Spark of War (Progression Fantasy)

El stood at the back of the ship, just behind where Bits steered the vessel away from Wirock as quickly as the Bucking Bride would go. Laze and Nidina, injured as they were, flew on both sides of the ship, keeping away the few hangnails or seawyrms that still patrolled the water. For whatever reason, they'd gotten lucky with most of the monsters already being on land to witness the opening of the gate.

Which, they'd fortunately prevented for now. Mostly.

Still, with one arm propped on the railing—the other hanging painfully broken at her side—and most of her weight leaning on it to hold herself upright, El couldn't take her eyes off the battle unfolding in the city. Massive columns of ice, flame, and water tracked the progress of the unfolding destruction, the three powerhouses holding nothing back. But, for Sol and Nexin to be working together, and still not be unable to finish the fight, just what kind of monstrosity were they up against?

"Ye should be down with yer friend," Bits said for the third time from where she steered the ship. "Ye barely be standing on yer own."

"I can't go until Nexin gets here," El said.

"Nexin?" Tas asked from beside Bits. Blood still covered almost his entire face, but his eyes were open, and he had a pistol in each hand.

"My brother," El said. "He's fighting that thing with another friend of mine."

"Do they have a chance?" Tas asked simply.

El didn't answer immediately. "Normally, I'd laugh at somebody asking if Nexin had a chance," she said. "But, now? I… I don't know."

"I be sorry, girly, but they can't be winning. That thing, ye be knowing what it be, don't ye?" Bits asked.

As a combined explosion of the three elements climbed for the sky and seemingly consumed an entire quarter of the port town, the tone in Bits's voice finally reached El's brain.

"I don't…" El said slowly, as she twisted her sore body to look at the captain. "But it sounds like you do."

Bits's fingers tightened around the ship's wheel to the point her knuckles whitened. "The Depths," she hissed. "It be coming for us all."

"That is your superstition?" Tas asked the question before it could come out of El's mouth. "You can't be serious."

"When it be coming to me ship and me crew, and the water we be on, I be deadly serious," Bits said. "I be seeing a painting of the Depths once—an old one—and that thing be on the canvas. It be back, and we all be dead, even if we ain't be knowing it yet."

"Grim," El muttered, but could the captain be right? When she'd looked into that giant gate, at the darkness beyond, she'd felt a… pressure. Like when she'd been buried back in Guld, but far, far worse. Could there really be something so terrible locked away somewhere below them? She had no idea how deep the sea was… but even if that was true, what were the Depths?

Another explosion ripped more of the town to shreds, causing El to jump as she twisted to look at the rubble falling from the sky like rain.

Whatever they are, they're dangerous. But…

"That thing isn't the Depths," El said.

"Girly, I be seeing…" Brits started.

"It's not," El interrupted. "Not the real one, at least. Maybe a piece, but not the whole thing. There was a much bigger ring at the center of the island where this thing came from. We stopped something… worse… from coming through. This was all that made it to our side."

BOOOOOOOM, a dome of the three elements lit up the island like a second sun rising. On one side, dark water like a tidal wave coming to wipe away all land-bound life. On the other, an iceberg and searing plasma melding to hold back the tide. Steam jetted into the air at the same time water froze and ice broke.

A stalemate… for now… and the staccato of titanic blows resumed, echoing across the miles growing between land and ship. Tas came over to stand beside El, his hand lifting as if to pat her on the shoulder. One look at her sorry state—and the fact she was literally covered in injuries—and his hand dropped back to his side.

"You really should go below decks and get some rest like Dayne," Tas said. "How you're even still conscious is kind of impressive, but you don't need to prove anything to us."

"Don't think I could sleep if I wanted to," El said, eyes not leaving the devastated town. If nothing else, the raging battle kept the horde of monsters well away from the water. Nothing that got close to that would survive.

"Worried about your brother?"

"Yes," El nodded, "but that's not all. I don't know how to explain it, but, it's like I've got a buzz. Ever since the streamer…" Her eyes darted down to her chest, then back to the battle. "I don't know, I just feel energized. I mean, it makes everything burning hurt, but I can push through it. I thought it was just adrenaline at first."

"It's not?"

