The Voyage begins

Himari stood on the dock looking up at the huge vessel floating above the water. Duncan had explained that their boats floated over the water because the boats were powered by devices that held mana and they used less mana if they didn’t have to fight the ocean and its currents. Duncan had said one device lightened the weight of the ship and its contents and another apparatus made the boat movable. It reminded her of a vehicle with a motor since the boat had a wheel to steer it and a brake system. He said the ships had sails so they could be used when there was wind to slow down the mana use. If you used all the mana the apparatus had to be recharged or replaced. It was all so similar to an electric or gas vehicle. She couldn’t believe how huge the boat was. She was even more surprised now than when she had first learned the apparatuses that contain the mana to move the boat were small enough to fit in her hand. Cedric had taught her how to add mana to them and explained their uses, but seeing how huge the ship was in comparison to the small apparatuses she had to admit her mind was blown. She felt excitement bubble up inside her as she boarded the boat. She had been looking forward to this trip all week. Duncan had postponed the trip so he could get things tied up so he could come along. When Cedric had told him not to worry that he would protect Himari with his life Duncan had snorted and said he was protecting Himari from the likes of him. Cedric hadn’t gotten mad or offended he had just laughed. Duncan and Himari stood on the deck looking at the crystal blue ocean below them. “It is so beautiful.” Himari whispered in awe. The water sparkled in the sunlight and in places the water was clear it felt like you could see all the way to the bottom. The salty breeze and the sound of the waves crashing into the beach had Himari closing her eyes and soaking it all in. Joan came to stand beside her on the other side and said “Amazing isn’t it? Just wait until we are surrounded by water on all sides it’s even more magical. You feel like there aint nothing but you and these people on this boat in entire world. No discrimination, no cruelty, no wars to be fought, just you and nature. The ocean has its own kind of magic.” Himari looked at Joan and said “You really love the ocean don’t you?” Joan’s cheeks flushed pink. Joan nodded and said “I grew up on a boat. My dad’s a fisherman and I was on a boat before I could walk.” Himari said placing her hand gently on Joan’s arm in understanding “It sounds like the ocean houses a lot of good memories for you.” Joan smiled and nodded. She looked at Himari and said “Well I better go make sure everything is loaded and everyone is ready to go.” And with that Joan turned on her heels and walked off leaving Himari and Duncan alone again. Himari asked “Do you need to go and do anything? Like talk to the crew or something?” Duncan grinned and said “Why Himari if I didn’t know better I would think you were trying to get rid of me.” When Himari got flustered and tried to explain she only didn’t want to keep him away from his work Duncan just through his head back and laughed. Himari laughed too realizing he was only teasing her. She gently pushed his shoulder which made Duncan laugh harder and caused Himari’s heart to flutter. She couldn’t believe anyone’s laugh could cause such a visceral reaction in her. Before she could dwell on it further Duncan spoke “Come on let’s introduce you to the captain and see what the plan is.” Himari followed Duncan into a room full of navigation equipment and maps. Cedric, Joan, and a tall dark haired demon with greying hair around his temple was already in the room, that if Himari had to guess was the navigation headquarters of the ship. The three stood looking at a map that was laid out on the table. They seemed to be having a whispered discussion, each pointing at different spots on the map. The three looked up finally noticing Himari and Duncan approaching. The demon with greying hair and curved pearly horns came around the table to greet Duncan. Duncan shook hands with the man before turning slightly to Himari and saying “Himari, this is Dylan Marino the captain of this fine vessel. Captain Dylan this is Lady Himari.” Himari shook hands with him and said “It is a pleasure to meet you Sir Captain Marino.” Captain Dylan Marino said “It is a pleasure to meet you too my lady, but don’t go around calling me sir or Captain Marino. It makes me feel old. Call me Dylan or captain.” Dylan chuckled and said “My dad is called captain Marino, not me.” Himari laughed too and said “Alright Captain or Dylan, but only if you call me Himari.” Dylan laughed and said “I like you Himari. You’ve got spunk.” Himari smiled at him. Duncan grouched “If you are done flirting with my fiancée, why don’t we discuss the strategy to find and kill a hydra.” Himari had forgotten they were pretending to be engaged to explain her being in his kingdom and also to deter anyone who might see Himari’s magic as powerful and want to use it. Hearing him call her that made her feel like a thousand butterflies were flitting around inside her stomach and chest. She shook the thoughts away and turned her attention to their conversation. Cedric, Dylan, and Joan were all arguing over where they thought they might find a hydra. Himari frowned and blurted out “Why don’t you use magic to track down a hydra?” Four set of eyes turned to look at her incredulously. It was Himari’s turn to look at them confused and say “Doesn’t everyone now search magic. It was one of the second or third spells I taught myself. Its way easier than that barrier spell I made and