Painting is all about composition and colors.
Adris’ heart is racing at the chance to prove this, even if he keeps his external front as serene as his surroundings. He stays motionless upon the fibrous, fluffy cloud he reclines upon. Elves claim all sorts of interesting plants such as this growing puff ball. From his perch upon the sloping island within one of Ysanne’s many sky lakes, Adris admits that the colors are just right.
From the left and right approaches to his little camp among the wet flora climbing his hill, the many shoreline flowers bloom with the colors they suck from the aqueous rainbow bordering the world tree’s branches. Each spray of water sent up by rogue winds leaves the air sparkling around them.
Mython’s gift of tinted protection seems now prophetic, for without it, he’d be as blind as any man within Xin’s wastes during mid day. The sun glinting off the blowing sand is a bad memory; but, this will be a grand one.
(With a little work, they’ll now all arrive at once.)
His foot kicks at this, continuing to check with an eye for detail that nothing wild of nature or set up by him is out of place.
Snapping teeth turn his grin to a frown.
(Bite me. Try it.)
Whinnies of annoyance from many follow the single snap of a jaw when Adris again fails to cower before them… but then, they all snort derisively in his direction.
Being mocked is worse than threatened, sending Adris’ mood crashing as his cheeks pale…!
“To call forth a ‘friend’ and earn aid is rare.”
A cloak, or a girl wearing one, since Adris is less sure each time she appears, pulls up from nowhere to wrap her arms around the stiff boy.
“Even rarer is my Crossbearer at the peak of his manliness! Kukuku!”
With this emboldening female touch, even if it doesn’t feel comforting, Adris unclenches and laughs.
“But what about their femininity? Do you wonder like I do what…?”
“… Meanie! Don’t ask Rantil about them when not making anything for her.”
A pouting allip tickles his chin, prompting him to reach behind his back and spank her thigh. She jolts back with a fake crying whine, then snickers when he doesn’t rise to the bait.
“I’ll need to do research if I’m to design something scandalous enough to surprise you.”
“Hmm, hmmmm, if Rantil even wanted to wear it… BUT!” With her coy whining finished, the allip then excitedly yelps. “Rantil is as hoppity as you are about what’ll happen now! SO, let me predict that the Genius of Desire which you showed will… probably not be taken as cutely by them as their swimsuits are worn in turn~?”
(For all my tiredness, suffering, and bated breath wasted, prove Rantil right, oh finicky teammates that normally torment me!)
Focused wind whistles as it cuts through the wilder gusts. A quiet moment alone surrenders to the invitations he made.
That none should come together, the messages were passed on by Mython with care, while a snake who has seen the end result waits patiently away.
Two can carry themselves here and be enticed by the preferred landing spots, while the other must obey Mython’s choice.
(Make my composition of your forthcoming rejections realized!)
“Place wrong! Prove Kol, true, that this protects from NOTHING!” From the troubled, tangled path, a bruiser who has no cares tromps up the left way near the shoreline.
(Angry red!)
“Kol, is that you? The leaves feel strange when sliding against them.” From the right, a timider question asks while slithering straight down largely-tiered, spineless, leafy cacti growing straight from the island’s hard rock.
(Unsure green.)
“Artifice of disrespect identified in intentionally coordinated disparate arrivals!” The last guest, but certainly not the least, arrives from behind where Adris lays. So light that she makes not even a sound when moving save for her bell-like cry, it’s this extraterrestrial empress that will be hardest to please.
(Ahhh, behind me was… prideful purple. I will “beg your forgiveness”, my lady, so… please me, first.)
Finding the moment just right, clockwork perfection within a forest that has every being obey its own rhythm, Adris lifts his eyeglasses to take them in one by one.
“Hooks on everything!?”
A tomboy in tone rips at what she wears to free it from every errant twig and vine that seeks its loops. Cocksure amongst the most brutal enemies of the Castillo, this irate beauty nearly makes Adris swoon when she crosses her paws over her breasts, squeezes them to keep her arms from hooking again, and then heavily sighs with complete incomprehension of the aura she puts out.
