I couldn't do a thing as I watched first Jack then Lyra battling the sea monster, the Vandrial. I reached for my axe, the movement unbearably slow, unable to take my eyes off the battle. Suddenly Lyra leapt onto the thing's head and pushed a sword into its brain. She fell to the ground and I ran towards her, suddenly able to move. Blood was everywhere. I grabbed a piece of tattered sailcloth and wrapped it around her largest wounds. Yara came up next to me and started tending to Lyra herself. I went over to Jack, He wasn't dead, he was twitching, a big grin slapped across his face. He was paralyzed. His wounds were already stitching themselves up, probably not helpful this time because it was trapping the poison inside him. I shook my head.

"What are we going to do with you in this state?" I asked him, not expecting a reply. He muttered something through his unmoving teeth, but I ignored him, looking at the ship. The sails were rags, the masts were in splinters, the rail and deck were falling apart at the seams, the lower decks were probably flooding. And the ship was leaning over at an alarming angle. There was no way we could continue our voyage on this thing.

"Guys, we're going to have to abandon ship!" I called out. "Yara, Lyra, you get in the water first, Destran and I'll take care of Zakhon and Jack!" Destran glanced at me, about to say something, then nodded. He would have said the same thing.

"I'll get Zakhon, he's in no state to swim," Destran said. "Can you handle Jack on your own?" I nodded and grabbed Jack's shoulders and began dragging him to the rail.

"Alright Jack, goin' over board again!" I shoved him over the side then dove in after him. Bad plan, he was sinking like a rock. I kicked against the water and grabbed his arm, pulling for the surface. Bubbles were escaping from his mouth and nose. He was laughing at me. I glared at him and kicked for the surface again. Finally we broke through, the paralysis seemed to be wearing off a little, Jack looked a little less frozen at this point, his grin was more teasing now than stuck.

"I... c-could... let y-you... sink... y'know!" I said between gulps of air. Jack, suddenly unfreezing, threw an arm around my shoulders.

"You would never!" He announced, nearly pushing me under. "I, the poor man in distress, sinking to my doom, would never be let down by a hero of such" He paused melodramatically. "panash!" 

"Panash?" I scoffed, throwing his arm off of my shoulders, he pretended to flounder for a moment, flailing his arms around. I started for the shore, tired of his antics. He started following, then raced ahead to goad the others from the shore. I shook my head, and tried to ignore him.

***

Once everyone was on dry land, Destran took out his map again, and the rest of us started building a fire, Zakhon stayed well back, laying on the sand, I'm sure he was just happy to be on solid ground again. I walked over to him.

"Hi." I greeted, slightly awkward. "um, nice work, back there." I sat on the sand. Zakhon looked up at me, confused.

"What are you doing?" He said, slightly annoyed.

"Oh... I, um... We haven't been officially introduced yet, so... I'm Brena, nice to meet you." I stuck out my hand. He shook it.

"Zakhon." he said slowly. "Nice to meet you." I grinned, jumping to my feet.

"Soup in a little while!" I said, and walked back to the others.

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Author guidance for This exercise

An Encyclopedia to help you through Fantandein: http://www.protagonize.com/work/fantandein-an-encyclopedia
The Map: http://art4stargazer.deviantart.com/art/Map-of-Fantandein-278000344

Characters:

Name: Destran
Race: Human
Description: Dark hair and bright blue eyes, straight nose. kinda big, but it looks good on him, he's a bit of a stiff, (at least in the beginning) it comes from all those leadership lessons and the fact he's gonna have to rule someday. He usually wears stuff in navy blue and silver. When he was younger he was best friends with Yara, but they've grown apart a bit since then.
Weapon: Trained in all kinds of weapons, prefers swords and knives.
JSimmons

Name: Yara
Race: Sievere
Description: She has waist length silvery blonde hair that falls in waves, and blue eyes which change shade depending on her mood. Her ears are slightly pointed at the tips, and she has pale skin which is unblemished. She is 5"8, seemingly delicate and speaks softly as though her voice were the breaking of waves on pebbles. Her lips are light with a slight coral tinge and she loves the water, although she has always had a desire for the land. She is calm and thoughtful, but when presented with an enemy her eyes turn stormy, her hair becomes more silvery and she attacks with all the strength she has and without mercy. As a little girl she wandered out of the nursery caves and met the Prince, who was playing on the beach. From then on they met to play, then to talk as often as possible.
Weapon: A small ¾ blade with intricate markings from the handle. Silver and studded with blue gems in the hilt.
Stargazer

