Whatever solutions I needed, hanging out with a group of whiny teens, who clearly didn't want me around, was not going to get me one.

Back downstairs I could see the firewood team hard at work... watching Vern doing all the cutting and most of the collecting in the various shopping carts now filled with the smaller tree limbs and loose leaves from the fallen trees.

Having managed to avoid all the work, and finished my personal project. My carefree afternoon depended on not being found, but also staying within the safe zone. So, for lack of anything else to do I decided to check out the shore line of the new sea. Things tend to wash up on shores, maybe I could find something interesting.

What I found was some traps, a few with some monstrous blue frog creatures sitting within them, looking resigned to their fates. "Look's like meat on the menu tonight." Of course a constant menu of rubbery chicken tasting meat and fruit was going to get boring after while, not to mention unhealthy. We could probably count on being able to grow some potatoes, and maybe the seeds from the dollar store would sprout.

But all the plants I had seen had come from earth, while we had people from... at least four worlds? The sea serpent might have come one of the same worlds as Verco, Hazak or these Ifrit people, but if not, that was a fifth world.

That means their should be plants, fruit bearing plants from at least four worlds. And Vern had said the Ifrits had a village, so maybe they had crops and livestock from wherever they had come from. Which would be great if the whole "Everyone can eat everyone else's stuff" proved to be a rule.

I stopped my idle stroll to look out at the lake. What if the land below the water had edible plant life as well. With the frogs in it, presumably it was water from the Verco's world. As I thought to track down one of them to ask. I could suddenly feel someone watching me again. Slowly I turned...

The sea serpent was looking at me again. The creature was good three hundred feet out, and big enough the ridge of it's back was above the water. So even that far out the water must have been too shallow for it.

I slowly began to pat at my cargo short pockets trying to find the one I had tucked my phone into. That's when I found out that the serpent counted as people, since it decided to "Talk" to me.

=Good, your mind is calm enough this time to understand me. I hope that is not a weapon. It might irritate me.=

I made a sort of "Gah?" sound. Yeah, I'm getting to be a real pro at the first contact stuff.

"It's a phone, a communication device and it takes pictures. Are you getting any of this? I mean you're talking to me in my head, so I no clue if you can even hear me from this far."

It tilted it's head at me. =If your mind is clear, I can understand anything you address to others. I can also hear you, but it is just noise.=

"Cool." We stared at each other for a moment. "So can I take a picture of you, no one believed me about seeing you earlier." I held up my phone.

The serpent raised it head and took a deep breath before bellowing like a semi truck leaning on it's horn. =There. Now others will believe you. You may take a picture as well.= It turned it's head to the right, = I have been told this is my best side.=

Vanity of the sea serpents. Okay. I took a pic, and glanced down at it. Then looked up in alarm as I heard the creature's tail lift from the water for a moment as it swam in a good forty feet before looking down in annoyance. =The water is too shallow for me to get a good look. Could you swim out?=

"Ah, I could. But bad things happen to electronics if they get wet. Besides." I held up my phone and wiggled it around. "The screen is pretty small for you, even if I could get it closer."

It snorted out some water from it's nose. =No matter, I know how good I look.=

Well I guess as far as humongous scaly sea serpents go, he was a looker. Nothing growing on him like some old ship's hull. Dark blue scales on top with a black pattern spreading out from his spine. A aqua colored underbelly. Bright orange eyes.

He would look amazing confronting a barbarian airbrushed on the side of a van back in the seventies.

"Well it's nice to meet you. The name is Sean Murphy by the way."

It twitched, and shook it's head. =Interesting. My name requires the ability to create sounds at two separate tones at once. But sometimes I am called Big boy.= It tilted it's head. =By the ladies.=

Okay. Starting to get a feel for the guy. "Hi Big boy. So did you just drop in to say hello?"

It turned it head to look back behind itself for a moment. =You saw the ship. Doing that allowed The Fallen to get in contact with me. He said that is just how it works.=

Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

Okay? "I... talked to him once. He said to look to the water to solve my problems. Can you tell me what he told you?"

=He told me their was threat to all that lived on this world, and that in time it would grow strong enough to be even a threat to me.= He sounded a little dubious of that last part. =But if I could lead those who have complete minds to you, it would help end the threat.=

I nodded, my mind trying to cover all the ways such a creatures could help me populate the sacred ground. Would he count? "So, you could contact the people on the ship."

It tilted it's head again. "The one who still live yes."

"Oh great, nothing can ever be simple. Could you tell me what's happening on the ships? What happened to the people on the ship?"

The head rolled over to tilt the other way. "The minds on the ship panicked when they saw me. There was too much fear for me to talk to them. Each time I tried I could sense less minds on board, but some of the people still walked the top of the floating island. But their was nothing inside them, they were just bodies, no minds."

