We spent the rest of our time in Panarena that night helping to guard various caravans or trade-vessels that some of our alliance partners had out and about, ensuring that they reached their destinations safe and sound. There were a few times when we had an exchange with the King-Priests; fortunately none of them involved Djaziim. Venomheart did not make another appearance that night. One of the pirate guilds, however, did.
It was only a brief encounter, but it happened very close to the port which was our destination. We were in one of our larger vessels now, helping to safeguard a trade-cog fleet from Gears and Wheels. A vessel started moving towards us from the port side of our ships; it was a galley, its sails were a sea-green color and its pennant had three crowns in a field of dark blue.
“What guild is that?” Ariana asked me.
“I'm not sure,” I said as I passed her the spyglass.
“Judging from just the banner, I'd say Deep Blue Kings,” Derwydd remarked. “We've had a couple incidents with them ourselves, but nothing serious.”
A cannon from the unknown ship fired at that moment, its shot delicately missing our prow. There was a chorus of laughs and jeers from them, and then they turned to head in another direction.
“Just saying hello, I suppose,” I frowned. A voice from an allied ship then caught my attention.
“Lana?” Valkrysti called over with concern.
“Just an introduction, I guess,” I said with a wry grin, shrugging.
“Should we go after them?” she asked in a more serious tone.
“No point, we're almost at port,” I said, pointing towards the harbor we were fast approaching.
“All right, we'll let them off this time,” my friend returned. We slowed our approach as we entered the harbor, and then the field officer for Gears and Wheels, Borin, gave us thanks for the escort.
“I reckon that won't be the last we see of those pirates,” the Dwarf grunted.
“Probably not,” I sighed.
“And you've got, what, two orbs left to find? Heh, good luck with that,” he said as he went to help his crew unload the cargo they were delivering.
“Hahh... just two?” I wondered.
“Might as well be two-hundred with the way we're feeling,” Healina sighed. “I'll have a look at this book we found in that last dungeon.”
“I'll help!” Derwydd said.
“And me!” Ari added, giving me a kiss before she scurried off with the two of them.
“What's the plan, boss?” Lizzy asked, putting an arm around me.
“What time is it really?” I wondered.
“Heh, it's about three in the AM.” she remarked.
“More or less,” Lysandra nodded as she checked her panels.
“Bleh.” I shrugged. “Hey, aren't they having sparring matches in the Arena?”
“Ooh, they are!” Lizzy grinned. “Wanna enter or watch?”
“Eh, just watch, really,” I returned.
“Sounds like fun!” Belle grinned.
“I would rather compete again and vindicate myself from last time...” Anhe remarked as we made our way to a telepad.
“You and me both,” Maryn nodded.
“I think all of us except Lana have that feeling,” Lysandra said with a wry smile, and Myanihia adopted a similar expression.
“Heeyy... well, I didn't get to compete, so I guess I kind of count...” Lizzy shrugged. We entered our destination, and headed to Harmonia City for the rest of our evening.
The matches we saw were nowhere near as high profile as they had been during the Grand Tournament, and none the three GMs presiding over them were the ones who had been there, but they were still pretty intense. Ironsides had entered the matches, making a name for himself once more with his mostly-impossible-to-counter reflect. Zeebub Bael the magic archer was also back, along with Ghostlord and a mage who was as fearless and determined as Angelfire herself, Lady Elisa. She was now faring much better in the lists, downing most of her opponents with a literally dazzling array of light or sonic spells and finishing them off with furious blasts of lightning. None of the four had encountered each other yet.
“Let's see...” Lysandra mused as she settled in, checking the list of matches. “If those four keep their momentum, Ironsides should meet Ghostlord in a couple matches and Zeebub will meet Elisa two matches after that.”
“Ironsides... will go down, to that mage,” Myanihia said, pointing to another name.
“Elzamere?” Lysandra paused, and then grinned. “Ohh, the ice-mage.”
“Wouldn't he just blast himself out of ice with the reflect?” I wondered.