More criss-crossing straps than proper pieces, she is like a shapely candy cane where one side of her is purple and the other pink. The lines that rise up her bare legs to wrap around to her arms also end in a bow at the tip of her fluffy tail. The contiguous binding makes the most of its stretchy length to go from bottom to top multiple times to create a torso covering similar to a child’s wrapped bouncing rubber ball.
(I’d bounce her!)
Adris licks his teeth at how Mython’s instructions and Kol’s own physiological needs made his kobold disciple favor stretching the swimsuit so that it never touches her dull scales too much. Where she could, she cinched it to not stretch tightly over her leg and arm fur, so it hangs looser there. Over her cuppable boobs when she pulls her arms away and leans against the tightness of her own prison, the taffy-like fabric of rich purple-pink clings so thinly that her erect teats push outward.
“Nnn!? Tight…”
Because it has to go around multiple times, between the gap in her thighs is where the material keeps rolling over strands of itself. Though her mons are covered, Adris is left nothing to imagine of the shape. Trying her hardest to expose her bare body, she has left the impression of being a half-wrapped gift begging to be released.
(My kobold is a crime of war!)
Framed by the red glow of the sky behind her, Kol keeps toying with the dozens of cute loops spaced over her swimsuit. Each magically ties the strand swimsuit to the parts of her body that they should hang from, yet all of those spots are, coincidentally, very important balance points.
“Annoying!” Even the pretty pink bow with purple tips that holds the short ponytail she wears has a purpose in Adris’ heart! Less a warrior, more a clumsy server, Kol finally clears her hard entry path to stand before Adris.
(It’s possible… you can tame a battle goddess with just colorful ribbons.)
So vicious to the point that even when naked Kol can intimidate Adris at times, it’s only when she’s assailed by devious brushes, having to act defensively to not be bullied by them, that she earns an impulse from Adris to rush to her rescue (and to slip his fingers under the ribbons courting her plump butt to move them to cover more of it).
(It was all worth it, just for this!)
But the boiling satisfaction doesn’t end, for an uncharacteristically demure serpent skates up to gather herself in coils. Before the man who forced her to wear what she’s never spoken a kind word about yet, Avenalliah only blinks once with confusion, then stares down at the hard island rock when Adris smiles at her.
(I don’t have the words for a girl that tries to trap me by looking cornered.)
Her body language so contrite, Ave’s rarest charms snare him when she stays silent and still. Always jumping around in some way, the full-body swimsuit that binds Ave like a cocoon would a caterpillar, no matter how thin in truth the material is, leaves not even a bit of her healthy, perfect skin revealed except for her head. Muted colors of dark blue and black contain the disarming glow of an elf beneath them. Stripes crawl down her body, with each color a layer of the swimsuit that covers a particular area. Her bust and crotch have several layers sharing space and stacking artfully.
There’s no seamlessness to it, for when she does turn, very short frills are pronounced that traverse from front to back where these layers end. Like a fruit waiting to be peeled open, the hard exterior hides the sweetness beneath all the way from the tip of her tail to her silky ponytail that is also protected by an impermeable sleeve.
(What did the slayers call the other kind? A “medusa”?)
Adris’ lower parts are already turning to stone when the confused, obedient maid glances up to offer a polite smile.
“It… the way I’m feeling feels like… I’m put back into a hole…?” With her hands also covered by the bodysuit when lifting up to gesture, Ave chokes on her attempt at comparison.
“It’s not bad… is it?”
When Adris only hungrily grins at her instead of responding, she grows even more confused while patting the matte fabric.
(Don’t cry! No fear… you’ll see how it transforms you, soon!)
“Incompetence on display, not of our membership, but rather of elvish ‘invention’ and slayer amorality!”
The last flower that seems like it will come for Adris to arrange this day stomps up soundlessly. Where Ave’s glow is contained, this moon fairy’s own violet is assaulted by the green of foreign worship.
“Originating also from an Emperor taken by frivolity, entrusting too much to unproven crafts‘fey’, enjoying does this one, perhaps too exuberantly, the…!?” Because he’s still reclining on his puffy bedchair, it takes Neesiette a moment to climb over the side to stare at him in disgust.
