When last we left Aaliyah and Gorpi, they were at the bottom of the lake surrounding the tide cave, and were face to face with a giant mutated shark with a sinister grin on his face...

This time it is Aaliyah who panics, except where Gorpi was thrashing wildly during her panic attack, Aaliyah was frozen solid. She cannot move, she cannot think, she cannot talk, and most importantly, she cannot scream. Alternatively, this time, it is Gorpi who reacts instinctively. She shoots a poison arrow right into the gaping maw of the shark, sending him off in a panic attack of his own.
"That'll wipe that grin off his ugly face" She thought to herself, as she grabbed Aaliyah's arm, and bolted towards the entrance of the cave.
She swam as fast as she could, not once looking back. Unfortunately, Aaliyah wasn't so lucky. As she watched behind them, she saw the shark had recovered, and he definitely wasn't smiling anymore.
"Attack it" Shard screamed. "I'm enchanted remember, I can still burn him, even here."
Aaliyah sent a fire barb in the shark's direction, and hit him dead between the eyes, sending the shark into another tizzy, just as Gorpi had reached the entrance. They swam up the submerged staircase, and entered the cave. They exited the small pool and sat down to rest and dry off. Aaliyah ignited a small fire using dried up twigs to warm up and dry off.
"Still feel like exploring around down there?" Gorpi asked, still panting from her brisk swim.
"I... was frozen. I couldn't move!" Aaliyah said, still a little traumatized from the chase. "I'm sorry I teased you earlier. I think I understand what you mean now about tamers, and wizards."
"Hey no problem right" She replied, obviously trying to lighten the mood. "I think I see now why Novice Shan was dead set on pairing us together."
"Are you saying I was forced upon you?" Aaliyah questioned, a little offended by Gorpi's remarks.
"No, not at all, I just mean that before you came he wouldn't let anyone even set foot near Ullara. Then you arrive, and he's all," Time to go to the tide cave. "I don't get it, it's almost as if he knew you were coming." Gorpi replied
"I told you something was amiss Aaliyah, I knew as soon as he started eye-balling me Novice Shan wanted something from us." Shard said sternly.
"I don't think that's what Gorpi meant Shard" Onjo said. "Novice Shan is very wise, and he must've known someone would come along, and was probably looking for someone who had a Soul Infused Talisman."
"That makes sense Onjo, but I still have this nagging feeling that he was waiting for Aaliyah" Gorpi said. "Iron Arms has a soul-infused talisman, and Shan didn't send him."
"How could he have been waiting for me, before the disaster I never even left Laurel?" Aaliyah asked. "From there the evacuation fey transported us straight to the Wounded Camp near cloud mountain..."
"Why did you come to Green Scarp then? There must've been a reason." Gorpi interrupted.
"Well I overheard a conversation between an assassin and a tamer, where the tamer had claimed that the ice block that contained Master Blood had vanished. So I figured this would be a good place to find out what caused the disaster at Laurel." Aaliyah explained. "Could Novice Shan have sent those two, was he hoping I would overhear?"
"That doesn't sound like Novice Shan to me. "Gorpi answered. "Although he does have very powerful wizard and fairy friends, they could have foreseen your arrival."
"Regardless of how you came to be here Aaliyah, this can be a fresh start for you, a way to let go of the past." Gorpi said.
"Well we might as well get back to the task at hand, but I was wondering, how are we supposed to know where to go in here?" Aaliyah asked.
"Novice Shan gave me this map before you woke up today, he said it's centuries old, and may not be accurate anymore" Gorpi replied.
Gorpi opened the map. As she studied the layout of the cave, she heard a sound like water bubbling and swishing around. She turned her head and saw a large, blue, watery humanoid-like creature, wearing battle armor. And it was twice as large as the Blood Eidolon she saw in the Hidden Cave.
"Aaliyah, behind you!" She screamed.
Aaliyah looked up. She was shocked at first. She had never seen a creature such as this before. It was not an animal, and it certainly wasn't human.
"Kill it!" Shard screamed.
"No!" Aaliyah yelled back. "We do not even know what it is, much less what it wants. We cannot just go around killing things before we even know what they are."
"I know what it is", Gorpi responded, "and it's definitely not our friend..."

What is this new creature, and will Gorpi and Aaliyah live to find out??? We'll see next week!!!
Also, due to popular demand, I have decided to shorten the length of each page, but I will reconsider if enough people like it longer.