Sachihiro

‘’Alright we move in 5,’’ da sends to everyone startling me out of my head.

I release the almost subconscious clench I had over mana with an exhale.

As far as 50m around me is a dense cloud of mist thick enough to stop an arrow from cutting straight through clean, I'm surprised I didn’t completely exhaust my mana reserves as I half wanted to. Ok so maybe I’m not as hopeless at this channelling and casting thing as I actually feel like I am having extended the strength of my mana pool in recent years of practice.

Now out of my direct control, the mist spreads and dissipates being heavier than air the particles attracted together spread slowly outward evaporating away.

Walking out of the fading mist I perceive wisps sticking to me through awareness like I’m some wraith coming out of a smoke storm, I know I look cool and the thought makes me feel slightly better. Everyone that needed seeing to has been seen by Niki with Kuyoki as a helper and everyone seems ready with packs and weapons that will fit being stuffed into storage items.

Pretty soon we are climbing down a cliffside that connects us to the beach, from there it's an hour's jog before I start to recognise some familiar landmarks. ‘’We’re close,’’ I send and we start walking lest we miss the crossing mark as the sky darkens, it's still around the 43rd hour but the coming storm clouds the far horizon.

‘’Here,’’ Kuyoki says having found the spot.

Cicilia and Ursula set up the signal wards with Tóma putting a pouch of crystals in the middle of the markings as payment. Then we wait.

It's taken a few months for us to travel across Sandoria to get to this point, not an unreasonable amount of time considering how vast the Sandie land is but this trip feels like it's been especially taxing. Maybe because it was the first time making the trip through the route we took or because we’ve all felt this sense of urgency for a while now I don’t know. Even not knowing why the fae are defending us or how their fight with those beasts is going I feel slightly more at ease knowing the next leg of this journey is one I’m well familiar with.

‘I pray my kids are safe if you are listening Sapientia you please help me keep my kids safe.’ Otherwise, what's the point of aligning myself with a deity if it doesn’t garner me any benefits?

The tide comes and washes the markings from the sand.

Wave after wave comes upward until the marking and the offering are washed under the tide of the ocean. It won’t be long now, maybe as early as tomorrow we will have an undine to escort us to their islands then from there to Pangaea and from there almost a straight route to Deep Keep, a remote and defendable home.

[Sigh], I take that in.

I have never taken the journey with a travelling party of so few people but if all is as I remember then there shouldn’t be any big threats we won’t be able to handle except maybe politics if we are barred passage across certain areas of land. Or maybe a big raiding group as the areas close to the coast are rife with slavers and opportunists but Soal knows the area enough and I hope now is not the time he betrays me.

A rustling in the distant tree line accompanied by the snapping of branches draws our attention. It is soon followed by another similar sound and another, by this point we are getting into a defensive formation facing the forest with the ocean behind us.

[Splatter]

A spatter draws my attention towards the left where on the previously dry sand a wet spot is soaked in, another spatter and another then one closer within my sphere of awareness makes me think of rain. I look up at the grey clouds approaching spanning from the ocean’s horizon and spreading inland fast.

It can’t be rain though, no raindrop has a diameter as large as what I just witnessed.

I hear a slap, Ingwe shrieks falling on the sand chest first with her hands trying to cover her bruised back. Did someone just hit my mate?

[Splatter]

[Splatter] [splatter]

A deluge of raindrops starts falling each large and heavy enough to leave indentations in the sand.

‘’Take cover!’’ Michael yells prompting us to run towards the tree line but the rain is everywhere. I stumble as one splashes on my back, then I’m standing over Vuyo, trying to pick her fup while shielding her with my body.

Shields are up shielding more people as we scramble towards the trees, Gaia has his door shield up with Kiera and Andrew keeping close for coverage. I cast my own Water Barrier managing to catch the gigantic raindrops before they do any more damage. Every drop on the shielding barrier of water felt mentally as it strains on my concentration to keep it up.

With everyone that is Awakened protecting and shielding those that aren’t we make it to the tree line but even here find little coverage with branches and twigs falling from the trees. The rain is like heavy rocks falling from the sky scattering everything everywhere but we keep pushing forward at Sirimiri’s signal pointing us towards one of the thicker trees. The sound of snapping branches and falling splattering rain drives us forward until we eventually find cover behind some stout oak trees.

[SHHHH...], constant deluge showers down like a plaguing rain.

We look like drowned rats as we cower from the rain behind trees while a lot of the forest around us is turned to kindling, what the fuck is going on? Even the sound of the drops on Gaia’s shield sounded metallic, we spot some wildlife trying to make a run for it but I doubt they will get far.

Michael starts giggling, at first I’m annoyed but then someone else joins in and I can’t help the amused grin forming on my face. Humour is infectious.

[Hehehe], the mirth infecting more than me.

‘’What are you all smiling about?’’ A sour-faced Esuas grumbles squeezing water from his beard eliciting a laugh from Mira which she quickly hides behind her hand at the dwarf's glower. My smile spreads, I haven’t heard her laugh in so long.

