[ ––––––––– ֎ Day 113 ––––––––– ]

It was past midnight. The group moved to a less active, coastal harbor region to the far right. They had to deal with a couple of stray palaps that were lurking in the shallow waters under the shadows of houses.

The beasts weren't especially hard to deal with due to their lacking speed, but their armor was hard to penetrate and their one successful launch forward could cost the daring challenger a leg. That's why the task of securing the path was given to Noemi, since she could easily out-range creatures with a spear.

Arath requested the party to stop, so he could collect the palap armor and meat. He focused on ribs, which looked the most appetizing.

The party soon arrived at the ruins of a tall lighthouse. At its bottom was a warehouse filled with crates, which for some reason still remained unopened. Pavaja pried these containers open, only to find that they were mostly empty, with exception of one crate filled with two ropes and a couple of climbing hooks.

After reaching the top of the lighthouse, Noemi and her companions could easily view the entire city. Its foundations were tilted, so the farthest regions of the city were located on higher grounds.

Slightly to the front of the lighthouse, were long, flat stairs that extended from left to right as far as adventurers could see. They were a point where shallow waters met the dry land and they led to an abandoned market square.

The farthermost away was a hill with a rectangular coliseum, which was located next to a district with a lot of tall homes. They neighbored a natural arch made out of rock that was connected to a wall of a cave at the opposite side, just like a bridge. Its second end led to an entrance to another cave.

Next, Noemi looked to her right, which the coastal areas of the port. There was a lone, crumbling footbridge that led to a circular shrine made out of a dome supported by fifteen columns. Noemi noticed a moving light of a lantern. It swayed just above the surface of the water, which suggested it was on a boat. The light stopped next to the start of a footbridge, moved to the dry land, then walked towards the shrine.

“Do you see?” - Noemi asked Pavaja, who was standing just next to her.

Pavaja nodded affirmatively.

“Hyacinth, Arath, come!” - Noemi called.

Arath and Hyacinth approached, checking the surroundings.

“What's there?” - Hyacinth asked.

“Someone with a boat, alone.” - Noemi replied.

“It might be just what we need.” - Pavaja suggested. - “With it, we could quietly move along the shore and avoid some encounters.”

Hyacinth pondered for a moment. - “We already have grappling hooks. If we get near the arena, we can climb up the cliff and sneak all the way to the cave. If we want to steal it, we need to hurry.”

“Steal?” - Noemi raised her head and looked at Hyacinth, then at Arath and Pavaja. Nobody except her was noticing anything wrong in that statement.

“Yes?” - Hyacinth responded.

“It's not righteous!” - Noemi replied.

“Noemi, don't you remember the defiled shrine, the blood inscriptions, and those gruesome totems?” - Pavaja asked suggestively. - “I thought you agreed that those creatures are heretics. It's fine to steal from them.”

“I have nothing against stealing from those who act against the codex, but we don't know every single of those creatures and we also don't know who really is there.” - Noemi argued.

“Noemi, we will not get a second chance, you can't be so punctilious about everything.” - Hyacinth started to be irritated.

Noemi, however, was smart about this. - “If we don't confront the boat's owner, then how do we know that he won't alert the city?”

“Right.” - Pavaja agreed, reflecting. - “We will need to tie up whoever is there.”

“...or just talk it out, If only possible.” - Noemi added.

“If.” - Hyacinth pointed. - “Let's go, there's no point discussing it any further, we already wasted enough time.”

[ ––––––––– ֎ ––––––––– ]

Noemi's team snuck up to the boat, it was loaded with crates and a chest, but the party paid it no heed, at least yet. Hyacinth and Arath agreed to stand on a lookout, while Pavaja and Noemi headed to the shrine. The first section of the footbridge was ruined, so the girls had to jump from rock to rock, until they arrived at the shrine.

Both girls hid behind sky-blue pillars and peeked at the inside. Inside the temple was a fish humanoid in a shaman attire, that is a shimmering cape made of fish scales, a red-painted breastplate made of palap's hide, arm and leg guards made of pieces of a crushed nautilus shell, and a wooden staff decorated with a ram skull.

