The empty metal system of caverns stretched on for hours. It was a depressingly dull imitation devoid of life. Cira’s nymph pack hadn’t thinned out whatsoever and Nanri was beginning to lose heart.

“Was all this work pointless?” She asked.

“I wouldn’t go that far. Failure is always step one and this metal’s not going anywhere,” Cira knocked on the wall, “It just needs some work.”

“But… but I’ve created a prison! They’ll never want to live here.”

Cira replied, “So, your next step is to remove the enchantments. See? You already know where to start.”

Of course, that wouldn’t likely solve any problems since it was still a lifeless mold of their home. Water just wasn’t enough to draw them in. They needed it but Cira didn’t get the impression they were ever low on it.

“But Lyren will get mad if I touch her enchantments—she spent weeks on them! And Salina—” Her next words caught in her throat and her brows furrowed for a moment like she was working through a problem, “That doesn’t matter… does it? Because I know what has to be done!”

Cira patted her on the shoulder, “Now you’re getting it!”

If you watched Lomp’s face over the last few hours it was like he was watching the world’s slowest shipwreck. In all his years on the rock he had never had such an exhausting assignment as watching this girl. He was supposed to stop her from doing anything crazy, but did he even have what it takes? As he watched Earth Vein’s witch laughing giddily beneath her praise, he realized he did not.

“But it’s not enough!” Nanri spoke those magic words that turn Lomp’s stomach into knots. Then some new ones that he found to be even more painful, “How can I do better, Cira?”

The sorcerer fell into thought, “What do you think Nina?”

The salt nymph didn’t respond and Cira continued, “We know they like salt and water, but you’re sorely lacking in the former. That’s an easy one. What else do they like?”

Nanri scrunched her face for a minute then came up with a lackluster answer. “Salt… Just about covers it, I think. They’re simple creatures… I think.”

“The nymph quee—” Lomp started for a moment and almost caught himself in time, “Ahh, dammit.”

“That’s right!” The witch continued, “The nymph queen!”

“Is that a real thing?” Cira asked, “I thought they were just making fun of me.”

Nanri laughed, “What a silly thing to say, of course they weren’t! And they say it’s real, but it’s been missing from the nest for years. What about you, little man, what do you know?”

“I have a name!” He blurted out, then his stomach dropped when he saw Nanri’s frown, “I-I mean, yes, the nymph queen! There were a few, actually, but they disappeared not long after Silver Lake. It—”

“Wait, I have a question!” The witch stuck a hand up, “What’s Silver Lake?”

Well, Lomp was in no condition to answer that one. Too taken aback that she had no idea about such a tragedy when she was making room for another just a couple floors up. She was young, but it was a huge event for the people of her current residence. So, Cira stepped in.

“Do you think Earth Vein kept it from her?”

It doesn’t sound like Mom, Nanri thought, to keep secrets from me. “That can’t be right…” She said with little confidence.

“I haven’t been off this rock in a very long time,” Lomp replied, “But they kept the plague secret for almost that long. I know that much.”

“Plague…?” At these words both sorcerer and guard threw her an odd look.

“Do you not know what a plague is?” Cira asked, “The sickness this island’s residents are afflicted with. Aren’t there victims in Nymphus?”

“Oh!” A Lamplight appeared over Nanri’s head, “You mean surface fever. Mom said everyone that catches it gets sent up to the surface to get better.”

Cira and Lomp exchanged a look of horror, “Lomp… How many sick have you received from Nymphus? You know, in your reports or whatever…”

“We’re told they’re treated on site…”

They both turned to the witch now. Lomp’s eyes reflected a cold-blooded killer, but Cira’s were sad and empathetic. She saw an indoctrinated young girl being thrown around like a tool for her magical prowess. The young witch didn’t know a thing about the world around her—her case was worse than Cira’s. She thought if Gazen hadn’t found her she may not have turned out so different.

Meanwhile, the young witch was crumbling under the pressure like wet salt. Why are they looking at me like that? No one’s ever looked at me with those eyes… And is Cira… disappointed? What does any of this mean?! Mother wouldn’t have lied to me… Right?! “I don’t understand! What is this plague?! Tell me about Silver Lake!”

Cira grit her teeth, “I’ll tell you on the way. We should return. I intend to have a word with the mayor.” There were supposedly years of missing plague victims from Nymphus. She could skirt around their nefarious deeds all day, but if Earth Vein was culling the sick… Well, Cira couldn’t say what she would do about it, but her actions would that of a sorcerer to the end.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

She needed to get to the bottom of this one, and quick. Her insides were already trying to boil over with rage.

“Got it!” Nanri put her mask back on and headed the group, “It’s fastest if we keep going this way, but it lets out in the vacant queen’s nest.”

“Okay but take your mask off and listen. It’s hard to take you seriously with that thing on. Hydro Barrier.”

“Yes ma’am!” Cira didn’t know what her new attitude was about.

To begin, Cira explained the plague to the young witch. There was no such thing as ‘surface fever’. She relayed the rough number of sick, number of dead. How its cause has eluded everyone all this time, but it got worse every year. How hopeless it was for the people of Fount Salt. Carefully, she explained the implications of all the people she’d seen sent to the surface to ‘get better’.

At the end, Cira described the tragedy of Silver Lake so Lomp didn’t have to. By the end, Nanri was in tears, sobbing and gasping for air.

“I-I had no idea!” She wiped the matted silver hair out of her face with the back of a hand, “Why?! Why would Mom lie to me?!”

“That, I can’t say. There are some answers you have to find for yourself. Anything I say would be pure conjecture.”

