PART VI

"You shall never use your magic to inflict harm unless absolutely necessary. Nobody deserves to die, no matter what they've done. Never will you kill. Never shall you allow somebody to die when it can be prevented. You shall never draw a bladed weapon. They are the symbol of death. You are life. Remember these lessons. It is how you shall live the rest of your mortal life."

Vivli was irritated even in sleep. She was dreaming of her days at the White Mage Monastery, instead of say, discovering a house made entirely out of food or seeing Bootus on fire. She always seemed to get the short end of the stick when it came to dreams.

To top it off, her instructor seemed to be yelling at her for some reason. Something about waking up. Now he was saying something about he didn't want to have to carry her. She was fairly puzzled.

"WAKE UP DAMMIT!" Bootus yelled. Vivli jolted awake, inside the tent.

"Aw, but it's early." She groaned.

"It's sometime in the afternoon!" Snapped the galka. She sat upright.

"What?" She was moderately caught off guard.

"You sleep heavy." He told her.

"I-I was tired!" She stammered. "I didn't sleep the night before. It meant-"

"Can the excuses. We need to get moving." Bootus marched out of the tent. Vivli hurriedly threw on her robe and attempted to get her bearings.

"There. Told you I could be tactful." Bootus said triumphantly to the two warriors.

"Still say we should have carried her. It would have been quicker. And she doesn't exactly look heavy." Zinkata sighed. Vivli stumbled out of the tent to angry glances.

"Sorry." She said, embarrassed.

"Right, now let's get the hell out of here. We're down on time and have miles to go." Voldos seemed to be taking charge. "There are dunes we have to cross next. And let's just say I've heard enough stories to make me want to get through there as quickly as possible."

"I've actually been there!" Vivli beamed brightly. The others ignored her.

"Wow. I love the beach." Vivli cried as they trekked across the dunes.

"Yeah, but it's better when it's not populated by monsters." Zinkata pointed out.

"Aw, ruin my fun." The White Mage grumbled.

"Dammit! Why do you elves live so far away?" Bootus yelled to Vivli as the party strolled across the sand. The heat blazing down on the sand was keeping them so hot they were struggling to stay conscious. Vivli took off her robe easily, leaving a small white top underneath. Voldos grumbled and wished his armour was as easy to slip off in this heat.

A small fishing village shimmered in the distance. At least the entrance. The heat made it hazy.

"Can we stop by there?" Vivli was the only one willing to ask, but they were all thinking it.

"Urm. Yeah, let's stop by. Dunno how long you can keep this up." Bootus said uneasily, trying to make it seem like he was fine as he was.

"Yes. Me." She repeated flatly.

"Well, it can't do any harm. Least we'll be safe from the monsters and can plan our next route." Zinkata nodded as he spoke, and the party headed towards it.

Some time later most of the party were slumped in various parts of Seblina, the tiny fishing town. Bootus raised a gigantic eyebrow as Vivli marched angrily by him.

"I can't believe him!" She snapped, pointing to an old man stood overlooking the ocean. "He just called me 'little girl'! Nobody calls me that and gets away with it!"

"We do it all the time." Bootus pointed out. Vivli opened her mouth, as if she had a counter point, but nothing came out. Bootus laughed. Zinkata strolled past, smiling.

"And what are you so happy about?" Bootus inquired.

"Fish!" He held one up. "Check it out! Pretty successful huh?"

"Dunno. Ask me again if you manage to sell it." The gigantic galka smirked.

"Can I have a go?" Vivli asked, motioning to the fishing rod.

"Knock yourself out." Zinkata passed her the fishing rod and she ran down to the shoreline, excited.

"Do you think her mental age has hit double figures yet?" Bootus asked. Zinkata couldn't think of a reply, and so left it hanging.

"Dammit!" Vivli cursed as the third fish got away from her line. "I'm never going to catch anything."

"Stop moaning and enjoy the view." Voldos was staring out across the ocean. "Look, the ship's coming in."

"I always loved the sea." Zinkata said as he walked down to join them. "Look at how fast that boat is coming in, yet they have it under control. Isn't that impressive?"

"Wow, it is coming in pretty fast." Vivli remarked.

"Too fast." Bootus suddenly said, running down to join them.

"It's on a collision course with Selblina!" Vivli exclaimed, pointing out the obvious.

