DD2 Ch10: Jetski Jettaway

“Test?” Tsu’me asked, wide-eyed.

Rhen nodded. “Yep. We’re gonna fight some yetis. Arannet, you can officiate some delver paperwork, right?”

“Uh, yep, let me just…” she turned yet another ring on a different finger and it lit up with a blue glow. Hundreds of sheets of paper going off into the distance were silhouetted in the magic anima glow, and she shuffled through them, mumbling. “Yep, here it is!”

She grabbed hold of the blue outline and pulled a small stack of papers from the void, then handed them to Rhen. He distributed them to the four delvers. “Just so I’m not in violation of bylaw six four nine of the Dungeon Delver’s Safety Accord.” Rhen said with a smile.

Arannet nodded appreciatively. “You remembered the law number.”

“I’m very familiar with it… Anyway, Aki, can you run heat-support for the team?”

“My pleasure,” Aki said with a gentle bow.

Everyone signed off on the paperwork and Arannet came around with a little stamp she’d pulled from only she knew where to mark off the date and time they were received.

“Wyland, did you do make the thing for above water travel?” Rhen leaned back and shouted out the door.

“What thing? What?”

“The thing you said you were gonna make so we don’t all always have to submerge to cross the lake.

Wyland hobbled into the dining room, scratching his head with his mechanical arm. “Water thing…” He snapped his fingers. “The jet skis!”

“Yeah, that.”

“One basic prototype is done. Wanna see it?” he asked, his eyes alight with excitement.

“Do I ever.”

“Help me bring it down to the beach.”

Rhen followed him to his workshop—which was in dire need of an upgrade, he reminded himself. There amid the towers of parts and tinkerings and mechanical wonders was something that looked like a boat and a bicycle had a baby. The bottom was flat, but the front was narrow and angled like a boat normally would be. The sides were short, only a foot or so, and at the center was two lifted seats with pedals connected to a chain that ran to the back. The back was also lifted and indented to accommodate a propeller.

Wyland hopped into the boat and got on the front seat, holding the handlebars. “Steering left and right, just like a bike. Pedal to getter started, but give it a little anima,” he said, flicking the red crystal lodged at the center of the handlebar, “And this’ll take over the power part. The pedals will be able to lock in place. I intend to put some foot straps on there to help hold ya in place.”

“Where did you find that?” Rhen ask, pointing to the crystal he’d never seen in his dungeon before.

“I had it lyin around. Used one like it in the glider I made for Welsh.”

Rhen wagered a guess that the glider was now out of commission. “So, how many people can fit other than the two?”

“Two’s about as many as I’d put on it…”

Rhen nodded, heeding the old genius’ warning. “Can we take it out across the lake?”

Wyland shrugged. “I don’t see why not, other than it might explode.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound promising.”

“It’s a prototype. Haven’t even got her out on the water yet.”

“No time like the present. Jakira, you down to explode?”

“Only with you,” she said, smiling sweetly.

“All right, let’s save profiles.” Rhen turned to the new delving group and waved them into the rainforest chamber.

He let them be in awe of the node shield for a moment, then led them inside to save their anima profiles.

“And you promise not to hold us in limbo forever?” Alex asked.

Rhen scowled. “Of course.”

He called up the settings to show them all. There was a two-day timer on all respawns at the moment, which was about as fast as it could go. On their way back, Jakira and Derk carried the jetski down to the beachhead. Wyland help them cast it off into the shallows, and showed them how to use it one more time.

Rhen activated the red gem seated in the handlebar with his anima and a small display projected out.

[Jetski—Prototype Only!]

Speed: 30mph

Agility: 3/10 (She ain’t made to turn fast)

Cost: 5 anima/minute

Two people, max!

-----

Rhen hopped up into the seat, and Jakira climbed in behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He let himself the briefest moments of enjoying that feeling, then addressed the group.

“Aki will pull you most of the way across the lake and keep air pockets around you for breathing. I’ll jump in when he’s nearing the end of his timer and take you the rest of the way.”

The new delvers looked a bit nervous.

“We’ve done it a dozen times. It’s fine.”

“Yeah, but how is that little guy gonna carry all four of us?” Ulecks asked, pointing to Aki.

Aki dove into the shallows, then burst into a massive creature of colorful skin and fat tentacles. The group stared, mouths agape.

