When I arrived, it was dark and peaceful. I saw no sign of Ren so I sat at my favorite spot, under one of the roaring waterfalls, the stream of water arching over me as I drew in measured breaths. I had the wand gripped in front of me as I meditated and I slowly pulled power into it as I kept cycling more into my core. I wasn’t quite sure how it worked, but the more I sent my own power into it, the more I felt as if I was starting to get a feel for what it could do.

I could actually feel those enchantment slots Brett had mentioned, now that I knew what to look for as my mind drifted into the instrument.

It felt like blank spots in my mind as I used my mental senses to study the peculiar wand that swirled with twisting engravings and strange symbols. There were several distinct enchantments on it, and I felt that recall enchantment connecting the wand to the pouch.

There was also one that could manipulate the raw power in different ways, in three types of attacks. One was a stream of energy, one was manipulation, and the third was a blast of force. There were a few others, I couldn’t quite fathom out, but I did have the feeling that as I used it more, I would be able to discover more about it.

I played with the wand for a while as I charged it, forming balls of water over the fountain, and condensing them. I found I could harden the ball of water, until it became almost as hard as concrete. That’s one of the things that I had seen Brett do, and it had worked well to knock over practice dummies, but I had the suspicion that it could knock holes in walls, and crush foes, or I could do other things with the manipulation power. It did drain energy fast, and was difficult to control, taking a lot of concentration.

Meditation that evening was arduous, and it was all I could do just to channel power into the wand. Ren also didn’t pay me a visit, as I had been hoping. I lay there watching the dome far above, something that was swiftly becoming a natural pastime for me. I was having a hard time relaxing so I could focus, but the area itself did feel peaceful. I had the feeling that even if I wanted to go back and get some sleep, it would be with great difficulty. My stomach roiled when I thought about tomorrow. I remembered how I had almost died last time, and I knew that Kirk would likely put me on the spot again to lead my little band of fishies.

My stomach rumbled and I sighed. I hadn’t eaten, and I doubted that the chow hall was still open. Digging around in my magic pocket, I looked for anything I may have put in it, thinking I may have stuffed a travel ration or something I had forgotten about. My hands found an unfamiliar small object on a chain and I pulled it out. I had to stare at it in the darkness before I realized it was that magnesium firestarter I had from the very first day I had played Endaria.

It made me feel better seeing it somehow. It felt like a lifetime ago even if it was only a few days. I had managed to survive with nothing but my wits and a little luck. Surely, I would be alright tomorrow. I was in fact more powerful now, I would have friends at my back… and I would have Kirk. That was far more than I had before, and the monsters then were just as terrifying as the ones now.

I stood up and looked around the square, and stretched. This place was actually really peaceful. There was none of the bawdy noises that were a part of the populated area of the hub, and I felt at home here. I looked beyond the fountain at the gardens surrounding it, small overgrown shrubbery and waist high grass, the buildings beyond were small townhouse types of buildings, with a few regal looking structures that could have once been anything from temples to storefronts. I spotted something that drew my gaze like a magnet.

It was a tiny little townhouse nestled in between two large abandoned buildings that almost looked like and afterthought and cocked my head. It seemed a bit out of place, but it looked nice and had a small brook running past it’s front lawn with a stone footbridge over it. The brook flowed past the building and into the nearby gardens, lost in a tangle of overgrown thickets.

I walked over the overgrown path, crossed the footbridge and looked at the door. It was still solid, but it’s paint was peeling and the brass nameplate was long ago degraded into something I could no longer read. Placing my hand on the door I pulled it open, finding it surprisingly unlocked. When I entered the building, I saw a strange looking shaped crystal hanging from a hook just inside, and stepped outside and squinted my eyes in the descending gloom to look at the front of the door. Sure enough, I saw that the shape of the crystal fit the depression where the lock ought to be on the door. I pulled it off the hook, shut the door and pushed the crystal into the lock and turned it. There was a click, and the crystal flashed with amber light along with the lock. I gave a grin, ear to ear.

I unlocked the door again and pushed the key into my pocket as I pulled out my wand out of its case and held it above me like a torch. Willing the crystal to light up, wasn’t difficult. I instinctively knew it could hold that light for as long as I wanted it too, as if the information about how to use the instrument was slowly starting to fill my mind.

The house was very narrow, but completely intact. Whatever wood it was made out of it was dense, with a tight grain that looked even more solid than any hardwood I had ever seen. There were very little signs of any decay in the building at all.

