Chapter 7: Hatred

A hundred views!  Many of them are probably mine, but, we all gotta start somewhere.  Sorry for the delays, but life has been...challenging, of late.  Anyway, I really like how this chapter came out.  It was originally part of a much larger chapter that was broken up for the purposes of editing.  However, I think I managed to add some good character bits and give it a heart truly its own, which increased its length a bit.  In other words, I like it.  Now, let the crapping on my dreams commence!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Chapter 7: Hatred

             A low gasp forced its way out of Mina's throat as she staggered to her feet.  In front of her, Aeon hung in midair, a trident perforating his skull.  She touched his skeletal hand, but the lich did not respond.

            "One down," a gruff voice called from the ocean.  Looking behind Aeon, Mina saw a man covered in rainbow colored scales standing waist deep in the water, scowling at her behind several rows of serrated teeth.

            The bare-chested creature had short, sea foam green hair and looked almost human, save for webbed hands and fins that ran up his elbows and down his back.  Climbing out of the ocean, Mina saw fins running down the backs of his legs as well, which ended in feet full of thick, webbed toes. 

            Strapped to his left wrist was a spiral seashell that had a tentacle sticking out of it, while a tiny pair of apocra were fashioned to coral shoulder guards.  These creature's had spiny backs, craggy bodies, a curled up tail, and long, tube-like mouths.  Finally, fashioned to the man's belt was a tentacled beast with a head shaped like an arrow.

            Mina tried to take a step back, but the two creatures on the man's shoulders spat water at her with such intensity that it bore a hole into the sand behind her.  The fourteen year old girl froze in place as the scaly man walked over to her, the gills on the sides of his neck flaring.  He took hold of the coral trident embedded in Aeon's skull and pulled it free.

            "Join your master!" he snarled, thrusting the trident at her chest.

            Mina's body tensed and she was about to fall flat against the sand, when suddenly, a skeletal hand caught it mid-stab.  “The aquillans do me a great injustice with this attack,” Aeon murmured, glaring directly at the aquillan.  There was a huge crack along the right side of his skull where the trident had pierced him with several smaller cracks splintering out from it.  Only one of his eye sockets remained intact and his jaw hung loose, barely clinging to the left side of his skull.

            Green flames filled the lich's left eye socket, while Mina thought she saw a green eye surrounded by blue skin through the ruined part of Aeon's skull.  The trident crackled in his hand and ice spread out of his bony fingers.  Traveling up the trident, it licked at the aquillan's hand and he hurriedly dropped the trident, and leapt backwards, though not before his hand and the spiral shell attached to his wrist frosted over.

            "Intruders must be eliminated!" the aquillan snarled, his pink and green eyes fixed on Aeon and Mina.  The tiny apocras on his shoulders spat concentrated blasts of water at the two, but Aeon raised his hand and a thick wall of sand rose between them to absorb the blasts.

            "I thought you were their friend!" Mina exclaimed.

            "As did I," Aeon replied.  With a wave of his hand, the wall of sand collapsed onto the beach and he folded his hands behind his back before addressing the aquillan.  "Explain yourself.  Why have you attacked us without provocation?"  His voice was calm and soft spoken, but Mina shivered at the anger she felt in his words.

            "By order of king Umizano, all intruders are to be slain on sight," the aquillan retorted.  Holding out his hand, the creature clicked his fingers out one by one and long, bluish green nails sprang out of them.  Raising his hand at Aeon, the aquillan charged the lich.

            Aeon raised two of his fingers and sand leapt off the beach, wrapping itself around the aquillan's legs.  The apocra hacked at the sand with his claw-like hand and managed to tear through it.  However before he could take another step, more tendrils burst out of the beach, wrapping around his legs and his hand.

            The aquillan's eyes widened as he fixed them on Aeon.  He struggled to break free of the sand, but could do little more than twist in his bonds.  With great effort, he pulled one of the manacles of sand up to his face and the apocra on his shoulder blew a hole through it, allowing him to pull free.  The aquillan slammed his fist into the arrow-headed apocra on his waist and a cloud of inky black mist burst out of the creature, obscuring the aquillan from sight.

