High Waters

The ship was sailing in the late night, crossing the sea between the continent of Mitarsen and the Great Void. That exact same journey was made hundreds of years ago by Altas and his men, hoping to find answers to the strange events that had been recorded lately in the kingdom. The former king never talked about monsters or any other dangers in his manuscript, just about a seemingly infinite desert without any vegetation and fauna.

The Yimin gy Altas was nothing more than a logbook that interested hundreds of researchers and mages thanks to the first mention ever of the Null; the mystical object was in that hellish place, crude and harsh.

The so called Strait of the Snakes divided humans' land from it. A 55 kilometers stretch of sea acting as a steady yet dangerous bridge between the two worlds. It was home to a species of giant aquatic snakes, who almost never got over 100 meters of length and always lived on the seabed, rarely resurfacing alone when they sensed heavy movements from above.

Kael and the others were traversing for more than one day now and had covered roughly only a third of the voyage. Mala was relaxing in hers and Ascarin's room, Olivia was just under deck, listening to the sound of the gentle rain outside, where Ascarin was commanding the ship and keeping a keen eye on the pitch black water plain in front and around him. Kael was the only one sleeping in his own room, laying on the bed with a steady breath and serene face.

“Mom! I'm back!”, his voice when he was young rang in his head, “Where's dad?”

“Oh, you're here. Welcome back, Kael! How was your day?”, her familiar and gentle voice was contrasted by the menacing dark sheen covering her face.

I can't still see her face...

“It was good! I went around and looked at the butterflies!”, his juvenile voice continued as if detached from his own will.

“Ehehe. You really like them, don't you?”

“Yeah, you too!”, he replied with enthusiasm holding his little hands up.

The mother didn't respond, but he could feel that under that obscure obstacle was a peaceful and loving smile. In response, she turned from the counter and picked him up with easiness.

“Mom.”

“Yes, dear?”

“Where's dad?”

“... He's not here anymore.”, hearing that words made his heart sink as his dream's version looked confused at his mother, “Such as I... I'm sorry, Kael.”

“Huh???”

Everything around his little body went dark as if void had swallowed him whole. He was now in his present body, sweat running down his forehead and his breath heavy and irregular. He clenched his fists and swallowed with genuine fear, before moving his first steps in the unknown.

He proceeded without a destination and without a reference point. He didn't know this place as his nightmares weren't frequent and appeared only in moment of inner anxiety and stress, but this was an exception.

Kael talked not even a year ago about this to Ascarin and his friend, with his usual calm and knowledge, told him that they were normal for someone who had a life full of risks and battles.

Deep inside he wanted to believe him, but nonetheless he was skeptical about the origin of his nightmares, thinking they born from something else; something that happened a lot of years ago.

While reflecting on all of this, he kept walking at a fast pace while fidgeting and squirming as if at the mercy of a panic attack. He swept the sweat off his forehead and stopped, looking around him in search of something; maybe a light of hope in that abyss of despair.

“Nice to meet you, I'm Ascarin.”

“... ???”, memories of voices he held dear began passing in his mind one after the other.

“Ah, you look sick... as your childhood friend, Olivia, I shall take care of you!”

“Thank for keeping company to my dear husband! I'm really happy you voluntarily decided to be his best man for our marriage ceremony. Thank you a lot!”

“Kael, guess what? I'll be the one accompanying Mala on the altar. Ehehe, like you will do with Ascarin!”

“Kael... thank for helping me. I really love Mala so... I'm glad my best friend is participating! Oh, aren't you about to turn 16? Then I should treat you with a really good party!”

He could hear his heartbeat louder and louder in his chest. His breath became more erratic as he kept turning around, until suddenly his vision became blurry.

“...”

“Kael...”

Another dream. He was sitting under a robust olive tree as a yet another familiar voice called him.

He supposed he was 14 years old from what he could see of his sitting body.

He got his head up, looking at a tall person, obscured because of the sunlight behind him. He knew who it was but couldn't move to look at him more clearly.

“Yes, Hulock?”

“... I saw you were relaxing out here. But I recommend you to not stay for too long... scars can reopen pretty easily.”

“...”

His dream's self lowered his head without saying a word, but to Kael no words had to be spoken to understand what Hulock was implying. The silence stretched until the old man spoke again.

“Your training with me is soon... so come at the designated place. Okay?”

“... Yes. I will.”

“... your father was right. You're something else... so be wary when I leave your care to yourself.”

