Greil’s imposter was made of flies, and with the sea serpent looming the imposter buzzed just as the portal had, and with Elena scampering off somewhere Rusk had lost awareness of where the portal was along with her whereabouts. She was the first person to move after the sea serpent’s booming wave-ridden entrance, apparently undaunted by the gigantic monster towering over the in retrospect brittle wooden vessel. Curious.

It was like she wasn’t afraid of monsters.

Not that the sea serpent was a monster. It felt too pure for that. Monsters were made of flies as far as Rusk was concerned. Flies or something rotten. Like the portal. What did that have to do with ‘mancers? Up until boarding the ship Rusk had never heard the term ‘mancer before, but now the rest of the crew even though they weren’t moving were all whispering and hissing the term between each other as if it were some kind of omen. Or seaward superstition. But superstition always came from somewhere, and they’d also called Greil’s imposter a ‘mancer too, so maybe there was something to it.

Anyway it didn’t so much matter now, now that the priority was the giant sea serpent staring down at them.

Rusk was the third to move. Everyone else was transfixed on the sea serpent. Though one crew member beside Captain Arrolg made a religious gesture that Rusk recognized from his time spent with Iya Tarfell as a child. She had made the same gesture when bidding he and his family farewell after the monster attack that left his arms torn to shreds and then later, scarred.

Rusk made his way cautious closer to the sea serpent, though closer might have been a misnomer because its body, long and slick and slender relative to its size, was wrapping around the boat from all directions. Covered in fur not scales, but that could’ve been a trick of the seafoam and mist.

The sky was bright.

It cast the sea serpent in silhouette so only its eyes shone bright.

Magically.

“Do you know the sky serpent?” asked Rusk.

The sea serpent stared. Its head bent closer to Rusk, and mist flared in whiskers out from its nostrils. It was covered in very fine fur instead of scales, Rusk could tell for sure now with it so close to his face, with its presence making itself known in slippery Elva sensations, much like the texture of an otter as it swims. The sea serpent was mammal instead of fish. Interesting.

Rusk wondered if that would make it more or less reasonable, or if the species would even matter to a creature so large. He hoped Iya Tarfell meant something to the sea serpent, and meant something good besides. Otherwise he might as well be eaten right there. Plucked out of his quest and swallowed by a creature of the sea.

He wondered how official Heroes would fare if ever they had to fight such a gigantic, majestic creature.

Though the sky serpent had been kind, all things considered. Maybe Rusk’s luck wouldn’t turn bad this time around.

Maybe him knowing Iya Tarfell would bring good fortune.

Maybe.

Rusk was filled to the brim with maybes.

He gulped. Didn’t feel so heroic now.

Not that he ever did. Maybe this whole time he’d been playacting. Maybe he should turn around and abandon his quest. This whole hero thing was getting very complicated.

No.

No, he couldn’t do that.

He promised Mandy. And Felix and Loretta.

Not to mention himself. Promises made to oneself were very important. Arguably the most important.

Racing thoughts were not helping.

“I only ask because I’ve met the sky serpent.”

Captain Arrolg shot Rusk an incredulous look, complete with comically raised eyebrows.

The dead portal swirled.

The sea serpent’s breath was a wash of foam and ripples of seawater winds. It didn’t speak to Rusk. It eyed the portal, which Rusk now realized was behind him along with Elena, who had popped back into place in front of it and was squealing something frantic and incomprehensible. So much for her escape attempt, apparently. But Rusk hadn’t called for the Elva. He’d been too shocked, full of racing heartbeats and adrenaline. Not to mention the portal and him were at odds if the Elva had anything to say about it.

So who had?

The Greil imposter came to mind.

Too late Rusk noticed the portal was pulling Elena backward, seemingly due to the will of the only comprehensible powerful-enough force to control it, the sea serpent. Her hair was short but whipped around her head wildly as an unnatural wind pressed her back, making her boot-laden feet slide shiftily across the deck as she flailed her arms in an attempt to grab onto something as an anchor to keep balance.

She wound up grabbing onto Rusk, who was the closest within reach.

He tried to bend his knees but planted his feet too late.

Even though he fought it, both of them were sent struggling against the force of either the portal or the sea serpent or Greil or all three, and Elena clung so hard on Rusk she might be adding even more scars to his repertoire.

He didn’t let go. Not no matter what. That was a hero’s job. He would be a hero to the end, even if this was where he ended for real.

“If we pass through that dead portal we’re dead for sure!” screamed Elena. “No coming back!” As if people could legitimately count on coming back once they were dead.

Rusk tightened his grip on her, grabbing a protrusion of the ship to keep them both from falling into the dead portal.

“How do you know the sky serpent?” The sea serpent’s voice was close and soft, a surprise to Rusk who answered immediately without conscious consideration.

“Iya Tarfell. The sky serpent was looking for her killer back in my home forest in the mainland.”

Elena clung so hard on him she started cutting off his circulation. He adjusted his grip, trying not to let her slip away from him as he did so. Was the portal getting closer? Had it stopped? He couldn’t tell. He could feel it, but the sea serpent’s presence had it overpowered. He hoped the Elva would come through for him if he needed it in a pinch. It was looking very much like he’d need it very soon. His one Elva Arrow that he’d struck through the portal before was nowhere to be seen, apparently having vanished along with the unnatural screeching. And Elena… he didn’t even know what to do about her, especially if they made it through this mess.

That was a gigantic, fearful if.

Captain Arrolg made his way closer, steadily but determined, an arm thrown up against the force of the sea serpent’s presence and all its preternatural wind.

“What is your relation to Iya Tarfell?” asked the sea serpent. Calmly in a deadly whisper.

The portal resumed its screeching and a Doppler cloud of buzzing formed arms or tendrils or vines toward Elena with the intention of yanking her in. And probably Rusk as well.

Elena changed her weight distribution and kicked not at the invisible buzzing formations but in a manner that suggested she were trying to dodge them, which was the only reason Rusk could infer there was anything actively coming for her. His head was filled with serpentine whispers.

All the sudden he could no longer hear the buzzing of the dead portal. He didn’t know if that were a blessing or a curse or some unholy mixture of both.

Greil’s imposter had dematerialized and materialized closer, but now it disintegrated with a surprised yelp. Rusk attention was obviously elsewhere, so he didn’t take any note of it. A head full of mythical whispers will do that. But he knew thanks to those whispers that the sea serpent had personally done away with the Greil imposter, and with no more effort than a splash of oceanic magic. Greil’s imposter might not have been completely disposed of, but at the very least its physical presence on the ship had evaporated never to return.

The sheer weight of a sea serpent’s presence could break the most potent ‘mancer spell work. So Elena’s theory that the portal couldn’t cross water was half correct. It couldn’t cross water if the water didn’t want it to. That was the same for all mythical forces. Which included the Elva. Stowing away on a human ship seemed the only viable method for crossing the sea serpent’s territory, which explained a lot of the sailor superstitions about ghosts and other supernatural entities, some of which Rusk had read in his research on monsters and heroes, and the reason for the Heroes’ Sanctuary to be located on an island past the territory itself. Or rather smack in the middle of it.

“Do you know who murdered Iya Tarfell?” asked the sea serpent, though it didn’t sound very much like a question with the way the words swam over each other inside Rusk’s head.

“No,” answered Rusk truthfully.

“Me,” said the sea serpent.

Captain Arrolg stopped in his tracks. But the rest of the crew began moving about, pulling on ropes and tending the ship, throwing or retrieving anchors, seemingly having sprung to life at some unspoken command of the captain’s. And Captain Arrolg’s sword began to glow an eerie, putrid green.