A New Sun
Chapter 11: The Storm's Source
By Daikar
As a result of the last huge wave Lilithan had been knocked off the boat and was now being sucked in by the massive whirlpool. She was struggling against it but it was too strong. On the boat the others were trying to find something to throw to her so they could pull her back in. But there was nothing useful.
"Hurry! I'll be sucked the whole way in to the whirlpool soon." Lilithan shouted from the waves.
"There's nothing Lily. One of us will have to jump in after you." Daray yelled.
"You can't, I'm an Adept of water so I can survive in the ocean, but you won't stand a chance. I'll be okay you'll just have to go on without me." Lilithan shouted.
"There's no way we're going to leave you there, we're a team and teams are supposed to stick together through all dangers." Daray shouted back.
"That's very noble of you Daray but it's hopeless, I can survive in the water so I'll be okay. I'll catch up to you eventually just go on." Lilithan shouted.
Just then the whirlpool began to swirl faster pulling Lilithan under the water into the center of the whirlpool.
"Lilithan!" everyone cried.
~~~
In the center of the whirlpool Lilithan was holding her breath not giving in to the power of the whirlpool. Through all the swirling motions she thought she saw something moving but she concluded it was probably just some seaweed or something of the sort. At the bottom of the whirlpool the water seemed calmer.
There must be something causing this storm, but what? She thought to herself.
She caught another glimpse of something moving about under the water. She decided to try following the motion, it might lead her to the source of the whirlpool and the storm. She swam against the strong ocean current trying to find whatever it was that she had seen.
What could it be? It looked too small to be a sea serpent, unless I only saw its tail. But if it is a sea serpent why isn't it trying to eat me, or something? Lilithan thought puzzled.
Just ahead of her she saw the creature's movement again. It definitely wasn't a sea serpent, but if that wasn't it what could it be. Whatever it was it was feeding the whirlpool making it stronger.
I have to stop this thing, whatever it is, before it pulls the ship into the whirlpool. Lilithan thought and she began swimming as fast as she could.
The creature continually swam around the whirlpool frustrating Lilithan. The whirlpool had grown much larger now she had to catch the beast, but it was always a few feet ahead of her no matter how fast she swam.
I'll have to trick it somehow. If I stay here it will eventually swim towards me and then I can stop it.
The creature was thoroughly enjoying itself swimming away from the mysterious person while fuelling the whirlpool. It continued swimming around the enormous maelstrom but it began to notice that the person had stopped chasing it. This made it less fun but the creature continued swimming around the vortex of water.
Lilithan was patiently waiting for the creature to reach her. She was ready for it; she was going to send a blast of psynergy at it. Hopefully that would be enough to stop it and get rid of the whirlpool.
~~~
"How can she still be alive? She's been under the water for nearly twenty minutes, no one could last that long without air." Daray said.
"You underestimate your friend, Neptune Adepts and Mercury Adepts have been known to live in cities under the water all their lives, she will survive." Zale said.
"I still don't like it, if there is a sea serpent under there it could have eaten her." Daray said.
"Daray, you're forgetting that Lily can protect herself with her psynergy." Nerrissa said.
~~~
The creature continued swimming in its spiral. The mysterious person chasing it had given up so it was free to focus solely on its creation. Soon it would be really big. As it swam around the whirlpool it noticed something floating in the water, it quickened its pace to see what it was.
Ah ha, here it comes now. But it looks a little small to have created this huge whirlpool. Lilithan thought.
The creature was fascinated by what it saw. How was this human able to survive under the water for so long. It stopped swimming and focused its energy into reading Lilithan. It could sense a mysterious but familiar aura about her. This girl must be an Adept, it thought to itself. Maybe she could help me find my friends. The creature swam towards Lilithan.
Lilithan could see the creature clearly now, it was coming towards her. It was no bigger than a dog or a cat, it was a navy-blue color and its ears came out from the side of its head and hung at the sides of its head. It had wide green eyes and its short tail was the same color at its tip. Lilithan got ready to unleash her psynergy on it if it attacked. But it stopped about a foot away from her. It then began to talk to her.
