Much to her horror, Fangarus had just been attacked by a behemoth. Its tusks had gutted him, now leaving the child with his intestines hanging out upon the ground. His own small hands were pushed up against his stomach as he curled over and cowered into himself.

Meanwhile, the behemoth loomed over him, and based off its enraged roar, it had no desire to leave him alone.

Gods, Val only wished that she could do something to help. Instead, she had to put her faith back into the useless god who had caused this situation in the first place.

“Fangarus! Iharu!” a deep voice yelled. Since Tavras could be heard, he was assumedly just out of sight beyond the trees.

When Fangarus had been trying to warn Iharu, he had even said that Tavras was located nearby in addition to that behemoth. Why had that worthless god not taken more serious, preventative action in the name of protecting Iharu and Fangarus? Clearly, by what happened next, Tavras had by no means lacked the power to stop the behemoth.

A slice of water rushed forward with a razor-sharp edge. This thin wall was backed by enough power for it to cleave. The water of this attack moved so fast that if Val had been required to blink in her visions of the past, she might have missed it all together.

The scythe of water struck the behemoth in the rear. Some blood immediately splashed forth to join the waters which splattered every which way. The behemoth, having taken the initial blow from the wave with its body, did nothing to stop the wave’s onslaught despite its size. The water flowed down beneath the behemoth’s belly and cut upward with the destructive force of a million geysers exploding. More blood gushed out—as much blood as one would imagine that such a hulking body would contain.

The majority of the behemoth’s body split apart. Its heavier upper body stayed intact which allowed the behemoth to remain connected at its shoulders. The rest of it had split apart though, nearly in half by the force of Tavras’s ability of Bend Water alone. The behemoth collapsed to the ground, dead upon impact.

If Val had to stand here in the physical presence of Tavras’s wrath, she might just shake in her boots. A note to herself: never get into a splash fight with the Sea Itself ever again. In the same spirit, she should extend that philosophy to any serious fight as well—especially a serious fight. So much for smiting Tavras after this because Val could not lay so much as a finger upon him.

That wave of water and blood burst outward onto two different paths. Each flew on either side of Fangarus, leaving him untouched by nothing but a few stray drops of water and blood that speckled him. Some of that blood soon washed away, as pouring rain came down from the sky.

Apparently that finishing attack on the behemoth had not been enough for Tavras. He also needed to bring a torrent of rain down upon the earth. If only he could have taken care of the behemoth with this much zeal in the first place, none of this would have happened.

Tavras rushed out of the trees. “Fangarus….” He dropped down onto both knees without another word. His shaking hands moved down to hover over the child’s sliced open stomach.

“Daddy?” Fangarus’s voice sounded weak, all twisted up in pain. His bleary eyes blinked up to Tavras against the rain. “Am I dying?”

“No, absolutely not. You are a demigod, and I am a god. I can heal you.” While all of those things were undeniably true, little conviction backed his voice. Tavras spoke with rote words as if he only said them as a reassurance. Had Tavras thought that Fangarus would soon die from his injuries, right in this moment?

Water gathered around the wound in Fangarus’s stomach. Likewise, this water traced down all of his intestines which had spilt out. With his guts enwrapped in healing water, Tavras made everything begin to glow. His gentle hands scooped Fangarus up in his arms, and like that, he began to jog. “Iharu, come with us. Follow me!”

From where the little girl had been smashed against a tree, she had picked herself up and stood there shaking. What emotions must run through her head? She must feel terrified, for one. That could have been her with her intestines torn out by the tusks of a behemoth, if it had not been for Fangarus’s quick reaction in tossing her out of the way.

In the heat of the moment, Fangarus had chosen to save Iharu over himself.

Given that fact combined with her temper, perhaps Iharu shook with rage. The only reason why Fangarus had even been out here in the forest was because of her stubbornness. Therefore, perhaps she despised herself more than anything else right now, even Tavras.

Iharu turned herself into a wolf for a final time. The mangey pup darted away into the undergrowth with her tail between her legs.

Even if Tavras noticed that she did not follow him, he made no attempt to command her otherwise. With Fangarus in a critical condition in his arms, he had bigger things to worry about. More waves moved at epic speeds, forming at either side of Tavras. This time, he propelled himself forward with these watery explosions at his feet. Through the forest, Tavras ran faster than he could possibly evade trees.

Of course, he sidestepped and dodged the trees wherever he could. Otherwise, a swipe of another water scythe sliced a tree out of his way. Wood cracked and trees fell. The roar of water rushed on until Tavras had broken out of the forest. He only stopped once he had arrived at a series of tide pools.

These tide pools looked different from the ones that Val had been used to visiting Tavras with, but they would serve to heal Fangarus regardless.

In the tenderest of motions, Tavras lowered the boy into a large pool to submerge his abdomen in that water, filled with life. From there, he set to work at once. The water glowed so brightly that a blue star could have been born atop Fangarus’s belly. By the magic of Aquatic Rejuvenation, Tavras began the slow and laborious process of tucking the insides of Fangarus’s stomach back where they belonged.

