Chapter 8: Protector
When Mina and Aeon drew close to the ship, they saw the
aquillan soldiers who had accosted them on the beach floating facedown in the
water. Though the waves jostled their bodies,
they remained completely motionless.
Mina averted her eyes and put a hand over her mouth. "Goddess...this...this is
horrible," she murmured. "Are
they all dead?"
The sheet of ice underneath them expanded and lifted the
aquillans out of the ocean. Aeon floated
down towards one of the soldiers. His
body was covered in burn marks and his pink and green eyes were bulging out of
his head in a visage of stunned horror.
"There may be survivors," Aeon said, closing the aquillan's
eyes. "We must check
everyone."
Close to the bow of the ship, Celos let out a pitiful
whimper. Both Aeon and Mina turned to
face the leviathan. His entire body was
smoking and had black burns running up and down it. Several scales had been peeled off by the
thunderbolt and his eyes were wide and unfocused. The pair floated over to the leviathan and
Aeon placed his hand against the side of Celos's head. White light poured out of Aeon’s palm,
enveloping Celos's body in a gentle glow.
The black marks began to recede and Celos's eyes managed to focus on
Aeon and Mina. Shaking his massive head,
the leviathan let out a weak screech.
“You need not worry.
This one is determined to help your friends,” Aeon murmured, jutting his
thumb at Mina. “And I will assist her as
best as I am able.”
Scampering off
the lich's shoulder, Mina fell onto the ice with a sharp thud. "I'll go check the others while you heal
with Celos," Mina said. She climbed
to her feet and made her way over to a downed aquillan, careful not to slip on
the ice. A blue apocra with an elongated
head which was covered in sickly reddish bruises was nuzzling him. Giving the beast a reassuring pat, Mina felt
the aquillan's wrist. “Aeon! This one’s alive!” she called, rolling the
aquillan over. "It's...it's prince
Alnor!"
“Y-you!?!”
Alnor choked, spewing reddish purple blood all over his chest.
Floating over
to his side, Aeon placed a hand to Alnor’s burns and white light began to wash
over the aquillan's body. “You are
lucky, prince Alnor. Your wounds are not
as severe as some of the others,” Aeon muttered, moving his hand back and forth
over Alnor's burns.
“P-please, you’ve got to save her!” Alnor’s trembling hands grabbed Aeon’s
wrist. “They’ve got Miriel! The...the teythens came and were fishing,
and....and...they caught her!" he panted.
"We heard her cries and went to save her, but...a mage...so
powerful..." Alnor grunted, laying his head back on the ice.
“Rest
now. Think about your own wounds,
before-" Aeon murmured.
“Please! You want
my scales?! You can rip them from my
hide!” Alnor screamed, tears blossoming
in his eyes. “Pull out every strand of
my hair, drain me of my blood, tear the flesh from my bones if you want, but
please...please save my sister!”
“We will,” Mina clasped Alnor’s hand. “We’ll save everyone that we can, including
Miss Miriel.”
Aeon turned his skull to face Mina and watched her for a
moment in silence before floating back into the air. "If we are to do that, time is
short," the lich said, holding out his left hand. "First, we must deal with the
wounded."
Spheres of red and black light formed above each
finger. One by one, Aeon flicked the five
spheres onto the ice spread and five circles of ethereal light formed on the
ice. Within each circle was a pentagram
and in the center of the pentagrams was a symbol that resembled a mortar and
pestle. Five hoodedfigures in tattered
red robes rose out of the circles of light.
Pulling back their hoods, revealed that they had a smooth heads with no
eyes and only small slits for his their mouths and noses. Holding their robes open, Mina saw that they
were not robes at all, but pieces of skin hanging down from their arms. They had the bodies of emaciated men and
within their flaps of skin were pockets which held an innumerable amount of
surgical equipment, from herbs and multicolored vials to needles, sutures, and
bandages.
“Tend to those who remain," Aeon said. "Most have significant burns and may be
close to shock. Make sure they do not
die." Four of the figures bowed
their heads and went to work on the aquillans who lay unconscious on the
ice. One of the figures began speaking
in a language Mina could not understand.
It seemed to be made entirely out of moans, grunts, and sighs. "Tend to Celos and Alnor's kelpie as
well. They will take more time, but are
in no immediate danger. You may save
them for last," Aeon said in response.
The final figure bowed his head and shuffled over to the leviathan,
pulling out long strings of herbs from his skin flaps as he did so.
"Aeon...why are you doing this?" Alnor coughed,
splattering more blood onto his chest, while one of the faceless men began to
rub a salve into his burns. "After
all I said...after everything..."
"Even so," Mina said, patting Alnor's hand,
"We couldn't just let you die."
"It is as she says," Aeon nodded. "Alnor, before we go...are you certain
Miriel is still alive?"
"She..." Alnor averted his eyes, "I saw
her gills flaring, but...she was not moving."
"I see..." Aeon mused, stroking his chin. Holding out his hand, he began to chant. “One who travels through the dreams of men,
you, who steal the soul but satisfy the body, I call on your body, I call on
your mind, I call on your heart...seductress, bind yourself to me in this
contract! Kinana!” A sphere of pink and black light formed in
Aeon’s hand, which he promptly dropped onto the ice. A moment later, a pink and black circle
formed on the ice with a pentagram inside and a heart shaped sigil in the
center of the upside down star. Pink smoke
billowed out of the circle which quickly took on the form of Kinana, yawning
and rubbing her eyes.
“Uwaaa!” she
let out a groan and stretched her arms over her head. "I thought you told me to get some
rest. If you were just gonna call on me
again..." Kinana froze in place and glanced around at the wounded
aquillans on the ice spread. “Crap…this isn’t a social call, is it?”
“Miss Kinana?”
Mina mumbled.
“Little Mina?" Kinana raised an eyebrow. "Aeon, what in the Goetian hells is
wrong with you?!” Kinana snapped at the lich.
“Why would you bring her to a place like-”
"An aquillan lies dying on that ship," Aeon cut
her off and pointed to the vessel behind them.
"Are you strong enough to support her?"
Glancing from Aeon's stoic gaze to Mina, who seemed to be
pleading with her eyes, Kinana nodded.
"I'll manage."
"Then we must go," Aeon said, floating into the
air and onto the deck of the ship.
"You're a magnet for trouble, you know that?"
Kinana smirked and scooped Mina into her arms.
"I...I don't mean to be!" Mina blushed and
puffed out her cheeks, as Kinana flapped her wings and rose into the air.