"We need to stop it!" Bootus did the same.

"Okay, quick!" Voldos rushed into the nearby weapons shop.

"This is no time to be shopping!" Vivli called after him.

Voldos ran out with a crossbow and a length of rope.

"That's never going to work." Zinkata commented as he fired the arrow. By some miracle, it attached to the ship.

"Hold this." Voldos instructed, handing the rope to Bootus. Bootus held it taught as the boat approached. Voldos bent down and pulled Vivli's staff off of her belt.

"Hey! I just got that!" She protested, but Voldos ignored her. He put it over the rope, and advised Bootus to climb higher up. He did so, and Voldos used the rope and staff to slide down to the ship.

He landed on the deck with a crack. At first he thought he was injured, but quickly discovered he had just broken Vivli's staff.

"Oh boy." He sighed. "I'm not looking forward to explaining this one." This short piece of self narration stopped as he realised the ship was mere moments away from crashing into Seblina. He bolted into the bridge and turned the ship. It turned, but far too slowly. Voldos shut his eyes as the ship scratched along the port, ripping apart the ground and tearing up the fence that separated the land from the sea. Major damage to Seblina however was avoided.

Voldos sighed in relief as he turned the boat. A roar eliminated this promptly. He turned to see on deck a gigantic squid like creature. A monster of legend. A Sea Horror.

"HOLY FRACK!" He exclaimed as one of its monstrous tentacles tore into the bridge. Voldos bolted out the side door, meaning that the ship, of course, was now out of control. It slammed headfirst into the rocky cliff face just to the side of Seblina, and Voldos was thrown overboard.

"Quick! Somebody dive in and get him!" Zinkata yelled.
"I can't swim!" Vivli protested.

"And I'd be too heavy." Bootus excused himself.

"Oh, I hate you guys." Zinkata sighed as he pulled off him armour and dived in.

Surprisingly, the water was refreshing, but Zinkata had no time to dwell on that now. He swam out as fast as he could to the ruins of the ship, now beginning to sink. He saw Voldos swimming towards him, but it was the deafening roar that drew his focus. The Sea Horror was close behind the elf, now back in its natural habitat. Zinkata grabbed Voldos by the arm, and the two swam as fast as they could from the lethal tentacles of the monster.

It was clear they weren't going to escape, and they couldn't even curse at their inevitable death because they were under water. Voldos let out a gurgled yelp as he felt something sharp slice into him leg. A tiny hook. His eyes went wide and bubbles escaped his mouth as he recognised it.

"Bootus! Help!" Vivli was gripping the fishing rod, and being pulled in. Bootus ran in, grabbing the rod as well, and two hauled on it. Zinkata and Voldos, holding each other and the hook beneath the waves, were pulled to the side. Vivli quickly bent down to give them a hand up, but when they accepted they just ended up pulling her in instead.

"Dammit!" She gurgled, splashing about in the water. Voldos pulled himself out, and Zinkata helped Vivli up before she drowned. "I hate being light." She commented, drenched.

It was rather convenient the tentacle smashed down between the four, instead of on one of them. The Sea Horror pulled itself out of the ocean, and the party ran in fear.

"We're dead!" Vivli yelped.

"Wish I could say it was a pleasure," Bootus yelled while running, "But my only wish is you die before me so I can enjoy it."

"Touching." Voldos smirked as he jumped out the way of a tentacle.

Luckily the tentacle was no longer attached to the Sea Horror. A figure in white was attacking it. He sliced through two more tentacles before the beast turned away and splashed back into the ocean. He turned around to face the party. He had fairly rugged brown hair, and a scar running down the right side of his face, running vertically. His armour was white, with gold trimming and a long white cape flowed behind him. He seemed quite old, most likely in his late forties. A human. He slipped his long silver sword back into its sheath.

"Fiorel!" Vivli screamed, running in to hug him.

"Fiorel?" Asked Bootus.

"You really should pay more attention." Zinkata told the galka. "It's that paladin she was on about."

"Whoa, kid. Let go." Fiorel laughed as the mage backed away. "You sure have a knack for getting into situations. I don't even want to think about how much the damage here will cost."

"Hey, it's cheaper than what would have happened without us." Zinkata said with a shrug.