"Nexin, my brother, said those monsters threw an Ember into a ring. That was what caused the explosion that… the explosion. I have a bit of a history with Embers." El chewed her lip as she spoke. "I think some of that energy from the Ember seeped into my Spark. It's keeping me going, for now. You're completely right, I should be unconscious—or worse—but here I am. Standing on legs that feel like jelly, and thinking straight despite what's probably a pair of concussions. I can't think of anything else to explain it."

"You're tougher than a mama scaled bear protecting her kits?" Tas asked.

"That was my second possible reason," El admitted, then paused when the world fell silent. No more elemental clashes on the island. No more thumps like a pair of giants were pounding on each other. Even Bits turned from the course of the Bucking Bride to look back towards the distant island. They'd put miles between them and it, but would it be enough?

"Girly…?" the captain asked.

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"I know," El said. "Laze? Nidina? Do you see anything from up there?"

"Hold on," Laze said. "The dust is still settling. Literally. Wait… oh burn it, something is coming this way, fast!"

El's eyes snapped to the sky, but she didn't see what she was looking for. No flaming wings. No Nexin. Was he…?

"It's just Sol," Nexin's voice said from right beside her, and El nearly jumped out of her skin. On her other side, Tas spun with his guns up, while Bits spat out a train of curses so colorful, El felt like her frost armor activated to block some of them out.

She ignored most of it—the pain at suddenly moving included—and turned to her brother. His entire Firestorm jacket was just gone, cuts and bruises covering his chest and arms, one of his eyes was swollen shut, and his bottom lip was so fat, it would've been comical in any other situation. And he was missing a boot. Just one. That irked her enough, El had to force her eyes away from the imbalance.

But, really, none of that mattered, and El limp-fell into her brother to wrap him in a one-armed hug.

"You're okay," she said, relief lifting a weight from her shoulders. Her body language must've told Tas the new arrival wasn't a threat, because he lowered the two guns pointed in Nexin's direction.

"Mostly," Nexin said, another thump on the deck announcing Sol's arrival. Two more quickly followed—Laze and Nidina.

"What happened?" El asked, backing up a step, but leaving her good hand on Nexin's arm to balance herself. "Did you kill it?"

Nexin shook his head. "We managed to hurt it enough it gave up. For now."

"The beast was strong," Sol said. "Possibly more powerful than the Pycrin golem."

"It headed back to the center of the island, its monster posse in tow," Nexin went on. "We should be safe for a bit."

"We haven't seen the last of it, though," Sol added.

El turned to the other man to find him half-encased in icy armor. Streaks of red ran through the crystalline protection from dozens of wounds underneath. He wasn't in any better shape than Nexin. "I'm glad you two showed up. I don't know what we would've done if you hadn't."

"I knew Nexin would save us," Laze said, eyes practically sparkling as she looked at El's brother. Her shirtless brother.

"Even though he was supposed to be on another continent entirely?" El asked. "Seriously, how did you find us?"

"We weren't looking for you," Sol said. "We were following the trail of what turned out to be some kind of submersible ship. These creatures somehow took one of the damaged Pilish warships and used their magic to allow the ship to move deep under the surface. I would be impressed if the results weren't so…" He looked down at his wounded body. "Detrimental."

"How they go to the island doesn't really matter," Nidina said. "We need to focus on what's next. Dayne's alive, but hurt pretty bad." She looked at the others, wincing and shrugging simultaneously. "He's not the only one either. We can't go back there."

"That monster will be heading to Pili next, won't it?" Tas asked. "We've barely been holding off the seawyrms."

El thought back to the large ring in the center of the island. Sure, they'd damaged the connections to the smaller rings, but it was only a matter of time until those got fixed. Then the Depths would need more Sparks to power the gate.

"Pili or Vestis, probably," El admitted.

"Not Vestis," Sol said, his face grim, and El didn't need to ask why.

She turned to Tas. "You have to warn them." El turned to Bits. "And you need to take him back to Pili."

"Ye be talking like you be leaving," Bits said, eyes narrowed.

"We are," El said. "If Nexin and Sol couldn't beat that thing…"

"Ye be running away?"

"We're going for help," El replied. "It's not just that single monster we need to worry about…"

"I'm pretty worried about it," Tas said quietly.

"But also the army with it," El continued, though she did give Tas a small nod. "We need an army to fight back with. We're going back to Pycrin to get that."

