Bladewarriors Book 1: Refresh
Surface Tension

Myst's eyes rested on the destroyed ruins of what was once the ship they were riding. The debris of the vessel floated, scattered across the nearby ocean, a chilling reminder of the scene she had envisioned the night before. There in the waves, already, were a few chunks of ice. But the haunting portent of what was to be had not yet come fully. As she stared out, she could tell this day and this battle were not yet over – though how much time they had was uncertain, and how to prevent it was unclear.

The nymph spun her head upward, gazing at the dark layer of foreboding gloom that hung overhead. The gray clouds showed no intention of parting. There was no sign that the sun would grace them with its light that day. The nymph frowned, shaking her head slowly as she stared up at the drab veil. How was she supposed to stop this? What was she supposed to do?

"Myst…"

The blue-haired girl turned her gaze down as Flare called out to her, tilting her eyes toward the sea, and the lone figure perched out amongst the waves. The nymph tightened her grip on her blade, furrowing her brow as she stared out at the squid who grinned back at her.

"What sort of fool swims straight into the shark's teeth?" The Sentry chuckled, an odd sound given the gurgly nature of the beast's words and voice.

The nymph didn't respond, taking a step forward until all her friend's were behind her. Out there, in the middle of the ocean, anything they would do would be close to meaningless against The Sentry. Frost was perhaps the only one of them with anything to contribute, and Myst wasn't entirely sure how much the boy could manage.

"Have you all come seeking death?" The Sentry gurgled, grinning wickedly as he undulated upon the surface of the sea, moving with the waves. "A wise person might have jumped ship when they had the opportunity. But I suppose fools are always quick to rush to their deaths."

"Not true." Frost spoke up, his hair and clothes dripping wet from his unintended swim. "Speaking as a fool of incredible caliber, I'll have you know I gladly flee from death at every given opportunity."

"None of us intend to die today." Flare added poignantly, forcing himself to his feet.

"I'm afraid plankton such as yourselves don't have the liberty of deciding when they are consumed by a beast of the sea." The Sentry countered, narrowing his gaze at the boy. "You're welcome to struggle, but the outcome was determined the second you four were senseless enough to wander out into the middle of my realm."

Myst lowered her head, clenching her eyes shut as she gripped her blade so tight her fist began to shake. She saw no way to bring about a change to what she had foreseen, but she was not ready to accept it. A defiant burning swelled up within her gullet, the same feeling she had gotten when faced with the inevitable death she thought would come from her first meeting with The Serpent. This couldn't be the end. They had just begun – they had barely started! She had just come to know these four – to call them friends… to have friends! She wouldn't let this be their last day in the realms. She wouldn't let it end this way!

Myst flung her head up as she launched herself forward, leaving the supportive surface of Frost's ice, stretching her legs out to the sea as he eyes narrowed in and focused on the beast seeking to devour them. The squid's beady black eyes turned to her, the grin on his face slowly fading as the girl did not plunge into the water.

The nymph's foot touched down on the surface of the ocean, pressing against it as if it were as solid as the land she lived on. Myst crashed across the water, kicking up a spray behind her as she moved toward the Sentry, screaming in frustration and rage as she lifted her blade, each of her footsteps landing gently against the surface of the ocean, failing to fall into the sea.

The blue-haired girl fell to her knees as she neared the beast, her body sliding across the waves as she slashed at the monster's legs. The squid leaped upward, dodging the attack as the nymph skidded beneath him, twisting her head to watch the beast as he passed overhead. The Sentry turned its eyes down, following her movements curiously as well, but grinning confidently nonetheless.

The Sentry bent down, angling himself toward the waves as he prepared to dive back into his element. The nymph spun toward him as he neared the surface, raising her sword pointlessly – it'd never reach him below the water.

Problem was: he didn't make it below the water.

The squid grunted, letting out a painful moan as he crashed hard into the top of the sea, slamming against its surface as if the ocean were as solid as land. His body crumpled as he fell flat against the water, the waves undulating slightly from the force of his strike, but leaving him stranded atop them.

