The five ships of the Norgeland Sea Task Force left the harbour at first light. Once the five harbour pilots were dispatched, all five took up positions in a line, one behind the other. Leading the way was the Thunderfist commanded by Erik Blarneysson. Admiral Wagner wanted to take advantage of the Dwarf ship's steel construction, as well as the fact that their 100 pound automatic loading cannon possessed the longest shooting range of all the ships in his group. The differing nature of the boats which constituted the Admiral's task force, made coordinated movement difficult. The self powered ships could maintain course and speed in most sea conditions, but the sail powered vessels were at the mercy of the winds. The Thunderfist, Ceremonis and Hammer of Theodor would have to do their best to match the speed and direction of the two sailing ships. Fortunately, the Elvish naval wizards had promised to do their best to cast favourable wind spells.

  Admiral Wagner's primary mission was to locate the Grimdark Beast and keep in contact with it, until Rear Admiral Donitz's main battle fleet could join the battle. Donitz's 12 first-rate ships of the line had already been dispatched, and were patrolling north west of the Mutton Islands. Considered too slow and unmaneuverable to catch the Grimdark, the two decks of cannons present on each of their ships should be more than powerful enough to destroy the gargantuan creature, but only if Wagner could slow it down somehow, or lure it into the path of Donitz's fleet.

  Stiff winds from the southeast favoured the sailing ships but also helped push along the rowers. Admiral Wagner was pleased to maintain a steady 8-9 knot pace. The Grimdark was quicker, but not by much, over long distances. Wagner had asked Menthrial Hesto to provide scouts to find the Grimdark Beast. The elves had dispatched giant eagles to scour the Norgeland coastline and had observed the Grimdark preparing for war. Wagner did not want to venture too close to the Norgeland Coast, since that would put his task force into the flying range of various Chaotic flying beasts. One hundred miles was deemed safe from all but the various forms of Chaotic dragons, and none of those had been observed for many years.

  A steady stream of eagle riders arrived from the north, landed on the deck of the Quendya and briefed Hesto on what they had seen. James watched them flying in, from his vantage point on the top deck of the Thunderfist, and was reminded of his own experience with giant eagles. 'I wonder if Lady Ellebreth is one of the elven scouts?" he thought to himself. It usually didn't take long for a scout to make their report, feed themselves and their mount, and return to the skies always heading back in a northerly direction. James wondered what they had seen, especially since various combinations of signal flags were raised onto the bow and stern flag masts. James knew that the various combinations of colours relayed information to the other boats in the line, but he wasn't sure what information. He did know one thing that Saturin had told him though: Four red flags meant the Grimdark Beast had been spotted.

  The hatch door to the wheelhouse opened, and out stepped Celeste Dreamweaver onto the steel deck.

  "Many months have passed since we last spoke, sir James," commented Celeste. "I trust that you are well." The stiff breeze from the stern was continuing.

  "I am well Celeste" replied James. "I was very pleased when I saw you on the dock in Thor's River. Thor's River and the Brognars are my home, back in my own world."

  Celeste knew enough of the significance of James's comment to observe, "They must appear very differently in your world, James. I was surprised to learn that you had agreed to return to this land. Surely, Elana gave you that choice when she summoned you."

  "She did," replied James. "This world grew on me, during the time I spent here with you and Lord Gilderwood. I missed you all. There is something profoundly important about this world. Celeste, you in particular had a significant impact on me."

  "You also affected the way I look at my world, master James." Both James and Celeste paused to gather their thoughts.

  "What do you think will happen when the eagle riders locate the Grimdark?" asked James.

  "We will move to immediately intercept the beast. He is a creation from Hell itself, James Blair. The Admirals of the Northern Fleet have long feared a sortie from this foul creature. No single warship could possibly defeat it, and the Grimdark is capable of swallowing a whole convoy of merchant ships. There is great danger in our mission. Be careful, James."

  "You too, Celeste," responded James as he noticed yet another eagle light aboard the Quendya. This elven scout seemed particularly excited to leap from the back of the giant raptor. She ran towards the deck officer, gesticulating. Seconds later, four red flags appeared on the bow mast.

  "The beast has been sighted, James!"