doesn’t use much mana at all. Though the protective barrier I put around the castle and its grounds felt way easier than the ones I made for the fields” At this point she felt like she was rambling she quit speaking. Everyone was still staring wide eyed at her making Himari nervous. She looked down fidgeting. Duncan was the first to speak “I honestly don’t know where to start with all that information. But maybe here you put a protective barrier around the castle? When? How did I not feel it or notice it? How hasn’t anyone noticed it?” Himari said “Well after the Duke of Whitedale was removed from the premises, I started thinking that a barrier to protect us from people infiltrating the castle with bad intentions would be a good idea. I then also decided I should just do a barrier against any type of attack too and then I was wondering if I could also set up an alarm system that lets us know we are under attack and by who. I also didn’t want anyone to sense it and try and tamper with it so I made it undetectable. I put it up one night while everyone was asleep.” She could feel Duncan’s appreciation and awe through their connection. Cedric let out a low whistle and said “Himari you never cease to amaze me. You are going to have to teach me how to enact barriers like the one you did on the Demon Lords castle. It was awfully smart of you to add so many layers to it and make it undetectable. I never once sensed it. I’m assuming you have a great grasp on search magic and will use it to help us find a hydra? And then you are going to have to teach me this magic too.” Cedric rubbed his hands together excitedly and continued “I thought I had all the magic figured out, but you come a long and start teaching me new things about magic. Making me even more excited about magic and all its possibilities than I ever have been.” Himari launched into a quick explanation about how she created both spells and how she based one partially on a home security system and the other on GPS and a tracker and then she had to explain what those were. After she’d stopped speaking Himari found all four sets of eyes staring at her in admiration. Combined with Duncan’s admiration coming through the connection she felt her face heating up. Duncan took pity on her shyness and asked “Do you think you can use your search magic to find us a two or three headed hydra?” Himari said “I think I can, let me see. I might even be able to use the map and turn it into a radar or at least point out their exact location on the map.” She concentrated and using her search magic and pointed to the map “There four hundred nautical kilometers from here. It’s what a day’s trip from here if we maintain a speed of 20 knots?” Dylan shocked to no one in particular said “She can cast magic without spells? Just how powerful is she? I thought only the super powerful like Cedric could do that kind of stuff.” Joan said “I was surprised the first time I saw it too.” Duncan Made eye contact with everyone in the room and said “No one can say a word about Himari’s abilities to anyone outside this room. I need everyone to swear they will not breathe a single word of her abilities outside this room. Everyone agreed to not speak of it. Dylan went and set their course for where Himari had said they would find a hydra, while the rest stayed to discuss how best to go about getting the hydra. It was decided that Himari would routinely do a search to check and see if they needed to change course. They were discussing using two apparatuses to get their quicker so the hydra didn’t have time to move to another location. They had brought extra apparatuses and both Himari and Cedric knew how to make them if they needed them. This would also shorten their trip too since they would rush to get there and then they could come back as planned. Duncan argued that it was not a good idea because getting their quicker gave them less time to figure out how to approach the hydra and the best course of action for killing it. He argued it was better to come up to the hydra slow and see how it reacted and watch its movements and then act. Joan argued that getting there before it moved to another part of the ocean stretching the food and apparatuses wouldn’t be beneficial especially if anyone was wounded and people were more likely to get wounded since it would put them arriving closer to midnight. Then everything would be stretched too thin. Plus a longer voyage meant tired people and tired people meant sloppy work. Himari pointed out it was better to do it while everyone was rested and their mana and spirits were high. Himari also suggested trying a version of new spell she had come up with, where she could jump to places that she could see, but Duncan refused that idea completely. He argued that she could use too much mana doing that and would exhaust herself again. Duncan did compromise on using apparatuses to increase the speed of the ship. Cedric went and told the captain the change of plans and installed the other two apparatus which would cut the trip down, making them arrive late in the evening giving them a couple hours before sunset. Himari kept doing her search as they traveled and would changes courses slightly with the hydras movement. They made it to where the hydra was by evening, like they had planned. The plan was to lure it up from the depths of the ocean with buckets of sardine. Once it was to the surface Cedric and another mage. Mavis was going to freeze the heads while Joan and her men cut the heads off. They took the sardines out of storage and tossed them into the waters below. Everyone on deck stood with baited breath watching the waters below for movement.