Ohdis ((Oh- diss))

Ohdis was adrift in the darkness, burning saltwater flooding his lungs, all sense of up and down lost in the currents and the expanse. He stared into the imperceivable vastness of the abyss, his consciousness beginning to wane, and the abyss stared back. A vast disk of luminous tarnished gold drove away the consuming shadows, its owner veiled behind over-lapping layers of darkness and the haze of creeping unconsciousness; his only companion in this frigid hell.   Heavy iron manacles clasped tightly to his wrists; the connected chains anchored in some of the shattered planks suspended in the bitterly cold water, drifting with the whims of invisible currents. As the last bubbles slipped past Ohdis’ lips, mere victims of the abyss, his mouth continued twitching in crude imitations of chanted speech while the freezing extremities of fingers jerked into prayer forms: He pressed his thumb to his pointer finger, then to his middle finger, then to his ring finger, and finally to his pinky finger before doing it all again.   The eye began to dim, plunging Ohdis’ world back into darkness, or perhaps his vision was finally beginning to fail. A sudden burst of booming clicks and rat-like squeaks pieced the veil of stifling silence muting the expanse, seeming to resonate off unseen cliffs and amplified by non-existent valleys.   “A deal?”   An inhuman voice boomed with the feeling of a shockwave thudding in Ohdis’ chest.   “A deal?”   The darkness that comprised this desolate void rippled, and in his near-dead state, Ohdis thought he saw the glint of scales in the dull yellow light.   “A deal?” The voice insisted with a resonance that bypassed his ears entirely.   “A deal? A deal? A deal? A deal? A deal? A deal?”   Ohdis closed his eyes, feeling his consciousness slip.   “A deal.” The voice said.   Ohdis’ eyes fluttered open as he was spun around by violently churning water, the burn of the saltwater causing him to squint. Obsidian black and cerulean blue scales, each the size of a horse-drawn wagon shone in the harsh light of the eye, blazing like the sun. The creature's head was visible now, as large as a whale, its lack of lips displaying a gruesome sight of gleaming white interlocking fangs as long as Ohdis was tall. The serpent’s jaws parted with the audible sound of its fangs scraping together as water rushed into its maw, the pull noticeable from the hundred feet of distance Ohdis would have left to pray. Sails of membranous tissue fit to rig a battleship expanded to either side of its head, billows of bubbles rising in great columns that disappeared into the darkness.   “A deal in blood is binding.”   The yellow glow of the eye glinted off jaws full of sword-like teeth before intense pain flashed across Ohdis’ stomach, the sound of snapping bones cemented itself in Ohdis’ head. The yellow light was discolored by the clouds of crimson lifeblood that filled the water. The taste of iron stuck to his tongue.  

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“Aaah!”   Ohdis scrambled from his sleeping bag, throwing the hand-sewn sack against the ground as he jumped away, his feet scraping across the water-slicked rocks. The dark waters vanished, drawing from him the searing pain permeating his insides as the rocky shore of the Jhi river spotted with bushes and lapis blue grasses popped into existence. It took him a few moments, but Ohdis managed to still his jerking arms, though he continued to tremble as his chest heaved for air. Ohdis scraped a hand through his long chestnut hair as he tried to rid himself of the sound of bones snapping and grinding under immense pressure. The sounds of the nearby rushing river helped suppress the harsh cracking, and Ohdis focused on the calming sounds until his breathing was regular and steady once more. His lips smacked as the thick taste of iron stuck to his teeth, no amount of scraping with his tongue removing the non-existent coagulated clumps.   Ohdis shook his head, trying to rid himself of the lingering feelings, to marginal success. With a sigh, Ohdis placed his hands behind his head and pushed his skull forward, his vertebrae crackling like twigs. Looking up at the rapidly brightening sky, Ohdis watched as the pale disk resting on the horizon that comprised Ochi began to sink beyond the mountaintops, and the glowing coal of the sun, followed swiftly by the much smaller pink dot that was Mikiroh climbed into the sky on the opposite half of the great cerulean dome. Looking back down to the earth, Ohdis kicked dirt onto the dying embers of his campfire before rolling up his sleeping bag, pulled his ragged tunic over his head, clipped his sandals on, and tucked his sheathed gutting knife into his belt.   The smack of his cheap sandals against the rocky shore disappeared into the woodlands blanketing the hills as Ohdis paced to the river. The rushing Jhi river, as wide as a whale-length, wave tops frothing as the unstoppable current crashed over rocks, unwavering in their obstinate steadfastness; its bottom comprised of shattered and weathered granites and marbles, with occasional scatterings of limestone. Ohdis outstretched a foot over the ravenous current, a strange tug pulling in his stomach as the waters stilled around him, becoming glassy and calm while the rest of the river continued on its path. The foot came down on the surface, the sandal seeming to balance on the liquid as though it were solid as the shore. Ohdis walked along the river surface, stepping over and around protruding boulders with practiced ease.   