There are few things Nil had learned that day from his time fishing, but one that mattered: the water was teeming with dangerous Thaeons. Why they weren’t attacking more was a surprise, given all the noise the other Trainers were making along its surface all day. It gave him hope that the journey to this Pale Island would be smooth sailing.
“A few words of warning,” Rylie yelled out over the crowd. “There is a barrier in place around the main swimming area to ward off any Thaeons. Once you cross that barrier, you will be at the mercy of whatever the lake has to offer, as some of you are already aware.” She glanced at Nil then back to the crowd.
“Also,” she continued, “there is no help once you’re on the island. If anything should happen, you will have to make the trip here back across the lake. Decide now if you’re going or not.”
A general murmuring filled the air. Nil had made up his mind long before. He assumed that there would be a series of battles once on the island and would not miss that for anything. Come what may. That same fisherman from before, trudging away with a frown on his face, walked up to Nil and leaned in.
“Barrier, huh,” the fisherman said, his voice low so as not to draw attention to himself. “That would explain why I didn’t catch anything. Any luck on your part?”
“Every cast brought up a Thaeon to attack. It was a great day of training.” Nil was looking around at all the others to see who would drop out. When he turned back to the fisherman, he was blanched.
“Sailors say when so many Thaeons gather near the surface, something worse is underneath pushing them up.”
Nil scoffed. He had lived around sailors his entire life. Their love of superstitions and embellished stories had gotten old after a while. Something about the water made men have an overactive imagination.
“I’ll take my chances. Maybe I’ll see you again in Pol City,” Nil shook the man’s hand.
“For your sake, I hope.”
“Is that everyone, then?” Rylie said over the crowd. “All right, listen up. I know some of you have [Water] Thaeons to swim or other methods”–this time she looked over at Pic and Poc and their unorthodox water skiing from earlier–”and others can fly. For those that don’t, I have boats for rent. Ten silver coins, or a battle.” She flashed a smile, but no one took her up on it. Bummer.
The water was pristine. Smooth as glass. The boat in question was a small canoe that wobbled around dangerously as he leaned to paddle. Ten silver coins for this glorified plank of wood was a joke. They moved out like a small fleet, deciding to bunch together for more protection in case Thaeons did attack out of the blue. Nil had watched Max barely squeeze into his own, with his six-legged Thaeon hunkered down behind him. Rose, though, with her womanly wiles, had convinced a boy with a large [Water] Thaeon to pull her along so she wouldn’t have to paddle. To Nil, this felt like a trial of its own. To struggle and get some callouses was part of the journey and necessary for personal growth… Is what he thought until Rose flew past him shrieking, spraying him with water.
He looked around for any sign of someone willing to pull him along; everyone who could, had. Great. This, he would learn in a minute, had an unintended consequence: all the ones traveling fast were shaking up the water and disturbing the life underneath. By the time the canoes reached the rough waters, there was movement under them. Then Nil had a stupid thought. He stopped his canoe and let the others pass. The Bond, not in complete agreement, tightened some in his chest.
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“You’ll have to trust me on this.”
There was yet another lesson he had learned while fishing and that was that [Water] Thaeons loved to make waves. Big waves. While on shore this was annoying as all hell, but in the water? He watched the water for any large shadows traveling the surface behind him. Phantom was standing, unsteady with the gentle rocking, poised for a Void Strike–he lashed out. From under the broken surface rose a head on a long neck with angry eyes. Instead of a wave, this one shot out a spray of water that Phantom deflected with his Shield, then kicked out with another Void Strike to its head.
Now it was pissed. Good.
It sank back into the water then rose up on a column of water. Its body was larger than Nil expected, with a fat torso and four flippers tipped in claws. None of that mattered, though, one the column crashed back straight and a wave that cast a shadow over both of them roaring forward. A bit overzealous, maybe, but it wouldwork.
Should work.
The wall of water scooped up the canoe and Nil could feel the speed in the rushing, foaming water underneath his craft.
“Look out!” he screamed to the group now beside him. Some moved, others weren’t so lucky. Max was one of those. His large form, already unsteady, flailed a bit when the wave scooped him up, too. He glared at Nil who shrugged at him with a wild smile on his face. Better than paddling, he wanted to say, but focused on staying upright. The wave was dying down and, in the distance, he could see the island, dark and lifeless. An uneasy feeling washed over him along with the spray from the crashing wave that propelled both of them forward at a breakneck speed.
“You dumb idiot!” Max yelled out, paddling for his life.
“We made it, didn’t we?”
Max crashed onto the shore and the canoe flipped. Far from angry now, he squinted back at the others still paddling here. Dots in the distance.
“That worked,” Max grumbled, brushing the sand from his clothes. They could hear voices through the trees, laughing and sounds of yelling. A blaze of light illuminated the darkness as a bonfire started in a large clearing where Max and Nil arrived with their Thaeons in tow. Not many had decided to risk it all at this island or down trying to get here. The group that was here all circled the bonfire to dry off. In the clearing, Nil saw as another few fires were lit from the efforts of a few [Heat] Thaeons–Pic included, her own wrapping logs in webs of fire–lines forming a battlefield where their supposed training would take place. Rose spoke up first.
“For those who weren’t too scared to come, welcome!”
A cheer. A few claps.
Another boy spoke up, “We will have a round-robin tournament style starting in the morning, ten percent stake on each battle. Tonight, we camp and party!” Another cheer. Nil sneered as the boy brought out a cooler of drinks. He could have slept in a bed and come in the morning. This was just asinine. The only camping he had done so far was with Lyn who, as far as he was concerned, was already in Pol City. That was more fun than this wild dancing and vapid conversation by the fires. Instead, Nil wandered off into the woods with Phantom walking behind him. The island itself wasn’t big; mostly just a large clearing surrounded by a thin layer of trees. He reached the other end in a few minutes and sat by the shore to make ripples under the moonlight with small pebbles. Then, a large ripple about twenty feet from shore. It formed large rings that moved steady in a curved line around the island. Tiny waves lapped the shore from the movement.
That can’t be good. He laughed to himself. Maybe the fisherman was right and there was something more under the water.
The rings stopped, turned his way, stopping just a few feet from where he sat. Phantom grew rigid, ready for combat. Nil took some steps back to the treeline. Once the ripples died, a large tentacle snaked out of the water, turned towards him, and split open at the end to reveal a huge eye that was mostly pupil. It followed him back and forth as Nil paced around deciding what to do. On one hand, he could attack the thing. On the other, he could walk away and return to the group. The thing still followed him when he decided to take a stroll down the beach, keeping the eye always on him when he turned a curve. A bit unnerved, Phantom launched a Void Strike punch to the eye. It shuddered and retracted into the water. A low rumble reverberated below the surface that sent more ripples out in all directions.
That really can’t be good.