Colin's posts

Karivyn looked at her and nodded.

"You're welcome." he replied with a smile.

With that, they gathered up their belongings, with Adym grabbing both his and Callie's pack, and they made their way to the deck. Once they docked, they dismounted, returning the keys as they did so, and made their way into the port city.

"...where are they?" Adym mumbled.

"Where ARE they?" he asked again.

"Perhaps if we check at the local inn, we may find answers." Karivyn suggested.

Adym nodded and they all made their way to the inn, and Adym approached one of the ladies at the front.

"Excuse me, we're looking for a couple of people." he told her, giving brief descriptions of Kai and Callie.

Kai nodded in response.

"Thank you." he said.

He then headed off, down the hall she had gestured to, and stopped at the last door on the left. He knocked three times as instructed, and waited anxiously, as the door slowly opened.

- - -

Adym looked at the dock anxiously, as the ship approached. He was uneasy, as Karivyn and Sara could tell.

"I'm sure she is just fine." Karivyn told him.

"I know, but I'm still worried." Adym replied.

Karivyn just sighed, and knelt down, gesturing for Sara to climb onto his back. They would be departing the ship within minutes, after all.

Kai nodded in response.

"Thank you very much." he told her.

He then excused himself, and quickly headed to the inn, which was easy to spot. He walked in and made his way to the front, addressing one of the ladies there.

"Pardon me." he said.

"I need to see healer's child." he told her.

"I have someone here that is quite sick, and they're the only one around that can help, I've been told."

Kai's heart sank when he heard that. Of all responses, THAT was the one he wanted to hear the least. A weeks' worth of travel? He didn't know if Callie HAD that much time, admittedly.

However, she had mentioned the healer's child being able to help with minor maladies. He was sure what Callie had wasn't 'minor' at all, but at this point, he would take whatever he could get.

"Well, good enough, given the circumstances." he said.

"I guess I'll see if their child can help me." he told her.

"Thank you." he then said. "Er... can you point me in the general direction of them?" he then asked her, lightly shifting Callie on his back. "I'm afraid I do not know my way around here, as I'm sure it's been made obvious."

Kai lugged Callie onto shore, and hefted her onto his back, before starting to trudge into the port city. He needed to find someone to help her. Anyone. She needed help, and she needed it now.

He approached a middle-aged woman that looked like she was going to the docks for some fish, and cleared his throat lightly.

"Excuse me." he said.

"Where might I find the local healer?" he asked.

"Or medic. Or shaman. Or anyone." he then clarified, trying his very hardest not to let the panic that was storming inside him get the better of him. He needed to at least seem calm.

"..." Kai was silent, before shaking his head.

"You need something to rest on." he told her.

"Use me." he said.

He then lifted her up a bit, and then got under her, so she was sitting on his back, and he was paddling as best he could to keep her above water. It wasn't optimal, but it would allow her a platform to get her lungs somewhat functioning again.

He hoped.

At least, enough that he could get her to shore.

"CALLIE!" Kai shouted, before diving down to get her. He was fast, but she was sinking like a rock. It was alarming how fast it was. However, he was a faster swimmer, and managed to get to her in about 15 seconds.

That being said, he still needed to get her to the surface, and that would take longer.

He put his entire effort into it, and got her to the surface once more in about 25 more seconds... but that was 40 seconds where Callie was underwater, and had been unprepared.

She hadn't taken a breath before going under, odds are she tried to instinctively take a breath when she was down there, and to top it all off, he was sure she was sick, or something was wrong.

"Lyssa!" he exclaimed.

"Lyssa, are you all right!?"

"..." Kai was silent as she said this, and he felt the heat he had.

"I see..." he said.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Like... there anything else goin' on?" he asked her.

"Feeling all right? Just tired, or anything else?" he asked further as he tread water.

'...something doesn't feel right...' he thought concernedly.

"You really don't." Kai responded.

"Seriously, there are things down there that nightmares are made of." he warned her.

"Anyway, let's keep going." he said.

They'd been swimming practically non-stop for a bit, and Kai stopped for a moment to momentarily catch his breath, metaphorically speaking.

"We're almost there." he told her.

"Less than a day to go." he said further.

"You holdin' up all right?" he asked.

Kai nodded in response.

"Yeah. I can. Easily." he told her.

He then let her go so she could tread water, and positioned himself so she could grab hold of his shoulders, which she did.

"We'll get there about a day or so before the ship." he said, as they started to move forward.

"..." he was then silent, before looking back, and then looking under the water. He put his head down for a few seconds, before bringing it back up and sighing heavily in relief.

"Good." he mumbled.

"She's going back down to eat and rest." he said.

"...." Kai was silent for a moment.

"I... ah... I don't think... we need to worry about... more coming." he said.

"And... I'm sorry... but... I don't... I mean... their plans might forever be a mystery." he then admitted. "I couldn't think of any way to really help you or take them down, so... I had to do something I was scared to do..." he went on.

That's when Callie noticed that the sea around them was red. Red with blood. And a lot of it.

"The three that were there are... well... they're dead now." he said further.

"Eaten."

Kai was silent for a moment.

"They?" he asked.

"Who?" he asked further.

"There were only 5 of them right?" he then asked her, before scanning the sky.

"...I don't see any more..." he went on, which meant one of two things.

The first was that they weren't in sight yet for Kai, and the other was that it HAD all been an illusion created by the leader. Or they were real, but turned back and fled before arriving.

The last thing she heard was the drake scream out in pain as she smashes its foot... and as she landed in the water, she saw a massive leviathan-like creature rush past her, breaching the surface of the water.

However, she had little time to pay attention to that, as she was finding herself drowning. Legitimately drowning.

Until she felt hands take her by her armpits and raise her up to the surface, her head breaking it, as she felt water crashing down on her like heavy rain, and the sea around her crash around furiously.

"Don't worry." Kai said.

"It'll subside soon."

"Maybe they're real. Maybe they're not." the drake responded.

"Depends on if you want to roll those dice." they told her.

The one that she was holding grunted in pain, but then spoke.

"Dying from my heart freezing over is still preferable to what the Master will do if we fail." it told her. As it said this, the other drake that was there... the ice one... got closer.

"Besides... I can always grab you." it suggested. "I can take the cold." it laughed.

This caused the other 2 to laugh as well, before the ice one looked down.

"...what is that?" it asked, noticing the rather large dark splotch that was in the water now.