The waters beneath the boat seethed and churned, forcing Emily to brace herself against the slick wood, gripping the side to avoid slipping overboard. Their small vessel rocked uneasily atop the once-still lake, now alive with motion. Tiny, silvery bubbles rose to the surface in bursts, creating a faint fizzing sound that tickled her ears. It was as if the lake itself had been carbonated, with pockets of air releasing in sporadic bursts around them, transforming the calm into a chaotic expanse of roiling waves.
Emily looked around but nothing rose from the waves yet and turned towards Atticus.
“Hey, just how big are these things!”
Atticus grunted as he pulled out one of his blades and sunk it into the wood to prevent himself from moving.
“The ones near the center of the lakes are big enough to swallow our little vessel whole. Near the edge like this they're babies, but we should still get out of the water!”
Emily clenched her hands and recast the lift spell targeting the other corner of the vessel to increase their speed.
The waves were making progress harder, but Emily couldn’t increase the output anymore, or the wood might break apart at the edges, and then they would all be in the drink.
The fizzling bubbles were following in their wake, and getting more prevalent, even as their speed increased.
Emily glanced over the side and she was shocked to note that she could see a figure through the waves. It was probably the clear nature of the mountain water but she could make out a slithering mass below them, just about to charge up and crash into the boat.
Calling out to Atticus she dropped the spell with one hand and began recasting.
“Brace yourself, it’s coming!”
At that moment, Emily completed the new spell, pouring a little extra source into it this time. The boat lurched violently to one side, taking a sharp turn in the water and throwing her toward the edge vessel. Emily’s hands flew to the rim, fingers clutching for a grip as the slick wood grain beneath her sent her sliding dangerously close to the water. Despite her precarious position, she held both spells firm, propelling the boat forward even as she scrambled to steady herself against the rapid shift in momentum.
The figure beneath them changed course, but not before it had committed to its first lunge and a head broke the surface.
Fresh lake water sprayed around them and Emily stole a glimpse at their stalker.
The creature looked exactly as Emily had feared, which somehow made it even more terrifying.
Its long, sinuous body shimmered with delicate opalescent scales, each pressed flush against its form, catching faint glints of light as it moved. Up near its face, pectoral fins flared outward, spreading like fragile fans, and it used these to shift direction sharply through the water. Similar fins trailed along its length, and as it broke the surface, they spread wide, catching the air and transforming its leap into a graceful, gliding arc above them. Thankfully, it was not nearly as large as she had imagined—small enough that it would need at least four bites to destroy their vessel.
Emily’s face turned to absolute horror as she witnessed it crashing back into the water several seconds later than it should have.
“Flying snakes! You have got to be kidding me. Nope! I’m out, fuck this!”
Making the same hand gesture as before, Emily focused it on the giant snake in the hopes of sending it very far in the opposite direction, but her dreams were dashed seconds later when she felt the spell wash over its scales in the same manner as it had with Marth. Only this defense was far more complete because the serpent didn’t even shift slightly, or perhaps it was just too large to be affected, but either way, it wasn’t going anywhere.
Cursing, Emily pressed her back against Mist, and braced herself, beginning to cast the lift spell again to readjust their trajectory, but the water serpent had other ideas.
Turning its body it crashed down into the water, creating a huge wave that swelled into the side of their makeshift vessel and submerged them all for a second. The sudden rush of water forced Emily to cancel the spells or risk taking them deeper into the water.
The moment she let the spells go the wood naturally began to push to the surface but the serpent was already turning on them.
Bubbles escaped Emily’s mouth as she let out a few choice words, the water muffling them into garbled sounds that dissolved around her.
Calling on her blood, Emily prepared to fend off the creature's gaping, fangless maw as it loomed toward them, wide enough to swallow at least one of them whole. But just as it was about to strike, the surrounding water suddenly surged in temperature, turning unexpectedly warm.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Emily glanced over in time to see Atticus encased in a reddish glow, for a moment, it looked like he was wearing a transparent red cloak as it hung over his form, but soon after that bubbles began to form near him as the warm water began to spread around them. Atticus slashed his blade out at the incoming mouth and cut into it, bringing the blade up from the bottom jaw up to the roof of its mouth.
The response was immediate as the surrounding flesh cooked, even underwater the effects didn’t seem to slow the skill down as the creature recoiled in pain.
The last thing Emily could see before they burst up and out of the water was the serpent reeling back in a silent scream.
Steam exploded out as the water clinging to Atticus evaporated from his skin and cloth, but the flame cloak also dissipated shortly after that.
“Emily go! I can’t use that skill again, and that won’t stop this thing for long!”
Recasting the spells took less than two seconds, but they had only just taken off again when the waters behind their crafts ruptured and the head of the serpent burst from the lake. A look of pure malice glinting in its black soulless eyes.
