Chapter 31

            The group settled on a marching order without much debate. Nanora took the lead with her dowsing rod to help narrow down the exact spot of the portal. Next came Vince, since his enhanced strength and speed would let him react to danger the quickest. Luis and Murphy followed behind him, and Bayla brought up the rear. Her head kept swiveling around as she kept up a steady pattern of clicks.

            “Would you cut that racket out?” snapped Murphy.

            “It is my echolocation,” said Bayla. “It will help me spot any ambush.”

            “Or tell whoever’s chasing us right where we are!” he said.

            “He might have a point, Bayla,” said Vince. “Wouldn’t the underbrush block the sound signals?”

            She pouted at him a moment, but relented. “I do not like walking down this clearly marked path. Our enemies could be waiting for us.”

            As if to reassure Bayla, Nanora’s dowsing rod jerked to the right. “Oh my, that was a major shift. The portal doesn’t usually move quite so much.”

            “So we’re going to be walking in circles,” said Murphy as Nanora took them off the beaten trail. “Just great.”

            It did not take them long before Nanora stopped in front of a thick tangle of blackberry bushes that extended deep into the underbrush.

            “I could fly you across one at a time with my staff,” said Nanora.

            “You’re a witch, right? Why don’t you use a fireball or something?” asked Luis.

            “I am a bit of a specialist,” she said. “Humans generally do not command the elements like that. It’s why I rely on my summons, but none of them would really be much help here.”

            “Besides, there’s a burn ban in effect,” said Murphy. “Now, if you could summon a bunch of goats, then we might get somewhere.”

            Nanora grinned. “I would love a goat summon. Their rectangular eyes are so adorable!”

            “Focus.” Vince reflexively checked his knife sheath before remembering the poor blade’s fate. “Nuts, ruined my favorite knife.”

            “Hm? How did you do that?” Nanora fished the newer blade from her satchel. She had wrapped it in a piece of cloth in the same white and gold as all of her other clothes. “I thought you simply had two of them. I’ve had this the whole time.”

            Vince’s face lit up. “Nanora, you’re a lifesaver!”

            “She has it because she tried to slay you and capture me,” said Bayla. “Do you recall?”

            Nanora gave an awkward chuckle as she returned the knife to Vince. “I have made amends for that by now, haven’t I?”

            “Of course,” said Vince. He hacked away at a few of the thorny stems. “This is going to be slow going. I wish I had a machete instead..”

            “You can make any blade you like,” said Bayla as she came up alongside him and caressed his right arm.

            “I can?” asked Vince.

            Bayla let out an inquisitive chirp. “It is the same magic I used to make the spears. You created the full set of armor; a larger blade should be easy.”

            “No way,” said Vince. “Using that burned me out, remember? I’m still sore after that! I’m not about to risk using it again for some bushes.”

            “Not the full armor,” said Bayla. She pulled a water bottle from the side pouch of Vince’s backpack. “Here, catch.”

            “Hey, that’s my last one,” he protested.

Bayla paid him no mind, pouring a dollop of water onto his right hand. All that accomplished was watering the blackberry vines.

“What was that for?” asked Vince.

“Where did you think that Aqua Armor came from?” she asked. “Do you not feel its pull? Can you not hear the call of the water, waiting for it to answer yours in turn?”

“I mostly feel wet,” said Vince.

“You made that spear,” said Luis. “Just make him a machete and let’s get moving.”

“Because Marazza is out there,” she said. “These thorny plants will not try to eat Vince while he figures it out.”

“I’m not sure what there is to figure out,” said Vince. “That was just water.”

Bayla cocked her head at him, her whale whistle carrying a questioning tone. “That makes your performance at the beach all the more impressive. It was like leaping from the water before you learned to swim.”

“I thought you made that armor,” he said.

“I started it, but you finished,” she replied. “I pulled the water from the air and surf to protect you, and I expected that you would need my assistance to keep its form. However, you instantly shut me out. Your drive to protect me gave it form.”

