The journey north was pretty uneventful. Bevel came and sat with me a couple times, silent but squeezing my side tightly. I sat with her until she recovered each time, ruffling her hair.

Then we’d go on deck or into the galley and work on different enchanting designs.

By the time we were nearing the coast, she was feeling well enough to join Inertia in the air.

Wasn’t a surprise she could fly a tier earlier than the rest of us, though I had to wonder how much faster she’d get when she made it to Pegasus.

While Calbern leaving had been hard on her, the trip itself had pushed her growth. Apparently she’d unlocked a second Order slot over the week we’d been gone. Considering she only had three slots per tier, that was a lot.

I wondered how much of that was from overcoming her formerly stunted growth, similar to what had happened in Tender’s trial. Unfortunately, the diagnostic had only said that her growth at Astral involved experimentation and alignment. No handy little chart for ‘stored potential,’ despite there being several mentions of such things happening.

In fact, I’d had it with one of my own second Order slots, when I’d had to tweak the distribution before the slot actually fit in place.

A random splash of water drew me out of my thoughts. I was standing at the fore, where Calbern normally chose to stand.

The water had come from Bevel doing a flyby, Celinda’s Grace still high above the waves even as it cut through them. I followed Bevel’s path with a smile, the nearby coastline seeming to pass slowly as she zoomed past. Yet I knew that was just an illusion because of the distance.

Returning above, Bevel and Inertia circled, Bevel continuing her experiments with the modifications she and Tresla had made to her clothes. She looks a bit like one of those flying squirrels from Earth, but I’d chosen not to mention it.

It was too adorable to discourage.

The trees of Verdant Point appeared on the horizon, a splash of green against an otherwise grey cliff face. As we got closer, I noticed that the dock we’d used had been hauled into the upper levels, attached directly to the top of the cliff face.

Considering it was hundreds of feet up, it seemed less than practical. Then I noticed the number of lifts hidden among the upper branches. And the ship hanging next to the dock.

A few seconds after that, I saw the creatures attempting, and failing, to climb the cliff.

They looked a bit like a heavily finned and scaled dog.

When I pointed it out to the others, Arizar nodded, saying, “Sahevin Seekers. The fastest and weakest of the sea devils.”

Tamrie squinted as we drew closer, though she just shook her head until I remembered to cast Eagle Eyes on her too. Which led to a moment where she grabbed my arm to steady herself, before she smacked me once then finally inspected them herself. “Get ‘em in the filters, more often than not. Knocked more’n a few over the head my ownself.”

“Guessing there’s a reason they’re called Seekers,” I said, wincing as the Seeker lost its grip and smacked into the cliff hard enough its neck snapped to an unnatural angle.

“You’d be correct. They’re sent out ahead of the hunting packs. Always in pairs,” Arizar replied, scanning the ocean further out. “There. See that pocket of bubbles?”

Even while following her extended arm, it took us a minute to spot what she was referring to. The pocket was less than fifty feet across, often slipping behind the choppy waves.

“Yeah, I see it,” I said.

“That’ll be where the Spawner is. The pack’ll be around it,” Arizar explained, still scanning the ocean. “Assuming there’s only one Spawner.”

“Spawner? As in, they spawn more Sahevin? Thought they came from nests.”

“Of a sort. Smaller Sahevin, dead or alive, can be fed to one, and a few minutes later a healthy replacement will be spawned,” Arizar said, grimacing. “They’re not too tough, but it means that even their scouting parties are annoying to deal with.”

“Got it, so don’t let them get their bodies back. I imagine there’s some sort of cut-off.”

“Roughly three-quarters of the body must be intact,” Arizar confirmed. “Though it’s not exact. Some damage can’t be repaired, such as a destroyed brain.”

“Huh. Never had to worry ‘bout that in the filters,” Tamrie said, clutching the rail tight as she leaned forward, as if to get a better view.

“Spawners are eliminated before they can get within a hundred miles of Spellford. Seekers are often ignored, if they slip through,” Arizar replied with a shrug.

