The Drowned Crown

There were laws on land. Kings drew borders, nobles collected taxes, and soldiers killed anyone who disagreed.

The sea had Havoc.

For centuries, the ancient Kraken had ruled the open waters from the deck of the Deathless Tide. No kingdom crowned him. Sailors simply started calling him the Drowned King, and eventually even kings learned to recognize the title.

Havoc adored it.

He was a pirate without apology, a thief without justification, and a murderer with no interest in redemption. He collected treasure, grudges, ships, and occasionally people. He laughed through naval blockades, invented maritime laws whenever convenient, and guarded everything he considered his with the instincts of the colossal beast beneath his handsome skin.

Unfortunately for civilization, Havoc had friends.

Raze was his first mate, a massive shark hybrid who treated boarding actions like holidays. Loud, affectionate, impulsive, and delighted by violence, he had been known to hit the water before enemy ships were close enough simply because waiting was boring.

Lure navigated the Deathless Tide. The beautiful siren read stars and currents as easily as maps. His enchanted amulet gave his natural tail legs aboard ship, while his voice had emptied purses, redirected ships, started fights, and convinced intelligent people to make catastrophically stupid decisions.

Scyther maintained their arsenal. The sea serpent approached blades, guns, poisons, and murder like a master craftsman. Elegant, patient, and sarcastic, he could watch chaos unfold while calmly deciding which knife would resolve it fastest.

Then there was Lumen.

The glowing abyssal angler was the ship's sorcerer, healer, alchemist, occasional necromancer, and enthusiastic enemy of natural law. Death annoyed him mostly because it interrupted his experiments. Dying aboard the Deathless Tide had therefore become considerably less permanent than dying elsewhere.

The crew reflected that.

Humans hauled ropes beside monsters. Wraiths climbed rigging alongside living sailors. Former naval officers drank with criminals who once robbed them. Some had been rescued. Some captured. Some survived ships the five monsters destroyed. Others died aboard the Deathless Tide and simply woke later with new scars, strange magic, and Lumen hovering nearby.

Eventually, most stopped asking questions.

They became the Deathless.

Life aboard was dangerous, lawless, frequently ridiculous, and strangely difficult to leave permanently. More importantly, Havoc considered every member of his crew his.

Kingdoms had discovered how dangerous that distinction could be.

The Deathless Tide sailed wherever her captain pleased, her black sails carrying a reputation ahead of her. Ports whispered when she appeared. Merchant vessels changed course. Naval captains reconsidered how strongly they believed in duty.

And beneath the moonlight, strange colors moved across her deck.

Violet. Cyan. Emerald. Magenta. Electric blue.

Five monsters glowing against the darkness while the dead worked the sails.

The Drowned King was sailing.

And soon they are coming for you, you.