Yut-ta kept a steady hand on the tiller as they sped through a cavern with the special torches lining the walkway. The boat’s white paint reflected the light, creating a dreamy aura that held a subtle shimmer Vantra recognized; Light temple naves possessed a similar atmosphere. Someone thought such a spell would strengthen the warding capabilities of the torchlight, proving the mercenaries did not want to deal with the darkness creeping into their home.

The roar of the motor reverberated around them, too garish for the soft air and loud enough that they would never hear the enemy approach. Glancing behind revealed nothing, but she anticipated them giving chase. She planted a shield pole in the center of the boat and used the top as a base for a spherical protection; something she learned from Nolaris finally came in handy! Kjaelle added hers below, then looked back at their frothy wake.

“From me to you, thank you for the rescue, but I was doing just fine,” she said.

“You didn’t look like you were doing fine,” Vantra replied, peering over the edge of one side, then the other, searching for a humongous reptilian head rising through the dark water.

“And Katta’s worried,” Kenosera stressed. He settled on the right front seat, searching the waves for signs of attack. Janny nodded in agreement as she completed a cursory inspection before a mount on the front of the boat sucked away her attention.

“Katta knows better,” the elfine muttered. “Yeralis has always considered me weak, physically, mentally, magically. So when he thinks he’s in control, he offloads all sorts of information we wouldn’t have access to otherwise. Give a little kick, pretend he has me subdued, and whatever vile thing on his mind pours forth.” She sighed. “I need to contact Katta. Shake me when the changeling arrives.”

How could she sound so blasé about it? The changeling could morph into huge creatures! She sat on the center bench and bowed her head in concentration, and with a skeptical glance around, Vantra settled down to her left. With the Darkness acolyte occupied, she would attempt to come up with a better plan than ‘just chase the boats’.

Of course, ‘just chase the boats and throw spells at them while evading the changelings’ was not an improvement, but her brain refused to expand past that idea.

“Yut-ta, how fast do ankis swim?” Vantra asked.

“They’re speedy, especially in broad, easy water,” he said, glancing over his shoulder. “If the changelings practiced in those forms, they’ll swim just as fast, if not faster.”

Clank.

Vantra jerked, startled, and stared at Janny, who upended a bag.

“This was under the deck,” the pirate said as she picked up a spotlight off the hull. “Did you notice the boats had lights on the front? If the darkness is at the entrance, I’m betting this protects the craft.”

Vantra studied it, then nodded. “It will,” she said. “It contains the same magic as the torches.”

“Looks like they were planning a larger evacuation,” Yut-ta said. “And then the Light-blessed interrupted.”

“The woman with the sticks in her hair, was that the priestess you saw with Rudarig?” Kenosera asked as he crawled onto the deck to help Janny attach the light to a black iron mount at the front.

“Yes. Since the yondaii and Yeralis fled with her, I wonder if dignitaries are in the other three boats.”

“We’ll find out.” Janny pressed buttons on the back panel until it turned on, spraying the air ahead with golden rays. Glowing dots paraded from the mount along the edge of the hull, and brilliance flared from the middle and the back corners; Vantra checked and noticed disks embedded in the side, just below the lip.

“Looks like they were serious about the darkness out there,” Kenosera said, leaning over to get a better view of the light before retreating to the bench.

“However nasty ghosties are, they don’t want to meet the Final Death any more than we do,” Janny said. She peered at the water. “I wonder how deep the channel is. Think the changeling can come up under the hull?”

“They could try, but the shields would prevent it,” Vantra told them. “The best they could do is flip the boat.” And if that happened, the vessel could crush Kenosera and Yut-ta, or they could get trapped beneath and drown . . . Anxiety filled her, and she had the urge to pace, which would not help their current situation, and perhaps distract the others to the point they missed the signs of impending attack.

A shimmer in front of them caught her attention. Magic hung like a curtain from the roof, waving back and forth as the water lapped the ends. She gasped, but they sped through it before she could shout a warning.

Rainy Darkness met them.