The succubus
touched down on the ship next to Aeon.
At the bow of the ship was a grizzled man who looked to be in his
forties, garbed in a crimson robe with streaked back, fiery red hair and a
scowl adorning his face, which had a large scar running across his nose. He held Miriel up by her sea foam green
hair.
"Release
her! We never said ya could have one of
the children of the ocean!"
Turning
towards the stern of the ship, Mina and the others saw nearly a dozen men with
pallid skin and fangs jutting out of their mouths. Each man was garbed in clothes soaked with
salty spray and had light burns adorning their skin. Five of them charged at the grizzled man in
red, throwing their hands out in front of them.
The air distorted and seemed to crash towards the man in red, but he held
up his free hand and fire wrapped around it.
He flung it out in a curved wave, which dispersed the distorted air and blew
the pale fishermen into their companions at the stern.
"I
thought the mage was on their side," Mina whispered to Aeon.
"It would
seem that there has been a disagreement," Aeon said.
Turning to
Aeon, a smirk crossed the grizzled man's face.
“More lambs ta the slaughte-” the man's words died in his throat when Aeon
held out his hand and a wave of ice crashed over him, completely immobilizing
him.
“Miss Miriel!”
Mina called, scampering out of Kinana's arms and over to Miriel. The grizzled man's frozen hand held tight to
Miriel's hair, but after a few experimental pulls, Mina managed to free
her.
Laying Miriel
down on the deck, she felt her wrist.
Mina's eyes widened and she let Miriel’s arm drop. “Sh-she’s dead!”
Flying to her
side, Kinana lifted Miriel into her arms, jammed her tail into the aquillan's
neck, and began pouring fluid into her.
Kinana grimaced and a vein in her forehead bulged out as the fluid
entered Miriel's body, but she persisted.
"Anything?!" she grunted.
Frantically
grabbing her wrist again, Mina numbly shook her head. Clambering all around her were the sailors,
beating their brows and gnashing their teeth at the sight.
“No…a child of
the ocean…”
“P-please
forgive us! We didn't mean for this ta
happen!”
“W-we never wanted ta hurt any of ya! We just wanted ta feed our families!”
Brushing through the small crowd, Aeon floated over to
Kinana. Putting his left hand to
Miriel’s back, Aeon held out the index and middle fingers of his right hand,
which began to crackle with electricity.
White light flooded into Miriel through her back while Aeon pressed his
fingers between her breasts. A surge of
electricity ran through Miriel's body and she bucked in Kinana's arms. Feeling for her pulse again, Mina tuned to
Aeon and shook her head. Aeon tried
twice more, each time using more electricity.
On the third try, Miriel’s eyes flashed open and she coughed up a large
glob of reddish purple blood onto her kelp tunic.
“She’s
alive!” Mina yelped, a tear playing at
her eyes.
“Kinana, I trust you can keep her stable?” Aeon mumbled.
Kinana nodded, her tail pouring more life energy into the mermaid. "You," the lich glowered at the pale
skinned men. "You are teythens,
yes?"
"Aye, we are," one of the teythens nodded.
"Then move them to the stern of the ship and look
after them. I shall see to the
mage."
The pallid fishermen stood up and formed a ring around
Mina, Kinana, and Miriel. They all
raised their hands and the three of them gently floated into the air. As a group, they moved back to the stern of
the ship and a few of the teythens made a crude bed out of netting and clothes
to lay Miriel on.
Glancing back
at the bow, Mina saw the ice holding the red haired man crack and shatter as
flames slithered up and down his arms before disappearing inside his
cloak. “Hmmm…well, this is a
predicament,” he muttered, taking out a pipe and lighting it with a spark from
his finger. After exhaling a large plume
of smoke, the man said, “Judging from yar appearance, ya’re only a fledgling
lich. Born in the last decade or two,
I'd wager."
"You
would wager incorrectly," Aeon muttered, folding his hands behind his
back.
The grizzled
man let out a snort and a deep bellied laugh escaped his throat. "Hahaha, would I now? Look at ya.
Ya can barely maintain a cloak of magic ta shield yar corporeal
form. And the one ya've got is pretty
poor besides. Doesn't even have
legs." Taking another puff of his pipe, the man sighed and added, "I
used up more energy than I thought.
Shoulda kept my guard up. Now
I've gotta reclaim what's mine."
"I cannot
allow that," Aeon said, floating towards the man. "Hear me. If you retreat now, I will not kill you. Should you choose to linger, Empress
Austarine and the Drowned Maiden will not be so forgiving, considering you have
slain aquillan soldiers and threatened Ahrian fishermen."
Snorting out
smoke, the man chuckled loudly. “So, ya’ll
kill me? Hehe, well, that’d be a problem. See, I was just about ta become
immortal. Not that these fools knew, of
course,” he jerked his head at the fishermen.
“Wh-what…do…you…m-mean...they
didn't know?” Miriel coughed. She tried
to sit up but was held down by Mina and the sailors.
“Simple,
really. I was hired ta protect these
fishermen during one of their runs.
Seems the coastal villages of Ahri can barely scrape by on what they can
fish close to home, so a few decided to farm the Bay of Bendak, where the fish
are as plentiful as grains of sand in the Aridian desert,” the man muttered,
blowing smoke at Aeon. “However, they
needed protection from the aquillans. I
saw an opportunity in this job. See,
what I'm really after is-”
“You wish to
eat the flesh of an aquillan,” Aeon finished for him.
The teythen fishermen
let out a collective gasp. Their crimson
eyes were wide and full of loathing and hatred for the grizzled man at the bow
of the ship, but none of them said anything.
They could only glance from Miriel, to the man in red.
"I don’t
understand. Why would he want to eat an
aquillan?" Mina whispered.
Miriel tried
to answer, but a fit of coughs prevented her and she laid her head back to rest. Pouring more of her life's blood into the
aquillan through her tail, Kinana replied instead. “When a human eats the flesh of an aquillan,
their aging slows…however, to keep themselves young, they must eat more and
more of it, lest their body wither and grow old.”
“Th-that’s
barbaric!” Mina gasped, scowling at the crimson mage.
“And foolish,”
Aeon muttered. “So, you are just another
mage who has realized how short life can be and grown scared. Tell me, what is your name, coward?"
“It’s Denad,”
the man spat, taking another puff of his pipe.
“Denad the Flame Weaver."
