Beneath the pastel hues of a coming dawn, a swathe of colors the ancient being had not witnessed for thousands of years, the earth elental considered to themselves that, just maybe, they should not have co here.
The self-doubt lasted only a fraction of a second, yet it was enough to set their rocks to crumbling. Their indignation blood, but then another hundred thoughts ca along to replace it. And another hundred. And another.
Though it had been an unfathomable amount of ti since they’d been directly exposed to a sunrise, it had been even longer since they’d fallen victim to alchemical warfare.
Such things just weren’t oft done. Even atop the continent the first brother had obliterated back before he was the many—which had been a landmass guilty of a betrayal most foul—entire bloodlines would’ve been exterminated if a single cultivator had dared implent such poisons.
If one could call that powder a toxin, that is. It was… pitiful. Woefully weak. It hardly had any effect on their mass, just making it shake a little. There was no chi deterioration, form-lting acids, or summoned hellhounds—not that any remained now that Hades had fled.
This thought brought them so joy, but as with all the others, it was swiftly replaced by a slew of new ideas—which was the whole crux of the issue.
This compound, the brown seeds that had been turned into a fine powder, affected the elental’s mind. How had this pure-chi cultivator created sothing so advanced? It was just one more stone in the mountainous pile of impossibilities. The lightning-infused fish, an extrely high-level food item, was another. This man shouldn’t have been able to catch it, let alone cook it without ruining the chi content.
None of these mysteries, however, compared to the sociological learnings, which just so happened to loop back around into their mind for what had to be the four-hundredth ti.
The foolish channeler of unaspected essence was allied with the newly awakened elental, but that wasn’t all. There were two allied spirit beasts atop the deck—and likely others if the wash of chi to the east could be believed.
It all beggared belief, yet there was one more discovery, sothing as unbelievable as it was botherso. The newly awakened elental had bonded a familiar, and not the half-hearted bonding of subservience. This was a full bond. A sharing of one’s soul—of one’s core. How had a days-old being achieved such a feat…?
Even now, the thing that shouldn’t exist was zipping around the inside of their do in a continual loop, making a high-pitched noise and unleashing jolts of chi that destroyed the elental essence suffusing their mass.
And we cannot fight back…
As this thought returned, they latched onto it, fighting against the poison—this was what most needed pondering.
The mistake they’d made in coming here, the terrible miscalculation that left them in their current predicant, had been bringing the ten ancient relics of power with them. They could only use a fraction of their strength against the ants atop the ship, because most of it was protecting the crystallized trees, ensuring they remained undetected.
It was, perhaps, an overly conservative precaution. But after the pure-chi cultivator had teleported the entire boat, along with everyone atop it, and the artifact within? Wariness seed prudent.
They were certain he no longer possessed the power to destroy them, at least—how could he? He’d already expended too much energy. As long as they didn’t let him steal the artifacts, things would go well.
The elental of lightning was similarly toothless. She was incredibly swift, even quicker than her familiar, but her attacks were akin to an oceanic bird pecking a boulder; each strike was frustrating, yet wholly ineffective.
So, the decision they had reached last ti this thought circled around still seed like the correct course of action. Lull these attackers into a false sense of security, let them continue chipping away at miniscule fractions of their power, and wait for the poison to clear.
Then, they would pounce, devouring the ship, the relic, and everyone stupid enough to remain atop it.
By luck or divine intervention, the next thought ca, pushing these considerations aside. It, however, was a mory of sothing only minutes gone. That foolish human, the cultivator of unaspected chi… he had used his power again. The earth elental had been distracted, busy retreating from the poison cloud that assaulted their mind and mass.
But as it replayed through their consciousness now, every single splinter that comprised them spoke out, the revelation so shocking that it threatened to tear them apart.
The cultivator… he did possess more chi. If he utilized it in the wrong way, everyone present—perhaps most of this continent—would be reduced to atoms. And the elental was just… sitting here, letting him refill his reserves. The alchemical concoction was even more terrifying and effective than they’d feared.
A new course of action was decided in an instant, their concurrence pulling each splinter back together, solidifying their unity and resolve. This wasn’t the ti for feigned weakness; it was ti for brutal movent and crushing force.
Before the next landslide of thoughts assaulted them, they cast a mass of sothings from their core. Ten treasures of indescribable wealth, each an impossibility that shouldn’t exist in this lower realm, fell to the sand like so many shells.
***
Though I still enjoyed witnessing the battle, a small part of wished Claws and her raccoon would hurry it up. The lulls were a little… boring. Thankfully, a mont of action approached, and I watched with an anticipatory gaze as my otter pal clenched her raised forelimbs, preparing to call lightning down from the heavens.
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But then the underworld opened up instead.
Directly beneath us, extending deep into the forrly shallow sands, another ancient being arrived. Before the spike of adrenaline could course through my body, I wrapped layers upon layers upon layers of solid light underneath Bob’s keel. Every other ti I’d created such shielding, each barrier got a little thinner and weaker, allowing for a smooth reduction of force.
Now, I didn’t have that luxury.
A thousand shields sprang into place, and not a mont too soon. The surprise attack hit us with the impetus of a dozen super-volcanoes, obliterating the vast majority of layers in the blink of a cultivator’s eye. Everyone grew tense, Cinnamon and Borks bracing, and the raccoon retreating into Claws’s core as a streak of light.
The surrounding sheets of earth—previously pocked and riddled with holes—beca reinforced by ters of gravel and jagged rock. The walls and ceiling descended, literally closing in on us. Ti slowed.
Should I raise more shields above us? I had the strength to stop it, but what that it left unconscious…?
With no small amount of regret, I reached a decision I hated, and no matter how many tis I told myself I would happily sacrifice Bob, now that the mont had arrived, I felt sick. There were other options, right? This thing was horrifically strong, but even after transporting a whole-ass boat, I reckoned I could defeat it.