The lights tore through the inkiness, creating a circle of illumination wide enough that, if they happened upon another boat, Yut-ta might be able to avoid it at their speed. Unfortunately, they did nothing to negate the effects of the gunk in the rain. Her shield smoked, and she slapped layer after layer beneath her first one, knowing she would lose them, one by one.

The hooskine clacked his beak, and the boat slowed; a wise precaution, since it was not worth the risk to sail into the side of a ship. That meant they would remain in the rain longer, and Vantra hoped she could hold the protections until they left the darkness—if they left the darkness.

“I think we’re north of the main dock,” Janny said as they passed the edge of a pier with a red cloth tied to the top of the railing. “There are two more downstream, and mostly used by cargo ships. I don’t think we’ll encounter one of them, especially if captains saw the dark fog. They’d sit tight rather than chance sailing into strange magic.”

“Do you think the darkness has reached to West Sel?” Kenosera asked. He sounded calm, but his grip on the edge of the boat turned his fingers white.

“It depends on the kind of spell used to create it,” Vantra said. “It could infect natural fog, but if the casting has several components, it might drain a ghost too much to maintain it for that distance. Of course, if they planned to have lights on boats, they probably planned to have others feed the caster power.”

“Llel said the darkness fell right after Dough and I left, so it’s been up a while,” Janny said. “That’s a long time for one being to hold something this nasty in place.”

“The Dryanflow’s wide, too,” Yut-ta reminded them. “As wide as some reservoirs. That’s a huge area to keep under spell.”

“Lights below the water!” Janny yelled.

Vantra tumbled off the bench as Yut-ta sped up, striking Kjaelle with her foot. The boat veered, and the pressure squashed her against the hull. After the vessel straightened, she struggled up; the elfine caught her arm and pulled her onto the bench.

“Kjaelle?” she asked, worried. Her eyes were over-bright, as if she shed tears. “What happened?”

“Nothing, and maybe everything,” she whispered with a warm smile. “Are you alright?”

She nodded, confused but unwilling to push when danger lurked, and checked on the others. Kenosera sat on the bottom of the boat, and Janny stood in front of him, her sword pointed behind to the stern. She turned to Yut-ta; a grey-scaled snake’s head towered over him, engulfed in a helmet of shimmery magic with lines of brilliant light flowing from it and down the length of the body, to disappear under water. She bet they ended at the changeling’s tail, keeping them safe from the darkness.

And they were larger in this form than in the strange unicorn one.

They flicked their blue tongue, opened their mouth, and struck.

Sun burst from the shield, and they reared back, hissing, wriggling their essence back and forth, flames dancing around their mouth. Their forearm-long fangs blackened and cracked, bits falling into the river and disappearing in the waves. Vantra hunched down, gripping the bench as the boat jostled, and reinforced her weakening protection. Kjaelle tipped back and sat with a startled yelp, which turned into a clenched-teeth growl. She raised her hands.

A greyish purple swirl appeared over the shield, sucking in the darkness surrounding it. The ball, bloated on the magic, shed essence in bright, lightning-infused bursts as it flew to the changeling, plowing into their head. The explosion sent splashes and waves in all directions; Vantra squeaked as water rolled up the shields, obscuring their view.

The hull rocked. The blurry glows of smaller ankis swam to the shield and swept their tail around, creating waves to overturn the vessel—and they numbered more than the ones fighting the Light-blessed. What happened to Jare and his companions? Worry pummeled her.

Janny cupped the edge, leaned over, and stabbed into the water; she must have hit one, since a light streaked away from them. Vantra mentally sped through spells to drive them away, but the flames of Retravigance would not work in water, and the rain would negate the rest of her repertoire. She needed to expand her knowledge beyond Sun-based intonations.

With an angry shriek, the giant ankis sank beneath the waves, and dread sifted through her as the glow dimmed, then disappeared. How deep had they swam?

“Vantra, wait until they strike next, then drop your shields,” Kjaelle said.

“Why?” she asked, aghast.

“The spell inhibits Sun, but not Darkness, as Darkness is its core. I’ll have a nasty surprise, don’t worry.”

Well, that was like telling a fish to walk instead of swim. Shuddering, she peered over the edge, wishing she had a better idea.