‘’I really don’t understand how you surface dwellers face all this nonsense your whole lives, care to find a nice warm cave to share mhmm?’’ He says to Tóma wiggling his bushy eyebrows and the gloomy seriousness of the situation if taken away.

‘’Fuck off,’’ she responds trying to hide the smile on her own face.

‘’Even we surface dwellers are not used to these conditions Sir Dwarf, in all my years I have never heard of such a storm on Sandaria,’’ Zhen says, the worry evident in his voice.

We stay there for over an hour before the abnormal showers subside leaving behind normal rainfall throughout all the hours of dusk, no one even advises we leave. We just sit there wet and somewhat miserable taking it in, the gloom of the grey night sky infecting us washing away the levity of just a few hours ago.

The next morning after a fireless damp night we make our way towards the shoreline again and sure enough there sits on a rock a naked female with blue-tinged skin and round black eyes playing with her hair as she sings softly to herself. She watches us approach a sorry sight we probably make but we are almost halfway home now, just need to get across the ocean and things should be easier.

‘’We no longer offer passage to humans,’’ the thing says without preamble throwing at our feet a wet pouch of crystals. ‘’And there are too few of you to warrant the risks associated with sailing these days.’’

‘’Why you little shit-‘’ da starts but his arm is grabbed by ma who moves forward in his stead.

‘’Why is it that the undine no longer give passage to humans?’’ she asks the creature whose eyes are changing becoming more human and the ting of her skin fading under the azure morning glow of the sky.

‘’We have collected everything we need from you and have no use for crystals,’’ it says easily looking very much human now that it sits there dry of seawater with a long mane of black hair going down its torso hiding most of its slender nakedness.

My heart rate increases slightly at the words, slowly concentrating to coalesce a mote of mana easily at the ready.

‘’Surely we have something to trade that your people can find useful or have in scarcity,’’ ma says somehow without showing frustration. I commend her patience and diplomacy but the thought of being stuck here has my palms getting sweaty.

I fidget but Ingwe grabs my arm in hers and I sigh as she leans onto my side, holding mana unused is not for me but I bear the discomfort holding my mate's arm, 'we’re in this together', her body seems to be saying and I try to relax the strain knotting my shoulders.

Ma keeps talking and I can see this was just a courtesy by the female creature to let us know instead of a renegotiation tactic. Still though, for them to close their borders means something is up or they really were just acting as ‘ferrymen’ as a way of collecting resources not found under their oceans or on their islands. I have three storage rings on my finger nowadays, once unimaginable wealth even without considering what’s inside them. Now though, one in particular seems to hang heavy on my finger because I know it has something they are yet to come across.

Pushing my mana inside the thing I am again aware of the gifts that Master Zaraya gave me when we parted ways at the Citadel. Inside sits a red ruby glowing with power I can’t yet fathom even though I’ve used my senses to stare at the thing for hours on end.

How Master Zaraya smuggled it out I’m not sure but the one question that bugs me the most is why give it to me at all. The atomic birth crystal is not something I’m likely to ever trade for something as regular as passage across an ocean, especially an ocean I’ve crossed before for much less. I don't even really know what it does but I know its a treasure I'm not just supposed to have.

What I’m considering giving the undine creature talking to ma instead is one the ingots of metal from Omega that she also stuffed into the ring. There are 12 ingots of the metal and since I haven’t really had the time to experiment with them nor have I shown them to anyone I’m not sure what they are. But the fact that I have 12 of them and that they are otherworldly means I have something to trade the undine likely have never come across.

I take a step forward and speak over ma, ‘’last I heard from her my mate was on your island helping your people.’’

The woman thing looks at me with a corked head before shaking her head sadly, ‘’your deception does you no credit as we don’t have any humans on our islands.’’

‘’Really? I seem to recall Shravanthi telling me that not all beings on the Islands are Undine, and not all children born to you are undine. What do you call them if not human, or elven... or mermen?’’

There is silence for a moment as her eyes go back to black like the depth of the dark ocean with the water she never fully step out of churning at her feet. Then she calms again looking at me funny before asking, ‘’you know Shravanthi?’’

‘’As I said, she’s my mate,’’ I say gambling with her name and reputation before giving away my inheritance from my Master.

The undine turns around facing the ocean and sings a little song laced thickly with mana and the ocean opens the water parting like it's flowing around some invisible object. A tunnel is revealed or created that bisects straight into the water going into the deep darkness of the ocean, two male undine emerge on either side of the water tunnel carrying sharp silver spears. Both are naked with corded muscle on slender frames and not a hint of genital organs between their legs, yet I have no doubt they are male. Generally, undine look human even in water, peddling membranes and gills notwithstanding.

‘’If you’ve lied to me you’ll die,’’ she says seriously. Then a smile blooms on her face as her teeth sharpen with the pale blue coming back into her complexion, ‘’after you.’’

I give a nod to those behind me and descend into the deep dark blue below the sea.