Adara could tell that Cale was thinking about running, as the hands that were digging into her arm were pulling her away slightly. But she stayed, her eyes on the whale. The whale had enough strength to look at her and Cale, his blue eyes digging into her.
Adara knew about the Whale Tribe, and she knew their skin was thick enough that no mermaid's claws could penetrate it. Although their skin usually looked perfect and flawless, it was very tough. This Whale's skin got scratched. She thought back on that day in Billos's tea shop. When Cale told her everything he had read from the Novel, which type of Whale could get hurt by mermaid claws and poison?
A mixed-blood whale, she thought. Were there any mixed-blood Whales in the Novel? She thought about it, raking her mind. Finally, she remembered a mention of one. But that one died.
She looked down at the Whale, suddenly frowning. Well, he certainly hasn't died yet.
The Whale could no longer crawl. His body was shaking, a rigid hand trying to stretch towards her foot. She didn't step away.
'Human, Half-Not-Human, are you not going to help?' the Black Dragon asked doubt in his voice.
Adara was almost hurt by his doubt. Last time she saw someone so sick that their movements were rigid, they died a week later. Adara knew her morality was twisted and shrewd, and she only saved some people, but she would save this Whale.
She crouched in front of the Whale with the messy, long hair. She felt Cale's warmth from behind her. The Whale looked up at them, his eyes both seeing them but not seeing. "Save—."
"Oh, don't worry," she said. "We'll save you."
From behind her, Cale added, "Sleep for a bit. Everything will be fine when you wake back up."
The Mixed-Blood Whale did not hesitate as he closed his eyes and let his head fall to the ground. Adara stood up, walking closer to the scratched-up leg of the Mixed-Blood Whale. "It doesn't look good. We should hurry," she said, looking at Cale.
He nodded, standing up from his crouching position.
The dragon revealed himself after the Whale lost consciousness. He stared at the two, who seemed to have an understanding purely by looking into each other's eyes. "You are a very weird human. And half-not-human."
Cale waved off the dragon. "Enough nonsense," he said, pointing to the passed-out Whale. "Dunk him in the water."
Adara almost laughed at the face the Black Dragon made. "Human! Half-Not-Human!" he exclaimed, personally offended. "You said you were going to save him! You two are weak, but you have kept all of your promises until now! So why are you telling me to dunk him in the water?! Are you trying to make him suffocate to death?!"
Cale sighed heavily. "We're doing it to save him. After you put him in the water— you remember the corpses from earlier, right?"
The Black Dragon narrowed his eyes. "Just what are you trying to make me do?"
Adara waved him off with one hand. "Oh, don't worry," she repeated what she had told the Whale. Pointing to her arm, she continued, "Bring us back an arm from one of the corpses."
The Black Dragon looked even more shocked this time, but Adara ignored his slack jaw. The dragon was not immediately protesting, so she figured it would be fine.
The Black Dragon hesitated. "I will do as you asked for now."
She watched as the Whale was lifted into the air, and she followed him. Turning her head, she looked at Cale. "You go to the puddle; I'll stay with the Whale."
Cale nodded, disappearing inside the cave.
She sat on the cold cave ground, the whale submerged in the water in front of her. His head was above water, his hands on either side of her. She stared at him for a few moments. His messy hair stuck to his forehead. His cheeks had been red, but they were cooling down now. He had a slight frown on his face.
She looked a bit closer. Despite looking like he was nearly dead, this Whale was the prettiest person she had ever seen. His features were perfect, and they fit nicely on his face. She felt herself staring at him, her eyes not moving. And he was only mixed-blooded; she wondered how pure-blooded Whales looked.
The Black Dragon arrived first, a floating mermaid arm with him. Then Cale came from behind her, and she stood up.
"Let's go," Cale said.
The Black Dragon sighed and made the Mixed-Blood Whale, the mermaid arm, and Cale levitate as he pushed the air from under Adara upwards. Together, they floated back home.
As soon as they arrived through the window, Adara frowned. Hans was banging on their door with a loud voice. The kittens jumped on them as they arrived, but Adara caught On. Cale was less successful, and Hong ended up dragging down his chest.