No flash, but the boat rocked up on the starboard side. She dropped her protections.

Crackles and lightning emanated in all directions from the Darkness shield, creating a soft lavender net that sank into the river. Net after net fused and sank; if the attackers attempted another hit, they would have to deal with electrocution first. Ghosts might not succumb to the first strike, but their essences would discorporate if they stubbornly continued—and then the electrified waves would rend them apart and send them to the Final Death.

Personal Darkness shields rose around them, a protection from the magic if they fell in.

Suffocating quiet descended, broken only by the motor roaring and water lapping. Uneasy, Vantra peered around; had they retreated? The giant changeling did not seem the type to meet resistance and immediately flee. They would have already done so after facing Jare.

“Do you see anything?” Kenosera whispered as he peeked over the deck.

“No,” Janny said, touring all sides.

“My nets have struck nothing,” Kjaelle murmured. “Not even fish.”

“The changelings must have scared them away,” Yut-ta said. “They congregate in this part of the Dryanflow because you can’t fish near the barrier, Selaserat or Westel.”

A wave heavy with Water magic struck the Darkness shield, broke through, shattered her Sun shields, topped the hull, and swamped the interior of the boat, leaving a layer of water on the bottom.

“Kjlat!” Kjaelle cried as she reformed the shield and the net spell. Vantra layered protections beneath, losing count and only stopping when her burst of fear-induced energy subsided. Kenosera snagged a bucket from beneath the deck and scooped what he could overboard.

“The river here doesn’t get waves like that,” Yut-ta said, fluttering his wings and shaking his free arm to shed the droplets.

“They’re trying to swamp us,” Janny agreed as another followed.

“It had the backing of Water-leaning magic, too,” Vantra said. “I don’t think the changelings created it.”

But a water witch might have.

The hooskine turned the boat at an angle, and they rose with the crest rather than suffer another drenching. The stern lifted up, and they jostled around when it fell back down. Smaller waves came from multiple directions, striking the hull with enormous splashes but not breaking through Kjaelle’s shield.

“Hold on!” Janny yelled.

Another, unnaturally tall wave caught them. The boat stayed on top, remaining at an angle, before the curl lost momentum and tumbled into the river. The vessel crashed into the water with it; Vantra bounced high enough to strike her head on their defenses.

She glimpsed a glow out of the corner of her eye while in the air. The ankis! After tumbling down and checking that Kenosera and Yut-ta survived the plunge, she searched for it again but saw nothing else. Where were they?

Sun Rays zipped through the darkness, strong with Xafane’s Touch. The spell broke like a glass plate, shards falling into the water and disintegrating. The rainy evening’s soft, warm grey rushed to fill the space; while visibility was not as terrible, the drops did not make the dim atmosphere easier to peer through. At least it no longer contained the gunky stuff.

“Xafane must have defeated the witch,” Vantra said as she searched for the ankis. The darkness spell might have dissipated, but their ghostly enemies had not.

“Of course he did,” Yut-ta said with smug pride.

“The witch?” Kjaelle asked with frozen sharpness.

“He thought a weather or water witch was near, maintaining the darkness shroud and the spell that put harmful gunk in the rain,” Vantra said.

“There they are!” Kenosera shouted, pointing.

The ankis remained stationary, their heads turned towards the main dock, interested in something there. Behind them came another boat, veering as if to hit them.

“Jare,” Kjaelle said with sighing disapproval. The ankis dove to avoid a crash, and the giant attempted to bite, but their jaw and neck disintegrated under a Light attack. The elfine shook her head. “Yeralis called the largest one Daunifen.”

“Daunifen?” Yut-ta yelped, then settled into driving, though the feathers on his head twitched. “Huh. I thought she was dead.”

“Dead?” Kjaelle asked.

“Yeah. There was an expedition of changelings into the forest five or so years ago. They wanted to complete Nature’s Labyrinth test. It’s a huge religious undertaking where Nature adherents navigate the forest without the Blessing and reach an altar in the Fingers dedicated to both Strans and Maed Enne. It’s dangerous and the changelings train for years to defeat it, but the mercs under Hrivasine had something else to prove, and they didn’t much care about preparation. Daunifen led them.