“Not since you've exposed his timing,” Maryn shook her head. “I've heard of her as well; she's practically maxed out the ice-magic tree in her skills, and she's blended some of those skills with vampiric magic as well.”
“Gyeek!”
“That sounds very difficult to overcome...” Anhe said. “I think I could beat her, though.”
“You're probably one of the few who could.” Lysandra agreed.
“WuKong.” Myanihia said.
“Exactly.” her sister nodded. “Or Valkrysti.”
“Agreed.” the other twin said. “And, Ghostlord.” she added.
“Ooh, that'll be fun,” Lizzy said with glee.
“He'll definitely breeze past those two,” I remarked as I observed the stats of the two players he was up against. A fencer-type player and a shadow mage; Ghostlord would make short work of the first one, and the second one was basically food for him.
I was right on both counts with Ghostlord. And Ironsides went down to Elzamere almost immediately; he just managed to activate his reflect at a critical moment that almost upset her victory over him, but she managed to encase herself in ice to avoid the retributive effect until it wore off, quickly finishing him before he could get it going again. Then the two of them met in the arena, and the impassive Ghostlord seemed to almost be looking down on his new opponent, who stood cautiously at the ready. Void Magic, after all, is not an easy thing to overcome, as Myanihia could attest.
“They can both, drain each other.” she noted.
“She's got more direct damage, but he has a strong passive regeneration too, right?” Lysandra said.
“Exactly.” her sister nodded.
“Oop! There they go!” Lizzy exclaimed as she leaned forward.
Without hesitation, Elzamere encased her opponent in ice, shattering it a moment later to try dealing some massive damage right off the bat. But Ghostlord merely shrugged it off. She then activated a skill identified by one of the GMs as Crystal Fangs, a rain of icicles, but the Shadowkin mage merely absorbed it with one of his counters. Elzamere hesitated then, giving Ghostlord all the opportunity he needed to activate a skill he had not had in the Grand Tournament: Voidsong. It froze her in place, and drained her health to nothing in a matter of seconds. I looked over at Myanihia, who was laser-focused on the skill.
“Yikes.” Belle remarked as Elzamere disintegrated.
“Now that was overpowered.” Lizzy shook her head. “I bet it has a week-long cooldown, though,” she then remarked.
“Oh for sure.” Maryn agreed.
A couple matches later, we saw the duel between Zeebub Bael and Lady Elisa; Zeebub was more than prepared for the status ailments and stun spells she could use, but she in turn was also more than ready for his seemingly endless supply of arrows and his fantastic array of what are commonly called “breaker skills” by players in game. You know, the ones that shatter shields or blast through doors and such. Elisa was a master at countering each and every one of them that he plied in an effort to bring her down.
“Looks like we have a stalemate worthy of one of the Grand Tournament matches,” the presiding GM remarked as the two players circled each other warily after the first few minutes of the heated exchange.
“Zeebub infamously went up against Valkrysti from Valiant Maidens then, from the info I have here,” her fellow GM remarked. “She managed to throw him off with a subtle shock trap, but I doubt he'll be taken off his guard so easily now.”
“Definitely not.” the other shook her head. “Hopefully we won't have to call Forseti or Wildthunder to settle a draw...”
“Well -- oh wait, there they go again!” the man then noticed.
The two combatants had leapt into action simultaneously, Zeebub adopting a run-and-gun assault while Elisa shielded herself and prepared a counterattack at the same time. It was a bit hard to follow, but I suddenly noticed what she was trying to do, and grinned.
“What do you see that we do not?” Anhe asked me.
“She's getting ready to fake him out.” I returned softly.
“Hmm...?” Lizzy wondered, peering closely with interest as I made the remark.
First, Elisa laid down a trap in plain sight; Zeebub quickly dodged that one. Then she put a couple others in less obvious places, but not so subtle that he wasn't able to avoid them as well. She did this a couple more times, and then managed to upset his rhythm by planting one directly behind him while he avoided another that she had placed in front of him. It knocked him down, and she hurriedly dazed him before finishing him off with a furious lightning storm. He went up in pixels with a strangled squawk of indignation, and the crowds cheered.
