Chapter 168: Wyrmsign

They left as soon as possible, although not without delays.

It took a few minutes to persuade the Skimmers to begrudgingly leave their sand nests. The red moonrain was beginning, and their instincts were screaming at them to nest—to hide from the incoming aetherliths. Still, they seemed to pick up on the tense atmosphere and understand that their riders would not demand any more of them unless it was absolutely necessary. With a few annoyed meeps—and Naji protesting with a tail slam—they began hovering once more, their fins undulating rhythmically.

“Forty klicks, bearing sixty-six,” Finella muttered, tightening Thali’s harness. “Only forty klicks. You can do that, right, Thali?” The Skimmer didn’t respond, but that didn’t stop Finella’s mumbling. “Forty klicks. Forty in just over an hour. We can do that, right? It’s not as if we have to travel during the moonrain. It’s not going to hit—Oh for Empress’ sake!”

Finella’s exclamation came just after a thud sounded in their valley. A small aetherlith had landed nearby; a rocky crystal no bigger than a thumb, drawing their attention. Within seconds another one landed—the first in what would soon become a downpour.

“It’s starting,” Finella said, scrunching her nose, a measured expression of exasperation on her freckled face. The demon licked her finger and raised it into the air. “It’s getting hotter already.”

“Then let’s move quickly, Officer Bright,” Serena said evenly. “I’m confident we’ll be fine.” 

Despite Serena’s outward confidence, Amelia didn’t miss the subtle signs in her expression that exposed her girlfriend’s inner thoughts. She watched as Serena looked at the blazing Red Moon above, her eyes narrowing slightly. Then, Serena’s mouth moved, silently adding an ‘I hope’. 

Thankfully, Finella and the others didn’t see.

Well, whatever happened, Amelia would ensure they’d be okay.

She spooled up some Marzanna spellwork, freezing everyone’s water flasks. She didn’t stop there. Pulling up some groundwater, she soaked their bedrolls and then froze them too.

“Put these under your clothes,” she said, handing them out. “It’ll keep your core cool.”

They climbed aboard their skimmers. With one last check, they set off in the direction Diego the Wanderer had told her. The djinn that had harassed them earlier hadn’t returned yet. Hopefully the Formless would be able to keep them occupied for as long as possible.

It took only a few minutes to exit the eastern edge of the mesa environment. The moment they transitioned back onto the rolling red dunes, the heat hit them in the face like they’d stepped in front of a raging inferno.

“It’s like an oven,” Mel said. “I think it might be worse than the Asamaywa fire.”

“My water’s melting already,” Hinako said, swishing her flask, the sound of the ice ball inside loud and clear. “I can’t think of a more hostile environment.”

“The lumina, perhaps?” Mel suggested.

“I suppose.”

“Mark my words,” Finella called. “If we get there and there’s nothing there, then I don’t care what Imperial law says. I’m hunting down that Formless and turning him into Form… Form-nothing!”

Finella’s promise of vengeance earned a few laughs, but the humour simmered on a bed of nervousness. Everyone felt the heat. No matter how talented they might be, the silent question sat heavy amongst the group: if it was this bad now with the sun only creeping over the horizon, how bad would it be in an hour?

The desert didn’t allow them to wait and find out in peace.

Once they’d travelled roughly ten klicks, when the group’s frozen flasks had completely melted, and the bedrolls were losing their last bit of coolness, the djinn returned. The first sign Amelia felt were her instincts, her aetheric senses picking up on the subtle disturbances created by the djinn and their half-existences.

“They’re here!” she called out. Her words felt heavy, as if they had to fight through the hot sludge of the surrounding air to be heard. It was a strange sensation, having her mighty wards work well enough to regulate her temperature, yet only a few millimetres from her body was this unbearable wall of heat that sought to choke everything.

“The djinn?” Serena replied from the front.

“Yes!” Amelia flicked her vision into the Shimmer. Perhaps it was because the Red Moon was so close, and the atmosphere dense with not just aether but also progressively more and more falling aetherliths, but the transition had never been easier. She looked back and spotted more than a dozen djinn racing to catch up with them.

Hells, they could move fast.

Amelia relayed the information. 

Serena ordered them into a new formation. They formed an arrow, with Serena riding Naji at the front. Finella atop Thali on her left flank, and Mel atop Jasur on her right. Hinako and Layyin moved to the left wing, and Amelia with Barj on the right. Normally a defensive formation would have the warriors defend the mages, but this time it would be the other way around.