That said, he began walking away at a modest pace. 

His vision faded to black, until Kael was back in that mysterious place. This time a small level of water was covering the hard floor.

“What???”, he touched his cheeks as he felt tears on them. “Have I been crying?”

He looked down and then around.

How big is this place?

Wheeze... click...

Those two sounds played in rapid succession signaled the start of a distorted lullaby from a musical box. It was calming, soft and yet it became terrifying with the distortion. It was like playing a molded record on a gramophone at full volume.

Kael's eyes widened as he recognized that tune, now accompanied by a female voice – also distorted lightly.

M-mom... n-no... stop it!

He clenched his head and closed his eyes, hoping that the sound would go away, but to no avail.

“Gahhh!!! Stop! Stop!!!”, he pleaded as he reopened his watery eyes, “Ah???”

In front of him there was now a wooden door. As the music kept playing and nagging his mind, he hurried to open the door.

“...”

An intense orange light pictured his face as fire crackles and the sound of wood breaking came from it. Kael left the knob and his arm fell on his side as if devoid of life.

The flames reflected in his eyes. His face turned into a shocked expression, then one of disgust and at last one of despair as tears began rolling down his face.

“Ahhhhh!!! N-no!!! W-why!!! Nnnghh... Ahhkk... hhhaaahhh! No... no... Ah!”, he sobbed uncontrollably and began shaking on the ground, powerless of his own emotions.

That cacophony of sounds didn't stop as the musical box, fire crackles and voices of his past came together to torment him.

Kael... Kael!

“Kael! Kael!!!”

“Kael!!! Kael!!!”

“Gahhh!!!”, Kael flinched as he got up on his bed. His face was pale, he was sweating and his heartbeat was dangerously high.

“Wha- where am I?”, he said almost whimpering.

“Are you alright?”, Olivia voice asked worryingly on his left.

He turned and looked at her, trying to catch his breath. He almost broke down in tears but bit his lips to avoid doing so. He clenched hard on the sheets under him.

“Thank god... I was right near your room. I think I was the only one that heard that...”

“...”

Olivia closed the door and walked back to Kael with an apprehensive face.

Oh... she must've figured it out.

He thought while looking at her.

She's usually easy-going and cheerful. But now... she's remembering it too.

“Was it that moment you... dreamed about?”, her voice was now softer, almost whispering.

Kael nodded silently. He took a long look around the room, feeling enveloped in the darkness – only lit by a flickering mana fueled lamp, sign of his unwavering state after the nightmare.

The long silence, where Olivia slowly lowered her head, was punctuated by the occasional creeks of the hull and the sound of water outside the walls.

Kael stared at nothingness for what felt like an eternity. His eyes were dull and edged by shiners, which made clear his lack of good sleep. His head felt heavy and sleepy. It took everything to stay awake in that state.

“Kae-”

“Commander Tanaka... I-”, he mumbled.

Olivia recognized that name, “What... what did you say?”

“Commander Tanaka. He... I met him on the day we were supposed to depart from Uberdia. He knew me, I guess. I'm pretty famous down there and... he talked to me. He warned me about going to such a dangerous place.”, he smirked tiredly, “Someone as strong as him is so frightened... it makes me wonder where we are actually off to.”

Olivia just sat there and listened to Kael's rant with curiosity and care.

“Ascarin told me he was skeptic about Altas writing that... well, no monsters were in the Great Void. But now it's common knowledge that hundreds of monsters inhabits those lands. After all Ascarin believes that life can prosper in every environment, even the most hostile ones.”, he continued, “He is really smart so... I trust him.”

She smiled as Kael finished talking, “Yeah, you do good in trusting him. He's a dear friend of ours, so it's natural to do so. Ahh... I vividly remember their wedding day. It was so cool and happy!”

“Yeah, it was. I really liked walking with him to the altar...”, he finally smiled as he got his head back on the pillow with a long sigh. “Is it raining outside?”

Olivia nodded, “Yes, but it's not heavy. Ascarin isn't even using a protection against it.”

“Mhh... still, I'm not gonna go out! It's dark too, I guess.”

“Oh, you're back to normal now?”, she teased getting up and styling her fluent hair.

Kael followed, “Eh, you too as I can see.”

“Don't get to cocky now!”, she went towards the door, “Anyway, if you're tired, get back to sleeping. I'll be near here for any inconvenience.”

“Okay, thank you!”, he waved as she left him alone in his cabin. “...”

Ehehehe... she's the same as always. She is good at cheering me up...

