They settled into a gentle rhythm, sailing the boat within eyesight of the shore but far enough out to be difficult to spot in the soupy darkness.
For the first few hours, everyone was far too wired to sleep, whispering excitedly to one another. When the hour reached midnight, Delphi rostered three girls on, and five off to rest. She, Feifei and Loveday took the first shift. They sailed the boat uneventfully through to just before dawn, handing over the shift and the boat to Indy, Arrie and Lili.
Just as the first glimmer of light appeared in the sky, a loud bang was heard against the hull of the boat, followed closely by a second thump. Delphi, who was sleeping lightly, leapt to her feet, immediately alert.
"You girls focus on keeping the boat sailing on course," she called to the three on duty as she ran up to the deck. "Everyone else, draw your weapons! Get ready to fight!"
Loveday passed around their swords, bows and daggers and they arrayed themselves at the stern, bow, port and starboard sides of the boat, peering cautiously into the water while trying to hang back from too close to the gunwale.
It was seemingly calm and quiet, just the gentle slap of the waves lapping against the boat, the creaking of the hull and the flap of the wind in the sails.
"Stay alert girls," called Delphi.
"Boom!" a huge killer whale breached on the starboard side of the boat, leaping completely out of the water and splashing back in, creating a massive wave that drenched them all. A second tubiàn whale breached on the port side of the boat.
"Grab your oars," cried Delphi. "Use them to push them back."
The two whales' heads now appeared a foot away from the hull on both sides of the boat. They peered up onto the deck with their small eyes. Delphi and Loveday started whacking one with their oars, trying to discourage it from whatever nefarious thoughts it was having.
Feifei and Ruby were doing the same to the other creature. Their efforts didn't shift them at all, and the creatures continued to stare unblinkingly at the girls, keeping steady pace with the boat as they it sailed northwards.
The beasts made some high-pitched squeaks of communication, and then disappeared under the water at the same time.
"Do you think they've gone?" asked Winter fearfully, clutching her long paddle and wielding it like a shield.
"No," said Delphi. "Stay focused. They'll be back."
After a long and painful minute of silence, the two whales raised themselves high out of the water and smashed their heads onto the deck, pushing the hull dangerously low.
Delphi plunged her sword into the side of a whale's head, managing to pierce a hands' length into its skin, but not deep enough to reach its brain.
It made an angry squeak, and an elongated long tongue shot out, sweeping Loveday off her feet, then curling around her and pulling her towards its mouth and the water. Loveday pulled out her short dagger and sunk it into the tongue that was wrapped around her, but it was buried to the hilt in the thick flesh. Delphi pulled her sword free and hacked roughly into the tongue, gripping Loveday around the neck and inelegantly yanking her upwards. The creature squealed again and retracted its tongue, sinking back off the deck and under the waves.
Loveday sat on the deck and rubbed at her bruised neck. "Thanks Delph," she said shakily.
"Watch the tongue!" shouted Delphi to Feifei and Ruby.
"On it," called Feifei.
The girl, looking every inch a warrior, leapt forward and sank her sword into the nose of the huge whale whose head rested on the port side gunwale.
It shot out a huge and agile tongue, hitting her in the guts and propelling her backwards so that she hit the mast hard against her back, where it pinned, her using the powerful muscles in its tongue.
"Feifei!" Ruby screamed and started frantically hacking into the tongue with her short sword.
Delphi threw her broadsword across the deck towards the mutant whale's tongue. The girls watched it fly end over end to embed itself right through the tongue, pinning the creature to the deck. It started thrashing wildly, tilting the boat dangerously as it struggled to free itself.
The girls were thrown off their feet as the deck pitched, and they slid about on the wet boards, trying to find purchase.
Ruby was flipped right over the edge, but she managed to grab the cable rope that was strung along the gunwale as she sailed over it. She pulled herself back up and over, her expert-level gymnastics' ability proving its worth.
Feifei had been freed by Delphi's sword throw, and she thrust her dagger through the tip of the fleshy tongue, where it sank into the pink meat, too short to make it all the way through to the deck. She pulled it back out for another try, and the whale squealed.
The creature pulled its tongue free from Delphi's sword, splitting the end of the appendage in two as it dragged its huge tongue backwards and the sword cut through the top third, leaving a giant trail of blood on the deck.
The tubiàn Orca crashed back into the ocean, leaving the intrepid sailors with only the gentle lapping of the waves and the creaking of the hull, which now carried a much more sinister edge.