            "Is he gone?" Mina mumbled.

            "No," Aeon curtly replied, reaching down to the ground and placing his hand against the sand.  Mina felt the ground underneath them quake and buckle.  A sound like water getting drained out of a pan came from inside the mist, followed by cursing and a strangled cry of terror.

            Mina could hear thrashing coming from the mist, but it soon faded into nothingness.  "Aeon... are you-?" she murmured, turning her gaze towards the lich's ruined skull.  She winced, but forced herself to not look away.  The cracked skull and his jaw, which was only connected to one side, made Mina's skin crawl but the most unsettling part of him was the green eye which appeared to exist underneath the shattered bone.  It was fixed directly on her.  “Oh, Goddess…” Mina held a hand over her mouth.

“Your concern is unwarranted,” Aeon muttered.  The fractured parts of his skull began to mend themselves.  His jaw righted itself and the deep cracks disappeared.  Ice crept out of the bone and reformed the missing parts of his skull until Aeon's head was whole again.

“Y-you're...how is that possible?!” Mina whispered, her mouth still ajar from witnessing Aeon's recovery.

“My body is directly connected to the Leyline.  I need only draw on its powers to heal myself,” Aeon said, thrusting his hand in the direction of the mist.  A strong wind erupted from his palm and dispelled the mist, revealing the aquillan, trapped in a whirlpool of quicksand that stopped just below his gills.  The man was struggling to breathe.  Floating over to the pit of quicksand, Aeon lifted his hand and the sand rose up, carrying the aquillan with it, until he and Aeon were eyelevel.

“W-wait!” Mina grabbed his hand and lowered it before glancing towards the aquillan, whose face had turned an unhealthy yellow.  “You’re not going to kill him, are you?” she cried.

Turning to look at her, Aeon let out a short sigh and said, "What would that achieve?"

"Huh?"

"People who kill without thought or consequence are pathetically short sighted," Aeon said, letting his hand fall.  The sand holding the aquillan in place collapsed, leaving the rainbow scaled man prone on the beach.  With a flick of his wrist, Aeon dragged a tiny stream of water out of the ocean and directed it into the aquillan's gills.  "Make no mistake." Aeon added.  "Sometimes death cannot be avoided.  However..."

"It's a last resort, right?" Mina said, putting a hand over her chest.  "I guess that's why father slept with a sword under his cot.  Never had to use it till that day, either..."

"Gaggh!  In...tru...ders..." the aquillan groaned, blinking his eyes rapidly.

"Shhh," Mina whispered, lifting his hand up and brushing stray grains of sand from his gills.  "We don't want to hurt you.  Just rest for now."

"Prince...Alnor!" the aquillan grunted.  He rolled out of Mina's arms, pulled a large conch shell out of a pouch on his waist, and blew into it.  A low moan seemed to echo out of the shell before it fell from his lips and he collapsed on the beach.

Feeling at his wrist, Mina closed her eyes for a moment.  "How is he?" Aeon muttered, his eyes fixed on the surface of the ocean.

"He's got a pulse," Mina said, removing her hand and flipping him onto his back.  "Seems like he just fell unconscious."

"It would be wise for us to take a step back," Aeon said, floating backwards a few paces.

"Huh?  Why?  Is something-" Mina started to say.

She was silenced when something massive rose out of the ocean, showering Mina with salty spray and drenching her completely.  Rubbing salt from her burning eyes, Mina looked up and made out the figure of a gigantic creature covered in aquamarine scales.  It did not appear to have any arms or legs, however a long dorsal fin ran down its back and it had a pair of whiskers on either side of its spear-like head as well as a frilly mane of spikes separating its head from the rest of its body.  Glancing down at her, the creature blinked at Mina with four, faceted orange eyes.

"Woah..." Mina exclaimed, wringing water from her hair.  "It...it's huge!"

"Celos," Aeon nodded to the creature, who appeared to nod back.

