The Great Magical Mishap

Chapter 5 - Barrelling Towards Death

Harrold was not in a state where he could speak clearly and decided to keep it short.
"Attach the rope to... my body, other end to harpoon," he said, the strain in his voice even worse now. After Pat had followed his instructions, Harrold continued, "Grab... harpoon and hold on to me."

As soon as he felt Pat grabbing on to him, he opened his eyes. Barrels filled his view. Barrels filled his mind. His entire body stirred, he could feel the blood rushing through his veins, muscles tensing painfully. He almost screamed in response. He looked towards their target. He couldn't think clearly, couldn't wait anymore. Was it close enough? His legs spasmed painfully and he almost fell over. His jaws were clenched so tightly that his entire face hurt. It had to be good enough, the kraken just had to be close enough. His vision was losing sharpness, everything becoming a blur. He had no clue where he was, what he was doing or even who he was. All he could see were the barrels. His mind had turned into a fog. He couldn't wait any longer. The urge was too great. His body screamed. The entire world screamed. He simply had to give in. He bent his knees deeply. Pat looked at him wide-eyed and held on tightly.

Harrold roared as he finally gave in. The deck creaked loudly, the planks beneath his feet cracking under the pressure. Harrold shot up into the air as he jumped with inhuman might. He felt the air rushing towards him, or was he rushing towards the air? His speed was unbelievable and he wasn't slowing down at all. The wall of air seemingly opening up for him, as if it knew that putting up a fight was pointless. His body felt strange, almost foreign. 

Time moved so slowly. How long had he been in the air? How fast was he going? He knew he had jumped towards something, but couldn't quite remember what. He heard something surrounding him. He couldn't make out what it was. It felt... No, it sounded... Annoying. His mind was slowly returning, he felt his thoughts slowly returning to him as the fog in his head dissipated. He slowly regained control over his body. His blood flow slowed down. The wall of air was closing again, now more reminiscent of a wall of bricks. Panic, anxiety, and narcissism moved back in their home. Panic. The Kraken! Where is it?

"Harrold!" Pat shouted behind him, now holding on so tightly that it physically hurt,
"What are you doing!? It's almost underneath us, we'll overshoot it!" Pat pointed towards the beast with his harpoon.

Harrold looked down towards the Kraken, which seemed to be looking back at the odd pair. It looked about as wide-eyed and surprised as Harrold was himself, perhaps more so. "Throw the harpoon, we'll swing towards it!" Harrold shouted back at Pat, his mind now fully returned. 

Pat instantly pulled back the harpoon and yelled as he threw it with all his might. A perfect throw. It rapidly flew towards the kraken. The kraken swung its tentacle towards the harpoon in an effort to swipe it away. No, no, no, no, no! But the harpoon was too fast, even for the mighty kraken. Yes! The harpoon struck the beasts thick skin, before bouncing off impotently as it had nowhere near enough velocity to actually pierce through.

Harrold and Pat rapidly flew past the kraken, with the rope attached harpoon dangling beneath them. Neither of them spoke as they started losing speed and altitude. Harrold realised that he would be spending the remainder of his life in the embrace of Pat. Pat had quickly gotten over the disappointment of the failed plan, unlike Harrold he never felt ashamed about such things, and started telling Harrold that they must've at least looked incredibly cool. In the back of his mind, Harrold had always been afraid that he'd die alone. A tear dropped from his eye. Only now did he realise dying alone is a blessing. 

Elsewhere, the High Court of Physics could not be more pleased with this outcome. There was no executioner better suited to this case than gravity itself.

Less pleased was a certain furious flying monster. Not because of the poorly planned attempt on its life, but because it could not let two witnesses get away. It banked left and quickly turned around in a half circle, in pursuit of the two tiny flying beings.