Chapter 37: Embark

The amulet felt cool against his skin. Leo grabbed the hanging pendant absently and tucked it behind his shirt. He exhaled, rolling around the flint and steel in his palm while he eyed the surroundings.

Behind Irving’s home, he could just barely make out Spade and Allan’s figures crouched behind the wooden crates in wait.

From their current position, they had a straight path to the raised portion of the shore where the boat Leo had identified earlier sat below. Between them was a smooth expanse of waving grasses.

Leo, meanwhile, waited at the corner dividing the back of the building to the edge of the town. From here, he could see the dirt path leading into Clearside as well as a few Hounds guards mulling about.

He narrowed his eyes, shifting so that he was better obscured by the grasses. This close to the lake, the ground was always soft, the grasses containing a bit of moisture at all times.

It was this fact that Leo repeated to himself as he carefully crawled further away from Clearside, [Fade into Background] activated and body kept low to the ground. He kept one hand around the flint and steel and the other on his bag, pushing it down so it took up as little space as possible.

Finally, Leo slowed down once he was as far away from Clearside as he thought he could get away with without being seen. He was still a little closer than he’d like, but given the presence of Hounds and the massive body of water nearby, it would be fine, he assured himself.

With a final inhale, Leo grabbed the flint and steel, took a moment to judge the place that would lead to the least amount of spread, and struck the two together.

The first few sparks did nothing. Leo gritted his teeth, increasingly aware of how exposed he was, but he kept going. Eventually, one of them would catch.

On the eighth strike, the grasses in front of him lit up in flames. They started small, barely more than a few whispers of red, but Leo knew they would grow quickly. He hurried backwards, attempting to put as much distance between him and the fire as he could before he would need to get up and start running.

The fire expanded outwards, spreading from one patch of grasses to the next until they’d tripled in height. Plumes of dark grey smoke rose up into the blue sky, and Leo heard a few alarmed shouts, then the sound of running footsteps.

“Fire!” someone yelled. Doors opened and curious villagers poked their heads out. Someone else called for people to bring buckets of water.

Leo slipped further back, keeping low to the ground, and glanced back to see Hounds pointing from the lake and running over. By then, the smoke had risen above the height of the buildings.

In the corner of his eye, Spade and Allan rose and bolted to the shore, taking advantage of the growing chaos and disappearing behind the bank. More and more Hounds and villagers alike appeared, and Leo kept crawling backwards through the growing crowd.

Just as he passed the threshold of Clearside’s border, however, he met eyes with a familiar Hound several feet ahead of him.

Dalton’s eyes widened for just a moment, but Leo didn’t stay to watch him piece things together.

He cursed. Foregoing all semblance of stealth, Leo activated [Sprint] and bolted towards the shore. He could vaguely make out Dalton’s furious yells behind him, but there were too many people between them, too many distracted by the fire.

The [Fragmentholder]’s feet pounded against the ground. Leo didn’t stop running, pushing himself faster and faster until he launched over the grassy bank.

He landed hard on the ground right in front of Allan and Spade. The two had pushed the boat halfway into the water and sat inside, Spade using her oar to keep the boat in place. Even atop the lake, there were no visible ripples around the boat.

“Hurry!” Allan called. Dark eyes flitted over to the smoke and the Hounds and villagers flooding Clearside’s streets.

Nodding, Leo leapt into the boat, the wood rocking a little below him as he did so.

The moment he crossed the border of the lake, a burst of warmth caused him to flinch.

Around his neck, the amulet began to glow, exuding heat like a lit fire. Leo gritted his teeth and wrapped his hand around the gemstone as it began to shine even brighter, attempting to conceal the pure, blinding white light that slipped between the cracks of his fingers.

The attempt at secrecy turned out not to matter much. Seconds after the stone began glowing, a beam of light spread through the lake, originating from the boat and jetting outwards across its perfectly smooth surface like a beacon.

A moment passed.

And then, the waters trembled.

In the places where the light had just touched, the mirror-like stillness of the Glass Lake broke. Circular ripples spread across the surface as though touched by raindrops, growing until they blended and merged together into churning waves.

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Leo felt the boat rock, swaying on the released tides, and gripped the edge of the boat to steady himself. The light from the amulet finally died down, and he glanced behind them.

He could no longer see the fire itself, only lingering smoke. Parallel to the shore, Hounds and villagers alike stood facing the lake. A hush had fallen over them, their stunned expressions focused on those impossible waves.

All at once, the quiet snapped.

A Hound yelled, her voice ringing clear over the grasses. The mercenaries scattered, sprinting towards the shore and jumping into the other waiting boats. Leo cursed.

“We need to go!” he yelled.

The oars in hand, Allan and Spade both pushed against the shore, launching them forward into the waters.

For a second Leo worried that the amulet hadn’t worked, that they would end up teleported to some random location, but the boat kept traveling straight and true.

There were only two oars to paddle with. Leo moved to the front of the boat, hazel eyes scanning its surface. If he squinted, he could just barely make out a dot in the distance where the closest island on the map had been drawn. A thin, hazy layer of mist blurred its edges, further concealing it from view.