"You have a point." Fiorel sighed. "I guess I can't catch the boat to Windurst anymore though."

"Means you can hang around with us!" Vivli cried cheerfully.

"Ha. I'm afraid not." Fiorel laughed. "There are some fairly major issues at hand here."

"Like?" Voldos asked.

"Monsters are getting unusually aggressive. I've never heard of one wiping the crew off of a ship before." They're getting smart. They would have got her had it not been for me. Fiorel's secret thoughts went completely unnoticed. "So kid, where you headed?"

"I'm seventeen! Don't call me that!" Vivli protested.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Fiorel laughed again. He was beginning to irritate Zinkata.

"San D'Oria if you must know. Bastok sent us." She gestured to the rest of the party.

"San D'Oria?" Fiorel dropped into thought. "This to do with the orc attacks?" She nodded. "I just came back from helping them defend. Be careful kid, it's pretty dangerous." Vivli just grumbled silently.

"Wait. That's it?" Zinkata asked quickly. "You just show up and then you're going to disappear?"

"I'm on my way to Windurst. I need to see somebody there." He paused with a weary sigh. "Adventure some more and you'll learn coincidences like this happen."

"Don't suppose we can buy you a drink for saving us?" Zinkata offered.

"I never turn down free drink." Fiorel replied with a laugh. Zinkata knew this was a good opportunity to squeeze some information out of him.

Except Vivli wouldn't go away. It seemed her reunion with Fiorel meant that she didn't want to let him out of her sight.

"You remember that time-" Vivli was about to start on another nostalgic memory with Fiorel (which Zinkata had had plenty enough of)

"Hey, Vivli, why don't you go get your staff off Voldos?" That should keep her away for a bit.

"Good idea! I'll be right back!" She ran away from the table with all the energy of a hyperactive child.

"To business." Zinkata stated. "What's going on?"

"Figured you would ask." Fiorel told him. He picked up the drink and looked at it. "Nothing's ever really free, is it?"

"No games." Zinkata stated. "Tell me, now. What's going on with Vivli?"

"It's not an easy question to answer." Fiorel told Zinkata. "I don't know it all myself, but I can fill you in at least partially. Almost sixteen years ago, when I was a young adventurer like you and your friends, I was called back to The Monastery, the place of my training as a paladin, by the head priestess of the Order of White Mages. She wanted me to help look after and raise this young girl they had taken in. She must have been about four at the time. As you can imagine, this was fairly unusual. I mean, why did you think Vivli doesn't speak with the same elongated 'r''s that most mithra speak with?"

"Not a clue." Zinkata replied.

"Because she was never raised by them. The Order of White Mages took her in pretty much instantly. It means she grew up with them, not a traditional mithra family."

"That explains her cowardice as well. Mithra are supposed to be raised to be brave hunters." Zinkata said to help him clarify it in his brain.

"So I helped raise her, somewhere in between a father and an older brother." He paused. "They never explained to me why they rose her from a young age. As far as I can tell, she had parents and was living happily. They pretty much kidnapped her. Not that she could tell at that age. I was told to raise and protect her no matter what."

"So why did they let her go?" Zinkata asked.

"You must not tell her this." Fiorel told Zinkata. "Ever." He added for reinforcement. "But a few days before she left, monsters attacked The Monastery. Several White Mages and paladins died, and we managed to repel them. We told her the southern parts were closed for decoration. We knew they had attacked to come for her, but I was never told why. The Priestess made the decision that she had to leave. It was theorised that if she was an adventurer, with a party as she has now, she would be safe, and on the move to avoid any more harm. I disagreed."

"Why?" Zinkata asked.

"You've seen her. She's not the most competent hero of all time." He answered. "I warned her, telling her what I knew, but I couldn't say anymore. Hell, I didn't know anymore. She left. I decided I had to follow her, to make sure she was safe. Caught up with her here."

"I thought you said you were heading to Windurst!" Zinkata snapped.
"I am. Now. After seeing that Sea Horror. I have no doubt it was coming for Vivli. I'm going to see the Priestess. I'm going to find out what's going on." He rose from the bar. "Do nothing stupid. Keep her safe."

Just as he was about to leave Vivli marched angrily into the bar.

"He broke my new staff!" She cried angrily. It was almost humorous how oblivious she was.