The next day, I woke up peacefully. When I unzipped my tent and crawled out, I saw Flint sitting by the barrier, carving into a piece of wood with his Shadowglass knife. Some plant fibers lay next to him and Riley, who was staring at something on a fire intently. “Good morning,” he said, without looking up. “I’m trying to make a bow.”

“What wood is this?” I asked even though there was only one type of tree, and one of them was lying right next to Flint.

“Palm wood. I cut down an entire tree for this.”

“Destructive.”

“Hey, it’s for my bow, the fire, extending the barrier, and arrows.”

“Fine.” I just noticed that the barrier was a bit wider than before. “Are those snakes and crabs on the fire?”

“Yeah, I caught them from the holes you told me about. I already ate some of it. Do you want some snake meat?” I backed away.

“Crabs please, no snake meat.”

“Trust me, it’s good. Tastes better than crabs.” He gave me a devious grin.

“No thanks. Just the crabs.” He grumbles about me being boring before handing me a few cooked crabs. I thanked him and sat down to eat. He nods and continues working on his bow.

“Will you have enough arrows throughout this entire trip? We don’t know how long it will take.”

“It’s alright, I’ll make as much as I can now, and if I exhaust my supplies I can make more anytime.”

“Probably not in Steel or Earth.”

“They don’t have trees?”

“Earth, rarely. Steel’s trees are, well, steel.”

“I’ll find a way. Do you have a bow?”

“I do, but my arrows are made out of water.”

“I’ll just make a lot, then. Are there any materials nearby that are good for arrowheads?” There was none, but I had an idea.

“How about we try Shadowglass arrowheads? Can you make enough lava?” He closed his eyes for a while, then nodded. “Great. So now we need a platform that won’t break if you put lava onto it.” He took out one of the fruits he calls Emberfigs and chews on it.

“How cold can you make your snow?”

“Cold enough to freeze you relatively quickly.”

“Not enough. It needs to be cold enough to kill me very quickly. On second thought, let’s make basalt arrowheads. They’re formed in the same manner, but it needs to be less cold.”

“I suppose that thing can work as arrowheads as well. Can you cut it?”

“My Shurkien would be able to do that.”

“Let’s try it then. I’m curious to see how this works.” We moved a safe distance away from our camp, fought off a group of pufferfish, and started.

“Once I put the lava down, you need to spray it with a lot of snow quickly. Can you do that?” I hesitated, then nodded. Flint summoned a slab of lava onto the beach, and I quickly used my necklace to puff out snow. The snow began to rapidly melt and sizzle, while the lava began to solidify, turning into a grey solid, with different shades of dark colors. Despite being solid, the snow that my necklace spewed out melted almost immediately when getting close. I slowly backed away and splashed snow all over myself, not noticing the intense heat until now. Flint glanced back at me.

“You all right? I forgot you hated high temperatures. Well, it worked. This is basalt. It still needs to cool down, so don’t get too close to it for now. Maybe you could cool it down even more?”

“Give me a few seconds.” I pulled out some of the starberries I found, chewing on them to regain some energy. Despite my necklace reducing energy cost, I still expended a lot of it, using it to spray out snow. “How about you toss it into the ocean?” The basalt rose and levitated towards the ocean, dropping down right on top of it. The seawater nearby fizzled away, and for a while, there were clear crystals of salt on the sand, before the basalt slab cooled down enough for the waves to rush in and not get boiled, taking the salt with it. I walked over and picked it up. It felt smooth and still emanated a lot of warmth. I dropped it off next to Flint.

“Thanks. I’ll start working on it now. It’ll take until sunfall, so go hunting or something.” I nodded.

“How about I go hunting today?”

“Sure. That would be convenient. I’ll be back in time for the next meal.” I expanded my bow and walked up from the beach. I hoped to catch something like a capybara for lunch. Even though they were cute and seemed cuddly, they would leap at you and bite you viciously if you approached them. Their meat also tasted sweet, like the berries they ate.

I wandered into the forest, not bothering to muffle my footsteps. The animals could hear me even if I tried to be stealthy. I listen specifically for a distinct squeak, one that sounds like a rat but lower pitched. The wind picked up, batting at my hair. I absorbed the atmosphere of the forest, inhaling the earthy scent of moss and damp soil carried by the wind. The calming smell of pine needles and resin relaxes me as I walk, relaxing my senses just a little bit.