He looked around the room, finding it just the same as before – with the exception of the lamp who wasn't now flickering anymore thanks to his serenity.

He got his hand close to his ear and waited.

“Hulock?”

“... Yeah?”, an elder voice talked in his mind.

“Wow... so it really works!”, Kael eyes lit up with satisfaction. He laid on the bed with a sigh of content, “What do you think about it, master.”

“I-I told you not to call me that way! Your training days are over and you've surpassed me, even if that would actually diminish your true power...”, the old man responded, going from irked to ironic in a matter of seconds. “Nonetheless, this thing you've done surpasses every kind of machinery and utility magic ever made. I mean, who else would be so damn powerful to use a ridiculous quantity of mana to communicate with far people!”

“I know, it's fantastic! But there's also a problem...”, he sounded like he didn't want to share that with Hulock.

“... What?”

“I can only use it once a year...”

“Huh??? And you're using it now! You dumb fool!”, he snapped.

“Calm down, calm down... I'm sure we'll be okay, so it won't be needed.”, Kael reassured waving his hands, leaving them rest on his chest afterwards.

“Tch, you are so intelligent and stupid at the same time that...”

“Hey, I'm just a little naive. That's all!”, he tried defending himself.

“You? Naive? You could kill a giant bear with your bare hands, goddammit!”

“Those are two different things, Hulock. Relax, relax!”

He got only a low growl of rage in response which almost made him laugh.

“It was good talking to you, old man!”, he said putting his hand once again near his ear.

“Go fuck yourse-”

The voice cut before he could finish, leaving Kael a little perplexed.

Yuck... I got him angered. I hope he won't remember it by the time we come back.

He put his hands behind his head and sighed. His arms and legs got less and less tense, until his breath slowed down and he fell asleep.

Meanwhile on the deck

Olivia stuck a hand out to see if rain was still pouring down. After she saw that the weather had cleared up, she got out humming happily.

She turned around to look up at the place where Ascarin was conducting the boat from the only part of the deck which was illuminated by a magic lantern. He had his gaze locked on the black night sea as if looking over the horizon, waiting for that mysterious land to appear.

The typical sea smell rose from the water and invaded the ship, opposed by the gentle breeze that sent chills down Olivia's back.

“It's the Zephyr. In two days the wind might change.”, Ascarin's voice got her attention. He perceived her presence.

“You say? Did you also get a meteorologist degree?”

“Always had one. You just didn't know about it.”

Olivia raised her eyebrows in surprise, “You never fail to shock me... is there something you can't do?”

Ascarin stood in silence, searching for an answer, “I think... hand to hand combat, the one without weapons. I'm more of a bow enthusiast.”

“Ehehe.”, she chuckled getting near the stairs to his emplacement, “What does bow enthusiast even mean?”

“Adventurers tend to specialize in close to middle-ranged combat nowadays. I already knew how to use a bow to hunt so... I decided to still use bows and also magic when I started adventuring.”

“Kael told me you're pretty good at it. Between, weren't you hunting when you met Mala?”, she asked curious.

“Ah, never heard the story?”, he said taking his hands off the helm, “Yes, I was doing that. Never thought of encountering her.”

“I might as well hear the full story no-”

Rumble

A loud sound from the sea near them shook the whole ship, making it swing left and right as if hit by a big wave.

“Whoa! What's happening?”, Olivia asked startled and almost falling.

Ascarin jumped nimbly to where she was, “Could ask the same thing!”, he said alarmed.

The ship kept moving like a house caught in an earthquake, splashes of salty water going everywhere on the wooden floor where both were trying to understand what was causing this.

“We're in high waters but this can't be done by a normal sea serpent!”

As soon as Ascarin said this, an even louder rumble was followed by a crashing sounds of the sea opening on their right.

In the darkness of the night, the silhouette of a gigantic serpent rose and reached as high as the mother shaft. Its thickness ridiculed the one of the greatest of dragons and giant bears.

His snaky, scaleless and murky white body glowed under the faint moonlight, making it barely visible to anyone on the ship.

Clouds began forming in the sky, lunging lightnings not too far from the ship. The sea rippled with a tremendous heat and waves roared in the night, leaving the figure of the giant sea serpent suspended in time in that one single horrific instant.

“H-how is it possible?”, Ascarin looked with wide red eyes, “It can't be. A specimen this big cannot exist!”