“Don’t wait!” Serena shouted. “Officer Aikawa, Amelia! Send some aether down range!”

“Aye aye, Captain!” Hinako responded.

Amelia began folding her aether a fraction of a second after Hinako did. They exchanged a glance and nod before focusing their attention behind them. They activated their formations simultaneously, coalescing their aether into offensive reality. Hinako sent a semicircle of earthen spikes to the djinn, while Amelia launched a barrage of a dozen icy balls. One djinn was hit by Amelia’s attacks; it threw out a screech and a burst of ochure. The remainder of the horde dodged, spreading apart and coming up to their flank.

It really was a horde. The number of djinn had doubled already, and more were coming.

“I thought that Formless was keeping them away!?” Finella shouted.

“I’m sure he tried his best!” Amelia replied. She didn’t know much about the Formless’ powers, but Diego had shown a respectable level of ability. He’d snapped his fingers and sent the Djinn scattering. How had he done that? Amelia didn’t have the luxury of time to figure it out.

“Fly, Thali, fly!” Finella urged her skimmer. With one hand, the Northerner drew her sword, while with the other she doused herself with water. Steam trailed behind the demon; the water evaporating already under the punishment of Pyrinn’s moonrain. Fist-sized aetherliths were pounding the desert sands. Not enough to threaten them yet.

Amelia and everyone else copied Finella’s words, encouraging their skimmers. The animals let out pained meeps, but nevertheless pushed on. Amelia could sense Barj’s strain and worry. The skimmer could sense the djinn surrounding them, and it didn’t like it one bit. With that and the moonrain with its accompanying heat, they were fighting their instincts to nest and escape the danger.

Half a dozen djinn swooped in on Amelia’s side. She threw out a spell, but the djinn were able to dodge. They were as agile and quick as sardis. They seemed to share the delicious fish’s hypersensitivity to aether, sensing Amelia’s attack in the aetherfield before it reached them. Only when she raised a ward, blocking them off her flank entirely, did they back away, chittering and bombarding them with curses and threats.

“She rejects you!”

“Leave now, child!”

“Only death… Only death…”

“Pyrinn’s doom!”

Amelia gritted her teeth. She boiled her aether, moving to second-circle formations. Barj shivered underneath her, responding to the sudden change. Amelia was pulling in too much aether for the skimmer to be comfortable.

“Sorry!” she said.

What else could she do? Sure, she could Speak silently, but the follow-up spells would be too much for the skimmers and their delicate sensory organs to handle. She could leave the group and go on ahead, but without her, how would everyone else handle the overwhelming heat and swarming djinn?

For now, they needed to stay together.

She finished folding her aether into a second-circle Marzanna strike, but before she could activate it, a sparkling aetherith—as big as her head—smashed in front of Barj, sending him flaring upward and nearly throwing her off. He let out a screeching meep, followed by a series of angry clicks that seemed to say ‘How dare you!’

“H-how far?” Amelia called. “Are we close?”

“Almost halfway!” Serena replied. The demon slashed at a nearby djinn. The range of Serena’s firejade sword wasn’t enough to reach, but it served to keep the djinn from diving in front of Naji.

“Not even halfway!?” Finella yelled. “Moons! I’m out of water already! Fuck this!”

“Amelia!” Hinako shouted. “I need assistance!”

A dozen djinn were assaulting the left flank. Not only were they trying to dive in and scare the skimmers, but some of the djinn could cast magic. Fitting for their situation, the form the incoming attacks took were that of fireballs.

Amelia fired off a barrage of ice, repelling the attempted flank. She formed another ball of ice, but instead of firing it at their assailants, she grabbed it and chucked it to Finella. “Gift for you!” she shouted.

Finella caught it with one hand, pulling it into her chest. The Northerner only had a moment to say her thanks before having to grab the reins and pull Thali to the side, dodging a diving djinn. The iceball rolled off the skimmers back. By the time it hit the ground Amelia could see it was already beginning to melt.

How hot was it right now? It must be at least forty, no, at least fifty thols. 

That was halfway to boiling water!

“Focus!” Serena shouted. “Keep alert! This is nothing! Amelia, keep the ice coming, both to us and the djinn! Stay cool and focus!”

Amelia shouted her reply and set about keeping everyone alive.

