[rework] Minglings - Book 3 chapter 3: Passing through

Mason stared at the amber stones in his taloned hands as he trudged through the sand. They gleamed and glistened like dangerous but pretty marbles. Most were the size of his thumb, and he had four in each hand. According to Baudron, there were hundreds, perhaps thousands, more inside the hill. It didn't matter. They couldn't bring more than they could hold.

I really should get some way to store things, Mason thought.

He pictured having some type of fanny pack to hoard food and mana-stones with him and burst out laughing.

"Mason! Come quickly!"

Baudron's voice echoed back down from the top of the hill, and he groaned. Of course, something would happen just as he was having a laugh!

Bloody karma!

Mason looked ahead at where Baudron was standing near the top of the hill. It was an odd sight, seeing the large brown dragon waving at him from the top of a white sandy dune. If somebody had told him that would happen a year ago, he-

Mason blinked at the thought and laughed again, but hollow this time. Who was he kidding? He might have believed it.

Stomping up, he wondered what had Baudron all excited. More Kobolds? His taloned hands clenched as he sped up.

When he reached the top of the hill, he found Baudron gazing at something ahead and joined him.

Far below, the white sand that made up the dunes spilled out on a bed of cracked mud that stretched toward the horizon. Pockets of greenery showed the first plant life he had seen since heading into the desert, but to call it inviting would be a lie. The wind that howled across the dunes carried the damp and oppressive smell of water in the air.

"This must be the area bordering the Hounds eye," Baudron said with a grin.

Mason saw him stare at the dried-out world ahead of them as if watching some oasis. He was about to comment on it when Baudron moved. Without waiting for a queue, he spread his wings and glided down. Although not fully regrown, his wingspread already dwarfed that of Mason.

Mason sighed as he gazed at the immense wings and the wasteland beyond the desert. He felt like he was getting further and further away from finding Jake and the others with every step he took. Pushing the depressed thoughts away, he shook himself and jumped after Baudron.

I hope we are done with the walking soon, he thought, numbly gazing across the seemingly infinite stretch of cracked mud.

--

Tir crooned deep in her chest as she gorged herself on a piece of flesh that weighed more than she did. Sitting beside her, Jake looked at the enormous influx of blue-energy particles funneling into her tiny body.

Anticipation was building inside him, but he didn't allow himself to explore the thoughts that started bubbling up in his mind. If they proved wrong, he would get his hopes up for nothing. With a weary smile, he sliced the fish carcass in front of him and stuffed another arm-sized piece in his maw, swallowing it whole.

As a gulp of seawater and meat slid down his throat, Jake looked around. A landscape of many-colored shells and hot vents spread out around him, illuminated by so many blue-energy particles that if he didn't have the ability to ignore them, they would have blocked his vision like a snowstorm. Besides the particles, the constant, soft, and muted popping of air bubbles rising from the hot vents mixed with the ticking and scuttling of the crustaceans created a gentle and soothing background noise.

The pressure from his instincts to rush on was less than it had been in weeks, perhaps months, and with a full stomach, his mind was crystal clear. It reminded him of the feeling he had when changing the water particles to ice, and as his mind wandered, he realized he had been feeling like this more and more as of late. The constant pressure from the goblins and the urge from his instincts had covered it up, but now that he had the time to sit, he realized it fully.

A soft burp distracted him. Tir floated on her back, her bulging stomach shivering occasionally, and a sliver of meat stuck half-forgotten from her mouth. With a grin, Jake picked it away, and she looked at him with her heavylidded, half-closed eyes.

"Come, little one. It's time for you to rest. Climb on and hold tight," he said.

Tir struggled upright in the water, looking at him as if he had asked something far too complicated. With a broad smile, Jake grabbed her and placed her on his neck. He waited until he felt her grab hold of his frills. Taking another look at the fish carcasses, Jake decided it would be a waste to leave anything and shoveled down the remaining meat in five or six large bites.

Slightly more stuff now, he swayed his tail in a powerful motion and shot through the water, leaving the fish's remains on the enormous blue shell.

Relaxed for the first time in a while, he nimbly dodged around large monstrous fish and giant squids as he traveled in the direction his instinct compass told him he had to go. As he passed them, the behemoth crustaceans sometimes looked up. One scuttled after him for a short while, snapping at the water before giving up.

The shell-covered floor continued for a long time, and as he continued onward, listening to Tir's soft sleeping sounds, Jake wondered how long he would be able to continue without rest. He wasn't tired yet, but he was starting to feel weary. As his mind wandered off, he noticed the crustaceans below were acting odd.

Some huddled together, their backs interlocked and their claws outward. Others hid below shells or dug down in the mud, leaving only a patch of muddled earth.

They look afraid! Jake thought as he swirled around in the water, feeling his frills stiffen.

The giant squids, the whales, and the monstrous many-eyed fish were gone, and he couldn't recall when he saw the last one. Above him, the final whale disappeared through the shimmering barrier and into the darker, colder water above. Then he was alone with the crustaceans, attempting to hide.

Lowering himself as far as he dared, Jake looked around but saw nothing.

Wait, what's that?

A soft purring sound like an engine running in free came from all around. He didn't know when the sound had started, but it was getting louder. It was impossible to pinpoint its origin direction, but as it got louder, Jake knew one thing.

It was time to leave, and hiding with the crustaceans wasn't an option.

He shot up through the water, chasing after where the whale had left. If those things thought they could get away up there, he should be able to. Whatever was making that noise and had everything so afraid probably wasn't anything good. So far, nothing had been.

He shot through the barrier, and the cold water suddenly surrounding him made him clench his jaw. His mind cleared up, the weariness disappearing within moments. Tir grumbled from his back as she woke up, and he could feel her shivering softly.

