The Nextworld Invasion and the Death of Magic - 36. Chapter 36 - The Finger

Tigath, Othri, Nuji, Alydrael, Kilial, and Lestralin were inside a cozy little pub in a tiny fishing village on the mainland. Dorjin was not with them.

The town was called Rogodo, and it was far inland from the sea. The Mermonster had sailed up a wide river past the silent ruins of another destroyed city at the coast, but a full day’s journey upstream brought the travelers to Rogodo.

Othri had found one of the other magical green-skinned individuals, a woman named Rhostilla, and she had eagerly joined the group. When the Humans laid waste to her home city, she had been out to sea, and she took refuge with a few survivors at the insignificant town of Rogodo far upstream.

Rhostilla had realized much more quickly than Othri and Tigath that the magic happening around her was actually being caused by her. As soon as it was clear to her what was happening, she began using her newfound abilities to help people. Rhostilla had been very enthusiastic to find another Urcai who had similar powers, and she was seated beside Tigath at the table in the pub.

“Do you think we’ll be able to use our magic together?” she asked. “Maybe we can combine the energies to create even more powerful magic to fight the Humans.”

“If there was some way we could predict where they were going to strike next,” Tigath replied, “and could stop them before they attacked, that would make a difference in this war.”

The group had ordered food, and they were planning on heading back to the Mermonster with Rhostilla when they finished eating.

“It’s not really a war,” Rhostilla said quietly.

“No,” Tigath conceded, “the Humans have massacred our people.”

Othri suddenly gasped in shock and clutched his chest, and everyone at the table focused on him.

“What is it, Othri?” Tigath asked his love.

Othri took a ragged breath. “One of them is gone.”

The others did not understand.

“Who’s gone?” Nuji asked him.

He squeezed his eyes shut and cringed as if he was in pain. “One of the magical Urcai who I could feel… just disappeared. They were there, in the back of my mind, and then they were gone. It’s as if one of them vanished.”

The table fell into silence as the reality sank in for them all.

Their food arrived before anyone spoke again.

“Thank you,” Tigath said weakly to the server.

It was over an hour later that the group of seven made their way to the dock where the Mermonster was moored.

They boarded, and Kilial headed to her cabin. There was no evidence of the brutality that had transpired while the crew was away from the ship. Kilial opened the door, and everything was as it should be. Nothing was out of place.

There was however, a single tiny thing on her desk that revealed what had happened. Slowly shriveling, a single severed finger lay rigid and grey upon the flat surface.

“Someone tried to steal you?” Kilial asked the empty room.

The hinge of the door let out a tiny squeak.

“Five of them?” Kilial replied. “Are you okay? Are Dorjin and Illiop still hidden in the smuggling compartment?”

The floor groaned.

Kilial snorted a laugh, and a wide smile broke across her face. “Well thanks for cleaning up the mess before we got back. Did you dump the bodies into the river and absorb all the traces of blood into your wood?”

The porthole window let out a happy little creak, and Kilial snickered as she repeated the Mermonster’s words back to it.

“They were delicious? You’re too much! And hey, you’re smart to keep this from the others. I think it would upset them. I know most of them can’t understand your voice, but it was a good idea to tell me in private without Nuji hearing.” Kilial looked back at the door to her room. “Let’s get outta here and head to sea. I’ll go down into the hold and let Dorjin know the coast is clear.”

A pully squeaked.

“Gotcha.”

The Mermonster had informed Kilial that Dorjin was already above deck again.

Dorjin’s presence aboard the ship had been sufficiently explained to Rhostilla before she arrived with the others, and when Kilial reemerged from her chamber, there did not seem to be any animosity between Dorjin and Rhostilla.

“Heads up, folks,” Kilial said aloud, “the Mermonster is about to launch.”

The ship lurched forward and began to make its way downriver away from the tiny fishing community.

Illiop appeared and hopped up onto Alydrael’s lap. He was introduced to Rhostilla, who was astonished to see an oontaloze in real life. She had only ever seen pictures of the elusive animal.

Rhostilla was also told about Alydrael’s injury, and how the Human soldiers snuck aboard the Mermonster through Lestralin’s portal.

Tigath and Rhostilla discussed together the magic that had been done through each of them, and the day-long journey back toward the sea was pleasant and peaceful.

