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Chapter 13: Landings
🕑 Added 2024-02-23 11:09:16 +0000 UTCRylan’s hopes that it would perhaps just be a short drop were quickly shattered as the fog started streaming past him faster and faster.
Arms and hands clutched onto him in a confusing tangle of limbs, and it took him a moment to realise his own grip on Soren was just as tight. A black braid smacked him in the face, insult upon injury, but Rylan had no breath to do anything but scream as they fell.
A keening call from a nearby fogwhale was the only answer.
The realisation that he was about to die, that his struggle was over, washed over Rylan unbidden, bringing with it a strange sense of peace. He closed his eyes and felt himself going limp as he wondered if Soren, at least, would live.
Would the Mana Shell be enough to protect his friend? Rylan wasn’t sure, and somehow that hurt more than the thought that he was about to die himself.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, but surely could only have been seconds—even in the fog—Rylan’s left shoulder hit the ground.
Except for some reason, the ground stretched.
While the impact still hurt like hell and knocked every last bit of air from his lungs, it was nowhere near the bone-shattering smack Rylan had dreaded.
Whatever he had landed on stretched and stretched, slowing them down. Rylan half-expected to be bounced right back up, but then there was a terrible ripping noise, as the stretched material tore open and swallowed them. After dropping another few feet, Rylan once more landed on his left shoulder, on a squishy warm surface, and came to a complete halt.
Lifting his head—which felt oddly heavy—Rylan took in the strange space he was in by the purplish-red glow coming off Soren’s glowband.
It wasn’t until a loud, pained call reverberated through the flesh around him, that he realised what had happened.
“We hit a fogwhale!” he exclaimed. “Fog! We must’ve slipped right between its ribs...” he continued as he scrambled to his feet.
Or tried to, anyway. The spongy flesh beneath his feet sank down as soon as he put weight on it, causing him to stumble and fall back down.
Soren shot upright and looked around wild-eyed. “Okay, nobody panic, but I think we’re in its stomach!”
“That doesn’t exactly help me not panic!” Tamina snapped, her frightened expression becoming visible as she sat up as well, one hand on the hilt of her sword. “But wouldn’t a stomach smell worse?”
Soren turned to Rylan. “Rylan! How do the insides of stomachs smell?”
“Why are you asking me?!”
“Because you’ve spent time in a kitchen!”
“Well I usually try not to cut open stomachs when I cook! But I think she’s right. There’s no food in here, nor any fog, so it’s probably a gas bladder. Fogwhales have these... to stay afloat.”
They all looked up at the fog spilling in through the rip above them simultaneously.
“How many gas bladders does a fogwhale have?” Tamina asked, sounding rather alarmed.
“I-I’m not sure,” Rylan stammered. “I’ve only seen them in floaters on ships... At least two, I reckon.”
Almost as if on cue, a shudder passed through the fogwhale and it dropped a few feet, sending them all flying through the small chamber before it stabilised again.
As he scrambled back onto his knees, Rylan became aware of a low thrumming that passed through the tissue, like the roar of wind brushing past a building in a storm.
Oh fog...
“Is it just me, or are we accelerating?” Soren asked, clearly having noticed the same thing.
Before Rylan could answer, another loud, pained call tore through their little chamber. Then suddenly, it started to roll.
Rylan flew into what had only just been the side of the bladder, and bounced off, before landing right next to the rip.
Soren landed on the other side of the hole, while Tamina ended up in front of it... mostly. Rylan saw her eyes widen as her legs slipped through. The fog rushing past on the outside seemed to grab onto her and start dragging her out immediately.
Before he could think about it, Rylan reached over and got hold of her armpit.
She frantically clamped onto his arm, and while it slowed her down, it didn’t entirely stop her momentum. Instead, Rylan was starting to get dragged closer to the hole.
“Soren, help!” he quickly bellowed.
His former friend snapped to attention, and quickly grabbed onto Tamina’s other armpit, preventing her from dragging Rylan out with her.
“It’s trying to shake us loose!” Soren shouted over the howling fog outside.
“You think?!” Tamina screamed back somewhat hysterically.
They clung to each other for a couple of long seconds more, until finally, the whale gave up and rolled back over, causing them to fall back down. However, as they lay in a pile, panting from the exertion, the roar coming from outside only intensified.
Rylan groaned as he rolled off of them, staying within arm’s reach, but the whale didn’t try to shake them out again.
He glanced up to see more fog spill into the bladder through the tear that Tamina was no longer plugging up. “Fog, we’re too heavy for it; it’s going to crash!”
“Rylan,” Soren burst out frantically. “Have you purchased your Mana Shell yet?!”
“Eh, no. Do you think I—”
“Yes! Hurry!”
“That might not be the best idea, actually,” Tamina chimed in. “You’re probably going to need those units for healing.”
Wait, healing costs Quint?