Everything below the barrier was foggy and fuzzy, and the buzzing sound was so muffled he could barely hear it. He hesitated.

Perhaps nothing is-

The water current around him changed slightly, and Jake instinctively propelled himself forward, shooting through the water. Behind him, there was massive turbulence in the water as something snapped shut. A rumbling explosion of water pressure pushed him forward.

Shit!

Jake propelled himself forward as fast as he could, taking a quick look behind. He almost wished he hadn't. Ten giant snake-like heads with burning red eyes stared at him above gaping maws filled with white teeth the size of his tail.

As he watched in a daze, the heads blurred forward.

"Shit!"

Jake rocketed down, barely dropping below the freight train-sized head that shot through the water where he had just been, jaws snapping closed and creating pockets of watery explosions. Shooting forward, he looked again and could now make out a shadowy form behind the heads.

A sudden image of a frogfish being hunted by a shark popped into his head, and he quickly swam straight up. The water flow changed again as the massive Hydra changed course, chasing after him.

Tir screamed from his back, a primal sound that seemed a part challenge, part plea.

Jake couldn't answer or calm her, hoping she could hang on. The main thing on his mind right now was the hope that the whale knew what it was doing and that it was going further up, not sideways. Looking behind, he saw the enormous Hydra close in, the lidless red eyes hungrily staring at him. Freaking out, he instinctively drew in mana, the vast amounts of small particles surging toward him as he changed them to ice. As he drew on the ice part of himself, the clearheadedness instantly dispelled the surging fear, and his mind began proposing ideas.

He picked the first one and forced everything from his ability as fast as possible.

A massive block of ice formed straight ahead of him, the edges expanding outwards like an inkblot on paper. There was a hole in the middle, big enough for him but too small for the Hydra. As he rushed through, he prayed the ice would be strong enough.

He wasn't even through the other end when a loud cracking and tearing came from behind him, causing his fear to grow again. Without stopping, he looked behind at the enormous ice block. It was shattering like an ice cube on concrete as the massive Hydra shot through without slowing.

Although the ice didn't stop it, Jake suddenly had another idea. He created another much thinner film of ice in the water ahead of him. This time he tried his best to make it foggy, and a heartbeat later, he shot through a small hole in a white-blue sheet in the water. He changed course immediately, surging up and away from the sheet while risking another look.

The sheet of ice snapped, and the Hydra shot through, continuing in the direction Jake had been going in before he turned. Lacking its target, it slowed, the many heads swirling around searching for their target.

They quickly spotted him.

Good- this will work.

The thought was surprisingly calm, and he quickly summoned more ice. Within moments a maze of reflective hole-filled ice sheets grew all around him. He shot through the nearest one, changing course but this time creating more ice sheets behind him.

The sound of shattering ice came, followed by an angry growl that caused the water to vibrate.

He ignored it as ideas played through his mind. He focused on the direction his instincts told him to go. Down and further forward. He continued to create more and more ice and changed course, heading towards his goal. Ice sheets appeared everywhere, not just around him, and some were angled in different directions.

Ice sheets cracked again, but not those right behind him. The sound was somewhere to the side, and the next scream was further away. As he swam as fast as he could, he dropped ice everywhere. There was another angry roar, but it came from far above him.

As he continued as fast as he could, the sounds faded into the background, and when he couldn't hear them anymore, he finally stopped making ice. He was shaking and felt weak and hungry.

Hours later, he once again reached the shimmering barrier above the seabed. As hungry as he was, he was still pulling in specs of energy and turning them to ice.

It should be save, he thought as he slowed. The chances of the Hydra being there should be next to nothing, let alone a second one.

Passing through, he saw that the crustaceans were behaving normally. Fish swam everywhere, and he even saw a few whales.

Finally, he thought as he released his icy state of mind.

A wave of silvery-white energy particles flowed out of him and changed back to deep blue.

With it came an even stronger wave of fatigue and hunger. Jake groaned, the sound echoing far in the water. A scared growl came from Tir, and he turned to see she was fine. With a soft nudge of his nose, he calmed her before looking around. There weren't any blue fish, but a black six-eyed one was hunting a squid not too far away. It was almost half his size, but Jake didn't care.

He was far too hungry.

Without waiting, he surged forward and towards it. Halfway there, the fish turned, its shining eyes blinking before it turned and fled.

Jake didn't hesitate but pulled in energy, his stomach growling in protest as he used his skill. An icy prison formed in front of the fish. It tried to swim around it, but more thin bars of ice blocked its path. Before it could try and force its way through, Jake reached it, and his sharp claws sliced open its belly.

The fight was over within seconds, and Jake released the ice as he swallowed bite after bite of dark flesh.

Dark grey all through, he thought absentmindedly.

A stabbing pain came from his stomach, and he gagged. A second later, there was another one, then another, and he drifted away from the carcass. Poison? The thought barely made it through the fog that grew in his mind. He tried to summon his ice, but nothing happened, and a second later, all he knew was a blurry, hazy pain.

His instincts once again took over.

A lingering fear made him swim forward, slow and unsteadily, afraid someone would see him as prey.

He had no idea how long he swam, but at one point, he realized something was hovering in the water in front of him. Squinting through the white haze, he could only make out a blueish shape much bigger than him. Danger? He tried to turn, but something was holding him in place. Then, he heard a deep, murmuring voice.

"Don't worry, youngborn. You are safe now. I will escort you to Dragoria, where the healers can fix you. Now, sleep..."

A wave of energy and a desire to sleep accompanied the last words. It was so strong that it overpowered any resistance he had.

The last thing he heard was a soft keening howl from Tir and the return of the voice. Slow and drawling.

"Oh my! A nestling!"