When they finally reached the edge of the shell the sweetness in the air was much more noticeable and they could see Denali eating hundreds of fish with every bite.

While watching Denali eat there was a shout, “Hey, Leif!”

Folke and Leif both looked toward the shout and Leif let a smile show on his face. Walking towards them were two boys dressed similarly to Leif. One had mahogany skin, short black hair, green eyes, and was the same height as Leif while the other one only came up to Leif's chest and had pale skin, Auburn short hair, and crimson-colored eyes. It was his closest friends Evander and Rowan.

“And like the prophecies foretold the triplets are together again,” Folke said sarcastically.

“Heeey I am way better looking than these two,” Complained Evander.

“Well at least better than the walking fuzzfin here,” Rowan said while looking at Leif.

“Oh haha, I like my long hair and you’re just jealous that you’re the shortest one of us,” Retorted Leif.

Before Rowan could respond to him Evander piped up, “And what is with the red hair and eyes, so unusual for our tribe. Maybe you would fit in with the tribe on Gobi better since they have red clothes.”

“May the merciful Tide Walkers eat both of you so I do not have to deal with your descendants,” Muttered Rowan.

They all started laughing before Evander asked, “Folke do you know what is going on? Denali has never released his sweet scent that attracts fish this early before.”

“I do not maybe he found a group of fish he enjoyed,” Folke replied, “but, are you sure you should be asking me instead of your grandmother? She is an elder after all.”

Evander’s face grew embarrassed, “I tried asking, but she just yelled at me that it was not my place to question Denali and tried hitting me with her cane.”

“Then there is your answer,” chuckled Folke before getting more serious, “I just worry about the villages that are located farther in the mountains. Some of them take days to travel to the edge of the shell.”

They sat with that somber thought for a bit before Folke said, “We need to get ready, it looks like Denali is about to be done eating and he will leave the sweet smell up for only a bit.”

Sure enough, Denali laid his head back down in the water indicating he was done.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

As this was done some of the people standing around grabbed their weapons and leaped over the sides of the shell. Before they hit the water they used their weapons to make the water catch them and hold them like a platform. They then formed bubbles around groups of fish and raised them to the edge of the shell. Everyone else on the edge of the shell began reaching into the bubbles to grab fish and toss them back to the people behind them who proceeded to throw fish into separate piles depending on what kind of fish they were.

When Leif reached into the bubble floating in front of him the first fish he grabbed was a fish that was round and completely covered in hair, a fuzzfin. He shuddered at the weirdness of this little creature then turned and tossed the fish at Rowan, who was not paying attention, so it hit him in the head.

A few moments later as the sweet smell began to die down Folke turned to reach for another fish inside the bubble that was in front of him when he noticed the slightest movement in the water down below.

He turned and yelled, “Sound the horns!”

Immediately people began blowing into horns. The bubbles fell away as the people down below began focusing on raising themselves upwards with their water platforms.

Before they made it very far a sea drake leaped out of the water and tried to bite one of them but they moved slightly to the left making the creature miss. The sea drake circled back and leaped towards another person, an older man and unfortunately, he did not move as fast. The sea drake bit down on the old man's leg and it began dragging him down. A female jumped off their water platform towards the sea drake and nailed it in the eye with her sword making the creature release its potential victim in surprise. She then grabbed the victim, formed another platform, and raised both of them up the rest of the way.

Folke sighed in relief, “That was way too close. That old man was lucky someone was dumb enough to try and save him, though he will probably lose his leg. Sea drake venom is very hard to heal.”

Leif looked away from the pair and at Folke, “Why did she try to save him?”

“It’s probably her grandfather or some kind of relative,” Folke said with another sigh.

“Why didn't they use their magic to fight?” Asked Leif.

“You never use water magic on a sea drake, that is a fast way to kill everyone that was down there,” Folke said with sorrow.

Leif looked shocked, “Is that common knowledge? If so why was I never told about it?”

Folke turned towards Leif and looked him straight in the eyes, “You know why Leif, wait for the trials and you will learn what you must or die trying. I can not speak about this anymore or we will both be in trouble. Come, they are going to split up the fish soon.”

The fish haul was very small compared to previous times. Normally everyone would have three baskets of fish each with their choice of fish, but this time everyone got one basket of a random assortment of fish.

Folke saw Leif frowning down at his basket, “Do not worry, I’m sure this was just a random event. Next time we will have our choice of fish again.”

Leif looked at Folke and gave him a reassuring smile, “I know, but still did they have to give me the fuzzfin?”

Folke let out booming laughter as they walked back towards their home.