Name: Lyra
Race: Sievere
Description: Waist length pin straight blonde hair and blue eyes which turn black when she is upset or angry or discontented in any way. She has a long temper and keeps her cool but when enraged people fear her wrath. 5"8 in height, has a warm heart and likes to see the best in everyone even if that means that she is sometimes naive.
Has been very good friends Yara since she was very little and comes from coral reef by castle Hava
Weapon: 3/4 blade which was owned by her mother and her grandmother and her greatgrandmother and has been pasted down from mother to daughter for generations. Engraved on the blade is Lyra's name and on the handle is an intricate design of flowers interwining into each other. This blade is one of a kind and is recognisable as Lyras and she carries it wherever she goes.
Imprinted Heart

Name: Valak Ru'um
Gender: Male
Race: Vaan
Weapon: Double Bladed Spear (http://www.edgeimport.com/images/7348173649659.jpg), Bow
Description: Around 4 foot 10 inches tall, his hair is medium length, black and is all over the place. His eyes are completely black, and his teeth are sharp and yellow. Ruthless in battle, and just plain evil at any other given time. He is respected by his people, regardless of how he doesnt respect them. He wouldn't help anyone who isn't of his kind, unless paid to do so. He doesn't find his race superior, however he doesn't find any of the others any better than his. He can get violent, but most of the time he avoids unnecessary fights. His size and speed make him a hard target to hit in battle, and his ugly appearance can scare even the bravest of warriors. Just as proficient with his bow than he is with his spear. His alliances lie on the side with the most money. Used to be a general in the Vaan army before getting bored and going freelance because the ending of the Great War of Fantandein left him bored, and he wanted to kill. He is from the Lost Marshes.
Mr.Fisherman

Name: Zahkon
Race: Falath'Nakan
Place: Forest of Illumini
Gender: Male
Markings: Blue
He is 6ft tall. He has a well-built body, very strong and fit. He has very high stamina levels.
He has jet black hair, which is shoulder length and is tied in a neat pony tail with Juju veins. His eyes are completely white. This allows him to see at all times with no problems. He has an amazing sense of smell developed from years of living in the forest. no top.
brown soft leather shoes that come up to the top of the calf-make running quietly very easy and also sneaking.
soft leather trousers. mixtures of browns, blues and greens-camouflage
brown leather belt-holds his knife. holds his quiver of arrows.
*he holds his bow when running. if hunting or fighting and he has the bow strung he can just put it over his back to let him to use his hands or his knife.
Weapon of choice: Bow
He is unbeatable with a bow. He only misses if he wants to intimidate and scare off rather than kill. Also carries a small blade in his belt.
He has an ice cold personality due to being abandoned as soon as he was able to fend for himself for fear that he would follow the path of the previous person with blue markings. He is bitterly determined not to turn out like his predecessor. Unaware that he has a gift for magic.
Wolfe

Name: Jack Valenstar
Race: Human
Description: 6 feet tall, dark brown hair and a small scar on the bridge of his straight nose. Blue eyes and a stiff mouth, has his hair combed back but would usually be quite long, long enough to cover his eyes. Bit of a dick to be honest, he antagonizes people for amusement, not a bad guy but is quite selfish and lazy. He is loyal and has a morally correct view of things, not seeing any difference between any of the races. Wouldn't do anything bad but wouldn't go out of his way to do something good, he would rather stay on the sidelines and sarcastically cheer his friends on, but a ferocious and near unbeatable fighter when he is forced into it.
Weapon: Primary is a simple double-bladed sword, secondary is a boomarang (for annoying purposes only)
Maximillius

Name:Brena
Race:Human
Description: Long curly brown hair, green eyes, wears brown pants tucked into black boots, a black corset over a white puffy-sleeved shirt.
Weapon: Hunting bow, and small axe.
Mycayla

Other humans:
King Stephan: Destran's father
Queen Sophia: Destran's mother
Princess Aria: Destran's sister
Sethos: Destran's evil uncle.
Desdemonda: Destran's cousin
Villagers
Other Sievere:
The Sea Lady/Una:Priestess type leader of Sievere. Yara's mother.
Levina: Sievere who drowns humans.

updated Jan 27 by Stargazer