The Monster Of The Ghealan Sea

Alderan

Prologue

The world was shaking all around him. The land of Draia was being broken apart by great earthquakes; killing most of the Dragons, in what would later become known as "the Great Cataclysm". Ghealan was one of the last Dragons alive. Fearing for his life, he fled to the ocean, and used his great magical powers to change his wings to fins, and grow himself gills. Ghealan plunged into the ocean, attempting to avoid the same fate as his kin. He swam to great depths, trying to escape the chaos erupting across the land. The god Centau, who had lost his sanity long ago, throwing himself into the sea and falling to unfathomable depths, realized that a great Dragon had come into the ocean. In his great anguish, he reached out into its dreams, twisting its mind with greed. It turned into a merciless monster that would attack ships for treasure to steal and hoard.

Part One

"Can't this thing go any faster?!?" Captain Neku demanded. "We're going as fast as we can captain, but it's still gaining!" cried the first mate, William. Moments later, something pounded against the side of the ship, knocking over half the crew. "Change course! Move toward Naralik!" "Are you crazy?!? That place is infested with Goblins!" cried William. "Well, it's better than being eaten by that... that THING!" Just then, it pounded against the side of the ship once again, leaving a huge hole. "Abandon ship!" cried Captain Neku, "Abandon sh-" but before he could finish, a giant head came out of the water, snatching up and swallowing Captain Neku. "What... What happened?" William mumbled. His head hurt and he couldn't remember anything. "Calm down there, sonny, you're all right," said an old, raspy voice, "Got a few bumps on your head, but nothing too serious. What happened to you, if I may inquire?" Looking up, William saw an old, scruffy looking man, who he guessed was a hermit. "I... I don't know. All I remember is that the ship I was in was carrying a load of wine to Isla Prima, and that's all... where did you find me?" William asked. newline below "Well, I found ya over thar by that ship wreck. I looked around, but there were no other survivors... I didn't even see any other bodies, come to think of it." Memories came flooding back to William; he suddenly remembered the attack by the monster. "We have to warn people!" William shouted. "Eh, what? What are ya talking about boy?" the hermit asked. "The THING! The monster! Whatever it is! We have to go and warn people!" "All right, now calm down sonny. I have no idea what you're talkin' about. Would you mind explainin'?" "We were taking that shipment of wine from Morcraven Marsh to Isla Prima, about half way there, we were attacked by a... a giant Sea Serpent! It ate them! It ATE THEM!" The hermit was starting to look worried, "All right," he said, "let's go to Portland and see if we can't have the Chamber of Commerce set up a public meetin' I s'pose. Don't worry about them Gobbos, they know well enough not to mess with me." After walking for two weeks, they finally arrived at Portland. They met with the chamber of commerce, and they set up a public meeting to discuss what happened, three days hence. "Welcome everyone. We're having this meeting because of a report of an attack by 'a giant Sea Serpent' on a ship a few weeks ago," said the leader of the Chamber of Commerce "We would have ignored this complaint, but it's the third time someone has come to us about this... thing. We're here to organize a hunting party to go out and kill this Monster." Aerowind, a powerful Elven mage, stood up "I volunteer to lead this hunting party," he boldly declared. "Very well then. You are officially the leader of this hunting party," declared the leader of the Chamber of Commerce, "However we need more volunteers to accompany you on this mission, for Aerowind, I fear no one man can defeat this beast alone." After one hour, they had a team of ten; made up of three Dwarves, four Humans, and three Elves. The Chamber of Commerce provided a ship for them to use. They set sail toward the Ghealan Sea. It would take five days to get there, but they figured it would be the best place to find the beast.

