Chương 59: Chapter 58 - Homebound.

Jagged lightning pierced the skies, black clouds laden with flux seemingly generated above the island itself advanced up on the surrounding sea as an assault force. Wow, Voltherra seems nasty… Getting hit by bolts of lightning constantly could kill just about anyone, I wonder what strata you need to be to survive? Let alone exploring the island. To her south lay the deserts of …. I completely forgot the name of those islands, what the Hel were they? I'll visit another time, I'm sure they are plenty dangerous.

"Father once tried to crack Voltherra with our storm magic" Rowen said, gripping the railings.

"Did it go well? Your family magic is quite suited to the island's weather" She asked.

"No, it did not". … Endless mists, rolling clouds of pure flux blinded Nythera as they approached. Ok, that's it. She pushed [Flux-sight], it didn't move. We need to settle this now, seeing flux is very useful, being blinded by intensity because the sight is too effective is not. She shoved it. It nudged Nythera rallied every scrap of Wisdom she had, all 147 points and slammed into the skill in her soul at full force. It flickered.

Color melted off the world, the ship, the people, the clouds in the sky, the sea itself. Finally, I can deal with a more boring world if I'm not constantly being blinded. The skill was still there, alive in her soul. Just, off. It'll do.

"Nythera, we need to have a word" She jumped back as a voice appeared from directly behind.

"How do you move silently when you weigh 500 pounds and your body is covered in rock?" she asked with a scowl. And sighed.

"What do you want?"

"You signed me up as a public teacher for a bunch of rookies" Halt said flatly.

"Well yes, I did. I thought you would be begging for an opportunity to be useful" She said with faked innocence.

"And why would that be? I am a tutor for Aurendorian nobility not common street rats" A glare from his eyes shut her innocence act down fast.

"Well you know the situation on Myrraval, I have a tiny, poorly trained domain trying to expand into fluxspawn infested lands and a huge shortage of capable soldiers. By training the "common street rats" into competent delvers we would have both a military force and the manpower we need for my fledgling kingdom to grow" Nythera said flatly, doing her utmost to keep smugness off her face. Come on, take the bait old man. He harrumphed.

"Fine, you have a point, I suppose. I'll do it, but only until I can find a replacement teacher. There has to be someone competent on that island" Halt said with no shortage of reluctance.

"I'm glad you understand, I expect you to do a proper job, anything less would insult not just you, but myself" Nythera said, raising her chin as she stared valiantly off into the sea. He snorted "As if I would do anything less than perfect as a teacher, the things I do to see Aurendor rise again" and strode off, clearly annoyed.

A gaping hole in the flux, easily as wide as a dozen of her ships or more and towering above them was barely visible in the mist, blending with the lethal fog and the actual mist sent up by churning waters. This thing is damn hard to see. Oh well, if I miss it nothing bad happens, everyone on deck dying instantly is all. Nythera brought the stabilization height to just above the water level and reeled up the sail. A single gust of wind could kill us, we'll stick with the jets.

"Into the gates of Hel we go" Rowen muttered from the prow. That's one way of putting it. The ship drifted slowly into it, outputting just a small hum of energy from the thrusters. Well at least the map was accurate. Which means there are at least three more paths going… where? A screeching sound of rock on metal had her clutching her ears in seconds. What the Hel?

"Watch out Nythera, there are floating rocks in this current, they seem laden with Aetherite" Rowen called from the prow. And a nice curve up ahead, let's take this gently. The tube of clear space in the otherwise lethal mist had narrowed considerably. The ship drifted around the bend, skirting close to the edge of the mist.

"Careful girl" And slid into the fog. SHIT SHIT SHIT!

"Nythera what the Hel are you doing?!" Rowen screamed from the front deck, Talvik flapped over to the starboard railing as the portside was engulfed in mist. She slammed hard on the rudder controls, jamming it all the way to the right and forcing the ships prow away from the mist. As the prow pulled out, the stern of the ship swivelled into the mist. Ah come on! She catapulted herself off the upper deck and sprinted for the prow as the stern was entirely engulfed in the churning death.

"NYTHERA WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Halt screamed, clutching at his face as the stone melted. Sailors screamed as they ran away from the mist "By Kronan bleeding eyes!" The stern finally drifted out of the mist and Nythera pulled herself up the stairs and back to the control dashboard. Stolen story; please report. She cranked the rudder in the opposite direction to stabilize the ship. The whole thing was sliding straight for the mist wall on the opposite end of the river. NO, NOT AGAIN!

The ship drifted from its perpendicular stance, slowly pivoting to match the river. But not before the bow slid into the fog on the opposite side of the river.

"SHIT! EVERYONE TO THE STERN" Nythera screamed as the front of the ship was encased in airborne death. The sailors scrambled, pulling themselves up the staircase with vigour. She slammed hard on the rudder controls, the angle of the ship in the mist was not as bad as last time. And then she eased it, the ship straightening along the mist wall with only the very right edge still dangerous. AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh She flopped against the control panel. The fog roiled before her, scraping the edge of her vessel.

Near instant death just several feet away. It's like standing before a cliff. One slip, one hop, one step could end you in a moment. With her [Flux-sight] turned off, the mist just looked like regular mist again, no blinding light of terrible destruction. Just mist.

"Milady, might I suggest that you refrain from ever again taking command of this vessel" Rowen fake-bowed. Oh you little shit.

