"For the aspect's divine mercy!" Iris cursed as she walked along the grey sanded beach with only rotted remains of an old pier as a sign of anyone living having set a foot on its shore.

 

"What's wrong?" The barefoot girl asked.

 

"I don't even know what I wanted. *sigh* I think I wanted to take one of the ships but that was a stupid idea."

 

"What's a ship?" Kia asked.

 

"Its something you use to cross rivers, lakes, seas. I don't really know how to describe it to you other then a giant hollow tree trunk but that's wrong. When I see it I will point it to you its really something you can only imagine after seeing it." The elf replied, struggling to find words describing the giant sea ferrying vessels that should have been anchored here.

 

"Does it travel on water or below?" On Kia's pale face a frown appeared as she stared at black waves in front of her.

 

"On water."

 

"What spell do they use to do that?" Kia tilted her head.

 

"There are no spells on the ships. At least none that keep it above water."

 

"Its stays on water by itself." The dungeon raised undead seemed to struggle imagining what the elf was describing.

 

"Wow! Sound like fun!" The girl's eyes suddenly sparkled upon hearing the elf's explanation before her confusion deepened. "Then why is it below water now?" She pointed her finger at the sea. Turning around Iris searched the sea, first seeing the white foamy crest somewhere were the waves shouldn't be, before she spotted a pair of wooden pillars sticking out off the water's surface.

 

"I don't know."

 

Kia ran along the shore towards the sunken ship like a dog would after a stick. Iris shooked her head and followed the giggling ancient thinking what life or rather unlife had brought her too. As they got closer Iris noticed the top half of the crows nest was sticking out from the sea, its slightly purplish wood was overgrown with barnacles and kelp.
Kia stopped and turned towards the sea lifting her hands towards the sea, her mouth worked silently uttering and inaudible to Iris's spell.

 

"What the..." The elf's voice got stuck in her throat kept there by the sight that happened in front of her.

 

The snow-white hands of Kia released an invisible to Iris force exerting pressure on the area around the girl in the black dress. The previously clear skies were replaced with dark clouds and the air in between Iris and her was now populated with grey sand particles lifted from the beach in between which magic crackled and sparkled creating beautiful golden blue arcs of magic. The trees growing around the coast bent their trunks towards Kia causing horrible splitting sounds to be heard around. The calm sea turned to being violent and volatile in an instance, the water where the ship had sunk started to act strangely as the main mast rose higher exposing more of the ship's state.

The overgrown and neglected ship which once was the Yorg-Bergs most prized ship, the "Ancestral Flame" the elf recalled began to slowly rise from its watery tomb. Its rotting structure resembling a dead corpse which was being raised from the dead. As the sunken ship rose from its resting place, many separated pieces of it rose along it creating a dense cloud of debris.
The storm which was happening around them appeared to spare Kia, her ebony dress effortlessly defied the sounding gale.
Kia's raised hands began to tremble causing the area to somehow become more volatile with mana acring from her finger tips to the sand below turning it into glass. For what felt like eternity the world trembled under the small girl's might until suddenly and without warning the magical induced storm reseeded with Kia who showed power beyond the realm of mortals collapsed on her back.
Iris who was finally allowed to get closer to Kia ran toward her saviour in an effort to catch her. The tall undead couldn't reach the necromancer in time to catch her and Kia who had falled onto her bottom was staring at her open palms with a questing look.

 

"Are you alright?" The risen asked while hurriedly looking over Kia for any injuries.

 

"Yes." The sitting girl answered with a neutral voice.

 

"You sure?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Are you really sure?"

 

"Yes!" Kia raised her voice trying and failing to slip out from the overly concerned undead.

 

Iris sat down on the grey sand beside Kia who leaned heavily on the elf's shoulder, seeming exhausted by her spell.

 

"That's good," the risen said after some time. "You are unharmed and that's all that matters."

 

"Mm." An unconvinced sound came from Iris's left.

 

"I appreciate the enthusiasm and not everyone can do what you can but it is okay to not be able to do something, you know?" Iris tried to cheer up the girl beside her who seemed to be taking her failure very seriously.

 

Kia looked up, meeting the elf's gaze. "Hhm," She then looked back with a small knowing smile.

