Kayara loosed the arrow. Her eyes went wide. She jerked the bow to the right before the arrow left the string. The arrow flew wide, missing both Ayn and Miit as it sailed into the distance and vanished.
“Damn it,” Kayara hissed. “Can’t that thing give a little warning before popping up like a wraith?”
Ayn let out a breath through her teeth, willing her body to relax and her pulse to slow. “No. He can’t.”
Bren floated between them in an attempt to disarm the situation.
“Easy, you two. We’re just a bit on edge after the fight. If we could—”
“Stow it, Choir Boy. If that creature is Ayn’s familiar, shouldn’t she be able to communicate with it?”
The truth in Kayara’s words cut Ayn, and the venom burned the wound. “I’m not a magic class, remember? I can’t talk to familiars.”
Not that Ayn couldn’t tell what Miit was thinking, especially right now with the amount of hissing he was doing behind her back.
“Right. Which means he shouldn’t be here.”
“But he is, and he’s not going anywhere, so get used to it!”
Kayara went silent, and Ayn winced. She hadn’t meant to snap, but Miit had every right to be there, and in all honesty, she wanted him there more than any of her party members at the moment.
“Besides,” Ayn said. “You never have this big of a problem with animal mobs. Even with the rat swarms on the last floor.”
Bren shook his head in defeat. He stepped out of the way to reveal a glaring Kayara. Thankfully, she’d put up her bow.
“Yes,” Kayara said. “But if you noticed, I’m attacking and killing those animals. Plus, they have the decency to not appear out of thin air right next to my ear.”
Ayn glared back. “Why are you so bothered by animals?”
“I…” Kayara frowned and looked away. “I’ll tell you later if you tell me why you cart that hairless rodent around.”
The latest insult against Miit stung, but surprise softened the blow. Ayn wasn’t expecting Kayara to share so easily. “Fine.”
They stared at each other a moment longer while Bren sighed and Sheyric looked off into the distance. Or maybe the floor, Ayn couldn’t tell. Either way, her skin itched from sitting still. She needed to disarm the situation so they could finally continue their Crawl.
“You’re pretty good with that bow you got from Tal,” Ayn said, doing her best to soften her expression.
Kayara’s eyes narrowed, but her stance relaxed. “Yeah. Well, what’s starting with acrobat good for, if not accuracy?”
“Still, that arrow in the Wark’s eye saved my hide. Thanks. I’d figured you to be more of a close-range damage dealer.”
“I do prefer getting my hands dirty, but the slippery bastard wouldn’t sit still, so an arrow was second best.”
A wry grin spread across Kayara’s face, and Ayn returned it.
“But,” Kayara said. “I only have eight arrows left, and those things are expensive, so don’t rely too much on my marksmanship, okay?”
Ayn bit back a retort on wasting one on Miit, and simply nodded.
Bren rubbed his arm and grimaced. “Hopefully that was the only Wark. Do you think it was? It was pretty tough. Maybe it was a mini-boss…in the first spot of the floor….”
“It was tough,” Ayn said, agreeing more to ease the rising fear she saw in Bren’s eyes more than anything else. “But now that I’ve fought it, I know how it works. I won’t let another get so close.”
Kayara flashed her a quick grin and nod. Ayn felt her face heat up. She hadn’t said that to seem like a good leader, she’d simply spoken the truth. Either way, Bren seemed to relax a little, although Ayn wondered if they’d have another party member afraid of animals soon.
“Thanks for the heals, Sheyric,” Ayn said.
Sheyric’s hood bobbed in either agreement or a bow.
“So where to next?” Kayara asked.
Ayn spun in a circle, catching sight of Miit, who looked as pleased as she’d expect a cat surrounded by water to be. “Any suggestions, Miit?”
He heaved a sigh and kept his ears plastered against his skull.
“Right. Uh…. That way.”
Ayn pointed in a semi-random direction. The large, open expanse of water and complete lack of doors made direction finding rather difficult.
“Cool,” Kayara said. Her eyes refastened on Miit. “Leaders and pets first.”
Miit turned away from Kayara with a delicate snort and floated near Ayn as they swam on.
“Don’t listen to her,” Ayn said loud enough for Kayara to hear. “I know you’re a far cry from a pet. Without you, we’d probably have died of poison or got caught by that net on floor one and eaten by rats.”
Kayara made a choked sound from behind Ayn. Technically, anyone caught in the net trap merely summoned mobs, but Ayn supposed getting eaten by them was always a possibility.
“I’m sure you’ll be just as important on this floor, too. I’m happy you came despite all of this wet.”
