by Ian Rodgers
Gaelin sighed and continued to swim. He felt no exhaustion, and so powered on towards his destination.
Suddenly, the sea of quicksilver began to buck and heave. Painful memories of the storm that had assailed the Blue Wave returned to him, and all at once he started to recall what he had been doing before he’d ended up here.
Panic and fear stalled his movements and he began to flail around. The molten silver plopped and squirmed and it started to pull at his feet. Gaelin felt himself start to sink deep into the silvery abyss and he thrashed about.
“Gaelin? Wake up!”
A voice echoed through the infinite white and silver, and the adventurer paused. He looked around, confused.
“Lily?”
“Please, wake up! Don’t leave me alone!”
“Lily? Lily! Where are you?!”
“Come on, don’t die on me!”
“Die? What are you talking about?!” Gaelin cried, looking around, trying to find the red-headed archer.
However, she was nowhere to be seen. How hard was it to spot a princess with a fiery mane in a realm of nothing but various shades of white?
What he did see was a tall, ethereal being with flowing hair and dress striding towards him. The entity walked atop the mercurial ocean without any trouble and came to stare down at Gaelin as he tried to stay afloat while the liquid silver grasped at him.
The person was indistinct, like the buildings in the distance had once been, and all he could tell was that this being was surrounded by a corona of blinding energy, making him unable to perceive who or what this was.
As he tried pondering this new development, the shimmering figure bent down and placed a hand on the top of Gaelin’s head.
WAKE UP
Its voice was an imperial roar, a mandate of heaven, and it filled him with awe as the words reverberated through time and space and his very soul. The person then shoved him down into the silver, forcing him to be swallowed up.
He didn’t have time to cry out as light surrounded and infused him.
.
“Urgh…”
Aches and pains assaulted Gaelin as piercing sunlight slammed into his face, cutting through his eyelids without a care in the world.
Then the rest of his body’s aches and pains became known to him as he returned to consciousness.
“Why does this hurt? Why does everything hurt?” he whimpered. He tried to open his eyes, but they were gummed shut. Instead of trying to move and cause more tingles of agony throughout his body, he lay there, trying to get a feel for his surroundings.
Gritty sand scratched his back, and a hot sun baked the front of his body. Salty wind caressed his face, and the sounds of waves gently lapping against a beach graced his ears.
All that introspection ended when he felt arms throw themselves around him and a face press against his own, tears rubbing against his cheeks.
“Lily…?” he whispered weakly, and the arms constricted, pinning him down and cutting off his precious air supply.
“Lily! Lily!” Gaelin gasped out.
“You’re alive! Oh, thank the gods you’re alive!” Lily wept, tears of joy cascading down her face as she clung to the halberdier.
“He won’t be for much longer if you don’t ease up on your grip!” a familiar feminine voice called out in a panic, and Lily quickly released Gaelin when she realized he was turning blue in the face.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to... I mean, I did mean to hug you, but not that hard!” Lily protested, red-faced and flustered as she scooted away from the recovering D-ranker.
“Have you been practicing Reinforcement without me, or am I just really weak right now?” Gaelin wheezed out after a few deep breathes of sweet air.
“Definitely ‘weak,’ buddy,” a brown blur with a messy green top said, and Gaelin squinted at the talking bush.
“Vala?”
“Yup, that’s me. Guess your eyes are still recovering,” the earth elf said with a delicate laugh.
As his vision cleared, Gaelin saw a bloody bandage wrapped around the left side of her head. She noticed his stare and gave a strained smile.
“That hovering pirate bastard’s daggers cut pretty deep. If Bigg Guy hadn’t wrestled that flying blade away, it would have eventually got past my guard and slit my jugular,” the Druid said, trailing a finger along her throat where the bandage covered.
“Wait, where is he?!” Gaelin asked, worry suffusing his tone. He had seen the Ursine run right onto the enchanted weapon.
Vala pointed solemnly over to the side, and Gaelin tilted his head and saw a reassuring lump of black fur lying nearby. Thankfully, he saw Bigg Guy’s chest rising and falling, so he was safe at least.