The fish shaman was kneeling over a barely conscious creature that resembled a giant, yellow, black-striped seahorse with four long fins that were substituting for limbs and allowed to crawl on the land. The animal had runic symbols located at its ribs.

The shaman was holding a bowl with ground algae mixed with a red powder and repeating a mantra over its drugged victim. As he continued, the seahorse's runes lighted up, one by one, in a sinister dark red light.

“I don't like the meaning of this... let's go in.” - Pavaja announced before drawing her sword.

Noemi nodded in agreement. - “I'll go first.” - She readied her spear and snuck behind the fish person, then pointed it at its back.

“Hey!” - Noemi spoke, trying to draw the attention of her hostage.

However, the creature didn't react and continued its incomprehensible mumbling. Impatient, Noemi poked the shaman, but just as she did, the last rune of the spirit guardian lit up.

The fish creature turned around, then spoke in a frustrated, questioning manner - “K’chala Th’dra-ak!!?”

“Please, calm down. Do you, by any chance, happen to speak common?” - Noemi replied in a tone that suggested that she means no harm.

“N’chala r’flea sh’ka...” - Fish made an angry face and looked behind Noemi, spotting Pavaja. - “...schled duur..”

Pavaja realized that the seahorse is regaining its consciousness, but it had the same black sclera that the previous guardian had.

Pavaja realized that it's aiming its snout at Noemi and planning to shot out something.

“Watch out!” - The elf shouted and Noemi lifted her shield, blocking a load of ink.

Sensing an occasion, the shaman leaped away and hit his staff against the stone floor, simultaneously chanting a spell. The water behind the shrine raised, forming a three-meter high wave. It struck both girls and dragged Pavaja and seahorse into the lake, while Noemi's was pushed only a few steps away, thanks to her shield and claws.

The shaman was about to dive into the water and Noemi knew that she isn't going to catch up, so she had to act quickly. Noemi lifted her shield with both hands and tossed it like a disc, striking a fish creature at the base of its skull. The shaman dropped down.

“Are you okay Pavaja?” - Noemi looked behind, to check on a companion.

Pavaja was just piercing the seahorse with her sword. - “I'm fine.”

The girls tied up the shaman, took his staff and cape, and returned to the boys.

[ ––––––––– ֎ ––––––––– ]

“How did it go?” - Hyacinth asked, seeing that girls are returning.

Noemi wasn't in the best mood. - “It was a fish creature, it attacked us... but the weird thing is, it chanted and summoned a large wave, just like you perform your miracles...”

Hyacinth was shocked. - “It can't be, gods never grant their powers to heretics.”

“...then, what could it be?” - Noemi asked.

Hyacinth pondered for a moment, then responded. - “Maybe a labyrinth item, did you collect anything?”

Noemi opened her bag and showed a cape and staff.

“Have you tried activating those?” - Hyacinth replied.

Noemi took the staff and the cape, tried to shake them, strike the floor, and utter words similar to what the fish said, but it was to no avail. - “It doesn't work!”

“Perhaps there is a limit to their use or it requires another trick, we can always try tomorrow.” - Hyacinth suggested.

“Yeah.” - Noemi agreed.

“For now, let's check what's in the boat.” - Hyacinth replied and the team moved to the vessel.

Inside the crates were dozens of smoked fishes and various vials and jars. Arath identified what items he could. There was a jar with a liter of antiseptic liquid, a half-emptied bottle with oyster oil, a bottle of fragrant anointing oil, two pouched full of sleep powder, two yellow mixtures in corked conical vials, one hollowed fang with a putrid green salve, a teardrop-shaped vial with purple liquid and a five-liter keg of extremely strong, bioluminescent wine based on the sap of the glowing plants. Moreover, next to the crates was a purplish net of a tripod fisher. Inside a chest was an elegant battle hammer.