“Whew!” Maryn clapped. “That was good!”
“And there goes Zeebub Bael--good luck next time!” the lady GM said.
Ghostlord and Lady Elisa almost literally blasted their way past a few more opponents after that, and then the two of them prepared to face off with each other for the final match of the night. By this time we were on the edge of our seats--and a lot of other people were as well. Here before us in the arena were two people who could have been winners of the Grand Tournmament. Even I was dying to know who would win tonight; could one of these two have beaten me? Conversely, could I have beaten them? Most importantly, who would win tonight's match?
By the way, these matches are not part of the guild competitions. There's always matches going on somewhere in Panarena, whether they're official ones like this or player-held tourneys. Anyhow.
As the two combatants entered the arena for their final match of the night, I almost forgot to breathe from being too focused on the event. Maryn nudged me after a moment, and I relaxed. Then the fight began.
Elisa opened with a series of flash skills that disoriented Ghostlord, allowing her to land several strikes on him before he fully recovered. Then he used Nihilistic Harvest to keep her at bay, punctuating it with Soul Burst, which wasn't as deadly as Soul Rupture but I suspected he was buying for time more than anything by using it. She narrowly avoided the attack, and cast a reflective arcane shield around her as she levitated to avoid the first attack, giving him pause.
“Oh nice, levitation magic!” Maryn remarked with interest.
“Not many, actually use it,” Myanihia nodded.
“Kind of surprising, considering how useful it is,” the other girl said.
I then watched as Ghostlord prepared a new attack as his opponent hovered in the air. Elisa was watching him even more closely than I was, readying her retribution spells for whatever might come her way. She cast a few attack spells at him, but they got sucked into a void aura that he had activated around himself. He then stepped back, and spread his arms wide; a black hole then appeared in the middle of the arena. Gasps and exclamations could be heard all over, and I saw Elisa herself struggle to maintain her levitation.
“Ooh, if she can avoid getting trapped in that Void Maw for another minute...!” the presiding GM said as she practically jumped out of her seat.
Void Maw, huh? I thought to myself; it was basically like Ariana's custom spell, except it was meant for one target and one target only. How long does she have to avoid it?
“That gives her about forty seconds,” the third GM remarked. “She's having a time of it, too, from the looks of things.”
Those forty seconds seemed like an eternity. At the last possible moment, when it seemed as if Elisa might have been done in by that spell, she activated a potent flash spell that disrupted both of Ghostlord's spells, allowing her to safely land on the ground again and putting Ghostlord himself into a state of shock. Elisa then let loose with a skill identified as Thundering Hellstorm, which effectively finished off the Shadowkin mage and won her the tournament. Loud cheers erupted from the audience, and the flashy mage blew a kiss to her admirers before she departed the arena.
***
“That was pretty amazing.” Maryn said as we all lounged in a bath later that night--morning?--whatever. We were close to logging out, anyway.
“Oh def.” Lizzy agreed.
“I didn't think she had a prayer when he activated that last skill,” Belle said.
“And then she blasts apart both of his active skills? Wow.” Lysandra shook her head in awe.
“She... is formidable.” Myanihia nodded.
“Definite agree.” Maryn said. “We're definitely cutting it close tonight... some of us, anyway.” she then grinned.
“And we'll probably cut it close tonight, too,” I shrugged.
“As long as our grades stay good, I do not think our parents mind,” Anhe smiled.
“If mine caught me there'd be words.” I said with a bemused expression.
“We need to adopt the kiddos, quick.” Belle said to Lysandra, who snickered.
“Not you, too,” I sighed, and the others laughed.
“La-na.” Belle said to me, kissing my cheek. “Come to think of it, Ari and the others are still working on that tome, huh?”
“Yeah...” I sighed a second time, sinking into the water.
“Don't be glum, sugar-plum.” the older girl said to me.
“Gyeck?!”
