We returned to the deck and checked the lifeboats all the same. There were three left in total. Only one was missing—the same one Aisha and I had taken to travel to Uma’s island. We moved around the circumference of the ship, scanning the water surrounding us, but none of us spotted a surge of Bloodless swimming beneath the waves. We would need to leave the vessel and continue soaring over the ocean.
The witch carried me higher than she’d flown with me before, and the jinni followed suit. The higher up we were, the wider area we could scan at once.
We kept our eyes peeled for what felt like the next hour as we flew in search of the monsters, until we began reaching even deeper waters. Waters the Mansons and I had always tried to avoid due to the ghastly sea creatures that were rumored to inhabit them.
As we continued flying, I caught the sound of distant shouts. Though it was more than shouts. It was deep, guttural roars.
I looked in the direction of the noise. A ship loomed on the horizon.
“Hurry,” I said, pointing toward it.
As we neared the vessel, its features became clearer. Going by its heavy-handed construction and black sails, I guessed that it belonged to ogres. Maybe it was even the infamous Skull Crusher itself.
As we hovered over the deck, I let out a gasp. Beneath us was a scene of utter chaos. The roaring had been coming from ogres, lumbering around the deck, wielding axes and spears, as Bloodless tore into cell after cell of… humans.
Oh, God.
This must have been one of the ogres’ cargo ships. Perhaps they’d come too near to the Bloodless on my ship, and, smelling the blood of humans, the Bloodless had leapt aboard.
The floor was scattered with humans, some writhing on the floor—apparently in transformation—while others appeared to be dead.
By the looks of it, the ogres weren’t doing a good job at quelling the Bloodless’ attack. The Bloodless were too agile and quick for the thundering ogres, and by the time the ogres had lurched toward them with an ax, the Bloodless had already darted in the opposite direction.
I was shocked to see that even ogres lay dead on the huge deck, while some were strewn in the ocean—in both cases, drenched in their own blood. It seemed that these creatures really would attack anything—humans, witches, ogres, werewolves…
“Okay,” Uma said, her voice steady even in the midst of such carnage. “Before we float down, I will keep aside those I wish to use for my research, and then the rest can be finished off.”
Aisha had already unsheathed a sword and was clutching it in her hands. It seemed that she really was going to use brute force in slaying these creatures rather than her magic.
I quickly scanned the vessel for Hans’ siblings. In all the commotion that was going on, I couldn’t spot them. They were all moving too fast in their massacre of the humans, and in the ogres’ desperate attempt to stop them. The Bloodless were practically blurs of pallor whizzing about the deck.
“Well, come on then,” Aisha complained. “Choose them and let’s get this over with.”
I caught sight of a group of Bloodless standing on one of the raised platforms, near the wheel of the ship. They were prowling around one of the still unopened cages of humans. After verifying that none of them were Hans’ siblings, I suggested to Aisha, “Well, we can start already, I guess.” I pointed toward the crowd by the unopened cage. “Why don’t we begin over there, and then Uma has the rest of the ship to choose her specimens from.”
Aisha took the bait, and, with barely a backward glance to see if I was following her, she moved toward them with a murderous gleam in her eyes. The girl was mad, I was sure.
As she reached the crowd, she leapt toward one and brought her sword down against his neck. I should have immediately been focusing my attention on finding Colin, Frederick and Arletta, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. The first strike didn’t sever his head. Neither did it sever the second or even third time. Only after the fourth strike did she finally manage to send his head rolling to the floorboards. No blood spilled, and his body keeled and collapsed in a heap. Aisha then began hacking at the rest of his body, as if she feared that it would rise again, headless.
I refocused my attention on my priority and swept my eyes once more around the deck from where I still hovered with the witch in the air. Finally, I spotted them. All three of them were huddled together in one corner, sharing a human amongst themselves. I found the sight bizarrely heartwarming. At least they’re sticking together. I wondered if they recognized each other at all. Whether they could even experience finer emotions like love or attachment… or whether all they experienced was an all-consuming desire for what their bodies were incapable of holding in—blood.
Discreetly, I pointed the siblings out to the witch.
“That’s them,” I whispered.
“Just those three?”
“Yes,” I said, taking a deep breath. “You need to make it look like you’ve just chosen those three on your own, randomly. And get them out of here.”
“All right,” she said. “I’ll vanish with them back to my island. It’ll only take a few moments, and then I’ll return.”
“Thank you,” I said, my heart swelling with gratitude.
“I’ll need to put you down somewhere first though,” she murmured.
“Just”—my eyes traveled around wildly—“just drop me on that mast.”
I wasn’t as afraid for my safety now compared to before, not with the distraction caused by all this fresh human blood. But taking me to the mast I’d pointed to wasn’t quite as simple as I’d anticipated. It was already occupied by a couple of Bloodless, perched among the sails, sucking on a human between them. The witch darted around with me until we found an empty mast where she could let go of me. Balancing, I scanned the deck anxiously again to verify that Colin, Arletta and Frederick were still—