Right in front of the door past the entranceway was a narrow staircase with an ornate railing leading up to the second floor. I ignored this and decided to explore the ground floor. The first room off the entranceway was a tiny living room, with dusty, sheet covered furniture. It wasn’t expensive furniture or didn’t look it to me, but seemed both comfortable and functional. I pulled the sheet off one and saw it was the hide of some odd beast. It was almost like leather, except slightly iridescent. There were comfortable tables and chairs around this living room and I looked beyond it to see a combination dining room directly attached to a little kitchen.

The kitchen had a stone oven, metal stove and a water pump at the sink. All the metal was of some unknown alloy that didn’t seem to have a speck of rust on it. I gave the pump a few pulls and after a bit of dirty water, it came out clear. I smiled.

Off the kitchen to one side, I opened a cellar door that lead downwards with a spiral staircase disappearing into the darkness. I decided to put off going down into unknown cellars for a later time and walked back through the building and to the entranceway where the stairwell was.

The stairs didn’t even squeak when I climbed them, and I found myself in a small hallway with several rooms on the upper floor. There were two bedrooms, a master bedroom and a smaller bedroom that looked like it had once been a children’s room. There was a bunkbed in one corner, dust covered toys hanging out of a half-open toychest on one side by a wide bay window. I frowned and wondered just what was the story of this place, or what had caused most of the hub to lay abandoned. I’m sure the locals knew and I resolved to make it my mission to find a way to get the information out of them.

Turning, I walked out of the room and saw there was one final door. It was shut and when I went to open it the knob flashed a sullen amber and I got an electric zap. I gave a squeal that sounded suddenly loud in the silent house and shook my hand. It still didn’t make any sense to me that I could channel my own power and it wouldn’t hurt, but if someone else, or my wand discharged back into me it still caused me a great deal of pain and injury.

Shouldn’t I be resistant to lightning in general or something? I was the champion of a storm god after all, and I had been struck with lightning from that storm without any real effect on me. I grumbled and pulled the key out and looked for a place to put it on the door, I didn’t see any sort of keyhole at first, but as the key neared the door the knob flashed and I heard a click. It blinked an amber light and I sighed with relief. I cautiously reached out a hand and turned the knob.

There was a click and the door opened. I stood there and looked at a cluttered workshop, there were yellowed, crumbing sheets of velum pinned to walls with faded diagrams and writing. Small strange devices lay scattered around the room, all buried in layers of dust.

I let of a dry cough and suppressed a sneeze when I brushed off one of the tables to try and see what was scattered over it under the dust and saw fine tiny screwdrivers, tiny little tools I couldn’t understand the use of and spikes of metal that almost looked like dental picks. I looked around the room with interest, spotting a conspicuously tall device about the same height as myself, covered in a sheet.

Walking over to it, I pulled the sheet off. A gasp of wonder escaped my mouth as I stood there, studying what looked like a giant man-sized doll.

It was covered with intricate clockwork gears and pins that looked completely alien to anything I had seen in Endaria. I brushed a bit of the dust off and frowned as I studied the fine detail, entranced by its beauty. I would have to bring some artificer here to look at this strange workshop and hopefully salvage this place for anything useful. I wasn’t sure why this house had been overlooked but it was very strange.

I knew that we would go into ruins tomorrow in search of treasures that would pale in comparison to this place, but it still felt wrong for me to loot this place if I knew nothing about its former occupants. Did someone know the owner of this house if her or she was still alive? It didn’t make any sense to me at all but I quickly left the workshop and closed to door. I waved the key over the doorknob and it flashed an amber light, the door locking once again.

Would the guardian punish me if I stole anything from this house? I had been warned from the very first day that stealing was dealt with harshly and I didn’t want to find out the hard way if this place was indeed someone’s property.

Descending the stairs, I put the key back on it’s hook by the entranceway and shut the door. I was about to walk out of the front yard and across the footpath when I spotted something gleaming that caught my eye in the light radiating from my wand. I bent down by the side of the path and picked up a tiny gleaming ring. It flashed in my hand and I saw it expand from tiny child size to a shape that would fit one of my fingers. I inspected it carefully, seeing it had a small signet on it, a strange symbol of a cloverleaf, with a twisting interlocking Möbius sign. I popped it into my pocket, and turned to look back at the house. I had thought about living there, but it would be a better idea to try and figure out what was the story with this place if possible.