The serpent lowered his head. It was similar to most sea serpents, his fangs hanged from the jaw like two sharp bony spears. Its eyes were of a glowing blue that rivaled the shiniest of lapis and they pierced through Ascarin and Olivia. They tensed up and couldn't move because of it.

“Why can't I move?”, Olivia said while trying to move her legs and arms but with no avail. “Crap!”

“It's because of those eyes! This sea serpent has more than one oddity.”

The serpent roared lowly, opening its wide mouth and sticking the forked tongue like a weapon.

“Ascarin! What's going on?”, Mala's voice made both turn around for a moment.

“No, Mala! Don't get out!”, Ascarin tried to warn her.

Despite this, she rushed on the deck and caught a glimpse of the snake body.

“What is that?”, she whispered before feeling a touch on the shoulder. “Huh???”

“Leave this to me...”

“I have to do something!”, Ascarin shouted as he managed to open his hand, “Yes!”

Lot of red triangle particles shot around his and Olivia's body as they were free from that magic grasp. Olivia stepped behind, leaving space to him as he summoned an orange spectral bow.

He quickly shot a magic arrow to its left eye with precision.

“Graahhh!!!”, the beast growled but looked totally unharmed.

“Ngh!”, Ascarin hesitated to launch a second attack and took a step back. He clenched his fists in frustration. “What now...”

“My friend...”, Kael's voice was confident and teasing, almost if the presence of the sea serpent wasn't bothering him at all, “... arrows and other shenanigans of yours aren't gonna cut it!”

Ascarin turned in surprise, smiled. “Back to confident, are we? Just don't destroy the ship!”

“Eh eh... I can do that.”

Kael walked up to the stage. Rays of moon illuminated his footsteps from which light blue and cold mana gurgled out like flames. In right hand, hexagons particles of the same color came together to form a long red handle wrapped by a strap of black fabric. The cross-guard was gray and it gave the impression of a sword at first glance. The weapon concluded in a black and smooth symmetrical blade with an elongated central point, fringed with golden filaments and two curved and sharp protrusions near the base.

Kael got in front of the monster. He heaved his emerald gaze, challenging the shining blue one of the serpent, which growled after seeing that Kael instead had no effect from its eyes.

The mana leaking out from his feet began rising up, enveloping the weapon and igniting into raging flames. The deck was immediately illuminated and so did the serpent face.

“You're uglier than I thought...”

The beast wasted no time and opened its jaws to attack Kael. He rotated the spear in front of him and absorbed the impact, sending the serpent back.

After that, he jumped very high towards it, pointing the blade at the enemy. The sea serpent dodged with swiftness, moving a great quantity of water with its body.

The spear flames cleared out as Kael was heading right for the surface of the sea. As soon as he got near, a path of ice began to form in front him and made him glide on the water; he still kept an arrogant grin through the fight as his hair were blown by the wind.

He moved out of the way as the serpent tried repeatedly to catch him with its mouth, getting near its gigantic body and providing a long cut on the side.

The monster groaned in pain as it became more and more aggressive. It finally hit the ice platform, making Kael jump back on the ship.

He turned in an instant, cutting in two the electric discharge sent towards the deck. The spear collected the electricity and sent it back with a fast and concentrated projectile.

The sea serpent got stunned by the hit. Kael lifted from the ground, leaving a trail of blue mana flames as he aimed for the animal's uncovered throat.

“Die!”, fire began surrounded his whole figure.

The flaming spear cut its head in one swift motion just like butter. As the creature hurled his last scream, falling back into the sea, Kael remained suspended in the sky with a fire ring encircling him as the full moon watched from behind like a spectator.

He finally landed back on the deck as the waters calmed down once again.

“Ahhh! What a breeze!”, he sighed with happiness as the spear disappeared just like how it appeared, “That thing was crazy big! Mind telling me how it got that big?”. He asked Ascarin.

“... It shouldn't be this big for sure. He can fit in the sea but the resources are just not enough to sustain an organism this enormous!”, he reflected.

Might be something related to the Great Void but... it never effected animals and other creatures until now. We still don't know if someone caused that strange events and...

“Dear???”, Mala made him snap back to attention.

“Huh... w-what is it?”

“Kael and Olivia got back inside. Kael also put a spectrum to hold control for the night, so let's go sleep.”

Ascarin smiled as he walked with Mala back in to the rooms, “Mpfh... that guy can do it all.”

They left the deck too, the lantern turning off with a hush. The dead serpent body touching the seabed with a silent thud, lifting sand all around.