“What are we going to do?” Miko cries out. He cups his hands and tries to bail out the water collecting in the bottom of the boat but is having little effect.

“Just shut up for a minute!” James hollers at them. He gazes at the approaching warship and then to the rising level of water in the bottom. Glancing over to Jiron, he says, “Don’t let me fall out.”

Realizing what James is about to do, he nods his head.

Miko sits there as he watches the Foam Breaker moving further and further away. Then his attention comes back to what’s happening in the dinghy as Jiron moves next to James. His eyes dart toward James and watches as he closes his eyes and becomes still.

James concentrates on the storm above and suddenly, a large bolt of lightning flashes down from the clouds toward the ship.

A gasp escapes Miko as he watches the bolt seem to be deflected away from the ship before it even reaches it.

James’ eyes fly open and he cries out, “They have a mage on board!”

“Can you deal with him?” Jiron asks as he watches the warship move ever closer.

“I’m not sure,” he replies. “He feels somewhat different than the others.”

“Different?” asks Jiron. “How so?”

“I don’t know,” explains James. “It just feels different somehow.”

“You better do something fast,” he says. “That warship is getting close.” Another wave crashes over them and Jiron holds tight to James, keeping him from being washed overboard.

Closing his eyes again, this time he searches beneath the waves until he finds what he’s looking for. With a little coaxing, he gets it moving toward the surface.

Suddenly, one of those whale-like creatures they’d seen the day before, lurches out of the water next to the warship. As it comes back down, it slams into the side of the warship and boards are ripped away, creating a large hole just at the water line.

“Yeah!” Miko yells as the creature sinks back into the depths.