End Online: Volume 5 by D. Wolfin Page A

this time,
the ship is already half repaired, but won’t be able to take the same beating
again.
    Two hundred meters in front of the ‘Bastion’, a large shadow
appears under the surface. It gets closer and larger every second, filling me
with deep dread.
    “It be a big one this time!!” CaptainGordon shouts out in a
thunderous voice. “Verde, Lockon, SomaHealer, do ye three recall what I showed
ye last time?”
    “Of course,” SomaHealer is the first to reply. “Is it time for
that?”
    “It be time!”
    Verde turns to the rest of our party and nervously nods her head,
“I don’t really understand this very well, but I will help the others.”
    The three of them rush below deck at top speed. This time,
CaptainGordon doesn’t follow them down. Instead, he stands at the helm while
whistling that appalling tune.
    I don’t really understand what is going on, but I stand at the
bow of the ship and wait for the sea monster to emerge from the water. From
somewhere below the deck, the grinding of gears sounds and the entire vessel
vibrates gently. I also hear the scraping of metal and lean over the railing to
investigate the noise.
    A large iron plate around the bow of the ship is sliding down,
creating small sparks against another iron plate from the friction. A large
cavity is suddenly revealed in the front of the ship. The movement of heavy
wheels echoes from within the cavity, and a strange cannon emerges.
    The cannon has three large barrels in the shape of a triangle,
similar to the artwork on the pirate flag above us. The barrels are extra long
compared to a standard cannon, but I can’t see the rest of the weapon to figure
out exactly how it works. I assume it fires three cannonballs at once.
    I can also now hear the sound of ropes tightening and clips
clicking into place. Just as I am wondering what comes next, the sound of
gunpowder lighting and the first cannonball being fired cracks the air and
makes my ears ring.
    The first cannonball falls short and off to the right, an
explosion of water indicating where it hits.
    “LEFT FOUR! ASCEND TWO! KEEP FIRING!!” The captain screams so
loud his voice starts to crack. I sarcastically wonder whether I should be more
concerned of hearing the cannon or his voice.
    The barrels on the tri-cannon start rotating at a measured pace,
neither slowly nor quickly. Each time one of the barrels reaches the apex of
its rotation, a single cannonball is fired with a slight vibration through the
boat and the sounds of ropes tensing under the counterforce. The speed is about
one cannonball every one and a half seconds.
    The eruptions of water gradually get closer to the shadow under
the water, until one finally hits it. A small health bar in the distance shows
up, a small section already removed.
    “THAT BE IT!! HOLD STEADY! DESCEND ONE EVERY THREE!” The second
order sounds out, full of joy.
    The cannonballs start to track the shadow as it gets closer,
only a few missing the target by a fraction to either side. When the shadow is
fifty meters away and down to half health, it emerges from the water.
    The sea monster is a giant, whiskered fish twice the size of the
‘Bastion’. It’s a deep red color and has three vicious sets of teeth extending
out from its mouth. The cannonballs have a much easier time hitting the target
above the water, not a single one missing. Perhaps it is due to the water not
diminishing the strength behind each hit, but the cannonballs do twice the
damage to the sea monster now that it has emerged.
    The sea monster reaches within twenty meters of the ship, it’s
size looming over us in an incredibly menacing way, when it finally runs out of
health from the assault of the ship’s cannon. Its teeth suddenly crumble away
and its movement stops. The fish creates a large ripple effect with four meter
waves in its death throes before silently bobbing up and down in the water.
    ‘Too frightening! That cannon must be breaking the rules!’  I feel that this