The hills blanketed with trees grew as Ohdis wound his way down the river, rising until he had to crane his head to see the peaks of the massive mountains, glittering with what was either snow or exposed crystals, Ohdis couldn’t tell. The forests shrunk to sparse clumps that clung to rocky cliffs and outcroppings leaving the banks covered with river rocks. Large fish of dull colors populated the water underneath his feet, their fins breaking the water, though they stayed far away from him. The sound of the rushing waters and the whistling of the wind were almost meditative, so much so that when Ohdis had finally registered the shouting, the bow of the ship was almost on top of him.   Ohdis stepped out of the way of the large wooden vessel, its deck piled high with crates and barrels, long wooden poles held by the crewmen guiding the ship through the narrow portion of the river, watching the crewmen on board stare at him. One of the crewmen draped himself over the side to look Ohdis in the eyes, discarding his guiding pole. His tanned skin and black hair nearly blended in with the heavily weathered and dirty hull, though his strangely clean white shirt and the red bandana tied around his neck kept him visible.   “Hey there stranger! Where you off to?”   “Nahxian.”   The man smirked, and Ohdis wondered if he realized he was a bump away from toppling off the side. “Looks like we’re going the same way stranger.”   He held out an arm, and Ohdis only raised an eyebrow. The crewman waved his arm about, “C’mon stranger, climb aboard.”   With the help of the man, Ohdis found himself on the deck of the vessel, bustling with activity; men focusing back on not letting the ship run aground and not on the stranger one of them had pulled aboard, and others directing the polemen, shouting their directions at the top of their voices.   “It’s loud,” Ohdis said.   The man laughed, a high-pitched cackle not unlike that of a seabird. “Yeah. That’s my ship. I’m Kharo.”   The two ducked under a swinging butt of a pole before the man held out a thick, calloused hand.   “Ohdis.” He said, though didn’t raise his hand, simply glancing from Kharo’s hand to his face until he retracted his hand.   “Well. It’s nice to have you on board. Say, what’s a fellow like yourself got in Nahxian? You don’t look much like a miner and you don’t have the aura of a criminal.” Kharo said, the odd lilt of his voice suggesting he was joking.   “Personal business.”   “Fair enough. Well, I best get back to making sure we don’t crash.” Kharo said before dodging and weaving past the waving ends of poles to make it back to his own.   Ohdis looked about before finding his way to the front of the ship, where he perched himself on the railing; looking out on the steadily growing river, his eyes darting around the surface out of habit. From somewhere behind him, he heard a gruff voice ask, “Why does the boss always pick up the weird ones?”   He chose not to respond to that.   The ship rocked and tilted with the flow of the oncoming currents, its weary hull creaking and groaning in protest. Ohdis kept his eyes on watch, even while his mind wandered, scanning the water for dark shapes emerging from the not present depths, any ripple out of place, any wave too big; anything to indicate an approaching threat. The bellowing of the directors and the chatter of the polemen drowned out the sounds of the river and kept Ohdis’ mind firmly planted in the present.   The mountains continued to grow, casting heavy shadows over the ship and shielding the crew and their odd passenger from the stinging sun. Ohdis was drawn away from his irrelevant task by the monolithic structures, like fingers tearing reaching for the sun, their sharp fingernails piercing the sky.   When Ohdis returned his gaze to ground level, he found that they were no longer confined to the river and were instead on a vast lake that filled the gap between the mountains. A city sprawled across the shore of the lake, dense and populated, before it started to crawl up the slopes of a mountain, blanketing its sides until the buildings stuck out of the sheer cliff faces, supported by massive networks of beams and suspended wooden streets hundreds of feet above solid ground. The infamous Nahxian. Ohdis couldn’t help but stare at the large city, his mind hardly able to conceive of the number of people that would have to populate the city to need that many structures.   