“While it lasted,” he said.

Bayla smirked up at him. “You will learn with time. You are not a child of the sea like me; I suppose it only makes sense you would struggle. Try this.”

This time, she dumped the water on top of his head, sending icy tendrils down his neck. He might have welcomed the feeling when they were hiking down the beach, but the forest’s thick canopy blocked most of the sun’s rays. It was almost chilly, at least for June.

That discomfort turned out to be the key; he wished the liquid would go away, and it did, exploding into a fine mist all around his head. Errant sunbeams formed rainbows throughout the haze.

“Yeah, yeah I felt it,” said Vince. The mist clung all about him, but another command gathered it near his free hand. He imagined it gathering into a ball, like he had seen Bayla do several times, and the floating spray coalesced. “Alright, now what?”

“You can move it, but now you must command it,” she said. “Imagine it collecting on the end of your blade to lengthen it. Good, good. Now imagine it hardening.”

“Like this?” Vince let out a cry as the water envelope around his hand froze solid.

Vince’s face burned again, but for different reasons. Bayla didn’t have to laugh quite so hard.

“No, not quite,” said Bayla, running her hand down the frozen knife, restoring the water to its liquid state. “You imagined it hardening as water does. A useful trick on a warm day, but not what is needed now. Instead imagine it hardening like iron.”

            Vince shut his eyes, trying to visualize the flowing plate armor from before. “Can’t you get me started, like last time?”

            “We cannot rely on that,” she said. “If you have the patience to hike, surely you can master this!”

            Vince was not sure how long he spent in meditation, trying to force his will on the water. It was surprisingly easy to move around once he heard what Bayla had named its ‘call’, but it did not take kindly to being made something other than ice.

A commotion to his right pulled him out of his reverie. What he thought was an attack was Murphy using his own knife to hack at the blackberry bushes. The switchblade was shorter than his own Bowie knife, but he was at least making progress.

“What’re you doing?” demanded Vince. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Better me than some monster,” he said. “We’re burning daylight waiting on you.”

“Constable, you can be kinder about it that that…” said Nanora, her silvery eyes full of pity.

Humiliation turned to anger, and the gathered water obeyed his command at last. He must have been thinking of Schneider’s fanciful sword, Orcbiter, as the elaborate hilt and jagged blade lengthened until it was as long as his arm.

He twisted the extended blade. “Huh, and it doesn’t feel much heavier than the Bowie knife…”

Bayla preened with obvious pride. “A fantastic magic, is it not? We use it to reinforce our dorsal fins to the length of a whole whale. Many a Landman warship has learned of its power.”

“Seems like a waste to use it on blackberry vines,” said Vince. “Oh well. Murphy’s right. We’re burning daylight.”

*****************

It was slower going to cut their way through the underbrush, but the dense thickets eventually gave way to a clearing. Vince was thankful; enhanced strength or no, his right shoulder was beginning to ache.

After another half hour, he spotted the old Greene Point lighthouse peeking between the gaps in the forest’s canopy. “Are we close, Nanora?”

The witch examined her dowsing rod, frowning to herself. “The rift in the Veil seems to have settled right on the lighthouse itself.”

“That’s going to be a problem,” said Vince, adjusting his backpack. He had to periodically check that it was still there; if Murphy had felt suspiciously light, the now familiar weight felt like it was nothing at all.

“Why’s that?” asked Luis.

Vince shot his friend a sardonic grin. “You wouldn’t be asking that if you ever came up here with me.”

They emerged from the tree line onto a grassy outcropping above a rocky beach, disturbing a lone crow in the process. Luis’ muttered curse told Vince he understood the dilemma at once. The recently renovated lighthouse had been built on a rocky outcropping a good hundred yards from shore. Swimming out that far was risky, even when the seas were not so turbulent. Between the waves and the murky sediment, Vince could not see the sea floor.

Not that Bayla seemed to be too concerned. The rest of the group had stopped to take stock of the situation, but she pressed on.

