To Fly the Soaring Tides

The scenic route turned out to be much faster and around noon they had made it almost to the base of Fount Salt. It surprised Cira to see how well hidden Nanri’s megaliths were. The way the eroded shelves of salt jutted out with a sparse curtain of waterfalls made it so the New Shore District could only be seen from up close.

As Breeze Haven approached the massive titanium structure, everyone had gathered in the yard to marvel at it.

“Typical Earth Vein…” Triton muttered. Then he noticed Cira glance at him with a grin, “I mean, uh… What a marvelous structure!”

“Good save, Tito,” Cira squinted her eyes at him, “I almost had to throw you off.”

“Eh?!” He stepped back a few feet until bumping into someone. He turned his neck and was face to face with the Titan Witch smiling like she was the day he first saw her.

“Cira’s just kidding.” She chuckled and gave him a nudge.

“Don’t worry,” Cira gave him an assured nod, “you’re critical to this stage of the plan.”

“Right…” He wasn’t convinced.

The docks were built to receive large orders of metal on a daily basis, so they were able to get close enough for Cira to conjure a short dock and everybody made it over. She had everybody wait a moment then ran downstairs to the mooring bay. Once she was inside the door, she placed her hand on a glyph inscribed on the wall and channeled mana into it.

A hole on the opposite side opened up, giving Cira a view of the New Shore District from just below the upper dock. In the daylight she could see her skiff docked up against a platform with its shiny new magic circles. This was one of the things Cira stayed up late to work on, as it was also an integral part of the plan now, unfortunately. She had already loaded it up with everything she’d need to finish out her contract with Pappy, assuming everything went well.

She rose above the railing to rejoin her companions, “Hop in if you want. Should fit through most doors.”

Nanri happily obliged taking her usual seat behind her, then the rest felt like they had to, or they’d be left behind. The witch looked back at Breeze Haven, “You’re not just going to leave it there, right? We’ve been missing the times when cargo ships come to drop off materials, but they’ll see it if it’s here for long.”

“Of course not. Breeze Haven, return!” The island began slowly floating away, “We’ll be taking a different way back.”

“No way, it can do that?!” Nanri was amazed.

Lomp, not so much, “Is that going back to Uren? What if it hits another ship on its way in?!”

Cira cocked her head, “Why would it do that?”

“Hey, what’s all this metal for?” Kate cut in, refusing to be impressed.

It had been nearly a week since Nanri moved any Titanium, and it had really built up. Generally, they would load it as low as possible to expand down, but there were only so many docks. Cira was also looking at Nanri who seemed hesitant to answer.

She looked down and shook her head, “I don’t know anymore…”

However, soon they were within the walls of the New Shore District. Any good will Cira had built with Kate probably went straight out the window as they passed the endless hallway of prison cells. The faint glow of luminescent moss lit her face, and one could see her taking no effort to hide the disgust. The builder noticeably hung her head in shame.

Cira wanted to say something, but no words came. There was no denying what she built, and it wasn’t possible to justify her ignorance, no matter how much she’d reflected. The sorcerer was never one to lie to make someone feel better, so the only thing she could think of was to take Nanri’s hand as a comforting gesture. Wait, this is weird thing to do, isn’t it? She’s not my daughter.

The witch looked up and gave her a troubled smile, which Cira reflected before awkwardly letting go and returning to steer the boat.

Triton got bored of looking around with wide eyes and started messing with the sail, “Seriously, what the hell have you done to my boat? What is this sail even made of?”

“Let go of that!” Cira shot him a glare, “I bet you would like to know what it’s made of.”

“Oh, come on, I’m a changed man! Look at me!” he held up his spear, letting the sleeves of his cloak hang down. Admittedly, the four of them looked like the founding members of a strange cult.

“You’re right. Perhaps I should have spent more time on aesthetics.”

Soon they had made it to the last door and Cira molded it open just enough to slip through, revealing the busy city lights.

