Eryl watched as Hecatolite and Amethyst “trained”, though they called it training, it was painfully obvious that the Chimera was simply playing with her sister. The new appendage Hecatolite had acquired gave her a clear advantage in close combat, easily swatting her sister away no matter what angle the space-mancer attempted. The fight ended the same way the last dozen or so had, with Hecatolite playfully nibbling on the back of a protesting Amethyst’s neck.

“How do you keep blocking me?” Amethyst complained as Hecatolite dragged her back to camp. 

“Experience!” Hecatolite claimed proudly deposing her sister next to the fire, her long tail wagging behind her.

Eryl couldn’t deny the truth in what Hecatolite said. After watching them, it was clear that Hecatolite moved purely on instinct; more than once looking surprised as she countered an attack from a blind spot as if her body knew it was coming before she noticed it. She found herself again thinking about what Himari had shared with her, about Hecatolite battling the primordials; an unbelievable feat if Himari had told the truth... The system did claim she was a universal threat, something on the level of needing the primordial court to counter, yet… even with all her power, I can’t see her as a threat. Eryl thought as she watched Hecatolite playfully nudge Amethyst.  

Eryl let out another sigh, pushing thoughts of Hecatolite out of her mind as she moved to a much more pressing matter. “So, what do you two plan to do now? Will you join the war? Go home and try to bolster your religions?”

Both girls stopped, looking back to Eryl before shrugging. “I didn’t really think about it.” Amethyst said, looking at her sister.

“War is dumb. I say we go home and make stuff to sell…” Hecatolite patted her bare back several times as if searching for something. “Where… is my bag?” she looked to Amethyst who had all their gear, her eyes wandering down to her hips as her face furrowed into a scowl.

“On that note,” Amethyst said, standing up and patting herself. “I’m going to check on Himari” she said, vanishing.

They had taken to splitting the island into two sections, an eastern and western shore and always having someone on watch for ships. A job that fell mainly on Eryl and Himari given Hecatolite’s fleeting attention and Amethyst desire to train near constantly. 

Hecatolite turned her large piercing red eyes to Eryl who sat unmoving as she watched the sea. It only took her a moment to notice the familiar bag on Eryl’s hip, “why do you have my bag?” she asked in a low growl, “I never thought you were a thief.” 

Eryl shook her head, “such accusations are unbecoming X47, I was simply holding onto it while we waited for you to hatch.” She motioned to undo the bag from her hip only to be interrupted by a thunderclap.

“Message from Himari, saintess of the Singularity. There's a ship.”

“Finally!” Hecatolite exclaimed happily, grabbing Eryl’s arm. “Let's go, I don’t want to be left behind!” she said, pulling the taller elven woman along the beach, seeming to forget about her bag for the moment, not that Eryl could complain as she did not want to explain why exactly the bag was nearly empty now. 

“Wolf, get your ass up here.” The captain’s voice boomed through the lower decks of the ship causing several men to groan as they shook their heads.

“What a waste of mana,” Wolf grumbled slowly rising from his seat, taking a moment to stash the book he had been reading into his robes only for another call for him to rang out. “I’m coming, you old bastard.” He grumbled.

Wolf was understandably annoyed; he had only taken this job to get out of Alamgir little did he know what he was actually signing up for. Sure, it may be his fault for not researching the ship more thoroughly but in his defense, not many ships were willing to hire a man on the spot the day of their departure. Beats the inquisition. He thought as he made his way to the stairs.

Wolf may be a coward but he was far from a fool, or so he thought. So, the day the church of Valor called across their nation, he ran. Hearing they were rounding up anyone capable of using healing magic, conscripting them into the army under the guise of needing more healers. Morons, of course they need more healers, it’s a damned war. Wolf sighed, most people saw the call for what it was, after all people capable of healing magic were normally only people of the various religions. 

Sure, they had always been tolerated in Alamgir, other religions, though the treatment had always been… lacking; treating anyone not devoted to Valor as second-rate citizens, but they were still citizens. That was before the paladins began sweeping through the streets, drafting people into their ranks. The first night they came for the well-known priests of the towns; Wolf decided he wouldn’t be there to see what happened next, making his way to the docks and jumping on the first ship leaving port. The Copper Tusk, a simple merchant vessel that had a help wanted sign that stated a need for a mage, extra pay if could read, write, and speak Elven. 

Wolf had assumed they wanted a wind or water mage as most ships used them to speed up travel, and given they were looking for someone who could translate Elven, he assumed they were traveling to Felnnor meaning once they hit shore, he could easily jump ship and start his life over away from that damned war. His elven had been rusty but he was sure he could get by… or so he thought.

It wasn’t until nearly a month at sea did things start getting strange, the first oddity that struck him was the lack of goods for trade. Having searched the ship high and low, he didn’t find a single item he would consider a trade item unless the elves were looking for armaments and cannons. The Copper Tusk was anything but a common merchant ship he found out, as it carried what he could only assume was a small platoon worth of weapons. Then there was that strange magic the other day, one that made his head thobe even now if he thought about it. The strange attack had rendered most of the crew unconscious, drifting at sea for hours as he was the only person who remained awake, though he could only assume it was because of his own magic. The captain had been understandably annoyed at the loss of an unknown amount of time but they quickly corrected their course that put them back on schedule. but the crew's demeanor changed after that. No longer simple sailors as he thought, instead showing much more hostility and threats of relief once they picked up their cargo…

As Wolf crested the deck, he noticed everyone above deck was huddled to one side of the ship, the captain standing on the upper deck quickly beckoning him.

“The hell’s took you so long?” The gruff man demanded waving a massive hand to him. “Come here and tell me what you see.”

Wolf rolled his eyes as he made his way to the captain’s side, looking out over the clear calm ocean. “Water.” He said dryly, causing the captain to slap the back of his head.

“I don’t need your snark boy, there!” The captain pointed to a dot on the horizon. 

Wolf sighed as he noticed the speck of land, “it's an island.” He quipped knowing what the captain wanted at this point. Unlike most of his crew, Wolf had formal magic training meaning his ability to use spells like eagle sight would be much more informative than the crews.

“No, you dumbass.” The captain raised his hand again only to stop as Wolf began casting the spell.

I don’t get what they are all worked up about, he thought scanning the seemingly deserted shore. It's just an island, not like we haven’t seen… Wolf fought the urge to vomit as his body was rocked with an unbelievable fear.

He had only seen it for a moment, barely a second but it would be burned in his mind forever. The burning red eyes that seemed to cut directly through his mind. “we need to get away from…”

His words were cut short as the air around him seemed to explode, every on the deck yelling in surprise as he heard a distinctly feminine voice behind him.

“it's rude to peep at people,” the voice sounded like nails on a board as the words ground into Wolf’s ears, his entire body freezing as he felt a massive amount of magical pressure bearing down on him.