by Philip Blood
Myrka snorted, “This Sivaeral Archimage and his forces are going to lose against the Derkaz sorceress and her army of Derkaz mages; it is inevitable. Morgain will end the Sivaeral line!”
I looked at her and said, “I can’t allow that.”
She looked at my Glyph, and then nodded; she understood she was predicting my death if my Archimage was killed.
Hydan shrugged and said, “They are certainly losing right now. The remaining Sivaeral mages still loyal to their Archimage are all holed up in a few strongholds, while Morgain’s forces roam the countryside, and lay siege to many of those strongholds. It is pretty grim here on Abal, which is why most Houses have pulled back any of their mages and left Abal to its fate.”
Then I said, “But aren’t the other Houses worried about Morgain gaining too much power? What about the Dokkalfar Archimage, is he supporting her, or against her?”
Hydan said, “Well, first off, the Dokkalfar Archimage is a ‘she’, her name is Kali, and I’m sure she supports her daughter in this matter, for it brought chaos and destruction, the Dokkalfar choice in wine.”
“So the other Houses do nothing?” I asked.
Toji answered, “It is my humble opinion that most Houses feel whichever House overtly attacks Morgain first will draw her ire, and she might turn her army on them when she is through with the Sivaeral line. They would rather have her wrath fall on another House, and let that House take the brunt of her charge. That could destroy the other House, and even if they survive, they would be easy pickings in their weakened state; so the other Houses wait.”
“While Morgain’s army grows stronger,” I noted, “But if they acted together…”
Toji laughed, “The Houses rarely act together. The last time was to expel The Dragon from the Archimage Ring of Ten, some four thousand years ago.”
“So,” I said, “if she is so powerful, how in the hell were you going to stop her by yourself, Toji? What, were you going to try to sneak up and stab her in the back?”
He frowned, “That would not be honorable, or likely even possible. No, I was going to attempt to reach her in person, and once I was in her presence I would challenge her to a Duel Arcane!”
“A Duel Arcane?” I repeated, dumbly.
Hydan replied, “It’s a formal challenge, and if someone has been wronged, it is a challenge which must be accepted by the Accords. To break the Accords would call down the combined wrath of the Ring of Ten. That’s what happened to The Dragon.”
I turned back to Toji, “And you think she would have accepted, and you could defeat her?”
“No, though I would have tried my best,” he noted. “But, what I expected her to do was to murder me instead of accepting my challenge. That act of dishonor would force my Archimage to do something about this Dokkalfar upstart!”
“But, in that case, you would be dead,” I noted.
“Yes, but I would have died honorably, completing perhaps the greatest honor quest of any Fourth in our history! I would be remembered, and revered!”
“Great, that, and four bucks can get you a fancy cup of coffee on Earth,” I noted.
He shrugged, “We all must die; it is part of the Silent Mother’s plan. It is better to die with honor, in a way in which you will be remembered, than to expire with a whimper and be forgotten. I will have a death which changes the Worlds for the better, and my name shall be remembered!”
I had nothing to say to that, who would?
We got underway again soon and eventually came to a large river which crossed our path. It was a good three hundred feet across, and moving swiftly for such a big body of water, about four knots of flow.
That’s when we heard the dull pounding of those three-legged beasts again.
“Quickly, into the Celadon!” Toji exclaimed, and then took three quick steps, launched off a big boulder in a perfect dive, and knifed into the surface of the river. I noticed his clothing seemed to disappear just before he went into the water.
Hydan was next, though he just jumped in feet first, and then ducked his head under and was gone.
Myrka and I were left alone, but she said, “Should we follow them, or fight?”
“If they are as bad as Toji explained, I think we better get wet.”
“I can kill them,” she noted, staring off toward the oncoming sounds of the riders headed our way. From the volume, they were nearing the rise, and once they crested over we would be exposed.
I shook my head, “Remember, Myrka, these things use Derkaz magic, just like you do, and there are many more of them.”
