Hudson squatted low on the catamaran speeding across the ocean as fast as a bullet train. Tchae'rii was hanging low off of the side of the boat, pulling on the lines and giving the sails minute adjustments.

There was a large pile of skins strapped down to the platform between the two hulls, the results of Hudson’s consistent efforts for the past six hours. His Mind Gate technique had been effective in keeping out the screeching mind slugs, and his facility in using it had improved significantly. The swarm had been decimated, until there was only a small fraction left. They were currently far behind them, outpaced by the speed of the boat.

“Are we going faster now than before?” Hudson yelled over at Cor. Cor had lashed himself securely to the boat and his eyes were closed.

“Yes, Ix says, but not by much. Tchae'rii is using up more of the qi in her dantian than before. Probably means we’re closer to her destination,” Cor said sleepily. Only Hudson’s increased perception picked up the words drowned out by the passing wind.

“What does Ix say about the qi technique that Tchae'rii is using?”

“It’s nap time, not time for twenty questions,” was the only reply he got from Cor.

It was clear that Tchae'rii was using some kind of qi technique to guide the wind into the sails and raise the speed of the boat to ridiculous levels. Hudson sunk into his qi sense, and studied the qi flows in and around Tchae'rii.

Hudson guessed that Tchae'rii was Foundation Building level. She had a very bright, clear bundle of qi in the center of her being. She didn’t give off a very intense aura, however, not like George had during their fight. It’s also possible that aura was something she could turn on and off, and she chose not to turn it on at the moment.

As he watched, he saw the bundle of qi grow slightly smaller. Hudson was fairly confident that she had not formed a solid core.

What was more interesting, though, was how she was employing multiple breathing techniques at the same time.

As far as he could tell, she was breathing through her mouth and nose, but also through her gills, as there were separate streams of qi moving through both sets of lungs and out through her body. The qi going through her gills eventually found its way to her core, but the qi going through her mouth was going out – not in.

And once out of her mouth, it began forming complex, beautiful, patterns in the air before disappearing beyond the range of his senses. It was an impressive display, and made Hudson feel slightly out of his depth.

He came out of his qi sense and looked back at the silicate swarm. Something had changed; instead of the thirty or so that had still remained, there was only one. And it was gaining on them.

“Cor, wake up and take a look at this,” Hudson said.

The one silicate that remained had a different shape. It was long and thin, like a shark’s. The front had a ring of sharp teeth-like protrusions pointing outwards. Clusters of tentacles grew out of the main torso every five feet.

“Eh, they couldn’t catch us so they grouped together and evolved into a level three,” Cor said. “I’ll take this one. Ix – like we planned it.”

He paused for a second, listening to Ix telling him something, then quickly pulled his rifle up and fired three shots rapidly in succession. A rift briefly appeared in the air in front of his rifle, and the bullets disappeared into the rift.

Hudson looked up at the silicate rapidly gaining on them. It was several hundred meters away, but he could still make out with his enhanced perception where the bullets exited a rift and impacted the silicate on the rear of its body, tearing open a hole in the tough, leathery surface of its skin.

Cor quickly chambered one of his special rounds, and immediately fired again. Another rift appeared at the end of his barrel, and Ix used his portals to aim this special round, loaded with maseki and carved with formations, directly into the open hole created by the first burst.

The impact was spectacular. The bullet tore through the entire length of the silicate, from back to front. The exit wound spewed gray sand in a hazy cloud, and the large silicate fell from the sky and into the ocean.

“Got ‘em,” Cor said with a great amount of satisfaction, then cleared and safetied his weapon, taking care to pick up the brass from the spent bullets.

He got Tchae’rii’s attention and motioned backwards. She had seen Cor take the silicate out of the air, and hurriedly turned the ship around to collect the skin of the dead silicate floating on the surface of the water.

“These short rifts don’t use up too much energy, not like the rifts between worlds, but they still use some, and we don’t know when or how we’ll get another energy source,” Cor said. “I only got a handful of bullets left… but Ix and I, we got ideas. Hopefully Cherry over here’s got some friends that can help us.”

After they fished the silicate husk out of the water, they continued on their way, sailing over the calm ocean waters.

The sun was beginning to set when Tchae'rii’s reserves of qi finally began to peter out. Perhaps because the sun was in his eyes, or because he had stopped paying attention to the endless waves surrounding them, Hudson didn’t notice what they were approaching.

Cor had fallen asleep, lying down with a pile of silicate skins for a pillow, but he woke up with a snort, tapped Hudson on the shoulder and began untying himself from the boat. “Look lively.”