"You came at the right time!" Hong exclaimed when Cale managed to get ahold of him.
"The butler has been banging on the door for a while!" On added.
Adara didn't need the kittens to tell her, as she heard Hans's voice loud and clear from the other side of the door. He sounded like he was on the verge of crying. "Young Master and Mistress, I dare not enter because you said you'll kill me if I wake you up! That is why I can only continue to bang on the door. Can you please open the door, Young Master? Young Mistress?"
Adara sighed; she took off her scuba suit, put on a bathrobe, and tied it tightly around her waist. Cale threw his scuba suit into a corner, also putting on a bathrobe. The Black Dragon used an invisibility spell to conceal the Mixed-Blood Whale as Cale pulled open the door, Adara right behind him.
"Young Master and Mistress, Young Lady Amiru asked me to verify that you were safe," Hans was saying as the door opened. "So please wake up and open—," he interrupted himself when he realised the door was open.
"What do you want?" Cale asked, a scowl on his face.
Hans's eyes widened as he saw his Young Master in a bathrobe, the shoulder slipping off, and his Young Mistress behind him with an irritated expression on her face. "Oh! Young Master! Young Mistress! Were—," he paused, hesitating. "Were you both taking a bath?"
Cale swept back his wet hair with one hand, another one still on the door handle. "We couldn't sleep, so we decided to take a seawater bath," he answered, not understanding the weird undertone of Hans's question.
Hans's eyes widened even more, his ears becoming red. He was pretty sure there was only one bath in their bathroom. No wonder they looked so annoyed; he really shouldn't have interrupted. "Ah, so you were in the bathroom. Then I shouldn't have to worry about my life since I did not wake anybody up."
Cale raised an eyebrow, but Hans wanted to leave them as fast as possible, his ears still red. "Are you two hurt? There were a few loud explosions, and it is a mess outside now. I think something happened out at sea."
Adara looked behind her to the open window. The village around was brightly lit and she could make out small lights on the dark sea. Amiru must have taken the risk to send people out at night even with the dangerous whirlpools. Adara only hoped the fisherman from that morning would be safe.
"They still don't know what those loud explosions were?" Adara asked, looking back at Hans who was looking very red in the face.
Hans shook his head quickly. "Young Lady Amiru said people will be heading out to sea. I believe it will be figured out soon enough."
Adara only hoped Amiru was going to be happy about the biggest whirlpool disappearing. It was some way to repay her. A small way, Adara thought.
"Is that so?" Cale asked.
Hans nodded his head just as quickly. "Yes, sir. Ma'am."
Cale gave him a small nod. "Then you can leave now."
But as Hans bowed to Cale and bowed his head at Adara, Adara stopped him. "Hans, are you okay? You seem very red— are you sure you don't have a fever?"
Hans turned redder at her words, shaking his head fervently. "No! I don't! I just— I hope you enjoy your bath!" With his words, he shut the door, leaving them confused.
As soon as the door closed, the Black Dragon revealed the Mixed-Blood Whale and the mermaid's arm. The kittens were waiting in the corner of the room, afraid of the mermaid's arm.
Adara walked to the bathroom as Cale got a dagger. She took the soaps out of the shallow bowl on the countertop, using the shallow bowl to scoop some of the seawater from the bath. She took the bowl back as Cale returned with the dagger she usually kept hidden in her clothes.
The Black Dragon was watching with curious eyes as Cale put the mermaid arm into the seawater, a sizzling sound emerging from the shrivelled arm. But it wasn't shrivelled anymore, as it was quickly changing and returning to what it was supposed to be.
The kittens hid under the bed at this development, but Adara watched with bright eyes. She couldn't believe that they had found a cure for mermaid poison when Cale told her about it. It also increased Adara's image of Rosalyn, the one who found the cure. And it was something so simple, too.
Blood.
She wondered if her blood would be able to heal a wound infected by Dead Mana, but she quickly disregarded the idea. She wasn't going to poison someone just to spill her blood for them.