 

"What is that supposed to mean?"

 

The girls stay this way silently watching as the sun slowly sets. The full moon shone its silvery light to shimmer from the calm surface of the ink-black sea and Kia's rhythmic breathing synchronized with the waves which washed over the beach. Iris noticed two pale blue flames emerge from the sea followed by gurgling noises. From where Iris sat she could see that the undead which came from the sea was once human, wearing some kind of sailor's uniform which barely held the bloated form of the undead. The sight gave the elf an idea.

 

"Uh."

 

"Good morning Kia, slept well?"

 

"Myesh." She said unsurely while stealing a glance at the elf's thighs.

 

"That's great."

 

Iris waited until the girl fully woke up before speaking again.

 

"Kia, Can you make an undead that can carry us? Preferably on the heavier side."

 

"I-I think I can." Her hand started to gather a familiar magical mist.

 

"Wait-Wait! Just let me tell you what the plan is first."

 

Kia tilted her head questionably but the mist receded from wherever it came.

 

"Since we can't get any ships why don't we walk on the sea floor?"

 

Kia's face frowned upon hearing about the ship which she fail to lift but changed into one of amazement upon hearing the rest of elf's explanation.

 

"So we can still continue our journey!? Iris is a genius."

 

"Yes, but we do have to walk underwater that's why I ask you are you fine with that?"

 

"YES!"

 

Kia's hands were again surrounded by the blue and golden mist but reseeded when she rested her head on her palm.

 

"What are you thinking about?"

 

"About what undead to create."

 

"Something heavy and that can be left without worry."

 

"Ohhh! If you stay here I will come back! Don't look!" Kia dashed into the forest excited about something.

 

After waiting for 5 minutes and starting to worry a bit about the whereabouts of the barefooted girl, Iris began to hear heavy footsteps coming from the forest accompanied by the trees being rustled and moved by whatever Kia had created.

 

"I AM BACK!" Kia burst through the foliage announcing her own arrival.

 

"Yes, I see" Iris came over toward the girl and started to dust off her ebony dress ensuring to smooth out any wrinkles which could have been on her immaculate dress.

 

"Stop Iris I am fine!" Kia huffed at Iris who ignored her creation walking up to them. "Look!" She gestured towards the hulking undead.

 

"OH." Iris straighten herself up and gazed toward Kia's undead. It was the Skeletal Patchwork which Iris had fought but its appearance was slightly different, over its entire body many holes and cracks were visible but were filled with a pitch-black substance looking like a mix between sand, soot and water taken from the sea beside them. The mix gave Patchwork an appearance of being covered in veins of pitch black.

 

"What's that?" The elf said touching the filling.

 

"Oh that, that is some soil infused with death mana so it's utilised more efficiently instead of creating arcs of exposed mana, you know the basics."

 

"Aa." It was the only sound could utter.

 

"So when are we going?"

 

"Now I would say, I don't see a point to linger here.

 

Iris began to undress to only the underwear but halted in mids of it upon seeing the beet-red face of Kia who partially covered her eyes with her hands.

 

"What's wrong?"

 

"W-Why d-do you u-u-undress yourself?"

 

"To not get the clothes wet?"

 

"B-but that can't happen there are enchantments to keep them dry."

 

"I see." Iris scrambled to put her clothes back on but Kia's face remained red.

 

The girls got onto the Patchwork's hands and upon getting themselves comfortable the once area boss silently began his long track towards the north. Slowly the monster bulk disappeared into the black depths of the southern straight. Iris did not feel the coldness of the deep sea, she could sense but it felt detached but she did feel a familiar cool touch of Kia. Iris used her magic to illuminate the darkness finding Patchwork's arm which held Kia drifted closer allowing her to lean on the elf.
She adjusted her position and allowed Kia to rest her head on her thighs.
When she lost the strength to keep maintaining her spell and the magnificent image was clouded by darkness she struggled back to see the sleeping undead for one more moment and the moment after that and the moment after that...

 

---

 

POV Change

"If there was no winter,
It's no secret,
We would melt of heat,
We would be tired of summer.
The snowman would not come
Not even for a day,
And the bullfinch would not sit on the firtree,
If, if, if ..."