Hudson stood up and engaged his breathing technique at a low level. Tchae'rii let the sails sag, tying them off quickly and with practiced movements. She glanced over at Hudson and held up two hands, pumping them slowly back and forth.

Hudson stared at her, not understanding what she was trying to indicate. She lifted her hands up, raising her chest at the same time, then shook them as if to say, no, don’t do this.

Hudson thought he figured it out – he stopped his breathing technique, and she nodded a deep nod, gills rippling, before continuing her work.

Why would she not want him to cultivate? He supposed he would find out, soon enough.

Tchae'rii came to stand next to Hudson and Cor. Without Tchae'rii manipulating the wind, the surface of the ocean was calm. They floated gently on waves lapping against the hulls of the catamaran. They were waiting for something.

A bone-white spear – similar-looking to the hulls of the catamaran – began slowly rising out of the water. Hudson did a quick turn, and realized that their boat was situated within a circle of bone spears, slowly rising up around them.

The spears curved outwards like ribs, and were bound together with rope and netting. As the spears rose out of the water, they gradually folded inwards, forming a circular cage. The holes in the cage were quite large – they wouldn’t stop a person from getting through them – but Hudson grew nervous. He instinctively wanted to start his breathing technique, but he resisted the urge.

If he was at Foundation Building or Core Formation stage, then he would have a pool or core of qi within his dantian to use to react immediately to danger.

He peered down into the water in front of the boat, and he could see where the bottom of the cage was secured to a flat platform. On that platform, slowly rising towards them, were a small group of people that looked very similar to Tchae'rii. The natives of this planet.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The boat gradually came to rest on the platform surrounded by the cage, and Tchae'rii jumped off and began tying the boat down, securing it to the surface of the platform. She exchanged a few brief words with the leader of the group. The rest of the small group began pulling down the sails, breaking the masts, and otherwise tying the boat down to the platform.

Hudson and Cor stood to the side, awkwardly watching them work. Hudson turned to ask Cor a question, but he shook his head.

The leader of the group was shorter than Tchae'rii, but bulkier in the arms and legs. Her hair, the same black-green as the others, was cut close to her scalp. A single rainbow-colored tassel hung from her left elbow, lending color to the otherwise drab, brown uniform.

She ignored Hudson and Cor while conferring with Tchae'rii. They spoke briefly, and Tchae'rii gestured several times to Hudson, Cor, and the leathery husks of the silicates secured to the deck.

After Tchae'rii finished speaking, the leader reached out her hand and touched the large pile of skins. They disappeared with a dark flash into the dimensional storage bracelet on her wrist.

Hudson really wanted one of those storage devices.

Her business with Tchae'rii concluded, the woman turned her attention to Hudson and Cor. She stared at each in turn, her dark eyes lingering on Hudson.

He couldn’t sense any cultivation or qi from this woman, but Hudson felt uneasy under her gaze. This woman was dangerous, his instincts were telling him. Very dangerous.

From within her storage device, a necklace with complex inscriptions appeared in her hand. As she slipped it over her head, Hudson saw what looked like a sigil carved into the center.

When she spoke, the inscriptions and sigil on the necklace activated, and even though Hudson could tell the words that she said were from a language that he didn’t know a single word of, the meaning of the words were clear in his mind.

“Cultivators, welcome to our waters. I am called Xith’le’so, one of the anchors for this reef. In peaceful times, we would not hesitate to extend the hospitality of Lurill’sh to travelers such as yourselves, but these are not peaceful times.

“It pains me, but I must seek your purpose and intention in our waters.”

Hudson and Cor exchanged a glance. They had discussed beforehand what their story would be, and that Hudson, as the cultivator between the two of them, should do the talking.

“We are from a planet called Earth, and were participating in a trial run by the Disciples. Silicates invaded the trial world. We tried to fight them off, but after the silencing formation around our portal anchor was disrupted, we were unable to return to our own world.

“The trial director then opened a rift to this world for us to escape.”

“A trial of the Disciples,” Xith’le’so said, with what Hudson swore was a hint of distaste. “Just the two of you?”

“Yes,” Hudson replied. “The other participants were able to escape to our home planet. We were not.”

“There is much more that you are not saying, but your words bear the scent of truth,” Xith’le’so said, then sighed. “But how did you happen upon Tchae’rii?”

“A swarm of silicates were pursuing her when she passed by the island we had arrived at. We killed them, and she gave us a ride.”

Xith’le’so glanced over at Tchae'rii, who was listening in on their conversation. Tchae’rii looked out over the ocean and refused to meet Xith’le’so’s gaze.

“Is that so,” she said slowly. “And the skins of the abominations?”

Hudson shrugged. “We had some, um, translation difficulties, but I believe we settled on a three-way split.”