"For one
with such a fancy title, your name is unknown to me," Aeon snorted. "I harbor a guess that you have not
earned that name."
"And what
if I haven't?" Denad exhaled a plume of smoke and smirked at Aeon through
soot blackened teeth. "I was
trained by master Dezolis himself. Given
enough time, I am certain I can surpass him.
When I have succeeded him on the Telnumbran council and have a thousand
years under my belt, will I be worthy of the name then?"
“You understand nothing," Aeon
sighed. "You aim to live forever,
as he does? Fool. There is nothing more tortuous than an
endless life. It will be your curse to
reflect on your idiocy for all eternity…and eternity is a long time
indeed."
“Beats dying,”
Denad snorted.
“Does it
indeed?” Aeon mused. “Tell me, what will
happen after you eat your first aquillan?
In time, you will need more and more until your desire to maintain the
youth you’ve acquired consumes your life.
And supposing you kill all the aquillans there are. What then?”
“Hmm?” Denad
raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“You’ll have
nothing left. Only enough time to grow
old and lament that you never did anything meaningful with your life,” Aeon
muttered.
Tossing his
pipe aside, Denad blew a large screen of black smoke out of his nose, obscuring
himself from view. “Ya could be right,
lich…however I’ve burnt too many bridges already to turn back now!” Flames leapt out of the sides of the smoke,
circling around Aeon as if they were alive, carried by legs of fire. When the lich was surrounded, a massive
column of flame burst out of the smoke, blowing it aside, and headed straight
for Aeon. At the same time, the flames
which had surrounded him flew towards the lich.
Reeling one
hand back, Aeon made a swipe at the flames all around him and scooped them up
in one hand. Holding the same hand out,
Aeon caught the column of fire with ease.
Closing his fingers around it, he snuffed out the flames immediately.
"What?!"
Denad exclaimed.
"Is that
all that you can muster?" Aeon murmured, the green flames in his eyes
swirling with anger. "How
unfortunate. Now. Let me show you what real magic looks like."
Holding out
his still smoking palm, ice burst forth from Aeon's hand. It crept along the wood of the ship and the
air itself seemed to shimmer with frost.
Denad formed a blue flame in his hands, but before he cold throw it at
Aeon, the ice burst forth like a tidal wave, washing over him and freezing the
crimson mage in place, blue flame still clasped in his hands.
"Is it
over?" Mna mumbled from the stern of the ship.
"No,"
Aeon replied. "I sense that this
one still has some fight left in him."
The blue
flames in Denad's hands intensified and melted the frost on his face and
joints. When he could move, Denad
dropped to his knees, panting for breath.
Water ran down Denad's face in great rivulets and he gritted his teeth,
scowling at Aeon. "What in the
Goetian hells are ya?!" he spat, stumbling to his feet. "No fledgling
lich has that kind of power!"
"I never
claimed to be a fledgling," Aeon said, his hands calmly folded behind his
back.
"Damn...fine
then!" Denad grunted, opening his mouth and spitting another screen of black
smoke out in front of him.
Cupping his
hands, Aeon reared back and thrust his palms forward. A powerful wind blew the smoke away,
revealing Denad amidst a circle of runic symbols with a pentagram adorning the
center.
"You are
summoning one of the nobility?!" Aeon exclaimed.
"I don't
know who ya are...but I WILL make ya suffer for opposing me," Denad
flashed Aeon a malicious smile. "I
may be weakened...but my time studying with Master Dezolis has granted me many
powerful allies!"
Burying his
hands in his chest, Denad pulled out a ball of churning lava. “You, who promotes the flow of fire, erupt
into this world and reduce my foes to ashes!
Nobleman of the inferno, I offer myself to thee and invoke our
contract! Belial!” Having spoken the incantation, Denad hurled
the ball of lava overboard, whereupon a giant red circle formed on the ocean
floor. A pentagram was held within the
circle and inside the pentagram was a sigil that resembled a flaming bident.
“Belial?!”
Kinana exclaimed. “Ugh, this won’t end
well…”
"Teythens,"
Aeon called out. "Do you wish to
redeem yourselves?"
The fishermen
who were gathered around Mina and Miriel let out a resounding cry. "Aye!
What should we do?!"
"Protect
my vassals," Aeon said. "Those
who can use blood arts, shield them with your telekinesis. Those who cannot, use your bodies. I swear to you, if you do this, you will
survive."
Nodding their
heads, the teythens spread out to form a circle around Mina, Kinana, and
Miriel. The teythens held out their
hands and the air distorted, twisting and contorting around them to form a
protective bubble over Mina, Kinana, Miriel, and the teythen fishermen.
No sooner had
the teythens formed their bubble then the water around the ship began to froth
and churn as something massive came out of the circle on the ocean floor.
“W-what’s
happening!?!” Mina exclaimed, keeping a
tight hold on Miriel, while watching Aeon and Denad through the dome of
distorted air.
Turning to
face the swell which rose out of the ocean, Aeon stoically watched as a titanic
Goetian erupted out of the water, so large that the surface of the ocean only
came up to his waist. Covered in fiery
red scales with two dorsal fins running down his back which stopped at his
spiked tail, the creature Denad called Belial hefted a huge bident over his
shoulder and glared at the assembled onlookers.
His face was human, despite being covered with red scales, but his eyes
burned with the intensity of a volcano.
Belial smirked
and let out a raucous laugh.
“Gwahahahaha! Well, I’ll be
damned! If it isn’t Aeon and his whore! I haven’t seen you since the city of DIS burnt down! And before that there was the incident with
our lord’s harem!” the demon rubbed his chin nostalgically. “Ah, memories…!”
Inclining his
head, Aeon bowed respectfully.
“Greetings, Belial. Do you bear
me ill will for the destruction of DIS one hundred years ago?” Aeon asked indifferently.
“Not at
all! It was refreshing to see you so
alive with the fires of destruction!” the Goetian chortled. Turning his gaze to Denad, Belial breathed
volcanic vapor down his neck. “So,
you’re really gonna try and fight the Frozen Shade, eh, little man?!”
Though his
face betrayed no surprise, Denad ground his teeth at the Goetian and hissed,
“Is what ya said just now true?! Is my
opponent really the Frozen Shade?”
“Hmm?! Gwahahahaha!!! So you really didn’t know who you were
fighting?!” Belial laughed.
Balling his
hands into fists, Denad scowled at Aeon.