“After several months, rumors spread that they never returned, and this was bad because Daunifen was the great-great granddaughter of Anmidorakj, and she promised to go after the Nature temple in retaliation.”

Kjaelle’s eyes narrowed. “What happened?”

“Nothing. The other temples aligned with the Nature adherents, and it became a political headache for Anmidorakj to punish the temple for the decision of a descendant who didn’t attend. Now I wonder if Daunifen showed back up, and that negated her reason to go after Nature acolytes because she would lose the backing of the temples. Her hold on the Greenglimmer council is tenuous, even with Hrivasine’s support.”

“Was Daunifen able to create giant changes before that? It’s a skill few have.”

“I don’t know.”

Kjaelle pursed her lips, then studied the rain-caused mist. “Do you see the other boats?”

The expanse of river had a handful of larger ships, but they were smudgy outlines through the shower. Vantra searched for the special lights and waves, but noticed nothing.

A bouncy light to her left caught her attention; Jare stood on the deck of his boat, holding a shimmery ball with zings of electricity coursing around it. Kjaelle raised her arm to prove they saw, and he threw. The light flashed, disappeared, and alit on something in the far distance, twinkling and spitting. Had he identified the other boats? How?

“Looks like they’re headed for the barrier,” Yut-ta said.

“Which means they have a badge to get through.” Kjaelle looked at the ring molded to the front of the bow. “So should we.”

“Let’s find it.” Janny slid two boxes out from beneath the deck and cracked them open with her sword.

Yut-ta sped up, intent on their target. Vantra searched for the ankis with Kenosera while Kjaelle and Janny hunted for the badge. Her tummy twisted when she did not see Daunifen or her smaller companions; they would not give up so easily, even if their darkness spell ended.

Light flared; a net, similar to Kjaelle’s, formed around the other boat.

“Awww!” the elfine said, a delighted twinkle in her voice. “Jare thought that was a good idea! It’s hard to impress the Light-blessed, you know. They’ve thousands more years creating spells than most of us.”

The patter of rain turned into a downpour, clouding the river with splashes. “I’m not seeing anything,” Kenosera muttered, slicking his hair behind his ears before turning to Vantra. “Are you?”

She shook her head, wishing she had a hair tie. Soggy essence was as annoying as soggy tresses.

“The changelings should still have the glowing shields,” Kjaelle said. “Since nasty stuff fell with the rain upstream, it will take time to flow downriver, and they’ll need protection from it while it’s still in the water.”

Vantra returned to her watch, dread creeping up her back. She knew the enemy would try to capsize the boats, then attack. It was obvious, but what did they wait for? Had the destruction of the witch’s spell distressed them?

Flashes—she shouted and pointed to the long glow stretching behind the Light-blessed’s boat. Despite the lightning snaking around her head, the giant changeling burst up from beneath, pushing the vessel into the air, then tossing it up with her nose. Oh no!

“Keep going!” Kjaelle demanded, slapping the bench to catch Yut-ta’s attention as he turned to look.

“But—”

The boat crashed into Daunafin’s noggin and broke in half. Vantra jumped up. The Light-blessed! They could not become Ethereal because of the rain and water, and the changeling knew that! Sun shields encased them, as fast as the thought to create them appeared, though once they hit the river, the remaining gunk would—

A flaming projectile punched through the essence of the changeling, leaving a gap that almost cut her in half. She collapsed with the vessel, disappearing into foamy waves. Smaller changelings zipped to the spot and dove after her.

The Light-blessed splashed into the water as a larger white boat with a curved windshield and blue racing stripes roared through the rain. Dough stood on the bow, sword pointed in their direction, hand on his hip, head tipped back. Behind him, pirates manned cannons attached to each side; they were not as large as those on the Loose Ducky, but big enough to damage a ghostly essence.

“It’s Dough!” Janny yelled, hopping up and down and waving a yellow square of cloth; they must have found the badge! “He’ll get the Light-blessed out of the dregs.” She turned around and crawled onto the deck’s top. “And the Little Duckie is fast. They’ll catch up.”