Cale took her dagger just as the unconscious Mixed-Blood Whale started to regain consciousness. Adara took the mermaid's arm from the shallow bowl before it started to rot.
"It looks like he's going to wake up," the Black Dragon said. "Human, put the dagger away!"
The Whale's eyes fluttered as he looked up, seeing a bright red-haired man in a bathrobe with a smile on his face and a dagger held high above his head. The Mixed-Whale's eyes started to shale as he tried to cry out, but he was already bringing down the dagger.
Surprisingly, he did not feel any pain as the dagger came down, and he realised after an embarrassing second that the dagger did not stab him at all, but a cut-off arm that he recognised as a mermaid's. That was also when he noticed the curly, black-haired woman with tanned skin holding said mermaid's arm.
The black-haired woman poured the blood onto his leg, and he flinched. Not because of the warm blood that was not his he could feel on his leg, but because his vision cleared and he could see them clearly. The red-haired man was pretty, and his bright red hair caught his attention immediately. But what made him flinch was the giant scar on the black-haired woman's face.
Because, for a second, he thought she was his sister. It was dumb, of course. His sister's scar was on her back— a giant thing in the shape of an 'X'. And this woman didn't even look like his sister, she had tanned skin and eyes so dark he could not see her pupils. It was dumb.
The woman who did not look like his sister pushed the stabbed arm towards him, a look on her face he couldn't distinguish. "Drink the blood," she said, putting the arm in his own. She didn't sound like his sister either. "Before it dries up again. It will help."
Adara watched him stare at the mermaid's arm. She had not missed how his eyes lingered so long on her scars. She figured she should be used to it by now, but she never would be. And she knew that. Because— she took a quiet breath in— she was Adara Thornwin. And she would stay Adara Thornwin even with the scars that stretched across her face, carving her face away to make way for them.
She frowned when she saw the Mixed-Blood Whale was uncomfortable by the idea of drinking the mermaid's blood. "Why are you hesitating? Didn't you kill this mermaid and the other two?"
The Mixed-Blood Whale stiffened up, and she heard Cale scoff from next to her. She had never met a Whale before, but even to her, it seemed odd that he was so anxious when she asked if he killed those mermaids.
He was sipping the mermaid's blood without a problem now, but when he couldn't drink anymore, he handed the arm back to her. Adara put the arm back in the shallow bowl, watching it dissipate. A mermaid corpse could only decompose underwater. She knew that. But she had never seen it before.
Cale looked at the Mixed-Blood Whale. "If you're a Whale, you probably need to return to the ocean by morning in order to recover completely. Get some sleep and return on your own."
The Mixed-Blood Whale's face held a type of viciousness on it when he heard Cale's words. Adara watched his face with interest. She had seen viciousness, not often this type. It was the type of viciousness a person would have who was constantly looked down upon, someone who was constantly reminded they were not good enough. She stood up, the shallow bowl in her hands.
"How did you know I am a Whale?" the Mixed-Blood Whale asked, his eyes not leaving Cale's.
Cale raised an eyebrow. "Who else could kill three mermaids?"
That seemed to quiet him. He looked away from Cale, briefly looking at Adara's scars, but then looked at his healed leg. "I need to return home."
Cale waved him off. "We have no desire to hear your useless story. We only saved you because we said we would."
Adara looked down at him. "We're going to sleep. Don't make a noise on your way out." Even if he was going to be the quietest he could be, she knew she would hear him. Without another word, she walked back into the bathroom to empty the shallow bowl of decomposed mermaid arm.
While in the bathroom, she changed into her night clothing before she joined Cale in the bed. The Mixed-Blood Whale did give them a odd look, the fact that they were sleeping in the same bed when there were 2 beds was certainly odd to him, but the red-haired one was already sleeping and he didn't want to disturb.
Adara had trouble sleeping, as usual, but her nightmares have lessend with a warm, breathing being next to her. As she tried to sleep, her mind wandered to the other breathing Mixed-Blood species in the room with them. She wondered for a few minutes, until she remembered that Cale mentioned his name.