“Hey, wait!” Vince came up alongside her. “Where are you going?”

“To swim across,” she replied. “It should be simple enough; it is barely half-stormy.”

“Remember what happened last time you went for a swim?” He shuddered at the memory. “Besides, it’s deeper there than it looks.”

“It should not be an issue this time,” she replied. “I will simply will myself to stay as a Landmaiden and swim over. You Landmen swim all the time, yes?”

“Not in water like that,” said Vince. “We can’t deal with the undertows like a whale can.”

Bayla shrugged. “Even if I do change into that mermaid form from before, I gained control soon enough. I simply need to keep my head above water while I transform this time.”

“Absolutely not!” said Nanora. Her normally cheerful tone was replaced with one of exasperation. “I am deadly serious about your morphic field! We don’t know what kind of long-term harm you are doing to yourself changing back and forth so rapidly!”

Bayla cocked her head. “If you insist. Then how exactly will we get across?”

Nanora hefted her staff. “It will be a bit cramped, but I should have no issue flying us back and forth.”

Vince glanced around, pointing at a weather-worn sign from the National Park Service explaining all about the history of the lighthouse. It sat next to a plaque explaining that it had been produced by the Civilian Conservation Corps. “That’s risky. We got here by going the long way, but one of the main hiking paths empties out around here. What if someone sees you?”

“I could hide us with my Aqua Armor,” said Bayla.

“That only helps when she’s hauling you across,” said Vince. “Maybe we can find a boat. Oh, Bayla, you’ll have a lot of water to work with, right? Maybe you could make us a boat.”

Bayla hesitated. “I could, though it would be rather draining. At least, to make one large enough for the five of us.”

“And that doesn’t help us once she’s gone back home,” said Murphy. “Seems to me that Nanora’s calling for help first, right? She just needs to get over there herself and get that witch cavalry she promised us. The rest of us can take a break.”

Even if bygones were supposedly bygones, Vince found himself wanting to disagree with Murphy on principle. Can’t think of a reason to this time, though. “You alright with that, Nanora?”

The redhead shook her head. “I should take the princess with me. The rift has shifted a few times today, and we may need to rush through.”

Vince felt a weight on his shoulders, and it was not his back finally noticing the backpack. But what if I don’t get to say goodbye?

He shook his head. Not the biggest concern. “Alright, you two get going. If there’s time, you can haul us across.”

“Splendid,” said Nanora, sitting astride her broom. She scooted back towards the crystal at the business end of the staff and gestured for Bayla to join her. “Come along, Princess.”

Bayla hesitated, casting a longing look Vince’s way. There seemed to be something she wanted to say, but she frowned when she noticed Murphy and Luis still there. “She shall be back for you,” she declared as she took a seat ahead of Nanora. “How do you use this contraption? This is so uncomfortable!”

“One becomes used to it,” replied Nanora. She pushed off the ground, an unspoken spell reducing her staff’s weight to send them skyward.

“Stay low,” shouted Vince.

“Oh, right,” said Nanora, dipping down to ride just over the surf. “It would not do to be seen.”

Once the redhead and orca were on their way across the water, Luis collapsed onto his rear. “H-hey man, I know that water’s your weapon and all, but could I get some?”

He nodded, handing Luis his water bottle without taking his eyes off the girls. A sense of dread gnawed at him even as they neared the small platform at the base of the light tower.

“Take a breath, son,” said Murphy, clapping him on the back. “It isn’t healthy to be wound so tight.”

Vince followed the older man’s advice, feeling the tension leave his shoulders. He was just about to thank Murphy when he spotted a dark shape take form directly beneath them. Before he could blink twice, something enormous and scaled breached the water, its form obscured by a spray of water. Vince could make out a mouthful of triangular teeth snapping at the air where Nanora had been. The witch had managed to dodge the strike and keep her balance even as she braked and juked around the attack, the fruits of years of practice.

Bayla had no such practice, and Vince’s heart stopped as she was catapulted face first into the drink.

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