,' He thought and just then-

"Sludge!"

An arrow so fast that it could not be seen, tore through the torse of one of his mates, the man gasping as he fell into the endless sea, never to be seen again.

Seeing this Hunter narrowed his eyes, dodging arrow after arrow until they crossed through the golden barrier which filtered the wave that carried them, weakening it drastically.

They were not the only ones to cross; above, a few unmarked pirates and their beasts flew, attracting most of the attention..

"With a bang, he landed violently on the island (carried half the distance by a wave). Hunter looked behind him at the archers, who were preparing to fire, and raced through the rocky terrain along with his mates.

He kept his head low, making sure he did not get shot, while the archers pursued.

Meanwhile, back at the ship, "Steer!" the grey-haired captain commanded, her breath hitching as she felt the mark on her head throb at the sight of the barrier.

In response to her words, her men pulled a lever, swaying the five foot fin sideways.

This act corrected their course, steering the ship away from the island, or more specifically away from the golden barrier.

"You okay, Hunter?" a voice called out from the side. It was a burly, blue-eyed man rushing alongside him, and he chuckled. "Earlier today, before we set sail, you mind telling me what the Captain spoke to you about?"

"What do you mean, Goblho?" Hunter sneered, before saying, "You're the best of the new recruits. Are you feeling threatened?"

"No, it's not that," Goblho shook his head, his eyes narrowed. "It's just strange, this right of passage."

At Goblho's words, Hunter rolled his eyes but didn't answer. 'Haha, you fool! The Unmaker has awakened, and I was chosen to fulfill her first mission!'

He remembered how the Captain had called and explained to him what he must do, telling him how special he was and the benefits he would receive should he succeed.

Goblho, noting Hunter's silence, shook his head and continued moving, simultaneously dodging arrows in the process; staying mobile had hindered the archers' shooting abilities.

The journey was fast paced and tedious, but by the end of it, the group reached the base of the monolithic tower before them.

Quickly, Hunter removed the amulet bestowed upon him by the captain. Gazing at it quizzically, he saw it was a bluish stone, pulsing faintly with something unknown.

Without question he did as he was told and pressed the amulet against the towers many cracks immediately this happened, the blueish stone pulsed and melted into a strange liquid, disappearing forever.

Meanwhile, the rest of the people who had made it to the tower ran towards another part of the island after touching the tower, that had been their trail as initiates, should they survive.

Just as Hunter prepared to run as well.

"Swoosh!"

An arrow tore through the air with an unbelievable amount of force imbedding itself into his skull, his blood spewing out in thin streams.

He staggered, a numbing pain assaulting him as he felt to his knees.

'What?' Hunter thought as his form hit the ground, never once catching sight of his attacker.

---------------

"Please, this way to your room ma'am," a red eyed slave said gravely, leading two green eyed witches to their room door, his voice barely audible over the screeching alarm.

The trading area of the tower was busy, with soldiers and slaves rushing towards their stations, the arrival of such a large fleet of pirates causing panic and unrest.

He had been tasked with leading stray people to their rooms, for those that hadn't procured rooms, they were given one till further notice.

Suddenly, he spotted something from the corner of his eye: a slave in tattered clothing slipping through the crowd.

Seeing this, the dark-haired, red-eyed slave observed, 'Who is that? He doesn't have a collar, so he's not one of ours. Wait, is he?'

From one of the many half abandoned stores, (a prop store), the slave snatched something so expertly that it was hard for even him as an observer to notice.

The red-eyed slave narrowed his eyes. 'A thief.' He moved, but as though sensing him, the thief moved as well, using the rowdy crowd as cover.

Meanwhile, the two green-eyed witches he had been escorting exchanged glances. The taller one, her face half-hidden beneath a hood, smirked.

"Should we intervene?" the shorter one murmured, her fingers twitching toward the dagger at her belt.

"No," the hooded witch replied. "Let the slaves handle their own. We have our own business to attend to."

Returning to the red-eyed slave, he pursued the thief, who moved like smoke, weaving through the panicking crowd with unnatural grace.

But the red-eyed slave was no fool. He had spent years navigating these halls, knew every hidden alcove, every servant's passage. He cut through a side corridor, emerging just as the thief rounded a corner, only to see a face obscured by a plain black mask, green eyes peeking through.

"Bastered," he threw a punch, at the green eyed slave his fist flashing with the unnatural strength of a red eyed Wizard but the masked slave evaded without issues, tilting his head slightly.

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