Slowly, the gigantic creature lowered itself back into the water until only its head was visible.  There, seated on the bridge of the massive creature’s nose, was a troupe of roughly a dozen aquillan soldiers, each bearing a trident and several apocra wrapped around their arms and legs.  Leaping onto the beach, two of the aquillans carried their fallen comrade into the water while the other ten raised their tridents at Aeon and Mina.

"Intruders!  You have trespassed into the realm of the aquillans and attacked one of our soldiers!  For this transgression, you will be summarily executed!" one of the aquillans barked at Aeon and Mina.

Jumping up, Mina darted over to Aeon, wet sand squelching in between her toes, and began to wring out her dress.  "So much for them being your friends."

"You do not seem terribly worried."

Smirking a little to herself, Mina replied, "Call it faith, if you want.  I know you can handle this."

"Do not make light of us!" the soldiers barked.  "We are here to enforce the will of King Umizano, Prince Alnor, and Princess Miriel!"  The apocras on their shoulder guards fixed their eyes on Aeon and prepared to attack.

"Stop!  All of you, stop this!" A commanding voice rang out from beneath the waves, clear as day.  The aquillans backed away from Aeon and lowered their tridents.

The water behind the aquillans foamed up again and all ten of the soldiers knelt down in a row, bowing their heads as the ocean gave way to a scaly, blue creature that had a long, stocky body with two flippers in front of it and one large tail fin behind.  It had an elongated head with several bits of tack attached to it.  Seated atop the creature was a sullen, bare-chested aquillan with his hair styled into a sea foam green mohawk.  The aquillan wore an ostentatious cloak of glowing green kelp and wielded a bejeweled trident in one hand while holding the reins of his apocra with the other.

The giant creature Aeon had called Celos bent down and opened its mouth, letting out a small whimper before stretching out its tongue and licking the aquillan.  “Hehe, it has been too long, Celos,” the aquillan laughed, his glower momentarily vanishing as he patted the beast’s massive nostril.  "Don't worry.  I have no intention of starting a fight with Aeon.  I just wish to talk with him."  Celos bobbed its head up and down happily. 

Turning to Aeon, the creature stretched over the beach and took a sniff of the lich and Mina before licking them several times.  "Agh!  Hey, stop that!" Mina squealed, trying to evade the slimy tongue.  "I just wrang out my dress and...ewwww!  My hair's all sticky now!" she laughed, pulling big globs of slime from her emerald hair, which was sticking up in odd places.

Placing his fingers against his soggy robes, Aeon traced a circle in the air, and as he moved his fingers, the drool lifted from his bones and formed a small bubble in the air.  When he was completely dry, Aeon lowered his hand and the drool fell to the ground, forming a small pool in front of them.

"That's cheating," Mina scowled, flinging slobber from her dress.  "Hmmph...You seem pretty used to this."

"Indeed.  Celos grew up in Acacia," Aeon replied.  "So I am well acquainted with his...affections."

"He..." Mina glanced up at the gigantic apocra.  "Are...are you sure?  I don't think he'd fit."

"Our little leviathan was smaller back then," the aquillan with the mohawk let out a short chuckle as he unseated himself from the blue apocra he had rode in on.  "Celos has grown quite a big since then, wouldn't you say, Aeon?"

"Yes.  I can see that you are caring for him.  Echidna and Dakon will be pleased," Aeon nodded to the ostentatious looking aquillan.

"Prince Alnor, these two are intruders!  They injured one of our-"

"I heard the call," the aquillan named Alnor quickly silenced the soldiers.  "How fares the sentry?"

"He lives, but-"

"Good.  See to it he stays that way.  Now, leave us."

"But my lord, we must stay here to protect you!"

"Take a good look, men," Alnor pointed at Aeon with his trident.  "This lich holds nearly as much power as Lady Marina."

"The...The Drowned Maiden?!"

Alnor nodded.  "Yes.  Believe me, if he were here to wage war or do me harm...I would already be dead."

"Even so-"

"I shall keep Celos close," Alnor said.  "Now please...this is a matter of royal courtesy."

The soldiers bowed their heads and quietly retreated into the water, leaving only Alnor, Celos, Aeon, and Mina on the beach.

