Zeke stood near the bow of the ship, looking out at the sea. Because the harbor was protected by a jetty that extended for almost a mile, the water was placid. Beyond the jetty was a roiling ocean that was supposed to be home to truly terrifying sea monsters, the likes of which few had ever encountered, much less survived. Zeke wasn’t afraid, though. He’d already fought the wyrm queen, and he had a difficult time believing that any creature of the depths could rival it for power. The only question was how well he and his companions could adjust to fighting on the water.

With a sigh, Zeke turned back to face the direction whence they had come. Back there, the docks decorated the shoreline, and they were almost all occupied by the floating fortresses of Salvation’s navy. The Puddle Jumper was not a small ship; in fact, it would have dwarfed comparable sailing vessels back on Earth. However, it was merely mid-sized when compared to the rest of the fleet docked in the harbor. Some were clearly warships, sleek and narrow. Others were barges, wide and with deep drafts. And there were plenty like the Puddle Jumper that occupied a space somewhere in between.

“A beautiful sight, ain’t it?” asked Captain Dumorne, who was striding toward Zeke along the deck. “I never thought I’d see anything like it. But then, that’s true of everything in this world. If I’d have known back then what was waitin’ on me when on the other side, I wouldn’t have fought so hard to stay alive.”

“Were you a sailor there, too?” Zeke asked.

“Fisherman,” the man answered. “So was my daddy before me. And his daddy, too. You can say I got salt in my blood. ‘Course, back then, wasn’t no adventure to be had. Just sail out, get a few fish, then head back in. But here…there are mysteries to be solved, treasures to be found.”

“And ships to hijack?” was Zeke’s next question. “Not judging. I just couldn’t help but notice the pirate thing you’ve got going on.”

“I might’ve commandeered a little cargo here and there,” the man admitted, his wide grin exposing gold teeth. “But nothin’ they couldn’t spare, you know.”

“So, you like to explore, then?” asked Zeke. Upon boarding the ship, he had discarded the heavy cloak, baring his half-armored form for all the sailors to see. Most didn’t even react; apparently, there were plenty of strange skills in the world, some of which resulted in odd transformations. Zeke’s was different in that he couldn’t deactivate it, but they didn’t need to know that. Even so, there were a few that looked at him like he was a monster in their midst, which wasn’t all that far from the truth.

Talia, on the other hand, had elicited quite a few wary glances. After all, by this point, Salvation was no stranger to the undead, and most of its citizens were terrified of the day when the zombie hordes attacked Salvation. However, Dumorne clearly ran a tight ship, and the sailors were nothing if not disciplined. So, they all just went about their jobs, albeit accompanied by the odd glance in Talia’s direction. For her part, she stoically ignored the attention.

“Aye, I do,” answered Dumorne. “Shame it’s so damned dangerous, though. Hard to justify the cost of sailin’ out into the unknown. Still, I’ve been out there a fair few times, so I have some idea what to expect, which is why we’re runnin’ with the whole crew.”

Zeke nodded, asking, “How many?”

“A hundred good sailors and twenty-five marines,” he said. “They can all fight and sail, but the marines are better at fightin’, and the sailors are better at sailin’. For a ship this size, that’s a decent force. Plus you and yours, of course.”

Zeke turned his back to the rest of the ship, and Dumorne joined him as they leaned against the railing. Indeed, such a group should have been an intimidating show of force, especially considering that there wasn’t a single person under level fifteen. In addition, there were ten men and women who’d cleared level twenty as well. But Zeke knew just how fragile some of those people probably were. Carlos had been an elite, and he’d fallen to what was effectively a glancing blow. If they faced something on the wyrm’s level, Zeke didn’t think the ship would survive, much less its crew.

Hopefully, they could outrun anything that fit that sort of description, though.

“Good,” Zeke said. “How far until we reach the first island?”

Dumorne tilted his head to the sky, and Zeke felt the mana rustle around the man. After a second or two, he said, “With these conditions, ‘bout three or four hours. Maybe a little more if we hit trouble.”

Zeke nodded, but he didn’t respond. After a few moments, Dumorne took his leave and returned to the ship’s stern, where he could issue orders to his men. Even though Zeke didn’t turn back to watch them, he was aware of how they scurried around upon one task or another as the ship cut through the harbor past the jetty and into open ocean.