“We'll go check in with her after this,” Lysandra said. “All of you high-schoolers should get off soon, though,” she added as she got out, Myanihia following her.
“We'll, keep watch, on our competition,” the Snow Elf said, and the rest of us got out as well. When we had gotten dried off and put our gear back on, we logged out for the time being and “woke up” to spend at least part of Sunday in the real world.
***
After lunch, I decided to go and sit out in the yard for a change. Well, at least for a little bit. I wasn't going to spend all afternoon out there--and certainly not the evening. But I wanted to just sit for a while and just, not think too much. Which is always harder than it sounds.
Today, however, I was allowed some peace and quiet from the mental squirrels and such that could run rampant through my mind. I stared up towards the faint, feathery clouds that were moseying along in the sky, feeling just as lethargic and idle. I was almost asleep after a few minutes, but then my phone began buzzing; it was Rachel. Perking up a bit more, I answered her video-call almost immediately upon seeing it.
“Hey!” she said upon seeing me. “Not in game yet, huh?”
“Nope; you neither, I see,” I faintly grinned back.
“It's a brat-Sunday.” came the reply with its wry expression.
“Ahh,” I returned, smiling sympathetically.
Translation: Andrea's second-cousins were being baby-sat.
“Sounds like they quieted down at the moment,” I then remarked.
“For now, yeah,” Rachel nodded. “Oh! After you got off earlier, Andi and I figured out where we need to go for the next orb. It's waaay far away in the northeast, beyond the Veiled Sea. Some sort of mysterious archipelago called the Dream Islands.” she told me.
“I don't think I've even heard of that place,” I said with wonder.
“I don't think anyone has. Or at least not recently. Andi says she found a forum post about it, but it's from when the game first came out. Nothing since then,” Rachel said.
“And if Rama and Hathisis went there it's no wonder they wouldn't post anything about it,” I noted.
“Oh def.” she agreed with a nod. “Conventionally, we should go by ship; but maybe we should travel Dracky Air for safety.”
“Hrrmm...” I mused, leaning back in the chair. “We could always do both,” I then said with a shrug, and my girlfriend grinned at me.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“That's true,” she replied. “I think the others are online now; should we go and see what they think?”
“What about Andrea?”
“She's waiting around for her first-cousins to come pick up the brats. And Tom's here.”
“Right; let's get the plan into motion, anyway,” I then said, and after we ended the call I headed inside to re-enter Panarena a la Dream Machine.
“Hiya, kiddo!” Belle said as I loaded up. “We know already about what Heali found; we were still hanging around when she figured it out. What do you think about it?” she asked as Lysandra and Myanihia joined us.
“I think we're about to have a long flight.” I returned with a faint grin.
“Flight??” she gave me a look as Lysandra quietly snickered. Ariana loaded up then, and she jumped over to hug me.
“La-na! Are we heading for the Torching Mount?” she asked me.
“Oh boy.” Belle sighed. “Here come more rants on the forums...”
“I need you three to get one of the larger ships we have ready; we'll talk Dracuoatlax into the adventure. Oh, and we'll take Fyu, too,” I added.
“Gotcha.” Lysandra nodded back.
“Are you sure he'll fly a ship through the air?” Belle asked me doubtfully.
“We're a lot lighter than a boat full of treasure and stuff,” I returned with a shrug.
“Ehh.” she conceded with a goofy grin, and followed the twins out to our harbor.
“Let's go!” Ari said cheerily, and we made our way to the Torching Mount via wayport.
When we told Dracuoatlax what we had in mind, he gazed at us thoughtfully for a long moment. Part of me wondered if I had finally found the line he wouldn't cross for us, but I was put at ease when he finally spoke.
“This is an interesting proposition, master. And I admit I would much rather bear a ship than be borne by one. To be free in the air is what a dragon lives for, after all,” he said. Inwardly I heaved a hefty sigh of relief. “Now I must tell you about these islands, for I have heard of them in olden times.” he then said, and I became more attentive at once.
“You have?” I wondered.
