Mystic Heart Odyssey

Part 5: The Cult of the Crimson Isles

Chapter 22

What was that about rest and relaxation…? Looks like there’ll be one more ‘slight’ delay before that!

-Llox

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The following day, the group packed up and began their descent down the mountain. The Order supplied them with new bags and plenty of supplies, though Lykou and Kuna were still relieved to have their old belongings back. A group of higher ranking Order members traveled slightly ahead of them to clarify the situation, and a number of others were dispatched across the island to do likewise elsewhere. Even so, the residents of many villages were wary of them, and clearly struggling to come to grips with the truth. Fortunately, the Order had let them take the large group tent and bedrolls with them so they could sleep outside the villages if they so chose, though Lykou, Kani, and Kalei had to divide up the tent components among one another.

The group of friends took their time traveling down the mountain, and they ultimately arrived at another village near the shore right as the sun was setting on the second day. Despite receiving a warmer welcome than they received from the mountain villages, the group still opted to stay in their tent a short way outside the village for the night. At first, they splashed around in in the water for a bit to cool off under the setting sun. The surf was considerably rougher on that side of the island, with some noticeably larger waves occasionally crashing up on shore periodically. When the stars started coming out, Lykou and Kuna found a freshwater stream to clean off in before returning to the beach to dry off by a campfire the others had started. The group sat up until the moon was high in the sky, swapping stories they’d been told in their youth and generally enjoying each others’ company.

When they all turned in for the night, none of them struggled to get to sleep. But Kuna awoke a bit early the next day, wincing a bit. Ever since the first morning after the big showdown, he’d awoken with a strange, ambiguously uncomfortable feeling that he couldn’t explain. It flared up occasionally during the day as well, but thankfully never lasted for more than a few moments. This time it was stronger than ever, so he quietly slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb anyone, then stepped out of the tent to stretch a bit, hoping some fresh air and some water might help.

After taking a few sips from his jug, he took a short stroll down to the beach and watched the sun as it started peeking up over the distant horizon.

“...dreams…”

He furrowed his brow and looked around. He thought he’d heard someone say something, but it was so faint he couldn’t be sure. When he didn’t see anyone nearby, he assumed it was just a product of his still-groggy imagination and took another sip of water.

“...power, safety…”

Again, he looked around. He was definitely sure he’d heard it that time. But he still couldn’t figure out where it’d come from. “H… hello? Who’s there??”

“...whatever you want…”

“’Kou, is that you?” he nervously asked, still searching his surroundings. “Kalei? H-Hoku? Kani? ...Sunny??” He suddenly realized the bird hadn’t been perched outside the tent like he remembered from the night before. After a minute, he realized he most likely flown off to find some more fruit to munch on, or perhaps he went to check back in with Whironui. Still, that only further ramped up his paranoia.

“…ever again…”

Anxiously, he turned to head back to the tent, worried he was starting to lose his mind. But after only taking a few steps, a puff of smoke shot up from the ashes of the fire from the previous night. He froze and stared at it, shaking slightly. “H-hello…?”

“...do not be afraid, Kuna. I wish only… to help you,” a strange, whispering voice said.

“Thanksbutnothanks,” Kuna replied, taking a couple big steps back. “I d-don’t need help w-with anything right now…”

“Oh, but don’t you?” the voice said, as more smoke billowed up and circled around him, then closed in, caressing him. “You’re on a long journey against your will, yes? And you’re tired of fighting for your life, trying to find the way home?”

The sereva watched the trail of smoke with wide, nervous eyes as it trailed around him. “...h-how do you know that? Wh-who are you?”

“Someone with power. Power that can keep you and your friend safe, even shorten your trip… considerably,” the voice continued.

“...oh really?” Kuna asked, clearly more than a bit skeptical.

“Yes. And all I would ask in exchange is a… partnership. I help you, and you help me.”

Kuna froze for a moment, his blood running cold as it suddenly dawned on him who he was talking to. He didn’t know how, under the circumstances, and the voice was different. But he nevertheless knew, and it terrified and confused him. “T-T-Tuimana?!”

“...yes,” the voice said, growing deeper and slightly more familiar, even though he’d really only heard it once, briefly. Suddenly, the smoke returned to the firepit and joined a much larger plume that belched out of the ash and soot suddenly. It took on Tuimana’s shape, even including his eyes, though the rest thankfully remained smoky, rather than turning to flowing lava. “I mean what I say. I am willing to help you in exchange for your help getting off this island.”

Kuna took another step back, tripping and falling back on his rear in his panic. He scrabbled backwards and gawked in fear at the demon. “HARD fucking pass!”

“Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions,” Tuimana replied, drifting a little closer. “I’m not speaking of a typical pact. I learned my lesson from dealing with Kairangi. Let me come with you, and I’ll help you get back home safe and sound. Then we will part ways amicably. I just want to get away from here. That’s all I ever wanted.”

