My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 53: Ulafor Island

Waves crashed against the deck as the winds howled at the ship that had dared to encroach upon these waters. Mr Penny was rapidly bellowing orders while whipping the crew into action.

Captain Raven had his hands full controlling the wheel. Leaving everything to his experienced Lieutenant. 'These blasted storms! Not once in ten damn years have they ever subsided!' He furiously cursed in his mind.

The sky was pitch black as the rain hammered down with incredible force. Luckily for Kace his hood and coat protected him from much of the elements. He had to abandon his halberd in the quarters below deck as all hands were needed to weather the storm.

Grugda however was feeling out of his place. Only able to use his natural strength to help with the sails. His magic was useless here since there was no earth or trees nearby.

A scream penetrated through the roaring winds as for third time a man was thrown overboard. Hoping to ingratiate himself with the captain Kace once again used his [Spider Thread] to save the poor soul from a watery grave.

Luckily it seemed that none of the crew members cared much for this unusual ability. They were men of the world and had witnessed many strange things as it was. One more was not worth thinking about.

A fresh blast of saltwater struck the deck. Further soaking the crew and making them feel even more miserable. It had taken them three days of clear sailing just to reach the storm front, followed by a further five of bearing with the actual storm.

Everyone was exhausted by this point which was why accidents had begun to happen. Raven's eyes glowed like a man possessed as two sharp burst of light signalled from the crows nest.

"Finally!" He roared, as if his voice was challenging the very winds themselves.

The crew let out a cheer. Only one thing could make their captain react like that! The island was within sight! The crew doubled their efforts, forgetting the stinging marks on their bodies from Mr Penny's whip. Eager to reach land and get a rest.

Hours passed without another another incident. As the severity of the storm began to lessen. They soon broke past the curtain of pounding rain into clear waters. 

Although it was roughly midday not a speck of sunlight leaked through the darkened clouds. Looking back to the way they had come from Kace could still see the wild storm. It was like they were two separate bodies of water. One calm and the other violent.

The curtain of rain spread out for miles. Making a perfect encirclement of the mysterious island before them. There was a solitary beachhead in front of them flanked by steep, imposing cliffs. A jungle spread out in all directions at the summit.

Loud and horrifying roars of creatures sounded throughout the island. As if to warn the would be trespassers. Several flat topped mountains chained together to make a mountain range right down the middle of the entire island. Dividing it in two.

"Fuck me! Who knows how long it'll take us to search this place!" Kace grumbled under his breath to the Eljein beside him.

"It looks. Deserted." He kept his voice low enough that nobody else could hear him as he replied. A look of confusion on his face.

The pair began to wonder if the information they had received was truly far out of date and useless. As the island drew closer Kace spotted several large silhouettes moving about between the trees. 'What kind of place is this!' He swore defiantly as he flashed a look at Raven.

He was now intrigued as to why pirates would be so dead set on continuosly endangering themselves to come to this island. Raven did not miss the look that had been fired at him. 'Just keep your nose out of it boy!' His eyes seemed to say as he shot his own look back at him.

As they came into range Raven ordered them to turn the ship so that the cannons faced the island. Men rushed back and forth preparing both the cannons and dinghys.

"Say hello boys!" His commanding voice gleefully exclaimed.

Seconds later a terrible booming resounded throughout the proximity. As more than twenty cannons fired at the same time. Sending vibrations through the ship.

Dust clouds roared from the jungle as trees were reduced to smithereens. Injured animals wailed in their death throes.

"Again!"

A second salvo was launched. Followed by even more screaming. Heavy sounds could be heard retreating further into the jungle.

"That should do it!" The entire crew laughed when the fun was over. It was obvious to Kace that this was done to scare away any predators from where they would land ashore.

He had no sympathy for the beasts inhabitating the island. He was only interested in whether they could find any usable intel. Even if the island was desrted now he was certain that there had be a location on the island that Sonja had used as a base.