Little Duckie? Vantra did not recall seeing it—the escape boats, yes, but not this one. Where did the pirate captain hide it?

Darkness rose in front of them, and a spell splatted against it. Janny looked up, then tied the cloth to the ring, unconcerned. Vantra squinted through the rain, discerning the gleam of Light in the far distance. A terrible sign, if the enemy could sense them through the downpour and perform an accurate attack when she could not.

Another ball of boiling green struck. The shield wobbled as ooze coated the exterior, but did not break. Vantra studied it but could not get a good sense of the base. While there were other ways to form and manipulate spells, most faelareign began with a foundational component associated with one of the major syimlin. Perhaps that meant an umbrareign, like the yondaii, attacked instead. Whoever it was, they had power backing them.

“How far are we from the barrier, Yut-ta?” Kjaelle asked.

“We should see the shimmer soon,” he said. “We’re entering the backup to get through.”

“Yeralis said when we arrived at Court-lee Grace, my true pain would begin, so we know that’s their destination.” Kjaelle wrinkled her nose in annoyed disgust and strengthened her shields.

“These boats are for short trips across the river, not a few days’ journey,” Yut-ta said. “They must be meeting someone at the far docks to take them to the town. Could be a ship, could be overland.”

“What’s more likely?” Kjaelle asked.

“The Court-lee is deep enough for larger ships,” Janny said. “Dough’s taken the Loose Ducky up it several times. Sailing takes less time than worming around the fields avoiding farm patrols.”

“When we were at Chisterdelle’s, their map showed most of the roads blocked off by vine barriers,” Vantra said. “So they’re probably taking a ship.”

“Blocked off?” Kjaelle asked, frowning.

“And there’s something going on with the road leading to Kjivendei.”

“Uh-oh.”

Vantra looked at Kenosera, then ahead; boats whisked towards them in a wide line. They had covered steering stations and sat three times higher on the water than the shorter boats they rode in, just like the rivcon’s official vessels. A smear of red paint on the front covered up any identifiable mark. If they were from the rivcon’s office, those driving them were not.

A crackle of lightning heralded the arrival of the other boat; Dough still stood on the prow, and drippy Light-blessed sat among the rain-drenched pirates on the benches. Jare stood, and the energy he poured into the electric dance above his head, held within a shield to keep the rain from interfering, shocked Vantra; did he still have that much power after all the fighting he had done?

“How’s your Light, Jare?” Kjaelle called.

“That stuff in the rain didn’t sing nice, but now that it’s gone, I shouldn’t have problems. Get ready.”

The spell zipped away, leaving behind streaks of shimmer. Yellow lightning flared across the center boat’s bow when it struck, and crackles leapt to the next and the next. The entire line lit like firecrackers, and the magic burst into a shower of sparks, destroying the water-based shields.

Half the boats did not continue, and smoke drifted from three. Shields rose to protect the remaining ones, and again Vantra could not discern a syimlin-lean to them. Would they sunder, like the Water-based ones, or suffer the electric charge and remain?

The boat directly opposite them kept its pace. The others moved to close ranks, but that would not happen before they collided. She gripped the bench as Yut-ta waited and waited.

She shrieked as he turned, speeding through the gap on the starboard side, splashing water onto the boats. Sludgy stuff stuck to the shields and glumped down the sides, proving the river had yet to carry it downstream. The defenses flickered, holes trailing the gunk.

Rather than strengthening their protections or forming balls or darts to attack, the enemy cast a haze on the river’s surface that spread like frost. It reached their boat, and they slowed, as if caught in sticky candy. The lightning net faded, and Kjaelle flung spinning discs into the stuff to break it apart; the impact dissolved the spell where it hit, but the edges expanded to close the gaps. The engine whined, and Yut-ta grimaced, pulling and pushing on the tiller, trying to shake the motor free. It moved a finger length, no more.

Waves rushed the bow as the giant ankis head rose in front of them. Still glowing with the strings of lights and uninhibited by the nastiness in the water, the changeling reared back, opened her mouth, and scooped them up in one gulp.