The ship coasted along the surface of the lake, gliding into the expansive port, stuffed full of ships and people and cargo. Ohdis now entranced by the dance that entrapped the people on the dock as they whizzed past each other, some carrying large crates or other objects, while all refraining from knocking someone off and into the water. Ohdis squinted at the people, eyes darting from one to the next, from masked face to masked face. Some were made of wood, others porcelain, some even seemed to be made of metal, all in odd and unique shapes. Ohdis noticed a woman with a porcelain wolf’s mask, a burly man with a black stained wooden mask depicting an unfamiliar night sky, and someone wearing a porcelain face, frozen mid-laugh.   Ohdis shook off his surprise and unease before slipping off the railing and hopping off a stack of crates to land amongst the throngs of people. He followed the crowd, doing his best to not be crushed under any of the boxes or to be shoved off the dock by someone in a hurry. It took Ohdis a moment, but he quickly realized the disembodied source of his unease: the silence. Despite all the people and all the ships and all the coming and going, there was almost no sound. The drone of boots on wood, the hiss of ropes being strung across the masting of ships, the slap of waves against the boats and dock. But no speech. No shouts from captain to crew, no warbling of old friends, no bristled screeching of an argument.   Perhaps created by the silence, perhaps causing the silence was the tension that blanketed the docks, visible in the way the crowds moved, in their postures, in their walk. He couldn’t see the eyes of anyone, but he had the feeling they were sizing up those around them. Ohdis focused on the planks beneath his feet, feeling intangible eyes crawl over his skin. Soon, however, the wooden planks became cobble streets and the crowds dispersed amongst the large stone buildings crowded against the dock.   Ohdis ceased his musings and saw several people stopped in the flow of human bodies, staring at him, their black shadowed eyes staring through masks, false expressions frozen on their porcelain faces. A shudder went up his spine. He turned swiftly and followed the cobble street down the shore, the large stone buildings and busy crewmen being replaced by densely packed wooden buildings and oddly quiet children playing on the edges of the street while muted adults seeming to converse from their doorways. It sent pangs of sharp unease through his chest.  

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The sun was beginning to dip below the massive teeth-like mountains that surrounded Nahxian and the lake that was its water source, enshrouding the city with a strange early night where the sky was bright and the mountaintops illuminated, but everything else was shadowed as though under a starless, moonless sky. Ohdis had yet to find much of anything, including a place to stay. Sure, he’d found plenty of abandoned buildings, most in heavy disrepair, but none were optimal, and none came with food; if you didn’t include the rats or insects. The crowds had vanished and the children and parents had disappeared back into their homes, just as silently as they had been. It was as though the zeitgeist of this town was paranoia and fear.   Ohdis had made several discoveries while wandering, the most disappointing were merchants selling masks of all varieties, but given Ohdis’ lack of any currencies or valuables, this was useless. He’d also discovered there was a heavy military presence, a soldier on nearly every street corner, dressed in the light metal chest plate, throat guard, and greaves common to the army; with the addition of a mask beneath their helmets. Ohdis just tried not to make eye contact whenever he passed one. The last discovery had been that Ohdis had not seen the face of a single person in this city, not the rich men he’d seen strolling across the highest suspended parts of the city, not the street urchins who scrambled around in the shadows, not even the people eating removed their masks, choosing instead to push them up.   The loud thumping of tens of boots stomping into cobble in unison sounded down the desolate street, accompanied by the sound of hundreds of pieces of metal clicking together. Upon investigation, Ohdis found a troupe of guards marched down the street, towards him, spears in hand. Ohdis ducked into a dark alleyway, content to have no contact with the sometimes-volatile city guards if past experience was anything to go by. A pungent and invidious odor filled the alley, and Ohdis could barely make out large piles of what was hopefully trash piled against the walls, though he didn’t peer any closer through the heavy gloom.   After a while, Ohdis realized that maybe this wasn’t just a simple alleyway. Sharp turns and intersections of near-identical wooden walls made it seem more like a maze than an alleyway. Poor Construction planning. Ohdis thought   He was so turned around in those dark back alleys that he couldn’t tell which way he’d come from. Ohdis sighed, running a hand through his hair.   The near-silent tap, tap, tap, tap sound drew his head in the direction he’d just come from, though he couldn’t see much. Ohdis’s feet slid into a familiar stance, his body sinking into a steady pose.   “Hey! Thief!”   