Taking a seat in one of the rowboats alongside Grugda and four others they began the trip to the beach. It barely took ten minutes but the whole time Kace was on edge. 

If he fell in his armour would weigh him down and nothing would stop him from being devoured by the cold depths. As soon as he could see solid ground underneath the small boat he immediately leapt overboard.

Ecstatic to have the comfort of land beneath his feet once again he had to stop himself from jumping with joy. His image was important right now while he travelled with these sea rats.

Cargo was brought ashore as the men quickly went to work establishing a camp. Something that they were practiced hands in performing. Leaving nothing for the newcomers to help with.

They watched as about a quarter of the men spread out in the vicinity. Obviously acting as lookout for any predators that had not taken their warning seriously.

Kace nodded in appreciation at the discipline and quick actions of the crew members. A deep respect for Raven and Mr Penny for being able to keep so many brutes under control.

"Gather round! Gather round!" Raven bellowed from beside a newly lit campfire. "Not you! You moron!" 

The lookout who had attempted to join them sulked back to his position. His face bright red from embarrassment. Kace had to hold back from laughing. 'Guess there are some idiots in every organisation.' 

"Now, you all know the score! We'll be heading straight for the tunnels we discovered last time!"

A chorus of complaints immediately voiced their dissent. Kace perked his ears up. Could they be so lucky as to get a lead the moment they arrived? Tunnels would be an excellent place for vampires to hide out.

Though with the constantly dark skies they might not even need it. He no longer held any hopes of finding vampires on the island. As far as he could make out from his chats with the crew they had never even spotted any signs of native humans living on the island.

Any time that he tries to broach the subject of what they were seeking on the island then was met with them immediately claiming their mouth shut. Curtly responding with that's the cap'n business that is.

Kace did not care much what raven was after. It was most likely to do with some old story about treasure. They had no interest in that. They just had to find the member of their party.

"Silence!" Raven roared, his face turning red with fury. "If you don't like it then you can swim back home! Now ready up!"

The complaints had immediately come to an end. They knew their captain would not joke about this sort of thing and they really would be left to swim. Without even another grumble each member of the exploration party began to grab one of the pre-prepared backpacks that were sitting in pile by the fire.

Twenty two of them in total would form the exploration party alongside Raven. The rest were left with Mr Penny to guard the camp and the ship. Kace almost felt like Mr Penny was jealous that he had to stay behind and babysit. Rather than getting in on the action.

Kace and Grugda had been placed in the exploration team. Since their goal was to find their friend. Raven had already promised to help their search as long as they helped him with what he needed.

With no other options they had to agree. They still needed a way to leave the island once they were done anyway. They marched up the inclined beach heading straight for the jungle. Sweat was already forming on the crewmates brows as they had not received even a minute of rest like they had thought they would.

Kace's ears picked up on an interesting piece of conversation though.

"Isn't the captain rushing things too much? Has he forgotten what happened last time?"

"Shh! Do you want him to flay you alive? He's probably worried about how much land we have to cover before time runs out!" The man beside the offending party reprimanded.

'Oh! Now this is unexpected.' Kace raised his eyebrows as thought about this piece of information.

***

Important Author Note Please Read

Hey folks! I've had to edit this is to quite a few chapters so that as many people as possible see it. Please read to the end as it is important.

First off. I need to thank each and everyone of you for the massive show of support in the past few days. You guys are the heart and soul of why I do this.

Second. You deserve to be rewarded. You have shown so much support that I feel you deserve something more in return. Therefore I'm going to try to start releasing two chapters a day. They may be a tad shorter but you'll end up with more to read overall.

Third. Some goals! We're doing well in quite a few of the charts. So let's aim for more. See below for targets to meet and the rewards to go with.

1. Enough votes to make it into top 100 in power Ranking. Two extra chapters to be released next Monday.

2. Top 50. You get 3 extra chapters.

3. Top 25. You get 4 extra chapters.

4. Top 10. You get 5 extra chapters.

5. Top 3. It's a secret but will be worth it.