“Prince Alnor, with all due respect, you know why I am here," Aeon said, once they were alone.  "However, I have been absent from these lands for nearly a full year.  What could have happened to break our trade agreement?  It was supported by Lady Marina herself.”

With a sigh, Alnor leaned against his steed for support.  "The ocean winds blowing over the coast are foul of late, Frozen Shade," he replied.  "Father has severed all ties with the surface.  And to be frank, I support his decision.  That means we can no longer contribute our hair, scales, or blood for your experiments.  I am sorry.”

“Forget my experiments for now,” Aeon murmured.  “What has happened?”

Alnor's expression hardened and he banged the butt of his trident against the sand.  "We have tried to listen to you and Lady Marina.  To put aside war with the deep dwellers and to make peace with those on the surface.  To trade and become part of Telnumbra.  To our dismay, the council has yet to recognize this."

"I offer my apologies.  We are-"

"I shit on your apologies!" Alnor snarled.  Aeon was silent for a moment, while Mina's eyes widened.  The aquillan's scales were glowing and cast a rainbow of vibrant colors on the sand.  Putting his hand to his forehead, Alnor added, "Forgive me.  That was...uncalled for."

Celos whimpered and rubbed one of his whiskers against Alnor.  The aquillan patted the whisker and let out a sigh.  "Due to our...lack of citizenship..." he continued, "There were no repercussions for the Teythens who killed my mother."

A gasp escaped Mina's lips.  "Goddess..."

"Lady Shalna..." Aeon said, rapping his fingers against his bony chin.

"And so...we have cut our ties with the surface.  If we will not have justice, then we will not continue this...facade of courtesy.  Lady Marina still supports us, but...we want nothing to do with any of you," Alnor turned his back on Aeon and Mina.  "If you return to our territory, I shall be forced to fight you."

Silence overtook them.  Alnor seemed to be trembling, while Aeon merely floated in place.  However, Mina carefully made her way over the sand and tugged on Alnor's cloak of kelp.  The aquillan turned and glared at her.  "What do you-"

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Mina bowed her head.  “I…I know what you must be going through.  Once the shock’s worn off you feel…” Mina lowered her eyes and balled her hands into fists.  “Sad...angry...and empty.  But worst of all, you feel helpless.  I know one thing for certain, though.  Hating them won't bring her back.”

Trembling with anger, Alnor raised his trident at Mina, who stood rooted to the spot.  “Don’t speak as if you can understand, whelp!” Aeon moved in between them faster than Mina could see, but before any blows could be exchanged, a voice called out from the ocean.

“Stop this, Alnor!” the three of them and Celos looked towards the water to see a woman tentatively step out of the ocean.  Her scales seemed to glow even brighter and with more colors than Alnor’s and she was garbed in a tunic made of kelp which ended just below her waist.  The aquillan had a lithe frame and her long, sea foam green hair was tied back in a tail.  Strutting out of the water on webbed feet, she pushed her way between Alnor and Aeon and began to yell at the aquillan prince.

“Brother, this is madness!  Will you truly kill anyone who steps onto our shores?!  Even children and old friends?!”

“Stay out of this, Miriel!” Alnor grunted.  “Father and I will never trust anyone on the surface again!  Not after-” he stopped and his expression softened.

The aquillan called Miriel averted her gaze from his.  “I’m not a child, brother,” she mumbled.  “You don’t have to tiptoe around the issue.  I miss mother too…but how can you turn on your allies?!  Would you treat Lady Marina with such disrespect?!”

"I showed plenty of respect by not attacking these two where they stood!" Alnor yelled back.

"You can't fight the whole world, brother!  We should learn to forgive.  Mother always taught us to live with humility, and-"

"To the Goetian hells with your humility!" Storming over to his steed, Alnor pulled on its reins and led it back to the water.  "Begone, lich," he called back to Aeon.

Bowing her head, Mina stepped forward and addressed Miriel. “I’m sorry...we didn’t know about-”

"No..." Miriel shook her head, "I am the one who needs to apologize, little one," she sighed, bending down and putting a hand on Mina’s shoulder.  “I hope we didn’t scare you.”

