“What are the other worlds like?” Sapphire was looking at the sky tinged with the faint colors of the approaching sunset.
Luke was sitting beside her also watching the skies. “Some are paradises like this one and others are barren icy wastelands where only Kiyan would be comfortable. There are others that are hot dry deserts burnt by the sun and devoid of life.” The look on Sapphire's face was one that told of her sadness over the idea of a lifeless world. “Some have fantastic landscapes and others have no atmosphere at all. Some are a mix of everything in between.”
“Somewhere out there is the world that our race was born on. We were lucky to find this world. One so like our own.” Sapphire was still watching the slowly intensifying colors above.
Kiyan stepped out of the water and bent the water off of his body leaving him refreshed but as dry as when he had stepped into the water. He walked over and joined the duo on the peninsula and settled in to watch the approaching sunset. Soon the colors seemed to condense and slowly ripple across the sky in a breathtaking display. Kiyan hardly noticed the arrival of Singing Waves as he was watching the sky so intently. When he heard the sound of splashes and footsteps Kiyan looked earthward and saw the tall slim figure. He saw the elven form he was most familiar with before this point. Like Deep Current this water elf had pale blue skin and minor webbing between his fingers. As he climbed out of water Kiyan saw the elf's gills closing and a second set of clear eyelids blinking. White hair framed his face and fell halfway down his torso. A smooth pair of skin tight shorts was the only article of clothing that the elf was wearing.
“Sapphire!” Singing Wave's face lit up when he saw Sapphire sitting on the beach. “You have brought me visitors.” Singing Waves waved a hand over his hair leaving a dry silky white waterfall in its wake. Drops of water still on his torso reflected beads of color from the sky.
“The prophesied time is upon us. Agents of darkness are walking this planet.” Sapphire began explaining the circumstances of their visit.
“It was only yesterday when I saw strange footprints on this very beach.” Singing Waves interrupted Sapphire. “I followed and found that they seemed to just appear out of thin air. This fits the prophecy as darkness is an absence of light and where light will not shine, there is darkness. This is the only way to explain not being seen in broad daylight.” Kiyan realized that the elf was describing the cloak that the drakken had been using. Singing Waves paused as he appraised Kiyan and Luke. “That means you are here with the challenger. That also means that you got defeated yourself.” There was a mischievous twinkle in Singing Wave's eye now. “What I would have given to see that battle.” Turning to Kiyan he continued. “The challengers from the different tribes are forbidden to fight each other so I have never had a chance to match bending with her.”
Sapphire rolled her eyes. “This is Kiyan. He is here to challenge you. We can wait until tomorrow if it is too late today.” Sapphire glanced toward the brilliantly colored sky.
“Nonsense.” Singing Waves shrugged at the annoyance of the idea. “If you are feeling able we can do battle right now. The glory of the setting sun will be our backdrop adding to the stories I will tell generations of my grandchildren. There will be light for some time yet. Besides light is a crutch no real bender need rely upon too heavily”
“I'm right there with you, I have already replicated enough nanites to replace those lost.” Luke reassured Kiyan.
“I'm ready if you are.” Kiyan loosed his sword and flexed his shoulders under his plates or armor.
Singing Waves raised an eyebrow as he watched Kiyan prepare. “The challenge is over when one of us surrenders, either verbally or implied by unconsciousness. The object is not to kill your opponent but that doesn't mean I am going to be easy on you.” Singing Waves laid out some ground rules before he prepared himself. “One last word of advice, I have an ocean at my back, your sword and armor will do little against the might of water.” Kiyan heard Sapphire laughing as she retreated up the rocky hill behind them.
“Like I said, I'm ready when you are.” Kiyan saw the eyebrow rise again when his helmet formed around his head.
“Very well, you have been warned and have accepted the challenge. Let us begin.” Singing Waves stepped backwards into the surf and raised tentacles of water around him. Kiyan advanced and saw the confident look on Singing Wave's face.
“He thinks you are underestimating him.” Luke offered an explanation for the confidence that Singing Waves was exuding. Kiyan didn't respond but took another step closer.