“Well, get in, timer’s wasting,” Rhen urged them.

They waded into the water and Aki snatched them up, protecting them in baubles of air. He took off over the edge and disappeared from sight. The last thing Rhen saw was the smiling faces of Alex and Ulecks.

“Shall we?” Rhen kicked the pedals into gear and the jetski labored forward.

“Remember to lean into the turns!” Wyland yelled from the shore.

Jakira pedaled too, but it seemed like they were hardly getting anywhere.

Suddenly, the red gem blinking once, twice, and the third time, glowed red hot. The jetski took off, pulling them both back in their seats. Rhen leaned forward, dropping his head low to make their profile smaller. Jakira did the same, laying her head against his back. He turned them onto the straight away of the long lake and whooped as water sprayed up into their faces.

This was the best thing ever!

“I sure hope Aki doesn’t leave us behind and we get chomped by a gigafish!” Jakira yelled over the wind.

Rhen had flashbacks to when Aki projected his aurora over the water, and indeed, gigafish breached in attempt to chomp it.

“Yeah, me too,” Rhen yelled back, some of the fun leeched from his body.

As if he’d heard them—of course he had—Aki appeared glowing bright pink below them. “Having fun?”

“So much fun, buddy!”

They raced across the lake, and just about four and a half minutes in, Aki called for backup. Jakira dove over the side, morphing into a deadly black octopus. She pounded the snot out of the attempted attacker, then took over towing the others. In just under ten minutes, they made it to the other end.

Fifteen miles of lake… It was crazy to Rhen to think that all this existed right under their feet, right under the forest outside. Incredible. He’d have to measure the rainforest chamber too, which wasn’t entirely explored itself.

He dragged the boat onto the sandy beachhead and mused to himself as the four-man party paddled for their lives to get ashore. Derk shook himself like a dog, splattering the rest of them with even more water. Aki emerged and presto-dried them by pulling the water out of their hair and clothes.

“That was awesome,” Alex said, grinning ear to ear—wait that was Ulecks. He’d have to keep track of that mole.

“What’s the plan?” Jakira asked, hefting her club.

“Jakira’s main bruiser, we follow her lead. Aki, run radiative heat on the party members who doesn’t have other means of keeping warm. Everyone else, show us what you’ve got.” Rhen issued the challenge and they grinned.

Tsu’me opened the pouch at her side and removed the three-string lyre she’d played at the inn. She cleared her throat with a little hiss. When she strummed, a bright light burst from her instrument and surrounded the party in a gold-glowing sphere.

“What lies beyond, we don’t know,

But if Derk gets his wish, there’ll be snow,

Led by a bruisy, fine fair maiden,

This girl’s a rough-tough Cadrian,

Blessed by her courage

Let us not be discouraged

Or torn apart by the chamber’s creepy monsters.”

When the song ended, Rhen felt his senses sharpen. He heard every little ripple against the banks, but it wasn’t distracting. He could see the tiny grains of sand on the beach, and smell the damp rocks of the walls. It was like his brain was working on overdrive.

Derk clapped, grinning, and Rhen felt he saw the motion before it even started. Was he predicting the movement?

“Ya missed a few rhymes in there,” Alex commented.

Tsu’me shrugged it off. “It’s the soul that counts, less the words.”

“What was that?” Rhen asked, flipping his hands back and forth, looking at the lines of his skin.

“Mental Accuity Prima III with an Ancilla II Heighten Senses and a Tertia I Engulf Party. It’ll last for about an hour.”

Rhen nodded appreciatively.

“You wanted to see what we’ve got. Is that meeting expectations?” She smiled slyly.

Rhen smirked. “So far.”

Jakira moved toward the tunnel opening, gesturing for the party to form up behind her. “Derk I want you protecting Aki and Tsu’me, make sure nothing gets to them.”

Alex and Ulecks flipped their weapons and twisted them with giddy anticipation. Rhen removed his own crescent blades, giving them a fancy flourish. The twins “oohed” at the challenge and Alex infused his blade with dark anima, then spun it between his fingers. The lines of anima blurred. When he stopped, the blade had become a fan with one tall point at the center. Each edge of the weapon looked deadly sharp and dripped with dark magic.

They were really showing off for him. They’d have to prove it in a fight, too, but Rhen had a feeling they hadn’t gotten this far with just fancy boasting and bragging.