A small form barreled out from behind a corner, its black cloak obscuring its features. Ohdis’s hand jerked towards it out of instinct, a sharp tingling sensation spreading through his fingers, though he retracted his hand when he saw its diminutive stature. He grunted as the form barreled into his stomach, a high-pitched gasp escaping his assaulter as it crashed onto the harsh cobble. The hood slipped off and Ohdis couldn’t help but stare at the violet-purple skin, the long ears, silver hair, and the youthful, androgenous face that stared up at him.   The two froze where they were, locked in time as they assessed one another. The child’s eyes were entirely white, the only indication of a pupil being faint grey circles where the edges of the iris and pupil would be. Ohdis blinked and the child was gone, evaporated into thin air. Ohdis glanced around, the distinct lack of the child furrowing his brow. If he had looked any closer, he would have noticed how the shadows seemed darker and deeper, more substantial somehow.   A fat man stumbled out from the same corner, drawing Ohdis’ attention, his colorful mask cracked and faded, his feet acting as though they had weights tied to them. A guard followed the man, his spear leveled at Ohdis as soon as his eyes, hidden behind a bland, featureless metal mask, caught him.   “Stay where you are.” The guard commanded, his voice suggesting youth.   The fat man groggily looked Ohdis over. “Ain’t im.”   After a long pause, the guard pulled his spear back. “Did you see a child-“   “Elf! Wasn elf.” The fat man interrupted.   “-Who may be an elf run through here?”   “Had the grape skin en everythin,”   “I assure you this is a pressing matt-“   “Ears! Ears lihke knieves.”   The guard turned to the man. “I can assure you that if an elf tried to enter the city, they’d be dead ten times over. There are no elves in Nahxian.”   “Bahh!” The drunk man yelled.   “No… No one came through here.” Ohdis said.   The fat man got close to Ohdis’ face, and Ohdis’ nose scrunched up at the sickly smell emitting from beneath the mask. “Yer Liyn.”   The guard’s spear separated the two. “You’re drunk.”   “Whhat ov iht?” The man snapped.   “Along your way.” The guard nodded at Ohdis before turning and walking in the opposite direction.   The fat man continued to stare at Ohdis, who felt he would have been receiving a harsh glare if he could see the man’s face. The man turned and stalked away.   Ohdis shook his head. Grape skin and knife ears. Ohdis thought.   Turning on his heel, Ohdis began walking away. He flinched back as something crunched under his foot.   Ohdis looked at his feet, a piece of crumpled parchment pinned against the cobble. Unfolding it, he found among the abundant rips and tears handwriting, printed in an elegant flowing style. He stared at the paper for a few moments before tucking it into the waistband of his pants, vowing to find someone to read it to him later.   He’d identified one symbol in that string of sentences, however, a symbol he’d seen earlier: A bisected set of concentric circles.   The alley seemed to take mercy on Ohdis, as an entrance appeared amongst the wooden slats. Emerging from the wooden maze, Ohdis heard the familiar, rhythmic sound of waves slapping against rock fruitlessly, over and over with rigid determination. The dark shore stretched as far as the eye could see, glistening in the scant remnants of sunlight that remained in this unnatural night. The mountains loomed ominously on all sides, their peaks glaring down into the populated valley nestled at their roots.   Ohdis stalked along the rocky shoreline, his sandals clacking dully against the stones, forgoing the desolate street entirely. He watched the city as he did, noting the lack of people and the thick shadows that engulfed alleys and street corners and the vacant windows that peered out at the lake.   A shiver ran up his spine, the feeling of pufferfish gliding along his back. The shadows seemed to recede, if ever so slightly as if the sun was beginning to climb above the mountaintops. Ohdis’ eyes were drawn to the black waters of the lake. A single, ominously familiar golden eye stared blankly at him from deep below the surface. While Ohdis gleamed no emotion or intent from its slitted pupil, he somehow knew it was focused on him.   The two stared at each other for several excruciating minutes, Ohdis feeling like he was holding his breath despite his continued breathing before the eye began to dematerialize into the lake as blood poured into a turbulent sea. Its radiant light dispersing with it; forming glittering droplets of liquid gold that blinked out of existence.   A deep, shuddering sigh left Ohdis’ lips, the tenseness in his muscles abating. Just to let me know he’s still there and still watching.   Now more alert and tenser than the stifling quiet would usually inspire, Ohdis continued along the coast, now walking a little further from the edge of the water. He came across the docks again, now vacant of the feverous movement and activity it had reveled in earlier in the day. Ships sat quiet in their moorings, bobbing in the waves dutifully standing watch over the docks; their masts down; their surfaces crowded with crates and cargo; their crew absent.   