57 THE 13TH ACCOUNT: EZEKRA 2

I could tell that a humongous creature was swimming our way. Her long sea-green upper fin which stretched for miles was slithering to our direction at such a tremendous speed. Her length was probably seven times the length of Labyrinth. I suddenly grew nervous. How could we ever harvest her tears?

Then, our most awaited time happened! Ezekra emerged from the sea! Her upper body was covered with purple scales while the lower half was white as snow. I could not make out what she was. At first, I thought she was a sea serpent because of her elongated body. However, sea serpents, though I have not seen one, could not be this splendid!

Ezekra was a league of her own! She was her own creature! She could not be categorized with any other mythical beings such as dragons and unicorns. She is exquisite! Grand! Beautiful! She stared at our ship with such a magnificent pair of golden eyes as if confronting us about the chase. She bared her fangs to intimidate us and hissed. Sea water sprayed toward us.

Jacob did not waste any time. He aimed and shot! But the bullet ricocheted because Ezekra's scales were thick. Jacob groaned. However, he was not one to give up. He moved closer to Ezekra and quickly fired three shots. This time trying to look for a soft spot.

My crewmates saw what Jacob was trying to do. So, they followed his lead and attacked Ezekra fearlessly. They slashed, aimed, and shot at her but to no avail. She remained unharmed. She moved her mouth and I thought she grinned. Ezekra was not even fighting back and was just letting them attack!

"Gondro, focus on the eyes. I will try to do something," Jacob said.

Jacob took hold of one of the hanging ropes by the sails and swung to mount Ezekra. I stepped forward to try to raise my voice to stop him but my strength was depleting. My heart pounded in fear that he might get hurt just like in the Gulf of Sirens. I grew nervous as I saw Ezekra move his head to watch what Jacob would do. She gave him a warning look but Zaki fired the cannon at her that took her attention away.

Jacob did not waste any time and took his dagger and put it under one of Ezekra's gigantic scales. Then, with all his might, he used it to peel that scale off. Ezekra felt the pain because it growled and turned back to him. Jacob quickly jabbed his sword through the opening that he made until it pierced Ezekra's flesh.

Ezekra growled louder and jerked in an attempt to dismount Jacob. But Jacob was quick-witted. He stood up right away and jumped head first. Then, he drew his pistols and aimed at the now exposed flesh and shot. The bullets made contact!. Ezekra groaned in pain. Seeing that, Lowen aimed at the same spot and kept shooting until blood began to gush out from the wound.

Jacob made a flip in mid-air and landed on his foot. "Gondro, harvest the tears now! Everyone, keep aiming at that same spot!"

Gondro transformed into his mer-self so he could move faster and jumped onto Ezekra's snout. When he was closer to the eyes, he took out a vial of liquid and threw its contents on her face near the eyes.

The sting of the liquid plus the pain in the attacks made the creature wince in pain and a large teardrop escaped from her eye. Gondro quickly took out a bottle and harvested the tear and jumped back down to Labyrinth.

Ezekra let out one last growl and retreated back to the deep sea water to nurse her wounds. I let out a sigh of relief but my eyes blurred. Everything seemed to turn black and white! I leaned on the wall so I would not fall but my body was too weak to support my determination. My knees gave out and I was about to slump on the deck floor but once again, my Jacob caught me in time.

"Why didn't you stay in bed?" He scolded me gently.

"I …want to… see what…. Ezekra …looked …. like," I replied slowly in a very soft whisper because suddenly even speaking was such a task!

Gondro quickly rushed to us. "Drink this, Miss Darling," he said.

I tried to open my mouth but I could feel my strength leaving me. I shook my head slowly. That was the only movement I could do.

"Darling?" Jacob shook me.

I could hear him but I do not have any strength left in me to respond.

"This won't do," Jacob said and quickly took the bottle from Gondro and poured its contents in his mouth then he force fed the liquid into my mouth as slowly as he could.

"Darling, try your best to swallow," I could hear Neville say.

I did what he said and swallowed all the liquid that Jacob gave me. After administering the medicine through his mouth, Jacob carried me bridal style back in my room and laid me down on my bed. He placed his palm on my forehead to check my temperature and sighed in relief.

"Your fever broke," he whispered to me.

I could feel him hold my hand and gripped tighter. I nodded my head. I could feel some of my strength coming back little by little. So, I looked at him with weary eyes. I could see the worried expression on his face. I gave him a faint smile, "Thank …you," I was able to mutter.

"Don't speak just yet, if you can't. Do not force yourself. Just wait until all your strength comes back," he told me. I closed my eyes. Before I fell asleep, I felt Jacob rest his head on my hand.

I woke up first. My body ache is gone. I looked at Jacob. His eyes were still closed. His hand was still holding mine. He was finally having some restful sleep. I lifted up my free hand and clenched my fist to test if my strength did come back. I smiled. I'm healed!

Jacob felt me move and opened his eyes. He quickly sat up and checked on me, "How are you feeling?"

I smirked. I love this man so much! I quickly got up to show him I'm fine and sat on his lap. I held his face in between my hands and bridged the gap between our lips. Jacob's hand was around my waist in an instant and he responded. When we parted, he chuckled, "Looks like your strength is back."

I smiled and nodded, "Thank you. What would I do without you?"

Jacob smirked, "My sentiments exactly."

He grabbed the back of my head with his other hand and pulled me closer again. "I miss you," he said and kissed me.

I placed my arms around his neck and revelled in his kisses. We were enjoying each other when the door to my room opened! Paco and Neville were caught in surprise as they saw us in our compromising position. I parted from Jacob immediately and was about to get off his lap but Jacob held my waist tighter. He shot a glare at the two men.

"Don't you two know how to knock?" Jacob roasted them.

"Well, excuse us for being worried," Neville replied.

Paco crossed his arms. "Besides, I don't think you should indulge in strenuous activities just yet. Darling just got better. That could wait, Jacob," he scolded him.

I blushed.