Though now that he got a good look at the area, the sand they were lying on was black in color. Against the two women’s protests he heaved himself up into a sitting position and looked around.
The beach he was on was black. The sand was black, which turned the water near the shore a similar dark hue, and the trunks of the palm trees he could see nearby were black as well.
All along the beach were large chunks of wooden debris. Most of the beached driftwood looked old, bleached bone white by the relentless sun. Others still retained a hint of moisture, likely new additions to the island’s clutches.
And speaking of water, beyond the shallows that clung to the sandy shore, the surf was broken up by towering spires of jagged obsidian which formed a cage of sorts all along the circumference of the beach as far as he could see.
“Where are we?” he asked, intrigued by the darkness of the landmass they found themselves on.
“Dunno. I’ve heard of islands with black sand before, but they were all in the tropical waters around Drakon. I doubt the storm swept us that far out, though, so it could be an undiscovered one closer to Orria and the Crawling Coast,” Vala said with a shrug.
Now aware that they were lost, Gaelin turned his inspection onto himself. The flesh of his hands and arms looked raw, but not burned. He distinctly recalled Bolos’ lightning bolt hitting him though. He should have been crispy, at the very least.
“I used the Elixir on you,” Lily spoke up as Gaelin explored his healed body. He shot her a look of shock and she nodded hesitantly.
“I had originally gone to fetch it for Captain Joshua,” Lily explained to her partner. “But when I came out I saw you and Bigg Guy had gotten gravely injured as well. Before I could save you, though, that, that, dastard fired on us and destroyed the Blue Wave. We were thrown into the ocean.”
“I managed to enchant some broken planks to float better and stuck them together with a couple of Binding spells. Lily and I then managed to drag Bigg Guy and yourself onto the makeshift raft and ride out the storm,” Vala piped in. “We had no control, though, and after a few nerve-wracking hours we miraculously washed up on this beach sometime around midnight.”
“I had managed to hold onto the bottle of Elixir throughout the entire ordeal,” Lily continued, not looking bothered by the interruption. “But at some point the cork came loose and I had to act fast before it all drained away. I managed to pour some into Bigg Guy’s chest and that helped close up the wound on his chest. But there was no way I could do that for your injuries. You were covered head to toe in burns from the Lightning Element spell.”
“So, how did you cure me?” Gaelin asked. Lily’s face turned red and she looked away, refusing to meet his gaze, while Vala gained a wide, teasing grin.
“If you can’t apply a potion topically, the only other way is orally,” the earth elf said in a far too chipper tune.
Gaelin tilted his head, perplexed. “I know that, I’m not an idiot. So, she had to get me to drink the rest. Big whoop.”
“Yeah, but the raft was flailing about, and you were unconscious. How could you possibly drink it?” Vala pointed out. “So, our dear archer drank the rest of the Elixir and then gave it to you via mouth-to-mouth.”
Gaelin’s eyes bugged out and he shot Lily an incredulous look. She co
ntinued to avert her own eyes, her entire head practically glowing red.
The adventurer’s face turned crimson as well and he descended into a coughing fit as he looked awkwardly away from his traveling companion.
Vala just continued to radiate smugness as she watched the two youngsters blush and fidget.
“Alrighty! Glad to be healthy again! Time to explore the island!” Gaelin exclaimed in an overly chipper tone and tried to jump to his feet to get away from the awkwardness.
He’d apparently forgotten the fact that despite the potion, his body was still recovering from electrocution and drowning, and he fell flat, his legs as strong and steady as jelly at this point.
“Or maybe I’ll just lie here. That works too,” he groaned from the heap he had crumpled up into.
“Just relax, you’re still trying to recover. Let Lily and I set up camp,” Vala said kindly with a pat on his shoulder.
He grinned weakly and consented to staying still. Lily rose up from the ground and brushed granules of black sand off her clothes.