The sereva shook his head vigorously and backed away a bit more, only stopping when he felt the water splash against his hands. “L-like hell! Pact or no, I’m n-not helping you!”

“Come now, Kuna. If not yourself, think of your… friend. Lykou desperately misses his friends and family. Would you be so selfish as to prolong his suffering, when I could hasten his return?” the demon insisted. “Before you judge me, you should know that Kairangi is responsible for the Order and their atrocities. I was a figurehead he could rally people around, nothing more. He was the wicked one in our partnership. I was just trying to gain some degree of freedom from a slavish role.”

“Yeah right,” Kuna snarked, shakily getting to his feet. “I’m n-not fucking stupid, you know.” Without warning, he bolted off to the side, trying to dart around past the smoky spirit. Suddenly, he stopped and stumbled to the ground, clutching his head as the uncomfortable feeling he’d had before surged within him, making him dizzy, weak, and nauseous. He couldn’t describe it, other than disorienting and wrong.

“You’re making a terrible mistake, young sereva,” Tuimana said ominous. His smoky form started to take on an orange-red hue as his normal form started to slowly manifest. “You could have immense power, more than you’ve ever dreamed. You could keep yourself and those you care about safe from any danger… and I could rid you of certain… bad dreams.”

“G… get away! I’m n-not interested!” Kuna tried to stand up again a few times, but each time he started to rise, the dizzying sensation came back again. And every time that happened, Tuimana’s true form manifested more. Suddenly, realization struck. The tooth! Zyn warned him that another demon could ‘interact’ with it. “N-no… nonono, I refuse! S-stay back!”

“You’re making this so much more difficult than it needs to be, you know. I’m offering you the deal of a lifetime. You would be foolish not to accept…”

Suddenly, some familiar faces burst through the brush nearby. “Kuna, is everything al-” Lykou called out, then he and the others stopped dead in their tracks, gawking in surprise and terror, when they saw the nearly fully-formed demon standing where their beachside campfire had been the night before. By that point, he’d grown nearly to his full size, and the ground around him was getting singed from the heat radiating from his body.

After the initial shock, Lykou saw Kuna sprawled on the ground and immediately threw any concern for his own safety out the window as he bolted over to help him up. “KUNA!”

“Oh good,” the evil spirit said, grinning over at the newcomers. “Leverage.”

When the konuul was halfway to the fallen sereva, Tuimana suddenly surrounded him in a wall of churning lava that came up to his shoulders. Lykou stopped just in time to not collide with it- he could feel the intense heat radiating from it. There was no chance he could jump through it or over it.

Kuna’s vision cleared up in time to see the canid surrounded by the deadly hot wall of magma. “NO!” he cried out, reaching out for him. “D-don’t hurt him!”

“Then accept my deal,” the demon demanded. “I’m done asking. Perform the ritual with me… or else.” Another wall of lava suddenly surrounded their raptuvan friends, for good measure.

Kuna stared in horror, tears filling his eyes. “P… please… no…”

“Your soul will be spared. It’ll only be temporary,” Tuimana assured him, then grinned maniacally. “Unlike the painful, horrifying death your friends will face if you refuse.”

“Don’t do it, Ku!” Lykou cried out, desperately searching for a way out. “You know he’s lying!”

Kuna’s eyes darted between them as he frantically tried to come to grips with the situation. “I… I-I…”

All of the sudden, the choice became irrelevant. The ground under Lykou suddenly swallowed him up, and a moment later he was spat out next to Kuna, a bit dazed and confused. A similar event freed the raptuva. At the same time, the sand next to Tuimana suddenly lurched upward and formed a fist, which hauled around and decked the spirit with enough force to send him flying back over a dozen or so yards further down the beach. An instant later, a large column of water surged out of the ocean and dumped itself on the surprised demon, sending massive plumes of steam up, completely obscuring the glowing evil spirit.

Lykou and Kuna quickly embraced one another as a familiar dark-furred felid suddenly stepped seemingly out of thin air nearby, glaring at the demon with a blue glow around one hand, and a pale yellow one around the other. “You’re not making deals with anyone today, Tuimana,” he called over to the demon. “I don’t know how you slipped past the guardians, but enough is enough.”

“Oh FUCK yeah!” Kani cheered, grinning. “You fucked up now, mister! Kick his ass, Zyn!”

Zyn glanced back over at her with an arched brow. “Uh, run. I’m just buying you some time to get aw-”

Before her could finished, a large fireball smacked into him and exploded, sending him flying backward. Kalei rushed over and checked on him, half expecting to find a corpse. But despite a scorch mark and a deep enough trough to indicate an impact that should have at least broken a bunch of bones, Zyn blinked a few times and coughed out some smoke before getting up and dusting himself off. A moment later, he shoved Kalei out of the way and lifted a column of compacted sand up just in time to catch another fireball hurled at him. “...as I was saying, run.”

