All Aboard!!!

The port city of Horalogium was a new sensation to the senses. Here, the air was thick with the brine of the sea, and the aroma of spices from a dozen unseen lands. The cry of birds was constant marching with the rythem of ringing of ship bells and the shouts of sailors in languages Elysia couldn’t understand. Keito, with his knightly posture looked entirely out of place as he navigated them through the crowd of loud sailors, Naga merchants, and people of many different races. He secured their passage at a crowded harbormaster’s office.

Their vessel was called The Star Chaser, a merchant ship far larger and sturdier than anything Elysia could have imagined. Its three giant masts looked like they could reach the sky, its hull a full on fortress. They were led below deck to their quarters, a small, windowless cabin with three bunks built into the walls. It was cramped, but it was clean and smelled of cedar and salt.

As the ship pulled away from the docks, they began their voyage across the Cerulean Sea. The passengers were a mixture of life Elysia had only ever read about. She saw a trio of gnomes with wild, colorful hair, their hands a blur of motion as they tinkered with a small clockwork bird that kept trying to fly off. A stern looking Goliath polished the stone knuckles of his gauntlets, his gaze fixed on the horizon. There were snake like creatures with scales that shimmered like jewels, and fish like folk with wide, unblinking eyes who seemed most comfortable near the ship’s rails, staring down into the deep. Half elves, she learned, were quite common, their features a subtle blend of human and elven heritage. The sheer diversity of it all was breathtaking.

The first night was calm, the ship rocked by gentle waves that were surprisingly soothing yet she still couldn’t sleep. The next day, after a restless night filled with the strange creaks and groans of the ship, Elysia felt a desperate need for fresh air. She left Baro, who was already looking a bit green in the face, and Keito, who was methodically checking their supplies for the tenth time, and made her way to the top deck. The morning air was crisp and clean, whipping her white hair around her face. She took a deep breath, the sheer, uninterrupted emptiness of blue sky and bluer water a staggering sight. It was there, near the bow, that she saw him.

He was a half elf, the little details giving him away… the slightly pointed tips of his ears peeking out from a mess of black hair, and a single, bold streak of purple that ran through it, looking as natural as if it had grown that way. He wore a dark, practical poncho, its edges frayed from wear, patterned with thin orange lines that seemed to hold a faint, internal light. Underneath, she could see glimpses of sleek, fitted armor, each piece set with a small, glowing purple stone. He was leaning against the rail, not looking out at the sea, but focused entirely on the object in his hands: a bow. It was beautiful, made of a dark, almost black wood, etched with strange markings.

He was tending to it, his movements precise and smooth. He’d draw the string back an inch, his violet eyes, alert but still set with a deep seated weariness, scanning the limb of the bow for imperfections. As his fingers brushed the string, the etchings on the weapon would flare with a soft, orange light. He seemed entirely self contained.

Feeling like an intruder, Elysia moved away, making her way to the stern. She gripped the rail, looking out at the churning wake the ship left behind. The ocean stretched out, an endless sight. Her heart, which had been steady, suddenly began to hammer against her ribs. The horizon seemed to tilt, the vast emptiness of the water below pulling at her, whispering of her past. The memory of the cold rain, the feeling of water filling her lungs, clawed at the edges of her mind. A panic attack seized her. Her breathing stopped. She closed her eyes, her knuckles turning white on the rail. Breathe in. Breathe out. She focused on the feel of the solid wood beneath her hands, the wind on her face, the distant shouts of the sailors. Slowly, she wrestled the panic back into its cage. When she opened her eyes again, the terror had receded, leaving behind only the breathtaking beauty of the sea. It was so clear she could see the faint, darting shapes of sea life far below.

The rest of the day passed in a haze of wonder. But as dusk bled into the night, the sea’s gentle rocking grew agitated. The sky, which had been clear, was now a ceiling of dark clouds. The wind began to howl, and the rain came down in horizontal sheets. The Star Chaser began to rock violently.

Then came the scream.

It was sharp and cut through the roar of the storm like a knife. Elysia was jolted awake. Baro was already on his feet, his hand on his axe. Keito was at the door, sword in hand. They burst from their cabin into chaos. The deck was a maelstrom of rain, crashing waves, and panicked shouting. And then they saw it.

Glistening, muscular tentacles had wrapped themselves around the ship. They constricted, the wood of the hull screaming in protest.

A kraken.

Another scream tore through the night, this one from a woman near the port rail.

