"What the-!" Leonotis exclaimed, leaping to his feet as the monstrous fish erupted from the water. His training with Gethii kicked in, a reflexive instinct. He swung his root-sword in the swift, practiced motion of the airstrike skill Gethii had shown him countless times. Normally, the movement was just that a movement, an exercise in form without substance. But this time was different. He felt a sharp *snap* of green energy leave the sword, and a single, unnaturally sharp, emerald-green leaf, hard as flint, shot from the tip of the gnarled wood. It sliced through the air with a faint whistle and embedded itself deep in the dorsal fin of one of the attacking fish. Leonotis stared, shocked that it had actually worked, but had no time to ponder the unpredictable nature of his magic.
One of the fish, ignoring the new decoration on its companion, slammed its immense body against the side of the lily pad, sending a violent jolt through their makeshift vessel. Low roared, a primal, guttural sound that seemed to vibrate the very air. Her hands clenched into fists, and a visible ripple ran through her frame as her muscles visibly bulked beneath her tunic, her fingernails elongating and thickening into wickedly sharp, dark claws. A low, dangerous growl rumbled in her chest, a precursor to the more significant transformation she was holding in check through sheer force of will.
The second fish, the one Leonotis had struck, snapped at him, eager for revenge for its injured fin. Its teeth, like a row of daggers, clicked inches from his leg. He dodged agilely, his root-sword whistling through the air in a swift, retaliatory arc that left a shallow, weeping gash along the creature's slimy, scaled flank. The fish thrashed in fury, its bioluminescent lure swinging wildly, casting hypnotic, dancing blue patterns across the churning water.
Jacqueline rose, her eyes glowing with a soft, determined blue light. She extended her hands towards the water, her voice a low, melodic chant of ancient words. A shimmering, crystalline barrier of water solidified around the entire edge of the lily pad, deflecting the snapping jaws of the attacking fish with a sound like shattering glass, each impact sending rainbow-hued spray into the air.
Despite Jacqueline's protective magic, one of the creatures, driven by a frenzied hunger, managed to breach the watery shield. Its powerful, muscular tail lashed out and struck Low's leg with the force of a battering ram. She stumbled, a hiss of pain escaping her lips, and nearly tumbled into the churning water where the beasts awaited. Leonotis, seeing her peril, lunged forward without thinking, grabbing her arm just as the monstrous fish lunged again, its teeth snapping inches from her face. With a grunt of effort, he hauled her back onto the relative safety of the lily pad.
The gentle, rhythmic sway of the Lily-Liner intensified then, morphing into a more urgent, violent rocking. The lush green banks of the river, once lazily drifting by, began to streak past in a blur of indistinct foliage and color. The cheerful symphony of birdsong was completely replaced by the deep, rushing roar of the water gaining speed.
"Uh, is it just me," Leonotis said, bracing his feet against the slippery, vibrating lily pad surface, "or are we picking up a bit of… speed?"
Low, who was still rubbing her bruised leg with a grimace, squinted at the rapidly approaching shoreline. "We should have passed a major landmark by now. What about the Stone Giants from the map? I didn't see them."
Jacqueline, her brow furrowed with concern, pointed a trembling finger ahead. "The cluster of white rocks shaped like Sleeping Giants? Those were supposed to mark the turn-off for Greenfield Creek, the tributary that leads towards the Capital."
"Stone Giants are usually pretty hard to miss," Leonotis said, his voice laced with a growing, cold concern. "Those fish… they weren't just attacking. They were a distraction."
Just as the realization dawned that they were being swept uncontrollably downstream at an alarming rate, the water ahead churned violently. This time, three of the monstrous fish breached the surface simultaneously, their bodies sleek and powerful. These were larger, more scarred than their previous attackers, their bioluminescent lures glowing with an even more intense, hypnotic blue light that seemed to pulse in time with the river's angry current. Their teeth looked like jagged shards of glass.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Low roared, scrambling to her feet, her partial transformation lending her an uncanny sense of balance. Even with her transformation the unstable platform made it difficult to maintain her footing as the Lily-Liner bucked and plunged in the increasingly turbulent water.
Leonotis, trying to fend off a snapping jaw with his sword, found his footing constantly shifting. "Jacqueline! That watery shield thing again, please! This overgrown salad leaf is not exactly built for this!"
Jacqueline was already chanting, her hands weaving intricate, desperate patterns in the air. The shimmering barrier reappeared, but the sheer, combined force of the attacking fish caused it to waver and crackle under the strain. One of the creatures slammed its massive head against the shield, sending a spray of cold water over them.
"It's not holding!" Jacqueline cried, her voice strained, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "They're too strong! Their numbers… I can't repel them all!"
Low, seizing an opportunity, used the lurching motion of the lily pad to her advantage. As one of the fish lunged, its maw wide, she threw her weight in the opposite direction, causing the creature to overshoot and momentarily beach its upper body on the edge of the giant leaf. Before it could thrash its way free, she brought her heavy boot down on its head with a sickening, wet crunch.
"Leonotis! To your left!" Jacqueline yelled. Another fish was darting towards him from the side, its glowing lure swinging like a deadly, hypnotic pendulum.
Leonotis ducked under the snapping jaws and thrust his sword deep into the creature's exposed flank. It thrashed wildly, its powerful tail whipping against the lily pad, threatening to knock them all into the churning, monster-infested water.
"We need to coordinate!" Leonotis yelled over the roar of the river and the snapping of teeth. "Jacqueline, can you try to channel the water to push them away, create some space?"
