The Nextworld Invasion and the Death of Magic - 11. Chapter 11 - The Animal

In less than ten minutes, the five of them were in the tiny boat, and Kilial steered it around to the other side of the Mermonster to see the burn from below. It was much worse than she had realized.

“Oh great! Why didn’t you tell me it was this bad?” she asked the ship, and it let out a few little groans. “Yes, it is that bad! Stop trying to play tough in front of our new friends. This repair will take all day.”

A rope snapped, and Nuji could not stop herself from snorting a laugh.

“What did she say?” Alydrael asked. “Oops! I mean it, what did it say?”

Nuji glanced at Kilial, who was wearing a cheeky smirk. “The Mermonster said to Kilial,” Nuji translated, “‘I’m tougher than you.’”

Kilial burst out with more laughter, and the others joined in with her merriment. “It’s not as bad as I’m making it out to be,” Kilial admitted. “The repairs will take all day, but the ship will be fine.” She turned the dinghy toward land.

“Tigath and I will take care of the food,” Othri offered.

“Thanks,” Kilial replied, “and you ladies can help me collect supplies for the repair,” she added to Alydrael and Nuji.

“What do we need to get?” Alydrael asked.

“Several ropes are ruined,” Kilial began, “and the forward sail is messed up, so we’re looking for vines that’ll temporarily do the job of ropes, and we’ll just have to see what we can find that might help patch or replace the sail. We also need to find a tree that’ll produce a waterproof resin that we can smear over the burned area.” She nodded in the direction she was rowing the dinghy. “This island looks promising.”

Palm and mangrove trees lined the shore, sections of which were sandy and bright under the noonday sun. The rowboat approached one of the beaches, and its keel dug into the soft earth.

“Everybody out!” Kilial ordered with a playful chuckle. “Jump into the water. Once we’re on land, you can kick off your shoes and let them dry.” They all splashed into the gentle waves and walked up onto the beach. Kilial dragged the dinghy out of the water without any trouble, and she tied its rope to the root of an enormous mangrove. “This looks like a good place to build a fire and have a little lunch.”

“We’re on it,” Othri stated with a grin. He and Tigath interlaced their green fingers, and they strolled off to gather firewood.

“Ladies,” Kilial said, turning to Alydrael and Nuji, “let’s get started collecting what we need to make the repairs.”

They began to head down the beach, but to the women’s surprise, a strange animal came bounding out of the trees straight toward them. It stopped and stared at the trio. It was unlike anything the three women had ever seen. Its face possessed a bird-like quality, and instead of a mouth with teeth, it had a dark beak similar to a giant snapping turtle. The thing’s eyes appeared almost black, but the rest of it was a rainbow of colors. Iridescent purple-green scales covered much of its lean body, and a mane of flowing hair grew around its face in red, blue, orange, and blonde. A single small antler that appeared to be made of mineral-rippled white marble grew from the center of its forehead. Instead of feet, it ran on hooves like those of a goat, and more of the multicolored hair grew from its lower legs. The thing also possessed three thin tails that were almost like larger versions of individual peacock feathers. It was beautiful.

It suddenly raced along the beach toward where Tigath and Othri had walked into the trees.

“What is it?” Alydrael asked as it darted through the roots of a mangrove and disappeared.

“Haven’t got a clue,” Kilial replied.

“Yeah,” Nuji agreed, “no idea.”

Alydrael turned to the other two women. “Should we follow it?”

“Why on Earth would we follow it?” Kilial asked. “It’s just some animal.”

“It’s probably a native species to this weird island,” Nuji added.

As the trio turned to continue on their way, Tigath and Othri popped back out of the trees.

“Did you see that thing?” Tigath called out to the women.

“Yeah, we did! Do either of you know what it was?” Alydrael asked as the group reconvened.

“Don’t have the foggiest,” Othri replied with a chuckle. “Was it some sort of deer?”

With no more sign of the animal, the two groups separated again to begin their tasks. Collecting everything Kilial was hoping to find took much longer than she expected, and Tigath and Othri had joined in the search after lunch, but the sun was starting to set by the time Kilial was finally satisfied with what the group had collected.

“Are we ready to bring everything to the Mermonster?” Tigath asked, looking out at the ship.

“Almost,” Kilial replied, “but I think you two should stay here and prep some dinner while we’re working on it.”

Othri smiled. “We’d be happy to.”

Out of the corner of one eye, Alydrael spotted movement. “There it is again! The animal’s back!”

The creature was seated on its haunches, staring at the five visitors. Its three tails were slowly swishing behind it.

“Do you think it’s the same one?” Nuji asked.

It turned to look into the trees, and it darted out of sight again.

“Curious,” Tigath added, “or I should say, it seems curious about us.”

Kilial turned to Nuji and Alydrael. “I need both of your help with the repairs to the outside of the ship, but it shouldn’t take long, now that we’ve collected everything we need.”