The catacombs had begun slanting up and Cira sensed they were almost back to the salt. The storytelling had taken a while what with Nanri’s breakdowns and denial-based questions. Cira felt bad wringing all these tears out of her, but… The girl needs help.

Soon the tunnel turned back into the characteristic metal hallways and they reached a door. “We’re here…” Nanri’s voice was sullen.

“Oh don’t look so down.” Cira skipped ahead to the door, “If you keep staring at your feet, you’ll miss the world around you. We’re at the nymph queen’s nest, aren’t we? You should have your eyes peeled, looking for inspiration.”

The witch blinked and a little bit of light returned to her eyes, “You’re right! There’s no witch’s code for this kind of thing… I bet sorcerer’s have a saying though, right?” She looked at Cira expectantly.

“Er, yes, of course…” She wracked her brain for tangentially related quotes from her father, “A wet blanket is best served—no that’s not right. Hmm. A sorcerer grasps only that which is within her reach, lest she grasp the sun and burn. Ah, but you must stretch your arms now and again. Yes, that will do.”

“Within my reach…” She seemed to have worked something out and smiled, before reaching out and trying to bop Nina like Cira does. The salt nymph pulled her hat down and disappeared into the hidden jewel of Aquon. Ninra pouted, “Aww…”

Inside the nest the air was thick, and water trickled down the walls. It was a natural cave with no sign of mining and everywhere she looked was damp. There was open air above them and they found themselves in a palatial chamber much like that of Nymphus. Cira cast another Lamplight and sent it up trying to find the ceiling.

Hundreds—no thousands of salt nymphs lit up, all their orbs of salt glowing like eyes in the dark. They all turned in unison with an unsettling synchronization of flutters to glance at the brilliant blue sun before floating off in some other direction.

“How has the nest not melted away? There’s water everywhere. That can’t be new.” Cira asked.

“It’s not.” Lomp said, “This cave is crystallized prima salt, so it’s not going anywhere. The queens do it somehow, but this place is very old.”

“I’m surprised they’re not mining it.”

“They… We did. The miners that live here have for centuries. You don’t find this up above anymore.”

Finally, something that’s not entirely Earth Vein’s fault. “What does a nymph queen look like? You said there were several?” Cira pictured a large pulsating worm that spit out half-baked fairies from one end and salt from the other.

“Just like any other salt nymph. You can only tell a queen by the behavior of the others.”

“Fascinating… I wonder if I could crystallize prima salt…” Cira took a handful of prima salt from her pocket.

“When did you get that?!”

“During the stampede.” Her cerulean robes or the contents of their pockets were immune to water-induced wetness. She shrugged, “What’s it do anyway? It’s not some sort of drug, is it?”

“Among other things, yes, it’s a drug. You shouldn’t touch it. Don’t you see these giant body suits that even the witch is wearing?” His muffled voice came through the respirator.

“Point taken. Wind Shield,” She nervously put it back in her pocket, “So explain the first part quickly but I am interested in the rest.”

Primo, or preems for short, was a mana-stimulant. That burst of energy from taking a mana elixir—it strictly induced that effect without adding to your mana reserves if inhaled, ingested, or absorbed topically. Taken officially by spellcasters looking to perform longer in combat, recreationally by young folk just trying to have fun, or by the wealthy looking to perform longer outside of combat.

“That would explain why I’ve so thoroughly enjoyed our walk this morning. And what else?”

“It’s used in rituals, alchemy, and even cooking. Most expensive salt you’ll ever shake though.”

“Huh. I’ll have to get more. What are they all doing here if there are no queens though?”

Lomp sounded somewhat wistful. “Waiting, I imagine.”

“Nanri, I take it you have a nymph nest down below made of titanium?”

The witch was put on the spot and answered nervously, “Um, yes… It’s all titanium. I couldn’t even get the trickling water right.”

That is a truly absurd amount of metal… “I imagine that would be hard with your medium.” She geomanced a clump of crystalized prima from the ground. “I can mold it just like salt… honestly I can’t tell the difference. Better take it back to the clinic—”

Cira paused when she saw Nina giving her a funny look, “Oh… sorry.” She put the clump back where it came from and patted it down, “Guess I’ll just have to make my own.”

The massive cave took them a long while to traverse. A soft blue Lamplight rested against the ceiling so high up she could pinch it in her fingers. The illuminated nymphs in the air looked like falling snow. Cira committed this sight to memory as well, certain she’d never see another one like it.

“Any inspiration, little witch?” She still couldn’t tell if she was younger than her or not, but she’d taken on a cutesy, scholarly side that Cira found endearing. Literally looking up at Cira for answers, which turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable.

“Yes… Perhaps a little.”

“Oh?” Cira was surprised. It was just a big empty cave made of unfamiliar rocks to her.

“You said they want space, right? Their catacombs above are all mined out. The nymphs didn’t do it, surely, so I doubt they enjoy it very much. That’s just where they’ve ended up. I bet the ones in here are much happier. I was thinking about it all wrong from the beginning. I… I really did all that work in vain didn’t I?” She started laughing self-deprecatingly, but in the end her smile looked genuine. “But that’s the first step, isn’t it?”

“Sure is. Now what do you say we get out of here—” Cira stopped as something caught her eye, “What is that…”

Far above in the dim blue glow, she noticed a flash of reflected light from one of the walls. As her eyes focused she saw something far away moving through the air, slowly descending. Strange… That almost looks like my old boat. It was the lens flare of a spyglass.

“Smugglers!” Nanri shouted, “I can’t believe it! Here?!”