“You shame us, Miriel,” Alnor spat, looking back at her from the corner of his eye.

“And you shame our mother’s memory with your disrespect!” Miriel yelled at him.

Glaring back at her, Alnor shook his head and mounted the blue scaled apocra.  “If you were not my sister, I'd slap you."

Floating over to his side, Aeon placed a hand on Alnor’s shoulder.  “I am sorry for your loss,” he murmured.  “Know that I will not trouble you for ingredients again.  Please, carry my condolences to King Umizano.”

Alnor’s expression softened and he sighed.  “Thank you…I will.  However times have changed, Frozen Shade.  No one from the surface is welcome here anymore.  The children of the ocean will handle our own affairs, since the Telnumbran Elder Council has not seen fit to grant us entry into their 'grandiose' confederation.  However, in honor of your efforts for our people, I can at least grant you one hour here to do what you must.  After that, however, you should leave and never return.”

Mina, Miriel, and Aeon watched Alnor pull on the reins of his apocra.  It waddled around and slid into the water before disappearing beneath the waves.

Tearing her gaze away from the ocean, Miriel dabbed at her eyes with one of her webbed fingers.  “Please don’t think ill of him.  I know he was rude and threatened you but-”

“I understand,” Mina said, taking Miriel's free hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.  “When I was younger, I lost my parents too.  So…I know what he’s feeling right now.  And I know what you’re going through too.”

Clutching tightly to her hand, Miriel solemnly gazed into Mina’s eyes and whispered, “I’m sorry…please, forgive us.”

“It’s alright,” Mina forced herself to smile and shook her head.  “Listen, I know your brother’s angry, but if you’re patient with him, he’ll work through it.  What he needs right now, though, is someone to comfort him.  Even if he says otherwise, he doesn’t want to be alone.”

“And my guess would be that you do not want to be alone either,” Aeon said as he floated past the two of them.  “Your bond may save him, if anything can, Miriel.”

“Lord Aeon…" Miriel sniffled, looking up at Aeon who patted Celos’s head affectionately.

“You have had troubled times, old friend,” Aeon sighed, the swirling green flames in his eye sockets fixed on Celos's faceted orange eyes.  “I can see you blame yourself.  Do not.  As big as you are, the ocean is infinitely bigger.  You cannot protect all the aquillans all of the time.”  Nodding, the creature licked Aeon once more before slinking into the water and waiting, eyes fixed on Miriel.

Steeling her gaze, Miriel spoke up once again.  “Aren’t you mad at all?!” she called out to Aeon.  “Aren’t you mad at how my father and brother have treated you?!  How can you be so stoic when people you’ve known all their lives, people you've protected, suddenly turn on you?!”

“What would anger get me, Miriel?” Aeon murmured, floating over to her and Mina.  “I know your lot in life is hard.  It always has been.  Why would I want to make it harder?”

Lowering her eyes, Miriel said, “Our mother spent her life trying to bring the children of the ocean closer to those who live on the surface.  And her death was a tragedy to all of us.  But father and Alnor refuse to accept it for what it really was.”

“What do you mean?” Mina mumbled.

“An accident.” Aeon stated.

Miriel nodded.  “Teythen fishermen caught her in their nets and took her to market.  She probably tried to cry for help, but the night she vanished, the ocean grew stormy, drowning out any sound save for the crashing waves of the ocean.  By the time she was discovered among their catch, she had died from suffocation.”

“Without salt water on her gills for who knows how long…” Aeon bowed his head. “She must have suffered terribly before she suffocated.”

She did,” Miriel wiped at her eyes.  “We know because they returned her body to us out of respect.”

“B-but if that’s true then none of this makes any sense!” Mina exclaimed.  “The people who did this might take from the ocean to feed themselves, but they didn’t mean to hurt her, right?!”

“My mother was beloved amongst our people,” Miriel choked back a sob and put a hand over her mouth.  “My father and the others don’t care about explanations.  They only saw her dead at the hands of those on the surface.”

“What became of the fishermen?” Aeon mused.