It had felt right somehow, and welcoming, but I couldn’t place why. It was also weird… all the other buildings on both sides were on a whole level of abandonment beyond that little house. Everything inside that building had almost felt like it had been left behind only a few years ago, but I had the feeling that it was a lot longer than just a few years.

The night had deepened to black as I walked back to my bed at what I was beginning to think of as the community center. I was just about to go to sleep, when I remembered what Shango had said. He wanted me to pray before I slept. I knelt at the foot of my bed and felt like an idiot, as I clasped my hands together and focused on an image of my patron god in my mind.

“Please if you’re out there boss, I need a bit of help…” I said. I opened one eye, then another, almost half expecting something monumental to have happened, but there was nothing around me except for the sounds of snoring and murmuring. I heard the soft voices of the players at their card game on the other side of the room. With a frustrated sigh I climbed into bed, shifting my robes into something more comfortable and slowly I drifted off to sleep.

The next day I was woken up by a cheerful prod from someone. I blinked my eyes, feeling very well rested and I didn’t have an ache in my body at all like I usually did walking up in Endaria. For once I actually felt like I had gotten a good night sleep.

“Kirk said you need to get your sleepy butt up.” One of the locals yawned and shifted her nightdress as she slid her feet into a pair of sandals and grabbed a bucket filled with several bath items and a hairbrush. I watched her as she left the sleeping hall and walked out towards the baths. A bath would feel good right about now, I did still feel a bit sticky and gamy from yesterday and I decided I could make a quick trip to the baths. I didn’t have that woman’s bathing kit though, but I did have an idea. I quickly pattered out of the sleeping area, and over to the baths. That woman wo had woken me was apparently a late comer, but I smiled as I decided to test something. I waved to the attendant and stripped off my clothes and stood next to the tub with the warm water. Most of the women were just using the long sink trough and the mirror on one side, some combing their hair, others using devices that looked suspiciously like a steampunk version of a curling iron. The one I saw someone using had a softly glowing crystal attached to the end of it and seemed to be doing the job alright. I looked at my own hair in the mirror and winced.

My hair hadn’t been long, but it was long enough apparently to become a tangled mess, and it was still a bit dirty and greasy with sweat from yesterday. I walked over to the warm washing tub. There were several people washing up in the water. I concentrated on the water, using a wisp of my power from my core to slowly draw out a large sphere of water and I took a deep breath as I let it descend over me and I began to spin the water. I pushed power into it, and as I expected it began to glow and took on its healing properties. I felt clean and refreshed, as I spun in the glowing water and a tingling sensation spread over me.

I slowly stepped out of the sphere and pulled my power back into me with one hand placed on the floating bubble of water, it was getting hard to hold the water in front of me. The shape was beginning to flux and distort as I felt more power than I intended leaching out of me I got it back over the tub just in time to watch it cascade down into it, splashing a few bathers who shrieked and glared at me.

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The other people who were doing their hair, and makeup were all froze, staring at me and I winced and mumbled an apology. The attendant didn’t seem happy with me she shook her head and pointed with one finger towards the exit. I nodded, quickly dressing and slipping out of the bath house and went in search of breakfast. I was starving. I did feel clean and refreshed and I had gotten a fleeting glance in the mirror before I left, my hair wasn’t exactly in the best of shape still but it wasn’t quite bed hair any longer. Today… if I made it back alive, I would reward myself with a shopping trip. There were a few things I needed, starting with a hairbrush. I gave a giggle, as I realized this would the first time I could ever remember needing one.

Kirk heard my giggle, and I saw him look over at me as I walked over, and grabbed one of the bagged meals instead of a bowl of stew, paying with a five-credit token I found in my magic pocket. He was eating his stew and had his eyes locked on me. I tracked his odd gaze and wondered if there was something on my face I had missed in the washing.

His spoon was poised over his mouth, and he just was frozen there as if in shock. I waved my hand in front of his face, startling him. He shuddered and nearly spilled his stew before coming back to his senses.

“Umm what’s up with you Kirk, usually you have some snarky remark for me every time I see you.” I asked, a bit thrown off by his sudden change in attitude. “Umm… nothing” he said and stared at me out of the corner of his eye as if tying to see something for a bit then he shook himself.

It smelled like the best five credits I had ever spent, and while I mourned the loss, like the penny-pinching miser I was becoming, you couldn’t say I didn’t need a treat. “Well, um going to take you to the market this morning, need to get you a bit more gear… You do still need a few things…” He said between bites and I nodded as he kept trailing off his word and continued to keep one almost confused eye on my face as I tried to figure out what had him staring at me this morning.