He pointed the location out, and Spade rowed more on her side to get the boat to turn. Between her and Allan’s strength stats, they were making decent progress across the water. They’d lost the element of stealth, but they still had a head start.

Leo looked behind them. Several boats had left the shore, groups of Hounds within. His eyes narrowed on one boat in particular that progressed forward at a noticeably faster rate than the others. It was quickly gaining on them.

[Skill identified: [Rowboat Proficiency]]

Three Hounds sat inside the boat proper. The tallest rowed on his own while the other two sat in the front.

One met eyes with Leo, sneering as they drew closer and closer. His hand shifted, and the [Fragmentholder]’s eyes widened when he made out a bow and arrow in the Hound’s hands.

The man stood in the boat, knocking an arrow, and Leo’s heart raced. He activated [Visual Illusion] and projected an image of a boat a foot to the right of them, praying that with the distance, the image was small enough for the skill to work.

The arrow flew wide, and Leo didn’t waste time. He pulled out one of the knives he’d gathered from Irving’s kitchen and flung it at the man.

If the boat hadn’t been moving forward so quickly it would’ve been too far to connect, but as it was, the knife flew true, embedding itself deep into the man’s shoulder. Leo heard the man yell, but his attention was already drawn to the other two Hounds.

By then the boat was close enough to get a good look at its passengers. The second Hound had a gleaming axe in hand, and the boat shifted to the left as it approached. They were trying to get parallel to them, Leo realized. The second Hound’s eyes were focused on their boat, her axe raised and poised to swing.

“They’re trying to sink the boat!” Leo yelled. He was vaguely aware of the boat beneath them shifting as Allan attempted to steer them away, but he couldn’t compete against the Hound’s rowing skill.

Leo threw another knife, but the Hound deflected it with her axe. He couldn’t keep throwing blindly; he only had so many knives on hand.

As the boat drew close, the Hound raised her arm, readying to bring the blade down onto the wooden boat.

Spade lunged from behind Leo before the Hound could swing, stabbing her sword into the Hound’s chest. The woman choked, her grip on the axe loosening enough for it to fall from her hands, and Spade yanked the blade out.

Behind the woman, the first Hound that Leo had injured shifted, and the former [Thief] saw him shakily knock another arrow with ragged gasps.

Leo didn’t think. He jumped, the boat lurching beneath him when he landed, and stabbed the man’s arm. The Hound screamed in pain.

The wound wasn’t deep enough to do serious damage, but it was enough to interrupt his strike. One more swing from Spade cleaved into his side, and he fell into the water.

The last Hound turned furious eyes on Leo and let go of the oars. The boat’s momentum began to slow, and the [Fragmentholder] heard Allan yell, but he was too focused on the man in front of him to make it out.

He was large, arms corded with thick muscles, and easily took up half of the space. Leo shifted, but there was no room to run on the boat.

The man lunged for him, and Leo ducked down at the last second, slipping under his legs. He scrambled to his feet and shoved at the man, but he was too heavy.

Gritting his teeth, Leo activated [Sprint] for a split second, just enough that his next step forward knocked the man overboard.

The [Fragmentholder] stumbled, nearly tripping himself, but he just barely managed to catch himself on the edge of the boat. He stared down at the Hound, who spit out water, eyes wild and frantic. The man began to swim closer at impressive speed, and Leo tensed.

Just before the Hound could reach the boat, however, a sudden force yanked him downwards.

One moment he was there, arm outstretched, and the next he’d completely disappeared from view.

Hazel eyes widened. Leo stared down into the waves, but he couldn’t find a trace of the Hound anywhere. Whatever fae magic that existed in the lake had simply pulled him under as though he were a mere pebble falling into the waters. Small and insignificant.

Nothing that falls into the lake comes back out.

“Leo!”

Allan’s yell snapped him out of his stupor. He’d passed both oars over to Spade, the [Executioner]’s now bloody sword resting on the floor of the boat. The [Healer] gestured for him to hurry. Behind them, Leo could see more boats approaching, many aided by similar rowing and speed skills.

Taking a deep breath, the [Fragmentholder] vaulted back into the boat. He nearly slipped, but Allan grabbed him, steadying him.

The moment he landed, Spade started rowing again, and they jetted forward across the water.

“Are you crazy?” Allan hissed, dark eyes rapidly scanning him for injuries. “Don’t just jump like that!”

“I didn’t really have time to think about it,” Leo muttered. His chest heaved, and he struggled to catch his breath. Now that the immediate threat was gone, he could feel how tense he was.

Before Allan could retort, the [Fragmentholder] fell still. Allan hesitated, glancing behind him and following Leo’s gaze.

Just ahead of them, a thick, swirling mist cloaked the water like an ongoing storm. Leo could barely make out the dark silhouette of an island within, and as the air around them grew increasingly hazy, the boat slowed. Spade glanced back.

“It’s in there?”

Leo exhaled and nodded. The [Executioner] didn’t need a second confirmation. She turned back to face the front.

With another powerful push, the rowboat plunged into the mist.