“So you have never fought a waterbender before.” Singing Waves taunted Kiyan. “Another word of advice. Never underestimate a waterbender standing in water.” With that the liquid tentacles shot towards Kiyan. Kiyan had been watching Singing Wave's energy so he was prepared for the attack. The closest arm of water turned to ice and shattered on contact with Kiyan's blade. He dodged the next tentacle and blasted a third with a wave of icy flames. The one Kiyan had dodged was coming back around so Kiyan poured some of the heat he had stolen from the other attacks into the encroaching tendril. He was rewarded by seeing it boil then burst into steam a split second later.
“I see it is I who has underestimated you.” Singing Wave's look of confidence was replaced by a look of concentration as he felt the extent of the energy lost to Kiyan's ice fire. Kiyan paused on the edge of the surf as Singing Waves retreated until he was waist deep in the water. Kiyan saw bluish flashes of energy scattered through the water as Singing Waves began bending another attack. Kiyan jumped back as orbs of water about the size of his head levitated out of the surf and began circling Singing Waves. Kiyan didn't have long to wait as one of the nearest orbs flashed and shot towards him. He raised his blade and its song filled the air as Kiyan neatly sundered the orb in two. He ducked the two flying pieces of ice and swung at the next flying orb. This time the water separated ahead of the blade and impacted Kiyan on the chest. Kiyan felt the surge as his armor sucked the energy out of the attack and the frozen orb fell into the water.
“Ouch!” The remaining orbs splashed back into the water as Singing Waves held his head. “It hurts when you do that!”
“I never said I was going to be easy on you either.” Kiyan lifted a few of his own orbs of water into the air.
“Fair enough.” Singing Waves sprang into motion and Kiyan felt the water around his feet twist to his opponent’s will. Kiyan forced himself into the air catapulting beyond where Singing Waves was standing. The water solidified and supported Kiyan on its surface. When he landed, Kiyan exploded the orbs that followed him covering the surface of the water with a dense fog. Momentarily hidden by the fog Kiyan reached out and grasped the water around the elf. Just as he tightened his grip he lost track of Singing Waves. Frantically searching for the elf Kiyan sensed a disturbance in the water below him an instant before the water he was standing on dissolved and he sank below the surface. Being submerged didn't bother Kiyan as much as one would expect. His implants provided all the air he required and water was like second nature to him by now. The only way to see the incoming attacks was to detect the glow caused by Singing Wave's bending. Chunks of ice floated to the surface as Kiyan blocked and parried incoming strikes. He made a few attacks of his own but Singing Waves dodged them like how a fish in a school avoids collisions with his neighbors. Soon Kiyan resorted to sending wide waves of pressure towards his opponent in the hopes of landing a hit on the fast moving elf. Kiyan felt the wave moving away from him but was frustrated as his attack dissolved around the elf when he countered it.
By now Kiyan had given up on the sword and armor and was fighting with pure bending. Kiyan decided to take the fight to the next level and shifted into his ice elemental form. The water around him chilled well below freezing but remained liquid through Kiyan's bending. He sent pieces of the super cooled water towards Singing Waves. When he released the water it almost instantly froze solid and bobbed to the surface. The elf must have seen what Kiyan was trying to d
o as he suddenly quit trying to attack Kiyan and focused on avoiding the super cooled water that was beginning to surround him. Kiyan chased Singing Waves back and forth for a minute before he lost track of the elf. As Kiyan cast his mind around in an attempt to find his opponent Kiyan realized that he had drifted out over an underwater shelf. Deep water plummeted far below him.
The attack came as Kiyan realized that this had probably been Singing Wave's plan all along. The water around Kiyan twisted and swirled as he felt Singing Wave's full power being bent around him. Waves of ice formed around Kiyan as he struggled against the elf's vicelike grip on the water around him. The crush of the water grew on him as he sank deeper and deeper into the water. Finally with an explosion of bending Kiyan was able to break away from the sinking water. With movement restored Kiyan turned trying to find his antagonist. Down here the water felt like mud as the pressure resisted movement. Kiyan realized that he was now in Singing Wave's element now. He could sense movement here and there as the elf circled him. What Kiyan had in raw power the elf countered with agility and skill. Kiyan stopped trying to find Singing Waves and waited for the flashes of light indicating an incoming attack.