(So adorable!)
If Kol is artful playfulness, and Ave is constrained potential, then the last lady is a boisterous simplicity with how the weightless, greenleaf flounced dress swimsuit hangs off of her slender self. She’s so fragile that even elves must be shamed by her lacking curves. Alien symmetry plays with her swimsuit’s bouncy movements to produce a unique creature.
“… Apologies, this lady offers with absolute haste. Victim also, this lady’s Emperor appears to be.”
Bereft of a golden crown and encircled with a ring of sunflowers instead, Neesiette is finally absolutely hugable when her horrified expression becomes neutral. Only a tinge of sadness remains when she takes in Adris’ gloriousness.
(So cute!)
Much alike the elves that she disdains, the barefoot Neesiette hides beneath an outer covering of finely embroidered, seamlessly connected leaves. But these are not the hard forms of this dark village, instead a short dress that stops just above her knees and a shawl that covers her midsection. Its loose hood is held by her sunflower circlet and just hides her delicious neck from view. Lifting with its own volition without any wind helping, she appears to wear green jellyfishes that are only just opaque enough to prevent Adris from seeing to the real prize beneath this outer one. He hopes she suffered enough loss of self-pride to actually wear the most important parts of the swimsuit.
When put beside her when she drops off of his chair, Adris feels a little under-dressed; but, he is what he wears, even if what he wears reminds him of the Alchemaster’s thug!
“Victim?” Adris reaches up, and then with one swift motion lifts from his nose the tinted spectacles that have effectively shielded him from the too-bright sky lakes. “I see no victims, only closed bulbs waiting to bloom into perfect beauty.”
At his enticing grin full of as much swagger as he can put into the line, Neesiette blinks once, then closes her eyes.
“Indeed? One’s sanity, corrupted by insane forest creatures. Avenging this lady’s Emperor and rectifying all mistakes of creation, let us commence immediately in purging this world tree beginning with the primary foe that made itself known as an outside beast, Kol.”
“Wanted to go trash that ‘bitch’ from the start.”
The kobold pounds a fist into an open hand, while Neesiette grabs Adris’ to lead him away like he’s a lost child.
(This game can’t be ruined by a childish response!)
Not only has Adris cornered all escapes, but he also has the supreme psychological tile to reveal when coming to the center of the girls to let them catch his own swimsuit in the full light of the waters surrounding them. The watery distortions flickering off his material catch the strange elvish letters swiveling up his legs to his chest, offset on either side so that one word is higher than the other.
“What completed this swimsuit wasn’t just Mython’s hopes.”
Upon a sleek, skintight bodysuit like Ave’s that covers him sparingly, the phrase [ILL-TEMPERED, TEASING YOUTH] glows a bright green for now. It constantly changes its color over the static-blue, waterproof fabric that runs up his flank, and then out to his hands and down to his feet.
“My own are…” A brief consideration for the beauty surrounding him tightens his throat and bulges him a bit. “… inflamed by what these fabulous waters might offer as fun.”
His center from his neck to his beloved totem boldly opens to let others weep at his toned and tanned physique. Soon, the whole forest will see him “frolicking”.
(For a boy… I’m great; but, even as an older kid, I gotta admit, I’ve always been vital.)
“Sophistication appears inherently lacking with such personal hopes.”
“I am the pinnacle of culture.”
He has to be confident in order to model the shiny red thong that perfectly molds to what it contains. Letting his right leg slide back, it’s both a gross display to Neesiette and the masculine proof that draws two more “in touch with what they want” girls to stare.
With black-tinted glasses put back on, there’s no way that Adris can know his own impression save for the “up to no good” grin he maintains. He barely comprehends the guiding principle of Mython’s swimsuit except to expose the top of his feet, his palms, a chilled belly, and only what is AROUND his nipples. Those two abused parts mercifully are covered by a black cross that stretches over his chest and down his sternum to not meet the rest of the swimsuit.
(Some men get blessings without knowing it. Me? I got a fairly large…)
“Desire.”