Miit’s ear eased up as Ayn talked. The arch in his back and tightly tucked wings relaxing some at her words.
A glint caught Ayn’s eye. The light of the floor was diffuse, each part of the water equally lit to a blueish haze from an unknown light source, yet something shone from a wall about fifty feet away. The hazy light also dulled visibility. It wasn’t until Ayn was within twenty feet that she could really tell what it was. A large, perfectly round carnelian, glowing with its own inner light and embedded in the center of an engraving of the sun.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The ragged rocks and coral of the wall had been worn flat. On the surface, someone had engraved a mural. The sun shined down on a split world of land and sea. Small, block-cut figures of animals, humans, sea-creatures, and merpeople spread across the mural, acting out what Ayn could only guess was the tale of how Warks and shrimp-chickens came to be.
Ayn marveled at the intricate carvings, running her hand over the indents in the wall. It stretched a good thirty feet or more, and the pictures went up twice her height. The System had randomized the entire floor, yet it had thought to include an entire backstory for what felt like a ridiculous, improbable mix. It was things like that which made Ayn think the rumors of The System’s sentience held truth.
“Incredible,” Bren muttered. He’d floated back a bit and stood with a hand on his chin and his eyes gleaming. “The depth of the engravings differs in a way that gives these engravings a three-dimensional look. I wonder if our Crafters could duplicate such a thing.”
“Did you actually read the story, though?” Kayara floated down the length of the wall, her eyes tracing the shapes. Her sly half-grin made Ayn instantly curious.
“What’s it say?” Ayn asked.
“Well, I’m paraphrasing, but it looks like some bored half-fish people flooded a farming town, then convinced one survivor it was, in fact, better under the sea.”
“You mean they went willingly?”
“Looks like it. There’s a distinct lack of tying him up and throwing them into the ocean.”
“So he agreed…and they merged the animals with sea-creatures.”
“Him, too. By the pretty little swirls and despondent look on his face, I dare say he’s the one we need to find on this floor.”
Kayara pointed to the far right end of the mural. Sure enough, an impressively put-out looking mer-farmer stared out at them from a circle of swirls and sharp points, his ensemble complete with a straw hat, pitchfork, and overalls which ended abruptly at his lower fish half.
“So you’re saying the boss of the floor is a farmer,” Bren said.
Ayn ignored the distaste in his voice. Clearly, a farmer felt a little beneath him. “Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I’d say Kayara’s right. He’s practically got arrows pointing at him.”
“Right. I don’t suppose either of you saw a map of the floor with his location on it, did you?”
“You know it won’t be that easy,” Kayara said.
“Of course not. What was I thinking? Well, let me study this amazing craftmanship just a little longer, then we can be on our way.”
Ayn frowned. “The System generated this entire floor. Nothing’s crafted.”
Bren waved Ayn’s words away. “None other than the creator of this world crafted it, and there’s much to be learned. Did you know fine stitchwork came from the study of Unique, high-tier cloth armor? Master Seamstress Aly—”
“Yep,” Kayara said with a curt nod. “We got it. Important stuff. Just don’t stare at it too long. Dont know when another Wark will come sniffing around.”
Bren’s eyes widened. He picked up his pace, working his way down the mural as Kayara had done, muttering the whole way.
While he worked, Ayn floated close to Sheyric, who stood impassive in the middle of the cul-de-sac. Miit followed her. The familiar’s bubble brushed against Sheyric’s hood. Sheyric didn’t seem to notice.
“What do you make of this?” Ayn asked.
Sheyric shrugged. “Farmer’s important.”
Ayn nodded slowly, waiting for him to continue. Naturally, he didn’t.
Miit floated lower until he’d positioned himself at chest level in front of Sheyric. Ayn was in the middle of wondering what the familiar was doing when Sheyric’s hand eased up in a painstakingly slow arc and settled on Miit’s head, passing through the magical bubble keeping Miit dry without popping it. Ayn had just enough time to marvel at Miit allowing someone else touch him before Bren floated up and Sheyric’s hand dropped back to his side.
“I have what I need,” Bren said. “If everyone else is ready, we can go.”
Ayn nodded. “Since we don’t know where the farmer is, how about we check the other side of this cavern before moving farther in?”
The other three agreed, and with Kayara hanging back with the guys while she stared at Miit, Ayn went ahead. Miit stuck close, his ears swiveling as they passed by the entrance point and into unfamiliar territory.