Large stone buildings crowded against the docks, their rooves held aloft by walls made of boulders that seemed to be congealed together by some unknown force. Massive doors stood portentously high above Ohdis’ head, likewise congealed into the stone. In each of the doors was inscribed a symbol, unique to each building.   Ohdis paced around the buildings, weaving in and out of the monoliths, peering at each door he came across before moving on his way. He jolted as a booming sound echoed through the tight passages. Ohdis flowed quickly around corners and through small openings as the sound came again.   He came to a halt as the faint light of torches struck his face. One of the buildings had its door cracked open, flickering firelight escaping into the consuming dark. Muted voices crawled from the building and wriggled into Ohdis’ ears. He came closer as stared at the door. Emblazoned in the wood was a symbol of concentric circles bisected by a line.   The voices became louder as another series of booms hit Ohdis’ ears. He scrambled away from the door as shadows interrupted the torchlight. Ohdis paced around to the back of the building, a ray of escaping light brought his eyes to the slit under the roof.   Ohdis huffed as he slid his sandals off and grabbed onto protruding rocks, hauling himself up. Grabbing onto the edge of the window, Ohdis peeked his head up.   The room came into focus and Ohdis’ fingers clenched painfully tightly against the stones. Packed with crates and other packages, the warehouse also had several other occupants that sent blood rushing to pound in Ohdis’ head. Men wearing featureless white masks held bound captives in a corral of sorts at the point of weapons. Other masked men shoved the captives into small crates, kicking and flailing, and their partners sealed them in with a lid and a hammer.   The ground rushed up to meet Ohdis as he let go, landing on his feet before shoving them into the sandals and strode to the door, doing his best not to stomp.   Ohdis set his stance before drawing a hand back, a harsh tug in his gut preceded the forming of a flowing ball of crystalline water in the palm of his hand. Ohdis pitched the flowing water, sending it soaring with all his strength. The doors buckled with the shriek of bending metal as the ball smashed into its front. Shouts of alarm that were hardly audible over the boom of the remains of the door crashing into the ground spurred Ohdis into movement.   Ohdis rushed in, everything was a blur of movement and action and sound as Ohdis sidestepped the thrust of a spear, the metal head whipping past his ear before he sent a flurry of blows into the man's masked face. He crumpled on the ground.   The others gathered around him; their weapons were drawn.   “Surrender,” Ohdis said, fury restrained in his voice.   A swordsman charged forward, swinging down at Ohdis with abandon. Ohdis ducked under the blade before smashing his fist into the man’s throat, the cartilage giving way under the force with a sickening crunch. While the first attacker crashed to the cobble floor Ohdis sprung into the crowd, fists and feet flying. Swords and spears and knives proved no challenge as their owners gave way under a storm of hits. A thump sounded from behind Ohdis, causing him to whirl around, prepared for an attack, only to find a masked man’s twitching body at his feet; his throat slit. Ohdis didn’t have time to ruminate on this as another weapon was thrust at him.   Ohdis kicked the attacker away, into another group of men. His eyes narrowed. Pressure built in his stomach as his feet slid into a familiar stance and tension settled in his muscles. A deep breath slipped past his lips as his thumb pressed into his pointer finger. “First technique: Titan jaws crush the oppressor.”   The tension exploded throughout his body, throwing Ohdis down onto one knee. His hands swept forward, greenish seawater springing spontaneously from the tips of his fingers, and rushed at the men. The hands clapped together with a thunderous crash as the pressure in his stomach swelled into blistering pain. The droplets grew and grew into a roaring river that crashed into the group of men; their screams of terror being cut short as the water smashed the men into the floor; little plumes of reddish-purple dissipating among the green. The river smashed against the stone wall, its artificial structure breaking on the stones and the greenish water disappeared into thin air, no puddles left on the piles of broken and somewhat alive bodies.   “He’s a mage!” One said, “Shike!”   “Don’t use my name, fool.” another of the masked men said as he approached, twirled his noticeably more ornate spear, his shoulders lax and his stance wide. With a thrust of the spear, the man who’d cried for Shike went up in flames.   Ohdis’ eyes were pulled away from the rapidly skeletonizing man writhing on the floor as he felt his hair singe, a gout of orange flames brushing past his face. Flames danced across the length of the spear in intricate patterns and swirled around the blade with malicious vigor as its holder twirled the weapon, tails of fire hanging in the air. Shike’s feet shifted and Ohdis darted forward before a concentrated burst of blistering crimson scorched across the ground where he’d been seconds earlier. Ohdis threw an arm out and a stream of crystalline water splashed across the spear, hissing and exploding into steam, though the flames seemed only to grow.   