The sound of the wicked waves crashing against the shore filled my ears as I crouched under the shelter of a small beach hut on Cottesloe Beach. I flicked through my little notebook, looking over the sketch of the skull with a rose in its mouth that I had drawn there before leaving the Old Mill. The wind blew with an aggressive chill making me shudder and pull the limp blanket I’d found more tightly around me. The pages of my notebook flapped around, determined to fly away despite my tight grip on it.
I know I should have returned to the sewer-bound home of the Outsiders once I’d failed to find Nora and Stella. I couldn’t do it though. Returning without them would be like chopping off a limb. It wouldn’t be fair for me to be warm and safe while they were left out here somewhere in danger.
I don’t know what brought me to Cottesloe Beach. At first, I’d simply crossed the bridge near the Old Mill and then tramped along the river like it would guide me where I needed to go. The skirmishes I’d found myself in along the way had been small and uneventful. Not even complicated enough to grant me another level. That was good I suppose. Avoiding danger was better for my health than the alternative. It didn’t help me get stronger though, and getting stronger was becoming more and more important.
I closed my notebook and stared out over the turbulent ocean. The storm overhead was angering the waters, making the waves tall and violent, crashing down before rising all over again. I couldn’t see Rottnest Island out there among the waves in the premature darkness brought on by the downpour. Overhead the clouds churned, rumbling with thunder and shooting great bolts of lightning crackling across the sky.
It was out there though, the island that was Nigel’s home. Twenty-two kilometers off the sands of the beach if the old weathered brochure I’d picked up along the way was accurate. Getting out there in the middle of a storm was all but impossible. The old ferry that had once run from the mainland to Rottnest Island had stopped running the moment the Crocs had come. I hadn’t bothered to ask Theo and Gabby how they had managed to get out there. That would have been an intelligent thing to do and apparently, intelligence was not my strong suit.
“Shut the hell up!”
“I know Frank. It doesn’t look good, hey?”
The bird hopped off my shoulder, forcing his way under my blanket. Sob’s lightning crackled for a brief moment, a poor imitation of the sky's grand performance.
“Don’t fight you two, we’re all trying to keep warm.”
I’d eyed the big glamorous buildings that lined the beachfront on my way here before settling on the old rundown beach hut. The lack of a toilet had been my main interest. I didn’t need to risk a Croc popping up on me while I was trying to rest. Even with Frank and Sob fighting off Crocs even the smaller ones were more difficult. I needed a reliable tank. I needed Nora and Stella.
I hoped that Nigel might be able to point me in the right direction. There was a lighthouse on that island far out on the horizon and I needed to find it. Maybe he would even know who or what had left that symbol in the Old Mill. It reminded me a little of the skulls worn by the members of the Fellowship of Fayum. In all the run-ins I’d had with them though, I’d never seen them do something like this. Maybe they were branching out in their haste to spread the name of Melumek to all the players that remained. Which, according to the number in my menu, was not all that many.
I shuddered and this time, not because of the cold. You would think the abundance of death I’d waded through for the past year would make me numb to it. That didn’t seem to be the case though.
Further down the beach, I could see a large boathouse. The rain was beginning to ease so I slipped from my hiding place, pulling the blanket over my head as I held Frank close to my body and bolted for the building.
It would be safer to wait for clear skies and a calm ocean but waiting wouldn’t mean much if I couldn’t find some sort of vessel to take me over there. I didn’t know how to pilot any of the newer boats but if I could find a simple tiller-steer open boat I might have a chance.
I reached the boathouse and smiled as the lockpicking icon flashed up over the doorway. This one was simple with only four bouncing balls to place in their respective circles. The small number of experience points I gained from the action was enough to bolster my lockpicking skills. Sometimes it bewildered me that these things had once been difficult. Even the more intricate locks with seven bouncing balls were barely a hindrance nowadays.
I slowly opened the door, flinching at the way the hinges squealed. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed as the wind howled, bringing with it the biting scent of salt and seaweed. I stepped quietly into the darkness, still cradling Frank who didn’t seem interested in leaving the warmth of my blanket. Sob wriggled in my pocket, letting out a muffled neigh.
The sound of something ruffling reverberated over the noise of the outside world. I took a breath, dropping the blanket and shifting Frank back to my shoulder as I slowly and carefully drew my sword. I stepped further into the deeper gloom of the boathouse, my eyes dancing about as I looked for the source of the noise.
I saw the patch of silver sparkles glowing in the corner of my eye. I rushed to them, crouching down and melding with the sparkles until I was sure I was hidden. The wind howled again and with a solid boom the door I’d come through slammed shut.
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Frank shifted uncomfortably, making a croaking sound as his head swiveled about. I lifted a finger, gently bopping him on the head to keep him quiet. The ruffling sound had changed into a bunch of hisses and clicks. My neck began to ache as my head bounced from side to side, looking for the source. I couldn’t pinpoint it though. It was like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
I pressed my fingers onto the cool hull of a large sea kayak beside me, carefully lifting my bulk to look over it. There wasn’t much on the other side, only a few empty boat trailers and a couple of different-sized kayaks.
