- Chapter 10: Giving Up -

Piers didn't have a real weapon at hand, but he did keep a knife on his person for cutting up any fish they caught. Even in his panic at being swallowed whole by a gargantuan monster, he had the presence of mind to draw the knife from its sheathe and slam it into the nearest solid object in a desperate bid to stop himself from being pulled down the beckoning gullet. Said object, of course, was the beast's palate. Thick pink blood flowed over Piers's hand.

The thrust succeeded in stopping Piers from being dragged further, but the saliva adhering him to the thing's tongue proved too thick and sticky; he couldn't pull himself free.

The jaws closed, turning Piers's world to complete darkness, barren of any source of light. His thoughts turned to the unconscious Proxian lying a few feet away. "Agatio!" he called. "Wake up, blast it! We're going to die here!"

Agatio gave no response; Felix had beaten him thoroughly senseless. I'll just have to hang on until Felix and Jenna save us...

A violent lurching made Piers cry out in sudden terror. First they plummeted; then, with a vicious turn, they soared. Piers clung with all his strength to the hilt of the knife, praying for the gods' deliverance.

Life is too precious a gift. It should not be stolen away like this - for me or Agatio!

Desperation made him lash out with the strongest power he had at his command, blasting water down the monster's throat. It didn't dawn on him until a couple seconds after that he had hit upon the right idea. Summoning every reserve of psynergy he had, he turned the blast of water into a virtual flood, forcing hundreds of gallons into the yawning hole before him in but a handful of seconds.

In response, there was a coughing and a sputtering, gigantic bubbles of air rising through the water to burst at the surface. The water Piers deposited began to froth and churn, the monstrous lungs struggling against the deluge. Sweat lined his brow as he summoned more and more water, keeping it up until the frothing began to die down.

When the creature's tongue finally ceased moving, Piers's fingers gradually relinquished their tight grip on his knife, and he blacked out.

How long he was unconscious for, he couldn't say, but when his eyes fluttered open again, he was immediately certain that he was still alive. It was over. The creature had drowned. Which still left one problem.

"How are we going to get out of here?" he asked of the still unconscious Agatio. The creature's mouth was now closed, the heavy jaw sealing off their one exit. For that matter, it was too dark to even see where the exit was. Furthermore, the death of the monster didn't stop its saliva from sticking him in place.

Piers's first thought was to dilute the saliva with some water, but his psynergy was already fairly well drained from powering the Lemurian ship and drowning the creature which had attacked them. If he needlessly expended more, he might not be of any help to Felix and the others, who in all likelihood would need him. He was willing to bet that Agatio had the sheer physical strength to pull the two of them free. But could he be woken?

There was no sense in not trying. When the Proxian again failed to respond to his calls, Piers exerted the slightest bit of psynergy to make drops of water sprinkle down in the general area where he suspected Agatio was. He was rewarded with a grunt.

"Agatio!" he shouted. No more sound came from the Proxian. Gods, Felix, why did you have to pummel him that way? "Agatio? Agatio!"

A very long, low groan came out of the Proxian's mouth, and Piers thought he could make out the faint outline of him stretching forward, pulling himself up. "Whuh..."

"Agatio! Listen, this is Piers. Do you remember me?"

A snort. "You brain dead? Of course I remember you. Why the blazes is it so dark? And what's this gunk I'm covered in?"

"There is no time to explain. Our friends are in danger. Can you pull the two of us free and blast a hole out of this dark place?"

"Bossy little chump, aren't you? What's this about 'our friends', anyway?"

"My friends - Felix, Jenna, Isaac, and Garet - and your friend, Karst," Piers said with great patience, though it was beginning to wear thin. It had taken long enough for him to wake Agatio; he didn't care for wasting this much time on explanations during such a crisis. "Can't you pull yourself out for her sake?"

"You jokin'? Right now I barely have the strength to breathe."

Agatio's apathy galvanized him into action. He strained his legs, attempting to take a single step forward, but the saliva stretched and pulled back on his calves no matter how hard he struggled. "You haven't even tried!" he snapped at Agatio.

"Look, all I need's a good little rest and I'll have the strength to drag us out of here, okay? So pipe down."

"Our friends cannot wait that long!"

"Yeah, well, that's the way the dice roll."

"How can you..." Piers bit back the anger in his throat. "How can you not care?"