The silt floor far below them grew progressively more green as more, and taller, kelp sprouted from it. By the time Ayn saw another cul-de-sac rising in the distance, the kelp had become a forest, the tops of the broad leaves brushing her chest, and stalks tangling around her legs. A sinking feeling settled in her chest a second before Miit hissed. Ayn back-pedaled on reflex. Her body went backward, but her leg stayed.
Pain jolted through her. A thick strand of kelp had wrapped around her foot, and as she kicked and struggled to free herself, more kelp joined in, wrapping around her lower body until she couldn’t shift at all.
“Don’t come in here!” she called to the rest of her party.
A loud squawk covered up any responses. The kelp a few body lengths in front of Ayn swayed erratically as whatever was hiding inside took notice of her, then charged in her direction. Please be a shrimp-chicken, she thought right before something sharp jabbed her in the calf.
HEALTH AT 321
Ayn’s hands flew to the hilts of her sabers and tugged. The sabers stayed. She pulled harder, her hand brushing up against a slippery wad of kelp. A sliver of fear ran up her spine. The continued attacks on her legs, and the growing need to wring her attacker’s neck, smothered it. She no longer cared if it was a chicken or not. She was going to strangle it.
HEALTH AT 279
Ayn yelled in frustration and stuck her hands into the kelp bed to grab the mob. Kelp quickly wrapped around them in a strangely concerted effort. The plants’ actions created an open area right under her face, where a brightly colored, and larger than Ayn remembered, shrimp-chicken stared up at her with rage in its gelatinous eyes.
Miit appeared between her and the shrimp-chicken. The shrimp-chicken bounced off of Miit’s bubble. The bubble burst and water rushed in. Miit let out a gurgling caterwaul as he spun and slashed at the kelp wound around Ayn’s arms.
Warmth blossomed at Ayn’s back.
Warmth turned to heat, the surrounding kelp catching fire as a nearby squawk told her the shrimp-chicken had recovered and was back on the attack. Bren’s tenor floated muffled through the water. Each verse about fire and burning got more frantic, each stanza punctuated by a pause and hiss as another fireball lit up the kelp.
The raging cries of the shrimp-chicken turned into alarmed ba-kowks. The water surrounding Ayn sizzled, the kelp burning to blackened stumps. Then, silence.
A sizeable area had been cleared by the fire. The ashen remains of the burned kelp mixed with the water and cast everything in a gray murk. Kayara appeared from the haze, Bren and Sheyric not far behind.
Kayara jabbed Ayn in the shoulder. “What were you thinking floating off into the crap? If you can’t see your feet, don’t go in it.”
Sheyric went to work healing Ayn’s injuries, but rising irritation drowned the sense of well-being that came with it.
“Well,” Ayn said. “Where were you guys to give me a warning? If it was so obviously a trap, someone could have said something!”
Kayara opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated and looked away. “I…I was too busy watching your familiar. I didn’t notice the kelp until you yelled.”
“I didn’t realize the kelp could be dangerous,” Bren said. “And we were quite a distance back, so we weren’t in the thick of it yet. My apologies. I will be more aware next time.”
“Never been under water,” Sheyric murmured from under his hood as he healed Ayn.
HEALTH AT MAXIMUM
Ayn sighed. “Right. Sorry for snapping, I—”
“No, I’m sorry.” Kayara shook her head and looked Ayn in the eye. “I got so distracted by your familiar, I blinded myself to everything else. It’s stupid. It could have got you killed, and I’m sorry.”
Ayn blinked at the new, apologetic Kayara. She’d expected more resistance, more argument, and without it, she wasn’t sure what to say.
“For the rest of the floor, I promise to keep my eyes on our surroundings, okay?” Kayara gestured over her heart in an oath. “Also, I believe our smokescreen is fading. We should probably all focus on our surroundings, so we’re not blindsided by the next surprise.”
Ayn picked up on the unsaid please in Kayara’s words and nodded. The acrobat had done enough penance for now. Ayn turned her attention back to the remaining kelp. Bren’s fireballs had burned away a nearly ten-foot swath, yet the kelp bed still stretched another thirty or so feet.
The path had narrowed without Ayn realizing it, and continued to narrow to a thin opening leading to a dead end filled with more kelp.
Ayn eyed the kelp, the plants swaying serenely, and frowned. “Bren, how many more fireballs can you cast?”
“Technically, quite a few. But, I had to use a mana potion to keep up the last volley. The water simply puts out fire too quickly.”
“Right. Better to save them, then.”
Nothing said they had to clear out everything. They could easily swim past. Ayn doubted the farmer was hiding in the weeds, anyway. Yet the more she looked, the more alarm bells went off in her mind.