Something tackled me to the ground, knocking the wind out of me. Sharp claws tore into me, cutting into my clothes and skin. I shook off my fright, pushed myself up with all my strength and leapt backwards, and fell onto my back, trying to crush the creature with my weight. The creature yowled, releasing its grip on me. I shook it off and stood up, summoning my trident. Getting a good look at the enemy, I saw that it was a coyote, relatively young and inexperienced. How it took me for prey, I don’t know.

I summoned Luna. A stream of water splattered onto the floor before she stopped it, looked at me, then at my attacker. A shard of ice formed in front of her. She growled threateningly at the other animal, who backed off with a look of fear and fled. The ice crystal dropped to the ground and shattered, quickly melting. Luna turned to me. She leapt up and touched her snout to my back, alleviating some pain. I looked Luna in the eye. “How is my wound?”

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“Light. No need cover.” Luna’s clear voice sounded in my mind. She had recently worked out how to speak, though she could only send me a few short words. That was what we still had to work on.

“Good. Do you want to come with me? I’m going hunting for capybaras.” She sent me a feeling of joy, which I took for a yes. “If you hear or smell them, poke me.” She bounded ahead. I followed her. The smell of pine needles once again flooded my nose.

As the sun began its descent in the sky, Luna finally located a capybara. She pawed at my leg before running to our left, where there was a stream. In an indentation on the riverbank rested a small capybara, drinking from the river peacefully. I formed an arrow and nocked it, preparing to release it. The capybara still had no idea of our presence, sipping at the water. I released my arrow. It hit the capybara’s back. It squealed and leapt around, the arrow quickly melting after impact. It charged at us, barking. Luna shot a hastily made ice crystal at it, before leaping at it, biting into its throat. The capybara’s growl turned into a squeak, rapidly shaking to try and dislodge Luna. Luna tore out its throat. It stopped struggling, flopping to the ground, legs twitching sometimes. I froze its neck and back with ice to stem the flow of blood. I slung the capybara over my shoulder.

“Luna, I’ll probably need your help to get back. Can you give me some of your energy?” Luna touched her nose to my leg. I felt a surge of energy within me, while Luna’s movement slowed down a bit. “Don’t overdo it, girl.”

We returned to camp as the sun started to set. Flint was sitting by a fire, his weird sword out and cutting through the basalt. A stack of arrows sat next to him, without any feathers though. “Flint! We’re back!” I shouted, though thoroughly exhausted from carrying the Capybara. Flint’s eyes positively glowed at the sight of the rodent.

“Is that for our meal? It looks delicious?”

“It does? It’s hasn’t even been cooked yet.”

“I know a good meal when I see one.” I laughed. “Wait. How do you cook stuff if you don’t like fire?”

“We can light fire, but we stay a sufficient distance away from it once we light it. Speaking of cooking, let me cook the capybara.”

“Sure. I’ll just finish making my arrows.” He pulled out an Emberfig and started chewing it. I set the capybara down on the side and tried to cut into it with my machete. It was too long.

“Can I borrow your knife? My machete is too long.” A knife materialized and landed in front of me with a thud. I leapt back while Flint laughed. I picked it up and washed it. The capybara had quite firm meat, slowing down my slicing process, but eventually I had several slabs of meat on the fire and cooking, while Luna and Riley tore into the remnants of the rodent.

Flint commented that the meat was sweet and very tasty. He ate twice as much as I did (and I was hungry from not eating the last meal), as I had expected. Riley ate much more than Luna, continuing his destruction of the capybara’s carcass even after Luna had eaten her fill and gone to sleep. After eating, Flint stood up for a stretch outside of our camp, getting almost immediately attacked by a group of pufferfish and, in his haste to avoid them, he stepped into a crab trap. I had to go over and bat away the pufferfish while he got himself out of the hole.

After that situation Flint stayed in camp, finishing his arrows. When the dying rays of the sun vanished and the moon's glow swept across the sky, Flint finally finished his arrows. He called me over to examine his bow. He had been busy as well since I was gone, for his bow was not made of the palm tree: it was made of hickory. The string of his bow seemed very well made, though I had no idea how he managed to do it without water. I voiced my thoughts.

“Well, I did use water. I asked Luna to help me with it. I made a large bowl structure with the trunk of the hickory tree I cut, and Luna almost filled it completely, before you summoned her, I think. When I put the fibers inside it hurt me a bit, but it was for the greater good.”

“How did you know putting it inside water would make the fibers stronger?”