The battlespace blurred into a constant cycle of manifesting wards, second-circle attacks, and either throwing ice to cool the others or simply splashing them with water that would turn to steam in seconds. The djinn numbered nearly a hundred and attacked them from all angles. They moved like predators, circling in groups before diving in when their attention was elsewhere.

If Amelia wasn’t there, she wasn’t sure if Serena’s Narean alone would have been enough.

And Amelia herself might not have been enough if it hadn’t been for the training she’d gone through—whether it was an afternoon being bombarded by the Vengeance’s main battery, a grilling session with Katalin in the Asamaywa Academy, or duelling Mel on the deck of the ship in the Passage—she wouldn’t have been able to keep her cool and do what needed to be done.

But she did.

What’d a little desert warfare mean toDreadmage Thornheart? she thought proudly. This is like that intense PvP guild battle we had that went on for hours. I don’t think I blinked the entire time. Ah, the good old days when I could sit back and—

A panicked shout brought her out of her thoughts.

“Wyrmsign!” It came from Mel.

“Ha… ha…” Finella panted. “You must be joking!”

“Wyrmsign!” Mel shouted again. Pointing into the distance.

Amelia strained her senses. There, across the rolling dunes of the endless Red Sands, was a subsurface disturbance working its way towards them. Only the rough shape of the wyrm was visible—a gigantic creature, its monstrous length indicated by the disruption of the dunes it caused as it burrowed towards them.

“Wyrm!” Serena called. “Bear east! We need to find solid ground!”

The demon pulled on Naji’s reins and the others copied, aiming their skimmers eastwards. The djinn didn’t let up their attack. In fact, as if sensing the sudden panic in the group, they doubled their efforts, demanding more of Amelia’s attention.

Still, she managed a question.

“What if it catches us!?” she shouted. “Should we Speak!?” It would hurt the skimmers, but should something that big attack them, there was little use worrying about that lest they all be eaten.

“Yes!” Serena confirmed. “If… If it attacks, then Speak as you did in the Wilderness!”

“Oh? Oh!” Amelia felt her eyes widen. Serena was referencing how she saved the Sakamoto. She wasn’t telling her to Speak Asclepius specifically, but rather to use a Second-Word. Amelia swallowed, throwing a quick look at the approaching monstrosity before the djinn pulled her attention once more. While she fended them off, she mentally prepared herself for the potential embodiment.

Suijin would work, but who knew how much trouble that would cause her if the Southern Overlord picked it up. No, there was a more powerful, more familiar Second-Word she would choose. She hadn’t spoken it yet, but Fenrirus had been her bread and butter in the game.

Or sword and gun, as they said in this world.

What form would I take if I invoked the Grandfather Wolf? Amelia thought. A part of me hopes I find out. I would—

“I see it!” Finella cried out. “I might be going mad again, but I see it!” The Northerner pointed to the distant horizon. There, shadowed against the orange and red sky, obscured by sand and falling aetherliths…

…Was a blurred structure.

With something shining on top. 

Something that glinted in the distance, reflecting the moonlight and sunlight.

“You’re not going mad, Officer Bright!” Serena shouted, pulling on Naji’s reins. “Change direction! Follow me! To the lighthouse!”

At the demon's command, one human, four demons, five skimmers, and a hundred djinn changed their direction, riding and flying their way across the rolling dunes of the Salaban Bowl—one side escaping for their lives, the other side hunting.

“Fly, Thali!” Finella shouted her encouragement, urging the skimmer onwards. They were struggling now. Even Barj, who had proven himself a trusty battle steed thus far, was struggling to maintain aetheric hovering. The skimmers hadn’t been given time to rest. They wanted to stop, but couldn’t. 

Everyone else began urging their skimmers on.

“You can do it, Layyin!”

“Go, Barj, go!”

“Faster, Naji! Faster!”

“Please Jasur! You can lick whatever you want! Just get me there!”

Despite the endless djinn harassment, Amelia couldn’t help but glance at Mel. The demon seemed to have realised what she said and was somehow managing to blush, even in the terrible heat. Still, it seemed to have worked; Jasur, along with his brethren, eked out the last bit of strength they could, slightly accelerating away from the djinn. The lighthouse was closer now. A solid structure on a small area of solid sandstone.

Safety.

“Wyrmsign!”

It was Hinako, pointing to the north. There were more wyrms coming, burrowing their way towards them. Some seemed to be going after the aetherliths, but the larger ones were heading straight for them, attracted to their magic.