“Holy crap!” Triton stood up, “We’re in Nymphus!”

His prison buddy also couldn’t contain her wonder as she stared up at thousands of dreamy light artifacts, “I’ve never been here before…” The bustle of the city could be heard, and they saw people pass by down through an alleyway, illuminated by the pavement’s glow. The door behind them was on the furthest side of the city against the cavern’s wall.

Cira took them towards the street, following a particular scent that could not be ignored. Nay, once a sorcerer decides her path, she must not waver. This is how it was, and how it always will be.

“Where are we going? I thought we needed prima salt.” Nanri asked.

Turning back, Cira replied with a smile, “It’s a good time to stop for lunch.”

It hadn’t been nearly as long as the elevator would have taken, but nobody objected. They took the boat down the road as it had plenty of room. People cleared the path as they did in Uren, but it was for much different reason than fear of witches. Many of them had tears in their eyes or bowed, expressing their gratitude to the ‘Holy Spring Witch’ or the ‘Salty Saint Witch’.

Her fruitless endeavors in Uru had spread, which frustrated her to no end. Nobody was cured and then she left. Then combined with those that witnessed the stampede, she found a simple trip down the street to be incredibly uncomfortable.

“Wow, you sure are popular here, Witch.” Kate said sardonically.

Cira just rolled her eyes, but Nanri lit up, “You should have seen her! There was a stampede, and she saved the whole city! Not a single person died! She even made all the nymphs go away!”

“Not all of them…” Cira muttered, looking over at the gem on her shoulder. Nina stared back then fluttered out onto the bow.

“The hell?!” Chip shouted. “You have a pet nymph?!”

“Haven’t seen her yet? Nina is my friend.” She smiled at the nymph. Hey, I do have a friend! I can’t take her away from the salt though… Her smile fell temporarily until they arrived at a food stand in the center of town.

Unbeknownst to Cira, this establishment was famous across the Gandeux skies. Their storefront was one of the biggest in town and stood right behind the stall. On top of the sparkling building there was a bright, flashing worm. Salt was easy to buy from afar, but this was where open-minded nobles from all down the Boreal went to get Mephisto’s World Famous Wormwich.

The ones her and Nanri made just couldn’t compare, so she pulled the skiff right up to his stall.

“Oh, Saintess, it’s an honor to serve you my wormwiches! They’re on the house.” While dressed much nicer, this old man didn’t look far off from Pappy, but his accent was clear. Still, this man had a glint in his eye like he’d toiled a century just for the opportunity to give his wormwiches to Cira.

“Sir, please allow me to pay,” she held up a hand, “I intend to purchase a lot.”

“I won’t hear it.” He said in a surprisingly stern tone, “if it weren’t for you, I’d have died in the street.”

In the end, she only asked for fourteen sandwiches. Two for everyone sounded fair to her. Don’t be fooled—that’s a lot of food, not that the proprietor minded. She secretly hoped she’d end up with a few halves at the end. The old man yelled back to the restaurant and hardly ten minutes later, Cira had a huge platter of food.

She thanked the man profusely and on their way out, she used magic to sneak a mithril doubloon onto his table for him to notice next time he looked down.

One of her side pouches today was full of goodies from Breeze Haven’s treasury, for the plan required treasure at a couple points to ensure success.

They rose above the city and her passengers were once again dazzled. Cira, too, still enjoyed it. Descending from the Last Step before, she was certain her view of Nymphus would sour, but of all places on the rock, it wasn’t bad. She took a bite of her current favorite reason, but the bed she’d slept in was better than Breeze Haven’s. Cira tried not to think about it, but she knew it would keep her awake at night as she eventually made it back to the Boreal.

This city was also where she met Nanri, who turned into a surprisingly pleasant companion. She was one of Earth Vein’s dreaded witches, but she had a kind heart and was eager to learn. Cira could brag about her father to her. They had even gotten to do magic and make potions together, broken into the forbidden archive together.