“Aren’t you off rebirth penalty now by the way?” I asked and he mutely nodded, still studying my face as if watching something, his eyes transfixed in a confused expression. I finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“What is it ?!” I bellowed and he shook himself before leaning over to one of the girls who was looking in a mirror and inspecting a black eye with it mournfully. He asked to borrow it for a moment and handed it to me.

I looked at my face closely and my eyes widened. It was sparkling with shimmering iridescence, small waves of water, like the shifting light at the bottom of a pool was playing over my skin and swirling around my neck in endlessly intricate patterns. I raised one arm and turned my head to look it closely, noticing the effect was much more pronounced over my water serpent tattoos. They seemed to be shimmering, their inked scales winking in the light and I swear I saw them shifting slightly. I hadn’t noticed it in the bath house because I had just given myself a glance.

“Umm… ok. That’s creepy.” I said and he nodded, as if entranced. “It’s… what did you do…” He said and I tried to explain with a shaky voice.

“I took a bath in my shimmery healing water this morning…” I said and handed the mirror back over to the girl who had been inspecting her shiner. She was now staring at me, having caught our conversation. “What the heck...” She said and I shrugged, and slumped in my chair, feeling a deep blush appear as other people began to notice.

As the whispers began around me, I gathered up my bagged meal and fled the chow hall, my heart pounding and my eyes beginning to sting. I had seen how everyone looked at me. They had to have thought I looked like a freak. Kirk’s odd expression the worst, out of all the people I hated his reaction the most. He knew what I was… and I thought he had accepted me, even if I was often a bit scary… as he had put it. I thought about that for a second and wondered if he was scared of me, or it was something else. As I thought of that, I remembered how he was always treating me as if on the edge of fear.

I ran, my eyes burning, the bagged breakfast swinging in my hands as I moved through the hub, not paying attention to where I was going. My feet eventually carried me away from the bustle of the busy area and I found myself standing in the familiar fountain square. I gave a sigh, and walked over to my favorite spot under the flowing waterfall and dangled my feet in the water as I unpacked my breakfast again and began to munch on a cheese and egg filled breakfast wrap as I sat there, aimlessly staring out over the peaceful fountain and tried to forget about my worries for a few blissful moments as I enjoyed the first meal I had that wasn’t stew since I had come to this strange place.

I reached down for a sausage after I polished off the breakfast wrap only to see a familiar little blue-green arm silently sneaking out of the water towards it. I gave a squeak of outrage and rapped Ren on the knuckles. The hand darted back into the fountain and she poked her head up out of the water and hissed at me. I noticed she was already chewing on something, and inspected the sausage count. Indeed, there was already one missing. “Hey!” I scolded her and she grinned at me, her little silvery fangs gleaming in the morning light. “Tastes weird… what sort of fish is it?” She asked and I shook my head.

“It’s not fish Ren. It’s my breakfast!” I said and she pouted.

“Ok… it tastes weird anyways….” She said and she studied my face for a few moments, cocking her little head as if confused. I sighed and waited for it. Even Ren probably thought I looked like a freak.

“Ooh…pretty!” She cooed in the very same way I remembered her acting when she had studied my shoes. She looked at me, then pulled herself up to stare at my exposed legs, which I also noticed were swirling with the same odd patterns.

I gave a dark grumble and wondered if I would ever live this down, from anyone I met today. I figured whatever I had to have done to my skin had to eventually wear off. Perhaps I could convince Kirk to let me take a day off, until I wouldn’t attract crowds of gawkers everywhere I went. There was likely no chance of that ever happening, and I pondered for a few moments if he would ever let me have a day to myself. He was training me hard for some purpose I didn’t yet know, but figured had something to do with what I had been told at my meeting with the quota council. I would have to pull my weight somehow.

Also, he was depending on me to head out with the salvagers this afternoon. I gave a frustrated scream and laid back on the tiles of the fountain and I realized that I felt trapped. I never really wanted to be someone people depended on, a leader or someone important. I just wanted to live. I looked over at the strange little house and tears filled my eyes when I realized why I had explored it. For a few wistful moments yesterday, I had imagined I could live here in peace, relax every day here at the fountain and ignore the fact I was in a vicious prison, in the center of a deadly, insurmountable labyrinth. If I would follow Kirk, I would follow him down a road that would lead to pain, and death. Here I was safe… but was that what I really wanted?