“Perhaps I should have taken ya up on yar offer,” he muttered. “A courtier of Empress Austarine, trained in
the ways of magic by my former master, and the youngest lich ever ta join the
Telnumbran Elder Council. I heard ya
burnt the Goetian city of DIS
to the ground with yar bare hands…and judging from Belial’s exuberance, I take
it that wasn’t just a rumor."
“Correct,”
Aeon retorted. “However, my offer still
stands. Retreat and I will do you no
harm," Aeon said. “I have no desire
for senseless bloodshed."
Oh no you
don’t!” Belial snickered, leaning closer
to Denad. “There’s no backing out of
this! I haven’t been summoned in years
and I feel like running wild!!!
And…since you didn’t have the customary tribute ready, I can take either
him...or you as payment!” the Goetian guffawed.
Slowly, a
smirk filled Denad’s scarred face and he stroked his chin. “Hmmm...if I can defeat the Frozen Shade, I’ll
be guaranteed a seat on the Telnumbran Elder Council!" Flames sprouted in Denad’s hands, while
Belial leveled his bident at the lich.
“Sounds like the perfect start ta my endless life! Tell me, Belial, can ya pierce his cloak of
magic?”
Belial nodded,
raising his bident over his head and preparing to strike. “Sure!!
He ain't invincible afterall!!
Just wear him down enough and Aeon'll die, same as anyone!!" Belial
yelled, bringing his bident crashing down on the lich.
Raising both
hands over his head, Aeon managed to catch the bident, however the force of the
blow shot straight through him, cracking the ship halfway through. Even with the teythens' barrier in place, it bobbed
up and down, threatening to throw Mina and the others overboard.
As she poured
more of her essence into Miriel's body, Kinana began to sweat. Wiping her brow, she glanced back at Aeon. “Don’t toy with them too much! I doubt this barrier will hold against a
Goetian noble for long!"
Turning to the
shaken crew, Aeon’s eyes fixed on Mina and Miriel, watching helplessly behind the
telekinetic barrier the teythens had erected.
“You should pay more attention to the battle, Aeon!” Belial howled, reeling back his right
hand. Lava spurted from his scales,
while Aeon quickly shrugged off the bident and raised his right hand into the
air.
Shooting his
fist forward, a wave of lava blasted out of Belial’s arm towards Aeon, however
a wall of ocean water rose up to block the fiery mass of rock. Though it sizzled uncontrollably, the lava
forced its way through the wall of water, having cooled into stone, and bore
down on Aeon.
Meanwhile,
Denad cupped his palms together, then drew them apart to create a surge of red
lighting in his hands that coalesced into a spear of electricity. Stepping forward, Denad tossed his lightning
javelin at Aeon, who grabbed the approaching mass of rock and twisted it around
himself like a mantle.
The javelin
pierced straight through the rocks and slammed against the teythens' shield,
knocking two of the sailors off their feet before exploding into a shower of
light. The impact rocked the ship and
Mina winced from both the brightness of the light and the ship's swaying. When she looked back at Aeon, the mantle of
rock collapsed around him, revealing the lich to be completely unharmed.
Taking a deep
breath, green light flickered violently in Aeon’s eye sockets and he raised one
hand in the direction of each opponent.
The ocean rose up to meet Aeon, twisting around his bones and feeding
into each of his hands.
“That’s
it! That’s the look! You had the same fire burning in your eyes
when you crushed DIS!” Belial rumbled, giggling madly. “Come on!
Show me what you can really do!”
Reeling his right
arm back once more, lava spurted forth from Belial’s scales, while Denad
gripped his left shoulder and flames burst forth from his arm, changing color
from golden orange, to a deep blue, before finally turning pitch black. Both Belial and Denad shot their arms
forward, black fire and lava crashing towards Aeon. However, before they could reach the lich, a
torrent of water with the intensity of a raging rive burst out of both of
Aeon's hands. Fed by the ocean, it blew
back and engulfed both the lava and the flames.
No sooner had the water touched the flames than it immediately froze,
trapping the heat within, while continuing towards Belial and Denad.
Holding on to
both Kinana and Miriel, Mina looked away as the force of the attacks unbalanced
the ship and sent it rocking violently from side to side, threatening to capsize
it. When the swaying died down, Mina
turned to face Aeon. Spray fell upon the
ship like snow, crystallizing as it drew nearer to the lich and landing as
flecks of ice on the sea bleached wood.
Suppressing a gasp, both Mina and Kinana's eyes widened at the sight of
Denad and Belial. Their lava and flames
were frozen in two giant masses of ice that extended out of Aeon's hands. The ice seemed to curl around Belial and
Denad's arms, however, underneath the crystal it seemed to continually pierce
them with a thousand tiny daggers of ice.
Aeon lowered
his hands and the two masses of ice wobbled unsteadily. Without his support, it was up to Belial and
Denad to keep them up. Denad's fell
first, shattering his frozen flame on the deck along with three of his fingers,
which cracked off of his hand from the impact.
Belial bashed the ice off of his right arm, severing it from the frozen
lava flow, which fell into the ocean.
Frost still licked at Belial's arm and tried to creep over it, however
black blood and lava oozed out of shattered scales and cracked skin, keeping it
at bay.
Falling to one
knee, Denad grimaced, pawing at his crystal encased arm. “Damn!
How...how can he be this strong?!” he grunted.
A grin crossed Belial’s face. "Ice cold enough to freeze black
fire! Not bad! Not bad at all! However you're not there yet!!!" Scooping Denad up, the Goetian dropped him on
his massive shoulder. “Now...lets see if
we can’t draw out your true power!”
Belial chortled, opening his mouth as wide as it would go.
A vortex
formed in the giant Goetian's mouth, pulling everything around him towards it. Ocean water, chunks of the ship, the fish in
the ocean, and even the light of the moon twisted together and spiraled into a
single point which stopped just in front of Belial's mouth. To Mina, the vortex seemed to be gathering
everything around it into an incredibly dense black ball, and she held tighter
to Kinana and Miriel, as the teythens' telekinetic barrier began to wobble
uncontrollably.
The fire in
Aeon's eye sockets grew brighter and swirled more violently. Floating over to the ship's railing he called
down to Celos and the Goetians below him.
"You all need to get away from here! Take as many as you can carry and flee from
this spot!"
Celos let out a
loud screech in reply. The leviathan
rose out of the water, carrying Alnor, the Goetians, and the wounded aquillans
away.