The crackle of Sob’s magic had me looking down. Little blue sparks were flying from my pocket as his eyes blazed a blinding blue. I reached in, his magic barely tickling my skin, and yanked him out, placing him on the ground at my feet. Lightning danced over his black coat, the small flames above his hooves flaring until they licked his underbelly.
I shoved my fingers in my bum bag, drawing out a bolt and two bottles of poison. With speedy deft hands, I loaded the bolt and dumped poison over it and my sword, letting the bottles drop to the floor. I would have cared more about the noise they made if Frank and Sob weren’t singing the songs of their people. Whatever was out there, it already knew we were here.
The ruffling and clicks turned to high-pitched squeals as the hidden creatures dropped from the ceiling, hitting the ground hard. The sand beneath my boots shifted at the weight of the monsters. Five pairs of bright red eyes glimmered in the darkness, weaving and shifting toward us.
Sob screamed his anger. Bolts of lightning forked through the air, highlighting the bulky hairy creatures with leathery wings and sword-length fangs dropping from below their squashed noses. I swallowed as I widened my stance in the safety of the sparkles. Frank screeched and leaped into the air. One of the hulking bats jumped up to join him, moving more awkwardly in the tight space than the nimble raven.
I aimed at the thing and let loose my poisoned bolt, smiling as it dug deep into the creature's rear end. The bat screeched. Its brethren joined it, clambering over the boats and tearing them up with their sharp claws.
Sob screamed and ran at them, terrifying even in his pintsized state. A spell I had not seen before burst from his muzzle; a ball five times the size of him formed of crackling electricity. It shot across the room, striking one of the bats and breaking apart, splattering the same sizzling magic over the others like a ball of gell bursting.
“Damn,” I whispered softly as I loaded another bolt.
The bat that had chased Frank dropped like a sack of potatoes, slamming into the ground over one of the kayaks, its body limp and its once-glowing eyes dim. Its body began to glow a dull golden color. I didn’t look at it for long, charging from my hiding place and slamming my blade into a monster's face before it could swallow Sob.
A pair of wicked fangs stabbed through my arm. I howled in agony and involuntarily yanked, ripping the wounds even wider. Yellow drops formed at the points on the far side of my arm. The drops fell, sizzling as they hit the ground.
I roared and turned my blade, jamming it up through the soft part of the bat's chin. Its health dropped dramatically as the poison I coated the blade with seeped into the brain of the creature. It screeched and yanked its head back, freeing my arm and slamming into one of its friends as it stumbled. Biting back the pain I lifted my arm and fired a bolt into the glowing red eye that shone in the gloom like a beacon. Two down, three to go.
I leaped over a kayak and slid under a trailer, just barely missing getting skewered by the fangs of another bat. It howled over me, digging at the trailer with its claws as it tried to reach me.
“Shut the hell up!”
Frank dropped from his place near the ceiling, digging his talons and beak into the eyes of the bat. The hulky creature reeled back, slamming the claw that rose from the center of its wing into Frank, driving the raven into the ground. I crawled from my hiding place and leaped, kicking off a wooden column and flinging myself at the bat’s back. I slammed my sword hilt deep into it.
Lightning crackled, hitting the bat and sending it and me tumbling to the ground. I yelped and yanked my sword free, throwing myself away before I was pinned under the bat.
I clambered over the bats golden glowing back and scooped Frank's limp body off the ground, running to the next patch of silver sparkles and huddled deeply in its glimmering protection. I lifted the bird to my ear, trying not to panic when I didn’t hear a sound.
“Come on Frank, not like this.”
A small, barely audible croak slipped from the raven's beak. I sighed and carefully placed the bird in the safety of an empty metal box hidden deep in the sparkles.
“Stay here,” I snapped, throwing myself back out into the battle.
The final bat flung its head back, tossing Sob high into the air. The small horse screamed, lightning sparking in every direction as he tried to right himself in mid-air. I ran, jumping up and placing my boot squarely on the bat’s head as I launched myself after the horse, snatching him into the safety of my arms. I rolled and bellowed, sticking out my arm and firing a bolt down the wide-open gullet of the bat beneath me.
My sword was trapped against my body. Unable to stab at the beast it caught me in its fangs, sinking them deep into my belly. The venom that had escaped me earlier pumped through my veins, effective even with my poison resistance. My body began to stiffen. Sob whinnied and started sparking again but his magic was fading, dealing only minor damage to the bat. I stuck my fingers in my bum bag, snatching another poison bottle from my stash and yanking the cork free with my teeth before pouring the vile liquid over the bat’s tongue.
The monster screamed and tossed me aside. I slammed into a kayak, my health bar sinking dangerously low as I curled into a ball, keeping a careful hold of Sob. I waited for the bat’s killer blow but it never came. I lifted my aching head, searching for the monster. All I saw were five hulking glowing bodies just waiting to be looted.
“Frank,” I murmured, forcing my sore body to move.
I crawled to the metal box and unceremoniously shoved Sob in there. “Please, heal him.”
Sob’s magic glowed brighter then faded almost immediately. The horse snorted and turned his sad glowing blue eyes on me.
“No, please. Don’t let him die.”