The attack that Kiyan had been waiting for never came. When he found Singing Waves again Kiyan also detected a sense of fear emanating from the elf. The reason for this sudden fear presented itself soon enough. Kiyan felt the small pressure waves made by hundreds of creatures swimming in a tight school. Kiyan watched as Singing Waves made a mad dash towards the surface only to be cut off by the swirling shapes descending from above. A wave of terror swept over Kiyan from Singing Waves as they both discovered that they were surrounded by the creatures. Kiyan reached out with his mind and touched Singing Wave's mind with a question about what these creatures were.
Kiyan received waves of surprise, confusion and fear as Singing Waves tried to form words. Kiyan finally understood that Singing Waves had sensed a disturbance after he had pulled Kiyan down. He had investigated and found a swarm of unnatural creatures attacking and killing anything that moved. Kiyan decided that their fight must have attracted the attention of these creatures.
“If these things reach the underwater city, they could kill everyone.” Singing Waves was finally able to form coherent words in his head. Kiyan sensed a resolve and willingness to sacrifice himself to protect his people. By now the creatures had moved near enough to see details in the fading light. The fish looked like a cross between a piranha and a barracuda with distant relations to a shark. A long snout bristling with sharp teeth ended below beady black eyes. The rounded body was streamlined yet covered with armor like bone plates with joints for movement. Spine like fins beat the water as the swarms of average couple foot long things moved closer. Their duel forgotten Kiyan and Singing Waves circled at each other’s back awaiting the impending attack.
Kiyan struck first with an attack that he had originally invented for Singing Waves. Focusing on a patch of water near the threatening creatures Kiyan split the molecules creating a bubble of air. The surrounding pressure instantly collapsed on the pocket of air releasing a shock wave and fine spray of bubbles. The closest creatures simply died as the energy rippled through their bodies. Those lucky enough to be farther away were stunned by the blast and the rest took it as a signal to attack.
Kiyan sensed Singing Waves making an offensive behind him. The elf was twisting water to his will with a level of skill that Kiyan had only ever seen before in Deep Current. Unfortunately because of the fluid nature of water and the armored opponents few of Singing Wave's strikes were mortal in nature. For every one that penetrated three would dissipate only temporarily stunning his target. The majority pushed the demon fish aside or dissolved harmlessly against the creatures. Only the sheer number of attacks was keeping the swarms of fish from getting close enough to do damage.
Kiyan on the other hand was unleashing the depth charge like attacks on every fish that got close enough. Finally the sheer numbers began to overwhelm the duo. Kiyan continued to unleash shockwaves at a safe distance but feared that a closer blast would injure or kill Singing Waves or himself. Kiyan's head ached from the concussions and he could only guess how Singing Waves was faring. Catching a glimpse of his blade like claws Kiyan got an idea. Soon razor sharp pieces of ice were drifting around him. He propelled these icy spears at the fish that penetrated his depth charges. There was a slight sense of surprise as Singing Waves seized one and harpooned a fish that had gotten too close to him. Kiyan picked up on this and Luke took over growing the icy weapons in a larger production scale. Soon a ring of these razor sharp shards drifted around both of the combatants. Singing Waves was bending the water around the ice and propelling them into any fish that got too near. It seemed like hours that they fought but judging by the slowly fading light Kiyan assumed the fight had only lasted a fraction of an hour.
Unfortunately the strain of bending so hard for a sustained period of time could be felt. Singing Waves had changed his attacks from an offensive damage oriented style to a defensive style only designed to keep the demon fish away from him. His only offensive moves were made with the ice spears that drifted on all sides of the duo. The stream of fish was lessened somewhat as the healthy fish fell on and tore any bleeding fish to pieces. The water around them was tinted a strange shade of yellow with the blood of the unlucky fish. Kiyan had shifted from his depth charges to simply compressing the water around schools of the unending fish until they were crushed under the pressure. The injured creatures distracted their compatriots earning the fighters small respites of a second or two.
