A colossal storm burst from nowhere; beach sand, sea water, rain, wind, lightning, and thunder echoing through the chaos. Merilyce could barely stand let alone see or hear. But above the tumult, she could still detect the cackling of The Three and the eerie echo of another voice.
She dropped onto the beach and started clawing at the sand, attempting to pull herself away, though she had no idea which way she was facing, or where to escape to. A hand clenched her arm, and through the darkness of the storm she could just about make out Kyrnrie beckoning her.
The winds felt as if they would rip her from the ground at any moment, she dug her hands into the beach to hold her down and haul herself away at the same time. Kyrnrie was tugging on her arm. He crawled closer and swung his arm over her shoulder, pulling her with him.
Together they fought to get away from the storm. She searched for anyone else, but could see nothing through the debris circling in the wind, nothing but Kyrnrie dragging her along. She had no idea what had happened to Rendyle. They were there for him, to keep him safe, to get him away from The Three, but how could they possibly combat the powers in control there?
Suddenly the storm died down, and the swirling sand rained down on them. Merilyce climbed to her knees tentatively, swung her eyes around and spotted The Three, and immediately began sprinting in the opposite direction.
Kyrnrie was running beside her, and she noted that the city watchmen had the navigator with them. Rendyle was still safe, for the moment. There were others running too, but in the chaos, she barely recognised who they were.
She kept running a short while longer before turning around to see what was happening. The Three still stood there, side by side. Lytette was in front of them, on her knees.
"We should help her," said Merilyce.
"No, she can take care of herself," said Kyrnrie.
"What? Look at her?"
"She's a godsdamned demon-goddess. There's nothing we can do to help her."
Merilyce looked back at the woman, the demon-goddess, who was struggling to get back on her feet. Suddenly, the little girl began running towards The Three, screaming words Merilyce couldn't recognise. In unison, The Three staggered forward, almost unable to stand.
"We have to help!" insisted Merilyce.
She ran forward without waiting for a reply, and felt Kyrnrie was following her. She didn't have a plan. In fact, she had no idea what she could do against three demon-goddesses. As she neared, she could see The Three were still struggling to fight the unseen attack. They looked wounded, though Merilyce couldn't tell how.
Skin began ripping away, flecks blowing off in the wind. Black blood oozed from wounds all over their bodies. In agony they yelled, dying right before her while Merilyce watched in confusion. One of the demon-goddesses appeared to break her invisible bindings and leapt forward with a screech.
The little girl's screaming suddenly ceased, and she fell unconscious to the sand.
"You cannot kill us, Iryssah," wailed the first.
"But we can kill you," shrieked the second.
"You are not dead any more," brayed the third.
The Three began advancing on the girl, and as they did the air grew suddenly dense, suffocating.
"Your father couldn't defeat us," screeched the first.
"Even as our allies were destroyed by Him, we persisted," sneered the second.
"We are still alive; He abandoned you for nothing," laughed the third.
"Iryssah!" yelled Ryleine. "Help, Irikhart!"
The huntress ran to the girl, Irikhart close behind. Ryleine dropped to the sand on her knees, scooped the girl up in her arms, and sprinted away from The Three as fast as she could. Irikhart took up position between them, drawing his sword and taking a defensive stance.
"You will not harm her," he roared. "I am her father now."
The Three began laughing in unison.
"Irikhart, you are no match for us alone," cackled the first.
"And we don't want to kill you," screeched the second.
"No, we want to keep you!" snickered the third.
"Why do you think we descended, god of fools?"
"And why do you think we want to stop you from finding the mainland?"
"You're trapped here with us, Irikhart – our plaything for all eternity!"
"I warn you," said the god of fools. "I have powerful friends."
"Stay away from him," hissed Lytette, standing once more.
The storm began to grow again, sand swirling in the air. The three watched her, their expressions showing no fear, only mild amusement.
"Don't be a fool, Irikhart," said Lytette, "you cannot win this. Get the rest to safety. I will take care of The Three."
A chorus of laugher broke from the demon-goddesses, and then, as if practiced, it suddenly came to a halt. The Three stood side-by-side, silent, eyes fixed on Lytette.
Merilyce watched as Lytette stood against them, tall, strong. The storm churned sand in the air and felled trees on the edge of beach. The skies were darkened by debris circling above. But still, The Three stood unmoving, eyes fixed on Lytette.
Merilyce wanted to run, but she couldn't. Her feet were planted, refusing to move. She wanted desperately to help. To do something. Kyrnrie was pulling frantically at her arm. She could see his lips moving, calling to her, but she couldn't move. She needed to do something.
The storm abated slowly, and still Lytette stood there, alone against The Three. The winds failed, the sands fell back to the beach. Lytette dropped to her knees. Her arms fell forward and, with all her strength, she tried to hold herself up.
A cloud of dust burst from where she knelt. Fine red sand floated gently down, and a patch of the dry desert sand settled in the space left vacant in front of The Three.
Merilyce watched in disbelief, unsure of what she had witnessed. Kyrnrie was still pulling on her arm.
"Run!" he yelled, "Run!"
