My happy mood carried me all the way up the tunnel. I skipped the entire way humming a tuneless melody. This lasted until exactly two steps past the entrance, whereupon I was beset by a tide of water falling from the sky. About to run back inside I was stopped by the sight of devastation just outside the cavern.

Numerous trees were reduced to little more than kindling. The ground was pockmarked with craters, some larger than me. Sticks and branches littered the ground, a single stump burned merrily, and everywhere there was water. It fell from the sky in warm sheets, it turned craters into pools, and small streams ran in every direction.

Out of all of this one thing stood out to me more than anything else. That one burning stump. How the hell can you even still burn in this weather? You are practically underwater! Ignoring my logic and mental screaming the stump continued to burn merrily. Angry at the storm, the fire, and its refusal to follow any logic I sloshed my way over to glare at it.

“What place could you possibly hold in nature?” I demanded of the stump. Of course, being a burning stump it gave no reply. I did get a reply from my hunter instincts, however. A mental image of me cheerily cooking a large slice of meat over a small fire popped into my mind. “You stay out of this!” I shout back in response, my stomach grumbling sadly. The very satisfied, not hungry, and dry me gives a mocking salute and vanishes.

Rounding back on the stump I intensify my glare as I focus on it. “Well I guess I should learn from you. At least then I can show that stupid other me that I can cook too.” The stump just sits there continuing to burn merrily in the face of my anger.

Extending a thread of mana to the stump I connect to the flames. The feeling it gives is warm, almost hot and it is flickery. It is vastly different than anything else I have felt before. It cannot exist on its own. This form of fire consumes. It takes energy from the tree and air to keep itself alive. None of the other forms of mana had to do this so why is the fire intent only on consuming other things? The fire baffles me. I am unable to see how something like this is an essential part of nature. I study the fire for a good long while eventually learning its flow but failing to find it doing anything other than consuming.

“Why? Why why why why why! Why do you not make any sense? How do you fit in? How can something that exists only to destroy be a part of the natural order?” I scream at the burning stump. Turning my angry glare to the sky I continue shouting, “You want me to learn fire? You want me to feel it? I’ll show you fire!” I quickly gather a mass of the flickering red mana and twist it around. Letting out a triumphant laugh I raise my hand to the heavens… and manage to light myself on fire.

Screaming and cursing incoherently I dive into one of the crater pools and quench the flames. Cursing and grumbling I crawl out of the pool to glare once again at the hated stump. “This is all your fault!” I shout before turning my back on it and stalking away.

I am getting ready to storm back to the tunnel when I get a small mental zap from my hunter instincts. “What do you want?” I snap. It gives me a small prod to look down before vanishing once more. Looking down I see a long slender tree branch. “What am I supposed to do with this?” I ask no one. The moment my fingers close around the branch a different part of my mind stirs happily. The part containing my bow crafting skill. “Huh, so I guess something good did come of this fruitless trip after all.”

Looking around the ground is littered with broken bits of trees. Seeing this my anger quickly cools and I start darting around picking up some branches and dropping others. My skill helps me to recognize which ones will be useful and which ones are worthless. I gather a large armload of mixed bow pieces and a little bit of firewood, since cooked meat sounds very appetizing.

Man, this would be so much easier if I didn’t have to carry- wait I don’t have to carry all of them! Remembering a little late that I now have the storage belt I stop and grab a stick from the top of the pile while trying to balance the rest. I bring it down and tap it against my left hip. Nothing happens. I pout a little my tail twitching in irritation. I try again this time adding a small pulse of mana and the stick disappears. “Woohoo!” I shout in triumph and do a little happy dance. This unfortunately causes me to drop the rest of my sticks. “Damnit!”

Uhhg now I have to pick them all up again! But the way the stick just disappeared was so cool! I wonder how I get it out again? Needing to know how to get things out of the storage belt before I load it up I tap on it again while sending a small burst of mana into it. Rather than the stick reappearing I got a mental image of the storage space. Shaped like a box the sides were about as long as I am tall, if I were to be cut off at the knees. Floating in the box is a single stick. I focus on the stick and it disappears from the box reappearing slightly to the left of my hand and falling to the ground.

Hmmm interesting. So, to get something out of the box I just need to send a little mana into it, focus on the object I want, and think out. It was a little disappointing that it just fell to the ground though. I will have to practice more with this and see if I can control where things appear. That however can wait. I need to gather these up and find somewhere to get out of this rain.

Promising myself that I will practice later I bend and start to pick up my fallen pieces of wood. One after another they all disappear until finally there is only one left. Triumphantly I grab the stick, tap it so my side with a little mana, and drop it. Landing in a small flow of water it is quickly whisked away. “Huu? Hey get back here!” I shout giving chase.

I follow the quickly moving stick for several minutes until it drops into the pool of a small crater. Reaching down to grab it I freeze as my instincts scream at me to stop.

Ding!

Primal Senses has reached level 4!

Startled by the new notification and my still tingling senses I slowly stand and start to take in my surroundings. I have somehow stumbled into the center of a perfect circle formed by a dozen craters. The pouring rain has filled them to the point of overflowing. Some of them are shallower than the length of my arm while others could swallow me whole. Thin trickles of water or wide flows connect them forming an unbroken chain.

The movement of my stick catches my attention and I watch as it moves from one pool to the next. The movement is oddly captivating. In some of the pools the stick just slowly floats from one side to the other, while in others it is twisted and jostled by strong currents. Some of the streams carry it quickly from one pool to the next while in others it barely moves at all.

Without intending it to happen my mana vision slowly enfolds my sight and a beautiful flow of light illuminates the circle. Glowing lines in a deep blue appear all around me. They follow the water perfectly, forming pools and streams. Some of the pools a glassy smooth while others have waves and spirals. In the streams the mana changes between thin and spread out to tightly packed and thick. The mana does not exist only in the pools though.

Looking to the sky a dance much more intricate than the one in the pools is taking place. Swooping spirals of wind braid themselves with streams of water. A flowing, shifting kaleidoscope of blue and teal light dances across the sky. Where the two meat they form roiling storm clouds that produce falling sheets of blue rain. The ground, the air, the very world itself is alive with water.

Something deep and primal takes over and I am lost in the flows of the mana. This time no thread comes from me for how could a single thread capture the flow, instead a white fog of mana mists the air around me before turning a deep rich blue. I am enveloped in a cool feeling and my thoughts are washed away as I start to move.

My legs move in a smooth flowing motion following the pace of the water. Sometimes quick and others slow and steady, I follow the streams. At the pools I either glide across the ground or dance bobbing and spiraling with the flow. My arms twist, rise and fall with the motion of the rain. Before I know it I am dancing across the surface of the water. I leave no ripples that would disturb the flow but now move with the flow rather than simply following it.

As I dance the water begins to whisper to me. It speaks of deep secrets and great storms. It speaks of life, tears, and the endless sea. Slowly I come to understand it and as I do, I hear its song. This song does not beg or plead to be sung, it simply knows that it will and waits. When I open my mouth and start to sing the world doesn’t go quiet, instead the pattering of the rain and the sloshing of the pools sing with me in harmony. Together we sing the water’s song.

The root of life, an endless flow

A sign of pain, of hearts brought low

In sea and storm, of ground and sky

A steady stream, a ceaseless tide.

You crack the earth, but make no tare

Great canyons made from constant wear

Great glassy lakes from moments rest

An icy land from endless sleep.

From smallest drops to vast great seas

From joyous souls, and broken pleas

Through beating hearts such as these

You are life, the storm the sea

From falling drop

To boundless sea

With mornings dew, you great the day

A welcome friend, keep thirst at bay

The cooling rain to feed the fields

A rising storm, to wash all away

You give strength, and bare our hearts

Ensnare the mind and make it clear

Upon your waves joy is found

Within your depths without a sound

From smallest drops to vast great seas

From joyous souls, and broken pleas

Through beating hearts such as these

You are life, the storm the sea

From falling drop

To boundless sea

My voice is slow and deep, quick and high, smooth as a glassy lake. As I sing with the rivers and the rain they dance and twist. The water comes alive at the sound of my voice. Sadly, like all things the song comes to an end, and the moment of beauty passes. With the fading of the last notes my dance brings me back to the center of the circle where I fall to my knees and cry. I cry for the beauty of the song that is gone and I cry for the small glimpse of something greater that is now hidden. The Endless Song. As I sang with the water a new piece of it had been revealed. A small sliver of its grandeur now hidden.

As I calmed myself and wiped away my tears the notifications I knew were waiting arrived with the familiar ringing of bells.

Ding!

Quest Alert: The Endless Song

A song of incomprehensible power that bends the very laws of nature; it is beyond your current understanding. To know this song you must know the 6 primal aspects of nature. Feel them, listen to them, and understand them.

- Understand Fire (x)

- Understand Wind (ü)

- Understand Water (ü)

- Understand Earth (x)

- Understand Light (x)

- Understand Darkness (x)

Reward: The Endless Song

Endurance + 2!

Mana Manipulation has reached level 17!

Spellweaver has reached level 8!

“Well Mel would you look at that. When we set out today, I hadn’t expected anything but walking running and maybe a little work on my skills. Instead we were chased by a storm into an ancient cave, learned long lost magics, and have now discovered our second song.” I say, smiling weakly and wiping at my face. Melody responds by pulsing gently echoing back the song of water. “Well what do you say we get out of this rain and find somewhere dry to get some sleep?” I ask while giving her a few friendly pats.

Soaking wet and tired down to my bones I make my stumbling way back to the tunnel. Using my newfound knowledge, I pull all the water from my body then make a warm breeze to fluff my tail and warm the chill from my skin. Now warm and dry I curl up with my tail and fall asleep the instant I close my eyes.