“Because they were teythens living on the outskirts of Carmilna, Empress Austarine intervened for them.  Father threatened war if they were not brought before him, but he relented thanks to Lady Marina.  After that, though, everything changed,” Miriel sighed, balling her hand into a fist.

Turning away from Aeon and Mina, Miriel headed over to the water.  “You probably ought to steer clear of us from now on, Aeon.  I don’t want you and Alnor to-”

“We will meet again, princess,” Aeon bowed his head to her.  “In happier times, I imagine.”

A small smile flickered onto Miriel’s face.  “Ever the optimist…” she murmured before diving into the ocean and swimming out to Celos.  They dove into the frothing wake of a few particularly large waves and disappeared.

Mina and Aeon stood and watched the ocean until the sun had dipped below the horizon and dusk swept over them.  “I thought the ocean would be a paradise… a place free of the death and cruelty I’ve seen on land…but the same tragedies occur no matter where you go, huh?” Mina sighed and looked over at Aeon.  “Do you think they’ll be alright?”

“I do not know,” Aeon replied.  “However, they are not alone.  So long as they stand together, they will survive.

“I guess you’re right…” Mina lowered her eyes.  Ambling over to Aeon’s side, she plopped down on the sand and put her arms around her legs.  “So, what will you do about the supplies you came for?”

“If necessary, I can buy the materials I require in the Umbran Bazaar,” Aeon said.

“After this, I bet they’ll be expensive.  Say, how much are aquillan scales, hair, and blood worth anyway?”  Mina asked, looking up at Aeon’s stoic skull.

“Roughly one hundred gold pieces per gram,” Aeon curtly replied.

“Wha-what!?!”  Mina exclaimed, jumping to her feet.  “For that much money, my uncle could close his inn for a whole year and still feed me and Celine!  Where did you get that kind of coin?”

“I am a member of the Telnumbran Elder Council.  As such, I have wealthy allies and my services in the name of the Council do not go unrewarded,” Aeon retorted.  Looking down at Mina for a moment, the lich seemed to hear a tiny gurgle bubble forth from her stomach.

"Ehehe, sorry...I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday," Mina blushed and put her hands over her belly.

Aeon tilted his head to one side for a moment before saying, "Can you fetch some leaves and twigs from those trees?" he pointed towards the tall trees further up the shoreline.

"Ummm...sure, but why?"

"We have a little under an hour left.  It would be wise to make good use of it," Aeon said.

Mina shrugged and skipped up the shoreline, leaving her shoes back with the lich.  She found several wide leafy fronds fallen from the trees, along with a few of the hairy looking fruits, but twigs were harder to come by.  Nevertheless, she managed to find a few sticking out of the sand and gathered up an armful of leaves, twigs, and the hairy fruits before making her way back to Aeon.

To Mina's surprise, Aeon held a large bubble of water in his hand with two live fish in it.  "How did you...when did you...?" she stammered.

"It is a trick Marina showed me a long time ago," Aeon said.  "After all, if one can use magic to control water, catching a few fish should not be a problem.  Provided you know how."

"Well...what are they for?" Mina asked.

Instead of responding, Aeon put his hand against the sand.  The ground quivered and the sand collapsed down to form a tiny pit.  After taking two of the twigs from Mina, Aeon said, "Pile the twigs and leaves into that pit."

Mina did as she was bidden.  Aeon held out his hand and a plume of flame shot into the pit, but rather than burst upwards, it curled around the leaves and twigs, as if they were a bed, and formed a nice, cozy orange fire.  Sharpening the ends of the twigs, Aeon spitted the two fish with them and stuck them in the sand over the fire.

"Here," Aeon took one of the hairy fruits and held out a finger.  A tiny bit of wind seemed to gather around his fingertip, distorting the air around it.  The lich ran his finger along the edge of the fruit, then handed it back to Mina.

The fruit nearly fell apart in her hands, having been sliced all the way through with what looked like a fine blade.  A few tiny droplets of white fluid spilt out of the fruit.

"You may drink it while we wait for the fish to roast."

"Fish to..." Mina stammered.  She looked down at the fish, then up at Aeon, who had folded his hands behind his back and lowered himself to the ground. 