Paseton.
The Whale King's Son and the Sister to the Future Whale Queen. And they were his saviours; how could that not work in their favour? And the mermaids needed to lose. There were no cons to this plan. The Whale Tribe thought of them highly, and the mermaids will lose.
She fell asleep soon after that.
When she woke up, Cale was still sleeping, so she simply read her book. Paseton was nowhere to be seen. When Cale did wake up, along with the kittens and the Black Dragon, Hong had something to say.
"He said he'll be back at night," Hong said, rubbing against Adara.
Adara frowned. That sounded incredibly ominous. "There isn't a reason for him to com—."
The door opened without so much as a knock, and for a horrible second, Adara thought a maid was going to walk in and ask if they wanted breakfast. But, instead, a dripping wet Amiru, still in a raincoat, walked in. Other people walked in as well, but Adara ignored the tallest of them all, who had long, brown, messy hair.
"Young Master Cale! Adara! I'm sorry for coming over so early, but I needed to share some amazing news with you!"
Adara got out of bed, aware she was only in a nightgown that revealed a bit too much to be labelled ladylike. She approached Amiru, who was smiling widely. "Good morning, Unnie. What's the news?"
Amiru barely had time to turn red over Adara's nightgown. "The whirlpool! The whirlpool in front of the central island has disappeared! It disappeared overnight without even a trace!"
Adara smiled at her. "I take it that's a good thing for the Viscounty?"
Amiru nodded enthusiastically. "A very good thing! It—."
Adara's hearing focused on the tall member of the group composed of Knights and veteran fishermen standing in their room. She was still listening to Amiru, but the tall one said something that took her attention.
"How disappointing," he mumbled, clicking his tongue. "I wanted to try jumping into that whirlpool. Should I jump into a different one instead?"
This tall man was none other than Toonka. He had long brown hair, one that looked as unkept as a lion's mane. He had muscles that Adara could only dream of and scars similar in appearance to hers. They scattered over his big arms, a small one on his forehead and a couple on his jaw, but they avoided his central face, unlike hers. He had tanned skin similar to hers, though his was lighter.
Adara wasn't sure if she would win against him. She was fast and quick, but Toonka was big and strong. Sometimes, strength overpowered speed, and she thought this might be one of those situations.
Her attention returned to Amiru when she called to Cale, who was also just getting out of bed. "Young Master Cale! Adara, in return for the Henituse and Thornwin Families' investment—and our... friendship—" she said, looking at Adara. "I want to show you the sight of a peaceful Ubarr sea. Will you two go to the Central Island with me?"
Adara felt a stab at her heart, and she waved her hands. "Of course we will go, but you do not need to give anything back to me in return for my friendship. I would rather have your company."
Amiru smiled again at her, her cheeks rosy, and Adara realised that she felt worse.
Cale interrupted her spiralling thoughts with a gentle smile. "Is everybody here going to the Central Island?"
Amiru nodded. "Yes." She waved a hand in Toonka's direction as he approached them. "Ah, this is your first time meeting him, right? This is the person who was almost caught up in the whirlpool. Mr. Bob, this is Young Master Cale Henituse and Young Mistress Adara Thornwin," she introduced, waving to each in turn.
Adara blinked. Bob?
Toonka smiled at them, and it looked terrifying. "Nice to meet you. My name is Bob."
Adara didn't have time to greet him, as Amiru was not finished. "Bob is from the Whipper Kingdom. He is from a small seaside village and went out to fish when somehow he ended up shipwrecked."
Toonka nodded, the smile still on his face. "That is correct. I just live a simple life fishing by the village," he said as he laughed loudly. Adara almost wanted to flinch. "I do not know how I ended up like this."
Adara couldn't believe they had not figured out who he was yet; his story was horrible, and he was not good at acting. But Amiru continued on. "That was why he got on a boat and helped us investigate what happened last night."
Adara watched the people behind Amiru and Toonka look at him with hateful glances. She would have frowned, but she did not, as Toonka had made eye contact with her.
