NOVEL NEXT [Book II Chapter 108] SARAH: Pearl’s Fall
[Book II Chapter 108] SARAH: Pearl’s Fall
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One hand on the airship’s railing, Sarah griped Miracle Worker and concentrated. Her ability to discerned the threads of fate was improving, but it was still nothing compared to Orion’s skill in her dreams. Again, she located the disaster due to strike this evening and was filled with an incomprehensible dread in her. Although it should be easy to prevent…
Two days ago, Fang ninjas had ceased all activity. Originally, she’d believed this to be her doing. Since the loss of Livra, she’d successfully identified multiple Infiltrators before they could activate their claws. Now this conclusion was in doubt. Maybe they didn’t give up, but adapted…
“What’s wrong?” Ashley asked. Unlike the others, her aide understood the implications of a rift opening inside Pearl.
“For now, just a bad premonition. No point in raising needless alarm.” Sarah glanced at the front of the deck, where Jayden and his squad were enjoying the scenery.
The Shores were a special twisted lands, with great coral formations intertwined among the warped bedrock. Building-sized star fish crawled over huge barnacles with hermit crabs wandering nearby. Flocks of sea birds hovered over the scattered pools, diving to feast.
Taking advantage of the low tide, workers from Pearl were busily mining along several rock faces, with floating barges collecting the fruits of their labor. The Shores were the most abundant source of water crystals on Enera. We should have better leveraged this wealth…
“We’re arriving.” Ashley said.
In front of them, the fractured earth flowed together in a two-mile-wide ball. They flew down to an opening near the bottom and saw a city around them in the spherical interior. Many of the building were hollowed-out coral, and the construction of others were inspired by their natural design. Dyed a multitude of neon colors, they made for a vibrant sight.
They landed in the courtyard of a castle adorned by giant shells. An emerald-haired woman backed by attendants greeted them. Her beauty was otherworldly.
“Welcome to Pearl, a bubble of safety within the Shores.” Her smile faded as she turned to Sarah. “I assume the purpose of your visit isn’t leisure.”
“Nice to see you too, Leucothea.” Sarah replied. “We’re here to prevent a rift from opening.”
“Excuse me…” Haron broke in, staring intensely at their host. “Is she a nymph?” You could hear the excitement and wonder in the shinobi’s voice.
Sarah sighed as Leucothea smirked. “She is Pearl’s guardian beast and governor, as well as a nymph. She was recruited from Arcadia because of her mastery over water.”
“Stop gawking.” Jayden reprimanded his suborninates.
Human-shaped summons had always been a tricky issue. Some found the temptation to simply ‘create’ their perfect lover irresistible. Others still used the ability to indulge in actions which would be considered criminal. In response to widespread abuse, a nymph named Calypso had struck a deal with the HEAVENLY DAO. Now only in her city, Arcadia, could humanoids be summoned. It was rare to see a nymph elsewhere.
“Getting back to business.” Leucothea said. “When and where will it happen?”
“Let me check.” Sarah closed her eyes and searched. Immediately, she noticed something amiss. Rifts were exploding all over Pearl. She counted thirteen, but it could’ve been more. Damn it…
“There’s at least a dozen fang ninjas in the city.” She announced flatly. “They’ll strike this evening once the tide has come in. I… don’t know if we can stop them all…”
“Didn’t you say it was only one?” Arika objected.
“She was countered.” Jayden explained. “Adaptive planning is a common tactic against those with exceptional foresight. If we had done nothing, only one ninja would have sprung into action. Our arrival here will cause all the others to join in.”
“My apologies.” Sarah hung her head. If it’d been Orion, he’d have seen through this.
“Is it too late to evacuate?” Ashley asked anxiously.
“Most airships are out supporting the miners. Once they return, I’ll send them back out with a load of people.” Leucothea replied.
“How many can you fit?” Ashley pressed.
“Maybe a fifth of the city if we really try. More importantly…” Leucothea fixed them with a hard look. “Are you staying?”
“Of course we are.” Light replied incredulously. “Why wouldn’t we?” Sarah winced. He doesn’t understand.
It was Ashley who revealed the truth. “Once the sun sets, the Blue Abyss will swallow the Shores whole. Pearl will be surrounded by half a mile of water on all sides. There will be no escape for anyone within.” In other words, it might be a death sentence.
“We’ll remain.” Jayden declared. “I’ll construct an jade bunker where we can hold up if worst comes to worst. Because of the lack of time, room will be limited.”
Silence fell over them at the horrifying prospect of seeking shelter as demonic beasts consumed the city around them.
“I’ll go gather the children.” Leucothea bowed and retreated. Without saying anything more, Jayden began constructing a jade wall in a corner of the castle.
“Can you track down the Fang ninjas ahead of time?” Light asked. “Like you did in Livra?”
Sarah shook her head. “Pearl has a population of eighty thousands, and they’re using magic to obscure themselves. I’d exhaust myself finding even one or two. There’s nothing to do but wait.”
From high on the ramparts, Sarah watched as women and children were gathered below. Once the barges returned and were emptied, these passengers boarded in organized queues. Even from a distance, she heard the crying and the goodbyes.
Once the last airship had departed, the crowd seeing them off dispersed, and Leucothea joined her. “Everyone is heading for the shelters, but those won’t hold if the city is overrun.”