“Is that so,” she said again, unhappily, glaring at the figure of Tchae’rii. When Tchae’rii did not offer any comment, Xith’le’so turned back to Hudson and Cor and nodded deeply, her gills rippling in the same manner Tchae'rii’s had to indicate agreement.

“Would you be willing to trade these skins to us, or will you be taking your share with you, when you rejoin the Disciples?”

Hudson paused before answering. There were a few things going on here… It sounded like Tchae'rii had not told Xith’le’so all of the details, maybe to claim more of the skins for herself? That was rather dishonest – and stupid, as the subterfuge had quickly come to light. But there was something else. She had assumed that Hudson and Cor would want to go to the Disciples, which meant that the Disciples were indeed on this planet, fighting the silicates.

If the Disciples were on the planet, then they could get help from them to return to Earth.

“What are they worth to you?” Hudson finally decided to ask.

“We can exchange for cores or maseki, and give you a better rate than the army of the Disciples will,” she replied smoothly. “After we settle accounts for your passage, and for delaying Tchae’rii on her delivery mission.”

Hudson frowned. “Certainly rescuing Tchae’rii from that silicate swarm deserves consideration.”

“I didn’t need your help,” Tchae'rii interjected, finally breaking her silence. “The abominations would never have caught me.”

“Enough,” Xith’le’so said sharply.

She turned back to Hudson and continued. “Tchae’rii is one of the fastest of our surface sailors, and despite her rudeness, she is correct. Escaping such a swarm is well within her capabilities.”

“If she had merely escaped, you would not have the husks of the silicates you now possess,” Hudson countered. “One-third of which we already agreed to give her, not knowing their value, your customs, or anything at all about this planet.”

Hudson felt a little bit of heat under his collar. “I understand you’re fighting for your lives, and you probably need everything you can get in order to survive. That’s fine. We were just trying to survive as well when we fled here.”

“And we appreciate the consideration shown to us by the Disciples,” Xith’le’so said flatly, like it was a rote response she had said many times before. “However, it does not appear your hunt was a sanctioned mission within our waters.”

What was this alien woman talking about? He needed permission to attack their enemies and save someone’s life?

“Do you bicker and barter with everyone that comes to your reef?” he asking, staring Xith’le’so directly in the eyes. Cor reached out a hand and put it on his shoulder.

“I was the one out there in the water, risking my life and sanity to kill the silicates trying to swallow your planet whole. I thought we were on the same side, here. Aren’t we?”

Xith’le’so stared back at Hudson, a grimace on her sharp features.

“So… you were… ‘out there in the water,’” she said slowly, giving Tchae'rii yet another sharp look. “And thus you came into direct contact with the abominations?”

“Yes,” Hudson said, trying to reign in his frustration.

“You didn’t ask me directly about the abominations,” Tchae’rii interjected, addressing Xith’le’so. “And you were fine to take the skins without asking where they came from.

“And it was only that one,” she said, pointing at Hudson, “The one with the stupidly large hammer. He used rifts, like the Disciples do, to portal into the swarm and then back onto the boat.”

Hudson didn’t like where this line of questions was going. “I’m protected from their mind attacks, if that is what you’re worried about.”

“Are you then?” Xith’le’so asked rhetorically. “And so when you said ‘we’re on the same side,’ did you mean the side of the Disciples? The silicates? Or the side of the Lurill’sh?”

“I’m not with the silicates,” Hudson retorted. “I assume you are the Lurill’sh. And aren’t you on the same side as the Disciples? Aren’t we all fighting the same enemy?”

Xith’le’so continued staring hard at Hudson, and then at Cor. Something small relaxed in her expression, and she turned to stare at the ocean waves. They were shining multiple shades of red and orange in the light of the setting sun.

“I wish to believe your words, however naive they may be. I wish to believe that your enemies are our enemies, and you have shed their blood in our waters. That by tradition and law, I should grant you succor in your time of need, instead of … ‘bickering and bartering’ as you say. Or simply taking, as some of us think we should do.

“I wish to believe, but I must know if your mind has been corrupted by the abominations. Forgive me, but the needs of the reef come first, young, naive follower of the Disciples.”

She turned back to him, and pulled up the sleeve of her garment past the elbow of her right arm. Extending her hand out to Hudson, she said, “Do not move your qi. Do not utilize a breathing technique. Grasp my arm, and keep your mind open. I will gauge the truth of your intentions.”

Hudson didn’t hesitate to reach out his hand and grasp her wrist as she grasped his. There was a deep knock inside of his mind, like a bell sounding deep under water, and he was pulled into his mindscape.