Child of Time (49 page)

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 do 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 the 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.

“How is he?” Kiyan hardly had the strength to stand
after he had shifted back to a human form.

“I can barely sense his energy.” Kiyan closed his
eyes and saw what Sapphire was talking about. Far different than
the bright flashes of blue energy when he bent, the limp elf before
Kiyan only had a faint glimmer of energy about him now. Physically
he should be able to heal but I don't think he has the energy
required to start healing. Sapphire sounded worried and rightly so.
Singing Waves was covered in cuts and bruises. Internally he was
suffering from the bends as the nitrogen dissolved in his blood at
the depth was returning to tiny bubbles of gasses in his blood.
Kiyan may have been physically exhausted but his mind still buzzing
with the energy he had so rapidly absorbed from the water as a
dragon. He placed a hand of the dying elf's chest and began to
transfer the energy into the depleted vessel. Kiyan heard Sapphire
gasp as the warm glow spread over Singing Wave's body healing his
ailments and returning him to health. As the last of Kiyan's
excessive energy drained away he felt Singing Wave's chest move as
he gasped for air. After that everything became a blur and Kiyan
slipped into a much needed sleep.

Chapter Nineteen: Shadows

As Kiyan neared consciousness he became vaguely aware
of Luke engaged in conversation with someone. The memories of the
last day came flooding back as well as the sensation of an
uncomfortable lump of earth below his shoulder blade. His head was
still a little hazy so Kiyan chose to simply make the bump
disappear rather than move.

“Well, well, good morning sleepy head.” Luke's voice
sent a twinge of annoyance through Kiyan's mind as he drew closer
to a wakeful state and farther from the comfortable drowsy
feeling.

“Oh come now. You can't sleep forever.” Luke again
triggered the annoyed feeling. “You have already slept two days and
three nights and let me tell you they have long days and nights
around here.” This last intrusion swept a few of the cobwebs out of
Kiyan's head. His limbs twitched as he realized what Luke had said.
Eyes opened and found that a few saplings had grown around him and
provided a snug abode while he slept.
Luke or Sapphire must have
grown it while I was gone.
Kiyan mused to himself before the
memories of the proceeding events clarified themselves.

“Singing Waves!” Kiyan sat up too rapidly and he held
his head until his surroundings stopped spinning.

“I'm fine thanks to you.” Kiyan focused and saw
Singing Waves sitting across the room from him. “It took a bit to
convince Sapphire that it wasn't you that tried to kill me. I woke
up a day and a half before you.” Kiyan could see that there wasn't
a trace of the ordeal on the water elf. “I went back in and told
the city about those creatures although I think you may have killed
them all. Our scouts haven't found anything but the dead bodies of
thousands of them. We raised the dome just in case though. Just as
a precaution.” The water elf stood up and offered a hand to Kiyan.
Kiyan found he didn't need the assistance but took it anyways.