As Waterlord Zul and her new companion Icelord Eryx traverse through the Subcontinent, they have a frienship which needs to be expanded upon.
“Oh!” Eryx interjected, pointing toward a large narrow body of water. “There it is!”
“What is?”
“River Zyla. There’s no bridge, so we have to find a crossing.”
“A crossing?”
“Our horses can’t go in, of course.”
“Can’t you make an ice bridge?” I questioned.
“Horses tend to slip on those.”
“Ah, watch this then.” I got off my horse and approached the rushing currents of the river. Spiky rocks shaped like javelin spearheads pierced through the running water. It sure looked dangerous, one wrong move would cause me to fall—and it sure looked like swimming would leave a bad mark.
“Zul, I’d be careful.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna go in.”
“No, that’s not—”
My ears focused on the symphony of murmurs and whispers; the cascade of water over rocks drowned out all other sounds. The water twirled and contorted, shaping the earth to funnel itself out to sea. Eryx watched me focusing. I raised my right hand and mimicked cutting something, like holding one giant knife to cut straight in the middle. To stop the river’s flow, parting it, for a bridge to materialize.
My hands felt the pressure of the waves, my palms taking the brunt of it, yet when I opened my eyes, the river had been split. The soft wet dirt was ready to be walked on.
“Get my horse, please,” I said, ambling forward with my back slouched, arms spreading wide to hold the water at bay.
“Wow, that’s impressive.” Eryx looked at the walls of water as he guided the two horses by lead. “Where’d you learn—”
“Just keep—keep moving. I—I can’t hold it for that long.”
“You got it—” Eryx breathed in and then let out a howl, “Dear Trianite!”
“What?” I turned his way, and saw a shadow in the water. I spotted tentacles sprouting out of some rock, though quickly blending back into the black abyss. My eyes darted to the wide array of rocks, trying to find it again. An eerie silence crept over us. “What—what was that?” I whispered.
Eryx had already gotten himself a blade made of ice. He froze some more water and forged himself a few daggers. “A lurker. Zul, protect your arms and legs.”
“My—”
“It’ll try to drown you.”
I couldn’t move my arms or else the water walls would fall down, drowning both Eryx and his horses. “I can’t really—”
“Just stand completely still.”
Another shadow moved across the rocks, slithering toward the parted river. I watched its silhouette ready itself and charge straight toward Eryx. The Icelord parried its attack with his blade and tried to fight it off, but I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Never in my life had I seen something so hideous from the depths. Six large tentacles moved on the ground like a spider, four of them being arms, I’d assume from the way it lugged them, the other two were legs. Then, at the very top, sprouting from some fleshy core that pulsated like a heart was its head. It had the mouth of an octopus with teeth sharp as daggers, and a screech that pierced ears as it chanted its war song.
I couldn’t believe how Eryx stood his ground. “Back!” He yelled, as his blade sliced the Lurker’s arm off. “Gah!” The horse’s lead slipped out of his hand, leading the stallions to beck and run toward the wrong side of the riverbank. “No!”
“I got it!” I shouted and slowly approached the horses. Then, from out of the blue, another lurker appeared!
The screech was terrible; it grappled onto the dirt and flung its arm my way. Trying to dodge, I partially lost control of the water wall, causing a wave to splash down and almost break my invisible dam. In doing so, however, the Lurker’s tentacles grabbed my arm—its suctions acted like teeth, sinking into my skin as it journeyed up to my shoulder. I had no choice but to break the dam.
After what felt like minutes of holding the river in place, the water had mounted so much pressure that there was no going back. I tried to shoot the water upward, and some of it did—rising into one enormous geyser. Though at the very same time, nature had its own plans: flooding my make-shift land bridge, and slamming straight into Eryx and me. Our bodies were flown from the wet dirt to the tumbling, roaring current. I was lucky that the blast had shaken the lurker off my arm, but at the same time, I was on a collision course with a sharp sword-like rock.