“That’s right, keep Bigg Guy company. We have to examine the island, and figure out where we are,” Lily said, still refusing to look at the prone adventurer next to her. She and Vala headed off, entering the forest of palm trees on the left of Gaelin and Bigg Guy.
Alone, Gaelin finally managed to gain control of his embarrassment and his cheeks returned to their normal hue. He glanced over at the slumbering bearman and sighed.
“Well, you’re a sterling conversationalist,” he muttered before letting out a yawn.
“Maybe I should follow your example, and take a quick nap,” Gaelin mumbled sleepily, already feeling drowsiness descend on his mind. He let sleep claim him. He was too tired to resist.
.
Vala and Lily ventured deeper into the island, looking for resources. There were lots of palm trees and coconuts, and the occasional colorful bird flew overhead, but there didn’t seem to be much else nearby.
Eventually, the Druid called a stop and approached an old, gnarled looking palm tree. It had weathered several lightning strikes based on the burn scars that had never fully healed. Yet it continued to grow, and according to the earth elf it was one of the oldest trees she’d seen on the island so far. A perfect choice to use as a foci for a spell to analyze their surroundings.
Vala reached out and stroked the bark of the palm tree, sending tiny pulses of magic through it to get a read on it and the terrain nearby. Her magic surged through the bark, the sap, and the roots, feeding her back information about the soil, the weather, the plants and the animals within a several hundred feet radius.
Lily watched impatiently nearby, fingering her hunting knife as she kept an eye on the surroundings.
Her bow and arrows had been lost to the storm, and only the sidearm strapped to her waist had made it through with her. Plus, she was still a bit damp in uncomfortable places, and it made her a tad more irritable than usual.
Finally, Vala released the palm tree and the magic trickled away.
“Well?” Lily asked. The Druid ignored the harsh tone in the archer’s voice. After all, Vala too was suffering from her own set of worries and troubles thanks to being stranded.
“I managed to perform a World View using this palm tree here. From what I could tell, this island seems to be one of many in a tiny archipelago. Slightly volcanic, and tropical year round. The black sand is filled with Fire Element as well as a healthy dose of Earth and Water, as a result. And, it seems there are other people nearby. Or, there were some at one point,” Vala announced.
“Never heard of that spell before. Druidic, I assume?” Lily asked.
“Yes. World View is a spell that allows a Druid to understand the area around them using a piece of nature as foci. The older the plant, the better. It’s only Level Three, but it requires a great deal of concentration, as well as the ability to parse the information gleaned from the plant’s surroundings,” the earth elf explained as she escorted Lily through the jungle-like foliage.
“I see. Because plants don’t act like humans or other animals, that makes it harder to understand what they know about their surroundings. That’s why you spent so much time concentrating,” the red-head extrapolated. Vala nodded, pleased that the D-ranker caught on so quickly.
“Exactly! But thanks to the data I obtained from World View, I know the size of the entire island, and where the closest neighboring land mass is. Apparently, all the people that seem to be here tend to frequent the other islands as they are bigger and more diverse.”
“Good. With any luck, they’ll have a way off the island. If not, we can use your expertise with manipulating wood to build a raft and sail out of here,” Lily proclaimed.
“With luck and Gaea’s blessing we will,” Vala said in agreement.
They trudged on in silence, paying close attention to their surroundings. Lily was jumpy, and keeping a tight grip on her knife. Vala’s staff had been lost in the storm, and she had to improvise with a pole-shaped piece of driftwood. She held it close, and in a stance where she could snap into action and smack the face or limb of anything that came after her.
A bird cooed loudly next to them, causing the two women to jump and ready themselves for a fight. Their surprise and wariness turned to mirth as they realized they had been startled by a now terrified cross between a finch and a seagull.
Lily and Vala exchanged glances before descending into gales of laughter.
“I can’t believe we got so scared over a Beach Finch!” Lily gasped out.
“I know, right?! What’s it going to do to us? Fluff its chest?” Vala chuckled. After the insulted avian flew off in a huff, the pair finally got themselves under control.
“Oh my, that was nice. I needed that,” the green-haired Druid said, wiping away a tear of mirth from the corner of her eyes.
“Agreed! I’d been bottling up more tension that I’d first expected,” Lily said with a relieved sigh and smile. “Laughter really is a medicine. Who knew?”
“Speaking of medicine, how did it feel?”
“How did what feel?” Lily inquired. Vala waggled her eyebrows.
“His lips. What else would I mean?” the earth elf said.
Lily recoiled, disbelief warring with embarrassment on her face. This brought a teasing grin to Vala’s lips once more.
“Come on, you can tell me! Were they soft? Rough? Did they taste nice? Or was the salt water too overpowering for you to get a good feel for them?”
“I-I don’t know what you’re implying!” Lily stammered. “Gaelin and I are just friends!”
“I never said you weren’t. All I asked about was how it was? Was that your first kiss?” When Lily refused to meet her eyes Vala squealed. “It was, wasn’t it?! Oh, so precious! You’re like the little sister I never had! So cute and adorable! Just look at that pout!”
“Stop it!” the red-head cried, fighting off the Druid’s questing fingers as they pinched the archer’s cheeks.
“Come on, why so serious? It’s fine to have a crush on a guy. And you can’t go wrong with Gaelin. For a human, I mean. I know he’s not the kind of person to care about any scars or problems you have,” Vala said, her humor lessening as her gaze traced over Lily’s hip where the curse lay.
“It’s not about that!” Lily protested, pulling away from the touchy-feely earth elf.
“Then what is it about? I know you like him. Hells, everyone can see it! Why are you so against it? Is it the age difference? You’re only a year away from being an adult, and even for humans three years is hardly much difference,” Vala pointed out. She folded her arms and gave the red-head a piercing look.
“That’s my business, not yours!” Lily replied, steadily growing angry. “And why are you pushing for this, anyways? Is playing matchmaker some kind of sick thrill for you? Or are you a voyeur, and hoping to spy on us when we do end up together?”
“I’m asking this because ever since you had to lock lips with Gaelin to save him, you’
ve been acting weirder than usual around him,” Vala said firmly.
Her expression than softened. “I like you, Lily. Despite our rough start we’ve come to an understanding. You’re passionate about so much, and eager to prove your worth to the world with all the adventuring you’re doing. And I admire Gaelin. It’s not often you meet someone who loves books but can also bench press a hundred pounds with ease, and is willing to acknowledge their own failings. So, because of that, I want you two to resolve whatever is between you and go back to being how you two were when we first met.”
Only the rustling of palm leaves, and the trill of brightly colored birds disturbed the air. After a long time, Lily spoke up.
“I don’t know what it is I feel about him, but I do know one thing: I can never be with Gaelin Arcos.”
She turned away and continued walking. She then stopped, and look back at Vala. “Come on, let’s do whatever it is you need to do, and then get back to the others.”
The earth elf nodded slowly, a pensive frown on her face as she tried to understand why Lily was so determined to start pushing away her companion.
Still, Lily was right. They had work to do, and so set off again into the island’s depths to explore.
Chapter 12: Royal truth
“Where do I put this, Gaelin?”
“Looks pretty dry and durable. Put it in the area with the other wood for building the temporary shelter.”
With a crunch of sand, Bigg Guy shifted a large chunk of driftwood from where it lay on the beach and moved it to a spot in the shade of a few palm trees. Nearby, the D-ranker straightened up and wiped sweat off his brow as he finished dragging his own piece of shipwrecked lumber over to another pile, this one for kindling instead of construction.
The pair of them had woken up a few hours ago. Gaelin wasn’t sure exactly how long it had been, since he couldn’t use the Cantrip Time Keeper to check how late it was in the day. The sun wasn’t too far east, so he made the educated guess it was late afternoon or so.
Taking a short break from hauling wood, Gaelin looked around the beach for anything else to salvage. Lots of wood lay in heaps along the region where the tide washed up detritus onto the black sand.