  ________________________________________________________________________________

  Various combinations of signal flags were replaced by more sets of signal flags, one after another, at a very rapid rate. Eventually, changes resulted. First off, the Quendya took over the lead. James was impressed by how quickly the nimble elf ship was able to overtake the Thunderfist, and occupy the lead position in the line of fighting ships. The Prince Ludendorf, followed by the remaining ships, moved forward to close the gap left behind. Overall, the sailing speed of the task force increased to around 10 knots by James estimation and the course changed slightly by about 10 degrees further to the Northwest. Night was descending on the Norgeland Sea and Celeste suggested they go to the mess to take part in the evening meal.

  "Tomorrow mornin, we do battle with the Grimdark Beast!" stated Erik Blarneysson. That foul demon spawn will rue the day it ever swam out to challenge a dwarf battlecruiser! We will blast that creature back to hell!" Everyone except Dalli, who was at the wheel, was listening to Erik with rapt attention. "Do yer best ta catch some shuteye and be ready ta go at first light! Hesto says that we will most likely intacept the Grimdark at dawn or so. All hell will break out, soon after that, I reckon."

  James didn't sleep much. He still didn't have a clear image in his mind about exactly what to expect from the Grimdark. Was it a 'beast'? Was it a ship? A combination of the two? A summoned creature from one of the alternate Earths that he had seen? And just how big was it? As big as a blue whale? Bigger? 'Why exactly did I sign up for this?' wondered James, not for the first time.

  Morning arrived. After waking from a fitful sleep, James made his way up onto the bow deck of the Thunderfist. Celeste, Elana, Saturin and Bearclaw Irontooth were out there already, staring off towards the north north west. Erik Blarneysson was at the wheel, Dalli manned the automatic 100 pound cannon. Thorgill had climbed to the crowsnest on the top of the mainmast. He was scanning the sea to the north with a short telescope. There were just a few low hanging clouds in the sky. Otherwise it was clear and brisk with 4 foot seas moving south to north. James turned to look astern and noticed the Ceremonis and Prince Ludendorf were close behind. Suddenly James was quite shocked to see a small pod of Orca whales breach the surface, leaping high over the waves.

  Stolen story; please report.

  "Whales!" remarked James, instinctively trying to bring the amazing animals to the attention of the others, much like he might do on the Thurso ferry if whales appeared.

  Everyone turned towards the direction that James was pointing, just in time to see the largest Orca separate itself from the group and accelerate towards the bow of the Thunderfist. 'Surely it must be swimming at over 30 knots,' thought James. It also wasn't stopping or changing course. Just when a collision with the whale seemed inevitable the Orca submerged and resurfaced in a massive, incredible leap with the apex of the jump going over the top of the bow deck steel rail. The whale was going to land on his friends! And then, in an impossible transformation, the body of the whale coalesced into the shape of a Neptune-like man falling through the air, only to land upright on his feet with a thud that shook the deck.

  "Lord Cetacean!" shouted Saturin. "You are a glorious sight!" The man, who had transformed from an Orca, was obviously a powerful wizard of Animalia. He was immensely strong, intense in his disposition and bare chested, looking very much like a Roman sea god emerging from the ocean. His hair bore a resemblance to seaweed and the clothing that began only at his waist, flowed like water.

  "The Demon Beast is near, Lord Irontooth," explained Lord Cetacean.

  "Thar she blows!!!!!" yelled Thorgill from the crowsnest! "Grimdark off the starboard bow!"

  There in the furthest distance, and only when the Thunderfist crested a wave, James could make out a truly massive creature amongst the waves. Blue and shimmering it moved with astonishing power. Directly in front of the beast were two merchantmen ships. Although surely they were more than one hundred feet long the leviathan chasing them was enormously larger. The flotilla of warships was approaching the scene quickly but not nearly quickly enough to intervene in favour of the hapless merchant ships. First one, then the other was overtaken and engulfed by massive jaws. Now, as the Thunderfist approached more closely James could see a large disk hovering above the beast, suspended above swirling magical clouds. On the disk, four beings, each with large staff struggled to contain the powerful Chaos magiks. They directed the beast to change course directly towards the flotilla.

  Lord Cetacean ran towards the bow railing and leaped out above the ocean extending himself into a full headfirst dive. By the time he hit the water the Sapphire Mage had returned to his Orca form, ripping off in the direction of the Quendya.

  "Kaboom!!!!!" went the 100 pound cannon with an incredibly loud blast. James felt the concussive wave impact his body. He only had barely enough where-with-all left to observe the explosion and fountain of water spray from the shell come up just short of the monster.