I sighed, this again? "The mindless ones, were they attacking others?"

It blinked at me. =I saw nothing like that, but I didn't come that close, or stay that long.= It leaned forward. =Is this something that often happens to you kind?=

"It's not supposed to. But the Context decided to make some made up stories of dead bodies getting up to attack people a real thing. At least to anyone of my race that arrived here already dead and buried. But I don't think the ones I fought before were infectious. So either I was lucky, or this is something else."

I looked over at the serpent. "Could you take me closer to the ship, not on it, just close enough to get a look."

It peered at me suspiciously. =You are asking to ride on me are you not?=

Yes. "No, I meant I could try to hang on to your side, but thinking about it, I don't think I could keep a grip. So, on your back, like you suggested, might be the only way that works."

=Very well, but you must come to me.=

So a few things I learned after I went to fetch a sealable plastic bag for my phone and then swam out.

He wasn't luring me out to eat me. The ship was a hour's swim away for Big boy, but only because he had to keep his head and upper neck out the water to keep me from getting washed off. A fact he mentioned several times. And riding on a eight foot wide scaled covered neck with a spiky ridge running along the spine was not a comfortable ride.

Still awesome cool. I took pics. But the novelty wore off pretty quick. Also, this was exactly the sort of risk I was not supposed to be taking. Anyone could have checked this out, as I was sure Chloe and other were going to point at to me later, but...

I was in a fantasy world with magic and classes, and I was riding on a freaking sea dragon. If I was going to become responsible for the lives of hundreds of people with the fate of thousands more all depending on me staying safe and hidden away while other people risked their lives. Then before that began, I was going to have a adventure.

=We're getting close now= Big boy laid his head down flat on top of the water ahead of him and let me get a good look at the ship ahead.

It made Big boy look small.

The Pastoria wasn't as big as some of the super sized cruise ships shown in the news for beating new records in size. But it was still pretty big. The bright orange life boats and the multisided orbs on the top seemed like recent additions to a older ship.

And the deck had zombies walking around on it.

=It is as I told you. Empty ones. And minds filled with fear deep within it, with a few on top.=

As Big boy began to circle the ship at a distance, I could see several people crowding the windows of the raised bridge. Some pointing at me while two others in uniforms looked at me and my ride with oversized binoculars.

I waved. A couple of people waved excitedly back at me. "Looks like it's from my world. But... I don't see any lights, or any sign of anything powered up?"

What happened here?

Some of the zombies had clear signs of having been in a fight, and some were clearly bitten. "Can you get closer?"

Big boy lifted his head up high to peer down at the waters around the ship, and the fins sticking up out of the water circling around it. =I would, but the tasty fish have tried to bite at me. It would not be a problem, more of a meal, on my own. But it would be dangerous with you on my back. For you at least.=

I considered it, but even up close I doubted anyone in the bridge tower, five stories up, could really communicate with me. "So it's not like you could rescue people and swim them back with you?"

The serpent tilted it's head. "Maybe a few out of all of them. They would have to leap without hurting themselves on anything on the way down. I could easily clear out the tasty fish first before they tried to do so. But if they were hurt it would be a long swim to get them to someone that could help them. Do you have anything that floats I could drag out.=

I shook my head. "No, nothing like that, not even in room C. Too bad you can't just drag it in closer to shore."

Big boy twisted his head around. =Not alone. But seven others came here with me. Four of them ladies. Leading a mission to save a bunch of little people may impress them. Sadly, I would need the males as well. Pity."

It finally occurred to me that seeing a sea serpent with a uneaten guy waving from it's back may have calmed down the people on the bridge a bit. "Big boy, do you think you can get anyone up there to hear you now?"

=Yes. Their minds seems much more receptive to communication now.=

Of course I could only hear half of the conversation.

=Rejoice. I have brought a human who can help you.=

=I'm not sure how.=

"He has a area that demons can't get into. And anything under their control is freed."

The sea serpent shared all of that. Then added =Me and the others will push your floating island closer, then it is up to you little ones to figure it out.=

=A ship. Thank you, I will call it that now.=

=No, if I have to fight the tasty fish. The little one may fall off my back. When I return with others we will remove the empty ones we can reach.=

=Then I will return as soon as I have gathered the others. Be warned, some of them are young. So stay hidden away until we are done with the empty ones. The younger of my kind might get confused.=

Then he turned and began swimming away. =The one called Lieutenant and I have a plan to get the ship close to your safe ground. Getting them off the ship and to land will be up to you.=

"Right. I'll figure something out."

However as we headed back to shore, my mind was more concerned with what, and who, would be waiting my return.