“We’ll make it!” Serena shouted, reassuring the group.

The djinn seemed to sense the same and flocked together for one final assault. They gathered their aether, somehow synergising with each other, forming one large formation that coalesced into a monstrous fireball, more than twenty metres across.

“Oh, Moons,” Hinako said quietly.

“Amelia!” Serena called.

“I’ve got it!” Amelia patted Barj’s back. “Don’t throw me off, Barj!”

With that said, she folded her magic into a third-circle spell and poured aether into it. The movement of such quantities of aether pained Barj, but the skimmer held on, letting out only a few protesting meeps. Amelia completed the spell in seconds. She focused her will and intention, and activated the formation. A surge of joy rippled through her, manifesting on her tongue.

“Third Circle,” she intoned, her breath misting with aether. “Marzanna’s Impalement.”

A hundred ice spears tore through the sky, each one carving a path to a djinn. They dived away, agile as always, but it wasn’t enough. The spears of Marzanna’s Impalement tracked their targets. A normal ice mage might only manage a handful, six or seven at best, yet Amelia had launched a hundred, each one relentlessly hunting down each djinn, giving them payback for their torment.

The spears exploded like a shell from the Vengeance. A firework display of broken djinn and ochure painted the morning sky, complementing the moonrain with explosive enthusiasm. The djinn’s constructed fireball vanished; its aetherflow collapsing. 

It was a beautiful result, but none of them had time to admire it.

“Faster!” Serena cried.

The first wyrm that had spotted them, the largest of them all, smashed through the dunes behind them. The sand below their skimmers shifted, falling to the disturbance from the titanic beast. A great sound reached their ears. It was an alien noise, a desperate roar coming from a great maw hidden beneath the sand, announcing its desire to consume them whole. Amelia couldn’t help but stare, frozen in something between curiosity and horror just as the wyrm broke the surface. She got a glimpse of a scaled mouth, rows of vicious teeth, and two sets of black eyes before the ground underneath changed from churning sand to something solid.

They had made it onto the sandstone.

The wyrm turned away at the last moment, letting out a frustrated screech that sent Barj and the other skimmers shuddering. It was too much for them, and the skimmers lurched upwards, throwing each rider into the air.

As Amelia tumbled upwards, she watched the skimmers hurry into the only nearby shelter: the lighthouse itself. The building was a simple construction. White sandstone, about five stories high. As Diego had said, there was a great ruby on top, mounted on a brass setting, shining brightly under the moonlight. It was positioned in a structure shaped like a bowl. Before Amelia could get a better look, gravity pulled her to the ground. She landed like a peeka, with the others joining her a second later.

“After the skimmers!” Serena said. “Inside!”

They ran, or rather, Serena and Amelia ran. Finella, Mel, and Hinako were on the verge of Desert Madness. They stumbled half-drunk towards the lighthouse. How hot was it now? Fifty-five thols? It wasn’t a survivable temperature for anyone but a Speaker.

Amelia hurried, supporting Mel and Hinako while Serena grabbed Finella. They crossed the threshold, entering the lighthouse. It was cooler inside, but only fractionally. It wasn’t enough for most of the group.

“I need…” Finella muttered. “I need… cold.”

“Amelia,” Serena said. “Water. Cold.”

Amelia wasted no time. She invoked a Marzanna formation, creating a shower of cold water that rained down, covering the overheated demons and skimmers. A hiss sounded. It was the first drops of water landing on the metal parts of the skimmers’ tack. Steam started to fill the space.

Serena had said it, hadn’t she? That she could create her own steamroom in the desert.

If only it was under better circumstances.

“Ah… Ah…” Finella sighed. “I survived. This is my reward. I survived…” The demon continued to moan. “This is the best feeling ever.” She raised her hands to the pouring rain. “This is better than healing. Better than… Better than anything.”

Amelia exchanged a glance with Serena, who simply rolled her eyes. Yet, the edges of Serena’s mouth curled in amusement and Amelia found herself smiling as well. In the past, she had experienced the pleasant sensation of a parched throat meeting a glass of water, and that of a cool drink after being too hot for too long. Finella must be experiencing an intense version of that.

“Keep cooling them,” Serena said. “I’ll watch the front.”

While Serena peeked outside, Amelia kept the rain coming. Puddles were forming on the floor, and the skimmers were eagerly lapping it up. They let out satisfied meeps, clearly as appreciative of the rain as Finella was.