“How many managed to get out?” Sarah asked.
“Only nine thousand. We ran out of time.” Leucothea sighed. “I’ll evacuate the rest tomorrow, if we survive. The danger has become too great”
“Understandable.” Sarah winced. The flow of crystals was crucial to sustaining Tulven’s defenses. It’s loss would sting.
“Look.” Leucothea pointed to Pearl’s entrance, where a shadow was creeping over the landscape beyond. “The tide is coming in.” Soon a dark mass obscured everything. They were trapped.
“I’ll assist you in intercepting the fang Ninjas.” Leucothea added.
Once Jayden and his squad arrived, Sarah prepared herself. “I’ll send out golden fairies as I identify the Fang Ninjas.” She told them.
Anxious under the pressure, she followed the threads and conjured a gilded sprite. “There!”
As Jayden rushed off, she focused and gasped in horror. The future had changed, with all the remaining rifts opening sooner. They’re moving up their timetable again! She immediately sent out a second fairy and then a third. Leucothea and Haron rushed after them. As she summoned a fourth for Akira, she realized five rifts were about to open simultaneously. It’s too late.
She glanced across the city to see the fang ninjas on rooftops brandished claws in their outstretched hand. The air was ripped asunder, and demonic beasts sprung out lead by a giant white wendigo.
<
With an arm covered in topaz, Jayden slammed the revenant through a wall, “You will do nothing except return to afterlife.” He said coldly.
Rising from the rubble, Turok let out a ghastly laughter. <
“Where’s the next one?” Light asked urgently.
Right… Ignoring a rift that was too late to stop, Sarah send a fairy towards the next one. Once Light rushed after it, she lowered Miracle Worker. Even if she summoned another sprite, there was no one left to follow it.
Far off, Leucothea was earning her keep as Pearl’s guardian. Standing besides the Blue Abyss, she raised tendrils of water from its surface. Each of these engulfed several beasts before dragging them to their doom. However, despite the hundreds she fed to the monsters of the deep, their numbers kept increasing.
On his side, Jayden was once again on the defensive as more rifts kept appearing. Around the city, defenders were similarly being overwhelmed. For their part, the demonic beasts appeared giddy at the prospect of victory.
Without even trying, Sarah sensed another rift about to open next to the castle. She glanced down from the ramparts and saw the ninja who would open it. Can I even do anything? The Fang shinobi wasn’t directly threatening her, so Astra’s curse would kill her before she could stop him.
What if I do something other than attack? An idea crossed her mind, and a plan formed around it. She seized her staff and focused to her utmost. At the exact moment the ninja brandished Kaygren’s claw and shouted, she reached out to the strand of fate and swung Miracle Worker. The claw crackled with electricity and vanished, but no lightning was released. No rift formed.
I did it! Sarah chuckled as the fang ninja looked around confused. Not once had she ever succeeded in redirecting an attack the way Orion did nightly in her dreams. She simply couldn’t distinguish the threads fast enough in the head of battle. Until today.
Yelps and panicked cries sounded around the city. From every rift, a deluge of water was pouring out, carrying a host of terrified demonic beasts. It worked… I can’t believe it worked!
Of course, she hadn’t prevented the rift from materializing. She didn’t have that type of power. She’d merely shifted its location a couple hundred yards, to outside Pearl in the middle of the Blue Abyss. The pressure that deep must be tremendous. Sarah smirked imagining the chaos on Mount Gull as the mother of all geysers appeared from nowhere.
I doubt they’ll be able to close it. Between the flooding and the aquatic monsters crossing over, it’d be impossible to locate the claw which served as the rift’s keystone.
The shouting of human voices knocked her from her musing. The water in the streets was rising. Not good. Sarah jumped over the nearest rift and erected a one-way barrier around it which nothing was fated to cross. Several beasts lunged at her while she worked, but she knocked them into the water piling up on other side.
“Leucothea!” She heard Jayden call out behind her. A pillar of jade had sprung up, propelling Turok high in the air. The dryad directed several tendrils to catch him.
<
With the revenant dealt with, Leucothea went to deal with the flooding, leaving Jayden and his team to mop up the remaining beasts. Soon all the rifts were enclosed in bubbles of water, drowned beasts floating in their interior.
“I don’t really understand what happened.” Jayden admitted when they gathered afterwards.
“That would be my doing.” Sarah revealed smugly, explaining her deed.
“Vicious!” Jayden exclaimed. “Demonic beasts pool their forces for major offensives. There must have been hundreds of thousands within the valley on Mount Gull where all these rifts opened. It must’ve been total pandemonium.”
“Very well done.” Leucothea added. “Thanks to you, casualties were kept to a minimum. Unfortunately, it doesn’t change that this city is finished.”
Together they surveyed the destruction. An entire section of Pearl was leveled where Turok and Jayden had battled. Elsewhere, coral walls were broken, and cracked buildings were crumbling. There must be plenty of damage inside from the flooding.
“What about Mount Gull?” Light asked. “It must still be gushing over there. Do you think the valley will overflow?”
“That won’t happen.” Leucothea replied. “Once the tide goes out, the water will flow the other away, albeit at a slower rate due to the weaker pressure. Ultimately, Mount Gull will have a salt water lake whose level rises and falls.”
Sarah frowned. We must get everyone out of here before they figure out how to drain it.