From the Depths | Rebekah Bourg

General Summary

“That was quite an amusing rabbit trail, as you might say,” Charon said to Tala as they returned to the group around Kronos.  “And now you know how to make avatars that can interact with the world.” 
Having heard enough about trigonometry to last them three lifetimes, Shanna, Saiylar, and Teju were quietly discussing which image they should focus on next time they went through the mist. Tala joined them and together they decided that Teju and Saiylar should visit the weeping boy while Tala and Shanna went to the young man preparing for adventure. Kronos nodded and mist swirled out from his hand, enveloping them, and each group focused on the image they had chosen, though each of them were unsettled to see a new image in the mist – row upon row of razor-sharp teeth.
Teju and Saiylar materialized before a modest home in late summer, carefully altering color and sound to remain invisible. In beetle form, Teju flew in through a second story window and saw a little boy hunched on his bed, head drooping over a parchment which appeared to have been crumpled and smoothed. She flew closer and read the story written in blocky childish script on the parchment, a tale of fairies and elves aiding a boy lost in the wild.
Downstairs, the boy’s mother answered a knock at the door and was greeted by a very pregnant woman who asked to come in and rest. Saiylar invisibly entered the house behind her pregnant avatar, which was hastily whisked off to the doctor, and ascended the stairs. Before she could enter the boy’s room, an older boy approached and knocked loudly on the door, calling for Blaze to stop crying and come help with the chores. Once the older brother left, Saiylar altered her appearance to that of their mother and entered the room to console young Blaze, telling him that she thought his story was clever and not to worry about what his older brother said. She left, pretending not to see the fairy, created by Teju, sprawled on the boy’s shoulder, telling him wonderful stories about a far away island where shapeshifters dwelt, and when his brother came again, Blaze paid him no mind, for he was busy writing down all the splendid stories which the fairy had whispered to him. Smiling at a job well done, Teju’s fairy flitted out the window, singing, “Come find me.”
As the mist dissipated, Shanna and Tala recognized the military compound adjacent to the palace. They intuitively found their way to a small office in which they could see a young man in lieutenant’s uniform scribbling some notes on a pad of paper as he leaned eagerly over naval charts. Tala entered, disguised as a lieutenant, and greeted the man. 
“I was ordered to work with you on your project,” she said. “So, what exactly are we working on?”
The man explained that he had grown up hearing mariners’ tales of a far-off island shrouded in storms that held an artifact of great power, and that his research indicated that the stories were true. There was indeed an unending storm from which none returned who entered it. He gestured to the charts spread before him. 
“These predate the stories of the storm, and they show an island.” Tala scrutinized the charts, recognizing the Rayskel Kays, and asked the man what sort of artifact he was looking for. He replied that he didn’t know what it was, just that in all the stories it was extremely powerful. “And with the border troubles with Draolis, we could use all the help we can get.” 
He slumped into his chair and added, “But I doubt that General Blaze will agree that such a quest is worth the cost, both financially and in men taken from the front. I have an appointment with him in less than an hour.”
Light flashed in the doorway and Shanna appeared, resplendent in armor. Her hair and cloak billowed about her, swayed by sheer awesomeness, and light emanated from her as she pointed her channeling sword at the lieutenant, who had reeled backward in his chair. Solemnly, she spoke. 
“That which you have purposed is noble, but such an endeavor must not be taken lightly. I am one who has seen the White Flame. The artifact guarded by the island is a powerful force to unite even the most animus, and bring understanding and truth. Tell your superior that no soldier need go on this quest, but rather that he is to send the prisoners currently held in the dungeon. I have looked into their hearts and found them worthy of this task. Go.” She vanished, leaving a faint scent of snapdragons.
Slack-jawed, the man slowly looked from where Shanna had stood to Tala who, still in disguise, mirrored his awe. “I need to speak with General Blaze,” he wheezed, standing and blindly gathering parchments and data pads. Tala helped him set his research in order, and they walked out. When they neared the general’s office, Tala bade the man good luck, saying she was needed elsewhere. No use getting caught by a general who would probably ask more questions than she was prepared to answer.
She met up with Shanna, both convinced the lieutenant would succeed in his request. Oddly, their memories of their previous conversation with Blaze to convince him to send the prisoners to the island seemed borrowed, sort of second-hand, much like their memories of the all that had transpired after departing for the Rayskel Kays. Satisfied that the voyage would take place but unsatisfied with its outcome, they quickly wended their way to the docks and inspected the ship which would carry their past selves across the sea. All seemed in order with ship, crew, and course, and yet they could not remember as their own any of their adventures beyond that sea voyage, nor could they forget the terrifying tale Saiylar had told of her last trip through the mist. Still invisible, Shanna suggested to the captain and his officers that there might be monsters. The suggestion and the disembodied voice disquieted the captain and he ordered that more pikes be loaded onboard.
Not satisfied with such paltry protection, Tala sought out a cypher shop and, once more assuming her lieutenant avatar, she entered and presented to the shopkeeper a letter she had written ordering that a cypher capable of killing sea monsters be delivered to the ship before the prisoners were loaded on. She had forged signatures for General Blaze and Lord Bob, the exchequer, and the shopkeeper complied unquestioningly with the order. She selected the most powerful cypher in stock and rushed it back to the ship, barely stashing it aboard before Kronos’s mist enveloped her and all four companions stood once again in the tavern.