Turning to
face Aeon, Mina saw that the lich was struggling to avoid being pulled into the
black sphere in front of Belial, even while the ship's deck was torn asunder to
feed the vortex. Facing his palms down,
Aeon fired a blast of ice out of his hands and froze his body to the ship, but
left his arms free. Placing one hand in
front of the other, Aeon stretched out his fingers as far as they would
go. White light began to gather in
Aeon’s palm, forming a large sphere of energy which grew with each passing
moment.
Eventually, the
black ball in front of Belial absorbed enough matter to rival the ship in size
and the vortex coming out of his mouth ceased.
Working his mouth around the ball, Belial swallowed it and a huge bulge
formed in his throat, like a cancerous tumor.
"Holy magic…won’t stop this!” The Goetian grunted at Aeon.
Rearing back,
Belial spat the ultra dense black ball at Aeon, who fired his white sphere of
magic directly at the demon. The recoil
of Aeon’s attack cracked the ice which held him and threw him against the
ship’s railing.
The two spheres
collided with an impact that split the ocean on either side of the ship. The teythen sailors all dropped to one knee
and grunted from the strain of keeping their barrier in place.
Mina clung to
Kinana as the ship rocked back and forth with such force that it nearly tipped
over. However, as the seconds ticked by,
the rocking gradually receded and the ship became still. Looking up, Mina saw the white sphere and the
dense black ball appear to be frozen in mid air, each pushing against the other
with equal force. The white sphere began
to shrink, while cracks appeared in the black ball. Eventually, the white sphere had disappeared
completely and the black ball was cracked all the way through. The black sphere pulsed for a moment before
exploding, sending countless chunks of the dense sphere streaking out in all
directions. Four black arrows tore
through Aeon's left arm and another two ruptured the base of his spine, while
countless other bursts crashed into the teythens' barrier, bouncing off the
telekinetic wall and knocking the already exhausted teythens backwards.
A wall of
spray had been kicked up all around Mina, Kinana, and Miriel from the blast,
however the ocean was roaring all around them.
The boat heaved to and fro and Mina held her hand over her mouth,
feeling the fish she'd eaten less than an hour before trying to find their way
back to the surface. Then, the spray
momentarily parted and one last shard of the black sphere ricocheted towards
them. This blast had no dome of
telekinetic energy to bounce off of and Mina's eyes widened as it passed within
feet of her, only to have Kinana back hand it into the ocean.
Glancing from
Miriel, who was just as wide eyed as she was, to Kinana, who held up her hand,
which was bent backwards at the wrist, broken in four places, and with all her
fingers jutting out in odd angles.
"Miss Kinana..."
"I'm
fine," Kinana coughed and held her good hand over her mouth. "That just...used up more energy than
I'd have liked..." she slumped her shattered hand down on the deck and
turned her attention back to Miriel.
The wind
picked up around them, dispersing the salty mist. Wiping at her bleary eyes, Mina glanced
around her. Most of the teythens were on
their backs and groaning, but alive.
However, a gasp burst from her throat when she turned to face Aeon
Out of the
splintered remnant of Aeon's skeletal left arm, a human hand with blue,
frostbitten skin emerged, covered in ice.
Where his spine had been damaged, Mina could see the remnants of a suit
of blue armor and burlap pants with matching blue greaves below his waist.
"What...what's
going on?!" Mina whispered to herself.
A raucous laugh drew her attention back to Belial, who still towered
over the ship. The red scaled Goetian
had at least a dozen black shards from his own sphere embedded in his body, but
they didn't seem to bother him in the least.
“Aeon, Aeon,
Aeon…a spell meant to disperse my attack?!
Are you that scared of going head to head with me?!” Belial
sneered. “Or is it because of these
innocent people?! Don’t want to get them
involved, do you?!”
Glancing over
at Mina and the others, the flames in Aeon's eye sockets almost died away. “Innocents,
eh?” Denad grimaced from his perch on Belial's shoulder. “Well, if they’re so damn important ta ya,
then…” he chuckled and raised his good hand, “Go fetch!” Several bolts of fire shot out of Denad’s
hand, headed straight for Mina, Kinana, and Miriel.
Watching in
frozen terror, Mina felt a tear leak out of her eye. Swallowing hard, she whispered,
"Mother...no..."
"Mina!"
Kinana screamed. She reached out to grab
her, but instead collapsed on deck, her violet eyes fixed on Mina.
A wave of cold
air blew past Mina and a terrible voice rang in her ears, growling a single
word. "Enough!" Fixing her gaze on Aeon, Mina saw a monstrous
blizzard burst forth from Aeon’s mouth, freezing Denad’s flames in midair and
wrapping the sorcerer, Belial, and miles of ocean behind them in ice. The bolts of fire dropped harmlessly onto the
surface of the frozen ocean.
Meeting Mina's
gaze, Aeon closed his mouth and held out his hand. Ice spread from his splintered arm and the
ruined part of his spine, covering his human hand and legs. When it had covered them completely, Aeon's
human hand disappeared, replaced by one made of bone and his legs vanished
entirely, replaced by the base of his spine and black cloak which trailed
beneath it.
"Woah..."
Mina murmured as if in a trance.
"No way..."
A sudden
cracking sound made Mina wince. Turning
her eyes towards Belial and Denad, Mina noticed that the Goetian's body seemed
to be glowing a deep shade of red. The
ice which held him in place cracked and with a loud roar, he shrugged the ice
off.
“Yes!"
Belial exclaimed, leaning on his bident for support. "That’s the power I remember! Look at this!
Even though you just wanted to stop us, you’ve frozen almost a quarter
of the ocean, hahaha!”
Without
replying, Aeon snapped his fingers and the thick sheet of ice melted in an
instant. Still snickering to himself,
Belial breathed on Denad and the sorcerer collapsed on the demon’s shoulder
after the ice had melted. “So, tell
me…is that kid really all that important to you?!” Belial smirked, raising his left
hand. "Or perhaps you were really
saving your lover?"
Aeon glanced
over at Mina, then turned to Kinana, who lay prone on deck. Her tail popped out of Miriel's neck and she
flopped onto her back, panting hard.
"One warning, Belial. That
is all you get," Aeon growled, his words as soft as freshly fallen snow,
but with the force of an avalanche.
A smirk
crossed Belial's face and he reached out to grab Kinana. "Miss Kinana!" Mina yelled. Grabbing the succubus, she tried to pull her
away from the claw, but to no avail. She
was simply too heavy.
