The Tale of Nymue the Niseag Ch8:
Ryzelm'oire, Spires:
The spires of Ryzelm'oire are twisting towers made from coral, these massive towers can reach the surface and are the tallest buildings in Ryzelm'oire. Each spire belongs to one of the Great Houses of the Chlaena population. These underwater castles don't often receive unwanted guests, but today one such uninvited guest was sneaking her way towards the tallest spire.
After the pub, Rahab had been doing some snooping to find the slimy tentacled cephaloid that had placed a bounty on her head. She soon found out that the chlaena responsible was a Kraken caelias by the name of Akkorokamui, a member of the Great House of Lusca.
She's the eldest daughter and heir to her family. From her sources, Rahab found out that Akkorokamui was cunning and manipulative. "But why did she place that bounty on my head? Normally these overgrown squids know better to leave me alone." Rahab thought then shook her head. "It doesn't matter, I'm going to remind them not to mess with me," she said as she silently swam to the giant spire.
Once she arrived at the base of the spire, Rahab listened for any guards or eyewitnesses to make sure that the coast was clear while she searched for an entrance into the towering coral structure. Once she found an entrance, she swam silently through a tunnel before she found her way to the bed chambers where the Lusca family members lived.
Rahab sniffed the water to locate her prey, Akkorokamui was not far from her room. She could smell her family sitting around a table gambling with gems and coral. Their voices were loud and boisterous as they taunted each other about luck at the gambling tables.
Rahab swam in closer and spotted her prey, Akkorokamui was sitting next to her father and mother. She had a long black ponytail, hazel almond eyes, white skin, and the lower half of a giant squid with eight arms and two tentacles.
Rahab was about to strike when "You there!" a female voice shouted from behind. "What are you doing here?"
She turned around and saw a female chlaenas guard armed with a trident. Then the rest of the Lusca family noticed Rahab and gasped. They didn't expect to find a selachi in their spire, much less than the Devil of the Deep.
"Don't move." The chlaena guard said as she looked nervously at Rahab as she held her trident.
The chlaena guard swam in closer to the Lusca family and shouted, "Guards! There's a selachi in the hall! Kill her!"
As the guards surrounded Rahab, she snarled and lunged towards the guards with a ferocious roar. The guards panicked and stabbed at her with their spears trying to kill her immediately.
"No!" Akkorokamui shouted, both Rahab and the guards froze and turned to her with confused looks on their faces.
"What are you doing?" she shouted, "Don't you recognize her? That's Rahab! The Devil of the Deep, and she's my guest."
The guards looked at each other nervously and then at Akkorokamui who shook her head. Then the guards swam back towards their posts while keeping an eye on Rahab.
"Well, you're here now, and it looks like you made quite the impression on the guards and the rest of Ryzelm'oire," Akkorokamui said calmly as she returned to her seat at the table with her family nervously joining her.
Rahab continued to swim around them since selachi need to continue swimming forward to breathe. She used her senses, sight, hearing, smell, and her electrical receptors to make sure that none of the guards or Akkorokamui's family made any sudden moves.
She couldn't help but notice that Akkorokamui was smiling at her as if she wanted her to be here, this had Rahab on high alert. "What are you planning, you slimy cephalopod?" Rahab thought as she waited for Akkorokamui to speak.
"Well, you've made quite the impression on the guards as well as my family. This is the first time I've ever seen my family's guards swim away from a selachi. Something must be drastically wrong to cause such a reaction." she said as dramatically brought one of her long tentacles to her face and feigned fear.
"Then you know this selachi is planning on killing you and everyone here." her mother said as she glared at their selachi intruder.
"Probably." Akkorokamui dropped her act and smiled a wicked smile.
"Then why are you still smiling?" Rahab snapped, she didn't like to be used for amusement.
"Because I have plans for you," she said in a low tone, signaling for the rest of her family to leave the dining hall.
