Were it so easy, so easy as she had made it sound.
Dozens of men dead in the blink of an eye. They weren’t dead, but the oowa, with his great wings, had dragged them into The Abyss. The Abyss is the realm that exists in the depths of every shadow. In theory, their souls could be recovered, but their bodies would be dust before they could be found. And the souls, they would be empty shells of who they were.
They were Kazarian’s men, and by extension, Sanna’s. Her plan had to change a little bit. We stand on Kazarian’s ship, waiting to learn the next step. She ordered all personnel to remain under light. The oowa had a very basic strategy - take everyone who stood in shadow.
And my idea became her plan: fusion. Drakon would join as soon as he saw what was going on and Kazarian would stay back to provide command from the ground. And the four of us would take on the oowa.
Sanna is the first. She taps her emerald gem and from a pale pink burst of light, a majestic beast emerges. Gold and white flowing fur, red eyes, a creature that stands tall and proud on four muscular legs. A long flowing tail. Rehyars, they are called. They can’t fly, technically, but with they way they’re built, it doesn’t matter. They don’t need solid land to leap as high as they do. Rarer than dragons and they only accept masters they consider worthy. Hers is named called Snow.
Sanna whispers an indecipherable phrase. The words are meant to ensure that her and Snow’s mind are one. And in an instant, a fiery emerald aura envelopes her. The shape of the aura bears a faint resemblance to the rehyar’s head. Akin to warriors wearing bear or wolf headdresses. A cloud platform forms beneath her feet, allowing her to hover. Fly, really. And then, she ascends.
Drakon sees that, and as expected, he fuses. He becomes a storm cloud, crackling with electricity, on the haunches of Calamity. They sink into the shadows to find the oowa.
Solo, either Sanna or Calamity and Drakon by extension, could bring down cities. Destroy fleets. Countries, even. But to take on an elder-class sprite, in an primal oowa’s body? An oowa that has been around for millennia? I have my doubts.
And with Maria, her kardyu is a horned sea serpent, large enough to swallow men whole, with breath poisonous to melt flesh off bone. Locking eyes with it is a surefire way to become paralyzed. Its scales are a mix of iridescent blue and red, beautiful in an horrifying kind of way. Its horns aren’t necessarily horns, but more so, antlers. And it has long wispy eyebrows. Its head is less like a snake and more like a great lizard. Oniare, a member of the species is called. Hers is named Placid. For as violent as the serpent looks, it is remarkably calm. Lazy, as Maria says. Despite the name, it is capable of great violence.
How can a water snake fight a flying death owl? Simple, oniares can breathe fire, ice, shoot jets of water, and can generate arcs of electricity. Some have been observed to create waterspouts. How, about any of that? No one knows and no can know.
Maria dives into the water and resurfaces with a deep blue aura. She looks to Sanna for command. Sanna shouts to move to the lighthouse, some few hundred yards away.
Meanwhile, I release Helio, my chimpron. A great ape with hair as rough as steel wool, with sharp metallic claws. He’s the product of generations of experimentation with gems. Capable of controlling earth, steel, and vegetation. And through fusion, I gain access to his powers.
And I fuse not a second too late. Moments later, the oowa and Calamity emerge from a shadow near the lighthouse. The oowa is on fire and Calamity is bleeding. Despite that, all three don’t look any worse for wear.
From there, both Calamity and the oowa were hit with ice. Drakon’s cloud envelops Calamity, the electricity destroying all incoming ice. The barrage slows the oowa, just enough.
Sanna raises her cybernetic arm, fully charged, and from the palm, shoots three arcs of green energy at the oowa. One lands, but it was enough. One arc is lethal for most humans and kardyus. All the arc did was draw its attention, didn’t even enrage it. The oowa dives towards Sanna. It needs to descend a couple hundred feet more before me and Maria could hit it.
Sanna flies towards the ocean. Calamity is a little slower than the oowa, even with it being slowed down. Then, the Raptor squadron intervenes and distracts it. Moments later, the fighter jets bombard it with stun rockets. A last minute change, presumably by Kazarian.
It worked.
Elder or not, that much firepower within a couple seconds will cripple anything.
It falls with its body locked. Calamity grabs, and he digs his fangs into the nape of the neck, and from there, Drakon sends electricity through Calamity to keep the oowa paralyzed.
Calamity sets it on hard ground in the sunlight, close to the sandy beach, and the three of us rush towards them. Sanna tells Kazarian to get the fleet moving. She makes the decision for the fleet to take the southside exit so the fleet can slip behind mountainous islands to the southeast.
We don’t know if the oowa will regain its faculties once Calamity, and Drakon, let go. Calamity, I’m sure, can hold as long as needed. However, there’s a time limit for fusion, and it’s already been a few minutes.
Assuming once the oowa’s eyes are open, its time to disappear and regroup. Sanna tells Kazarian to send over an arehna, gyrpreys, and psyfoxes. An arehna is a bipedal, humanoid kardyu that looks vaguely like a short, stout old man with a hunchback and a turtlish face. A powerful, powerful psychic. This group of psychics would create a psychic barrier, the arehna mostly. The gyrpreys are to evacuate us the moment the oowa regains consciousness.
The arehna looks calm. Its eyes slightly glazed over. A sure-sign that we’re doing fine. If it had an intense, focused stare, it would mean trouble, being that it has clairvoyant ability.
Maria deactivates and recalls Placid. The arehna looks more alert. Maria releases Placid again, the arehna returns to being relaxed. Huh, Maria says.
A sea serpent that could easily constrict a jet, let alone a giant oowa, and that strikes fast? Not surprised that the arehna feels more secure with its presence.
Me and Sanna deactivate, with no change with the arehna. Helio and Snow stay, ready to strike the oowa.
It will take at least another twenty, thirty minutes for full evacuation. Drakon maybe has ten.
Those ten minutes flew by, Drakon deactivates and hops off Calamity. The damaged ships have yet to leave. Still the oowa remains locked, with its eyes closed. No one is sure how long Calamity can hold its grip.
A few ships remain and the oowa has its eyes half-open now. No other body movement. Maria left with a gyrpey, but she left Placid behind. Often, Placid roams the seas for prey, and it would return to Maria hours or days later. Today, though, the arehna will teleport it to the top deck of the Berserker.
Sanna, Drakon, and I remain. Another few minutes and Sanna can reactive fusion again. No one says anything. Waiting for the all-clear from Kazarian.
The seconds drag on, the minutes turn into eternity.
We’re good, Kazarian’s rough voice comes through Sanna’s radio. A sigh of relief, but we’re not in the clear yet.
Placid, as capable as it is, slithers close to the arehna. It wants nothing to do with the oowa. Sanna climbs atop Snow, ready to disappear in a burst of energy. Snow starts to radiate. And I recall Helio and climb on top of a gyrprey.
Calamity drops the oowa from its mouth and escapes the barrier, and then the oowa emits a weak shadow pulse. It only causes the barrier to shimmer.
Sanna says, we scramble on a count of three.
One. The oowa emits another pulse, stronger this time. It breaks a hole that’s patched quickly.
Two. The oowa snaps its eyes open.
Three.
Poof.