Jacqueline nodded, her eyes blazing with focus. She extended her hands towards the river, and the water around the lily pad began to swirl and surge, creating miniature, powerful whirlpools that buffeted the attacking fish, momentarily disorienting them and forcing them back.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Low, with a ferocious roar of her own, grabbed a third fish as it jumped out of the water, wrapping her arms around its thrashing, slimy body. It roared in fury, bucking and thrashing, but Low held on tight, her claws digging deep into its thick, slippery scales.
"Now, Leonotis!" she yelled, clinging precariously to the monstrous fish, her knuckles white.
Leonotis didn't hesitate. He leaped across the swaying lily pad, his movements sure-footed despite the chaos, and plunged his root-sword deep into the creature Low was holding. With a final, violent shudder, the massive fish went still, and Low, with a grunt of exertion, shoved its dead weight off the lily pad and tumbled back onto the relative safety of their leafy vessel. The remaining fish, seemingly deterred by the loss of their companions, finally disappeared back into the murky, turbulent depths. But the relentless current continued to pull them downstream, their intended destination, and any semblance of control, now far behind them.
***
"Wait a minute," Leonotis said, squinting at the passing shoreline, which was now a dizzying blur of green and brown. "Wasn't that… wasn't that the really pointy rock that looked like a grumpy gnome's hat?!"
Low, who was trying to wring water out of the fur-trimmed cuffs of her tunic, scowled. "Grumpy gnome's hat? Looked more like a slightly damp pebble to me. But yeah, I think I saw something vaguely pointy go by about five minutes ago. Which means…"
"Which means," Jacqueline finished, her voice tight with concern, "we've missed it. We've missed the turn-off completely. We're going too fast." She pointed ahead, where the flow of the river was visibly quickening, the surface becoming choppy and white-capped. "Listen."
The cheerful burble of the river had been replaced by a more urgent, menacing rush, a growing roar that spoke of rapids and a powerful, uncontrollable current. The Lily-Liner, once a peaceful, serene vessel, now bucked and swayed with increasing, alarming intensity.
"Right, new plan!" Leonotis declared, grabbing a thick, trailing vine that dipped into the water, hoping to use it as a makeshift rudder. He pulled with all his might, his muscles straining, but the vine was yanked out of his hands with surprising force as the giant lily pad continued its headlong rush downstream, completely unimpressed by his efforts. "Okay, plan A is officially a bust."
Low tried digging her claws into the slippery surface of the lily pad, hoping to create some friction and slow them down. All that resulted was a series of long, shallow scratches in the tough, green skin and a spray of leafy pulp. "This overgrown salad leaf has about as much stopping power as a wet sock!" she grumbled, sliding further towards the edge as the current tugged them relentlessly along.
Jacqueline extended her hands towards the water again, attempting to create a counter-current, but she had used too much magic in the fight, and the river's force was now overwhelming. The water swirled weakly around her hands, resisting her magic like a vast, unruly beast. "It's no use," she said, her voice strained with fatigue, slumping against the curled edge of the leaf. "Those fish must have used some kind of magic on the river itself; the current is too strong, too wild. We're at its mercy."
Leonotis tried paddling with his sword, an act that looked more like a desperate attempt to swat particularly aggressive water sprites than any form of effective steering. The lily pad spun lazily in a full circle, completely ignoring his frantic efforts and making them all momentarily dizzy.
"So," Low said, her voice laced with a note of grim, weary resignation as she gave up her own efforts, "we're just… going with the flow, then? Like a giant, leafy offering to whatever angry river god lives further downstream?"
"Looks that way," Leonotis admitted, sheathing his useless sword. He grabbed onto the curled edge of the lily pad, his knuckles white. "Hang on tight, everyone. It feels like this ride's about to get a whole lot bumpier." The roar of the water ahead grew louder still, promising a journey far beyond their intended destination, into lands unknown and likely unwelcoming. Their makeshift raft, for all its initial charm, was proving to be nothing more than a large, green, and utterly uncontrollable runaway train on water.
***
The relentless roar of the rapids gradually subsided, replaced by a gentler, steady gurgle. The Lily-Liner, still spinning lazily, rounded a wide, sweeping bend in the river, and a new, startling vista unfolded before them. Nestled on both banks, connected by a series of sturdy-looking rope bridges, was a bustling fishing village, a vibrant, chaotic tapestry of activity against the lush, beautiful backdrop of the Water Mountain's lower slopes.
The village was alive with a cacophony of sounds: the rhythmic *thump-thump* of hammers on wood as boats were repaired, the boisterous, cheerful calls of vendors hawking their glistening, silver-scaled catches from waterside stalls, the high-pitched laughter of children playing a frantic game of tag near the water's edge, and the insistent, demanding cries of gulls circling overhead. The air was thick with the scent of fish, both fresh and drying on long racks, mingled with the salty, briny tang of the wide river and the sharp, pleasant aroma of woodsmoke from dozens of small fires. Colorful fishing boats, their patched sails furled, bobbed gently in the water, clustered like resting water-birds around sturdy wooden docks. Nets, like giant, intricate spiderwebs, were draped over wooden frames to dry in the afternoon sun, their complex patterns catching the light, shimmering with trapped droplets of water.
Their arrival was anything but graceful. The Lily-Liner, steered by nothing more than the whim of the now-lazy current, drifted awkwardly into what appeared to be the village's main harbor. It bumped gently against a row of smaller, brightly painted fishing boats, causing a few to rock precariously and eliciting a string of angry, surprised shouts from their owners. A group of fishermen mending a large net on a nearby dock stopped their work, their mouths agape, their needles still. Children pointed, their game forgotten. The three travelers, looking somewhat disheveled, damp, and utterly out of place, clung to the edges of their oversized, slowly spinning lily pad like shipwreck survivors clinging to a very green, very conspicuous raft.