Soon everyone left, leaving only Rahab and Akkorokamui. Rahab glared at the Kraken caelias and prepared herself for a fight. But Akkorokamui didn't move, she just sat in her seat and smiled at her and said. "So, you must be the infamous selachi that has been terrorizing these waters. I'm surprised the guards didn't kill you immediately, after all, you are the Devil of the Deep!"
Rahab glared at her and started to charge towards her bluntly, but Akkorokamui raised her hand and wrapped her tentacles around Rahab's arms and lower half, stopping Rahab in her tracks as she struggled to break free from the slimy tentacles.
"I bet you're wondering why I placed that bounty on your head, why I wanted you to be brought here and why I sent your parents after you?" she said with an inquisitive smile as Rahab thrashed around trying to bite her only to stop and think about it.
Rahab glared at her and sighed as she felt the arms and tentacles wrapped tightly around her. "Yes. Why?" she asked as she ground her teeth together. Being trapped in this giant cephalopod's tentacles angered Rahab greatly.
Akkorokamui continued to smile and leaned forward to Rahab's face and said. "I was bored and looking to do something exciting. I knew about your parents and how they banished you, so I convinced them to bring you in dead or alive because I wanted to see if your ruthlessness was true."
Rahab snarled and thrashed around trying to bite at Akkorokamui's face, this news made her angry. "My parents wouldn't do that!" she shouted as Akkorokamui tightened her grip on Rahab's body.
The Kraken caelias laughed. "They had to if they wanted their pack and their remaining daughter to be safe. Rahab, do you know what I do here?" she asked the angry selachi.
Rahab started to calm down and looked around the room, the room was full of valuable sunken treasures and expensive artwork. "To have this much wealth, she and her family must be important and very powerful here, if I'm going to get out alive, I need to be careful." Rahab thought as she turned her attention back to Akkorokamui.
"My family and I have ruled Ryzelm'oire's criminal underworld for generations! Our tentacles are in every business that the Ryzelm'oire has. We use that to our advantage to blackmail anyone we wish, give loans to small businesses, and just basic thuggery to make sure everyone pays their dues. If they don't, well! Accidents happen to like a rogue selachi could sneak in and eat some people. Now, as for why I wanted you to see me is that I want you to join me. Work with me, I can offer you the same deal that I offered your parents, a place by my side and riches beyond compare." she said as she released Rahab from her tentacles.
Rahab's eyes narrowed at this underwater crime boss, she had turned her parents against her all because she wanted her to serve her. The fact that Akkorokamui wanted her to be her attack dog angered Rahab to no end. Rahab didn't care much about riches or her old pack; she thought that they held her back with their rules. They're Selachi, one of the most feared merfolk in the world, and yet her old pack was afraid to embrace their heritage as apex predators.
"But not me! I'm going to kill that niseag and have my revenge on my little sister!" she thought and touched her eyepatch on her left eye.
Akkorokamui looked at her and smiled. "So, is it a deal then?" she said as she extended her hand.
Rahab returned the smile and shook her hand and said. "I'll work with you if you help me get my revenge on my little sister and that Niseag that took my eye."
Akkorokamui laughed and said. "I'll do what I can, now let's go. We have plans to make," she said as she and the Devil of the Deep swam down the hall to where the rest of her family were. They had work to do.
Meanwhile, in the lake in the middle of Bulvon Woods:
Nymue had told her new friends, Markie and Nix last night about her story. The guardian angel and the chilotaur listened to her story and told her that she was not far from the Chordoni waterfalls and Vivian's lair.
After she told her story, Markie and Nix told her more about themselves. Markie came to Felarya after her younger sister, Krista ruined her reputation due to her black wings and interest in Felarya. She usually helps protect anything cute and fluffy as she was rubbing Terri's fur. She also had an encounter with Anko who swallowed her whole, fortunately, she was able to teleport herself out of Anko's stomach.
As for Nix, she came to Felarya after she followed a group of slavers on what she called "she went about". She liked the Bulvon Woods so much that she stayed and had several children during her time here. Both she and Nymue laughed at the hijinks that she got into when she was younger.