Suddenly Singing Waves reached the end of his energy and like a candle snuffed by a hurricane Kiyan felt his ally's mind collapse into a deep sleep. The water still terbulated around his as he subconsciously tried to continue the fight but Kiyan felt the voracious fish flowing into the breached defensive ring. Kiyan was now alone and tiring fighting a battle against a foe of unknown numbers while trying to defend a friend that only a short time ago he had been fighting a duel with. He unleashed a few depth charge attacks and managed to drive the fish back from Singing Waves. The victory was short lived as Kiyan felt the increased strain and the fish renewed their attacks. Luke was now as actively engaging in battle as Kiyan. Together they tried to work their way towards the surface with Singing Waves but were blocked and rebuffed on every turn. Some of the fish had gotten so close that Kiyan could reach out and slash at them with his claws.
Now Kiyan faced a new but increasingly threatening dilemma. He was reaching the end of his own energy stores. If he were to drop into unconsciousness Singing Waves would not last a second. Kiyan's shields would defend him for a period but after that the pressure and fish would cause it to fail. At that point Kiyan didn't want to think about what might result. Reaching out Kiyan pulled at the life energy of the creatures leaving several dedicated husks but the strange energy did more damage than it did good. It made Kiyan sick as he absorbed it and instead he unleashed it in an attack that left several fish shredded. By now Luke figured that they had killed a couple thousand but as of yet had not noticed an end to the flood. Kiyan felt himself slipping into a dangerous fatigue and made a last ditch effort. Attempting to send a compression wave outward to drive back the fish he found he had lost too much energy. Instead he felt himself shift into his draconic form.
Kiyan's mind began to flicker into darkness when he felt a surge of energy flowing into his body. A cursory glance told him that his sudden change in mass caused the shockwave he originally intended. He also discovered that he was drawing energy from the water around his draconic form much like you or I would draw oxygen from a breath of air. Seeing Singing Wave's spent and battered body drifting where it had been tossed by the last shockwave, Kiyan swam over to it with a powerful thrust of his wings and a pump with his tail. He grabbed the elf carefully with his powerful claws just as the recovering fish descended on them. Wrapping his wings around the defenseless elf Kiyan thrashed his head and tail impaling several of th
e little demons on the defensive spikes that lined his neck and tail. Kiyan could feel the fish scratching at his scales without being able to cause any real damage. The fish that attacked Kiyan's head met their end between his powerful jaws. With the sickening taste of the fish's blood in his mouth Kiyan struck out towards the surface. Undulating like a serpent and beating the water with his tail Kiyan approached the surface with enough speed that he burst out of the water and was high in the air when he unfurled his wings.
Kiyan looked back down and saw that the water was boiling as the fish attempted to chase their prey into the air. Rage coursed through his veins, if an ice dragon has any that is, and Kiyan opened his mouth and loosed a roar that embodied he hatred for the horrid creatures. A cracking sound split the air as a large portion of the water almost instantly froze. Glancing down reminded Kiyan that he still held Singing Waves securely in his grasp. The distant shore only took a moment to reach as Kiyan's strong wings beat the air. Swinging low over the startled Sapphire, Kiyan gently let Singing Waves drop to the soft grassy ground. Wheeling back towards the open water Kiyan skimmed the waves until he reached the iceberg that had risen out of the ocean. Landing on the highest pinnacle, Kiyan could sense the frozen but still alive fish held captive in the iceberg. Pulling on the life energy of the nearest fish Kiyan's scales turned black until he released the poisonous energy in a devastating attack that turned the living fish to powder and shattered the iceberg into a billion fragments. Spreading his wings and flapping madly Kiyan escaped falling into the soiled water. Still feeling the lingering effects of the demon fish's life energy Kiyan unleashed a massive blast of icy flames that seemed to burn away the last of the poison. Kiyan landed heavily on the grassy clearing that overlooked the rocky coast below. His sudden arrival in an unfamiliar form caused Sapphire to jump. She quickly returned back to trying to heal Singing Waves from the effects of such a rapid climb to the surface.