As the group turned to run off, however, they were cut off by a rain of firepalls that proceeded to ignite the brush all along the treeline. Tuimana stalked out of the fading steam, still as molten as ever. “Well, well, well. These little shits had a jarzin helping them. No wonder they pulled one over on ol’ Kairangi,” he said, then chuckled. “Aren’t you supposed to be skulking around in the shadows and pulling strings in secret, not showing yourself? Naughty, naughty boy. I-”

“You talk too much,” Zyn said before raising a massive wall of sand behind him and slamming it down over his form. “And that’s coming from me.” He turned back to the others and gestured with his head off towards the surf. “Get in the water and flee around that way.”

The group did as they were told, but Lykou paused and eyed the demon warily before turning back to the jarzin. “What about you? Can you take him out?”

Before he could respond, Tuimana burst out of the sand with another volley of fireballs flying through the air. Kuna and Kani just barely jumped away in time to avoid a pair of them as they slammed into the water around their feet, sending angry plumes of steam up into the air. Hoku barely managed to pull Kalei out of the way in time to avoid another. The demon stalked forward, gradually turning some of the burning hot sand around him into glass along the way. “No, no he cannot. And neither will I allow that sereva to leave here without me.”

Suddenly, Kuna gasped and sank to his knees, clutching his head. Then, out of nowhere, it was as if an invisible force suddenly yanked him all the way over near Tuimana at a breakneck speed. Lykou gawked for a moment, then started running towards his friend. “KU! Leave him alone, you bastard!”

The demon hurled a fireball at him, but fortunately a hand made out of sand burst out and caught it just in time- though the heat from the explosion still made Lykou halt and wince a bit. Another fist burst out and punched the demon in the side, sending him flying out into the water, creating an even bigger burst of steam than before. Lykou hurried over to Kuna’s side and helped him up while Zyn kept their enemy distracted with a water spout that spun around him rapidly.

Once the konuul and sereva got a reasonable distance away from Tuimana, Zyn took a moment to activate his soul-sight. He grimaced when he glanced between Kuna and the demon. “Well, fuck. Hang tight, Kuna, this is going to going to be rough. Just try an-”

Before he could finish, Tuimana took advantage of the brief lapse in the jarzin’s focus to burst through the water spout and charge at him. Zyn summoned another thick wall of sand to slow him down, which the demon promptly smacked out of the way. He reared back to smack Zyn aside, but found that the jarzin was no longer there.

“Looking for me?” Zyn said from a dozen yards behind him, then slammed two giant hands of wet sand and water together on either side of him.

Tuimana angrily turned to retaliate, but noticed that Kuna and the others were starting to flee again. He smirked and once again jerked the sereva back over by his side. Again, Lykou turned and to chase after him, with the others following close behind. He then hurled a string of fireballs all at Zynshal, pummeling him repeatedly.

When Zyn got back to his feet, he took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes, then started stalking towards the demon. In addition to the blue and pale yellow glows on his hands, his tail tip began to glow with a shimmering blue-white light. When Tuimana let loose with a torrent of fire, he allowed it to pass right over him before retaliating with another blast of water, giving Kuna a chance to shakily get back to his feet and start fleeing again. He then followed it up with a pair of sand-hands that slammed down around him and tried to smother him completely.

Tuimana burst out of the sandy hold and smacked the jarzin away. Just as Kuna was about to again reunite with Lykou, he was once more unceremoniously yanked back by the unseen force. “Give it up! Even that jarzin whelp can’t save you. You leave this island with me, or not at all! That’s all there is t-”

A furious barrage of punches suddenly struck him from all directions as numerous waterlogged sand-fists started bursting up from all around him, striking him, then falling apart.

“How does he keep doing that?!” Lykou blurted out as he again hurried to meet up with Kuna.

“He’s got a soul-grip on that damned tooth,” Zyn hurriedly explained, before ducking from a massive fireball that narrowly missed his head. “Try and get him as far from here as you can while I keep him distracted!”

Tuimana barreled out of a wall of falling sand and steam to slam a magma-fist into him, knocking him over twenty yards away. The jarzin quickly recovered and teleported back again, smacking the demon back with a hardened sand fist this time, filled with chunks of rock and glass fragments from the bits that’d been hardened from the demon’s heat.

Again, the demon knocked him away, but the jarzin refused to relent. He was instantly nearby and pummeling him again. Tuimana began to glow brighter and more intensely as the water around him instantly boiled up and formed a semi-permanent plume of steam around him. Unable to see what was coming, Zyn winced when a shower of obsidian shards pelted his body, digging into his flesh and proving once and for all he was, indeed technically mortal, as blood began to spurt out of his wounds.