I remembered that feeling as I ran the practice maze, when I ran from monsters the size of buildings and fought with all of my power… it had made me feel… alive somehow. I had loved the challenge deep in my heart and the call to adventure was something I had always dreamed about when I was wasting away in regen pods, trapped in my own mind with only my imagination for comfort, never knowing if my next painful gasp would be my last. Now I could live adventures that I had never even remotely dreamed about.

I sat up, and looked for Ren. I spotted her on the other side of the fountain arguing heatedly with another Naiad. I froze as it registered in my mind what I was seeing. There was another Naiad watching me with a guarded gaze, a suspicious sneer. She was much older, the face of a young woman, with full exposed breasts and was about my size, if you didn’t count the tail. I sighed with a bit of twinge with envy. Even Ren actually had breasts, it was one thing I wished I had actually bothered to modify in my character creation, but I hadn’t even given it a single thought. My character was completely flat-chested. I didn’t really even need support or anything, the stretchy breast band was all I needed, and it wasn’t like it needed to cover much of anything.

They stopped talking when they saw me watching them, and the other Naiad pushed Ren away angrily and in one powerful leap she dove towards me and sped like a torpedo through the fountain in my direction. I didn’t like where this was going, and suddenly the words that Kirk had said about Naiads echoed in my mind. I didn’t even have time to react, just widen my eyes in horror before she erupted out of the water and I felt strong arms, like thick steely cables grab my legs, and I was pulled into the fountain, I made one panicked grasp at the tiles and missed. I tried to scream, but suddenly found myself choking on water as I was being drawn down. I saw a grate slide open at the bottom of the fountain, and suddenly we were traveling rapidly through pitch blackness. I tried to struggle, but the Naiad shifted me until she had me in a choke hold and I weakly began pounding her arms, trying to concentrate to channel my power, but my panic erased any chance of focus as I felt my head pound and my vision narrow. My lungs burned and my body began to convulse as I began to feel light headed.

I would die here, because I hadn’t listened to Kirk when he had warned me this fountain was dangerous… and he was right. I had assumed I was safe, and paid for it. Dimly, I was aware of passing out of darkness into a shining light, and as my mind began to grow weary, so weary and sleepy…

I suddenly found myself gasping for air and my head was pounding with a deep ache and I felt dizzy with relief as fresh air filled my wheezing lungs.

I was floating in a pool of glimmering water, snot running down my nose as I was being pulled along to an underground platform. Someone heaved me up and turned me over, viciously knocking my back with rough fists. As I coughed and wheezed, a bit of liquid dribbled out of my mouth. I felt sick, and for a tedious moment I thought I would get to greet my rather expensive breakfast as it came up all over the fresco I was laying on.

“Stop it Yara! Don’t hurt her!” I heard a familiar hissing shriek and there was a sound of a tussle behind me, a scream of pain followed by a splash. I was pulled up roughly, and the face staring at me was twisted in hatred. “You wish to steal our young human? I know your kind… always slaying us, capturing us…” She hissed and bared fangs at me that looked very deadly, and not like the cute little needles that Ren sported. I fell back and she loomed over me.

There was a sob of pain as I heard Ren jump onto the platform, little feet pattered over to me and she threw herself between me the other Naiad. “The great lady told me to save her, and watch her Yara! You can’t hurt her!” She shrieked and the Naiad snapped her gaze to Ren, and stared her down as if in disbelief. “If you had ever told a lie I may have thought you speak false, but you are always honest Ren…” She slowly turned to me and snarled at me.

Ren was cradling a wounded arm, it sported deep bright claw marks on it, as if the older Naiad had sunk her long nails into it, and I felt anger begin to boil in me, snapping me out of my panic. She had hurt Ren, she had hurt my friend.

Lighting crackled up and down my body as I gathered a shield around me, pushing the Naiad away and standing in front of Ren. “I don’t know what your problem is… but stop hurting Ren.” I snarled and I saw the creature’s eyes widen as she stood there, on her two transformed legs and glared at me. Water curled up out of the underground pool around her and spun to form weapons in the Naiad’s hands, a gleaming shield of solid looking water on one arm, and a wicked looking spear in the other.

She hissed at me. “Stand away Ren… I will dispose… of this human.” She glared at Ren who shook her head stubbornly.