The way that Tavras’s eyes pinched up and his nose did the occasional sniff, it was evident that he was crying. Normally, his tears should not have been visible what with the sheets of rain that drenched every part of his face. Like all of his healing water, though, his teary eyes glowed with a cyan light. From there, big droplets of tears slipped from his eyes. These tears landed into the tide pool and furthered the mending process of Fangarus’s body.

Once his task had finished and Fangarus was put back together, Tavras let himself fall flat on his back. He lay there like a starfish, a most appropriate position for the Sea Itself.

The deluge of rain pounded over him again and again. Tavras simply laid there with no movement aside from the slight rise and fall of his chest. Hopefully, he loathed himself more than he ever had in his life, in this moment.

“Fang, I’m sorry.”

The slurred speech of Fangarus replied, “It’s okay. Thanks for saving me.”

“I should have protected you.” Again, his voice sounded distant and lost. The way that Tavras always spoke in such an animated and cheerful manner, he almost seemed detached from his own body.

Fangarus said nothing. It was good of him to say nothing for a change, rather than him saying that it had been fine when it clearly was not.

“Fang, I need to leave again—just to get Iharu. She’s still in the forest. I have to go.”

“I understand.” There Fangarus went again with saying kind things when he should not. Of course Tavras had to get Iharu, but Fangarus could have just as easily given a curt or non-committal response instead.

“I will be back in a second.” Tavras hauled himself up to his feet. While he would not be able to keep to his promise of a literal second, he moved at a breathtaking speed once again. Tavras was striding across the water that he created for himself so that he could get to Iharu sooner. Most likely, his Water Tongue informed him of her location through the rain, because he headed straight there.

Coming to a stop, he crouched down near a briar thicket. Slowly, he whispered, “Iharu….”

Nestled within the den of thick brush, a wolf pup whimpered and whined.

“Don’t cry. I’m here now. Everything is going to be just fine.”

Her head lifted up from her curled up body. From there, she transformed back to human so that she could speak. “Fang? What about Fang?”

“He’s fine. I healed him. He is tired and dazed, but fine.”

“Thank you,” Iharu murmured.

“Come here.” Tavras reached his arms down into the bush and pulled Iharu out. “Let’s head back to the beach so that you can tell Fang that yourself. You owe him a huge thanks for being the best brother ever, protecting you like that.”

Iharu cried and cried. “I know.” Sticks and leaves stuck in her hair from her time in hiding, but that made her look no rougher than usual. “I’m awful—the biggest, baddest wolf ever. I’m a horrible sister.”

“Shh. We have to forgive ourselves and learn from our mistakes. We will do better next time.”

Val had to wonder if Tavras said that for Iharu’s benefit or his own.

Bundled in his arms, Tavras carried Iharu back to the beach. Once again, he moved quickly with the assistance of his water. When they returned to the tide pools, he set her down gently at Fangerus’s side.

Iharu crawled forward a few feet. Her trembling fingers reached out to grab at his forearm. Her chubby face wavered while tears welled up in her eyes and dripped down her cheeks. “Fang…” she began, but she choked up before she could finish. Her head fell down to the ground at his side. “I’m sorry—so, so sorry.” Where Iharu did not have many words, she had an infinite supply of tears. She continually sobbed with the occasional mutters of an apology, never ending.

An ache crept through her heart as she watched this. Her body felt physically pained to watch Fangarus in his recovery and Iharu in her misery. The poor children had suffered too much, all because of Tavras.

Val saw no reason to witness anything else from this moment in the past. She had seen all parts of the trial to Iharu, from its light-hearted beginnings to its terrible, but more or less happy, conclusion.

Fangarus had been physically healed. Here on out, it would be a matter of everyone recovering emotionally from the ordeal. There would be no magic tricks to make any scars on the psyche fade away. Only time could do that, but even then, the encounter with the behemoth would always remain as a moment that had happened in their past.

When Val allowed herself to drift away from the vision, she discovered that a few tears had leaked from her own eyes. Anybody with a heart would have cried after witnessing something like that happening to children, even if it had happened over one hundred years ago. At least, Val’s heart went out to Iharu and Fangarus.

To center herself back in the present timeline, she recalled her reason for viewing that vision in the first place. Val had wanted to get a sense for the type of challenge that Tavras might offer her. The answer to that question: she had better be prepared for Tavras to nearly kill her.

Character Update

* New information is marked in cyan.

* All entries are based on what Val knows.

Tavras Title: The Sea Itself Rank: God, Fifth Seat Attributes: Water Abilities Name Class Description Aquatic Rejuvenation medical

- heals injuries with water

- different sources of water heal more effectively

Aspect of the Depths combat - recreate a watery mirage of an aquatic animal Bend Water combat, practical

- move water at will

- can pull water from humidity in the air

Marine Ally combat, practical - controls aquatic animals Read Blood cognitive - sense a person's heritage Wish for Rain tactical, practical - gather condensation to the area and cause precipitation if enough water is available Unknown n/a - probably has a lot more abilities