"Travelling Adept, please allow me to join you on your quest, and perhaps you could help me find my friends." The creature said.
"Who or what are you?" Lilithan asked the strange creature.
"I am Flood, a Neptune Djinni. I could be very beneficial to you, I can strengthen your psynergy, or perhaps teach you more, I can be used with others of my kind to summon powerful gods." The Djinni explained to her.
"A Neptune Djinni. Of course I will allow you to join me, what effect do you have in battle?" Lilithan asked.
"Allow me to demonstrate right now against this Shark Mage." The Djinni said referring to the shark creature advancing on them.
~*~*~
"Just call on me in battle and I will create a barrier against all types of attack, like this."
The Djinni began to radiate a navy-blue light and turned into a barrier in front of Lilithan protecting her. The Shark Mage attacked but it barely hurt Lilithan.
"Now you can call on me to summon a powerful psynergy god." The Djinni instructed her.
"I call upon you, Naiad, unleash your watery power on my enemies." Lilithan said.
The spirit of a Neptune Djinni appeared and unleashed watery blasts on the Shark Mage destroying it.
~*~*~
"See I can be very beneficial, but after summoning I have to recover for a while, then I will set myself again." The Neptune Djinni explained. "Now I will join you."
The Djinni split up into a myriad of small navy orbs. The orbs flew around Lilithan before eventually shooting into her, energizing her.
That was an experience, I better try to get back onto the ship before the others start to worry, she thought and swam towards the surface.
~~~
Back on the boat Daray and Zale were having an argument. Zale wanted to continue on without Lilithan but Daray was insisting they wait.
"The water's getting too dangerous. If we stay anchored here we could all end up being thrown overboard." Zale said.
"But we can't just leave her down there. If she's attacked she won't be able to protect herself for long, her psynergy is bound to run out." Daray insisted.
"I'm inclined to agree with Daray about this. We can't just leave Lilithan down there to die. Like he said we're a team and teams stick together through thick and thin." Nerrissa agreed.
"But we're all in danger in the middle of the ocean. Once we get to Lemuria we can get help and come back and search for Lilithan." Zale said.
"What guarantee do we have that she'll be alive or that we'll even remember the exact spot where she is." Daray said.
"That's a chance we'll have to take. We're at the mercy of every wave and stray wind out here we have to move on." Zale argued.
"Surely a master Adept such as yourself would have some way of dealing with the sea." Nerrissa said.
"There is only so much psynergy can do, the ocean is like a free spirit, you can't control it by any means." Zale countered.
At that moment Alexis and Kith came running into the cabin where the heated argument was happening.
"Whoa feel the tension in here!" Kith exclaimed.
"What do you want?" Daray asked turning to face the newcomers.
"The whirlpool has completely disappeared. There isn't a trace of it anymore." Alexis said.
"Maybe Lily is all right after all." Nerrissa said.
"You're right, who else could have stopped a whirlpool like that." Daray said.
The group exited the cabin and rushed to the ship's side and leaned over to see for themselves.
"You're right, you would never believe that there was a whirlpool here if you hadn't seen it for yourself." Zale said in shock.
"But where's Lilithan?" Nerrissa said.
"I don't know, maybe she didn't stop the whirlpool after all." Kith said.
"No, look over there!" Alexis exclaimed and pointed at some bubbles forming on the ocean's surface.
Suddenly Lilithan's head sprang out from beneath the surface of the water.
"Quick grab something and throw it out to her." Zale said.
Daray and Kith grabbed a broken part of the mast and tied some rope onto it. They brought it to the side of the ship and threw it to Lilithan.
"I've got it, thanks." Lilithan shouted up to them.
The five Adepts pulled on the rope with all their might. When she was close enough she grabbed onto the bottom rung of the ship's ladder and climbed onto the ship.
"We thought you were a goner down there. How did you get rid of the whirlpool?"
"There was a Neptune Djinni creating it, so when he joined me the whirlpool disintegrated. And the Djinni provided me with the energy I needed to reach the surface again." Lilithan told them.
End of chapter 11.
To hnilmik: I hope you like my Djinni description, I had to make it up cos I wanted to get this chapter done and posted.