Having grown up near the Gulf of Mexico, Zeke had been out on the water plenty of times in his old life. However, that was ill preparation for the violent seas around the Radiant Isles. It almost felt like a roller coaster as the ship crested and descended the enormous waves, but thankfully, Zeke had never been prone to seasickness. Still, it was anything but comfortable, so to take his mind off of things, he focused on constantly adjusting his weight in order to accommodate for the momentum of the waves.

So it went for four-and-a-half hours until, at last, land came into view. As the ship drew closer, it resolved itself into a thin strip of barren rock, and it didn’t take Zeke long to surmise that it didn’t hold the Portal of Ascension. But he did notice a familiar tingling that grew stronger as the ship drew closer to the island.

“It’s demons,” he muttered. The island itself was only a few hundred yards long and half-again as wide, but it was absolutely packed with demons. Some had similar appearances to the ones he’d encountered in the obsidian caverns and among the army that had been poised to invade Jariq. However, there were plenty of other sorts present as well. From tiny, fat humanoids that looked like horned toddlers to tall, thin creatures with a multitude of spikes jutting from their bodies – the range of body types was truly impressive. But it also drove home the fact that the island that housed the Portal of Ascension had been detached from the main continent because of a demon infestation. Clearly, that infestation had spread to the neighboring islands.

“Ugly bastards, ain’t they?” said one of the sailors, who was coiling a rope nearby. “Makes a man grateful for the sea creatures, yeah?”

“Huh?” Zeke asked.

“Look,” the woman said, pointing a few hundred yards off the starboard side of the ship. In the waves, a handful of the tall, lanky demons paddled toward the mainland. “Wait for it…”

A second later, a giant shark erupted from the water, swallowing the demons hole. It wasn’t until the thing was clear of the water that Zeke got a good look at it. Unlike the sharks back on Earth, its hide was a deep blue striped in green, and it sported a few bony protrusions that looked like natural armor. Zeke used [Inspect]:

Mana Shark – Level 25 (E)

“The sharks love the area ‘round the islands,” the sailor said. She spat something that looked like tobacco over the side. “But the demons, they keep on tryin’. Every now and again, one of ‘em makes it to shore. By then, it ain’t our problem, though.”

“Right,” Zeke said.

“Say, you ain’t a demon, right? That armor looks kinda demon-ish,” she said.

“It’s a skill,” Zeke said. “Low cost, so if I’m in danger, I keep it up all the time.”

“Smart,” was her nodding response. Then, without saying anything else, she strode off to work on some other task. Meanwhile, Zeke continued to watch the area around the island, and he was surprised to find the same scene repeating itself over and over again. However, there were also plenty of instances where the demons were dragged down by tentacles that Zeke could barely see.

After a few minutes, Abby approached. After concluding the negotiations with Dumorne, she had mostly avoided him, which was just fine by Zeke. Although there was a part of him that wanted to yell and scream and make his frustrations known, he was rational enough to recognize how unhealthy that was. Besides, it wouldn’t do any good. He’d said what he needed to say, and once they made it through the Portal of Ascension and to the next plane, they would part ways and probably never see one another again. It hurt to acknowledge that as a fact, but the idea of sticking together was even more painful. He still cared about her, but the trust was gone, never to return.

“Where do you think they’re coming from?” she asked, squinting at the island. They didn’t dare get any closer, lest they run the risk of being boarded.

“Probably a portal to Mal’araxis on the island,” he said. “There’s no shortage of demons over there, and I’m thinking they just keep coming through. Or maybe it’s only open at certain times. I don’t know. But I feel the atmosphere seeping through.”

“Do you want to investigate?” she asked.

“Can you hop on your cloud and have a look? It’s a small island, and I have to think the Portal of Ascension will be pretty big,” he said. “There might even be a temple, like at the top of that gnoll mountain.”

Abby nodded, then used her skill. A blue cloud coalesced beneath her, and she drifted high into the air. Once she was a few hundred feet up, she stopped, and after a couple of minutes, descended back to the deck. Once she stepped off her cloud and her feet touched down, she shook her head, saying, “Nothing but a few hundred demons.”

“Then, I guess we move on,” he said before turning and walking the length of the ship to let the captain know what was going on.

After that, the rest of the day followed suit, and they encountered three more islands. They were both even smaller than the first, and only one was home to its own demon horde. After investigation, though, the search for the Portal of Ascension continued to prove useless, and they moved on.