Eventually, they fell asleep and woke up in the morning.
Nymue stretched and yawned before she turned to her new friends. She was grateful for their company during the night, but she knew that she had to continue on her journey. She decided to go get them something to eat and used her sonar to locate any fish or frogs nearby. She learned that Nix loves to eat Arboreal frogs.
Soon, she found some fish and scooped them up in her mouth, and swallowed. Then she spotted a ten-foot Arboreal frog, it used its green bark-like skin as camouflage as it swam away from the giant niseag. Nymue swam after it and tried to grab it with her hands but it was slippery. She continued to try and catch it when it jumped on the land and hopped away before Nix tackled the giant frog and injected her venomous front legs into her tasty froggy breakfast.
Nymue watched in shock, she had no idea that Nix had venom in her front legs. It was a bit disturbing but interesting to watch. Then Nymue felt Markie land on her shoulder with some fruit that looked like a plump purple peach in her hand and took a bite out of it.
Nymue watched as the dark-winged angel ate the fruit and wondered what it tasted like. Markie turned to her and grew one for Nymue to try. Nymue took it from her and said. "Thank ye Markie." Then she took a bite out of the fruit, it tasted sweet and pulpy.
Markie smiled and giggled as she watched Nymue eating the fruit. "You're welcome. Those are Citroise, I take it you've never had them before?"
Nymue shook her head as she swallowed the last of the fruit. "Nae, A'h can't say that A'h has," she said as she returned to her thoughts. She needed to get to Chordoni waterfalls and convince Vivian to teach her magic, that is if she has any magic at all. But she didn't know the way, she needed a guide.
Then, she remembered that Markie said that she was friends with Vivian, she could lead her to the waterfalls. "Markie, can ye come wi's ( with me)?" she asked.
Markie thought about it and said. "Sure, I'd be happy to help you get to Vivian. But I must warn you, she's a nymphomaniac so be careful!" Markie said sternly. As much as she considered Vivian a good friend of her's, there have been times when Vivian tried to get Markie involved with her sexual adventures. She thanked heaven that she could teleport away from most situations.
Nix finished her froggy breakfast and waved them goodbye. "Goodbye Nymue, see you later Markie!" she said as she crawled away to help her mate gather some food for their kids.
As Nymue and Markie waved goodbye, Cerri climbed on Nymue's back with a small Arboreal frog in her jaws and ate it. The two women looked at the giant otter-like creature and giggled before Nymue turned and swam towards the stream connecting to the Chordoni river. Markie sat on Nymue's right shoulder and took in the scenery as they went upstream. Make was always fascinated with Felarya and its inhabitants, unfortunately, her sister used this to further ruin her reputation back in heaven.
Markie shook her head of those thoughts, her little sister was nowhere near here, and she wanted to get to know her traveling companion better. The lush forest gave way to a damp network of thick, low vegetation, teeming with life, the sky was full of birds of every size and color, and the air was filled with the sweet aroma of the many fruits that grow here. Soon Nymue could hear the sound of a roaring waterfall.
"We're getting close, A'h can hear the falls," Nymue said excitedly as they started to see the giant waterfall.
The Chordoni waterfalls themselves were so huge that they dwarfed Nymue's gigantic size, their size was almost incomprehensible. The water plunged from an enormous height and crashed down into the lake below, creating a perpetual light fog of droplets. The origin of the waterfalls was an absolute mystery. The water seemed to come directly from the rock but there was no nearby detectable river, even underground. Many scientists believe that the water comes from another world, through a portal encased deep in the stone. The sight was breathtaking for the noise and the dark-winged angel on her shoulder smiled at her young friend's enthusiasm.
Suddenly, both Nymue and Markie heard the beautiful sound of a woman singing. As Nymue swam towards the shoreline, both she and Markie saw a human woman sitting on top of a beautiful giant naga's tail.