The nymph wasted no time as she saw the beast crash against the hardened water, unable to escape to the depths. She lifted her sword, swinging down at the squid as he lay prone on the surface, finding the look of disbelief swirling in the beast's beady black eyes.

The Sentry rolled to the side, barely avoiding the slashing weapon as it, too, crashed to the ocean's surface as if the sea were solid, clanging as it struck. He had never seen such a thing – water that could not be broken. He spun his eyes toward the witch; what magic was she using? He leapt away, landing against the waves, feet hitting the ground-like surface once again.

"What is this?" The Sentry seethed, staring down at his dominion – its clutches so close, and yet beyond his reach.

"Are you familiar with the term 'surface tension'?' The witch questioned, rising as she glared wrathfully at him.

"Surface tension?" The beast gurgled, repeating the phrase. "It's a characteristic of water that causes it to resist intrusion. But this is…"

"This… is my sword's Surface Tension." Myst stated, waving her sword at the ocean. "The ability to make any liquid surface as solid as stone."

"Impossible…" The squid turned an eye to his sea. There was no way this girl could control the waves and the water to a greater extent than he could. "Impossible!"

"Afraid not." Myst spat, shifting her weight. "Let's see how deadly the shark is on 'dry land'."

The Aqua Sabress dashed forward, sprinting across the solidified ocean as she encroached on the squid. She swung out at the beast, forcing him to dodge away. There was one limitation the nymph had failed to relay to the beast – a flaw in the ability she knew would not remain hidden forever. If she had any chance to change the future, it was this moment. She had to make good use of it.

Myst swung out again attempting to catch the squid as he landed, but the beast was as spry as ever, quickly pushing away from her blade again. The nymph gave chase, attempting to keep the beast on the run, trying not to allow him a moment to think. The beast had no defense – no weapon of his own. All he could do was dodge.

The Sentry growled, weaving out of the way of another of the witch's attacks, seething at the girl's assault. He could do nothing. The beast flung his eyes to the intensified surface of the ocean, glaring at its cohesion. With the surface the way it was, he couldn't even raise a counter-attack due to—

The beast's eyes widened as he dodged another attack, a sudden thought inspiring him. The ability the girl was using was an extension of an inherent property of water. Surface tension was what caused the liquid to feel solid when you struck it from high above – a resistance to outside forces. But when one came from below…

The squid grunted, slipping away from another of the girl's attacks as a wicked grin curled his lips. He leapt away, attempting to gain a small amount of distance on the girl. While still hanging in the air, the Sentry thrust a hand toward the water, stretching out his power. Grinning malevolently, the beast threw his arm up as he landed.

The surface of the ocean bent, swelling a moment into a growing protrusion before it finally burst up, spewing into the air like a geyser. Myst scrambled to a stop, eyeing the fountain before her. Pushing herself backwards as it sprayed into the air. The surface around the fountain began to deform, undulating normally, suddenly outside her control. She leapt away, groaning as she realized her brief moment had passed – the squid had discovered the flaw.

The beast laughed, feeling accomplished as the girl fled away. The water beneath his feet still held him above the waves, but as he stared at his fountain, he realized it didn't matter any more. He had his means of negating the girl's ability.

While surface tension held strong to objects and forces trying to enter the water, the ability stemmed from the desire of water to stay together, and not break apart. As such, the flaw in the girl's strength was the water itself. By having the liquid supply the necessary force, it was a simple matter to negate the intensified cohesion. Still better, as he stared at the spray from his small fountain, he found another weakness. As the droplets fell back to the ocean, they too distorted the water's coherence.

"Seems your power isn't as debilitating as I thought." The Sentry spouted, laughing as he turned his eyes to the resentful glare of the young witch. "Now then, plankton, let's see what sort of fight you really have in you."

The Sentry swung both arms up, summoning his magic as two massive jets of fluid erupted from the ocean beside him. Grinning, the beast moved his arms outward, commanding the jets to swirl around to the sides of the witch as they cascaded toward the girl, carrying with them a torrential deluge. The nymph spun her head to each side, eyeing the approaching geysers as she gritted her teeth. She waved her arms outward, directing her palm and her sword toward each converging gush of liquid, calling forth her own ability to send the water spilling out around her.

