[Choice B (AmbassadorsLK): Summon King Dutugemunu and his ten giants to help you escape.]

Massive waves rise up with a terrifying roar, looming over the cruise ship. She stands there on the deck, clutching the rail with white-knuckled hands as the waves crest and begin to dip downwards. A great sucking sound fills her ears and she closes her eyes as the wave hits the deck and everything goes dark.

"Captain!"

Tarah Mondadori groaned, the roar of those waves echoing in her ears and drowning out whoever was talking. Her body felt out of sorts as if she had never used it before. Levering herself up with one hand, she blinked as an unfamiliar room swam into view.

Where the hell am I?

Certainly not one of the cruise ship's cabins, she realized with a start. The room was large, but cramped, and smelled like smoke, beer, melted wax, and old books. Frayed and faded maps covered dark-stained wooden walls; leather-bound books were strapped into a series of shelves above a cluttered desk. Several swords and pistols hung from a rack opposite the bed Tarah was in. A large, thick-paned window next to the bed rattled as a torrential downpour played outside.

Tarah's mouth opened—only to have a decorative stein shoved against her chest. "What?"

"Drink this, Captain," a male voice ordered. "We need you back on the deck."

"C-captain?" Tarah stammered, hands curving reflexively around the stein. She turned to look up at the man. "I'm not—"

Her words were cut off as a bestial roar filled the air, violently shaking the room. A great thunderclap, followed by a purple bolt of lightning, had Tarah leaping off the bed.

The stein clattered to the floor, spilling its contents onto a multicolored rug. Tarah stumbled and fell flat, arms splaying outwards.

"Forget the goddamn ale!" a female voice shouted, slamming the door to the cabin open. Tarah looked up as a tall, burly, dark-skinned woman stomped into the room, the tip of a heavy black braid swinging against her back. "Feishen's coming!"

"C'mon, Captain," the man who'd given Tarah the stein said, hauling her upright.

"I'm not your captain!" Tarah screamed, wrenching herself out of the man's grasp. She gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth. That wasn't her voice!

Two pairs of strange eyes stared at Tarah and she shrank backward, heart hammering in her chest.

"How hard did she hit her head?" the woman inquired.

"Harder than I thought," the man replied sheepishly.

The woman placed both hands on her hips and leaned forward, studying Tarah shrewdly. "Apparently hard enough to knock the sense out of her."

Tarah stared up at the woman as her stomach roiled. Suddenly the room constricted and she bolted for the door, shoving the other woman aside with enough force to send her crashing into a wall.

A narrow hallway led to an open deck—and freedom. Tarah popped out on the other side, only to come face-to-face with a dozen men. Immediately, she was soaked to the bone.

"The captain's awake!" the men shouted and began to cheer, waving cutlasses and pistols in the air.

Tarah spun around, ready to run back inside when a giant shape emerged from the storm clouds.

Is that ... is that a DRAGON!?

Purple lightning split the sky, illuminating a monstrous scaled head with its thick, whiskered muzzle and branching deer-like horns. Undulating like a ribbon, the wingless dragon dropped lower and lower, loosening another mighty roar that shook the very floorboards and caused whatever platform Tarah was standing on to list to one side.

"Feishen!" the men cried out, running for cover as the dragon swooped closer.

"Shit!" the big woman swore, coming to a halt beside Tarah. She grabbed Tarah by the arm, forcing her to look up. "You need to call in your favor—now!"

"Favor?" Tarah repeated. "I don't know what you're talking about! I don't even know where I am! And why is that weird snake-thing following us?"

The woman swore in a harsh language. "You are Annabelle Zhao, daughter of the Devil's Siren!" With each word, the woman shook Tarah, as if trying to reshuffle her brain through violence. "Captain of the Howling Manta! You need to remember!"

Tarah's eyes rolled up into her head and everything started to go black again when the shaking suddenly stopped.

"Rusita! Stop!"

"Sam! We need to make her remember!"

"By shaking her unconscious?" Sam drew Tarah away from Rusita as the pirate ship rocked beneath their feet. "You need to call in your favor, Anna."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Tarah cried. Her thoughts were jumbled—and not just from Rusita's shaking. Where was she? Why was she even here?

Sam sighed, and at the same time, the dragon roared. Looking over his shoulder, he turned back around and gripped Tarah's shoulders. "Repeat after me: 'King Dutugemunu, I summon thee'."

Tarah stared at him, uncomprehending. "King Dutugemunu, I summon thee!" The words tumbled from her lips, unbidden, as if someone else was using her body.

A large crack of lightning exploded off the right side of the ship, striking a cluster of rocks Tarah hadn't noticed were in the water. A giant elephant armored in a stiff red fabric lined with gold, its curved tusks capped in silver, emerged from the chaos. It stood steady despite the lashing rain and rolling sea.

"Annabelle Zhao!" a man's deep voice called out, his laugh piercing through the rain and the dragon's fury. "How you have humbled yourself!"

Tarah scrambled to her feet and stumbled over to the ship's railing to see a man with warm golden skin, long black hair, and a neat mustache seated atop the huge elephant. At the pachyderm's feet were ten giant men, each clutching a different weapon—mace, bow, sword.

"What is your favor, Pirate Queen?"

Tarah stared, rendered speechless. But that lasted as long as it took for the dragon to drop on top of them. "DRAGON!" she screamed and pointed.

King Dutugemunu smiled without warmth. "So be it."

"These men are nothing! I will have my pearl, Annabelle Zhao," the dragon rumbled and dove towards the men on the rocks.