"For what? You think just because I was partnered with Karst that it should matter to me whether she lives or dies? Think again. If Karst's alive now, you can bet she wouldn't be in any hurry to rescue me, either."

It amazed Piers how quickly this brute had eaten away at his normally ample patience. Stop. Outrage won't help Felix and the others. Think. There must be something which Agatio cares about enough to pull himself out. Everyone has something that matters to him. What is it that matters to Agatio?

It hit him. "If that's how I feel, then I suppose I was mistaken in my assessment of you. I thought you were a warrior."

"What are you talking about?" Piers could tell from the tone of Agatio's voice that he had already hit the mark.

"A warrior keeps on fighting until the battle is won or he is dead. He doesn't give up the moment the fight becomes difficult."

"I'm not giving up, pipsqueak. I just don't have any reason to get up right now."

"A true warrior doesn't need a reason," Piers returned. "Even the weakest and most cowardly of men will fight if they have sufficient reason. For a warrior, the dignity of continuing his battle is all the reason he needs. A warrior, once committed to a fight, would never back down the way you have."

There was silence for a moment, and then a loud snarl of defiance came from Agatio. "I... am... not... backing... down!" he cried out, each word broken off by a gasp of exertion.

The darkness was seared away by a spear of flames, so bright against the surrounding gloom that Piers shielded his eyes to avoid being blinded. The spear pierced the creature's flesh, then rapidly extinguished against the saliva lining the mouth. But Agatio hurled another, and another, repeatedly striking the same spot. In under a minute, a hole the width of Piers's head had been burned into their prison.

Warm, gentle light flowed in through the hole, illuminating the grotesque contours of the monster's gums. Before Piers could properly get his bearings, however, Agatio seized him by his collar and yanked him free. "Wh-"

"Shut up," Agatio grunted as he tore through the lining of the creature's mouth with his free hand. "What is this gunk, anyway? This place is like some sick joke."

He didn't sound as though he actually wanted the question answered, and Piers didn't think it was a good idea to tell him in any case. So he kept quiet as Agatio yanked the two of them through the hole he'd made, out into the freezing air.

"Huh. Where'd your ship go?"

Piers looked around everywhere, but found to his dismay that Agatio was right. The Lemurian Ship was nowhere to be seen.

"We'll have to look..."

"Where?"

"Back in Prox," Piers decided. "If they survived, that's where they'll have gone."

"That sounds like giving up."

Piers sighed. "Well, where do you suggest that we -" He stopped. "You're thinking we should go diving for them."

"Bingo."

Piers wasn't terribly fond of the idea. Truth be told, he'd never thought of himself as a hero; he had always relied upon his companions to help him and direct him. Now he was alone, save for Agatio, who he did not trust. Performing solo heroics was not something he was comfortable with.

But Agatio was right. This was what needed to be done to save their friends. The only help he could get was back in Prox, and there wasn't time to return there. He took a deep breath, getting ready to dive in.

"Hey, wait a second." Piers froze and glanced back at Agatio, who was looking all around them with a frown. "Is this even the same place where your ship was?"

Piers, being nowhere near as familiar with the area as a native Proxian would be, had no idea. But taking in Agatio's inability to recognize where they were, it suddenly hit him. All that violent lurching after the creature swallowed us... It was leaping away from the ship. The two of us are likely nowhere near the shore from which our ship launched. We are lost, with no chance of reaching our friends in time to save them.

"That's not true, Piers," a new voice said, loud but solemn. Piers looked up with surprised delight.

"Isaac! Garet! I..." He fumbled. "I did not realize I was speaking out loud."

"You weren't," Isaac returned.

"It's a relief to see you two are alive. How-" He stopped, and frowned in puzzlement. "How are you floating like that?"

Isaac and Garet were standing suspended in midair, like dragonflies. It reminded Piers, oddly enough, of the Wise One.

"Pretty nifty, huh?" Garet chuckled. "It looks like Sheba was right about us being gods after all. We just found out about our powers - you know, from almost dying just now."

"You have got to be kidding me," Agatio said, gawking. "You two lived through all that? Well, I guess that's fair... Felix won the fight, after all. So where's Karst?"

"I was hoping one of you could tell me that," Isaac returned.