"Regrettably, I do not know any songs appropriate for children," he added, resting his spine against the sand.  "However, if you wish, I can tell you a story or two."

Plopping down on the sand, Mina took one of the fruit halves and downed the white fluid in a single gulp.  It was sweet, but a bit thick and Mina had to force herself not to gag.  She glanced over at the other half of the fruit.  Lapping the sweet juice off her lips, she mumbled, "Thank you, Aeon."

"Hmmm?"

"I know what you're trying to do," Mina said, wiping her mouth.  "You're trying to show me the ocean like I always dreamed...like how my parents and I were going to experience it.  But...what I can't figure out is why.  Why are you doing all this, Aeon?"

The lich looked at her for several minutes, his eyeless sockets swirling with green flame.  Eventually, he picked up one of the roasted fish and handed it to Mina.  "A long time ago...my comrades and I chased a large garm down on this very beach.  The two headed devil put up quite a battle, but we eventually brought him down," Aeon said.

"Hmm?" Mina looked from him to the roast fish before taking it and blowing on it.

"Afterwards, we were all very hungry.  So, we caught what fish we could, took some fruits, and cooked up the garm as well, having a feast and toasting our success.  However, the garm had a bounty on it.  And when we returned the bones to Carmilna to claim our reward, only a fraction of the promised payment was delivered,"  the lich went on, "And so, I took nothing for my share, offering what remained to my comrades.  For it had been my suggestion to eat the apocra."

"I...don't understand," Mina mumbled, taking a bite out of the fish.  The scales were a bit crunchy and Mina had to spit a few of them out, however once she bit through the tough exterior, the meat of the fish was soft, juicy, and had a strong salty flavor, not unlike aurox that had been cooked with shredded garlic.  Chewing thoughtfully, she looked down at the fish, then up at Aeon.  Swallowing hard, she said, "Is this because I got sick?"

"It is my penance," Aeon murmured.

"You...ya didn't have to do all this."

"I know.  However, I believed it was just.  I forced you through a nightmare.  It is only fair that I show you a dream as well."

A brief silence overtook them.  Mina munched on her fish and feasted on the juice of the hairy fruits until she had reduced one of the fishes to bones.  Laying them down on the beach, she said, "Aeon...why do we call some creatures apocra, but not fish and bugs, and other stuff?  I mean...aren't they the same?"

"Most likely," Aeon replied, "However, in my experience, no one is asked to hunt down a fish.  They are asked to hunt down apocra."

"So?"

"So, an apocra is scary.  While a fish is dinner," the lich grinned at her.

"Hehe," Mina stifled a chuckle, "That was a joke, wasn't it?  You have a sense of humor!"

"I never said I did not."

"Haha, Aeon...I don't know why I was so scared of you," Mina shook her head and bit into the second fish.

"I do."

"That's not what I meant," Mina sighed, "It just...seems so stupid now.  After all you've done..."

"You would do well to be less naive, Minava," Aeon said, looking over at her past steepled fingers.  "This could easily be a trick to win your trust.  I might want something of you."

"Ummm...do you?" Mina asked, nibbling on the fish.

"No."

"Well then, there's nothing to worry about," Mina flashed Aeon a smile and went back to her fish.

With a sigh, the lich floated off the ground and turned to face the ocean.  A crackle of lighting from some storm clouds overhead illuminated the water and Aeon began to stroke his chin.  "Hmmm..."

"What's wrong?"

Far out at sea, several bursts of flame were fired off in rapid succession, briefly illuminating the shape of a ship.  "A mage," Aeon said.

"A mage?"

"Yes.  If the situation is as bad as Miriel and Alnor claim, fishermen would need protection to make their livelihood."

The sky crackled again and a bolt of lightning revealed Celos rising out of the churning ocean, looming over the ship.  Peals of thunder burst out of the storm clouds, but they were drowned out by Celos's roar.  Huge jets of water shot out of the leviathan's mouth, knocking several men off deck before a massive shield of flames formed between Celos and the ship, blocking any further attacks.

“Aeon, you have to stop Celos!  He’ll kill those people!” Mina cried out.