It wanted revenge as it hissed with a stuttering cry and dove beneath the waves. They had no hope of outrunning the thing by the speed of the trail following them. They probably wouldn’t even make it to shore at the rate things were going, so Emily made a last-minute decision and turned to Atticus.
“How confident are you on sticking a landing?!”
Atticus glanced over at Emily in confusion and she clicked her tongue. Alex would have known what she wanted, but he wasn’t here right now, and she had to make a decision. Once more she released the boat from her control and let their forward momentum carry them. Atticus shot her an urgent look before his eyes widened at what Emily was currently doing
Lunging at Atticus, Emily slammed her shoulder into him and pushed him against Mist.
“Hang on to him, and thank you for flying Emperess Airways, we do hope your flight isn't a lethal one.”
Emily then completed both spells for the last time, sending the largest wave of source into them yet, targeting Mist.
The damp Rime wolf had his claws sunk into the soft wood but that wasn’t nearly enough to stop a full-powered lift spell from lunching him and Atticus –who had instinctually latched onto the beast – in the direction of the shore. Emily had figured out that if she used two lift spells simultaneously and directed one upward and the other horizontally, she could create a diagonal thrust, and lob things much further. The current ‘thing’ being a miserable Rime wolf and his rider.
Emily just had to hope she had used the right amount of source and not overshot it or they would break a lot of bones.
However, she didn’t have the luxury of worrying about them right now as the serpent was coming. So with as good a timing as she could manage, Emily transferred her weight to the balls of her feet and bunched her legs, jumping upwards just as a tremendous force arrived from below.
The additional force rocketed her up into the air as the serpent cracked its body against the raft with enough force to send wood splintering in all directions. Because the wood was still very much wet, it didn’t have much resistance even though it floated incredibly well. The block of wood cracked neatly along the grain of the trunk and broke up. If they'd still been on there, Mist would have been injured at the very least, and in the water to boot, but now the serpent poked its head out of the water just long enough to catch sight of an empty vessel and paused in confusion.
Emily on the other hand was letting gravity do what it did best, namely drag her back down toward the confused beast.
It looked like it had been ready to tear the ‘boat’ apart piece by piece, but with no one there it emerged further from the water in confusion. So all it took was some minor tweaks to her trajectory with blood, and Emily came crashing down atop its skull.
The moment she landed she engaged tick mode and had her blood jut out of her limbs and stab into the creature's scales, luckily she managed to pierce them with her blood, and laying flat she latched onto the top of the serpent's head.
“Oh god, I’m going to hate this so much!” Emily whined, her voice filled with anguish.
Blood extended from her jaw and shaped itself around her mouth and Emily bit down onto the very top of the creature’s skull as she drew blood and began to drain the serpent of its life energy. Emily’s gown flared out capturing a large amount of air and then pressed itself to the creature's skin, sealing her in.
This had all happened in less than a second and the serpent freaked out the moment something latched onto it.
It shook it head from side to side like a day, trying to dislodge the pesky creature, but to no avail. Emily was in it for the long hall and as wounds began to weep blood she had the serpent’s blood cut deeper groves into its scales to make way for more blood and allowing her to expand her reach.
When shaking her off didn’t work, the serpent plunged into the icy depths. But Emily remained dry within her protective cocoon. The only hint that they’d submerged was her need to pull her blood closer, keeping it from mingling with the surrounding water. All the while, she continued drawing on the serpent’s strength, trying to imagine the source as something less monstrous.
The serpent thrashed violently, even launching itself out of the water in a desperate, arching leap. As Emily accumulated more blood, she began to channel it toward the creature's fins, gradually restricting its movements. Bit by bit, she tightened her hold, sealing off its muscles until it could no longer break the water’s surface. Eventually, even simple movement became a struggle. Unable to reach her, the serpent resorted to slamming its head against the nearest rock face. The impact sent jolts of pain through her, but her gown absorbed most of the pressure.
With the creature’s thrashes growing weaker, Emily finally drew the last of its strength, receiving a vast amount of life force. This beast was worth almost worth thirty human lives, as it surged into her, and she felt the creature die, cradled in her power. Fortunately, they were close to the surface, so she detached from it and rose, using up the last breath in her protective air pocket. Breaking the surface, she scanned the waves for their damaged vessel and located it not far away, allowing her to reorient herself.
Emily swam toward the island they’d been headed for, but eventually let her blood carry her the rest of the way.
Stepping onto shore, she scanned the area for Atticus and Mist, but didn’t spot them immediately. Panic flared until her eyes caught on two figures lying far from the water's edge. She hurried over, fearing the worst—and it was, though not what she expected.
Atticus’s leg was clearly broken, twisted at an unnatural angle, but it was Mist who made Emily freeze. The Rime wolf lay on his side, panting and whining. From the look of it, his whole body had taken a beating, though she couldn’t tell the extent of his injuries from a distance.
Blood points: Blood points: 186