“Not sure we have the right tools for dealing with…” I trailed off ‘cause Inertia chose that moment to remind us that she enjoyed hunting things beneath the ocean’s surface.

When Bevel followed her down, I just about throw myself off the side of the ship.

A massive jet of water shot up behind her. Seconds later, I realized Bevel failed to penetrate the surface, and was instead high above us, sputtering and cursing.

She was also totally soaked.

Less than a minute later, the bubbles stopped. And half a minute after that, Inertia surfaced, flying towards the suspended dock we were approaching.

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As Celinda’s Grace cut her speed, lowering down to the ocean’s surface, Inertia returned with several nets. Then she was gone back beneath the surface.

Bevel landed on the deck, shaking out her hair before using her magic to whisk the moisture away properly. Despite her failure, she was smiling as she came over and glomped onto my side.

“Didn’t quite work, huh?” I asked her as I looked up at the assortment of lifting mechanisms above.

It was a combination of simple pulleys and Xoth’s enchanted vineworks.

“Need to get spin stronger, I think,” Bevel replied, pressing a finger against her nose and snorting water out the other nostril, right onto my foot. “Blegh, hate how thick salt water feels.”

Arizar was staring in wide-mouthed horror. Of course, Tamrie took the opportunity to tease Arizar for her reaction while I subtly cleansed my foot with a gentle Gust.

I was pulled back to the moment by dangling vines suddenly dropping to surround us. They’d been lowered at the end of long ropes, each attached to the platforms I’d assumed were lifts.

Turned out they were just the anchors for the real lift. Each of the enchanted vines was small, barely the length of my arm, yet there were hundreds of them, extending from a dozen platforms. When the vines got close to the ship, they reached out, then pulled the ropes along behind them, passing through well designed pulleys on the edge of the platforms. They snaked under the ship until all twelve of the platforms sat snugly against the side of the ship.

A shudder went through the deck then we started ascending.

Which was enough to draw the others’ attention as well.

“Whoa,” Bevel said, running over to the rail and leaning over to inspect the bottom of the ship.

I followed her example. The vines had woven the ropes into a net that cradled the ship, making our assent surprisingly smooth. At the top, attached to the large wheels that had been used to hoist us up, were more of the enchanted vines, working as the muscle.

The person responsible, Xoth, was waiting on the dock.

I was already preparing myself for the list of issues that must’ve come up while we were gone.

Yet when I asked him for it, he simply bobbed his head slightly, his hands folded within his robes. “Things have remained calm in your absence.”

“That’s a filthy lie,” I said, gesturing back at the ship. “You don’t hoist a ship hundreds of feet up so it doesn’t have to worry about being harassed when things are calm.”

“A minor annoyance,” Xoth said, waving my skepticism off. “It didn’t seem worth the effort of defending the scarce few ships we will be allowing to dock here. Far better to spend it on keeping them out of reach.”

“Out of reach, the man says,” Tamrie said with an amused snort. “Mite out o’ touch, you might be.”

Xoth showed a trace of a smile. “Such is the prerogative of the skilled.”

“Where are they the thickest?” I asked, deciding to focus on the actual threat.

“Thickest?” Xoth asked, his brow furrowing. “Are the pests having a surge?”

“That’s what my father expects,” Arizar said, having only just joined us after inspecting the enchanted vine-wheels more closely.

“My Lady,” Xoth said, bowing deeper than I’d ever seen him, his head nearly level with his hips.

Arizar’s face twisted into a grimace, though she banished it almost immediately. If I hadn’t happened to glance at her when she spoke, I never would’ve noticed. “I’m not nobility. Please, stand.”

I could tell Xoth didn’t agree, yet he wasn’t comfortable disagreeing with her either.

Considering how casual Xelinda had been, Xoth’s reaction surprised me. Then again… Xelinda cared about very different things than her father.

Speaking of whom, Xelinda joined us, clapping Arizar on the shoulder. “Told you we’d make it safely, didn’t I your Ladyness.”