The human woman was 5'11 with long brown hair, grey eyes, and wearing green clothing over her white skin. The giant naga was laying down and listening to her human friend singing. She was 116ft tall with a light purple slender figure with very large breasts, long light blue almost white hair, deep purple eyes, and light bluish-white and grey scales on her tail.
Markie smiled and said. "There's Vivian and looks like Léa is with her too. She's a good friend of mine and an excellent singer too." Nymue nodded in agreement and reached into her satchel and pulled out her bagpipe and began to play along with Léa's singing, catching the attention of both Léa and Vivian. Neither of them had ever heard bagpipes before and were intrigued by the foreign instrument.
Léa smiled and continued to sing as Nymue played her bagpipe while swimming to shore. Markie flew off Nymue's shoulder and landed on Vivian's, the two friends listened to the duet playing before them, it was beautiful. Soon both Léa and Nymue finished, Léa turned to the newcomer and smiled. "That was beautiful, what is that instrument? I've never seen anything like it," she asked with curiosity.
Nymue smiled and said with a sad smile. "Thank ye for that, this is mah bagpipe, mah faither made it for me 'fore he died."
She was still coming to terms that both he and the rest of the crew were gone, only Laila, Doctor Oswen, and Thorin remained. Her father, Tom, Matt, and Isabella we're all dead due to that selachi, Rahab.
"I'm sorry for your loss, I too have lost loved ones. I was born into slavery and was treated cruelly, singing helped keep me going until I met my friend Crisis. She was going to eat me until I thanked her for saving me from my former masters. She's my best friend and has always been there to protect me." Léa told Nymue as she patted her flipper.
Nymue smiled and extended her pointer finger to Léa in a gesture of friendship, Léa smiled and shook Nymue's finger as Nymue said. "Thank ye, A'm starting to feel better. It still hurts that he's gone, but A'h will get there."
Soon, everyone was sitting by the shore and enjoying each other's company. Both Léa and Vivian listened to the young niseag's story and were shocked by how far she had traveled just to learn magic to defend herself. Magic wasn't something that anyone could wield willy-nilly, a person would have to have one of the major types of magic, which are rule-based magic, wild magic, innate magic, alchemy, artifact magic, thaumaturgy, and primordial magic.
Rule-based magic is a type of magic based on rules of the sort, such as incantations or rituals, which are required before casting it. It's a very stable type of magic and easily the most used in Felarya and most other worlds. If you draw on magic following these rules in a normal environment, then nothing unexpected can happen to you. If you don't follow these rules, a couple of things can happen: either the magic doesn't work, it backfires horribly on you, or you invent something new and get to name it after yourself.
Wild magic is also called Living Magic or Chaotic Magic. More than a way of casting magic, Wild magic is a whole different type of magic than the "normal" one; it's like a living, breathing entity. It has its own will, it comes and goes as it pleases, and you can't actually make it do anything... but you can give it a nudge in the right direction, or ask nicely, and maybe it will help out. It can be docile and primitive, wild and unpredictable, or devious and calculating.
Thaumaturgy is also known as "Let's Make a Deal" magic. You can't do much in the way of casting spells, but you like to read books. You found an ancient tome bound in human skin, and although it took you awhile to figure out how to properly pronounce the words through all the words through all the bloodstains, you managed to reach out and touch someone or something. Thaumaturgy is all about knowing the right or the wrong people.
Primordial magic Is also called Ley Magic, primordial magic is a very specific type of magic that relies a lot on the location of the caster. By using it, you aren't casting spells by roots or formula. You are grasping the raw energies or threads of Magic itself (those that you can see anyway) and weaving them as you will accomplish... well, pretty much whatever you want. Primordial Magic ebbs and flows, waxes, and wanes, and when you are familiar with it you not only can perceive it but directly interact with it. Spellcasting with this Magic can either be a clumsy, unrefined exercise, or a fanciful, "Look, I'm playing music on the threads of the Universe!" affair. This type of magic is typically extraordinarily effective in certain places and less effective or utterly powerless in others, working the best along the streams of ley lines that crisscross Felarya. Skilled Ley mages can even use them for travel, zipping along with them.