Her dark eyes narrowed, but then she nodded and took three steps into the water, before turning it into a shallow dive. She didn’t come back up, and neither did the other two.
That left me, without a clue as to how I was supposed to stay underwater without drowning. What, was I supposed to believe I could hold my breath forever? Well, I didn’t, not for a second. That water just looked dark and ominous.
But then I heard the riders, they were nearly upon me, and would see me standing there at any second. I dove into the water, taking a big deep breath, and hoped for the best. I tried to believe I didn’t have to breathe; maybe it would work.
The water closed over my head, and I opened my eyes, expecting to see the normal blurry view you got when you went into a pool, but instead everything was sharp and clear like I was wearing a scuba mask. Then I recalled those transparent second eyelids I’d seen on Myrka and the other saeran bodies. I figured they must be there to let you see underwater. Come to think of it, like humans, which still shared a little of the features of a monkey or ape, these saerans still had remnants of their heritage to an aquatic mammal. Their eyes were one such feature, as were the translucent scales over the skin. I wondered if there were other things still fishy about saerans?
I felt my clothing dragging me down, so I started struggling out of it. Shut up! I know I should have just believed they weren’t there or something, but I was having a hard enough time just holding my breath.
I dropped my shoes and other clothing as soon as they were off, and eventually I was buck naked. That’s when I noticed my feet elongating, like a fan opening, and there was tough skin between the elongating ridges which were in the place of human toes. Holding my breath was starting to burn my lungs, I had to breathe!
I thought of going to the surface for a breath when I noticed the indistinct shapes of creatures at the shoreline. If I surfaced now, they would see me.
My lungs were really starting to burn.
Hydan swam up, and did a loop right in front of me, I swear like he was some kind of harbor seal, and his body was all bendy. Then I think he noticed my face turning red.
He opened his mouth and blew out a few bubbles, miming for me to do so as well.
Like hell, that was the last of my air!
I felt massive pain in my lungs now; I figured the carbon dioxide buildup must be severe. In fact, with this much pain, and after nearly five minutes holding my breath, I should be blacking out, but I wasn’t.
Hydan did a loop around me swiftly, and when he was back in front he squeaked something at me suddenly.
It was reminiscent of a dolphin whistle but lower and throatier.
And I understood it! He said, “Exhale, idiot, you are breathing through your gills, but the air in your lungs needs to be cleared!”
It was getting too painful anyway, so I finally did exhale. The pain subsided, and I didn’t pass out.
Hydan swam around some more, and then came back and pointed to the small, inch-long, flap under his nose, which was flexing rhythmically.
Then he squeaked again, “You are breathing naturally through your gills now, you’ll be fine, but it helps if you keep moving.” He did a back flip, coming around to face me again.
I tried to speak, opening my mouth, but nothing came out; I was out of air.
“You have to inhale water first, and then you can talk,” he replied.
Once again, I thought he
was insane, water in my lungs?
Hydan then punched me in the gut.
I involuntarily sucked in water.
“You rat bastard!” I squeaked.
He laughed and swam away.
I tried to follow and found by kicking my legs my now longer feet acted like swimming fins, and propelled me swiftly. A fin along my spine lifted and the collapsed fins along my arms and legs gave me steering. It took me awhile, and the whole time Hydan was looping around me, laughing, but I started to get the hang of it.
I only had to take in water when I wanted to talk, the rest of the time my gills seemed to handle extracting air from the water. He was right, though, I had to move to keep enough water flowing, or I would get kind of light headed. Holding still wouldn’t make me pass out, but it was just enough air to stay conscious if you didn’t do any physical activity.
I noticed Myrka and Toji swimming alongside. I don’t know if Myrka had the same issues as I did when she started, I had been too busy with my own underwater acclimation to notice. She seemed fairly sure of herself at this stage, though not as fluid or graceful as Toji and Hydan.
I pulled up and said, “Are the necromages gone yet?”