Each team reported their doings and they found that all but Shanna remembered the voyage, a dreadful fight, the islands, and all that had followed, but they had no real memory of Shanna after the fight. Terrified at the prospect of fighting a sea monster but unwilling to lose their companion, Saiylar and Tala went with Shanna to request Kronos send them through the mist again, this time focusing on the ship and that dreadful image of tearing, gnashing, murderous teeth. The three companions materialized in a dank storage room and Saiylar hastily sought any life forms in the vicinity, then stared at Shanna in dismay. “It’s coming,” she whispered, then ran for the holding cells to protect their past selves, especially Shanna, at all costs. Walking unseen past so many people gave her an idea and as soon as she arrived in the holding area, she focused all her attention at disguising the ship from any eyes below, altering sight, sound, and scent to hide them from the monsters she so vividly remembered. An alarm sounded on deck. 
“Monster! There’s a monster coming up half a mile off the port bow! All hands to your posts.” Tala and Shanna ran topside. They all remembered that call.
Not waiting to plan, Shanna plunged into the sea, using her wind channeling to propel herself toward the monster which rose from the depths, broad fins splayed out to its flanks, turning its head side to side as if searching for prey just lost. Shanna pulled forth her channeling sword and aimed a focused beam of fire at the creature where its head protruded from monstrous curling shell. The cleoid saw the fire too late and the blast cracked the shell, releasing a cloud of green ooze. Tracing back the blast’s trajectory, the cleoid leveled a psychic attack which Shanna resisted as she swam to her left, drawing the cleoid away from the ship.
Tala ran to the port bow and, seeing the monster attacking her companion, she created an avatar cleoid between battle and ship, challenging the beast, trying to drive it back, but the cleoid was not fooled and again attacked Shanna. Two against one were frightful odds, so Shanna created six avatars of her impressive White Flame persona from the previous day, all wielding their channeling swords, while she remained invisible. Suddenly outnumbered, the cleoid retreated, and Shanna maneuvered her avatars to draw the beast even further away. The cleoid recovered quickly and leveled a devastating mental attack at one avatar, tearing it to shreds and dealing a severe blow to Shanna as she tried again to lure it away from the ship. Again, the cleoid attacked one of her avatars, but this time the avatar withstood the mental assault.
Still aboard ship, Tala desperately assembled her fiery hellmaker, redoubling her efforts when she glimpsed a swarm of six ebons closing in on the fight, eager for action. She took aim, careful to avoid hitting the ship, and fired. Missiles sprayed from her staff, streaking out in all directions, and severely wounding the cleoid and all six ebons, but it was not enough to deter the ebons, and two of them attacked Shanna. Though badly injured from a stray missile, she whirled aside and struck back at all her foes with an enormous fireball.
Saiylar sat in the hold of the ship, all her energy focused on maintaining the illusion hiding the ship from below and on sensing the movement of all lifeforms around her. She activated a cypher which would shield all aboard the ship, but now she feared for Shanna, beyond her protection. She could sense a kaorund looming upward from the depths, crackling with electricity and spoiling for a fight.
Shanna evaded another ebon assault and finished off the swarm with another flash. The cleoid narrowly evaded the fireball, but then Tala, seeing the kaorund approaching from below, opened a wormhole and warped the badly injured cleoid into the kaorund’s head. The kaorund, his head now twice as thick and half as happy, charged faster at Shanna, gnashing its many rows of teeth at her. She dove out of reach, took a deep breath, then shot forward into the monster’s gaping maw. She passed its teeth unscratched, but was struck by a massive, debilitating electrical charge. Again, Tala opened a wormhole, this time warping the creature’s tail into its head, injuring and enraging it further. Though it could not see through Saiylar’s illusion, the kaorund sensed the source of the attack and charged at the ship. Panicking, Tala opened another wormhole directly in the monster’s path, then closed it, severing the kaorund’s head and transporting it several yards from its body.
Relief flooded Saiylar as she sensed the absence of all monster life, then fear once more took hold as she sensed Shanna, still inside the kaorund’s head as it slowly sank before the ship. Satisfied that their past selves were safe, she ran topside and dove off the bowsprit, swimming with all haste for her unmoving companion, whom she extracted from the carcass and sealed in her healing pod. Tala watched her progress from the bows, then warped both Saiylar and Shanna onto the deck where they all waited and rested until sundown. No more monsters attacked, and as night set in, the mist translated them back to the tavern.
As the others told of their heroism on the high seas, Shanna emerged from the healing pod completely healed, but still missing her left foot, which was severed when Tala beheaded the kaorund. Saiylar teasingly offered her a wooden peg leg. Shanna snatched it away and incinerated it, much to the enjoyment of her companions, then set about creating a metal leg. Timidly, Teju asked Kronos if the Now which they had all come from was the Now to which they would all return. Kronos carefully replied that if they’re memories were intact, they could enter the mist and pinpoint the moment they wanted to go and they would reach it. The group fell silent as Moirai looked up from her knitting and addressed them. 
“You have achieved much in your travels through the mist.” She pointed to the thread which she was knitting and said, “There are times when fate can go one of two ways. A choice now lies before you. You may return to your time with what you have accomplished thus far, or you can risk all for something better.” 
She signed and pulled a pair of shears from nowhere. Everyone looked from her to Kronos, and in the mist hovering about his hand they saw the vague image of a young girl.

Report Date

18 Sep 2021