This is Adris’ word that will forgive and demand everything. After blurting it out as if hurried, he takes his time to elucidate.
“I’m called to enjoy these… stronger desires contained here, ones that I’ll cherish as they deserve. If what calls to me is stronger than your own…?” Adris loses his confidence for a moment, a strain of concern afflicting him.
Then he pretends to think, before grinning again with an evil glint in his eyes.
“The stronger the desire, the more likely I could be…?” Leaving off on the consequences does nothing to deter Neesiette.
“Presenting ladies such as we to viewing of all, intend this as answer to such a ‘threat’?” Again an icy complaint, the idea of being witnessed wearing elvish regalia horribly insulting.
To console her, Adris lowers his volume with a sigh. “What worries have yo—?”
“Go show off right now, Neesiette! You’ve never, ever looked so cute before!”
Adris’ question dies off when Ave slithers down to Neesiette’s height and compliments the doll while tugging on the green swimsuit. At first scowling, the doll turns shocked when Ave hums happily at how springy and light it is.
“You walk so stiffly in your normal outfit, but it’s so heavy that it hardly moves with you. When you walk now, the dress bounces too, and it makes you seem playful!”
“Taken… leave of… oneself…?”
“It’s just the sort of swimsuit that I’d like! Seeing you wearing it is the next best thing. Do you think it’s less cute than you normally wear?”
“Intrinsic to the wearer, ‘cuteness’ be, not to…”
“What if both are cute? Wouldn’t it be twice as cute? Or maybe double the doubling if someone else looks cuter beside you, too?” The Lunamaton recoils from the cheering elf’s joy, so that Ave then sounds melancholy when forced to stop pulling at the swimsuit. “Green goes really well with your amber hair. You’re like a marigold yourself! When you smile next time, someone will definitely cherish it for all time!”
“Desist with such… unneeded commentary. ‘Cute’, a word now banned from discussion!”
(Oh? Is it hard for you to counter this one’s opinion, Neesiette?)
When Kol is who Ave inspects next, the kobold snickers. “Ridiculous! Moon seems weaker in that light thing!”
“You think?” Ave examines both Kol when she yells and then Neesiette again. “But… I think she’s actually stronger than usual against…”
When the snake elf sneaks a peek at the swimsuits’ true creator, Adris makes a sign for “silence” toward his conspirator.
(You promised to help me lure them.)
In a moment of excessive sexual satisfaction, Adris had begged a breathless elf to cease singing and instead say nothing after about how the swimsuits made her feel.
“You too, Kol! Pink bows and loops are just perfect for bringing out your eyes and making your fluffy fur shine ‘premium’!”
“Stop touching. Annoying.”
“But you’re so pretty~? Even having a tan kind of helps the purple to make you seem kingly? Like you’re out in the field, a naked beacon for your people who praise you in turn!? I think there were statues like you at the Petripolis marketplace?”
Briefly, Kol’s eyes arch with interest; but, then the kobold slaps Ave’s hands away when the elf plucks at the many ways to grab her swimsuit, prompting a sigh.
“You paw me, but you’re shy from my hands?”
“Not shy! Just… don’t like ‘praise’ this. Why does Kol want to look ‘pretty’, anyway?”
(Why WOULDN’T you want to!?)
Ave sighs, then throws up her arms. “Kol, Neesiette…!” Toward the waters she swings them as a command! “Forget about little problems! Cute girls should have fun! It’s a rule!”
“Verboten word!”
Kol questions the prickly Neesiette with a confused expression. The two share some silent disagreement that even Adris can’t read, before Kol clicks her tongue and then sounds brighter with her question. “How? As long as Kol doesn’t drown, ‘swimming’ sounds really possible to enjoy, but… what do you do besides kick at water?”
“Games are what you do!” Ave lifts up on her tail to take in the immensity of their play area. “The waters are like the rest of the world tree, hiding great sights and fun. So, let’s uncover some!”
Because there are so many strange domed islands around, it’s simple to traverse these local waters bordering the great branch. Going further beyond the “shoreline” of thick mosses would require a boat or flight.