 

I was driving in my wagon singing an old song my mom had sung to me many years ago until I heard a heavy *thump* sound somewhere in the wood. I stoped and carefully listened to the sounds around me, there was the singing of songbirds trying to mate, the soft rustle of leaves on the sea breeze and unusually what I could swear are the voices of women.
The old folk always scared children about monsters in the woods but there were relatively nearby Marinya so the chances of meeting a pack of dryads should had been impossible, Aspects bless me so.
My interest peaked over my caution as more strange sounds came from the direction of the sea and I halted my donkey and jumped from my wagon. I walked towards the sound of women speaking, careful to make no noise. Who for Aspects mercy would swim in the sea so far from a city?

As I was walking out from the bushes I spotted two most beautiful women I have ever seen. The first of the women was a girl with straight raven black hair and an extremely pale complexion. Her delicate features were clad in a light dress that looked as if it was consuming all light that touched the fabric exposing only her arms and head were two colour eyes of ghostly blue and molten gold twinkled in light. The colourful eyes tempted their observers to think of them as jewels only to expose beauty superior to any jewel placed on whichever crown of the world after gazing at them for too long. The second woman was an elf taller than the two colour eye girl and of slightly less pale complexion with similarly black hair, braided like daughters of nobles or rich merchants.
She wore a grey leather jacket with matching pants similar looking to the ones worn by adventures. Her amethyst eyes instantly bore themselves into me with a soul crushing gaze as silvery spear glistened dangerously in the light in her hand

Two of them could be easily mistaken for vampires in such circumstances but the sun happily beams down on their exposed skin from above proving their innocence. Not like I could beat two vampires anyway.

 

"Huh!" I and the smaller girl made the same sound as our eyes met.

 

After a moment of silence, the girl in the black dress waved her hand shyly.

 

"H-Hi," I said

 

"Hello." The elf responded in a cold voice.

 

"Could I ask why such elegant ladies are in the middle of the woods?"

 

"...We were travelling and decided to set up camp." The elf stayed silent for a moment but eventually responded with understandable hesitation.

 

"Aaa, yes I understand." I did not trust the elf's explanation as water dripped from their hair but decided to go with it, feeling my stomach fill with butterflies. She spoke in a very old fashion accent of Common Speech but she was an elf so that was to be expected but I there was something off about it. She was an elf yet her voice made me think of a temple rather then anything else.

 

"Kind sir could you tell us a way to the nearest city we appeared to be lost." The elf said relaxing her eyes a little bit all while the silent girl stared at her.

 

"Yea I could even deliver you to Marinya if you want, my wagon is there." I think I figured out why were they were in the middle of the woods.

 

"That will be appreciated."

 

We have walked back to my wagon and upon seeing my donkey the silent girl suddenly spoke a short sentence quietly to the elf. I could not understand the language that she spoke in, but it felt powerful, sending shivers up my spine. Were they both mages? Can a mage be a prieststess, she has that weird aura about her. When we got close to Cana and my wagon she started to freak out resulting in me having to calm her down.

 

"Shh, everything is okay."

 

The silent girl's eyes are trained on poor Cana not breaking the line of sight but then the elf said something in the same language making the girl stop.

 

"Hanz Kawol, nice to meet you."

 

"Iris."

 

"ƘÏÆ?"

 

"W-what?"

 

"Siri." The elf translated the girl's words.

 

The girl looked at the elf questionably but she just nodded.

 

"Alright, here we go" I started my wagon again.

 

The two girls talked little as I noticed more focus on gazing at the endless corn fields. As we got closer to the city my aged heart started to ache from various thoughts.

 

"There are two cloaks under the basket you can take those."

 

"Are you sure?"

 

"Yes, I am just remember to wear them when you walk in the city." I turned around to ensure if elf got the message and she indicates that she does.

 

When we got to the gate of Marinya the line to get past the gate was shorter than usual.

 

"Kowal, Nice to meet you again. What you got there?"

 

"You know me, the same amount of fabrics and mead."

 

"Usual exterminators?" The guard pointed at the two hooded women.

 

"Nah, it's the first time."

 

"Alright, that's 10 silver coins in tax for goods." Said another guard.

 

I handed them their coin and say goodbye to the mysterious girls, later finding 2 silver coins in the back where they sat.