“Should we stay here tonight on the beach?” Tigath asked. He was not anxious to get back onto the Mermonster.

A gruff voice from the trees shouted to them, “You can’t stay the night on the beach!”

The five turned in the direction of the voice, and the strange animal reappeared at the edge of the sand.

“Can you speak?!” Alydrael asked with delight.

“Of course he can’t speak,” the voice replied from behind the creature, and a Noktar man stepped out into the fading light of the sun. He was broad and muscular, with dark skin and a thick beard of coarse black hair. He was holding a long staff that was much taller than him, and at its end was a metal spike. “You can’t stay here,” he reiterated.

“Why not?” Kilial replied with a defiant edge to her words.

The Noktar man looked up at the three tall, green-skinned Urcai. Then he focused on the two Rothian women who were about his height. “This is the tidal island of Uall.”

The other five glanced at each other, but even the seawoman Kilial had never heard the name.

“This strange island is not attached to the seabed,” he explained as the rainbowy animal cautiously approached Alydrael. “Uall Island first appeared several centuries ago in the frozen southern sea,” the man continued. “There’s a community down there that discovered the island had appeared, but they also realized it was slowly moving north, free of the tectonic plates beneath. It’s all somehow connected to the sun; the island submerges every evening so only the summit of that small hill and the treetops are still above water.” He pointed behind him at the highest point of the small landmass. “This beach will be submerged in…” he paused and looked up at the setting sun, “less than an hour.”

“What’s your name, friend?” Tigath asked.

The animal was sniffing Alydrael’s foot. She slowly knelt closer to it and extended the back of her hand in its direction.

“I’m Lestralin,” the man declared, “and that’s Illiop,” he added, nodding to the creature. “He’s an oontaloze.”

Alydrael looked up at Lestralin as the creature sniffed her knuckles. “What’s an oontaloze?”

“They’re a species from the mountains on the southern continent,” Lestralin replied. “Oontaloze are very rare.” He looked down with affection at the animal. “Illiop was fighting for his life when I stumbled upon him.”

“Oh no, what happened to him?” Alydrael asked.

Lestralin squatted beside her and ran his fingers through Illiop’s colorful mane. “Back on the mainland down south, a crystal python was trying to make a meal of him. The constrictor had Illiop tangled in its coils, and maybe I should have just let nature take its course, but I couldn’t not help! I grabbed a long branch and whacked the snake from a distance. It struck out at me, but I was far enough back that it couldn’t get me. In trying to bite me though, it released a few of its coils, and after trying to bite me a second time, it abandoned Illiop and slithered back into the jungle.”

Alydrael was concerned. “Was Illiop okay?” She tentatively brought her hand to the top of the animal’s head.

“Luckily, none of his bones had broken, but he was exhausted from the fight with the snake, and he collapsed to the forest floor. I knew I couldn’t leave him there, so I wrapped him in a blanket, and over the next several days, I nursed him back to health. He hasn’t left my side since.”

“Wow,” Alydrael exclaimed, “I’m so glad you saved him!” Illiop opened his beak and stuck out his long pink tongue to lick her hand, and Alydrael could not stop herself from giggling.

“Now, what are your names?” Lestralin asked, and Tigath answered him.

“My name’s Tigath.” He gestured to each of the others as he said their names as well. “And this is Othri, Nuji, Alydrael, and Kilial.”

“But don’t worry,” Alydrael added, “that’s a lot to remember, and Kilial still hasn’t memorized our names yet.”

Kilial burst out with raucous laughter. “That’s true, but I’m getting there.”

Lestralin was confused. “How long have you known each other? Actually,” he said, interrupting himself, “why don’t we save those details for later and get someplace that won’t be underwater soon?”

“Where do you live?” Othri asked.

“There’s a cave at the summit of Uall,” Lestralin informed the others. “Illiop and I have been camping out and studying the island for almost two years.”

“What are you studying?” Nuji asked.

“We’ve been trying to figure out what makes the island move. Haven’t we, Illiop?” he cooed, scratching the animal’s head. “No more talking though, folks. We need to move. You’ve got to be on your way before the island sinks.”

Alydrael pointed at the surf. “The tide’s already coming in, and it’s coming in fast!” She focused on Lestralin. “Can we stay with you in the cave?”

Kilial replied to Alydrael’s question. “I need to repair the Mermonster and could really use your help.”

“Do you need all of us?” Nuji asked.

Kilial scrutinized her fellow Rothian.

Nuji turned to their new acquaintance. “Lestralin, would you mind if I stay the night with you?”

“What do you think, Illiop?” Lestralin asked the animal, which was nuzzling Alydrael. He smiled at Nuji. “We’d be thrilled for you to join us.”

“Alright, land lovers,” Kilial said to Tigath, Othri, and Alydrael, “let’s head out!”