“I still don’t know why Ysanne has waters that have colors, though, when Gilad is supposed to always be filled with the clear light of creation like Môrmasto has beneath its roots?” Ave schemes something while rubbing her hands, then nods her head. “But, they should be fine to traverse.”
“What? Lakes?”
“Yes! And now, how do we do it…?”
(Flying would be possible if we entrust to the wind, but that’s not the same as swimming, is it?)
Up and down, beyond this great branch to the next in an endless twisting of them, the twilight pierced by rainbow pools and lakes offers a playground; but, the only inhabitants thus far are one boy, three girls, and the scaly, quadrupedal biting demons that Ave suddenly lunges toward with the speed of a barbarian’s bullet—
(GET AWAY BEFORE THEY EAT YOU!)
“Noble kelpies!”
“HIIIIGGGGGEEEEEEEHHHHHHH——!?”
Halfway between a warning and a shriek of impending demise, one great horse-shaped sea creature among its herd rolls onto its back while kicking its frog-footed legs in defense. A snake faster than sound encircles it as its brethren throw themselves up from their relaxation to also start shrieking at her.
“You who gallop between far sea and shore, children of Gaarn who whips the waves, the day is dreary without your presences!”
The snake elf stretches out her arms in invitation, which is answered by the numerous beasts stamping their feet and flaring their nostrils. Wide-eyed and looking challenged, whatever entreaty Ave offers in elvish earns her own encirclement as Adris and Kol approach with their smaller menace burning.
(Get the fuck away from my elf!)
“Hey, hey, HEEEEY!? Kol, isn’t happy when frogs don’t jump away from us!”
“Wait, Kol!”
Before this growing standoff gains any more whispers of conflict, before the watchers for battle roar the start…
It’s the creaks from all around, as trees and shrubs sway against the breeze blowing, that silence the outrage of these kelpies. The angry beast nearest to Ave timidly backsteps from her as the shadows loom closer.
Overhanging branches that were closing on it cease. No matter how much strength they may have, threatening the blessed child of the forest leaves their own home threatening them in turn.
“Forgive my rush.” Ave bows her head, making the same sign of the forest that the other elves have shown.
Lifting back, Ave has a gentle smile. “As the embodiment of the playfulness of the lakes, your beautiful noble selves drew me to you before I could think to offer proper respect. Because my heart also longs to enjoy this day, will you please let us consort with you and share, too, the lake’s wonders?”
The horse thing that has its teeth bared in fright lets its ears return forward. Turning to ask its fellows what to do, the whinnies of a larger one settles the herd. Completely uninterested in what’s going on, the singular leader with a much darker coat of scales and fur like thin seaweed glares in a way that Adris reads as “do not make things worse”.
All goading whispers die out with a whimper.
(But they’re intelligent, too.)
As they have scales instead of fur for much of their lower bodies, it’s hard for Adris to feel any wonder for them that he would for the riding beasts of Xin if they were as smart. The fact that they appear constantly shiny reminds him more of the Castillo’s slugs’ “ugly” than “noble”.
“… PLAY?” Coughing once, the beast then gargles this word.
While Adris cannot comprehend dumb beasts, these kelpies, like the sapient beast in the Wondrous Works caged in its depths, are capable of activating [Tongue of Air and Darkness]. A new dimension of potential danger and treason has Adris reluctant to even continue talking to them, for their eyes are not dumb like most beasts’ are. How the kelpie Ave entreaties snorts with superiority and sudden interest in Ave bothers him even more.
“Yes! If you intended to play anyway, then can we join in?”
“… PLAY… MORE…”
Two more kelpies of a similar size and position at the periphery of the herd jolt upright with interest. Almost too much, as they trot toward Ave.
“CAN PLAY…”
“My thanks!”
“… WILL WANT…”
(Want what?)
Adris can’t move into this circle with Kol before him, but there’s no need when the three kelpies make various regular horse noises before rushing out toward the lake.
Leaping upward at the shoreline, they do not crash through the surface. Their larger clawed frog feet simply gallop upon the lake’s stillness. Muscular haunches let them race out where the islands do not gather, to then loop back.