Piers sighed, feeling a bit ashamed. "To summarize a somewhat long story, while Felix, Jenna, and I were trying to deal with Karst and Agatio, this beast attacked and swallowed Agatio and I. We didn't see what happened to the others."

Agatio uttered an exclamation of surprise and turned around to get a look at the thing which had dared to try to eat him. Isaac looked only vaguely concerned at the revelation that they didn't know what happened to Felix and Jenna, and that was a relief to Piers.

"Isaac..." he said. "You know where Felix and Jenna are, don't you?"

"No, I don't. What was Felix doing back on the ship, anyway?"

Piers didn't care for this irrelevant question. "He came to save you! Do you think he and Jenna might still be in danger?"

A dark look came over Isaac's face. "To save me? How did he know Karst and Agatio had boarded and were trying to kill me?"

"Enough chit-chat," Garet cut in, and pointed at Agatio. "Time to settle a score!" An aura of energy surrounded the Proxian and lifted him into the air.

"Hey!" Agatio cried, squirming around. "Didn't you get what I said a minute ago? Felix won the fight, so we're not trying to kill you anymore!"

"Well, that's very generous of you," Isaac said with a bemused smile.

"Yeah, too bad we don't feel the same way about you," Garet chuckled. He clenched his hand into a fist, making the aura pulse sharply. Agatio let out a sharp cry of pain and surprise as Garet's power flipped him around, depositing him upside down and midair. Garet hooted with laughter.

"Stop that, Garet!" Piers said. "Agatio saved my life but a moment ago! Besides, we don't have time for this. Felix and Jenna are in danger!"

"You kidding? This thug tried to smash my skull open, Piers! And it'll only take me a minute to pay him back."

"No need to hurry, Garet," Isaac interrupted. "Take your time..." He made a gesture, and Agatio's cries of pain and confusion turned to a scream of agony.

"Hey hey, whoa! Careful there!"

"Careful?" Isaac echoed.

"Yeah, I mean, I know you just got this power, but do you know what you're doing there, Isaac?"

"Of course. While you're using psynergy to pull at his tough body, I'm tapping right into the pain centers of his brain." He gave a nod. "It's a lot more effective." Temporarily released from Isaac's full concentration, Agatio was gasping for air.

"Well, you're overdoing it. Besides, Piers is right. We should finish him so we can go find Felix and Jenna."

"I told you, there's no hurry. Felix and Jenna are immortal, like us."

"Well, I'm still worried about them!"

While Isaac and Garet were arguing, Piers used his psynergy to summon a massive wave of water, pulling it towards him. The crest reached the floating Agatio and snatched him out of Garet's grasp, depositing him at Piers's feet. The sound of the wave crashing at the shore made Isaac and Garet turn around.

"You two are not going to torture or kill Agatio," Piers said firmly, helping the Proxian to his feet. "He could have left me to die, but instead he pulled me out of this monster. I will not fail to do the same for him. If you want him, you'll have to fight me first."

Isaac looked at him. "You don't honestly think you can win, do you? As a Lemurian, you're near immortal, but you're no god, Piers."

"Victory is not as important as the cause one fights for," he returned.

Isaac sighed. "I can see why Felix chose you for his team. You're just like him: defending the innocent and the guilty alike." He lifted his hand towards Piers. "Well, I believe in fighting for justice."

Garet reached out and caught Isaac's hand. "Whoa, whoa, Isaac! We're not gonna fight with one of our friends, are we? Not with Felix and Jenna still out there!"

"You said you wanted revenge on Agatio for what he did to you."

"We can take care of him later, when Piers isn't around to fight us. Besides, what about Karst? She put her scythe right through your heart! Isn't she more important right now?"

"...I guess you're right." He glanced back at Piers. "We'll be back for Agatio later. Don't think we won't be able to find him. Let's go, Garet."

The two of them soared away, like rocks released from a slingshot.

"Are you alright?" Piers asked Agatio.

"Yeah, fine," he said, stepping away from Piers, legs shaking. "He just stunned me, that's all. What's up with those two, anyway?"

"I have no idea. That was bizarre in more ways than one. Felix never mentioned this side of Isaac to me. He's always struck me as very single-minded, but -" He shook his head and began taking careful strides in the direction Isaac and Garet were heading in. "At the least, it is certain that we must reach Karst before they do."

Agatio nodded, and took off alongside him.