"I...I've
got nothing left," Kinana grimaced, her breasts heaving with each strained
breath.
Putting
herself between Kinana and Belial's hand, Mina tried to shield her. However, before the Goetian's fingers could
close around the two of them, a gust of wind blew past Mina, vanishing almost
as quickly as it had appeared.
The crimson
Goetian frowned and pulled back his hand to reveal that it had been severed at
the wrist. The giant red claw teetered
on the edge of the ship before falling into the ocean below while black blood
poured from Belial’s stump.
"Aeon..."
Kinana coughed up black blood and turned to face the lich.
Looking over
at the him, Mina saw Aeon lower his hand and float in between her and Belial. “I
cannot allow you to continue in this manner, Belial. It is time you returned to Goetia,” Aeon
said.
“Hehe, do
enlighten me on how that will work!”
Belial laughed. “I’m easily
twenty times your size! How do YOU
intend to make ME go!?!"
Silently
floating higher into the air, Aeon ascended until he was above Belial's
head. Holding out both hands, Aeon began
to twist them around in great circles.
Mina blinked and
rubbed her eyes. To her, it looked as
though water was gathering around Aeon's fingertips. Only a few droplets at first, but slowly,
more and more water was pulled out of the air until Aeon held a mass of water
roughly twice his size in each hand. The
water twisted around him, dividing itself into six long tendrils that connected
to Aeon's back. Crossing his arms over
his chest, the lich let out a sigh and air so frigid that it was visible poured
out of his mouth. Gathering behind him,
the mist embraced the six tendrils that came out of Aeon's back and they froze,
long icicles forming along the bottom of each tendril. To Mina, it looked as if Aeon had sprouted
six bony wings.
Lashing out
from behind him, the tips of two of his ice wings formed into a pair of sharp,
jagged points that shot into the ocean and pierced Belial through each leg,
sending a sickly amount of black blood into the water. The other four wings wrapped themselves
around the Goetian's arms to keep him from moving.
"Is this
your play?!" Belial mumbled, sounding more than a little disappointed.
"Just
wait," Aeon said, holding out both hands.
With his left hand, he extended his fingers and began to twist his hand
around in a circle, with the palm facing down.
As he did so, the ocean surrounding Belial’s legs drained away until
Mina could see his feet touching the bottom.
Aeon jutted the fingers of his right hand up and the drained water rose
up behind Belial, forming two gigantic rectangles on either side of him, almost
like an open casket.
"I grow
bored with your water works!!" Belial growled, biting through one of
Aeon's ice wings. "This is
pathetic! I expected more
fro-agggh!!!" Belial stopped, his voice drifting off into unintelligible
gurgles as the casket of water froze over and hundreds of ice spears shot out
of it, skewering Belial.
No part of the
Goetian was left unmolested. Jagged,
frozen spikes perforated Belial's throat, chest, arms, legs, and tail, all
embedding themselves in the moist ocean bottom and pinning him to the
spot. Black blood fell freely from
Belial's wounds as he twisted against his bonds. His scales glowed bright red and smoke poured
off of them, however they could not melt the ice. Despite his wriggling, Belial was trapped.
Staring at the gigantic icy death trap, Mina's
mouth dropped open. A voice beside her
brought her back to reality. “An iron
maiden…” Kinana muttered, pulling herself onto her knees by using Mina's
shoulder for support. "Nice."
There was a
burst of flames from Belial's shoulder where he wasn't pierced through, and a
tiny figure flew off the Goetian. Fire
poured out of Denad's feet, carrying him over to the ship, however the ice wing
Belial had bitten through whipped past the mage and his feet froze solid. The flames coming out of Denad's feet slowly
petered into nothing and he crashed onto the deck of the ship, shattering his
frozen arm completely. Lurching to his
feet, the sorcerer squinted at Aeon, who was occupied with keeping Belial
trapped. The lich didn't even turn to face
him.
“I don’t
intend ta die here…not now…not when I’m about ta become immortal!” he snarled,
turning his gaze towards Miriel, alone without Kinana or Mina by her side. “While he’s dealing with Belial, I’ll take my
prize!” he snorted, raising his arm.
“Protect the
child of the ocean!” one of the teythen sailors called, staggering to his feet. The others let out a ragged yell and charged
straight for Denad.
The grizzled
mage swept out his hand and Kinana pulled Mina down against the deck as a disc
of flame flew from Denad's hand and floored the weakened teythens.
“Mina, stay
down,” Kinana gasped, using her shattered hand as a brace and rising to her
feet. Letting her useless arm hang
limply by her side, Kinana raised her good hand and her purple nails extended
into long claws. “You know, you’re
actually pretty handsome,” the succubus panted.
“I think I’ll gobble you up!”
Kinana slashed
at Denad, but he leapt into her in order to avoid the attack. Ramming his knee into her stomach a fireball
burst out of Denad's kneecap and catapulted Kinana backwards. Denad held out his hand at her when the
succubus used her nails to keep from falling and a plume of fire burst out of
it, setting her leathery wings ablaze and burning her tanned skin.
"AGGGGGGHHH!!!"
Kinana screeched in agony and collapsed on deck.
“Miss Kinana!”
Mina cried.
The blackened
succubus tried to sit up, but Denad planted his foot down between her breasts
and held his hand up to her face. “Not
going to retreat to Goetia, eh? Well,
it’s no concern of mine if ya want to burn, harlot!”
Jumping to her
feet, Mina grabbed Denad's arm and twisted it aside. "Leave her alone!" she cried, as a
gout of flames poured out of Denad's hand uncontrollably. Half the deck was ablaze before he shook Mina
off.
“Ya little bi-eeeeeaaaaahhh,"
Denad started to scream, but Mina darted up to him and buried her knee in his
groin. A high pitched squeal escaped
Denad's lips as Mina gave him a quick uppercut before grabbing his cloak and
tossing him off Kinana.
Collapsing
next to Kinana, Mina held her hand over her chest, which was pounding
uncontrollably. "Think...that got
him?" she panted.
Kinana and
Miriel stared at her.
"Shanadia..." Kinana stammered.
"What?!"
Mina exclaimed. "I live in a tavern
right next to the border between Telnumbra and Lucaria. I'm used to dealing with unruly bastards like
that."
Stifling a
grin, Kinana laid back on the deck and struggled to keep her eyes open. "Who'd have guessed..."
"You..."
Mina and Kinan's heads whipped around as they say Denad struggle to his feet,
holding his crotch with his single hand.