Part Two

Five days later, Aerowind was searching the Ghealan Sea with his keen Elven eyes. He saw something move in the water, about 50 yards away... 'could it be the monster?' he wondered. The water stirred again, this time only thirty yards away. Now he could see a huge, dark serpentine form under the water. "Get your bows!" he shouted to the men. By now, Ghealan had almost reached the boat. Aerowind grabbed his bow, and shot an arrow at the head of the monster. Suddenly, the dark shadow in the water began to fade, it appeared as if the monster was sinking. "It can't be that easy..." Aerowind muttered to himself. He looked around the water, but saw nothing. All of a sudden, something pounded against the bottom of the ship, almost breaking a hole into it. The monstrous head came out of the water. "Fire!" Aerowind cried, firing off another arrow. The other men fired as well, but the arrows couldn't penetrate such thick scales. Ghealan dove into the water once again, and pounded the bottom of the ship. "We're taking on water!" one of the men shouted. Aerowind, realizing the bow and arrows weren't working, dropped his bow and cast harm, but it wasn't enough; he only made the Monster more angry. Ghealan's head swept down, grabbed one of the Dwarves, and swallowed him. Aerowind cast the strongest spells he knew, but they weren't strong enough to defeat this corrupted dragon. There was no hope of victory against such a foe. "Abandon ship!" he cried, and jumped off into the sea, grabbing hold of a wood plank that had been broken from the ship, he started to swim toward the shores of Naralik. Twelve hours later, Aerowind made it to the shore; he crawled onto the beach and fell to the ground, exhausted. It was the middle of the night, and he was too tired to travel to Portland, so he let himself fall asleep. When he awoke, he saw Lomir the Elf and Garr the Dwarf lying on the shore, not far from him; they were apparently the only other survivors. He made his way over to them, to make sure they were still alive. They were still breathing. "Wake up," he said, shaking Garr, who groaned and said "We barely made it... Everyone else... Everyone else died." He was obviously in no condition to go to Portland, so Aerowind cast a healing spell on both Garr and Lomir, then went back to sleep himself. When Aerowind woke up, it seemed to be late afternoon. He returned to Garr and Lomir to wake them up. "Hello there," he said to Garr, which woke him up, "Aerowind? Who... who else survived?" he asked. "It seems only us and Lomir Survived," Aerowind said, "are you all right? We need to get to Portland to tell the Chamber of Commerce what happened." "I'm ok," said Garr, "But how is Lomir?" "I'm not sure," Aerowind said, "But I cast a healing spell on the two of you a few hours ago, he should be fine." "I'm fine, but, I would be doing better if you two hadn't woken me up." Lomir said with a grin. "Good to see you're all right," Aerowind said, "but we have to go to Portland right away, and tell the Chamber of Commerce what happened." Garr and Lomir stood up "Let's get going," Garr said, and the three of them started back to Portland. Two weeks later, they made it to Portland, and went to see the Chamber of Commerce. "This is terrible!" the leader of the Chamber of Commerce said, "This monster must be destroyed!" "We tried, but a mere mortal has no chance against this beast. Let us hope that the Gods will help us." Aerowind said. After they left, Aerowind went off by himself, and prayed to Unolas for help, so that they might defeat the great Monster. That night, Unolas came to him in a dream, and said "I have given you the power to summon the spirit of a great Dragon that will defeat this Monster." The next day, Aerowind went to the Chamber of Commerce with Garr and Lomir, and told them about his dream. "This truly is good news!" said the leader of the Chamber of Commerce, "Though the Chamber of Commerce cannot afford to supply you with a new ship, I have my own small vessel you can use. Hopefully, with Unolas' help, this Monster can finally be killed. But, Garr and Lomir, are you willing to go with Aerowind to defeat this beast?" "I will go." Garr said, "As will I." Lomir added "Very good, then!" said the leader of the Chamber of Commerce. "I will have my boat ready and loaded with supplies by Tomorrow." The next day, Aerowind, along with Garr and Lomir, went to the boat and set sail toward the Ghealan Sea. On the fifth day, Aerowind was, again, searching the sea with his keen eyes. The Monster was no doubt near by. And this would be the last ship it ever attacked. In the distance, Aerowind saw the water stir. It was Ghealan! "Here it comes!" he shouted. He could now see the dark form underneath the water. It was only one hundred feet away. Aerowind waited until it was 50 feet away, and summoned the spirit of the Dragon, as Unolas had instructed him. A great flying Dragon appeared, and swooped down to attack Ghealan. It was a fierce fight; the Monster bit the leg of the Dragon, and the Dragon whipped the monster with its tail. They fought for what seemed like an eternity, relentlessly attacking each other. The Monster was severely wounded, and was weakening, but it continued to fight. The Dragon that Aerowind had summoned bit the Monster's neck. The Monster started sinking, obviously paralyzed from loss of blood. The water where it had been was fast turning red. The spirit of the Dragon, its mission complete, disappeared. "Set sail back to Portland. The Monster has been defeated." Aerowind said.

Epilogue

Ghealan sank down to the ocean floor, where he stored his great treasure. His eyes slowly closed, and his heart stopped. Here he could finally rest, free from the torment Centau had made of his life, for all eternity.