Chereads / I turned my curse into a blessing / Chapter 22 - Iron taste

Chapter 22 - Iron taste

David is now unconscious due to blood loss, June struggles to reach David trying to give him aid.

With one of the fish-men approaching them, Kol used a spell, that he was unaware of what it does.

Peter described the spell as causing symptoms equal to that of being poisoned. Though Kol knew how to cast it, he had never targeted a living creature out of fear that it might be something he couldn't handle. Based on Peter's notes this spell was effective on living creatures.

Kol used the spell to stop the creature before him without any other option. The creature stops as the sickly green ray of light erupts from Kol's hand and hits it square on to gills. It convulses as puss and boils appear in its body. The creature grabbed its chest, its mouth gasping as if unable to breathe. His scares wither and his grey skin turns green and purple. It fell to its knees on the docks, then with its last breath, it gulped as much as it could before falling to the ground, prone. The Fish was dead.

Kol's mind goes into a short celebration upon killing the creature, then fear sets in. It was one thing reading about the spell's effects and another witnessing it in person. What kind of a sick person would subject someone innocent to this type of torture?

Kol turns to see June cradling David's unconscious body. The three of them were drenched from the rain, the distant sound of battle fades ever softly. Kol took notice of this, eventually, the battle would end, its outcome uncertain, Kol knew he should help. Otherwise, it won't matter whether David will be all right or not, they're all going to die.

"Go. Leave David to me." June commands.

"Right. I'll go find help." Kol declares as he runs towards a nearby guardsman doing battle with one fish person.

As Kol approaches the guard, the view of the once-obscured docks becomes clearer as he gets closer.

A crashed ship splits the docks in two. On this side where Kol was the deck is littered with bodies both of fish and men. The floor itself is no longer wood, but instead, scores of vibrant colorful corals decorate the floor. Upon some time of focus, Kol understood these were no ordinary corals. The bodies inside the thick patches of coral growth appeared to be stabbed, cut, and impaled by them.

'First the fish people. Now the freaking corals too?' Kol thought.

Eventually, he got close to the guard who seemed to have taken a lot of damage from the fish person.

"I'm here to help," Kol said, summoning his magic in his hand. A puff of smoke then a swarm of purple butterflies surrounded the fish.

[Blue EN: 3/11]

It didn't do anything.

'Right, I forgot.' Kol says to himself, trying to summon Peter's spell once more. Then,

The whole shipyard shook, and a crack of lightning tore through the sky. Replacing the roar of thunder was a deaf wail of a woman. The scream was so high Kol could swear his ears were bleeding. All of the combatants stopped and turned to their origin. Kol turned to the crashed ship, on top of the railings was the figure of the woman. She then jumps onto the sea, followed by more fish people.

The fish fighting the guard in front of Kol stopped when it heard the woman scream. It then stabbed the guard while he was distracted. Red rushed out of his backside. The guard turned to Kol.

"Run, kid." He said, coughing blood.

Kol reached out his hand. The fish man then leaped into the water, its chains uncoiling. Following its direction, the chains led to the harpoon embedded in the guard's torso. The chains tightened beneath the water, it tugged and pulled the guard into the water.

Kol chased after the guard up to the edge of the docks. But it was too late. He would be too deep for Kol to chase by now.

Another guard joined Kol over the edge.

"Captain!" he screamed dropping his spear.

The sound of splashes can be heard, as one by one the fish people leaped back into the water.

'Is it over?'

The rain lightens, and the dark clouds soon dissipate allowing a few rays of leaf light to poke through. Without the heavy rain, Kol could now see clearly. Looking over the direction of where he came from, he saw June and David being attended by 3 men with similar cuirasses as the guards. June catches Kol's eyes and waves gently. From this distance, they couldn't hear each other. Kol smiled and nodded. Hoping June understood.

"Are those your friends?" the person beside him asked.

He was an elf, wearing the garments of Lindow guards.

Kol just nodded.

"Thank you for trying to help the captain, if only I was a little faster, I would've arrived a little sooner." He said softly with a smile.

"Don't. I didn't do anything." Kol clarified.

Kol told the truth. He intended to help prevent the worst outcome of the battle, but in the end, he was useless.

'I might as well have just watched on the sidelines.' Kol thought to himself.

A person on top of the crashed ship shouted, grabbing the attention of Kol and the elf.

"They took something from the ship, Sir."

"Any ideas as to what it was?" the elf replied.

"No, sir. But the captain of the ship managed to escape the attack, he's by the barracks right now."

"Good. I'll meet you there." The elf then turns to Kol. "You should be with your friends. We'll call on you when we need to."

Kol took a few steps. Then hears the elf mumble something.

Kol turns to see the elf, red gushing from his mouth and stomach. His blue Lindow armor stained as a rusted harpoon protrudes through his back towards his stomach.

"No!" Kol screamed as he ran back to catch the elf.

The chain once again tightens, then he's pulled back into the ocean. Red patches of blood paint the sea.

Without giving Kol a chance to think another harpoon shoots out of the ocean. Kol could only feel pain.

In this entire battle, Kol was never attacked or wounded. The long metal was cold to his skin as he held his stomach. The taste of iron built up in his throat. Kol knew what was going to happen next. With all of his might, he grabbed the chain and held on, firmly planting his foot on the wooded floor.

'I won't give you the satisfaction.' Kol thought, holding onto the chain and waiting for the pull. He planned to pull against it and hopefully drag the fish out of the water.

The tug came, as expected.

[Strength D20 + D4 roll] – 7

the next instant, Kol poured everything he had onto his arms. But he found himself already in the water.