“This is the aquillan's territory,” Aeon replied.  “It would be unwise for me to overstep my bounds.”

A stream of flames shot out of the ship and engulfed Celos, however the leviathan was unfazed by the assault and reared back to strike once again.  However, before he could, a huge bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, twisting and contorting until it crashed down on top of the ship.  Instead of splintering it, the thunderbolt seemed to hang over the ship, as if someone had caught it and was holding it in place.

"Goddess..." Mina stammered.

The flames in Aeon's eye sockets swirled dangerously.  "That is dangerous magic.  The mage is using flames to whip up thunderclouds and now aims to bring the full force of the storm down on Celos and the aquillans."

No sooner had Aeon said these words than the lightning bolt twisted away from the boat and struck Celos head on, briefly lighting up the water around him with electricity.  When the light died down, the clouds parted and moonlight streamed over the ship.  Celos fell backwards, a low cry escaping his lips, and crashed down into the waves.  The leviathan's body floated, prone, alongside countless others.

"Celos!" Aeon let out a low growl, but did not move.

"Oh my...we have to help him!" Mina said, starting towards the coastline, only to have Aeon catch her shoulder.

"Wait, Minava."

"Celos could be dying!  And miss Miriel and prince Alnor were with him, remember?!  They could be hurt too!"

"This is not our concern, Minava," Aeon said, his eye sockets still fixed on the ship.  "It would be wise for us to wait and observe how this plays out."

“Is that all you’re going to say?!” Mina yelled.  "Just...wait?!"

Aeon fixed his gaze on Mina, but said nothing.  Even the flames in his eye sockets had died out.  It felt to her as though she truly were looking at nothing more than a corpse.  Cold, unfeeling, and empty.

Stamping her feet in the sand, a single tear fell down Mina’s cheek.  “I…we can’t just leave them to die like that..."

"Minava..."

Wiping tears from her eyes, Mina called out, "I'm going to help!  If we can do something then, just leaving them to die is...is...is as bad as if we killed them ourselves!" her cheeks flushed for a moment before adding, “And if their lives are so damned worthless to you...then you should have let me die as well!”

Turning and running towards the ocean, Mina began to wade into the violent waters.  "Minava!" Aeon's voice called out to her over the waves.

"My uncle taught me to swim in a pond outside of Gesthal, remember?" she said, "I can make it!"

Leaping headlong into the waves, Mina walked as far as her feet would carry her on the ocean bottom then paddled her way towards the ship.  Minutes ticked by slowly and her arms began to burn, however Mina continued paddling and seemed to be drawing near to the ship.  However, her muscles suddenly cramped and her belly let out a baleful gurgle.  Flailing her arms and legs about, Mina struggled to keep her head above water.

The ocean waves crashed over Mina and after swallowing two mouthfuls of salt water, she began to sink.  Her head fell beneath the waves and her eyes burned as ocean water poured over them.  “Am I going to die here?” she tried to mumble, but her words were nothing more than bubbles which floated to the surface and abandoned her.

Just before she closed her eyes, a strong, bony hand pulled her out of the water and onto something cold, but solid.  "You have a reckless streak, Minava.  It is unwise to be so brash."  Looking up, she saw Aeon floating in front of her, while beneath her, a walkway made of ice extended from the shore to their present position.

Furiously sucking in fresh air, Mina looked up at Aeon.  “I-blech…I thought this wasn’t any of your business,” she sputtered, coughing up seawater.

"This land is protected by Marina, the Drowned Maiden," Aeon murmured.  "It would be bad form to take justice into my own hands."

Reaching down, the lich lifted Mina off of the walkway and propped her up on his shoulder.  Blue flames billowed out of his cloak and engulfed Mina, drying her clothes without burning her.  "However, I have waited and she has not intervened.  It would appear that Marina is absent.  As such, I shall act in her stead."

A strangled laugh escaped Mina’s lips and she coughed up a little more water. “Thank you,” Mina whispered, a smile crossing her lips.  She held onto Aeon tightly as he floated towards the ship, a sheet of ice forming on the water around them as he did.