Well, maybe not quite as appreciative as Finella.

The demon in question was undressing in a half-stupor. She pulled off her desert clothing, revealing an almost naked body. Only a thin layer of undergarments kept her modesty. What remained quickly soaked through, sticking to the demon's skin.

Amelia wasn’t the only one watching the brazen display.

There goes Mel, blushing again, Amelia thought. Her demon friend was quite sheltered, wasn’t she? Amelia suppressed a giggle, wondering exactly what she should say to tease Mel.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have the opportunity.

“Officer Bright!” Serena snapped from the doorway. “Do you really think that’s app—”

“I’m too hot for modesty!” Finella cried in desperation. “Who cares!? We’re all women here, Captain! I would have thought that you, of all people, wouldn’t mind! I’m boiling alive here! I need to cool down!”

Serena narrowed her eyes. For a second, Amelia thought Finella might have earned herself a not-so-affectionate poke with Serena’s sword, but eventually her girlfriend’s expression relaxed.

“...Do as you please,” Serena said, clicking her tongue. “Cool down, all of you. That’s an order.”

“That’s the best order you’ve ever given,” Finella muttered.

“Mel…” Hinako said slowly. “Why are your cheeks so red?”

“S-shut up, Hinako!” Mel spluttered, turning away. “I’m just hot!”

It took ten minutes of cooling rain before they calmed down. Amelia finished it off with a small dash of healing. The ground floor of the lighthouse was plain sandstone, and on Serena’s request, Amelia and Hinako broke it apart, creating enough loose material for the skimmers to nest. Amelia could have healed them as well, but, as Serena put it, there was no way they were going back outside until the day was over.

“It must be more than sixty thols out there,” Serena muttered. In one hand, she kept her sword ready in case the djinn returned, while she held the other out of the shade and into the sunlight. “Remind me to stab Chesterfield when I see him, for sending us out here. Being here, now, makes me miss Ishaq. But it’s strange…”

“What is?” Amelia asked, stepping up beside her.

“My sword… doesn’t seem to be getting hot. Observe.” Serena held the blade of the firejade sword out for a dozen seconds before bringing it back into the shade. “It’s not hot to the touch. See?”

Amelia touched the sword. Serena was right; it didn’t seem affected by the heat. It was as if it had perfectly reflected it, or absorbed it. “Weird,” she said.

“I know aetheric materials have strange properties, but I never knew about this,” Serena said. “Thinking back, that Ishaqian council room was rather cool, wasn’t it?” The demon shook her head. “We don’t have a jade floor here, but we have you, thankfully.” Serena nodded to the ground outside. There, the water leaking out of the entrance was hissing and bubbling at its fringes as it reached new sandstone, evaporating into steam.

“You’re welcome,” Amelia said, curtsying. “What are we going to do about our new friends?” She gestured outside, where, surrounding their little island of sandstone, was the churning frenzy of dozens of wyrms.

“I’m hoping they’ll get bored and leave,” Serena said. “I think they may… hunger for your magic.” 

I’m not their meal, Amelia protested silently. Only one person can eat me ou—

“If they don’t go by nightfall, then we’ll have to make them leave,” Serena continued, unaware of Amelia’s thoughts. The demon sighed and took out her silver pocket watch. “Two hours until peak moonrain. We’re lucky we’re not in a danger zone.” She snapped the pocket watch shut with an elegant flourish. “These aetherliths are small, considering.”

“Mmm,” Amelia hummed her agreement. The aetherliths continued to fall around the lighthouse, but the biggest ones she’d seen only reached the size of her head. From her research, she knew that the Red Moon’s rain had the largest aetherliths, reaching over a metre in diameter on average. Apparently, it also produced the most crystal, but ultimately the majority of it would be swallowed by the desert.

“Time we get our bearings,” Serena said. “Officer Bright, Aikawa, Mori. Are we well?”

Despite looking like a trio of drowned peekas, Finella, Hinako and Mel saluted their superior. “Aye aye, Captain,” they chorused.

“Watch the door,” Serena ordered. “Amelia and I shall see what’s above our horns.” She nodded to the winding staircase that teasingly ran upwards into an opening to the next floor. “Pray to the Empress,” the demon muttered, “that no more surprises lie in wait.” She turned and nodded to Amelia.

Amelia nodded back.

Then, slowly, they ascended the staircase.