And protect everyone at the sa ti…? a voice in the back of my head asked, already knowing I wouldn’t take the chance.
mories tried to bubble up, my subconscious wanting to reminisce on our inaugural trip with Bob, but I couldn’t spare the milliseconds.
Sorry, mate, I thought, extending the tiniest root of chi down toward his deck. A better captain would go down with you, but I have people relying on —loved ones I cannot let down.
My stomach churned, and a boulder of regret settled in the center of my abdon. Choices like this, however, were exactly what I’d signed up for. Such was the weight of leadership.
We might build another boat, Bob, but we’ll never replace you. You’re one of a kind, you golden-throned bastard.
My animal pals were preparing to move; Borks reached for a portal that wouldn’t open in ti, Cinnamon prepared to unleash a blast of aura that couldn’t breach ters of chi-infused rock, and Claws gathered lightning in her legs.
The otter might actually stand a chance. Perhaps she could blast a hole out, which we could then escape through… but no. She’d waited too long, clearly too shocked or terrified to react swiftly.
It all ca back to a single, inescapable truth: I wasn’t willing to risk any of them. They were far too precious—even more so than the relics within Bob’s hull, or the ten items of similar power directly beneath us, the things this elental had apparently been hiding along with its true strength.
Before the walls could get any closer, I reached out with my essence, each strand traveling faster than light as they wove around everyone. With a hint of a smirk, I grabbed the swordfish head too, and also considered taking the ten other relics discarded below. But there was no need; I’d be back to kick this evil thing’s tooshie in a mont.
Instead, I collected the most important objects of all: the fishing rods, and a certain ornate throne—a part of Bob that would join us on every adventure to co, even if the rest of him was about to beco a ball of shattered wood and twisted tal.
I pictured where we’d exit, ensuring it was a safe space to—
Sothing jolted back to the present. Claws’s elental lightning had destroyed the strands near her, and not just those connected to her—Borks and Cinnamon had been disconnected, too.
I whirled on her. She’d done all sorts to draw my ire, but never before had she made genuine anger well up from within . It roiled and frothed like an ocean in storm, giant waves rising only to crash down and further stoke my wrath.
I had to let it go. She could stay if she wanted, but I was getting the others out, and now.
Corporal Claws, wielder of lightning and picker of terrible tis to fuck with , opened her left pocket. The air… changed. A strange essence flooded the enclosed space, its power intriguing and mysterious. I felt like I should recognise it, but I gave it no thought. She could do what she wanted. We still had to go. The others wouldn’t… huh?
Every inch of the earth elental’s mass had frozen. They assessed the strange chi. Tested it. Tasted it. And hated what they found. Unending pulses of abhorrence emitted in all directions.
Hey… Claws hissed, slowly turning to look at Borks, Cinnamon, and . When her gaze t mine, electricity and mischief lit her eyes. Check this shit out.
Her other paw plunged into the open pocket, clutched sothing, and withdrew… a coconut?
Was this finally it? Had she revealed the item she’d been secretly experinting on? I’d overheard multiple overnight conversations between master and familiar, but I hadn’t been able to learn the purpose of her test—she would have known if I forced myself in.
No longer caring for subtlety, I forged a spear of pure chi and stabbed it toward the coconut, stopping only microns from the object to find… nothing. It was a regular ol’ coconut.
Claws cackled.
“Hey!” I yelled, unable to help myself now that I knew it was just fruit. “Where’d you get that? We can cook with it!
Her laugh cut off. She frowned, threw the nut aside, and grabbed another item. A bag of flour, dropped to the deck. A frying pan larger than she was, flung over her shoulder. Two jars of passiona jam, one passed to Cinnamon, the other moved to the pouch on the other side of her body. The sa jar again, returned to the original pouch, which she then rummaged around within, searching for sothing in particular.
Borks, taking advantage of whatever this was, resud opening a portal. A purple line cracked into being, and the earth elental responded. Its walls shuddered and shook. They inched closer, the ancient being’s detestation joined by a primordial violence.
As a blur, Claws lashed out with both forelimbs. The left one shot her familiar out, the raccoon zooming about the deck to collect the discarded treasures—he even yoinked the passiona jam from Cinnamon’s clutches. Her right paw, still searching her pocket, found what she was looking for. When she withdrew it, the strange aura around us increased tenfold, radiating from a small, featureless rock. A pebble, really.
All movent ceased—except for her familiar, who hastily shoved the items back into his master’s private stash before leaping in, montarily getting his rotund rump stuck, then wiggling in the rest of the way.
Though not a speck of dirt shifted, the earth elental’s emotions poured out from it. Any semblance of composure had fled its many-souled body, and I got more insight than I cared to receive. This thing… Gods above, it was evil. Like… Evil, evil. It wanted to consu all others, killing any other awakened lifeform that wouldn’t willingly assimilate.
To be frank, it was disgusting. Uncaring of my assessnt, or perhaps because of it, every single bit of its mass shuddered a foot closer. It wished to feel our bones crack, sought to hear our screams of pain, and yet… it stilled once more, an obvious undertone of terror holding it at bay.
“Uhhhh,” I said, pointing at the small stone in Claws’s hands. “What’s that, and why is the unholy prick surrounding us so scared of it?”
She exhaled a hot breath against the pebble, rubbed it against her chest, then held it up to her eye, inspecting its shine. With a nod to herself, she finally answered with a soft coo.
This is chaos, master. The end of all.
In stark contrast to the calmness of her voice, her forelimb shot forward like a rocket, too fast for even to track. She let go of her prize, and when it struck the earthen wall above, I had to admit she’d been at least partially correct.
Chaos was the only word to describe it.
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