Abilities common, although not exclusive, to Primordial Magic are meta-magical effects; being able to directly alter the effect of a spell and bend it to your will. Maybe you can make it last longer, shorten the duration of a harmful curse, negate a spell altogether, amplify a spell's power or range, make your spells more difficult for someone else to dispel, etc. Primordial magic is also the magic of choice when it comes to creating defenses and barriers. The obvious disadvantages of Primordial Magic are that the caster is powerless away from certain places, or in certain "dead spots", and that, asides from the main lines, the flows of Primordial magic tend to fluctuate in Felarya.
Both Léa and Vivian looked at each other then towards Nymue. They knew that for her use of magic, she needed to be born with it. So Vivian decided to see if Nymue had any, Vivian closed her eyes and tried to sense any magic in Nymue. Vivian concentrated and soon found out that Nymue had magic within her, but it wasn't very strong. She'd need to focus and train it, but she might have potential if she was born with magic. Vivian continued to concentrate and realized that Nymue had wild magic, it's wild and unpredictable nature would be difficult for her to master, but given time Nymue could be a powerful wild mage.
Vivian could also sense that Nymue's magic was also associated with water and sound which could be a deadly combination due to how well sound travels through water five times faster than in air.
As Vivian finished, she knew that Nymue was going to need her help to control her magic, wild magic can be useful or destructive to the user, especially when the user is tied with an element like water. As for the sound, Vivian could only guess that it was due to her sonar.
"This is going to be interesting, I haven't encountered another wild mage since Trish, I wonder how she's doing..." Vivian said to herself, thinking about the redheaded wild mage, it had been a while since she'd seen her.
"What are you going to do?" Léa asked as she turned to the giant naga sorceress.
"I'm going to train her, she has wild magic which can be dangerous if not trained properly," Vivian replied as she slithered towards Nymue.
Nymue sighed with relief, she did have magic, this would give her an advantage for when she encounters Rahab again. "So, whaur do we begin?" Nymue asked with curiosity. She knew how to hunt with her sonar, but she had no idea how to use magic.
Vivian smiled and said as she slithered into the water next to Nymue. "Relax and focus on your breathing. As you'll experience it will become easier, just try not to let your fear get to you. Magic can be very complex and dangerous if not used properly. Now, close your eyes if you wish. I'll be here to guide you."
Nymue nodded and closed her eyes and began to control her breathing.
"Now, wild magic can be extremely tricky. I want you to focus on your center, try to connect with the magic inside you." Vivian stated as both she, Léa, and Markie watched Nymue trying to connect with her wild magic.
Nymue tried to reach deep inside herself and connect with her magic, then she felt something, it felt like the water around her was alive.
Vivian and the others watched Nymue as the water surrounding her began to glow and move of its own accord. It appeared that Nymue had instinctively woken up her magic.
Then Nymue opened her eyes and gasped as she saw the water glowing and moving around her, at first, she was shocked, but then she was captivated by the glowing water. Soon, it dimmed down as she stopped concentrating. Nymue began to laugh excitedly. "That was braw (brilliant)!" she shouted as she beamed at Vivian and the others.
"Well done Nymue, that was your first lesson in your ability, you will need to practice it to unlock your full potential, but for now let's rest. You don't want to overexert yourself, magic is like a muscle, it needs to be flexed properly." Vivian stated as she slithered out of the water and away from her new apprentice with Léa following behind.
Markie flew up to Nymue's face and said. "I have to go back now, I'll be seeing you later Nymue." the dark-winged angel said before she waved goodbye and flew off.
"See ye efter, Markie! Thenk ye very much for helping me." Nymue shouted as Markie flew out of sight.
After Markie left, Nymue looked at the water again, she couldn't believe that she had begun to unlock her magic. Soon she'll be able to defend herself. "Soon, A'm waiting for ye, ye Devil of the Deep!" Nymue thought and continued to practice on the basics.
To be continued: