by DM Fike
Heart pounding and alert, I clutched the glass ball to my chest, alternating between stealing glances at the augurs collecting vitae and searching for any baddies. Finally, an important mission.
CHAPTER 9
I’D NEVER BEEN so bored in my entire life.
Don’t get me wrong. Vitae is cool stuff, and I’d never expected a chance to get to collect it, but nothing happened save a quake or two. I felt like a mall security cop, all alone in a big expansive area with nothing to do. Except mall cops have Segways. I floated in the middle of the ocean and watched two talented people do jazz hands for an entire afternoon. I did witness Darby struggling to create an underwater light with her palms, which gave me a confidence boost, but at some point, she gave up and even that source of entertainment vanished.
I did take a cue from her, though. I spent some time practicing the underwater breathing sigil, having an unlimited amount of water rushing in my pithways. I might have drawn it right once, but it was hard to tell with the armor doing the work for me. I moved on to a few other basic sigils before even that failed to keep my attention.
My mind eventually settled on the marten problem. I fantasized about helping imbue a marten with vitae and then telling Vincent about it later. Maybe we could go out to eat again, this time without a pack of unruly bikers. That got my mind wandering to other outlandish daydreams: banishing vaetturs by myself, controlling lightning at will, and becoming a full-blown shepherd.
Boredom can bring about a certain kind of peace.
But I was still on the clock. Baot came by at some point to exchange my orb. He tried to hand off a huge blue bowling ball-sized sphere to me.
I shooed him away, not recognizing what it was.
He grinned at me. “I forgot you’ve never seen a full orb. Check it out.” He inched the orb closer to me. “The vitae makes it expand, increasing its fragility. You need to be very gentle with it. It’s a bit hot, but will cool down, like taking a pie out of the oven.”
Still wary, I gave him my smaller orb and timidly brushed my fingertips against the full one. It did burn a little, but not enough that I couldn’t pass it from palm to palm once the heat got too much for my skin.
“Just one more to go and we’ll be done!” Baot called over his shoulder as he went to give the augurs my little orb.
You know how the descent of a long plane ride is always the longest part, no matter how many hours you’ve been in flight? I suffered through that eternity, wondering when we’d leave, until Guntram and Tabitha finally finished. As Guntram pulled the last orb from the pit, Tabitha drew a few last sigils above the green smoke. The ocean floor rumbled again, although not nearly as violently as before, and then the green smoke dissipated. Baot waved us over to gather around as a team. The black hole had morphed into an indiscernible crack of magma, blending in with the rest of the ocean floor around us.
“Mission complete!” Baot declared. He raised the now enlarged orb in his hand. “Everybody got their orb?”
We all looked like a minor league of underwater bowlers, showcasing our lucky balls.
Baot patted the one at his side. “Remember, these things are delicate. You gotta treat them like they’re little baby bird eggs. If one of them breaks, though, do not—I repeat, do NOT—breathe the stuff inside. Vitae may create some awesome dryants, but it’s deadly to humans.” He turned to face Darby and me. “Comprende, little shepherds?”
We bobbed our heads in unison.
“Good. Let’s swim.”
Best words I’d heard all day.
Baot didn’t seem the least bit bogged down by his new burden, tucking it to his chest like an otter and flitting down the fault line. The rest of us struggled with its awkward shape, even the augurs. I stole a glance at Guntram and noted telltale signs of exertion: droopy eyebrows, strained neck muscles. I felt guilty spending so many hours bored when he had obviously worked his tail off.
Yet we all held vitae in our hands. The rhythmic heartbeat from within pounded even stronger than before, a sure sign that new dryant life would spring from this harvest. With renewed vigor, I swam fast behind Baot, ahead of the others. I would no longer be the caboose, holding everyone back. Soon, I’d cast off this stupid underwater breathing charm, and we’d imbue a new dryant in the fight against Letum.
Baot blipped through the watery wisp channel first, and I followed. As the wisp light flooded my vision, I imagined what other endangered species we could protect after the martens. Maybe we could imbue a giant Pacific octopus dryant to prevent them from becoming future kappa snacks. I knew of a migrating butterfly population that could use a boost in our area. Or maybe a predator that had been driven back by human development needed some added support.
I contemplated so many different animals that, when I emerged on the other side of the wisp channel and confronted the black panther, my mind stalled. Sure, I thought. The big hunter cats could use a dryant too.
Then it hit me. A panther? Panthers don’t swim around in the middle of the ocean.
Apparently, this one didn’t get the memo. It roared, yellow eyes squinting, and exposed a formidable jaw of teeth. It darted toward me with claws ready to rake.
I swallowed a watery scream and dove to one side, clutching the orb to my chest. The panther clashed hard against my armor but didn’t penetrate it. I twisted so the upper half of the cat flew past me. Its scaled fish tail knocked me to the side, though, and one of its sharp spine spikes scratched my upper arm.
A mermaid panther?
“Back off, man!” I heard Baot scream.
Then a dull thud.
I kicked my feet to stabilize my freefall. Unable to see much in the dark, I threw up my palm flashlight with my precious remaining fire pith and pointed it toward Baot’s voice. I found him slumped over, a shroud of broken glass wafting around his body. A green cloud shrouded the glass, but it dispersed pretty quickly in the water. Baot lifted his head, his bright eyes dilated.
“What happened?” he groaned.
His orb had shattered.
I caught a flurry of motion not far behind Baot. The panther vaettur was charging for another attack.
I only had water in my pithways at this point, but I still had a charm full of air pith. I released the vitae orb, letting it float freely in front of me so I could use the charm and draw a hasty sideways S. The outgoing air gush propelled me backward, but it also hit the panther before it collided with a stunned Baot. The panther yowled as it slammed into the ocean floor, a cloud of sand billowing upward upon impact.
My pitiful attack on the panther only delayed its second strike, though. It squiggled like an injured spider as it rallied, slitted yellow eyes narrowing on me. That’s when the glittering lights of the wisp channel revved up, indicating another shepherd would soon arrive on the scene.
I had to do something about the panther before it hurt someone else. I grabbed my earth charm and furiously drew a square with a slash near the bottom. Then I thrust that pith at the sand underneath the vaettur and shoved it straight upwards.
Kitty shot up like a bat outta hell toward the shimmering surface. It hissed and spit as it broke above the waves.
I wanted to check on Baot, but that would give the panther the opportunity to launch another assault. Someone had to keep it distracted while the others arrived through the wisp channel. I drew a sigil that created a burst of water underneath me and launched like a rocket up after the vaettur.
I gulped oxygen as I broke the surface, water dripping into my line of sight. As I wiped the moisture away, I noticed ominous clouds above me. Although the sun should have blazed overhead, the storm made it appear almost like night. I sensed a familiar crackle in the sky, igniting that aching urge to grab the lightning pith from within.
When had it become so stormy?
I didn’t have time to contemplate such a drastic change in the weather as the panther snarled at me, only yards away. It walked like a shepherd on top of the water, allowing me a good full look at
it. The cat stood a good fifteen feet tall from head to paw. Small stubby antlers jutted in front of its ears. Four paws stalked toward me, a scaly tail with spikes slashing to and fro behind.
I had a split second to act as it leaped in a killing blow—all claws, fangs, and fury. I raised my hands and absorbed the strongest pith at my disposal.
The lightning.
Two things happened simultaneously, one bad and one good. The bad thing was that I’d never tested lightning pith in a suit of armor. As it turns out, metal tends to conduct electricity, so the mere act of absorbing the storm’s pith did nothing more than make my body a frazzled lightning rod of uncontainable electricity.
That alone would have screwed me.
The good thing was the panther landed right on top of me at the same time, and by touching me, it also screwed itself. We sizzled for a few good seconds as lightning coursed through both of our bodies. The panther, for its part, roared in pain. I merely squeaked as electricity overloaded my system.
My vision collapsed from the outside in. The last thing I saw as I sunk back below the waves was the storm rolling overhead, another flash of lightning taunting me as I lost consciousness.
CHAPTER 10
MY HEARING RETURNED first, a ringing that echoed from deep in my skull. Then whooshing sounds, which eventually formed a voice. Softly at first, then louder.
“Ina. Ina.”
I pictured Vincent hovering over me, his face furrowed in concern. His fingertips gently touched the side of my face. I moaned. Our faces were so close that a drop of sweat fell from his forehead onto mine.
“Ina?”
“She’s coming to.”
“Stand back. I got this.”
A deluge of water splashed over my head, flooding my nostrils. I sputtered as I bolted upright, blinking back to the real world. As I coughed, someone giggled off to one side.
Instead of the game warden, I came face-to-face with a freckled Zibel. Water hovered in an arc between his hands, but he let that go with a grin. “I knew dousing you with water would do the trick.”
Fortunately for Zibel’s throat, Guntram pushed him aside. “Ina, are you all right?”
Someone had pulled my armored carcass up to the beach. Beyond Zibel and Guntram, Darby held two orbs to her tilted hips, amused at my predicament. It must have been some time since the fight because the sky shone a pristine, cloudless blue, the storm long since gone.
I clutched Guntram’s tunic. “The vaettur?” I gasped, sea water still swishing like sandpaper in my windpipe.
He placed reassuring hands over mine. “Tabitha and Baot went after it.”
I scrambled away. “We should go help.”
Darby laughed. “You think you can run with all that metal?”
I absolutely hated it when Darby was right, so I ignored her. I turned to Guntram. “How long are you going to wait?”
His eyes furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”
How could he be so dense? “You’re the one who’s all about shepherds helping each other. You should go after them.”
Darby said, “You’re always so dramatic, haggard. They’ve only been gone a few minutes. They’ll send a signal if they need backup.”
I faltered at the “few minutes” bit. The weather changes a lot at the coast, but even the wildest storm couldn’t dissipate so quickly. “But that’s impossible.”
Darby rolled her eyes. “Of course. How could they possibly take down a vaettur without you, the almighty lightning shepherd?”
“That’s not what I meant,” I tried to explain, but something stirred in the tree line, interrupting my train of thought.
Tabitha broke through the bushes, a little breathy and scowling as usual, but otherwise fine. Baot trotted behind her, seaweed stuck in his hair and wet bangs once again hiding the upper half of his face.
“Did you banish the vaettur?” Zibel called.
Tabitha looked like she wanted to punch something as she answered, “No.”
Baot filled in more details. “We couldn’t catch up to it. It slid into the bay on the east shore. I swam around for a while, but it’s gone.”
“And if it’s aquatic, it could travel anywhere around here,” Guntram noted. “We’re surrounded by water.”
“Agreed,” Tabitha said, taking an orb from Darby. “We must consider the safety of the vitae first. We’ve already lost one orb, and we can’t risk losing more.”
Baot bowed his head in shame. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect mine.”
Guntram patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself. Not one of us predicted a vaettur would wait for us on the other side of the wisp channel. It could have happened to any of us.”
Darby pointed at me. “Ina let go of her orb, too.”
In horror, I realized I had indeed abandoned my orb to pursue the panther. I glanced around in a panic, relieved to find the other three orbs resting in the sand at Zibel’s feet.
“Thank God,” I whispered.
“Don’t worship your false deities,” Darby snapped. “Praise Nasci that we corrected your mistake.”
Baot came to my defense. “Don’t blame Ina, either. If not for her quick thinking to lure the vaettur away from the will o’ the wisps, more of us would have been ambushed. She truly put herself on the line for us.”
That shut Darby right up. Tabitha also grimaced but didn’t dwell on it. “In any case, we should make haste back to Sipho’s homestead. The vitae will be better protected there and…”
“No,” Zibel cried, his face a balloon ready to burst. “We can’t do that.”
Tabitha rounded on him. “And why not?”
Zibel picked up one of the orbs and clutched it to his chest. “We need to imbue a marten dryant right away.”
Tabitha took a few menacing steps toward him. “I’m also eager to imbue a black-tailed deer, but do you see me whining? Of course not. Protecting the vitae comes first. We don’t have time to traipse out of the way for one animal species, even if it is your pet project.”
Instead of backing down, Zibel took another step toward her, putting their bare feet mere inches apart. “They’re not pets, and they’re dying. The martens can’t wait any longer.”
Whoa. It’s no easy task to stand up to Tabitha. I should know, given how often I’d done it, usually to my deep regret. Zibel generally submitted to authority, but I doubted he’d let this go without a fight.
I would have liked to witness an argument that, for once, I didn’t start, but Guntram stepped in before it could come to that. Party pooper.
“We have more than enough shepherds to accomplish both tasks.” He forced the pair to back down. “I will take young Zibel with an orb to imbue his martens straight away. The rest of you can take the other four orbs back to the homestead.”
“With your eyas weighing us down?” Tabitha snarled at my armor. “She’ll jeopardize us all.”
“Then let her come with me,” Guntram said. “It may slow us but will ensure you reach your destination faster.”
Baot, ever the peacekeeper, latched onto this idea. “I can carry two orbs back, no problem.”
Tabitha glanced from Guntram to Baot. “No,” she said. “I’ll take the spare. You’re still sluggish from your injury. It would be safer with me.”
Baot shrugged. “That works too.”
Tabitha focused back on Guntram. “I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I,” Guntram agreed, “but it appears to be our best plan.”
Tabitha threw me one last hairy eyeball. “Just don’t let anything bog you down too much.” Then she motioned for the others to follow. “We’ll make plans to banish the vaettur once everyone has returned to the homestead.”
As promised, Tabitha balanced two orbs while Baot and Darby snatched one apiece. Then they plodded into the forest at a brisk pace.
The whole thing sucked, but at least we’d landed near shore where I’d left my hiking boots. Waves had nearly washed them away, but they’
d gotten jammed near some rocks. Huzzah for small favors! Guntram grimaced as I shoved them back on, then motioned for us to walk southward on the beach.
I asked, “Aren’t we taking the same wisp channel?”
“No, there’s a shorter way. But given your outfit, you’re not going to like it.”
* * *
I hate Guntram’s flair for understatements.
Most of our trip to the dunes consisted of long stretches along open-air beaches. My fatigue caused the armor to grow heavier with each passing step, but the glaring sunshine and lingering coastal humidity almost did me in. Despite numerous drying sigils, neither my sweat nor my now soaked hiking boots would dry. I baked like a cookie on the outside, liquifying like a slushie on the inside. I only experienced temporary relief from the sun when we ducked back into the forest to hit a wisp channel, but then Guntram would lead us right back to our death march along the beach.
After an hour of this, I legitimately thought I would die. The skin on my feet felt like it would slide off my body at any time. I stopped drawing water sigils to cool me off because it only made the situation worse. Guntram and Zibel would stop for me to catch up, but when I reached them, they marched forward without letting me rest, meaning I never caught a break.
I finally collapsed under a shady tree next to one of the last wisp channels. “I’m not moving from this spot!” I declared as I plopped on my back. I stared upward at the parallel trunks of trees stretching upward. The twinkling lights of the wisps framed the edge of my vision.
Zibel appeared overhead in my cone of vision to glower at me. “We’re two channels away from our destination.”
“Then let me rest before we get there,” I threw right back. “Ten minutes isn’t going to make or break the marten population.”
Guntram also appeared as a floating head above me. “It’s okay, Zibel. We could use a quick meal anyway.”
Zibel continued to grumble, although his complaints got lost between bites of hard tack. Guntram offered me some, but I declined, opting instead for some water that I pulled out of the ground with a water sigil. No need to carry a water bottle when you have a readymade drinking fountain all around you.
