Aida and Dev helped assist the three fishermen they rescued off the boat when they finally returned to the village while Ashley departed to find Strongholder Jaret, and Brand flew around the docks loading up the boat with other equipment.
“What else can we help with?” Dev asked Brand as terrified family members received their men, crying and sobbing in relief.
Brand grimaced, setting what looked like a lightweight wooden skiff down. It had odd proportions, narrow like a kayak but with no seats, and instead had two sets of indentations that looked to be where someone would place their feet. “I hate to be callous, but if it’s true there’s only three skiffs out there fighting the eels, we need a lot more help than you two can give us.”
“Is there something we can do to help the current fighters disengage from the eels?” Aida asked. “Must they be killed? Can they be driven off instead?”
Brand shook his head grimly. “The only way to drive off eels is to grievously wound them, or else give them what they want. But the risk in giving them what they want - food - means that they will return sooner rather than later to hunt, because they’ve learned this is a good location.”
“Truly dragons of the sea,” Dev muttered besides Aida. He raised his voice to ask his own question. “The gentlemen we’ve saved have said eels typically don’t hunt together. Can we use that knowledge to our advantage?”
“I’m not sure how.” Brand exhaled. “It’s already taken us by surprise that they’ve banded together - and honestly, our protocol is to dispatch five pairs of Strongholders to kill or drive off one mature eel. So the fact that we sent ten against five eels, and there were only six remaining…”
“Brand!” Ashley and Jaret ran over, followed closely by Abedi and Tera. “Jaret got more information from the fishermen that came back earlier, and the three we rescued provided more pieces to flesh out the picture.” She hesitated, looking between the four students.
“I hate that we have to put you in this position, but I fear the longer we wait, the worse it will get…will you help us fight against the pack of eels? It will be dangerous.”
Aida met the gazes of her classmates. Tera had an absolutely panicked look on her face, no doubt wondering how she could help over the water, and Abedi’s normal stoic expression seemed wary. Dev looked at Aida with a hard expression, and she thought she could see all the calculations happening in his eyes.
Tera would be at a distinct disadvantage over the water…Abedi might be able to help with molding the ship. But when it comes to fighting the actual creatures, it would fall onto me and Dev. Dev will be a powerful asset, but I’m…me.
“…Do we have a choice?” Aida asked slowly, holding Dev’s gaze. His eyes flickered, his expression slackening as if he hadn’t considered not helping. He looked back to the Strongholders.
“I would rather have the students stay within range of the shore,” Jaret said firmly. “The three of us will head out and try to extract our comrades. I doubt we have the resources to drive off the eels at this point, so the best we can do is retreat with as many of our combatants as we can. The eels will linger around this area, but they cannot overrun the village. That will buy us time to request more resources to drive off the eels so North Ocean Village can recover their lifestyle.”
Jaret gestured to Brand. “Get the kids into their own skiffs. Have them stay near the shallow waters to cover our retreat. We’ll meet you out on the open waters. With luck, we can save our remaining fighters to fight another day. Ashley, let’s get ready to go.”
Brand waved for the students to follow him as he ran down the docks to where several slim kayaks were already floating in the water, looking just like the kayak he had deposited in the ship earlier. “Get in, quickly. Two to a boat. Waters in front.”
Based on how far away these boats were stored from the main outlet, Aida assumed they weren’t regularly used. Hopefully they’re in good enough condition for us.
As soon as Aida and Tera stepped into the shallow boat, Brand pointed to the giant mana crystal embedded in the bottom.
“We haven’t gotten around to charging these batteries, so you’ll have to use your own mana. Activate the mana crystal so that you can power the boat. Tera, you control the direction of the skiff—“
“By maneuvering the levers on the side, I know,” Tera said tightly. “I’ve done this before.”
“Perfect. You know your job, yes? You steer, make sure you two stay out of harm’s way, and Aida, you focus on holding off any danger that approaches you with your water. Go, I’ll get the boys ready and meet you out there.”
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Without another word, Brand shoved their boat away from the dock, and Tera activated the crystal, making their boat stabilize as it caught the water. Aida wedged her feet more securely into the two footholds in the boat as Tera steered the boat smoothly out, easily avoiding the debris that had begun floating into the harbor.
“You’ve steered a skiff before, huh?” Aida asked, trying to ease their way into danger with some lighthearted conversation.
“Of course. The Tripps experiment with all the leisure activities so that we can decide if it’s worth investing in.” Tera laughed shrilly, a note of panic ringing through the air. “This is definitely not leisurely, though.”
