A Song For The Ages

The storm had passed by morning, leaving the skyships battered but intact. Rain still clung to every surface, dripping from frayed rigging and cracked planks. The Red Lotus crew moved quickly, assessing damage and running checks to stabilize the internal arrays. Smoke curled from scorched sigils, and one of the sails had been torn clean through from a ballista bolt.

"We'll need at least a full day," one of the formation masters reported, inspecting a shattered wing rudder. "Two, if the core needs retuning."

Maelis crouched by a scorched beam. "Good thing we packed spare materials, we've got enough to patch this tub up."

The islet they'd landed on was small, barely more than a rocky plateau with a sparse ring of greenery and a raised ridge at its center. Waves crashed against its base, sending up mist and foam. One side sloped down into a narrow beach of black sand, where the second ship had landed more harshly. Repairs began in earnest as the crew split tasks, and the Greenwood emissaries lent their skills to harmonizing the damaged essence circuits.

"We're fortunate the supplies weren't hit," Calenvar noted, glancing toward the stacks of reinforced chests. "Had the talismans been caught in the fire..."

Feiyin stood near the edge of the ridge, looking out over the churning sea. The clouds were beginning to thin, streaks of sunlight breaking through. Baiyu rested on his shoulders, unusually alert, tongue flicking with low hisses.

"We have time to breathe," Jue Qingling said, stepping beside him. "Might as well explore a little while the repairs are underway."

Ruan nodded from a short distance away. "There could be herbs or resources nearby. Might as well make use of it."

They agreed to scatter and explore separately.

"I'll head toward the south side," Feiyin said, rolling up his sleeves. "Maybe I'll catch something good in the water. Might be local fish we can cook."

Jue Qingling raised a brow. "You're going for a swim?"

"Better than pacing," he replied with a faint smile.

He walked away toward the edge of the islet, past thick mossy stones and driftwood lodged in crevices. The salty breeze tugged at his hair. This wasn't just a casual swim; it would be his first time diving into the open ocean. Until now, he had only ever swum in the shallow river that snaked past his childhood village.

The difference was staggering.

He knelt by the edge, letting the spray from the waves dampen his face, then dipped a hand into the sea. It was colder and heavier than river water, layered with unfamiliar pressure and shifting movement. He hesitated only briefly, then took a breath, centering himself, and jumped.

The sudden embrace of the ocean was startling. Its depth, its chill, its living current, all of it different from the river he had grown up with. For a moment, his limbs resisted, uncertain in this vastness. But years of body tempering had given him more than just strength. His lungs, his core, every muscle moved with practiced control. Within moments, he flowed with the water instead of against it.

Excitement bubbled quietly in his chest.

On the rocks behind him, Baiyu slipped into the water with barely a ripple. As a tier 2 beast, she adapted swiftly, her body writhing with sinuous grace as she vanished beneath the surface.

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Feiyin swam further, each stroke pulling him toward the sense that had drawn him here; a deep vibration, low and steady, buried beneath the churn of the sea. Baiyu swam beside him at first, her lithe form twisting playfully through curtains of seaweed and darting after silvery fish that scattered in her wake. Her white scales shimmered with a soft glow under the filtered light. As the depth grew, she slowed her pace and lingered behind, sensing the weight that pressed from the deep.

Feiyin glided past mossy boulders and into deeper blue, where the seafloor fell away into shadow. He hovered at the edge, peering into the vast, green-blue chasm below.

Something pulsed from beneath.

His spiritual sense reached down, brushing against a slumbering enormity far below.

The water was cold and numbing. Light filtered down in hazy beams, shifting with the surface. Seaweed drifted like slow dancers in the current, curling around jagged rock outcrops. Schools of pale fish darted away as Feiyin descended. The silence wrapped around him like a thick blanket, broken only by the sound of his heartbeat.

He glided down further, toward a shadow nestled under the base of the islet. A cave mouth yawned beneath a curtain of kelp. As he approached, the oscillation intensified. His saber shivered faintly at his side.

From the dark, something stirred.

A low current surged forward, pressure building. Then, amber eyes ignited in the gloom.

The beast emerged, long and predatory. Its body resembled a colossal shark, black and armored, with jagged fins that sawed the water as it moved. Its maw gaped open, revealing endless rows of serrated teeth.

Feiyin stilled, sensing the creature's bloodlust like a flare. He released a wave of saber intent; cold, sharp, and unyielding. The beast flinched, faltering for an instant in the water.

Then it came.

It surged with terrifying speed, jaws snapping. Feiyin darted aside, twisting with a trail of bubbles as the teeth missed by inches. He responded with a powerful swing, his saber slicing through the water and raking a deep line along the creature's snout.

It recoiled, but not for long. The beast thrashed, tail whipping and pushing it back around.

He dove lower, drawing the shark's attention. The beast followed.

Then he turned, saber glowing bright in the gloom, and struck as it lunged.

His blade cleaved through one of its eyes in a burst of dark blood. The creature howled soundlessly, convulsing. Feiyin followed through, rotating within the water's pressure, and in one fluid motion, channeled essence qi and saber intent through his arm. The saber flared as sharp, concentrated saber energy surged forward in a brilliant arc.

The strike landed with devastating force.

The sea beast's head was severed cleanly, floating apart from its massive body in a slow, spiraling drift. Blood darkened the water, curling in thick plumes that stained the rocky cavern walls. Feiyin steadied himself mid-water, then reached out and grabbed the severed head and its slowly sinking body with both arms. With practiced ease, he pushed downward instead of up, following the flow deeper into the cavern.

He felt it before he saw it: a vast emptiness within the islet's foundation. As he swam deeper into the cavern, a faint light began to shimmer from above. Curious, Feiyin followed the flickering glow upward. The pressure lessened as he ascended, and soon, he broke through the surface into an open air pocket within the islet.

A natural cavern opened up above the submerged passage, lit by the strange green-blue glow of bioluminescent moss and pale alga that clung to walls and stalactites like quiet sentinels. Columns of stone reached down from the cavern ceiling, and the far walls gleamed with moisture and mineral veins. The air was humid and cool, carrying the soft scent of wet stone and salt.

There, Feiyin stood waist-deep in the water, eyes widening slightly. It wasn't just a cave; it was a leyline pocket, a node of spiritual essence shaped by time and pressure. And here, it manifested as dense water essence, cool and flowing yet brimming with vitality.

Baiyu swam in behind him, slower now, cautious. Her silver-white body gleamed faintly in the bioluminescent glow as she slithered through the water and surfaced nearby, circling once before curling along a dry stone outcrop to observe.

Feiyin exhaled slowly. This place had been untouched for generations.

He stepped onto the mossy stone floor, letting the shark's massive body drift to the side of the chamber. He spared it only a glance before turning his attention forward, eyes narrowing with curiosity.