Four more days passed in much the same manner, and the number islands they’d inspected climbed into the dozens. However, they didn’t encounter anything new until the sixth day, when they found a sizable island covered in dense foliage. The air was too cold for it to be a jungle, but the vegetation was thick enough that it was easy to make that comparison. Tall trees shot toward the sky, and a huge mountain jutted from the center of the island.

“Called God’s Left Tit,” said Dumorne, who’d had someone fetch Zeke when the island came into view. “Or just the Tit, if you’re from ‘round these parts. Don’t nobody go ashore, though.”

“Why not?” asked Zeke, already knowing the answer. Aware that Talia was behind him, he added, “And I’m definitely not calling it that.”

“Demons is why,” the man answered, ignoring Zeke’s comment about the island’s moniker.

“I guess we’re going to have to investigate,” Zeke said, glancing back at Talia, who’d followed him up from the series of cabins they’d been assigned. The quarters were tight, but the ship was big enough to accommodate everyone but Pudge, who’d been relegated to sleeping in the cargo hold. He didn’t mind, though, so long as he had something to chew on. His psyche had taken a bit of a hit during the fight with the undead horde, but he was slowly getting back to his old self. “I think Pudge and Abby should stay here, though.”

Talia nodded.

A few moments later, when Zeke informed Abby of his decision, she was unsurprisingly upset until he pointed out that she was the least capable person in the group. He hadn’t meant it as an insult, just a statement of fact. However, it was a pointed change in their relationship that he refused to pull his punches and sugarcoat her lack of ability. Before, he’d made a point to make certain that she understood that she was a valuable member of the party. Now, though, he didn’t see why he should bother. She had her uses, but exploring an island full of demons just wasn’t one of them.

Or perhaps he was still upset, and he was making excuses in order to avoid an awkward situation. Either way, he had no interest in letting her accompany them to the island.

“Fine,” Abby muttered before stalking away in a huff.

After that, Zeke and Talia, along with a small contingent of marines and sailors, boarded one of the smaller boats that took them ashore. Curiously, nothing attacked along the way. When Zeke asked about it, one of the marines informed him that the boat was enchanted with the same runes that encouraged monsters to give the ship a wide berth. It wasn’t so dissimilar from Abby’s [Makeshift Camp] skill – or a seriously underpowered version of his own tower’s aura.

After a tumultuous boat ride, they made it to the island’s shore, where they disembarked. Zeke turned to the leader of the marines, who was a tall, thin man equipped with a cutlass. “You and your people stay here,” Zeke said. “Talia and I will explore the island.”

The man shrugged, saying, “Fair ‘nuff.”

And so, Zeke and Talia set off from the thin strip of rocky beach and into the forest. It was slow going, mostly because of the thick vegetation, but Zeke’s increased strength and ability to manipulate his weight came in handy as he carved a path through the dense foliage. As they trekked through the forest, Zeke sank back into the survival instincts he’d developed in the troll caves and honed over the following years. But no matter how focused he was on his surroundings, he came up with nothing. No birds. No insects. No small animals. The forest was entirely empty.

Talia followed along far more nimbly than Zeke could manage. If he was like a bulldozer, she moved like a stalking cat. No movement was wasted. No footfall was out of place. It was as if she’d lived in the forest all her life and she was out on an afternoon stroll.

“Where are we going?” she asked when they paused for a moment next to a pool of water.

“I’m following the demon atmosphere,” Zeke said. Indeed, it had continued to grow denser the further inland they had traveled. It wasn’t thick enough to affect Talia yet, but the tingling influx of energy was more than noticeable to Zeke. “I want to catch a demon if we can. Maybe one that can speak. It might save us a few days of searching this island.”

Talia nodded, and the pair continued along. However, they didn’t encounter any demons until, at last, they reached the edge of the forest. “Well, you don’t see that every day,” Zeke muttered, taking in the scene before him.

With the mountain as a backdrop, an ancient temple jutted from a sea of black-and-red skinned demons of all shapes and sizes. The temple itself was much as Abby had described the one atop the gnoll mountain, though this one looked far smaller than that. It was only a couple of dozen feet tall, with inscribed runes decorating every surface.

More importantly, Zeke could feel the demon atmosphere billowing from the building. Clearly, they’d found the source of the island’s demons. The only question was whether or not the Portal of Ascension was nearby as well.