Chapter Eighteen

They pin balled their way through the forest, panic growing in the twins with each passing second. It was like they knew something horrible would happen if they didn’t arrive in time. But they didn’t know what it was.

Unfortunately for Ione, the twins sent a bombardment of images through the bond, ushering her to go faster, but she was already at her max speed, especially with the tree obstacles. She assumed the danger had something to do with Umbra and the humans, but as long as her family remained safe, she didn’t care about some slightly tasty snacks. Now with one of her family was in danger, she would stop at nothing to reach them in time. Though if they lost Umbra, her mother would be sad and she couldn’t have that, so she must try her best without endangering her family by smashing into a tree by going too fast.

After what felt like an eternity for the twins but was at most a couple minutes, they reached the shore overlooking the flooded part of town. Off in the distance they spotted Umbra listing to her right side, hundreds of meters away from the submerged school they anchored near. However, no cause for the damaged was obvious.

All three of them narrowed their eyes in suspicion, as it seemed way too obvious of a trap, but if they wanted to save Umbra, they had to act soon. Just in the few seconds they watched, the boat listed slightly further.

Elysia glanced down at Ione, asking her if she sensed anything through their bond. Unfortunately, she received a negative a few seconds later. Both of her water friendly family members suggested they do a quick swim by, but Elysia instantly vetoed the idea. That was probably what whoever did this wanted.

Another even more worrying issue was where were Eva and Joe? She gave them the permissions to control Umbra, yet the boat remained dead. In fact, she couldn’t see any lights on from their vantage point, which wasn’t unusual in itself, especially from their distance, but when added together with everything else, a painted a bad picture.

Despite having a good idea what the answer would be, Elysia sent another series of images toward her bond, asking if she sensed anyone on board Umbra. Which she received a second later proved it. The humans were gone. Did they abandon ship? If they did, they would’ve stayed nearby, but Ione would have told her that. Besides, they couldn’t have gone far on their own without the raft she took. Though Joe was pretty resourceful, he probably could’ve rigged something.

To get more information, Elysia directed Ione to carry them along the shore back toward the now enclosed marina. Eager to help, Ione shot off, carrying the twins. Halfway to the marina, Elysia directed her to turn left down a barely visible street under the foliage and trees.

As they traveled down the road, the ground inclined, cluing in Sereia where they were going. Unlike her twin, Sereia didn’t spend half her life running up and down every street in town. It wasn’t unusual for her to get lost before their hometown turned into a forest. Now it was practically a guarantee she would lose her way.

The incline stopped at a half-collapsed lighthouse overlooking the ocean below from its high vantage point atop a cliff. The same cliff that protected the enclosed marina and at least a quarter of town from the wave, though not without damage. Unlike most of the town overtaken by trees, the area around the lighthouse appeared untouched by the merge. However, the previously expansive ledge, easily able to fit three of the lighthouses, barely fit the remains of one. Either by the merge or the wave, most of the ledge crumbled into the water all the way up to the foundation of the lighthouse.

This, of course, made it much more difficult to maneuver around the lighthouse to get a better view of their surroundings, but they managed it by hopping over ruined sections of the lighthouse.

When they finally reached the narrow ledge, giving them a high panoramic view of the surrounding area, they froze. At the edge of their vision range, they spotted hundreds of masts sprouting from the curve of the planet. Well beyond what Ione could sense.

Even if no obstacles obscured them, there was no way they could have seen them from ground level because of the curve of the planet. Most likely, they planned to ambush them if they took Umbra. Still, they couldn’t just abandon Umbra, and what about Eva and Joe? Going by the presence of so many ships, they kidnapped the humans, probably to be used as hostages.

Just the thought of to escape with Umbra spiked the feeling of danger weighing her down. What were their options? Sure, they could abandon both Umbra and the humans and swim away, but that felt wrong. Just because they could escape didn’t mean they should, but the elementals were probably banking on their desire to save their crew and ship. If who were they were facing were elementals. Since they specifically targeted them. There was a very high chance that was what they were facing.

No matter how talented Sereia and Ione were in the water, there was no way they could match that many elementals, some of which could be just as talented or have years of experience. Most likely both.

Could they even escape through the water? Sereia outran a fleet of water elementals for thousands of kilometers. Or maybe not. It was possible they kept their distance on purpose. They seemed aware of the existence of Mezo, so maybe they planned on coming this way anyway and they were just the bonus. She didn’t know how valuable divine blessed elementals were, but they had to be pretty high if the elementals were willing to chase them this far. There was no way they hated the fact they weren’t born elemental enough to chase them across the ocean and set up the blockade, but it definitely wasn’t a point in their favor.