Hydan shrugged, “It doesn’t matter, we’re better off in the Celadon river anyway. If those necromages are like the necrosouls, they can't handle the water. Think about it, they look a little dried out, like dehydrated flesh quiver, which humans consume on Earth.”
“Flesh quiver?” I repeated, and then did the translation, “oh, beef jerky.”
He nodded and continued, “I say we head down river, we’re bound to reach a large settlement that way; saerans almost always build along waterways.”
“Won’t we get cold?” I asked.
He laughed, which was an odd set of squeaks, and then said, “Saerans? They are at home under water as much as on land, and these scales are made for the water. You’ll be fine for many hours.”
I noticed Myrka had very small swellings like breasts, but without nipples showing. Below, between the legs, where human genitalia were normally located, all of us were fairly smooth, just a kind of opening which was currently sealed shut. I figured our genitalia, at least the males, must naturally retract until needed.
We moved out into the swift current and started swimming in earnest, which really put the miles behind us when you added the four or five-knot speed of the water. We were easily covering ten miles an hour, or seven mectors. At this rate, we would cover about 56 mectors in the next eight hours!
As we moved through this water world, I swam over toward Hydan and asked, “So, why didn’t those necromages come into the water? Yeah, I know, those bodies were kind of dried husks, and water might have dissolved them or something, but they are mages, right? So why not just change the reality of their bodies to something living?”
“Well, first off, as powerful as our magic might be, we cannot make life; at best we can mold what already exists. Now, as to why they couldn’t repair their dead bodies, or change them to something more suitable for water, I can’t tell you. I don’t know enough about them, though I could speculate.”
“Why not, speculate away,” I replied.
So he said, “All right, maybe they can’t alter things to their desire, like a living mage, and can only keep things like they are, sort of like an Actuality weapon, but maybe weaker. Or, maybe if their dead vessel gets in water it breaks the magic which holds their soul to that husk. Or maybe they just didn’t see us, and would have come in if they had. Hard to say, but those are some quick possibilities.”
It gave me something to think about while we swam.
As the sun set the waters around us started to get dark. Hydan kept us near the shore, and sure enough, we came upon a low wall built on the bottom, the ends marked by two stone statues, and a stone sign which stated, “The Slimy Serpent”.
Hydan gave me a quick flash of a grin, showing pointy teeth in his saeran mouth, and then swam between the statues. The walls marked a channel, which became a canal, with several smaller canals breaking off to either side. Soon we arrived at a second underwater sign, which had an arrow pointing up a side canal and the words: The Slimy Serpent. When we followed Hydan into this canal it suddenly got dark as something covered the canal surface. The waterway had entered a stone building. When we surfaced we were in a chamber which had no windows or doors, just a stone stairway going up in the far corner. We were swimming in some kind of small pool, which had short walls to keep water from splashing on the floor of the room. There were some towels hanging on a rack and some gray robes of some kind of smooth fabric.
Hydan climbed out and started drying off, so we followed his example.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“The Slimy Serpent, didn’t you read the sign?” he countered.
I sighed, “I meant, what is The Slimy Serpent?”
He looked surprised, “Oh, it’s an Inn, that’s why they marked it out in the Celadon; they were trying to attract passing saeran travelers, though, in this day and age, this is probably rare.”
I nodded, “Like a ‘Food and lodging, next exit’ freeway sign.”
“What is a free way?” Hydan asked.
“It’s a road which is free to travel,” I replied.
“And are not all roads free to travel on Earth?”
“No, there are Toll Roads,” I explained.
Hydan frowned, “That seems rather rude, to require a toll to walk, or swim, down a road!”
I shrugged.
Hydan considered, “On Earth I would stick to these free ways.”
Myrka sniffed at his answer and said, “I’d kill the bastard who thought they were going to collect a toll, and then proceed down the road, as is my right.”
I smiled, “What about you, Toji?”
“Oh, I would pay the toll,” he replied.
“Really, that is very normal of you,” I noted.
But he continued, “Then, I’d go to the lord of the road, and politely ask him why he was charging for travel on his road, and if I didn’t find his answer honorable, I’d challenge him to a duel, and kill him.”
I sighed, “Well, that’s not going to earn you any Brownie points on Earth.”
“Brownie points, how do you spend those?” he asked.
“Well, you don’t spend Brownie points,” I answered.
“Then I have no need of these dull-colored points,” Toji decided.
I shook my saeran head, and said, “Never mind.”
Once we were all in the supplied robes, which Hydan suggested we use so we would blend in with the local mundanes, we headed up the stairs.
About halfway up, Hydan reminded us, “Don’t do any magic, as long as we seem like simple folk, we might get under the sense of Morgain, or her minions. I will keep a glamour running to deflect simple sense probes.”
We entered a larger chamber, which I found very odd. I had kind of pictured a common room of an old tavern, something like the pub in Amesbury, or a more rustic version of the same thing, but this room was more like a bathhouse. There were several alcoves around the walls, and in each one was, well, a hot tub, or cold tub, I suppose. These were round wooden slat objects; about ten feet in diameter and several of them had saerans soaking in them while drinking from very large mugs. There was a semicircular half bench attached to the back of each, so saerans could sit there soaking their feet if they didn’t want to be completely submerged.
A saeran Innkeeper came over and blinked at us, and then said, “Ah, travelers from afar! Welcome to The Slimy Serpent, the best Inn here in Pelen, and, in fact, the best Inn for thirty mectors!”
“The only Inn, now that the Inn at Berare is gone,” Hydan noted.
The saeran looked sad, “Yes, I knew the proprietor; it is a sad time in Abal. The Derkaz sorceress is winning, and who knows what will happen in the future. It’s better to drink and absorb now, for there may be nothing left tomorrow.”
“Hear hear,” Hydan agreed and tossed
a shell to the proprietor of the Inn.
“Sir!” the Innkeeper exclaimed, looking at the fine workmanship of carvings in the shell.
Hydan grinned, “I expect your best craalm, and a tub, by a window! Oh, and bring us your finest chum!”
“You shall have it! Come, your tub awaits, as does your fine brew and chum!” he exclaimed, leading us off to an alcove with a window, made of small squares, which faced the main road through town.
As we got into the tub, I asked, “What in the hell is chum?"
Hydan grinned his pointy saeran teeth and answered, "You'll see!"
I scowled at him, and then asked, "OK, then tell me why you think this Inn has been spared in the war?”
The Innkeeper came back at this point, carrying a large wooden pitcher. He must have heard my question, because he blinked his translucent eyelids a couple times, and then answered, “The Slimy Serpent has nothing the Island Witch wants or needs. There are no wizards or sorcerers here, nor are there any left outside of the cities, unless they are staying hidden."
Hydan then asked, "Why was the Berare Inn destroyed?"
The Innkeeper replied, "Rumor has it some foreign wizard was staying at the Berare Inn, which is why it was razed to the ground. Morgain seeks anyone with the power, and brooks no harboring of fugitives.” Here he leaned in closer and said, “She has spies everywhere, for she pays well for even a hint of a mage still hiding in these lands.”
“Well, they won’t make a clam off of us! We haven’t got a magic scale on our bodies!” Hydan exclaimed.
Then I asked, “But, didn’t you have any mages living here before the war?”
The Innkeeper nodded, “There were a few, and life was much better back then. The mages were helpful, healing the sick, helping in making things the town needed, it has been hard without them.”
Hydan spoke sadly, “Yes, where we come from it is very much the same.”
The Innkeeper nodded, and then he lifted the very large wooden pitcher he had set on the ground while we chatted, then said, "Your chum, it is a fine blend of veckle heads, striped morker livers, and our own secret blend of some rare seagrass herbs. It is quite refreshing!" Then he poured the cloudy mixture right into our tub!