Chapter 70: Emerald (Patreon)

Bilieth and Erebog, while tolerated, were not loved. Not approached to make a race of their own, they performed experiments in secret to uncover the missing piece of creation. They created many horrors in their pursuit before realizing their goal was beyond their abilities. From these experiments, the feralkin were born. Learning from their own creation, they captured the races of the other gods and began to warp them. Through these defilements, many more horrors were brought into the world. However, what came next was even worse. The siblings finally succeeded in their goal and created the races collectively known as the forsaken.

-Unnamed Dwarven Text

—

The next day, they rested, forgoing training and studying in anticipation of another attack. The cloakers were a known threat, and when they appeared they often harried ships until they reached the safety of port. The crew’s spirits were low, as they expected more nights like the one they’d just had.

The watches of the adventurers were adjusted so that the day shift started four hours early and the night shift four hours late. They each then had 12-hour shifts, allowing for two groups to be on watch at night when the threat was greater.

Once his potion wore off, Rakin alternated his time between meditating and staring longingly at the remaining two potions. He had the self-control to not down them needlessly to banish his misery, but not to forget about them. Aside from the battle against the sea sickness, Rakin had the inner battle with his primal powers. If he let slip his fire here, the ship wouldn’t survive the heat long, and would quickly go up in flames.

“I thought I was getting better,” he moaned at the beginning of the next shift. “But, I was just getting used to the misery.”

Kole had used his spellbook to help him recall the battle and count how many times he’d used the rod. He’d been surprised with how vivid the recollection was when writing down the details of the events and had to consider how this feature could be useful in the future.

He found he’d fired four times, but that only left six more uses in the rod before it fell apart on him, and he would prefer to stop at nine lest he risk breaking it earlier than expected. He had dropped the rod once and worried that could have harmed its integrity. 

After finding this out, Kole spend some time that first day alternating between working on Shield and Thunderwave, but he couldn’t focus. The thought of those manta ray monsters returning made each expended grain of Will feel like a risk.

Well, it’s not like I’ll be able to use it all. Kole thought as he considered his limited rod uses.

***

When darkness fell on the sea, the crew of the Damsel turned the deck lights on high and remained on high alert. Kole’s party started their shift, joining the day shift who remained active.

Kole had thought long about his plan for the day and decided to utilize his Invisibility in the absence of any offensive magic. The night before had shown the cloakers relied on sight to find their prey, and Kole planned to take advantage of that.

The creatures were smart enough to recognize a person with a crossbow as a threat, but only if they could see it. Kole wasn’t particularly gifted with the crossbow—as the deck crew was quick to point out that day as he practiced—but it didn’t take much skill to hit the massive flying beasts.

The ship had a stock of broad head bolts designed for use specifically against flying creatures of the seal, and the crew assured him his aim would be good enough if he could remain undetected. 

So, with a crossbow in hand, Kole stood on the deck looking out into the sea, Invisible and waiting as night set in.

Rakin was once more experiencing the effects of the sea, while Zale and Doug were walking the perimeter, scanning the sea with their enhanced visions. Zale’s Willsight let her spot the creatures as they neared the surface, and Doug’s ability to see in the dark made it possible for him to see the dark shapes beneath the water.

On this night, however, it was a halfling on the ship’s crew that raised the alarm. As enhanced as Kole’s friends’ vision was, they couldn’t compete with two dozen sets of eyes set to scanning the sea.

At the alarm, everyone on deck, adventurer and sailor alike, drew their weapons and fell into groups near the center of the deck. The cloakers had only been interested in taking captives as prey, so there was no need to defend anything but each other.

Kole had asked why they couldn’t simply hide below deck, but the sailors knew that wouldn’t work from past encounters. The cloakers were not common, but everyone at least knew someone who’d battled them. When the crew abandoned the deck, the semi-intelligent monsters would trash the deck to draw out prey. They knew that if they caused enough destruction someone would come out and offer themselves up on a platter.

The second night saw Kole using his Will exclusively to turn Invisible, though he did use one of the few remaining blasts of his rod to save Doug when a cloaker snuck up on him. For that night’s battle, Zale and Rakin stood a few paces apart with Doug between them firing arrows at the flying monsters. Rakin only took a small sip of the potion this night, which just barely made him combat ready.

Kole stood Invisible, off to the sky, and fired a crossbow bolt whenever he drew a line on a cloaker flying straight over him.