“It has been many an age since any dragon flew that way; the Dream Islands lie beyond the Mists of Northern Dawn upon the Veiled Ocean, where the Midnight Sun rules the skies in summer. I do not know what sort of people or creatures dwell there now, but in ancient times there was a powerful clan of shamans who dwelt there, and there were great beasts like unto the ones we feast upon in Dragonholt.” he told us, and I recalled the vagräastaf that we had seen on our visit there. “There was also a race of giants, I believe, whose rulers had great skill in the shamanistic arts. Perhaps that is why no dragon has ventured that way for so many uncounted years.”
“Giants with shaman-rulers...” I mused quietly, feeling tired just from thinking about dealing with such monsters.
“But you have Dracuoatlax as your ally; I will not back down from such an adventure. Let us meet your friends, though we shall have to make many more stops than we did on our first adventure together.” the dragon said to us.
“I know,” I nodded back as Ari and I stood up.
“The riggings you fashioned for me upon a time are yet here; we shall take them with us,” he also noted, and I went to fetch them from the place he had set them.
“How long do you think it will take to get to the coast?” Ariana asked him.
“It will take us a good while to get to Ragnarheim, unless your friend can be persuaded to aid us; after that even he could be no help to us in getting to our true destination.” Dracuoatlax said in reply as I came back. He began stretching himself and Ari nodded back.
“Cylodel, you mean?” she remarked as he situated himself so we could get on his back.
“Ahh, that was the name. A clever mage, indeed.” he nodded as we got ourselves situated, and he began flapping his way out of the Torching Mount to head for our harbor at Queen's Haven.
“Do you think he'd do it?” I asked her.
“Probably!” Ariana returned. “I'll send him a message,” she then said, doing so at once.
When we got back to the guildhall, we found the rest of the Silvernight Queens, along with Myanihia, Derwydd, Peaches, Cloveroak, Snow Dancer, and Cylodel waiting for us. The wizened Hauflin guild-leader gave me a knowing grin as Dracuoatlax set down to let us confer with them.
“You're doing something crazy again, I hear.” Peaches said as I walked over to her.
“Eh-heh, you know us,” I shrugged with a grin of my own.
“Well Wildeye was there when we got your message, as well as a few of the other alliance leaders; he asked us to go with you.” Peaches told me.
“I can open a portal about a half-mile off of Ragnarheim's coast at this spot; will that be a good place?” Cylodel said to Dracuoatlax, showing the dragon a location on the map.
“That will suffice,” the dragon nodded.
“Cheers.” the mage said, and began readying himself to open the portal.
“Now we need to get the harness ready... or wait, we won't actually need it yet, will we...” I then noted. “You can just follow us through, probably,” I said to Dracuoatlax.
“There are infrequent isles along the path we shall take that shall suffice for my rests; I will come along as vanguard, then,” he nodded back.
With that decided we hurried aboard our ship of choice for the venture, a caravel, and got it heading out to sea. Cylodel headed to the prow, and began opening the portal.
“We have everyone and everything, right?” I looked around.
“Fyu's on board below and the waggon is in the hold.” Lizzy reported. “And we've got supplies to last us a good while.” she said as the portal opened.
We adjusted our course to head into it, and Dracuoatlax took off from the shore, following us carefully so as not to tip us over. After a minute or so, we were all through the portal, which closed behind us. I heard faint shouts coming from the shore, and turned to see some of our friends gathered there, waving farewell and good luck to us. We waved back, and when we could no longer really see them we began focusing more on our voyage.
This little caravel had four guns that we had gotten from Gears and Wheels earlier in the year, before the competition really got going, but it was definitely no attack vessel. If someone seriously came after us, we might be in trouble; but it was doubtful that anyone outside the alliance even knew we were out here. As we finished adjusting the sails to keep the wind from being against us, I went to go sit at the prow, idly watching the serene vista of waves and clouds now all around us. Ari climbed up a moment later to sit with me, the two of us leaning on each other as we took in the sights.
“Now this is what we signed up for.” she said after a while, and I smiled.