He started to smile again. "I heard that Young Master-nim and Young Mistress-nim launched a large shield in the Capital to save everyone. I asked the Young Lady-nim to bring me with her because I heard that you were strong people."
Adara did not miss the way his eyes sharpened. She felt like Cale might be in danger if—.
Cale had already started doing what he did best: talking. "That is why we are currently in recovery."
Toonka narrowed his eyes. "Recovery?"
Adara nodded along. "Yes. Our power is not a very strong one; after using it, we are now incredibly weak."
Amiru— unknowingly— added to the bit with a glance at them filled with, among other things, sympathy and admiration. "Young Master Cale and Young Mistress Adara overused their power to save everyone. That is why they are here right now, the sea breeze does wonders for a recoveration."
Toonka looked at them with a very different expression. He didn't look completely uninterested, but he did look slightly defeated. His eyes turned to Adara, scanning over her scars. Adara wanted to gouge his eyes out by the way he eyed every one of them. She was in her nightgown, all the scars on her arms, chest, and legs on display—and the big one on her face, of course.
"Where did you get your scars?"
The whole room stilled at his blunt question.
The veteran fisherman and the Knights, who had that question in their minds since they saw Adara, stared at him in silent horror. Amiru looked at him with wide eyes, a certain degree of anger on her face. Cale stared at him with narrowed eyes, an iciness in his gaze.
Adara smiled at him. "Not in the way you think."
Toonka seemed even more disappointed. "But— but you survived a whirlpool, didn't you? I heard someone say that."
Adara shook her head. "I was not in the whirlpool. I almost got pulled in, but I am a decent swimmer, and I made it out."
Toonka was not yet completely defeated, still trying to hold on to something. "But! You look like a Southerner! Southerners are strong, aren't they? Living in the Jungle—."
Adara interrupted Toonka, moving her smile to look tired to get the hint across to Amiru. "I have never lived in the Jungle. My mother was a Southerner, but she died when I was born, so I cannot tell you anything about Southerners. I am also not very strong physically, so I am sorry to disappoint you."
Toonka heard her words, but he narrowed his eyes as if he did not believe her. She had muscles, he could see them as clear as day. They were not as defined as his, but she must be at least a bit strong. It struck him that she might be lying because he did smell a strong person— and it probably wasn't the red-haired one with the thin arms. "Ah, is that the case?" he said with a blank voice.
Toonka did not care about anything except strength; Adara knew that. It was the reason she had made herself out to be so weak. Toonka was the type of person who did not care about those on his side whom he deemed weak, even going so far as to kill them. It was one reason he was named a Tyrant.
And it was reason enough for Adara.
She turned to Amiru, who was still looking horrified that Toonka asked such a personal question so blatantly. "Shall we meet you at the docks?" Adara asked.
Amiru nodded, distracted. "We will wait until you have properly eaten and breakfasted, but I would recommend not eating too much, the sea isn't completely calm."
The whole group left them, and Cale and Adara shared a glance. They were definitely going to act their weakest around Toonka today.
They were on the boat, making the same trip they made yesterday. The sea was certainly calmer near the Central Island, but Adara couldn't say that about the rest of the sea. Amiru stood in between them as they sailed.
"We are currently investigating why the whirlpool may have suddenly disappeared," she explained. "My Father and our Territory's Mages will all soon arrive as well."
Cale nodded. "Is that so? I'm glad. I hope we can figure out what happened."
Adara nodded as well. "It will help tremendously with the construction of the Naval Base. But I am very curious as to what happened that a whirlpool suddenly disappeared."
A voice entered Cale and Adara's heads. 'You two are such good liars.'
They ignored it.
Adara was struggling to focus solely on Amiru and Cale's voice, as all of the fishermen from the village were on the sea, as well as many people who were constructing the Naval Base. They were all shouting and discussing over the loud sounds of the whirlpools. She could not filter the voices, not when they were all so loud.
But she did hear Cale when he said, "I hope all of the other whirlpools can quickly disappear as well."
They heard the same voice in their head. 'Human, you are lying again. Didn't you say you would make the whirlpools stay for another year?'