“Er—” I gargled and tried moving the water. To no avail, my strength had depleted and my magic dried up. “C—”
My hand reached out, trying to grab a branch, a rock, or maybe a horse’s hoof. I felt the hard gust blow my hand backward. For the first time, I cursed at the water, thinking of all the horrible possibilities. What if there’s a sinkhole? What if it drowns me? Wouldn’t that be ironic? A Waterlord drowning?
Then, a soft touch grazed my hand.
I was pulled up from the water, but only up to my torso. I looked up and there I saw Eryx freezing a part of the river solid, creating a thin ice sheet where he stood.
“Stop the flow!” He pleaded. “I know you can!”
With all of my strength, I exerted one last push that sent the river’s water flying upward. Like a reverse waterfall, the river was so far up that I couldn’t see the tip. In that time, however, Eryx pulled me aside and lunged us toward the shore.
With our backs to the earth, our hands were together. We looked at the bright azure sky as I shivered in the cold. “Did we—” I coughed.
“We did,” he finished.
“I’ve never seen such a—”
“Disgusting thing, I know. Damn, Sea Lurkers.” Eryx stretched up, cracking his neck. “The thing almost killed me.”
“It latched onto my arm,” I showcased it, revealing small bite marks where it had held me. “Ah, it’s not bleeding, though.”
“Barely tore through your sleeves. You’re lucky.”
“Oh, no.” I looked around. “The horses!”
“Oh—” Eryx stood up; his hand met his chest. “No, no.”
“Wait!” Across the river, my eyes met two brown figures grazing on the grass beyond. “There they are!”
“Aw, they didn’t cross!” He pouted, then wheezed. I think he tried to stop himself from laughing, but he couldn’t help it. He chuckled and sneered, “Oh, well. Nothing we can do now.”
“You don’t wanna go get them?”
“And risk getting eaten again? It’s fine. I’ll get them on our way back.”
“If you say so.”
“What’s that?” Eryx squinted toward the shoreline.
“Please don’t fall in. Eryx—”
“No. No, look!” He pointed to a small, iridescent marble that shimmered in the sunlight. It was the size of a pearl, snug between two rocks. “I’m gonna—”
“Eryx!”
“Trust me.” I grabbed his left hand as he bent down to grab the marble. Then, I pulled him up and saw the object in his hands: it was a Water Orb.
In all my time in Jaihara, I hadn’t seen such a thing—so rare and valuable, and just the size of a small bean. If I found this a few months ago, I would’ve sold it in a heartbeat. These things were worth a fortune! In my time with the Military, I remember the trouble to obtain these orbs. The fact that they could increase a lord’s spellcasting, maybe even attune their blade at a forge, or help their standing with the element proved their worth. Millions of possibilities circled around my head, thinking of what I could do with this, and how it could help me get stronger.
“What do you think?” Eryx broke my train of thought. “Neat, isn’t it?”
“Sure is.”
“Sea Lurkers are known to carry them. I think I saw it drop when I sliced its arm off,” he said with a sly smirk.
“Oh, good.” I pouted and thought: If Eryx was the one who earned the Water Orb, then he probably would want it. Then again, he’s the one that has to deal with the Shadows and bandits on a regular basis. He needs it more than me.
“Well…” He closed his hand with the water orb inside. Then, he put his hands behind his back, moved them around, and brought out his two knuckles. “Which hand is it in?”
“I—what do you mean?”
“Which hand is the water orb in?” He tilted his head, and moved his knuckles closer.
“Oh.” I smiled. “The right one.”
“Co—” Eryx then moved the Water Orb to his right hand, “Correct!”
“I wasn’t correct.”
“Yeah, but you still get to keep it.” He dropped the marble into my open palm.
“What? But… But it’s rare and—”
“Yeah, but it’s like a present. From me to you.” He relaxed his shoulders and looked around.
“Well, thank you. I—I really mean it.”