“It sure is.” I agreed.
Sure, we were doing this for competition reasons; but seeing the amazing sights in this world and having an incredible adventure with our friends was definitely the best part of it.
“And no one even knows we're out here.” she said with satisfaction.
“Exactly.” I nodded. Our hands clasped together. “The most we'll have to worry about is a--”
“Don't say it.” Ari grinned at me, and I stopped at once.
“R-right,” I sheepishly grinned back. “Oh, but real-life stuff, too...” I then amended, and she made a face.
“Well... that's more tolerable than sea monsters.” she eventually decided.
“You told me not to say it and then you said iiit,” I whined.
“That's differeeent,” she teased me.
“Blehh!” I stuck my tongue out at her, and she immediately did the same.
“Nyahh!” went Ari, and before she could blink I glomped her with a kiss. She let out a brief squeal but quickly kissed me back, draping her arm around me to pull me closer.
“Get a roooom,” Lizzy called up to us.
“Jea-lous,” I returned when the kiss ended.
“Nuh-uhhhh!” the retort came.
“Uh-huhh!” I singsonged back.
“Brat. I know where you live.” Lizzy quickly said.
“Gyeck!?”
“Thought so.” she grinned in reply.
“Leave the little turtledoves be,” Heali chided.
“Ruuude!!” Lizzy said in mock indignation. “Oh hey, if we log out we'll turn back up on the ship, right? We won't be in open water?” she then asked.
“I'm pretty sure it puts you back on the boat,” Maryn nodded.
“Great. I do have work in about five real hours, after all.”
“We'll probably make it to this island by then,” Snow Dancer said as she pulled out a map, “So we'll be good no matter what.”
“Sweet.” our smith returned.
“Almost a full day of sailing, huh?” I quietly noted.
“Good thing we remembered Cylodel, huh?” Ari softly grinned.
“Oh for sure.” I nodded.
“What's this region just past it called?” Lizzy's voice then said.
“What was it again, Peaches?” Snow Dancer asked her.
“Those runes, you mean? That's the Siren Sea.” the reply came. Ariana and I simply looked at each other upon hearing the words.
“I didn't hear it if you didn't.” I whispered to her.
“Nope. Not a word.” she returned.
“Gotcha.” I said, and we returned to gently leaning upon each other as our ship made its way into the northeast, the massive shape of Dracuoatlax now only a speck upon the horizon.
***
Seventeen hours and twenty-five minutes passed before we finally arrived at the deserted island which was going to be our resting point for the moment. Dracuoatlax had already landed ahead of us, and reported that he had seen more islands or rather islets further ahead, and that there was a region of the waters that made him uneasy for us. Ariana and I exchanged a glance as he mentioned this, softly smiling at each other.
“That might have been the Siren Sea,” Derwydd remarked, and the dragon slowly blinked.
“Hmm... I shall keep watch over you as we pass through it, then, and incinerate any of these water-bound harpies that dare to show themselves,” he replied.
Gu'hyeck?! A dragon versus sirens... what the heck kind of crazy and interesting situation have I set up now?? I wondered to myself with both dread and eager anticipation.
“Ah-heh, we'll be glad to have your assistance,” Derwydd grinned back wryly.
“Master, are there such creatures in your world?” the dragon wondered.
“You could say there are, and you could say there aren't; it depends on how you look at them,” our druid-friend returned.
“Hmm! What an interesting puzzle of words you have given me to ponder,” came the reply, the dragon obviously intrigued by the answer he had received.
“Right, I'mma be back just before midnight; don't leave me here!” Lizzy told us, and then she poofed for the time being.
“Don't give me ideas...” I muttered to myself, and Ari quietly giggled.
“You'd be in the negative for points until she graduates if you did,” she whispered.
“Heh... don't I know it,” I returned with a sly grin. “It'd almost be worth it.”
“Pfft!”
“Well, this is a lovely little speck of island we have to explore,” Peaches remarked as she looked around. “There's some jungle, a small mountain with some hills around it, and I think that's an ancient ruin over there,” she noted.