"You think they'll help?" Nidina asked, a note of doubt entering her voice. "We're pretty far from home here."

"This may seem like a distant problem now, but it won't stay that way," Sol said. "Those monsters will spread."

"Do you know what they are?" El asked Sol. "The captain here said something about them—or it—being call the Depths. Sound familiar?"

Sol seemed to think about it for a second, then shook his head. "No. I'll look into it, though."

"While we convince the army to send help," Nexin said. "We'll make them realize how important this is."

"But it'll take us time to get back here," El said to Tas. "You need to hold out until we do."

"Oh, is that all?" Tas asked, his lip quirking in a familiar half-smile. He turned serious a heartbeat later. "Don't keep us waiting."

"We won't," El said.

"When do we leave?" Laze asked.

"Immediately," El said. "Before whatever is keeping me away fades. Can you and Nidina go get Dayne?"

"On it," Laze said, and headed below decks with Nidina at her side. They returned only a moment later with Dayne draped over their shoulders, though the big guy was conscious and half-walking on his own.

"Hey, Dayne, good to see you awake." El took the man's pack from Nidina while she spoke.

"Had a bad dream," he said, then looked at El's arm. "Guess it wasn't a dream."

"Don't worry, we're heading home to get us both looked at," El said, then turned and held out the pack to Tas.

Tas looked from the pack to El and back. "Aren't these the spices for your soup…?" Tas asked.

El rolled her eyes. "Yes, and also the Ember. I know you're worried about what your nobles will do with the power, but it sounds like you may need it."

The other man still didn't take the pack. "Shouldn't you take it with you, then? If we can't hold out…"

"You will. You have to," El said.

"Yup. Right." Tas reached out and slowly took the pack. "No pressure or anything."

"I'm sure Macer will take care of things," Nidina said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Tas said flatly.

Nidina just winked at the man.

"Seriously, though," Tas said, looking at the pack in his hands. "From what you said, if the monsters—the Depths—get their claws on this, they'll be able to open the gate to the bigger, scarier monster? Shouldn't you be getting this as far away from here as possible?"

El shook her head, and started slowly. "No… I want you to hold out, but we also need Pili to be attractive enough to keep the Depths' attention. If they start spreading further to get the Sparks they need to open the gate, we'll never be able to contain them."

Tas looked from the pack, up to meet El's eyes. "We're bait?"

"Not… exactly… the words I would've used. But, yes," El admitted. "You've already been holding out, and with the Ember giving you more strength…"

"We'll do it," Tas said. "We'll go fishing. We know better than anyone how bad those things are. We can't let them spread. Just, really, don't keep us waiting."

"We won't," El said, taking her hand from Nexin's shoulder long enough to salute Tas. With that, she turned to Bits. "Captain, thank you for being a fine host. Stay safe out here until we get back."

"Aye," Bits said slowly. "And I be sorry fer me earlier comment and ye running. I be knowing ye ain't be a coward. The Depths be rattling me. Thank ye again fer saving me ship and me crew. Just don't be setting me sails on fire when ye be flying out of here."

El forced a small smile through the pain. "Oh, we aren't flying out." With that, she reached into the energy keeping her awake—like a jolt running around her Spark—and pushed it out through her good hand. Within a second, a flaming doorway to the In-Between opened in front of the railing. Inside, wide trunks of impossibly tall trees extended out of sight, while the eyes nearly fell out of Bits's and Tas's heads.

"We can get home quickly, but it will take us weeks to get forces back here," El said. "Do whatever you need to survive until then. We will be back. I promise. This isn't over."

Tas gave his now-familiar salute. "I guess we'll see you soon, then."

"You will," El said, then turned to her battered wing. "C'mon, let's get going before I pass out."

As the others entered the In-Between, El looked back at the distant country of Wirock. They'd lost the entire nation to this new enemy, and Vestis as well, if the look on Sol's face meant what she thought it did. But, they'd slowed the advance and managed to hurt that beastly avatar. It wasn't a win, but it was something. Hopefully, it'd buy some time before an offensive was launched on Pili.

And they would be back. This fight wasn't over. Far from it.

A touch on her good shoulder, and El turned to find her brother beside her.

"Come on, let me help you," Nexin said.

El gratefully threw her arm over his shoulder, and together the two of them limped into the In-Between.