Another blast forced Ohdis to retreat to avoid having his face melted off, instead it blasted into the wall behind him, splashing and narrowly missing the captives; eliciting a chorus of shrill screams. They danced, Ohdis darting in and throwing watery constructs at his opponent which always evaporated on contact while Shike launched fireballs and doused the floor with flames from the tip of his spear, both of which were getting progressively closer to hitting their mark. Ohdis couldn’t get close and punch the man down nor could he simply douse the flames, not with his own techniques. Still, he had to do more than be a target. Ohdis winced as the harsh sound of steam generating hit his ears and Shike’s casual form was hidden briefly by a white puff. A smirk jerkily pulled at his lips.   Ohdis clapped his hands together and pulled them apart with great effort, crystalline water generating between his fingers. Seeing his movements, the fire mage leaped up and swung his spear down, the flames launching from the bladed tip, ravenous tongues of gold and red lapping at the air. Ohdis lashed out, a weak stream of water colliding with the oncoming flames. Steam exploded from the contact, white clouds billowing into the air and over the ground. Ohdis jumped into the cloud, keeping his eyes locked on where the fire mage had been. Wild streams of flame illuminated the steam for brief flashes and Ohdis saw the man’s shadow, little flickers of flame displaying his spear.   Ohdis launched an orb of water at the shadow, the satisfying sound of the impact echoing in the warehouse as the spear clattered away, its lights going out, and Shike flew back.   The steam dispersed enough for Ohdis to see where Shike had fallen, where he now stood, his arms engulfed in swirling clouds of flame. His mask was discarded and rage distorted his harshly angular features.   Ohdis had just enough time to curse and throw up a hasty pillar of water before a wave of flame crashed down on him. The pillar evaporated on contact in a billow of steam, though it deflected enough of the voracious flame to keep Ohdis from becoming char in the process. Even so, the heat was noticeably greater than it had been with the spear acting as a conduit and Ohdis felt the sting of the flames flickering across his forearms and sides.   Ohdis pulled apart his crossed arms, wincing as the fresh burns were tugged at. The fire mage reared back his hands and threw another blast. Ohdis dove to the floor and the pillar of flame narrowly missed him. Screams echoed on the stone walls.   “You can’t dodge forever!”   Ohdis pushed himself up. He shifted his feet and pressed his thumb to his ring finger. “Third technique: Ravenous waves devour-“   Another wave cut off Ohdis’s attack and forced him to leap out of the way and roll to avoid being immolated. The next wave was almost on top of him as the first dissipated. Ohdis pressed his thumb into his pinky. “Fourth technique: Stone scales gleam among darkness.”   As Ohdis finished his chant the discomfort he’d been experiencing became a piercing pain right through his sides, an intangible spear running him through. Regardless, a wall of dark green water sprung up, its surface moving in currents forming the appearance of large scales across its surface. Those scales hissed and sizzled under the intense heat, but they pushed back against the onslaught and held.   The pain in his stomach hadn’t receded, not even as the wall fell and he was left exposed for any following attacks. Shike reared back, flames again gathering around him, a vicious, predatory look in his eyes, the kind a cat gives a cornered rat.   Ohdis readied himself, his guts protesting as he forced whatever magic he had left into his burned hands. Globules of water generated and hung in the air around him as the magic seeped from his skin. The man reared back his fists and-   ‘Whoom’   The shadows being cast by the maelstrom of flames came to life, splashing like water as a blur of movement exploded from their depths. All Ohdis saw was the glint of steel and the shimmer of silver before the flames winked out and Shike collapsed to the ground with a sick gurgling.   Small feet skidded across the ground as the diminutive form of the elf Ohdis had bumped into flicked their wrist, the fire mages blood being cast off the dagger they held. Their pupil-less white eyes and Ohdis’ slate grey met. While captives screamed and masked men groaned and writhed on the floor Ohdis and the elf stared at each other. Ohdis broke their staring contest with a small nod.   “Thanks.”   The elf’s face twitched.   Now that Ohdis was looking he noticed how the small elf’s shadow seemed more substantial somehow, more like a physical object than a shadow. The elf tucked away their blade within the folds of their black cloak. Ohdis started as the elf’s feet sunk into their shadow, swiftly followed by the rest of the elf. The shadow remained for a moment before it darted into the natural shadows, disappearing.   