“I’m not as dumb as you think. Back in Fire many of the plants we used to make bowstrings will be soaked in lava. I figured the same would be for plants here.” His bowstring’s tautness proved that. He nocked a well-made arrow onto the bow and drew the bow. He released. The arrow rapidly buried into the beach, even its shaft was buried. “Seems like it works well.” He seemed pleased with himself.

“Good. Now you can fight at range. Now let’s get some sleep. We should be past Twilight Bay by tomorrow.” Flint nodded and closed his eyes, his bow and arrows vanishing. I had a thought. “Wait, I’m wondering if you can hold your bow, then warp an arrow onto the bowstring.” His bow appeared in his hands and he drew it. An arrow appeared onto the bowstring, and he released the arrow. It sailed past me and landed far away in the ocean.

“Great. The first casualty of my arrows. Can you get it for me?” I deadpanned

“No.” I could divide the ocean by half, but only for a short distance. The arrow must have landed at least a kraken away from the coast, which was way too far for me. “Just go get some sleep. Be prepared tomorrow morning.” He nodded and returned to his tent. I remained outside, staring at the sea. Something felt off. The sea seemed oddly peaceful, not even a ripple. I stared at it for a long time, unable to draw my gaze away.

Suddenly, the sea began to rise. With a loud roar, a colossal creature emerged from the depths of the sea. Towering above the surface, its massive form reaching from the location of Flint’s arrow to a long distance away. The kraken's writhing tentacles, like serpents, stretched forth from the churning waters. Each tentacle was adorned with suckers. As they reached higher, the powerful appendages swayed eerily, casting long shadows upon the sea.

Its body rose from the depths, revealing an expanse of scaled skin that shimmered with a menacing sheen. A bellowing roar echoed across the shoreline as the Kraken's colossal head emerged from the sea. From its gaping maw, rows of dagger-like teeth protruded. I hurriedly compressed my tent and warped it into my pack. Luna gave a loud howl.

Flint emerged from the tent, wary. Riley burst out beside him with a loud bark, ran over to Luna, took one look at the kraken and whimpered. Flint’s tent disappeared and he drew his bow, nocking an arrow. “This is a kraken. Flint, don’t fire until I tell you to. I think your shot pissed it off. They don’t normally rest so close to the shore though. That’s weird.” It roared. The sea rose behind it, a huge wave crashing towards us. “Run. Prepare to fight back. Don’t use fire attacks. Our elemental attacks are useless, except for maybe ice.”

We ran towards the left side as the huge wave neared our base. It crashed into it with tremendous force. Riley was clipped by the very edge of it and howled in pain. The salty mist stung my face as the Kraken's tentacles thrashed and whipped through the air. With each slam, the sea roared. I could feel the raw power emanating from the beast, and I knew I had to act fast.

With a swift motion, I coated my trident in water and flung it with all my might, crashing into the beach but swiftly uprighting myself. The Kraken's massive eyes fixed upon me, filled with primal rage that sent shivers down my spine. But I couldn't afford to dwell on its intimidating gaze. I focused on my training, on the years of practice I had on trident battling.

My trident’s trajectory tilted, from a slanted throw to a deadly missile, aiming right for the kraken’s vulnerable eyes. As it went, I could help but wonder: are the most vulnerable part of every beast their eyes?

The kraken, lacking agility, couldn’t move out of the way. Instead, it snatched my trident out from the air and held on tight with its tentacles. It took a huge chunk of my energy just to pull it back. The kraken roared but was cut short as one of Flint’s arrows found its mark on one of the kraken’s big eyes. It bled, and spasms of pain wracked its body as its tentacles flailed around. Sharp shards of ice manifested midair, launching themselves at us with such rapidity that I could only dodge the first one before the rest hit my ice wall and Flint. The hasty wall I conjured quickly shattered under the relentless pounding, but not before blocking most of the shards. One of them hit my side, causing me to gasp in pain, while another struck my arm. Flint groaned, his stomach covered in large gashes, a nasty sight. He stood up shakily, one side of his face bleeding profusely, and, drawing his bow, fired one last arrow before falling, his eyes closed. That arrow sailed through the air, one of the most powerful ones I’ve ever seen. It sliced straight through one of the kraken’s tentacles before slamming into its eye.

A huge roar shook the air around me. Luna built a hasty semidome of ice around Flint, trying to protect him. Riley touched his nose to Flint’s face, his eyes glowing. The kraken turned, its other undamaged eye glaring Shadowblades at us. I glanced at Flint. Even while unconscious, his face was contorted into a snarl, and one fist was clenched tight. I grit my teeth, put away my trident, and withdrew my bow, glaring right back at the ancient being. This was my battle.