The frail, delicate line that created the protective ring looked like it could be easily destroyed by the wind alone. It was hard for Ehrir to think that this could protect him efficiently against the being that created the fog… The Ethereal.

Ostrias revealed the creature’s name right before leaving their ship. It was difficult to even imagine it – lying somewhere beneath the sea’s surface and creating mist above it. And using it as parts of his body on top of that… How could this even function? It was also alive since the non-human era, long lost in the sands of time... Ehrir fended off these thoughts from his head and focused his attention on the surroundings.

Sevrian and his apprentices were the only people on the deck. They were surrounded by a circle of light, no thicker than a strand of hair and floating at the level of their waists. It was maintained by the old man and was actually a strange mix between Creation, Conquering and Control. The fog didn’t dare to even touch it. Ostrias mentioned that while showing the spell to Sevrian and it actually worked just as intended. To keep it up was taxing for the old man, though. He was already sweating because of the tiresome task.

“Why are we standing here in the first place?” asked Nalia unexpectedly. ‘Bitter’ would be too weak of a term to describe her tone.

“Master Ostrias ordered so…”

“But why did he do it, bro?” The young woman’s annoyance was quickly turning into anger. “He said that we stand no chance against this thing. And if so… Why must we just hang out here? We can only defend ourselves, but that is possible inside the galley, too.”

“Well, you can go inside if…”

“I know the reason why, younglings”, interrupted Sevrian quietly, almost whispering. He sounded tired. “This… Ethereal. I have read a bit about creatures such as him back in my youth. I don't remember much. However… I know for sure that it doesn’t have the ability to see, smell or hear. It can’t sense the outside world with anything besides its own touch. If it weren’t for us and the circle being here… It probably wouldn’t hesitate to try and eat a whole chunk of the ship sooner or later.”

His words made a cold shiver – probably the thirtieth for the night – run down Ehrir’s spine. To think that this measly line of light was the primary reason that the galley was whole… well, it was tough to believe at first. Well, not so much after everything he had learned lately.

As the four of them stood still, Ostrias flew by again and again, from vessel to vessel, barking out orders in a thunderous voice. He was still preparing to fight with the Ethereal, but the Undone One had no idea how this could be done. Fighting mist – even living, sentient one at that – was surely impossible, wasn’t it?

Well, it quickly turned out that the Ashen Gaze’s plan was not to fight with the part of the creature above the water.

“Hear me! All of the sorcerers standing in the protective circles – move to your vessel’s handrails. Then all of the ones that don’t maintain the defenses must use all of your destructive powers on the sea itself. My friends and subordinates… I’ll put it simply – attack the water with whatever you’ve got!”

Ehrir quickly obeyed the order, but the young woman besides him was faster.

“Well, this will be interesting…” murmured Nalia before heading for the handrails, followed by her fellow disciples and master. A smirk glowed on her face.

Ehrir knew tthat Ostrias aimed to lure out the Ethereal through damaging it. The water was as black as ink and the sorcerers' precision was definitely very bad, but the Undone One couldn’t think of a better strategy himself.

He obeyed the Ashen Gaze’s orders without hesitation. Small lightnings, sharp pieces of ice and even tiny energy beams emerged from his fingers and met with the sea below. Varhel and Nalia accompanied him in this deed, although the young man’s attacks were ten times more powerful than anything created by his sister or Ehrir. More than two hundred other disciples and magicians were doing the same as them and soon the water around the ships turned into a chaotic mess, full of stones, magically created weapons and other things. It was even boiling or freezing at some places. If this couldn’t make the Ethereal move a little, Ehrir didn’t know what could.

During all of this mad attacking Ostrias was silently levitating in the sky above his fleet. The Undone One wasn't sure about what the ancient sorcerer was doing, but focusing his might was his first guess. Maybe today the Ashen Gaze’s famed powers would finally be shown…

“Well, we’re obviously doing something… There’s no sign of this damned mist anymore”, exclaimed Nalia cheery.

She was right – the air was clear now, for the first time in more than a day and a half. It was definitely relieving. The Undone One inhaled sharply and smiled. The feeling of heaviness that haunted his every breath was gone.

But as the fog left, something of immense size started moving in the black depths of the Cargaen Sea.

***

“We’re not like you, young ones. We shouldn’t have been here in the first place. Time somehow missed us. And here we are – the final remnants of a forgotten past. And some day you may meet something from our age that’s not as friendly as we are. And believe me – if you survive, you’ll have a splendid tale for your children and grandchildren. And probably a scar or a missing arm, too.”

As much as Ostrias was trying to clear his mind, those words wouldn’t leave him. They were uttered by the leader of one of the last non-human magic orders almost three centuries ago when the Ashen Gaze was still at the frail age of one hundred. The order itself was no more and all of its members were already dead. That wasn’t important. But those words…

During his four and a half centuries of life he hadn’t ever encountered a living Ethereal. Everyone he knew thought that they were extinct – the world had changed too much for such a bizarre species to survive… It was speculated that they the Ethereals were even able to use magic in a way and Ostrias was almost positive of it now. The wise elders of the Inner Fantasy would kneel before him just for a chance to take a look at the creature’s bones once he got back…

He cussed quietly. His dreams were getting ahead of him again, weren’t they? He had to defeat the thing first… And that wouldn’t be easy, probably.

He focused on clearing his mind again, but the words returned. The one who said them was one of the last living fey in the whole world. With a face beautiful but somehow alien, long hair with the color of turquoise, seven fingers on every hand and a pair of huge wings akin to that of a butterfly, he was pretty and yet almost grotesque in his appearance. His might in sorcery could rival and probably exceed that of every human magician alive at the time. He met his doom, eventually, but Ostrias didn’t care about that. The Ethereal was coming from the same age as the fey, the ratkin, the Unliving… and the goliaths, even. It couldn’t be weak, in any case. But he…

As the thoughts flashed inside of his skull he heard a strange sound from below. He looked down and saw several large things, vaguely reminiscent of tentacles, but clearly having a bone structure (and a large claw on their tips). They were moving around the ships and madly trying to damage them. They were large - the smallest was no less than five meters in height.

Ostrias acted on instinct. The decades of wars had taught him to not think in the case of immediate danger. He flew straight for one of the Ethereal’s… arms, probably. He got a steady hold of his soul energy in the matter of a second and two blades of white fire emerged out of his palms. One precise, powerful swing later and the tentacle was separated from its owner and only a burned, horizontally slashed piece of twisting flesh remained.

The sea suddenly started trembling a little and a powerful roar sounded from beneath it. Although muted by the water, it still carried enough strength to make Ostrias tremble for a moment. And not a lot of things in the world could make the Ashen Gaze tremble even for a split second.

And yet he didn't hesitate and continued to cut the Ethereal's limbs one by one, enraging it even more in the process. The physical aspect of the fight was bearable for now, but the monster consistently bombarded his consciousness with some animalistic form of Control. It was using magic. It was using damned magic! That fact was both amazing and terrifying for Ostrias.

But the Ethereal's sorcery - undoubtedly unconsciously done and very unfocused - was easily resisted him. Soon the sorcerer slew all of the tentacles. Screams of happiness came from the ships.

And then the creature itself appeared.

Ostrias gazed for a while in the deformed mass of muscles, defunct, blind eyes and wide gaping mouths. Then he smiled in his usual confident manner, although fear had stirred up inside of him.

"Bring it on, fucker", he said as lightning covered his body from head to toe.