The winds pick up behind them, growing stronger to whip the waves that rush toward the shoreline!
(Is this magic or aura!?)
Because the two are so similar to Adris’ senses, he’ll need to wait for an explanation. They have grace out upon the water that they shouldn’t be expected to have by their ungainly amphibious appearances, so much so that the enormous bald head that lifts from the waters where they crossed near an island cannot catch their passing. Lazily it glances around in astonishment, then drops below again when spotting nothing.
“… That was… a turtle.”
“Of course, Beloved Returned One! Many great charmoors (ANCIENT RECALLERS) make the lakes of the world tree their homes! Upon one we stand even now, with its slumber a blessing for our enjoyment.”
Adris has traveled upon many vehicles and beasts, but never a giant turtle. He drops to feel the rough surface below the moss, feeling its scutes and then noticing that a great many smaller pieces still cling to areas where plants grow upon.
(It molts different parts at a time?)
“This will be unforgettable!” Already Ave is scurrying about on the enormous turtle that moves so seldomly that it might as well be an island, gathering up its molted pieces, and also cattail-like plants and many that ooze when pulped by her hands.
“Kol, plea—Right, sorry, Neesiette, please help me fit these pieces.”
“For what purpose?”
The doll is fast in fitting the variously sized scutes into oval lengths that grow with each addition. An impromptu glue created by mashing various plants together with the colored waters of the world tree gets applied by cattail to make what appears to be a solid board.
“Wave rider!” A board gains a name when Ave plops it upright in front of Adris. The same brown as the turtle, using a quick herbal polisher also makes it seem much sleeker.
“I don’t think the waters love Kol as much as you, Beloved One, so you should probably learn to do it together.”
“What would we be doing together?”
“Embracing the birth of the winds!”
Out onto the waters that the kelpies trot upon, Avenalliah Aurmaris, a cheating existence that oppresses the mundane creatures that would dare to consider themselves her equal, slithers out to join them. Not falling through the surface, she comes up behind the overly proud frog horses to gesture them to run a bit.
When they oblige, the wind whips up and carries Ave on a moving wave!
“Even better than I’d dreamed!?” With childlike glee, Ave waves her opened hands around as she’s pulled into a crest, jumping from it to land and slow when the kelpies stop. “Thank you for demonstrating! Now, the others need to come out.”
(I’m sorry, we’re doing what?)
Before Kol can grab it, Adris rips the “wave rider” toward himself and then stares with incomprehension at Neesiette.
“Ask not for guidance for this trial. Dangerous and… finicky though they may be, more than adequate for carrying one through festivities should kelpies prove.” Neesiette inclines her head while stepping away from Kol and Adris.
“One’s ‘fun’, please enjoy ful—”
“Come on, Neesiette, let’s ride together!”
“Immediate release shall be more than enjoyable for this lady!”
Into Ave’s arms Neesiette is scooped, flailing futilely as the duo rushes out onto the lake again.
(Is… it possible to ride water?)
Aura can accomplish anything. Magic might be able to do even more.
But Adris is unsure if plant juices, turtle shell pieces, and fucking ugly horses can do the same.
“Boss… just maybe…” Grabbing onto his arm, Kol leans in to whisper into his air. “… Elf might actually not be useless right now? Wanna try~?”
“Do you think your master would come out here to back down from a challenge?”
(What’s it called that we’re about to do!?)
He’s still in control of everything, Adris knows. It takes far more than mere games to take him from his greater plan.
But…
“Jump on.” Adris’ order before throwing the curving board out to stay afloat earns an instant obedience. A fearless kobold hurls herself to crash stomach down. It sprays water as it wobbles, but stays upright and floats outward.
“Kakakaka! Can’t be shown up by Minion, Boss! Let’s go!”
Kol stays kneeling so that Adris can make a short jump. Balancing before her as he takes in the technique for it, the disciple wraps her arms around his waist when the kelpies’ currents start to coax them out into the lake.
(I can’t fall. Not even once.)
Not that he ever would.