But it was so much fun… She couldn’t help but think that. I really hope she forgives me if we meet again one day.

They made it outside the city and Cira brought them. She got out, pulling the orichalcum staff out of her ring. She tapped it on the ground a couple of times with a focused look before walking away to repeat the process in a few different spots.

“Uhhh,” Triton looked at her, “What are you doing?”

“Watch and learn, smuggler.” The boat started drifting towards her accompanied by five confused faces. She put one leg up to step onto it, reclaiming her seat at the miniature helm. The pale blue ring of Conduit floated above Cira to help her let go of the Orichalcum and have it hover to the side. “How long did you spend crawling around in that cave?”

“Two days… and I wasn’t crawling—!” They felt a tremor and Triton grabbed onto the boat with a start.

A circle formed in the paved stone beneath them before gradually lowering. At the same time a wall raised around the hole for safety. Wouldn’t want anyone to get curious.

There was a small commotion, but Cira sat there with a smug grin. This continued for about twenty minutes until they were well into darkness. She had to cast Lamplight to see, “Okay, I admit. This is taking longer than I expected.”

“Where’s all this salt going, anyway?” Lomp asked, “You’re not dumping it off the bottom of the island, are you?”

“It’s condensing to the sides,” Cira clacked her staff against it, and sharp sound like metal on metal echoed.

“And you’re going to fix it when you’re done, right?”

She only offered him a sidelong stare before the grinding abruptly stopped, plunging them into a darkness so deep her Lamplight couldn’t reach. So, to remedy the situation she conjured her signature blue sun.

The entire chamber burst with blue light, revealing thousands of nymphs.

“God dammit, Witch, are you serious?!” Triton had a foot up on the side and his hands planted firmly on his head in disbelief.

“Heh.” Cira brought the skiff down a path it once travelled to the bottom of the nymph queen’s nest. “My, look at all this prima salt. I’ve got just the thing.”

A nondescript, regular looking wooden barrel appeared on the ground. The lid magically popped off and spun around on the ground like a coin before falling.

Most looked at her with exasperation. Then the wind picked up and a ball of mana formed above the barrel. The sound of dust blowing around got louder as more accumulated. Soon, the gale had become violent storm twisting around them. They were within a cyclone of salt that ripped through the air, drowning out the confused voices. Nymphs started blowing in and looked like they were having fun riding it like a current.

Once the white veil had encompassed them completely, it all started flowing into the barrel, like it was being sucked down a drain. Cira had to be careful to push the nymphs away, but this only took a few minutes until the wind died down. Cira waved her hand and the lid plopped back onto the barrel. She lifted it up and set it down right in the center of the skiff.

“Sadly, I can’t put it back in the ring.” She lamented.

“Are you crazy?!” Lomp cried.

“Oh, she’s definitely insane.” Kate agreed.

“No, I mean, you can’t just take all that! Earth Vein is going to be pissed!” He was pulling his hair out, “You’re no better than a smuggler!”

“I disagree on all counts.” Cira stated, “Isn’t this place off limits? They’ll never know, then everyone will be saved. It’s a win, win. Now let’s get back.”

They were still on the paved Nymphus circle, so she brought the whole thing back up, extinguishing the blue sun and slowly rising back into the darkness. Nobody else seemed to notice the chorus of little wings flapping in their wake.

“I don’t believe it…” Triton slumped back, “How much does that even hold? We shouldn’t be able to fly with all that.”

“As much mana as I can put out in one sitting and it’s as heavy as an empty barrel,” she took a bottle out of her pocket and drank it, “I don’t know if goes by weight or volume though.”

“I thought you were a witch…?” Kate looked at her with frustrated confusion, “And you’re stealing from Earth Vein?”

Nanri held a finger up and cut in with her usual cheery tone, “But she’s not just any witch!”

In the dim light, Cira didn’t notice that Nanri’s smile was somewhat conflicted this time, “Now who’s ready to hunt ghosts?” Her gaze was on the darkness above.