Ohdis snapped back to the moment as a flare of pain in his side caused him to double over.   I overdid it.   When the worst had passed, Ohdis assessed the area. Boxes and crates were crackling and crumbling as flames consumed them, parts of the stone walls were scorched and cracked, masked men and captives alike were strewn across the ground; the captives injured, but alive.   These people were human traffickers. There’s no way Ohdis could be this lucky, right?   Ohdis approached the downed masked men and checked their vitals. The first few were dead, though he soon found one who was still alive and somewhat conscious. He grabbed the man by his shirt and shook him until he began making noise.   “What’s happening?”   Ohdis straddled the much larger man’s chest and placed his thumbs against his captive’s throat. “I want you to tell me what you know of Yahdatin.”   “Why should I te-“ The man said before making choking noises as Ohdis increased the pressure on his throat.   “Tell me what you know of Yahdatin.”   “It’s a backwater fishing village. Weird superstitious people.” The man said hurriedly.   Ohdis leaned in closer. “No. What about the raid on the town?”   “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”   Ohdis shook his head before landing a hard punch on the man’s face, pulling back his fist as the man struggled and forcefully evicted his consciousness with another punch. He then repeated the process with two others, gleaming nothing new and his knuckles beginning to sting. He was about to move onto his fourth victim when the tell-tale cacophony of approaching guards forced him to flee out the window he’d been peering through earlier.   Tens of torches were crowded around the remains of the door, their holders in stunned silence at the devastation. Ohdis heard a few harsh curses as he disappeared into a dark alley.   Once he thought himself far enough away, Ohdis sat against the cold alley wall, a hard sigh escaping his lips. Nothing gained nothing lost.   When he opened his eyes, the alley was brighter than it had been, though not enough to be morning. A quick glance found the pale moon, Ochi, suspended amongst the stars overhead. He must have been asleep for a couple of hours. A quick check of his person let him know that the street urchins hadn’t gotten to him.   He yawned. When he went to rub his eyes, something drew his attention away. Two white circles drawn across the brick wall opposite him caused shivers to tremble down his spine. The shadow in the shape of a child shifted ever so slightly, the two white circles closed. The jawline moved and a few seconds later the voice of a child hit his ears, distorted as though he were hearing it from underwater. “The Rot and the Silver are held by the Chains. Opados sends his blessings.”   The circles reappeared, the imitation of eyes staring at him from beyond the venire of the shadow magic. “What?”   The shadow shifted in its stance, its eyes narrowing. “You attacked the Silver. Why?”   “You mean the warehouse people in the creepy masks? Because they were selling people.” Ohdis said as he pushed himself up, cursing himself for sleeping against a wall.   The shadow was eerily still for several minutes before the voice came back again, “Meet me on the Rise. We will discuss there. Avoid the guards.”   Ohdis blinked and the shadow was gone.   No. Not gone, just hard to see. The vague outline was visible hidden in a natural shadow, only slightly less dark than the human shape in the wall. Ohdis stood, keeping the tiny shadow in the corner of his eye. “Well, I’ll see you there.”   -------------------------------------------------------- Morning came faster than Ohdis would have liked. Harsh beams of sunlight emerged from between the claw-peaks and lit the city in uneven, disorienting bands. He groaned as he pushed aside a board that had fallen on him during the night, supporting himself on the rotting wall of the hut he’d slept in. The events of the last night came back to him and he slumped against the wall, resisting the urge to go back to sleep.   Ohdis shambled down to the shoreline, every ache, and pain from the previous battle that had been obscured by adrenaline making themselves known with every movement. Dirty cloth bandages chaffed against burned skin around his arms and hands, his back ached for unknown reasons, his knuckles stung, and his knees were skinned.   Only those who had unenviable careers requiring their early waking were bustling about, Including the guards, who seemed to have multiplied in their numbers. Ohdis decided he’d take the little elf’s advice and leave the guards to their boredom and skirt around them, creeping through back alleyways, climbing onto rooves, and, in one case, crawling through a mire-filled ditch.   Finally, Ohdis emerged from the dense city and out onto the lakeshore, gravel crunching under his sandals. The surface was glass-like, undisturbed by the wind whistling between the mountains. Ohdis’ cloak fell to the ground, his tunic, his rope-bound pants, all crumpling in a pile of probably about to disintegrate fabrics. Ohdis slipped into the lake, a brief shudder crawling up his spine at the uncomfortably cool water. He sucked in as big a breath he could before diving in, the silty water parting. Ohdis opened his eyes to find himself suspended amongst a different world. Weightless, held aloft by unseeable hands, Ohdis face split in a smile.   