I’ve got a ship to myself, pretty much. A wide, flat-topped barge with enough room for me to lie down and stretch my legs, allowing the fresh, watery breeze kicking off the surface of the lake to run through my antennae and over my carapace. It’s not a bad life.

Flatteringly, they’ve plopped me in the middle of the fleet, surrounded on all sides by the majestic vessels of the Island Conglomerate. There are worse ways to travel, I guess is what I’m saying.

I did offer to fly myself there with gravity magic, but my fellow ants decided we should just accept the hospitality of our trading partners and do things their way. Fine by me, I suppose. It’s just a shame they miss out on such a wondrous sight as the great flying Anthony!

“How are you, Eldest?”

Every now and again, other ants are brought aboard to catch up with me. Thankfully, the brathian haven’t allowed the… more enthusiastic humans travelling with us to board my ship. I can still hear them from where I am, shouting and praising away on another boat further back while I flop about on mine.

Today, Cobalt has popped over and I’m glad for the company of the little ant. Not having my three closest friends and closest companions around has left me feeling lonelier than I’d expected.

“I’m fine, Cobalt. Just watching the world go by.”

It really is something. I haven’t been in the fourth stratum long enough to get a good look at everything, but it’s like the place was designed for eye-candy. Everywhere you look, there are stunning views. Even with near three-sixty degree vision and thousands of lenses, I’m still not able to drink it all in.

The waters of the Lake are bright, almost crystalline, filled to the brim with life and water mana. A whole ecosystem of monsters live down there, fish, sharks, squids, giant fish, giant sharks, giant squids. Every once in a while, something breaks the surface, showering the surrounds in drops of water that shine like jewels.

Beyond that are the mountains. Rising from well below the water line, they tower up into the sky beyond the level I can see, meeting the bottom of the third stratum somewhere kilometres overhead, obscured by mist and cloud. Each one is an absolute titan, and whenever we pass close enough by one, they are absolutely bursting with life. Monsters, plants, plant monsters, oversized and filled with vigour, they shake the ground with their steps as we drift by, spectators to the struggle.

“I never really expected to see so many settlements. It’s kind of weird to see people just… hanging around,” I say.

“They aren’t really ‘hanging’, are they, Eldest?” Cobalt asks, confused. “They’re just walking… right?”

“Yes,” I sigh, wishing I could roll my eyes. So particular. “I was just pointing out that we didn’t see anything like this around our mountain.”

The further we travel, the more commonly we see ‘civilization’, as some would put it. Walled settlements, large cities, inhabited mountains. I think we saw an inhabited flying island as well. It flew overhead, which was interesting. The brathians were quite mad about it, though. Showering down from that particular island was one of those constant waterfalls, springing from an endless well of water mana. The fleet had to be protected from a deluge of thousands upon thousands of litres of water.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Ah, I noticed that as well. Apparently, it’s all down to the Mother Tree. She can be an unreliable and somewhat dangerous neighbour. The mountains close to where she makes her home have been largely abandoned over the years, and now it’s considered too difficult, or too expensive to root her out.”

“Huh.”

“That’s one of the reasons Satrap Umizan is so rich. When everyone else moved out, he picked up his Conglomerate and moved in, judging that the Tree wouldn’t bother them if they stayed in the waters and left her roots alone. He was right, and profited greatly, so I’m told.”

Stupid Tree. Why does she have to be so unsociable? Sheesh. You can’t even tolerate people living in a mountain next to you? I’ll tell her straight up, if she tries to kick the Colony out, I’ll nibble on her roots until she collapses.

Some of the places we’ve passed have been pretty big, surprisingly big, considering they’re built on the sides of the mountains and not inside them, but apparently none of them are big enough to warrant a stop over. Just how big the places we are going to visit are is starting to worry me.

“Anyway, I thought I’d let you know that the fleet is going to be stopping soon. We’ve almost arrived at our destination.”

“Lakespire? Wow.”

It’s taken a few days to get here, which doesn’t sound like much, but with the wind and water manipulation going into moving these boats, we are moving. I wouldn’t be shocked if we’d travelled well over a thousand kilometres. Maybe even two.

“So… have they told you how we get down there?”

Like all of the biggest brathian settlements, this one is underwater. I doubt they’re going to put the entire fleet in a bubble, so there must be some way of getting us all down there.

“I asked a few times, Eldest, but they wouldn’t tell me. They seem to want it to be a surprise. My ship has pulled closer, I think it’s time for me to get back. See you when we get to the bottom, Eldest.”

“Alright then. Thanks for dropping by.”

With a running start and a powerful leap, Cobalt flies over the railing of my own ship and is promptly yoinked out of the air by a wind mage, who pulls her back onto her own ship. Just when I’m wondering if I should nap or continue to admire the view, Marzban emerges from below deck with his son, Theraz, by his side. A moment later, I feel a mind reach out to mine.

[Greetings.]

[Hello, again, Olivis.]

I try not to sound immensely weary with this whole facade. I fail.

[It’s simply protocol,] the Dungeon Seer sniffs. [Even if you were a golgari, or human dignitary, you would be subject to the exact same restrictions.]

[I get it, I get it.]

As if I would try and melt their minds while aboard their ship. Where’s the trust? Eventually, I’m connected to Marzban via the mage.

[Hey there, Marzban. Come to flex and work on your tan?]

Theraz claps a hand to his mouth and tries to contain a laugh. I guess I was connected to him as well?

[No,] the brathian replies humourlessly. [I came to inform you of our imminent descent.]

[Yes, Cobalt mentioned we were getting close. I was starting to wonder how we were all getting down there.]

[Bubble generators,] he tells me.

[Bubble generators?] I ask.

[Bubble generators,] he nods.