“Wanna check it out after we rotate for dinner?” Snow Dancer asked.
“For sure!” she nodded. “Who's coming and who's staying?”
“I'm staying; I have a game I want to try playing with Dracuoatlax and Fyu,” Healina said.
“Ooh, that sounds fun -- count me in!” Belle said at once.
“Same!” Mary smiled.
“Same,” Cylodel said.
“Interesting,” the dragon remarked, and Fyu hopped down from the ship to join them.
“Me too,” Derwydd joined them. The rest of us then went with Peaches and Snow Dancer to explore the ruins--after, of course, we spent some time in real life to have dinner.
“Sealed. Like the others.” Lysandra said as she tried a door. It was the eleventh that we had tried to get into after splitting off from Peaches, Snow Dancer, and Cloveroak.
We had found what Peaches described as a “tropical Skara Brae”. A lot of the ruined buildings were half-buried in the ground, and only a few of them really stood above the surface. I was pretty sure the actual place didn't have doors, but this one did. Eleven, by our count. They seemed to all be on the inner side of the ruins, by which I mean they face away from the center of the island. I was beginning to suspect it was some sort of dungeon that either hadn't been fully implemented yet or that we didn't have the quest item or items for. Either was possible.
“Maybe there's some sort of mechanism to get them open,” Ariana mused.
“Possibly.” Myanihia agreed. “I, don't see any locks... Lana?”
“Nothing,” I shook my head. “Well, we're about on the other side of this place by now; and I bet Peaches is still having fun with those symbols... wanna check the mountain?”
“Sure!” Ari smiled.
“I will race you there!” Anhe suddenly said, and took off towards what seemed a likely trail.
“Oy--!” I called out, and then quickly ran after her.
“Ruuude!” Lysandra shouted; I heard Myanihia laugh as Ariana caught up to me, the two of us clambering after Anhe, and then we heard a sound of galloping.
“You don't think...?” Ari looked over at me.
“Oh she definitely went werewolf.” I said with a wry grin.
As if on cue, the werewolf-girl barreled past us with Myanihia on her back. The two of us actually stopped in shock for a moment. Ari then looked at me, and we nodded to each other. I knelt down to let her on my back, and when she had secured herself I uttered one command.
“Shadow Speed!” I said, and took off like a rocket.
A few seconds later it was the twins' turn to stop in disbelief for a brief moment before resuming the race; Anhe, of course, had activated her speed and stamina auras, which were keeping her a fair distance ahead. She looked behind her, and let out a giggle-shriek as she saw the four of us gaining on her.
“That big rock up there!” she shouted so we could hear.
“Your skill's about to end!!” Ari said to me.
“So take over!” I said to her.
“Huh??”
“Your psychokinesis spell you made the other day!”
“Oh! Right!” she snapped her fingers in remembrance. “It works better going off things like cliffs, though...” she reminded me, and I began racing towards a nearby tree.
“This'll have to do!”
“Oh boy.” Ari softly gulped as I ran up the tree. She activated her skill, Featherfall, just as I launched us off the top of said tree, and we glided towards the rock in the distance that Anhe was aiming for. Below, we could see the twins gaining on her.
“Ehh...” I remarked dubiously.
“We might make it,” she said.
Okay. Long story short, Anhe pulled out a final trick and won our little race. None of us had any clue where she'd gotten that final speed skill, but we all decided to try and figure it out after our orb-hunting. Anyhow.
We then began climbing up the mountain, carefully picking our way up its sides. There was something vaguely familiar to me about it, which was odd considering I'd never been here before.
“These rocks... andesite?” Myanihia mused to herself as she examined one.
“And some rhyolite,” Lysandra noted. “It's warm out here anyway; I expected it to be colder, but this tropical island upset my expectations,” she remarked.
“Come to think of it, these look very similar to some of the stone that the village had, and that it was buried with,” Anhe said as she looked around.