“My daughter! Elara!”

Elysia’s head snapped towards the sound just in time to see a horrifying sight, a small flailing body, a little girl, clutched in the grip of a smaller tentacle, being hoisted over the rail and pulled towards the black water.

There was no thought. No plan. Before Keito could even shout her name, Elysia was a blur of motion. She ran, her feet slipping on the slick, heaving deck, and launched herself over the edge, into the sea.

“ELYSIA!” Keito’s roar of pure terror was swallowed by the storm. He and Baro couldn’t hesitate. They had to let her go, there was so much going on. While Keito began directing the terrified crew and passengers, coordinating strikes against the creature’s limbs, Baro let out a bellow of pure rage and began hacking at the nearest tentacle, his enchanted axe cutting deep into the rubbery flesh.

Beneath the waves, the world was a violent, thundering mess. The water was frigid, the darkness blinding, broken only by the muffled, boom of thunder and the brief, terrifying flashes of lightning that illuminated the abyss. In one such flash, Elysia saw the little girl, Elara, struggling against the tentacle that held her. In the next, her blood ran cold. The lightning revealed the source of the tentacles: a colossal body directly beneath the ship, a creature almost the size of the ship, its flesh a pale green.

She kicked hard, swimming towards the child. She reached the tentacle and grabbed it, trying to pry its powerful suckers from the girl’s small body, but it was like trying to pull on solid rock. It was useless. She swam back a few feet, the girl panicked, gurgling cries… Please let this work Elysia though. She stretched her hand out, palm facing the tentacle. The water between her and her target began to hum, to vibrate with energy. The tentacle holding the child began to shake violently, its grip faltering. With a final, silent push of her will, the water itself seemed to recoil. Elara was released, jettisoned from the creature’s grasp and pulled directly into Elysia’s waiting arms as if drawn by a magnet.

She held the choking, terrified child close. Another flash of lightning lit up the deep, and a new horror was revealed. Not even twenty feet away, a single, colossal eye, had swiveled in the dark to fixate on them. Terror gave her strength. Kicking with all her might, she swam for the surface, clutching the child to her chest. She broke through the waves and, without stopping to breathe, focused her magic. A pillar of water rose beneath the little girl, lifting her clear of the raging sea and putting her onto the deck into the arms of her weeping mother. Elysia started to do the same for herself, the water beginning to lift her, when a tentacle shot from the depths and wrapped around her torso, yanking her back down into the dark.

It squeezed, pinning her arms to her sides, the pressure building, forcing the air from her lungs. The cold, the pressure, the feeling of being helplessly dragged down…it triggered something deep and broken within her…. The world of the storm vanished, replaced by another memory. The feeling of familiar hands shoving her chest. The face of her brother, twisted in a cruel sneer. The long, terrifying fall from the cliff. The impact with the ocean below. She was back there, a helpless girl betrayed and left to die. She began to hyperventilate, her desperate gasps for air bringing in only burning saltwater. She was drowning, not just in the Cerulean Sea, but in the ocean of her own past.

On the deck of the Star Chaser, the half elven bowman moved with grace. He ran to the rail where Elysia had been pulled under, leaping onto the slick wood and balancing perfectly against the pitch of the ship. He raised his dark bow and drew the string. He began to chant, his voice began to resonante, the words in a foreign language that seemed to make the very air vibrate.

“§ļħ'āķř æňđőř v'ņøł!”

As he spoke, the symbols on his bow blazed with orange light. Between the string and the bow, an arrow began to form, it seemed to be made of pure lightning. It crackled and hissed, casting a bright light across his face. He released the string. The lightning arrow shot into the black water, and the sea itself seemed to explode in a flash of white light. A concussive boom followed, and the entire kraken convulsed, its tentacles going momentarily limp, paralyzed by the massive electrical shock.

Underwater, Elysia was released. Her survival instincts, though shaken, took over. She kicked, her body screaming for air, and clawed her way back to the surface, where she saw a rope she grabbed it being pulled up and then Baro’s strong hand grabbed her arm and hauled her, sputtering and choking, back onto the deck.

Through the rain, new shapes were rising from the waves. More tentacles. They weren’t alone. There were at least two more of the colossal krakens, their forms circling the ship.