"I'll kill ya!" he yelled, a column of fire erupting out of
his mouth and heading straight for them.
Mina stared at
the oncoming flames and froze. "Get
down!" Kinana leapt over Mina and folded her wings around her. However, the flames never came. Instead they were surrounded by a gentle
coolness. A few seconds passed and the
pair looked up. Aeon's broken ice wing
was between them and Denad. Glancing up
at Aeon, Mina saw the lich looking down at her and Kinana from the corner of
his eye socket.
“No! No, I will not be denied!” Denad shrieked,
hurling fireballs and shooting out plumes of flame at them with his hand. The fire crashed against Aeon's ice wing and
dissipated with no noticeable effect.
"Ugh...aren't
you dead yet?!" Kinana snarled.
“No! I will not die! I will be immort-ack…” suddenly the
flames died away and Mina looked over Kinana's shoulder at Denad. A bejeweled trident had pierced him through
the chest. He fell forward, twitching
and gurgling on deck with Alnor clutching the trident’s shaft behind him.
“That…was for
my sister!” he grunted, pulling his trident out of Denad's back. The aquillan prince was swathed in bandages
and looked as if he could barely move.
No sooner had he pulled his trident free than he fell back on deck, his
gills flaring uncontrollably.
"B-brother!"
Mina and Kinana glanced back at Miriel.
Her eyes were wide open and seemed to be focusing on Alnor.
Helping Kinana
to her feet, Mina and the succubus made their way over to Alnor. "Are you alright?" Mina murmured,
half lifting, half dragging Alnor over to Miriel with Kinana's help.
“F-fine…”
Alnor grunted, smirking at her.
“M-Miriel...is she-?!”
“Also fine.”
Aeon floated down to join the four of them.
The six bony wings of ice that had formed from his back snuffed out the
remaining flames on deck before dissolving into thin air. Raising his skeletal hand, Aeon snapped his
fingers and the iron maiden made of ice shattered around Belial. The Goetian dropped to one knee as ocean
water washed over his many wounds.
"It is over," Aeon murmured.
“Over?! Not quite…!” Belial gurgled from the hole in
his throat. A scrabbling sound below
deck caught the attention of Mina and the others, who looked down to see
Belial’s disembodied hand scampering along the side of the ship. It jumped onto the deck and grabbed
Denad. A stream of black blood shot
forth from Belial’s stump and connected to his hand, pulling it back over to
his arm, where it reconnected almost immediately. “Now, it’s over!” Belial snickered. Dropping the barely conscious Denad into his
mouth, the demon crunched down on him before releasing a satisfied belch. “Ah!
Our contract is complete! Well,
it’s been fun! Till next time!” he added,
bowing to Aeon before disappearing into a circle of red light that had formed
on the ocean's floor.
"Fool
traded his life and his soul for power," Kinana grimaced, patting out
stray flames on her wings. "Why
can't sorcerers today be a bit less ambitious?"
Supporting
Kinana with her shoulder, Mina gently pulled on Aeon's cloak. "Aeon...Miss Kinana is hurt. Can you heal her, like you healed
Miriel?"
Giving Mina a
curt nod, Aeon began running his hands over Kinana’s burn marks. White light poured out of his palms and
flowed into Kinana, strengthening her enough that she no longer needed Mina’s
support to stay on her feet. The lich
took Kinana's hand in his own. She
grimaced at first, but as the white light washed over her, her fingers and
wrist began to bend back into place.
"Aaahhh,
that's nice," Kinana purred.
"Will you
be okay, Miss Kinana?" Mina put her hand on Kinana's thigh.
"In a few
days, I'll be back to normal," the succubus sighed. "What about you? Charging a sorcerer like that was really reckless."
"I am not
surprised," Aeon said. "She
gets that from her mother."
"Ehehe..."
Mina let out a nervous laugh and blushed.
Scratching the back of her head, she glanced around the deck of the ship
and saw the teythen fishermen begin to stir.
"Eh? Is it over?"
"Look,
another one!"
"They did
it...they saved her!" the sailors murmured before breaking into a ragged
cheer and swarming around Alnor and Miriel to see make sure they were alright.
Wh-what’s
going on?” Alnor mumbled, his eyes wide and uncertain.
“The ocean is
the livelihood of these men,” Aeon muttered.
“It is only natural that they are respectful of her children.”
"But...but
my mother-"
"It was
all an accident," Mina sighed.
"I mean, look at how glad they are that you're alright! They even helped protect Miriel during the
battle."
Stumbling to
his feet, Alnor leaned on his trident for support. "Is this true?!"
One of the
teythens stepped forward and nodded.
Lowering his eyes, he added, "Aye...but it was our fault Denad
attacked ya to begin with. Your
lordship...we only know how to fish.
It's all we've done for decades.
We couldn't just stop...so...we hired someone ta protect us while
we-"
“Then…all of
this was your doing!” Alnor bellowed,
feebly trying to raise his trident.
“Stop that!” Mina
yelled, storming over to Alnor and knocking his trident out of his hands. “These men saved Miriel! Besides, even if they did bring Denad, this
is as much your fault as theirs!" Panting hard, Mina looked Alnor right in the
eyes, which were wide with shock. “You
went on and on about how you have to protect yourselves from us," she put
her hand to her chest before pointing straight at Alnor, "But did you ever
think that if you start attacking people they might need protection from
you?!"
“She has a point,
you know,” Aeon said, appearing behind Alnor and patting the aquillan prince on
the shoulder. "That kind of flawed
philosophy was what kept Lucaria and Telnumbra at war for millenia."
"Alnor..."
Miriel coughed and held a webbed hand over her mouth. "Mother wanted us...to act with...humility...remember?"
As she spoke,
Celos lifted his head over the ship's railing and the remaining half dozen
aquillans staggered off, assisted by the Goetians Aeon had summoned. Aeon nodded in their direction and once the
aquillans were on deck, circles of black and red light appeared beneath the
Goetians and they slowly descended into them before disappearing from sight.
“Prince Alnor,
are you unharmed?” the aquillan soldiers wheezed, raising tridents against the
sailors.
Lowering his
eyes, Alnor let out a long sigh.
"See to my sister."
"Alnor?"
Miriel stammered.
"Humility..."
Alnor mumbled, kneeling down in front of Aeon.
"Miriel. Go home and explain
what has happened to father. I...I have
a debt to pay." Raising his eyes to
the lich in front of him, Alnor said, "Frozen Shade…beyond all hope, you
saved my sister and my countrymen.