Why is this bugging me? What is in my head that's trying to be remembered? I frowned to myself as I listened to the conversation. Ariana then tugged one of my sleeves as we approached a sharp turn heading upwards.
“Weren't we studying rocks like that in science class a week or so ago?” she whispered.
“Hyeck?!” I said with a jolt as it finally struck me. I bounded up the path like a deer, the others hastily following after me.
“Lana? Hey, girl, what's up?” Lysandra called as she tried to catch up.
“What did you say to her?” Anhe asked.
“I just mentioned science class, I don't know why--oh!!” Ari then realized, suddenly breaking into a sprint as well.
“Both of them...?” I heard Myanihia wonder.
We reached the top a few minutes later, and I stared down. Now I knew why those rocks and this place seemed familiar. It wasn't a mountain; it was a volcano. I felt a shudder run through me at the sight before my eyes.
“Ho-ly snap,” I breathed as Ariana took hold of me.
“La-- whoooa...!” Lysandra exclaimed as she grabbed on to her sister, and Anhe grabbed a hold of Ari and myself.
“You, should have guessed, earlier,” Myanihia quipped.
“My geology and geophysics classes aren't until next fall.” the other returned. “This... looks tranquil, though,” she continued in an uncertain tone.
“I think it will not erupt while we are here.” Anhe said with a fair amount of confidence. “And if it does we will have some warning.”
“At least now I have an excuse to leave Lizzy behind...” I softly jested as we backed away from the edge.
“I think, this, is what buried, the village,” Myanihia noted.
“Probably,” Lysandra agreed with a nod. “Peaches will most likely figure it out by the time we get back to her.”
“Yeah... let's go back to the others,” I said in agreement, and we headed down from the apparent volcano to return to the village.
***
It was nearing midnight when we finally returned to the ship, finding Lizzy had returned to Panarena and was now absorbed in watching the riddle contest going on with Fyu and Dracuoatlax. She waved to us as we came to sit with them, and patted my head.
“What are those ruins?” she asked us.
“Not sure, but they're pretty neat; I'll have to come back sometime and look them over more thoroughly,” Peaches replied. “It's a volcanic island, though, so we'll have to be choosy about coming back.”
“A volcano, huh?” the blonde girl said with interest. “I bet someone had thoughts about leaving me here when they found that out.”
“Gyeek!” I involuntarily twitched.
“I knew it--rude!” she returned, grabbing me in a gentle headlock and knuckling my head.
“Oh, leave the poor girl alone,” Maryn called over. “I bet you'd have left her for sure if it was the other way around.”
“Heeyy... not nice! I'd stay for Lana!” Lizzy exclaimed as she halted her playful torture. “Maybe not yooou... but defs for Lana!” she added with a cheeky grin.
“Pffft! So rude!” Maryn laughed back.
“Cylodel... 'port me somewhere...” I groaned.
“Where?” the quiet mage looked over at me.
“Somewhere they don't give people noogies.”
“Hahh... no luck.” he sighed back.
“I'm being nice tonight, kiddo.” Lizzy patted my head.
“I didn't even have us leave... lemme go...” I grouched at her.
“Fine, fine,” she gently cackled, loosening her grip so I could slip out and hide behind Ariana.
As I started to settle in, I saw a faint speck of light on the horizon. At once, I stood back up, and then scrambled back on board the ship so I could scurry up to the crow's nest and get a better vantage point. Ariana quickly followed me, and some of the others began looking as well to see what had gotten my attention.
“A ship?” she asked as I used the spyglass to augment my Shadow Vision.
“Looks like one... it's about the same size as ours... who the heck could be out here besides us?” I wondered, feeling quite vexed about it. Ariana turned on her Mystic Vision, and frowned when she saw the ship.
“Their flag; it's pale green, almost... sickly green, and it has a heart with a sword going through it in the middle,” she told me. I put the spyglass away and patted her shoulder. We turned off our vision skills and hurried back down.
“What's up?” Cloveroak asked us.
“Everyone! Get back on board and let's get out of here,” I called out, “It's Venomheart.”