  "We should retreat to the stern deck, ordered Lord Irontooth. None of the rest of the party needed further convincing and they all ran the length of the gangway to the far rear of the Thunderfist's decking. The next shot fired by the Thunderfist's 100 pounder was loud, but at least not debilitatingly loud.

  "Kaboom!!!!!! went the massive gun.

  This time, the shell struck home and Thorgill cheered the result from his perch on the crowsnest! "Ye got him!!!! Well done Dalli! Fire another round!"

  The Quendya had raised it's full sails and as usual the wind seemed to favour the elven ship as it leaned into a full broad reach, aiming right towards the Chaos leviathan. This caught the attention of the beast clearly, and it changed course and accelerated to pursue the elves. The monster was simply massive and would have dwarfed a blue whale. James estimated its length to be more than 400 feet. The evil looking head alone, was as large as a blue whale, with jaws the size of the Thunderfist. James observed that Dalli's second shot had struck the beast in its side but once the smoke cleared he could detect no damage. Several more shells impacted the demon creature but each time damage seemed minimal or nonexistent. James noticed blue sparks flew every time Dalli's cannon struck their target.

  The Grimdark Beast was slowly gaining on the elves but his pursuit was leading him towards the other three ships in their fleet. The Prince Ludendorf had turned sideways to the beast and when Admiral Wagner felt the range had closed sufficiently, he lowered his broadsword as a signal and "Kablast!!!!!" All twenty eight guns on the broadside let loose at once. Another concussive blast swept over James.

  The finest sailors of the Holy Prussian Navy did not miss their mark. Cannon ball impacts were visible along the length of the creature. James could even see the iron balls bouncing backwards and falling into the sea. There were more blue sparks. On top of the beast, the magical disk supporting the four wizards started to rotate slowly. For the first time, James could also see beast headed men, armed with swords and dressed in rags, standing in the mists underneath the mage's disc. There were hundreds of these Chaos soldiers now visible to James and his companions, standing on the back of the monster.

  "The Chaos loremasters are warding the leviathan with powerful defensive spells!" explained Bearclaw Irontooth. "Perhaps we can hope that the magical bolts of the elves will have some effect?"

  As if his words set off a trigger, the Elvish bolt throwers unleashed their missiles. No thunderous explosions this time, just a series of low frequency, "thrums'" and the salvo of bolts was launched. Green sparks trailed behind the oversized arrows as they arched upwards towards the Chaos monster. James could clearly see them in the air as they descended and one by one, and found their mark. This time damage was done as the majority of the strikes resulted in penetration of the beast's scaly hide. James could even see some blue 'blood' released, but the wounds seemed small on such a massive creature. 'At least it was something,' thought James.

  It was all the elves could do to keep ahead of the pursuing monster and while they did this they continued to launch bolt throwing attacks. The Prince Ludendorf had also managed to fire two more broadsides while the beast sped past, but by now the Chaos creature had swum out of range. It was now becoming obvious that Menthrial Hesto was intentionally leading the Grimdark towards the Ceremonis and the Hammer of Theodor. As the Grimdark sped closer and closer the two boats equipped with rams altered their courses to insure collision with the beast. The rowers even picked up their cadence to accelerate their boats into the inevitable impacts.

  James was able to view the far side of the mammoth monster and could see Orcas leaping against that side of the Grimdark, sometimes taking chunks of flesh from its side. The monster's large flukes pushed back and attempted to form a defence against the bites of the killer whales.

  "Thump!!!!" as the Ceremonis struck the head of the monster. "Ka Thump!!!!" as the Hammer of Theodor struck home in a shower of magical energy, penetrating the unholy animal's hide, with the steel ram lodging itself securely into the rib cage of the beast. Greek fire projectors poured liquid flames along the top of the beast, surrounding the beast headed warriors. The progress of the Grimdark Beast was halted by these attacks, but the price paid would be high. The hundred foot long jaws flailed back and forth looking for something bite, and what they found was the starboard side of the Ceremonis's hull. The jaws clenched shut, tearing through the wooden construction of the Dromon, and snapped shut, cutting the ship in two. Sheared off oars, masts and boat timbers showered down onto the surface of the sea, along with hundreds of Aquitanian crew members, themselves engulfed by gushes of flaming oil.

  "Oh my god! Theodor help us!" exclaimed Celeste Dreamweaver. "We must do something!"