After another moment's hesitation, she turned to run, but after only a few steps she felt weak, unable to carry on. She fell to the sand, paralysed, her body refusing to move.
With her head on the sand, she could see others around her – lying on the beach, motionless. The Three floated into the circle of unmoving bodies; their quarry disabled and defenceless.
"We have finally caught you," said the first.
"There is no escape now," added the second.
"Except for death," clarified the third.
"Well, Irikhart we'll keep," corrected the first.
"Of course we will keep him," agreed the second.
"But do we have to share him?" asked the third.
The Three burst into laughter again, full of glee as they pranced around on the field of victory.
Merilyce struggled with all her strength to lift herself from the sand, but her body would not move, as if her mind no longer had control.
She could see perfectly well what was happening, The Three celebrating in front of her, but she could not avert her eyes. She could hear them, chanting in triumph, but she could not block out their voices. She could smell the ocean air and fresh earth from toppled trees, yet she could not draw a breath. She could taste the sand, dry and salty in her mouth, but she could not spit it out nor close her mouth. She could feel the ground rumbling, the vibrations from The Three as they danced their victory dance, the trampling of six heavy feet on the ground. Or were there more?
The rumbling grew heavier, and the ground began to shake. The chants of The Three faded, and the spell was broken. Merilyce felt control of her body return, but she was still weak. A chorus of high-pitched calls filled the air, an eerie song echoing down the beach. Merilyce raised herself to her knees and saw that the mountain side was a moving cloud of white. The skies too filled with white-winged beasts, swarming towards them.
"Ice raptors," rasped Irikhart from close by. "Friends of mine!"
The Three moved to defend themselves, but almost instantaneously they were overrun by the ice raptors, hundreds it seemed, some airborne, and some circling in an eruption of feathers, claws and teeth, accompanied by their ear-piercing cacophony of calls. The ground continued to shake as Merilyce tried to back away, struggling to balance.
The Three formed a circle to defend themselves, enclosed in a wall of beasts. They appeared to be holding the ice raptors back, but Merilyce couldn't tell how. The calls grew louder and more agitated, the flying ice raptors swooping and pulling up before reaching their enemies.
"You should never have returned," boomed a deep voice in the chaos.
A new attack burst through the clouds of ice raptors, dark tentacles raised thirty feet into the air, and sharp talons at the end dived into the defensive circle of The Three. Shrieks rang rampant from the demon-goddesses as hundreds of tentacled strikes rained down on them, faster than Merilyce could follow. Within moments the shrieks faded, and the tentacles stopped dancing their manic attack. The ice raptors took to the sky and flocked away, a cloud moving in unison, darting left and right as they flew back to the mountains.
Left standing on the beach in front of Merilyce was a creature she could barely understand even if it were described to her. Taloned tentacles swirled around it, eyes beyond count. It stood before a mess of unrecognisable gore. The creature floated across the sand on a sea of rapidly moving tentacles, and approached them, stopping in front of Irikhart.
"Hi," it said.
"Hello," replied Irikhart.
"Nice to see you again, god of fools."
"Er, thank you for coming."
"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner," it said, several of its tentacles pointing towards a slightly lighter patch of sand on the trampled beach.
"I wasn't sure you would help," said Irikhart.
"Well, I did say I'd come if you ever need me," it said, tentacles rippling in a gesture that looked something like a shrug. "Besides, I don't mind a few gods wandering around here and there, but those three were really starting to get on my nerves. I haven't had problems with gods fighting each other in forty years, and then these three came along.""So, you will help us with our quest? To find the mainland?"
"No, no, don't be silly. I have a chamber full of treasure to protect. I'm an ancient guardian, remember."
"Right," agreed Irikhart. "I remember. Well, thanks again."
"Think nothing of it," it said as it began floating away on its tentacles. "You should stop by sometime if you're in the area. We can catch up over a drink."
"Er, sure, of course."
They watched as the ancient guardian rapidly travelled along the foot of the mountain, disappearing into the distance.
"Is everyone okay?" asked Merilyce, only just realising how tense she was, every muscle clenched and shaking.
She was answered by a vague chorus of uncertain murmurings while everyone checked themselves for wounds.
"That was fortunate," she added, again getting only grunts in return.
She surveyed the surviving travellers, searching for injuries. Everybody looked more or less okay. Rendyle was still fine; he was with the two city watchmen. Tally, Madrik, and Tailfin were standing together, albeit quietly. Aside from the wounds they had picked up in their own fight, they were all okay too. The Scribe was studying his parchment, which had somehow survived the winds of the storm. Irikhart was holding Ryleine and the little girl, the three of them huddled together. And Kyrnrie, well, he was standing next to her.
"You okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine, you?"
"Yes," she nodded, releasing a deep breath.
He looked down, and she followed his eyes down to her hand. Their hands. In all the chaos, she hadn't even realised she was holding his hand. She was about to pull it away, but decided not to. He smiled at her, and she turned away to hide a blush.
The Scribe was standing in front of them. He was smiling. He looked at their hands.
"Ah," he said, nodding. "That's what you're doing here."