The Sentry smirked, rushing forward as the chaotic surge of water sprayed out all around the witch, briefly blocking him from her view. He balled his slimy, gray fingers into a fist, summoning forth his own physical strength as he leapt through the spray of water, crashing through the layer of liquid to find the nymph's shocked face as he thrust his fist toward her.

It was not the water witch who was battered, though, as a sudden sphere of ice crashed through the water to the side, speeding its way through the air to smash into the squid's head. The Sentry shouted out in pain as he was knocked to the side by the force, crashing to the solidified – though noticeably softer than before – water at the nymph's feet as his water jets suddenly dropped. Despite the disruption to the tension of the water, it seemed the close proximity to the nymph was keeping her skill active.

The Sentry gurgled, turning his eyes toward the sheet of ice that floated upon his waves. He had almost forgotten about the frosty fool and the other two companions of this girl. But it appeared they hadn't forgotten about him, and weren't entirely intent to stand and watch.

The squid grinned. If that were the case, than they could join in.

The Sentry thrust a hand toward the bobbing chunk of ice, forcing the water to swell up on all sides, the liquid forming into the shape of a shark's mouth, ready to snap down on the warrior's standing within its maw.

"No!"

The witch screamed out, spinning as she slashed at the surging fluid. A deforming blade of her sword's energy erupted from the weapon's edge, hurtling threw the air. A moment later, the pulse struck the water-beast's attack, causing it to shatter into a cloud of mist.

The Sentry seethed, turning eyes back to the blue-haired nymph, agitated. She was troublesome, to say the least. If he really wanted to deal with these children, it'd be best to eliminate her first. The beast grinned devilishly as he derived the perfect means of doing just that.

Lifting both arms up, the squid curled them around himself. Following the gesture, the water on either side of the beast rose up, breaking through the girl's Surface Tension to wrap around the monster. Clutched in the grip of the waves once more, the squid quickly sank below the surface, turning toward the girl perched above him. The beast propelled himself through the water, spinning beneath the nymph's feet a moment as she turned her gaze downward. Then, in a quick a decisive surge, the beast's arm shot up, punching through the girl's ability to wrap his mitts around her ankle.

The Sentry could hear the muffled sound of the girl's shout through the water as he tugged her down, dragging her into the water. He quickly turned, using his mastery of the waves to rocket into the deep, tugging the girl down with him. The nymph thrashed violently a moment as they descended before finally swinging her sword down at him. The squid quickly released her, pulling away with incredible speed now that he was immersed in the sea. The beast circled back as the girl began to swim toward to the surface, gliding in from behind her, wrapping his arms about the girl.

Myst gasped, letting a few bubbles of much needed air escape her throat as a pair of arms reached out and took hold of her own. The nymph kicked, trying to pull away from the beast once more as the water itself began to constrict around her, forcing her down with the monster. The girl tried desperately to fight back, trying to will the water away from her, but in the increasing pressure of the ocean, against the power of the Sentry, the nymph could do very little against the forces dragging her down. She felt her breath dwindling as she turned an eye to the surface, eyeing the floating iceberg upon which her friends were perched. Was this it then?

The nymph struggled harder, trying to pull free as the squid dragged her deeper and deeper. She couldn't die there. She wasn't supposed to die there. Her vision had shown her – no, not what she had seen. She just knew. Now wasn't her time to die! But as the air in her lungs grew thin and her body was pulled deeper, she wasn't sure how to prevent it anymore. Struggle as she might, there was no way for her to reach the surface.

Desperate, suffocating beneath the waves, the nymph gave in, clenched her eyes shut, and opened her mouth wide… and took in a breath.

Myst's eyes shot open as her lungs filled. But there was no pain of drowning – there was no agony from lack of air. She was breathing! The nymph's eyes shot to the sword clutched in her hand, eyeing it thankfully. She had no doubt that the weapon was the one to thank for this miracle. Gripping down on the blade's handle, the panic from her mind clearing, she let herself fall limp, pretending to be drained.

This battle wasn't over yet.

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