Elysia staggered to her feet in the center of the deck, the rain plastering her hair to her face. Her brief, terrifying drowning had washed away the last of her fear, replacing it with a cold, unyielding resolve. She would not let these people die. She would not let her friends die. She would not be a victim again… She clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and reached for the power inside her, the boundless energy of the sea itself. She screamed, a sound of untamed power. Her hands shot outward. Her eyes snapped open, glowing with a pretty blue energy, and her body lifted a few inches from the deck.

The ocean around the ship began to churn, but this time it wasn’t from the storm, but in answer to her call. As Baro and Keito, with the help of the half elfs shots, finally hacked through the last of the tentacles holding their ship, the sea itself rose up. A single, giant wave, incredibly large, lifted The Star Chaser from behind. Everyone held on for dear life as the wave pushed them forward, the ship felt like a missile, propelled at incredible speeds. They shot past the krakens. Elysia held the wave for as long as she could, her body trembling with the strain, until the monsters were just a bad memory in the storm behind them. Then, the energy left her all at once. Her light faded, and she collapsed to the deck, the world spiraling into a silent darkness.

She opened her eyes to the smell of lavender and clean linen. The world was still and quiet. She was in a bed, a real bed, in a room with a high, vaulted ceiling made of wood. Sunlight streamed through a large, open window, carrying with it the scent of damp earth.

“She’s awake.”

Keito’s voice, soft and filled with relief. She turned her head. He and Baro were there, sitting in chairs beside her bed. Baro looked exhausted, but he managed a weak grin.

“What… what happened?” Elysia asked, her voice a whisper.

“You saved us, is what happened,” Baro said, his voice gentle. “That crazy wave of yours pushed us clear through the rest of the storm. We made it to Chthonia late last night. You wouldn’t wake up, so we brought you here. The captain was so grateful, he paid for the room himself.”

“He’s waiting for us at a tavern called The Gnarled Root when you feel up to it,” Keito added, his eyes full of warmth. “He wants to thank you properly.”

She slowly sat up, her body sore. They gave her a few minutes, and then, together, they left the inn. The city was breathtaking. It wasn’t built on the landscape, but with it. Buildings of smooth, white stone and brown wood were constructed around the trunks of big, ancient trees whose branches formed a living canopy over the streets. Small, clear rivers flowed through artfully carved channels alongside the paths. It was a city in perfect harmony with nature.

This was Aestlgard..

The Gnarled Root was easy to find. It was a large tavern built into the base of one of the giant trees. As they stepped inside, a cheer went up. The tavern was filled with the passengers and crew of The Star Chaser. They raised their mugs, their faces full of genuine, heartfelt gratitude.

“To the Storm Caller!” the captain boomed, his voice full of cheer.

Elysia blushed, overwhelmed, as a path cleared for her. The little girl, Elara, broke free from her mother’s hand and ran to Elysia, wrapping her small arms around her legs in a tight hug. Elysia knelt and hugged her back, the simple act of affection a powerful reminder of why she had done it. The girl's mother followed, her eyes filled with tears as she offered her thanks.

Across the room, Elysia saw him again the half elven bowman, nursing a drink by himself. She excused herself and made her way over to him, Baro and Keito following like protective shadows.

“Thank you,” she said quietly. “For what you did on the ship. I wouldn’t have made it without you.”

He looked up, his violet eyes assessing her for a moment before he gave a nod. “You did the hard work. I just provided a distraction.” He gestured to the cheering crowd. “It’s not every day you see someone command the sea like that.”

“My name is Elysia.”

He offered a small, hesitant smile. “Corin Kubera.”

“This is Baro, and this is Keito,” she said, introducing the others, who both nodded in acknowledgment.

“So,” Corin said, his gaze shifting between the three of them, a flicker of curiosity in his otherwise guarded expression. “What brings a knight, a berserker, and a girl who can command the ocean to a quiet city like Aestilgard?”

They exchanged a look, and Keito gave a brief, simple version of their story: the dragons, the city of Rynhaven, and the cryptic warning of a ‘convergence.’

As they spoke, Corin’s expression shifted into one of recognition. When they finished, he let out a long, put upon sigh, staring into his mug as if the answers to all his problems were at the bottom.

“The Convergence,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Of course. I know of a place. An old archive, hidden in the heart of the forest. They have texts that date back to the founding. If there are answers to be found about something that old and that dangerous, they’ll be there.”

He looked up at them, and for a moment, he seemed to be warring with himself. Then, with a sigh that was a bit of reluctance, he finished his drink and stood up.

“Fine,” he said, the word sounding like a curse word . “It’s on my way, anyway. I’ll take you. But you owe me. Big time.”