“He can’t heal if he’s dead!” Soren snapped. “Don’t listen to her, Ryles! I’ve got units in reserve; do it now before it’s too late!”
Rylan glanced back and forth between Tamina’s scowl and Soren’s pleading face.
“Rylan,” Soren said. “Please trust me.”
Rylan held his former friend’s gaze for a moment longer, then took a deep breath. “Ethereon, please install a Mana Shell Quint structure in my spirit.”
After a brief instance of nothing, Rylan felt a tingling on the back of his neck, and a sense of presence, of awareness, came over him, much stronger than last time he’d spoken with Ethereon.
《Quintessence Structure installation requested. 100 Standard Quintessence Units deducted. Commencing Mana Shell installation in three, two, one...》
As the count ended, Rylan got the distinct impression that a powerful gust of something was rushing at him from afar, and he instinctively braced for impact. However, when the ‘gust’ hit him, it turned out to actually be more of a warm breeze that flew straight through his skin into his chest, and touched upon something he hadn’t known was there.
He sat there, perplexed, as the stream of energy continued for long seconds, until finally, it tapered off.
《Quintessence Structure installation successful,》Ethereon told him, before the sense of awareness faded again.
Rylan let out a breath of relief, feeling a lot more secure now that he had some protection.
“Okay!” Soren said, sitting up onto his knees and leaning towards Rylan with an almost manic look in his eyes. “Now hurry up and fill it!”
“What?” Rylan asked, blinking. “You mean it’s not active yet?”
“The Mana Shell doesn’t power itself; it’s not a Skill,” Soren explained quickly, his face anxious. “But charging it is really easy! It even charges automatically from your mana overflow, but if you’re in a hurry, you can just push some mana out through your skin.”
Rylan just stared at him.
“Told you you should have saved you units,” Tamina muttered.
“It’s fine, I’ll teach you!” Soren hurried on. “Okay, close your eyes and feel for a pool of warmth in the middle of your chest.”
“You realise we’ll probably crash any second now, right?” Tamina asked, moving to kneel on Rylan’s other side, facing the direction the whale was moving in and seemingly bracing herself.
“Thar Tamina, with all due respect,” Soren said through gritted teeth. “Please be quiet.”
She grunted, but fell silent, her eyes focused on the dimly lit wall of flesh in front of her.
Rylan took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his head still spinning.
“That’s it,” Soren coaxed. “Try not to think, just feel.”
That was easier said than done with the roar of the fog streaming past outside the speeding whale, but as the seconds ticked by and they didn’t crash, Rylan slowly started to relax.
As he focused on his chest, after a bit, he found himself becoming very aware of his heartbeat. But that wasn’t the goal, so he kept searching, sensing. As he kept at it, his breath started coming deeper and deeper, slower and slower. Eventually, Rylan somehow managed to almost forget about his surroundings. And then, finally, he felt something. An unfamiliar warmth, below his sternum.
“I think I found it,” he said, keeping his eyes closed.
“Good!” Soren called out over the howling roar from outside. “Now push it out, out through your skin! The Quint Structure in your spirit will do the rest.”
Rylan tried, focusing on the small ball of warmth beneath his sternum and trying to get it to move, but it was like trying to move a single ear or nostril. It just wouldn’t budge.
“That’s it,” Tamina suddenly hissed. “I’m going to kill this thing.”
“What?” Soren cried out. “Why?!”
“Because it’s only taking us deeper and deeper into the cloudsea!”
Rylan’s heart skipped a beat and he frowned, but kept his eyes closed as he listened.
“That’s a good thing,” Soren claimed. “Rylan needs time to prepare!”
“Do you have any idea how fogged we already are?!” Tamina shouted heatedly. “We should’ve killed this fogging whale the moment we landed in it, then we might’ve had a shot at finding our way back!”
Rylan clenched his fists. Fog, she’s right... there’s no telling how far it’s already brought us, or in what direction. If we can’t find some kind of path or signpost down there...
A shiver ran down his back at the thought of being lost down in the cloudsea, and he redoubled his efforts.
Soren was silent for a moment. “Well it’s too late for that now,” he rallied. “Let’s worry about where we are after we land.”
“After we ‘land?’ That’s what we’re calling it now?!”
As they bickered, Rylan gave up on subtlety, and just tried to push the ball of warmth as hard as he could. His head started to shake from the effort, and he found he was holding his breath, but he persevered in trying. Then, all of a sudden, something gave. Warmth spilled out of the point in his chest, flowing through his body before naturally exiting through his skin.
His eyes snapped open, and he watched in wonder as his skin lit up, wisps of light coalescing into a shimmering barrier.
“Hey, I think I did it,” he exclaimed. “I think I—”
The next thing Rylan knew, the world tilted, and a wall of flesh came flying at him.
Author's note:
It took some effort to get it right, but I'm pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. It has a pleasant intensity. ^^
Let me know what you think!