"Get your ass off my control console. This is still my ship. That was just a little… experiment. I wanted to see how the ship would handle the fog" She said, pulling herself up off the deck.

"An experiment? Are you insane? You nearly killed us all, twice" Rowen scowled.

"It's fine, we were never in any actua-" Heavy footsteps hit the stairs, stone on wood. Shit"Miss Nythera" Halt's face appeared, climbing up the stairs. Molten slag had solidified on half of it, blocking out his left eye. SHIT. Rowen backed off, swiveled and took to admiring the quaint river behind them. You bastard, running away when it gets tough…

"May I inquire as to what that was before? The little detour into lethal mists?" Halt said, as politely as she had ever heard him speak.

"It was a simple accident, I'm afraid the rudder controls are finicky in this river and the walls are closing in so-""Please refrain from ever entering the mists again, for your own safety. Not even I can protect you from the fate that awaits you should you choose to sacrifice yourself and everyone on board" Halt said. She nodded sheepishly "Yes, I understand." Halt clambered back down the staircase, presumably to go fix his stone mask. She let out an exasperated sigh.

He will throw me overboard the next time something like that happens…. I could see it in his eyes, he was debating about tossing me over the stern right there. Down bend after twist, the river continued more or less straight with but a few large detours. Nythera took special care to ensure they stood in the middle of the shrunken tunnel. The sound of churning waters slowly built up to a crescendo. The roar of a waterfall. What the Hel?

Nythera leaned over the railing, beneath them the river had disappeared, tumbling down into the abyss. Is that the way I got to Myrraval before? Some kind of under-river? All around them mist drifted harmlessly, the tunnel had completely collapsed. Alright, time to turn this back on. She pulled with her Wisdom on [Flux-sight]. If I can shove a skill off, I can pull one on. Her vision flickered. Glaring brightness behind her, a duller, more subtle world in front. Come ON! She tugged harder.

The skill refused to move. Uhhhhhh. I can turn it on again, right? I didn't break it or anything, did I? Nythera pulled on it with all the force she could muster. It flickered once again. Alright, I've had enough, we do this the hard way then. With a push on her Authority, the potent energy created an iron grip on the skill. She pulled, just once. [Flux-sight] snapped into place in her soul. All the mist to herself revealed itself to be entirely innocent.

Behind her a glaring wall of death stood, a single hole in its armor revealed only under her gaze. That was somewhat concerning, got to be careful when shutting skills off. The Sea Empress drifted slowly straight forward. A gust of wind cleared the rapidly thinning mist. Green, dull rolling hills lay before her, the great precipice of The Edge, and a familiar grey rock, its end now singed black. That's Greypoint! Where Will died and I fell off…. VATHRIAL!

"HALT! ROWEN! LAND HO" she bellowed from the bottom of her lungs. I've always wanted to do that. Just like the Southmereian Sailors did. Rowen bolted the front of the ship "Where? Where is it?" he practically tipped over the railings trying to get a better view of dull old Greymere.

"Before us is the King of Greymere, behold" Nythera said with a wave of her hand from the upper deck. Oh right, he's never seen Vathrial before. I don't think he realizes I'm joking, this place is a shithole.

"Finally, it has been eons since I have seen these lands. They have no changed… wait" Halt turned to face her.

"Greymere's eastern edge was a desert, was it not?" he asked. Huh he fixed his face, I wonder how difficult that is, does he have to take the stone off to fix it?

"A desert? This place? No, it's always cloudy and raining" Nythera answered. He responded with a "huh".

"Keep us low and out of sight, the last thing you need is Tianshiang questioning if you've actually died and if there is a secret city in the mist" Talvik's wisdom echoed down to her. The afternoon sun battled yet with Greymere's ever depressing blanket. This is way too bright, we'll be spotted in minutes. Can I dock at Greypoint? It's big enough it could shield the ship and it provides a defensible position. My artillery could blast nearly anything in a mile off that thing.

Nythera scanned it again with [Precision-sight], looking for a comfortable place to dock. What the Flux is that? A wooden platform sat on top of the tip of Greypoint, a large piece of blue-veined rock sat on it. People were being tied off to a wood post on the top of the rock, with chains. What is going on here- The rock was shoved off the edge of the Greypoint, plummeting into the abyss, six people on top. Halt stood transfixed on the deck, watching the event from their distant vantage point.

Guess he has far-sight skills too. Nythera turned the ship to starboard, keeping them masked in a thick layer of fog and used her [Flux-sight] to keep them far from the lethal mists.

"Nythera, the rock is coming up over here" Rowen hissed. So the aetherite in the rock is still charged enough to float, perhaps it's connected to the mists? She banked the ship to the portside slightly. Any closer and they'll spot us. They could all hear the preacher on the platform now.

"Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Those cast off the point are off to the fallen Witch! We shall cleanse the lands of Ye filth, may your taint be forgiven!"

"Let the next family be cleansed" He shook a brass bell vigorously in one hand, the ringing rang clear through the desolate lands. What the Hel is going on here? A purge because of some "fallen witch" what do the- Oh Yup, I'm the fallen witch. These bastards are desecrating Will's grave. I'll clear them off that rock and set up a monument to the fallen, mark my words.

"Nythera, you were here last, who is "the fallen witch"? Is it some religious figure?" Rowen whispered to her, as if there was a risk they could be overheard. I suppose if there was a high strata soldier over there we could very well be heard…

"It's me, I am the witch they speak of" she whispered back.