Like flexing rarely used muscles, Ohdis felt the tug in the pit of his stomach as newly created currents swept him up and brought him deep into the depths of the lake. The bottom rushed up to meet him, rocky, held in lazy motionlessness for who knew how long, and Ohdis’ currents brought him gliding across it; weaving through gaps between rocks, around monolithic boulders. A cloud of silt blew in slow motion behind him, startled rock-colored fish darting away or being swept away from their hiding spots. Had Ohdis not been holding his breath, he would have laughed.   This was his world, where the rules of movement held no sway over him and the worst of the beasts were nothing more than meaty targets. His world, where he was ruler, king, god. At least until he had to breathe. His head broke the surface, mortal for the moment, then he was back under. He drifted above the bottom and allowed his magic to seep into the water around him until he swept his arms towards the bottom and the water around him roared into motion. Boulders were thrown across the bed as though nothing more than pebbles. Dull crashing sounds boomed.   Ohdis darted through trenches, soared over vast dead plains, whipped through decaying boat hulls, and blasted apart underwater mountains. Giddy excitement drove him on and on. A thick column darted out of the silt in front of him and Ohdis brushed it as he passed, before whipping around. Glancing up, Ohdis found himself shrouded by a deep shadow. Surfacing, he found himself underneath the docks. He dove again and found not the grey stone, but smooth white porcelain strewn as far as the silt-laden water would let him. Giddy excitement died in its place as the vague shapes gained definition. They were bones, piled in morbid mounds that covered the lakebed in such numbers that he couldn’t see the bottom. His stomach turned as the outlines of human skulls came into focus, their craniums smashed in. Among the yellowed bones were scattered more recent additions, pearly white. How many were here for them to cover the lake bed in such a dense layer? Hundreds? Why were they all here, under the docks? He shook himself and willed his currents to pull him away from the grotesque scene.   He drifted by an ancient-looking ship, rotting in its resting place, and ripped away a few planks from the hull before he let his currents carry him away. The fish caught in the current he bludgeoned against rocks before pulling their carcasses along with him. His feet slapped against the rocky shore opposite Nahxian as he surfaced and came ashore. In subdued silence, Ohdis built a fire, in which he set one of the fish. While it was cooking, he built with the rotting planks and heavy stones an altar upon which he put the other two fish. With a heavy sigh, he sat before the altar and let his mind slip away while his fingers set themselves to move in orthodox prayer form. A tingling sensation spread from his chest and danced across his skin as his magic seeped from him, generating a cloud of unfallen water droplets that hung around him.   His mind drifted to a dark place far below the waves.   When he emerged from his trance state, many hours later, the two fish were gone and the alter was soaked through with briny seawater. ------------------------------------ Once the sun had reached its zenith Ohdis left his secluded shore and swam back to Nahxian, avoiding the docks. He redressed and ventured back into the city, now bustling with its previous activity. He didn’t worry too much about the guards now that he could simply blend with the crowd, so long as he kept his head down and tried not to act suspicious.   The little elf’s reference to a ‘Rise’ didn’t bring any specific place to mind, but Ohdis had a guess. The mountain looming over Nahxian was visible from everywhere in the city, upon its slopes large streets held up by thick wooden beams and large, ornate-looking houses that protruded from the stone. From a distance, it gave the appearance that the city was trying to crawl over the mountain and assimilate it.   Following the aloft streets, Ohdis soon found it’s ending at the base of the mountain, crowded with wagons piled high with goods. He slipped into the stream of humans and began his ascension.   The upper levels were different, Ohdis realized. Men dressed in elegant, brightly colored garb fit for courtsmen ambled around the streets without the fear so pervasive in the lower city nipping at their heels. They lazed about in the streets, chattering to each other. Their masks were ornate and made of only the finest-looking materials, they were decorative unlike the masks of the lower levels, less functional, in whatever sense the masks had been used. Ohdis found that even as he tried to blend with the crowd, even aside from his ratty clothes or his lack of mask, he didn’t fit. It was something in the way he carried himself, with low, defensive shoulders and bent back.