Once again, they ignored it.
Adara watched Amiru nod with a determined face. "Yes, we will definitely figure out what happened and get rid of the other whirlpools as well. With such an opportunity in front of our eyes and many people helping us, we need to grasp this opportunity completely."
Adara smiled, though she knew it would not happen. "If there is anybody who can figure it out, then it is definitely you and your family, Unnie."
"Definitely," Cale agreed.
They arrived at the Central Island at that point, as they walked off the boat, Amiru thanked both of them. "Thank you for both of your words. I feel much better with you two believing in me." She now had a calm smile on her face, but it suited her nonetheless.
Cale nodded with a serious expression on his face. "We're getting a bit dizzy from all the sunlight, may we go rest for a bit underneath the shade?"
Adara nodded along. "Yes, I do feel a bit too warm right now."
She knew Cale wanted to head towards the forest, and she desperately wanted to go because she felt a gaze on her and Cale since they got on the boat. Toonka kept staring at them, digging holes into her scars and Cale's arms. She knew he didn't want to harm them, but his scrutinising looks were edging her on, and she didn't want to be responsible for squishing his bleeding eyeballs in her hands.
Amiru smiled, considerate as always. "Ah, of course. Please rest well since you both are still in recovery. Do not overdo it."
Cale nodded. "Thank you." Cale turned to Adara, offering his arm to her. She took it gladly, making their way to the forest. She was suddenly aware of Amiru's eyes on their arms, and she felt bad all over again.
But Amiru pushed her jealousy to the far corners of her mind. She had no need for those thoughts when they were on the brink of such an important discovery. She forced herself to think of Cale in a better light. It was admirable how he was ill and still doing his duties. He was nothing like the rumours she heard, but that should have been expected. Adara was not like the rumours at all, either.
Cale and Adara reached the other side of the island fairly quickly. The Black Dragon was still trying to talk to them.
'Aren't you afraid of the corpses over there? You are both weak, but only the Human is a coward.'
Once again, they ignored him.
Adara would have answered him, but she was not often near graveyards, and she didn't want to take her small amount of Dead Mana for granted. But they both stopped as soon as they saw the boulder they saw the other day because there was no longer a boulder.
"What the—," Cale said, his grip on her arm tightened.
'It was not me!' the Black Dragon exclaimed, and they believed him. 'I didn't do it!'
Adara was the first one to take a step forward, the one who rushed towards the boulder in the flash of an eye. Cale rushed as well, though a bit slower than the Mixed-Blood Dark Elf. They shared a concerned glance. One thought was in both of their minds, and it was not the Black Dragon's voice.
Did Paseton do this?
The boulder had been destroyed into pieces, small chunks of it sprayed around among those—.
"How did the mermaid corpses end up like this...?" Cale asked, his words trailing off.
Adara squinted, the mermaid corpses were turned into a fine dust with some bigger chunks around the smaller chunks of the boulders. She would have never guessed they were the corpses if Cale hadn't pointed it out.
"It must have been the work of a Whale," Adara murmured, hesitant to touch the dried mermaid's corpse dust. "A very angry one."
A sound disrupted her thoughts; she turned to the beach behind the ruined boulder. A new sound was coming, one from the water. Cale seemed to hear it as well as his gaze turned to the water.
'Something is shooting up from the bottom of the sea. It is moving very fast!' the Black Dragon spoke.
Cale flinched. Stepping backwards, he bumped into Adara. She steadied him just as a large dark grey lifeform rose to the surface of the water. As it broke through the surface, it looked straight at them.
Adara felt her breath pause for a moment, she recongised this lifeform. It was a Whale. A Humpback Whale Beast person.
It was majestic.
Humpback Whale Beast people were the Guardians of the Ocean, protecting the weakest of lifeforms. For as long as the war with the mermaids has gone on, the King of the Whale Tribe has been a Humpback Whale Beast person.
Cale's heart was beating so hard she heard it, feeling his pulse through his arm. And she could see why, the Whale was staring at them with murderous intent as well as observation. It was the perfect mix of instinct and rationality. But then she felt the enormous Whale inspect her up and down and she felt her skin crawl, everything about her suddenly on edge.