Whatever the reason, there was no way they would allow themselves to get captured. She would rather die than fall victim to whatever they planned and going by the hatred radiating off her twin and bond, they shared her feelings.

The problem was, how could they save Umbra and the humans? Eva and Joe were under her protection, and she failed. Yet another impulsive action creating problems.

Suddenly, a series of excited images flashed into her mind, detailing a boat speeding off toward the blockade. Each image had a feeling attached to them, practically begging to go on a hunt.

Elysia’s head snapped to their right, zeroing in on the fast-moving raft sized boat. On board were two familiar humans kneeling on deck, surrounded by bubbles of water keeping them in place. There wasn’t a motor, but she assumed the seashell clad woman standing on the raft while waving her hands was a water elemental propelling the raft.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Elysia gave a nod to Ione, giving her the go ahead for the rescue. She would only get in the way. Besides, she had an idea slowly forming as she remembered the geography of their hometown. She just hoped the merge didn’t ruin it.

Recognizing her twin’s I have a plan face, Sereia didn’t put up a fuss as Ione leaped over the edge, excitement pumping through the bond.

Elysia turned toward her sister with a bright smile, almost making her regret not going with Ione. “How confident are you in filling up a ravine?”

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Almost too fast for the human eye to follow, Ione rocketed through the water just far enough below the surface to avoid giving herself away.

Finally, a hunt worthy of her glorious self. She supposed she could save the humans, too. Her mother would be displeased with her if she didn’t.

With ease expected of someone of her stature, she caught up to the boat, but instead of immediately attacking, she circled around it, looking for the best angle to make things interesting.

At first she expected the delicious drink to notice her, but apparently their almost wasteful use of magic didn’t extend to sense, only propulsion. They sucked at propulsion as well. She could probably push the raft faster if she borrowed her aunt’s water magic. Though to be fair, her aunt’s water magic was far superior to this delicious drink’s magic.

Unfortunately, she would have to settle for a more physical approach. Actually, that was probably preferable either way. It wouldn’t be much of a hunt if she could crush her targets from afar.

After circling one more time to ensure the stupid delicious drink couldn’t sense her, Ione rammed her body into the bottom of the raft, causing it to jump up as if hitting a nasty wave or something submerged. The raft zigzagged for a moment before returning to course, sparking disappointment in the feline.

She was almost hoping the stupid delicious drink would notice something was wrong, but apparently the drink earned its title of stupid.

Next, she extended her claws and raked them along the entire length of the raft, causing dozens of small leaks. This time she didn’t even get a reaction from the stupid delicious drink as the elemental kept course despite water filling the bottom of the raft. Though to be fair, she wouldn’t be afraid of a little water if she ever used a boat.

Finally, she decided to make it obvious. Well, more obvious. With her far superior sensing, she zeroed in on her rescue targets, ensuring they weren’t touching anything metal. Unfortunately, they were, so she gave the raft another bump, causing the bubble enclosed humans to slide a meter back conveniently on a wood section.

Satisfied, lightning sparked from her claws as she touched the metal frame of the raft. A yelp rewarded her for her efforts, yet for some absurd reason the extra stupid delicious drink didn’t react. They didn’t even increase their speed. The extra stupid delicious drink just maintained course.

Fed up with being cute, not that she would ever not be cute, Ione slashed her claws through the raft’s bottom in dozens of places, then gave it another good whack, breaking it apart. The moment the raft crumbled, the seemingly solid extra stupid delicious drink deformed into water, merging with the ocean. At the same time, the bubble restraining the humans popped, sending them plummeting to the ocean’s depths.

Disappointment filled her at the mediocre hunt as the previously delicious drink vanished from her senses, but she couldn’t dwell on it as she had to retrieve the floundering humans whose inferior bodies couldn’t breathe underwater. Just the fact they needed to breathe made them far inferior to her family.

With a flap of her tail, she rocketed down toward the humans, who were frantically flailing in an attempt to reach the surface.

Of course, all their flailing accomplished was wasting the energy they would need to hang on to her glorious body. They should feel honored she was allowing them to ride. If her mother didn’t require her to save the humans, there was no way she would allow such an honor.

She slowed down to allow the humans to grab on, which, to their credit, they did instantly. Unfortunately, their inferior bodies couldn’t hold on once she sped up, forcing her to slow down. Another drawback was she had to remain near the surface to ensure the humans could breathe, giving away her position.

As she meandered her way back toward her mother, she kept her senses trained behind her, but nothing seemed to follow them. That didn’t mean she wasn’t being watched, though.

Hopefully, whatever her mother had planned made up for this disappointing hunt. They needed to find another Mezo like hunting ground soon or she would go crazy. If only the stupid, disgusting fake elementals didn’t kick them out.