At dusk, the Mermonster again passed the ruins of the coastal city, and it slipped out into the wide ocean. Night fell as the mainland shrank into the distance, and the travelers slept without interruption. When morning arrived, everything seemed calm and uneventful. In all directions, the ocean stretched to the horizon.

The group of eight enjoyed a little breakfast, and the Mermonster was cruising along at a fair clip, when the end began.

The exodus from Nextworld had started!

Dark lightning streaked across the sky, but not in the way it had above the now destroyed cities, and the entire sky from one horizon to the other was spiderwebbed with the pulsating black bolts. They rippled and overlapped, coiling and twisting, and they darkened the Earth.

Then it opened. The barrier between Nextworld and Earth vanished, and the disparate realms seemed to merge and coalesce for an instant, before Nextworldian necrocraft beyond counting filled the sky. The Humans were not simply pouring through a single location to attack a city; they were abandoning their home en masse, and their ships covered the Earth in their shadows.

Those aboard the Mermonster stared at the sky in disbelief and terror.

The Earth was taken! The Humans had won. They had triumphed over the free peoples, and the Earth now belonged to the enemies.

“We’re like parasites,” Dorjin whispered as tears formed in her eyes. She could see it in her mind; her people were going to ruin this planet just like they had ruined Nextworld. Dorjin turned her gaze from the oncoming horde. “There’s no way to stop this! There are too many of us!” She looked around at the Earthians with pleading eyes.

“We need Uall Island,” Tigath said to no one in particular, and his chest began to glow. “Uall Island, we need you.”

The others were focused on him, but Kilial noticed something past Tigath that was impossible, and she did a double-take.

Uall Island was at the stern of the ship, keeping pace with the Mermonster. None of them had seen the island appear, and as the Mermonster slowed, so did the island.

“How in the world?” Kilial breathed, but Tigath stepped toward the back of the ship.

“Uall Island!” he called out, “You can protect us! Please take us somewhere where there are no Humans!”

The Mermonster was not anchored to the mysterious landmass, and yet to the eyes of all the different people aboard the ship, the world seemed to flash away as if they were moving at impossible speeds. Continents flew by, and the ocean raced away beneath the ship. Then suddenly the movement of the world stopped, and Uall Island was back at the secluded and rugged coastline where it usually remained. No black lightning was flashing directly overhead, but off in the distance, the darkness from the Humans was still blackening the sky.

After everyone took a moment to marvel at what the island had achieved, Tigath again spoke, and the mysterious landmass seemed to understand him.

“Uall Island,” he said, “I think your magic is what we need to save the remnant of the free peoples. We can’t stay here,” Tigath added flatly, and the others began to protest his words, but he continued talking with the island. “You can hide from the Humans. You can make it so they’ll never find us. With Othri’s homing ability guiding your movement, we can journey across the Earth faster than the Humans, and we can find at least some of our survivors. We need to bring the remnant of the free peoples…” Tigath paused and looked at the others as he concluded, “to Nextworld.”

“Tigath,” Othri interjected, “our people can’t live in that horrid place!”

“I agree,” Lestralin added. “Everything about Nextworld was worse than I could have imagined.”

Nuji was frowning at Tigath with her exaggerated features. She did not say anything.

Alydrael and Dorjin were seated together, and they interlaced their green and pale fingers.

Kilial was at the Mermonster’s wheel, and she was chewing her lower lip in thought.

Rhostilla stepped up to Tigath. “I can feel it. I can feel the island’s magic. It feels like the island wants to help.”

“I feel that too,” he replied.

Alydrael had an idea. “Could you two make a portal to Nextworld that’s hidden on the island? Maybe we can run missions with Uall to find the survivors and sneak them into Nextworld from here.”

Dorjin raised her hand, as if she was back in her Kalthrin training courses. Everyone looked at her, and she blushed a little under their gaze. Rhostilla’s eyes were particularly intense. The green-skinned woman’s hair and eyes were crimson.

“Erm…” Dorjin began lamely, and she looked at Tigath. “You told me the island goes underwater at night. Maybe that’s where you should hide the portal.

Rhostilla gave Dorjin a smile that made the Human look down. “I like that idea.” She turned to Tigath.

Lestralin approached Tigath and Rhostilla. “Since you two can actually communicate with the island, do you think you could ask it for me why it’s magical?”

Tigath glanced out at the peculiar landmass. “Uall Island, why are you magical?”