If it hurts Cale, I'm going to stab its eyes—.
She was interrupted in her threats by the Black Dragon's angry voice. 'That stupid Whale must be crazy!'
Adara felt heavy mana fluctuations in the air, her eyes darting to the source of all the fluctuations. The Whale, too, took her attention off of Cale and Adara and instead onto the invisible being.
'How dare you look at my weak Human and Half-Not-Human like that!' the Black Dragon said, outraged. He used his mana to move the water, but the Humpback Whale did not move. And when it did, it did not run away— no. It raised its tail and slapped it down onto the water.
Adara felt Cale's heart calm, the sound no longer bearable. But she felt a new vigour come into her veins, the Vitality of the Heart was likely helping her. Completely without her wanting it to, her silver shield with its luminous wings popped out as well.
She pulled it back in, turning her head back to the Black Dragon. She was about to open her mouth when a voice cut through the air.
"I am not trying to fight you two."
Adara felt herself stop breathing for the second time. The Humpback Whale's voice was beautiful and entrapping. She cursed. Why do all Beast People need to be so pretty? I'm falling in love with them with the first look— or, well, first sound.
The Black Dragon did not agree. 'Why are you lifting your stupid head? You're telling me everything you did until now wasn't asking for a fight? Puny Whale!'
Adara heard Cale sigh. Together, they reached their hand up towards the mana fluctuations; an angry four-year-old dragon was most undesirable. The mana fluctuations made way for the two hands, and soon, they reached the reptilian skin of their Black Dragon. The Whale's eyes widened.
"Don't get angry," Cale tried to calm him. "You will get hurt."
The mana fluctuations were steadily disappearing, and a quiet voice filled their minds. 'I will not get hurt. I am strong.'
"Of course, you won't," Adara reassured. "But you should still be careful."
The mana dissipated completely as the dragon grumbled, 'You two should be the careful ones, Weak Human and Weak Half-Not-Human.'
Adara and Cale turned to the Whale, which lowered its large head. Adara calmed down as she saw that the murderous intent was no longer in the Whale's eyes. "I have something to ask—" the beautiful voice spoke before it was interrupted by a small Whale.
The small Whale in question was swimming to the surface very quickly. Compared to the Giant Humpback Whale, it was quite weak. And it was shouting. Cale noticed a flash of an expression on Adara's inconspicuous face. There was a small flinch of irritation, but it was gone again.
"Noona, you cannot bite them and kill them!" the small Whale was saying.
At his shouts, the Humpback Whale quickly turned around, splashing water in all directions and in theirs. Both Cale and Adara were drenched in a second, their clothes sticking to them. But Adara watched the Humpback Whale as it turned. It had a giant 'X' shaped scar on its back.
The weak Whale coming towards them was probably Paseton, which meant that the person he was calling 'Noona' was the current Whale King's daughter and the future Queen of the Whale Tribe.
Witira.
It was most definitely her.
Cale pulled Adara backwards with him. He didn't want either of them to be involved in the Whale sibling reunion; he thought it was something they could do without.
The small Whale— Paseton, was still shouting. "They are both people you must absolutely not kill!"
'What is the small Whale talking about?' the Black Dragon wondered. 'We are not fighting.'
Before Cale and Adara could properly retreat, the Black Dragon helpfully added, 'By the way, just so you two know, there is one more coming.'
Adara looked at the Black Dragon. One more? One more what? Another Whale?
Just then, Adara heard the sound of running through the forest, leaves crunching at every step. A violent laugh came from the forest. "I can smell it! I can smell it!"
A crazy person rushed out of the forest, his brown hair like an unkept lion's mane. To nobody's surprise, it was Toonka, who looked as crazy as his eyes looked murderous.
"I smell someone strong!"
~~~
(Adara in her famous nightgown)
I'm actually planning on redoing the cover of this book since the woman on the cover is no longer how I imagine Adara. And I just realised I forgot to give her nails.