“So you’re telling me that you’re familiar enough with this skiff that you can flee from a pack of giant water dragons if you have to, right?” Aida persisted, seeking reassurance. She could probably do something with the water, but she would much rather avoid having to face sharp teeth longer than her.
She shuddered as she imagined getting crushed by the oversized teeth she saw flashing over the water earlier. It was intimidating enough from a distance, but imagining it hovering over her…
“Oh yeah, don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to let us get anywhere near an eel.”
Before Aida could ask Tera if she had ever come in contact with an eel during her family’s business, Brand had already swept up beside them in his own skiff. Following behind him wobbled Dev and Abedi, Abedi’s face fixed in tight concentration as he focused on steering their comically small skiff for their heights and Abedi’s bulk.
“Good, it looks like you’re handling the skiff well.” Brand raised his voice so that both groups of students could hear his instructions as he spun his skiff around easily, as if it was part of him. “Follow me out to the bay’s entrance, and then stay in the bay. Nature has granted us a natural defense here. Your jobs are to cover our retreat while we go retrieve our teammates. But at no point should you put yourself in danger, you hear me?”
Aida’s throat was dry as she joined the chorus of affirmatives with her classmates, watching the entrance - or in their case, exit - loom closer and closer. Her eyes had finally adapted to the dim lighting, taking in the light of the moon - still large and round - and stars reflecting off of the multitude of choppy ocean waters.
The two opposing cliffs that marked the exit of the bay looked jagged and menacing in the night, dark shadows waiting with bated breath to collapse upon them as soon as they exited.
Immediately on the other side was Ashley and Jaret, both on the larger rescue boat as they waited for Brand. The Strongholder gave the four of them one last grim nod before jetting forward with his skiff, handling it as naturally as if he was on a surfboard.
Aida watched as the two Strongholders tossed a thick rope over the edge so that Brand could catch onto it, getting dragged up the side of the boat along with the skiff.
“What do you think is going to happen now?” Tera asked from behind Aida.
“If all goes according to plan, they’ll extricate the Strongholders who are currently fighting the eels, and they’ll be able to make it to the safety of the bay.” Dev exhaled, flexing his knees to help Abedi balance their skiff as the boys wobbled up next to them. “Given how they have already lost four Strongholders when we first went out there, I wonder how many will return…”
“The waters here are a bit calmer,” Aida said, pulling experimentally at the waves around them. “It’s a little easier to manipulate.”
“That might change if the eels chase them all the way here,” Dev said grimly, dashing Aida’s tentative hope. “You’ll be competing with the eels to get control of the water.”
“I think it’s shallow enough here that I can pull some earth if I had to,” Tera said thoughtfully, peering over the edge of their skiff as she held her palm over the water. She gazed up at the cliffs that acted as stern guardians for North Ocean Village. “Or I might even be able to pull earth from the headlands. But that would be risky, because if I pull too much the eels might be able to break through it…”
“That’s probably less of a concern. It’s far too shallow here for the eels to be able to swim properly,” Dev said. “As long as the rescue ship makes it back here, everyone should be safe from imminent attack. Our primary roles here are more to break the waves and protect the harbor.”
Aida bit her lip, feeling the anxiety build in her stomach. She had so many questions, and she didn’t think she could ask them without giving away her lack of worldly knowledge. She wished she had tried harder on Havi’s assignments, reading more than what was assigned about the creatures of Wyndia. Were the snakelike creatures she saw full-grown eels? How dangerous was one eel? Were there any specific weaknesses they could utilize against them?
“Will we know if they’re safe? We can’t even see the fight from here.”
“I don’t know, we’ll just have to monitor from where we are. Keep working on controlling the skiff, though; we have to be ready.”
“Don’t focus so hard on keeping each side balanced,” Tera advised, watching Abedi struggle with the boat. “It’s easier if you just think of it as guiding the boat forward, in the direction you want.”
“How good are your mana senses in the ocean?” Aida asked Dev, finally looking away from the misleadingly still waters. “I get a lot of interference…it’s hard to parse any meaningful information…”
Dev shook his head. “It’s difficult. I imagine this is something that would improve with time, if we handled ocean water regularly. There’s just so much flow happening in this body.”
“You guys, there’s a huge wave coming,” Tera said suddenly, her voice catching. Her eyes were fixed on the horizon. “I think the eels are right on their tail.”