“That still isn’t a word,” Arizar said, though her stiff mask cracked slightly.

Xelinda ignored her, embracing her father, who seemed reluctant for a second before returning his daughter’s affection.

During which, Tamrie and I escorted Arizar past him.

Arizar wore her interest plain on her face as her eyes darted about the village. Honestly, it was looking a lot better than it had even a week ago. It was no Spellford or City on the Water, but the terraced homes with their gardens had a sort of rustic beauty.

The extra wood that’d been added to most of the homefronts helped with that.

Above us, Inertia passed with a net full of partially dismembered Sahevin, drawing us further in. When we reached the same open space where I’d accidentally asked Tamrie out by giving her a hairpin with my magecrest in it, Inertia had lowered the net and was inspecting the bodies.

With Tamrie on my arm, and Arizar still beside her, we went over to join Inertia in her inspection.

Arizar quickly turned away, holding a hand over her mouth at the smell.

I simply cast Water Breathing on myself and Tamrie, before stepping forward.

There seemed to be five different kinds of Sahevin. There were a couple Seeker bodies, laying off to the side. Inertia pulled up a Sahevin that looked like a bit like mermaid, though one with ridges and scales that covered its head. She had her foot on another that resembled a manta ray, except it had a rigid shell and the rear section had ridges that seem to serve as handles.

There was even a dismembered hand wrapped around one of those handles, clearly belonging to one of the dead mermaids.

What I was guessing was the Spawner laid on the other side of the manta-sled, a collection of loose flesh with a lot of tentacles.

And then there was the most common type, which lay about the others by the dozen. A sort of pufferfish covered with spines. At least half of the quills were missing from each of them. There were a couple fragments of matching quills lodged inside Inertia’s outer layers, though her armor was shifting back and forth, pushing those fragments out.

While Bevel joined Inertia in her investigation of the Sahevin for useful resources, and Tamrie escorted Arizar back to Mount Aeternia to set her up at the inn, I asked one of the Tethered sentries to get Selvi.

We needed to figure out if that was the only place the Sahevin had landed.

After a short discussion, she sent Tethered to scout out the rest of our coastline.

A few hours later, she returned, informing me that there were a couple other small groups attempting to scale the cliffs that bordered most of my domain. They’d actually managed to establish a small outpost near the Golden Halls, having used the stairs I left there.

Little bit embarrassing, that.

Still, it only took me and Bevel half an hour to clear them out, most of which was spent slotting Lightning Bolt and flying from a Secret pool that wasn’t right on top of them.

When we got there, Bevel asked me if she could start the fight.

There were a dozen of them, and I could’ve probably wiped them out with a single cast of Lightning Bolt.

“Fine. But don’t get yourself hurt. I’ll be right behind you,” I said, clapping her on the shoulder even as I cast Aegis on her.

Bevel nodded seriously, her eyes narrowing before descending in a dive, her spinning wind aura cranked up, aimed directly at the Spawner.

I tried not to laugh as Bevel got herself thoroughly stuck in its side, her legs wagging. I failed, but I made the effort.

Only took me a minute and a few casts of Lightning Bolt to clean up the others while I waited for Bevel to figure herself out. Eventually, she spun the effect back up and drilled the rest of the way through the Spawner, which had started dragging the surrounding dead Seekers towards itself.

“You good?” I asked as Bevel plopped herself down on the ground.

She grinned as she nodded. “It’s getting better.” Then she grimaced. “Probably better not to use it on those though. Really gets stuck in the hair.”

So saying, she sent another blast of wind scouring her hair, though she wasn’t able to completely get the Spawner out.

After waiting for our mana to recharge, I made my way to Conflict’s trial alongside Bevel and Xelinda.

Not without one last look at the monster map in the crystal chamber.

While they’d failed to scale the cliffs, the map of the ocean surrounding the shores of Cape Aeternia were drowned in red.

Soon, the cliffs would be too.

Drowned red in the blood of the Sahevin.