“NO! I said NO! You will listen to me! I order you to stop!” Ren shrieked and the older Naiad began to chuckle. “You do not understand Ren… do you not know what she is?” The hissing voice addressing Ren was filled with both grief and fury.

“She is not like the others!” Ren stomped a little foot and stared the warrior down until she gave a long sigh and waved away her weaponry with a gesture, letting the water fall down and splash around the fresco we were standing on. “You do not understand what you are doing… this is a betrayal even your mother will not forgive.” She hissed and Ren just glared at her. “Nimue is my friend!” She huffed and her voice was suddenly less sure, the tiny voice held a bit of fear.

I grasped at my waist, before remembering that I had taken the belt with my wand case off when I had gotten my bath and stuffed it into one of my pockets. Digging around in my pocket I found the wand case with the belt still wrap around it, my fingers popping the catch off and I gripped the handle. I held the glowing wand out in front of me and it blazed into life, power crackling up and down it’s length, sometimes sending small arcs of sparks into my fingers, numbing them, causing me to gasp and wince slightly.

The Naiad smirked at the display, and didn’t seem at all intimidated by my new weapon. “Human, you can barely control that thing… put away your toy before I take it from you.”

Ren looked between me and Yara as if not sure what to do. “Both of you don’t fight!” She shrieked and we both gave her a “stay out of this” gance, which she snorted and crossed her arms at.

“You both are stupid! Yara… do as I command! I order it… and you! I saved you, now don’t hurt Yara!” She shrieked and and I sighed, and pushed my wand back into my pocket, and into it’s case, snapping the case shut before I drew the case and it’s belt out. I took a moment to secure the double belt and it’s wand case around my waist before I returned to glaring at Yara.

“Come to your senses Ren! She is dangerous human! She isn’t one of your pets! Do you even understand what you have done?!” She screamed in frustration and in the distance I heard a few shouts and the sound of running.

Everyone turned and I saw Ren shake with fear as several other Naiads poured into the room, brandishing weapon and looks of rage kindling in their faces as they spied me.

“Intruder! Humans in the temple!” One of them shouted over her shoulder and Ren began to cry. I took one look at my opposition and made a break for the water; I didn’t want any part of this.

Naiads poured over me and I felt one of them sink their fangs into my shoulder, blinding pain coursed through the bite, followed by a terrifying spreading numbness that began to flow through me. I screamed and pushed power from my core, wrapping my body in it, and tried to burn the poison out. Power rippled into me and I felt my entire body lock up, as I burned with a searing energy that coursed over my body. I screamed, and it turned into a whimper as I collapsed.

Waves of force rocked over me and there was a series of shouts, splashes and bellow of rage and pain as the heap of Naiads were flung off me and I coughed and tried to stand up, my wand somehow now gripped in my fingers, as a cold wave of ice tried to roar over me as I desperately fought the poison in my system. I struggled and gasped, then crouched as I screamed in pain, black liquid trickling out of the bite wound before it began to bleed red, then it sealed up. I collapsed, and tried to catch my breath as I looked around.

Naiads were in a circle around me hissing, their weapons poised to strike, and I saw Ren standing in front of me, her face a cherry red color with rage as she stomped her foot and sobbed as she screamed at them. “No! Stop hurting Nimue! Stop it!” She cried and they began to glance between them, then at me, now wary as I began to come to my senses and stand up shakily, the toxin now out of my system.

I still felt numb where the bite had been healed and a bit queasy. Whatever that stuff was, it probably would have killed or paralyzed a normal person. I had a newfound respect for those fangs, and I wasn’t sure if I could survive another go at getting that stuff out of me.

“Ren… can you just tell them to let me go?” I asked and she looked up at me, fear on her face as she glanced between me and the others. I didn’t want to hurt anyone but I had a feeling that there was no turning back if it came down to a real fight. I would have to kill, or be killed.

“Human… put away your weapon… you can not escape, and Ren… my daughter, what have you gotten into now? I heard a melodious voice, in a sing-song lilt that made my skin craw. A beautiful Naiad pushed her way through the others and stared at me.

There was a chuckle from the naiad and she studied me, and peered at my body which was still dancing with the strange swirling light on every exposed scrap of skin. “She is a human, but she is wavekin, and touched by the bringer of storms…” She sighed and waved her hand.

“Begone! I do not need her killed, at least not yet! Let us take her to the foot of the gods and see what they have to say. If they judge her wanting, we can dispose of this intruder then.”