The air dropped another few degrees and goosebumps lifted along Rhen’s arms, a shiver shooting down his spin. “Blub-up,” he called to Jakira.

With a quick glow and a comical pop they both became little chonkers. Cold resistant chonkers, who would be the best suited for fighting in the alpine environment. Rhen’s fingers felt a little too big for the grips of his crescent blades, but better that than losing them to frostbite.

The bright white of the new chamber reflected off the curve in the wall, and Derk clapped quietly to himself. “I can smell the snow.”

They rounded the bend and Jakira stopped, her eyes wide. “Rhen, it’s amazing!”

The mountainous majesty beyond was just as majestic as the last time he’d seen it, though there were deeper clouds hanging over one of the peaks that looked like it might be dumping snow. The crystals far above in the ceiling lit up the pine forest that carved through the valley, making the water and snow sparkle.

There was a thump-snarl that Rhen remembered from his last encounter. He nudged Jakira’s elbow, pulling her from her awe-struck ogling. “Incoming.”

She hefted her club, the gems in the handle glowing in anticipation of leeching lifeforce away from its bludgeoned quarry. “Ready on me.”

A clawed hand groped the wall of the tunnel and hot breath misted in from the left. The ten-foot horror pulled around the corner, and the sight of its face told Rhen to run. It shook him to the core, rattled his bones, and made him fear the inevitable death that would come.

No!

Rhen had killed one before. They weren’t that scary. They were seven experienced delvers, and this was just one little yeti!

He banished the feeling but when he looked to the others, he saw the same shocked fear in their faces. Jakira’s lower lip quivered, and her grip faltered on her club.

Rhen shook her shoulder. “Defender’s cry!”

Jakira screamed, and though it sounded more like terror, the emboldening effect washed over him. There was no way they’d lose to a stink-ass gangly think like this yeti.

The others shook off the scare and regained their battle-ready faces.

“Get into the chamber!” Jakira charged forward, slamming her club into the monster’s hand.

The yeti howled and retracted its hand. It fell back a few paces and Rhen advanced on it, sucking down a huge breath as he did.

“Flames!” he yelled and exhaled the spell onto the monster.

It’s patches of fur went up like dry kindling and the yeti howled in pain. It rolled into the snow, extinguishing itself. Rhen jumped over the edge and slid down a few feet to where the creature lay. With his enhanced senses he could see the muscles twitching in its legs, ready to deliver a powerful kick if he approached.

Rhen held out his hand and laced tremor blast with curse of anima rot, then fired broadly at the creature, hoping to disable any surprise syntials it had in wait. The shot shook the snow dusting the trees around them and made the ground tremble. The monster writhed and curled in on itself.

Ulecks dashed forward, daggers in hand.

“Wait!” Rhen called, but the eager delver was committed to the strike.

The monster caught his arm with a roar, his blades stopped short of puncturing its chest. It roared, strings of spittle glowing green with the creature’s hot breath. Ulecks gasped, trying to look away from the spell. A black fan whirled through the air and sliced into the creature’s wrist. The yeti tossed Ulecks over him and down the hill. He rolled into a thick tree and stopped with a whuffof air.

The yeti gained its feet and ripped the fan-blade free. Jakira slid down the hill and leapt off a boulder with a heavy downward swing, the colorful feathers of her armor glistening with snowmelt. She bashed the yeti’s horn clean off, and made it stagger before sliding into the muddy snow. Rhen dashed in while the monster was off-kilter and sliced at its exposed left hamstring. It dropped to its knee with a roar.

Jakira whirled around bringing her club into the monster’s mid-back. There was a loud crackand the creature slumped forward into the snow. Jakira gave its head a couple more heavy hits before she decided it was dead.

“Ulecks!” the twin rushed down the hill to his brother.

“I’m fine,” the kid said weakly, the air still knocked from his chest. He turned to the side and vomited up all Jakira’s hard work into the snow. “That was the worstsmelling thing I’ve ever smelled in my life.”

Rhen extended his hand to the young delver. “You okay?”

He nodded and accepted his help up.

“If a monster is down, it might not be down. Bruisers lead because they can take a hit. Let Jakira test it next time.” He patted some of the snow from Ulecks’ shoulders.

“Yes, sir.”

Rhen looked up to Jakira. “All right, what’s next?”