Now...I am yours. Shave my hair,
pry off my scales, and drain every drop of blood from my body…it is only fair
payment for what you have done.”
“Brother?!"
Miriel exclaimed.
“Prince Alnor,
no!” the merfolk called.
"Oi,
what's all this?!" the sailors yelled.
A smirk played
on the lich’s lipless mouth. “I am not
the one who accepted your offer,” Aeon said.
"Your fate is not mine to decide."
“Wh-what?”
Alnor grunted.
“Minava was
the one who agreed to save Miriel. Your
life belongs to her,” Aeon pointed to Mina.
Mina’s mouth
dropped open and she raised a finger and pointed at herself. “M-Me?!”
"The
prince owes you a debt, Minava," Aeon said, folding his hands behind his
back. "Is there anything you would
ask of him?"
"Just...just
try and get along with people on the surface, I guess," Mina
shrugged. "I mean, I know you have
to defend yourselves, but...not all of us are bad people."
“I-is that all
you want?” Alnor stammered. The aquillans and teythen sailors were
looking at her dumbfounded. Kinana
winked at Aeon and suppressed a fit of giggles.
“Sure. Do that and we’ll call it even,” Mina smiled
sweetly.
After a
moment’s silence, Alnor began to laugh, holding his sides while milky tears
poured from his eyes. "Unreal..."
he said after a solid minute of laughing.
"I could offer you the bounty of the seas or a kingdom near the
bay, but...but all you want is for us to get along?" Turning to Aeon, Alnor shook his head and
chuckled. "I should have
known. She's one of yours through and
through."
"Ummm...what?"
Mina blushed deeply.
"Minava,
was it?" Alnor said, holding out a hand.
"I can't promise anything.
My father is very stubborn. But
I'll try."
Mina grabbed
his hand and shook it vigorously.
"I hope it all works out!
Next time I come visit, I'd love to see your home, if that's
alright."
Glancing from
Aeon, whose face was an emotionless mask, to Mina, a picture of earnestness,
Alnor stifled another chuckle, and nodded.
Limping over to the other aquillans, he allowed himself and Miriel to be
carried over to Celos.
"You
lot!" Alnor called to the teythens.
"No more mages. Promise me
that and you'll have safe passage through the Bay of Bendak." Rather than waiting for a response, Alnor
patted Celos and the leviathan descended into the water.
The sailor’s
mouths hung open for a moment before they burst into a raucous cheer, gathering
around to shake Mina’s hand. The
blushing girl tried her best to oblige them until Kinana scooped her up and
carried her out of the crowd. “Okay,
enough’s enough! We're done here, right,
Aeon?" she asked.
The lich
nodded, floating over the edge of the ship and freezing a pathway on the
surface of the ocean. Aeon helped Kinana
and Mina down, while the sailors hurled cheers and thanks after them.
When they
touched down on the ice, Mina touched Kinana's charred wings and lowered her
eyes. "Miss Kinana...are you really
sure you'll be alright? I know Aeon healed
some of your wounds, but-"
"Don't
worry about me," Kinana laughed and forced Mina into a vice-like hug,
squashing her face against the succubus's ample cleavage. "My body will heal itself in no time
once I return to Goetia."
When the
succubus let go of her, Mina's face was beet red and she stamped her foot on
the ice. "Miss Kinana! I...Aeon, say something!"
Chuckling to
himself, Aeon silently led the way, the ice spread extending out in front of
him as he moved. Kinana stuck close to
Mina, who glowered at her while still glowing red. Eventually, Mina let out a sigh and said,
"Well, this wasn't what I was expecting from my first trip to the beach."
"Hmmm?"
Aeon stopped and turned to her.
"Are you...dissatisfied?"
"No, it's
not that," Mina let out a small chuckle.
"I got to see some amazing things today. But...aren't we forgetting something?"
“Frozen
Shade! Please, wait!” The three of them turned to see an aquillan
swimming after them. His body was
covered in light burns and two small apocra adorned a pair of coral shoulder
pads, while a spiral shell was strapped to his wrist.
“You are the
sentry who attacked us, correct?” Aeon asked, looking down at him.
“My apologies
about before,” the aquillan lowered his eyes.
“Prince Alnor told me to give this to you...for your part in saving lady
Miriel,” he added, lifting a small coral basket onto the ice flow. Inside were several small bundles of sea foam
green hair, two dozen multi colored scales and several vials of reddish purple
blood.
“These are the
ingredients you were looking for, right?” Mina smirked.
“What is the
meaning of this?” Aeon muttered.
The aquillan
shrugged and turned to leave. “Nothing
much. Prince Alnor and Princess Miriel
both agreed we ought to give you your fair due.
The human got her wish. And now
you've gotten yours,” the aquillan said before disappearing beneath the waves.
Gingerly
lifting the basket off the ice, Aeon looked down at Mina, who gave him a toothy
grin. The lich tucked the basket into
his cloak and continued towards the shore.
With a sigh,
Mina followed after him. As they drew
closer to the shore, Mina's steps began to grow smaller and smaller until
eventually, she stopped a few feet from the sandy beach.
"What's
wrong, little Mina?" Kinana asked, giving her hand an affectionate
squeeze.
Pausing for a
moment, Mina saw Aeon turn to face her, his eyeless sockets swirling with a
gentle green flame. Glancing over at
Kinana, Mina's heart began to pound as the succubus gave her a warm smile and
knelt down next to her.
"We're
friends, right? You can tell us."
Mina put her
hand over her chest. Her heartbeat was
strong and steady. Taking a deep breath,
Mina opened her mouth said, "My chest feels tight."
"Hmm?"
Aeon tilted his head to the side.
"Does it
hurt?" Kinana whispered.
Mina scrunched
her eyes shut and nodded vigorously.
Dropping to one knee, she added, "I...I think something might still
be wrong with me."
"I can
examine you when we return to-" Aeon started to say, but was cut off by
Mina.
"No! I have to go home! If I'm not back in bed by dawn my uncle will
get suspicious!" Mina said, trying not to look Kinana or Aeon directly in
the eye. "I-it's not so bad,"
she panted and got back to her feet.
"I can....I'll be okay, I think."
"Nevertheless..."
Aeon mused, tapping the bottom of his skeletal jaw. "It would be wise for you to come back
on the morrow so I can examine you again."
"Sure,"
Mina grunted, "I...I think I can manage that."
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