While Invisibility was both cheap and easy for Kole to cast, keeping it up was a delicate struggle, and the focus it took to aim and fire the crossbow, coupled with the shock of the firing never failed to break him from his invisibility. When this happened, Kole would dive into the safe pocket Doug sat in and reload, occasionally picking up an ax and finishing off the dying cloakers on the deck.

The cloakers came at them all night in waves. They’d dozens would swarm the deck, and then they would disappear, reappearing minutes or hours later. With each wave, the crew would kill dozens, but the next attack would come seemingly undiminished.

Doug took out the most monsters out of any of the combatants aboard the ship. The cloakers avoided the reach of melee fighters, only getting in close if they thought they could grab a sailor and take them overboard. Usually, this happened when a sailor broke from their group for one reason or another. The archers and crossbowmen of the crew and adventuring teams were given a wide berth when ambushes fell.

Despite the crew’s strategy, they lost two more men that night over the edge, and a few more to injuries. As soon as the sun set, the crew relaxed, and went down to a skeleton crew manning the sails as everyone rested for the next night.

Kole passed out as soon as he reached his bunk, exhausted from both Will drain, and the physical exertion of loading the crossbow and swinging the deck ax.

***

Kole was woken sometime later by Zale.

“The other adventuring parties are about to discuss a strategy for tonight. We’re wanted.”

He made his way up on deck and found nearly all the crew gathered around the command crew and adventurers. The sailors parted for Zale and Kole, giving them appreciative nods.

“Why are they attacking us?” someone asked.

“Fauell if I know!” the captain shouted. “They’ve been known to do this. Mindless attacks, seemingly without end. No matter their losses.”

“Then we need to turn back,” one of the other adventurers said to the captain.

“We can’t,” the captain said with a sigh. “You were paid to defend this ship, so you need to do it.”

This argument had clearly been going on for some time, and Kole was just catching the tail end of it.

“So,” the captain continued, “If there’s no more complaints, let’s have a productive conversation.”

What followed could generously be called a discussion, but was mostly a group of adults—and four adolescents—yelling their own opinions. Zale eventually got everyone’s attention when she vanished into black smoke and reappeared on top of a barrel.

Kole could tell even she was surprised by her success at appearing where she’d meant to, but she didn’t let that stop her. The feat distracted everyone enough for her to impose some order on the group, and eventually, a plan was established. The crew and adventuring teams then broke up to practice and prepare their own parts, and Kole was left alone on the deck, not having been given anything to do.

“What about me?” Kole asked Zale, catching up to her.

“Honestly?” she said, “I think you should go work on your spells. If this is going to keep happening for the whole month, you could make some real progress. Thunderwave would be incredibly useful. Your tactics last night were effective enough, so go try to unlock something new.”

Kole nodded and went below deck, disappointed though he knew that hadn’t been a dismissal. His tactics the night before had been good. He had taken out three cloakers and harmed even more with his shots, not even counting those he finished off that fell on the deck.

He tried to see Zale’s suggestion as the vote of confidence in both his prior performance, and potential magical improvements it was, but he couldn’t help but have a bit of a pity party as he sat below deck, listening to Rakin’s moans beside him and the frantic feet above deck.

Luckily for Kole, his self-doubt couldn’t compete with his narrowed-minded focus, and he quickly lost himself in his work.

He spent the remainder of that day pathing Thunderwave, taking the occasional break to work on Shield. He was closest to a breakthrough on Shield, but it wouldn’t be the most useful. He’d found that switching between spells allowed part of his mind to work on other issues, much like taking walks let him clear his head—not that he remembered to do that often. 

With only an hour left before his shift, Kole slammed his spellbook shut. He wasn’t close to making any usable progress on either spell, and he’d begun to grow frustrated. He’d known this would happen before even starting the study session, but like with his dismissal before, he couldn’t help but be disappointed.

His eyes caught on the blasting rod on his makeshift desk of stacked crates, and it brought him back to when he’d first met Amara.

I never asked her how she knew I was there, he realized. It was probably Gus. He decided after some thought.

“I wish I had that stupid gem,” He mumbled to himself out of frustration, not that he’d ever have taken that out of the crafting building and risked losing it.

Done studying for the day, Kole took his spellbook and moved to put it back into his bag, but when he opened the back, his eyes caught a glint of green in the glow of the light runes.

He froze and then reached into the bag unbelieving. He found a small smooth cut object inside, and his sense of the Will within proved his suspicions right, even before he drew it out.

In his fingers, he held Amara’s emerald, filled with the intent of her repair runes.

“What in the realms?” Kole whispered.

“Stop flooding talking to yerself!” Rakin cursed, throwing a pillow at Kole.