Raiding rooftops was much harder than this, even as Adris feels a familiar sensation of his stomach lurching around due to the waves.
“Hmmm? Smiling a lot more this Short?”
“Am I?”
The kelpies circle around as Ave slithers over to join the unpropelled Adris. When the sea beasts cut before the unseen starting line, the lake rises with a great lurch to hurtle them forward!
(It’s a race from the start!?)
Toward the great branch that the lake laps at they aim. The three kelpies draw with shining scales the waves along, a mostly-uncontrolled momentum that Adris leans against as he dodges between the various “islands” they pass by.
“Boss already good!?” Kol clicks her tongue and howls over the waves; but, it’s a foolish belief, for Adris’ eyes are already straining to follow the deathly obstacles that bob into and beneath his trajectory, ready to hook or impale him!
(How do you stop or slow down!?)
Ave is no good example, for the cheating elf’s agile tail cuts along the surface in ways that no solid board can. Their journey takes them to the curve of the great branch, then seemingly skyward as Adris hits the lake surface’s ramp. The mixing red and green waters splash both riders, a touch so burning that Adris’ skin goes numb right away as his mood shifts!
(If they think I’ll give up, they’re gonna find out just how…!?)
While he fumes at the disrespect shown by being last in this line, his passenger’s confusion becomes his.
“Up!?” Kol stares backwards to find their orientation completely different, but it’s not as if Adris has any better sights ahead.
“Down!?” Kol squeezes tighter, her own emotions thrown into disarray like his are.
(Which is which, now? Were they ever normal!?)
Offshoot branches break through the surface here to rise, producing a maze of solid obstacles that the kelpies peel away from each other to run within. The waters that obey them pick up even more speed!
(O-Oh, their “fun” is quite crazy for newbies.)
“Kol…”
“Right. Wish you the best, Boss.”
A laughing serpent of doom ahead waves back to them before striking forward!
“ISN’T THIS GREAT!?”
“DESTROY ALL AQUATIC EQUIN—!”
Neither is heard after entering the roaring tumult ahead. Adris can only smile at this great plan that far exceeds his expectations already.
Damning his own confused feelings, he accepts the path!
(Let’s see if I still have it.)
Kol keeps crying out “GAGAGAGAGA!” as they strike every rapidly changing current.
Through the crushing tightness of this forest they weave. Thorny, bare wood juts out for their flesh, and when Kol pulls at him, he obeys those instinctive jerks. Every one of her warning movements pays off by barely avoiding some obstruction that not even Adris noticed.
(Prescience is a nice cheat, too!)
Master and student conquer the waves together. Kol’s balance upon the board is godly with her clawed feet gripping and her Talent active, while Adris’ catlike leans against opposing currents keep their board always going straight.
“TRY HARDER! KAKAKAKA!”
“Don’t goad them!”
Out the other side and briefly slowing down, everyone gets to wait as they near a tunnel that grows ahead. The kelpies that dance on the surface whinny as it enlarges and pulls them toward it. Into its glowing depths they plummet to begin racing beneath the crystal clear lake.
“Kol…”
“Boss?”
“Trust me.”
“Nah?” Kol’s squeezing tightens, then she cackles. “Kakaka! What else can Kol do?”
The one skink responsible for all of this flushes first, spinning down on the tunnel’s walls while cheering.
“WE ARE FINALLY THE WIIIIIIiiiii—!”
“RESCUE THIS LADY, CREATOOOOooooo—!”
Not to be shown up for style points in being devoured, Adris leans back to jump the last crest. The long board free-falls down the tunnel!
“FOR FALSE GOD! CHARGE!”
“For Myself!”
“GAGAGAGAGA!”
Into the beautiful, totally lethal depths of the sky’s reddest lake, Adris fehl Dain takes the one ride that no one from his home world has ever taken. Brighter than the Sea of Stars, and purer than the baths of the Imperial Court, Adris is washed over by the endless wondrous feelings of each drop of spray that strikes him!
(Nobody would ever believe me!)
Horses can ride on water, so a boy can become a dolphin.
If the cries of the waves demand that he conquer the world, then how can he disobey!?