A massive, burning fist of lava lunged out and grabbed ahold of him while he was distracted with trying to heal himself. He sucked air in through his teeth and winced as the burning heat surrounded him. “Ffffuck that stings,” he muttered as the fist clenched down around him.

“Even jarzin can die, you know,” the demon mocked. Suddenly he winced as another burst of water began pummeling him. A hail of wet sand globs started pelting him. He looked to the side and saw Hoku standing by Kuna, using her magic to douse him while the others chucked whatever they could at him. He began laughing in response. “That’s adorable, really. You know I barely feel that?”

“Not the point,” Zyn said, then suddenly burst out of his grip just in time for another massive hand to pop up and grab the demon. A dozen others started pummeling him as the jarzin backed up. “Thanks, guys, but run.”

Lykou grabbed onto the somewhat dizzy and clearly struggling sereva and dragged him a long, hoping that holding onto him would help keep him from getting tugged away again. The others began fleeing along with him.

Tuimana burst out of the sandy grip and blasted Zyn away with an intense barrage of flame. But this time, the jarzin only moved a yard or two before stopping instantly and conjuring up several walls of sand. “I think that’s enough of a warm-up.”

The ground began to shake as the walls grew larger and were accompanied by several others. Boulders were dredged up from deep underground and a pair of enormous waterspouts formed, using all the water between the walls. With a quick movement of his arms, the boulders slammed into the demon, with the walls following right behind them, utterly burying the demon. The waterspouts danced in a circle around the struggling demon.

Again, however, he managed to break free. And he was glowing even hotter than before. “I was going to say the same thing.”

Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard in the distance. The others looked off towards the top of the mountain, which had started glowing as well, and shooting plumes of fire out of its top, accompanied by countless fireballs. All of them seemed to be magically aimed down towards the beach. The fireballs had broken up by the time they reached the shore, but it pelted everyone and the ground around them with a steady, burning rain of debris, and kicked up more steam that further obscured the battleground.

Zyn continued battering the demon as best he could, until he was suddenly snatched up again in the steaming chaos. He tried teleporting out of the demon’s grip, but something was blocking his ability to do so. Clearly, even without the pact, Tuimana still had some small grip on the weave, at the very least immediately around himself.

“I’ve had enough of you. Go soak your head,” Tuimana taunted him as the magma began to solidify around the jarzin. He then tossed him far out to sea before turning back to the others, who were still wincing and trying to dodge tiny fireballs falling from the sky. Occasionally, slightly larger ones slammed down, blocking one of them in their path as they continued trying to flee

Again, Kuna was snatched back. And again, Lykou and the others turned to chase after him. A volley of fireballs kept them from continuing forward, however. And with Zyn momentarily out of the fight, they couldn’t find a way to advance farther. Tuimana turned his attention back to the sereva.

“You cannot escape. My patience is wearing thin. Agree to my demands or your friends will begin dying, one at a time.”

“Don’t listen to him, Ku!” Lykou called out from behind a burning wall of lava, fire, and steam.

“I’ve got us covered here for now,” Hoku assured him, though she couldn’t hide the uncertainty in her voice. “Don’t let him get to you!”

Kuna shivered and held himself as he sat on the ground, tears flowing down his cheeks. Every time he tried to get away, he ended up right back next to that horrible menace. He knew his life magic was no good- if he tried to grow anything to attack with, it’d burn up on contact with the demon. It all felt hopeless.

...but then he felt a rage starting to build up. It felt strangely alien, almost as if it wasn’t his own. ...stop jerking me around! The words entered his head, but somehow he felt like they weren’t entirely his own. Still, he had to admit he agreed with the sentiment. “...s-stop jerking me around!”

“I will not. You will comply, or your friends will die. It is is as simple as that,” the demon retorted. “N-”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP! Do you ever stop TALKING?!” Kuna snarled, slightly surprising even himself. Somewhere inside him, something stirred. He was being flooded with fragments of thoughts that didn’t feel like his own, like whispers in the back of his mind. Visions of blood and intense violence flickered in and out of his consciousness. Only for some reason, instead of the usual revulsion and horror they would inspire, he found himself redirecting them at Tuimana and felt nothing but a building fury. This monster had caused no end of grief for everyone, and he was fed up with being jerked around and made to feel helpless. “Threats and noise, that’s all you are! Your pathetic ass couldn’t even keep control of that aging, decrepit fool you were tied to!”

Somewhat stunned, the demon stared at him for a moment, then narrowed his eyes. “Hollow threats, you think? Allow my to dissuade you of that illusion,” he retorted, then turned back to the sereva’s friends, surrounded by steam and burning lava. But just as he hauled back to hurl a massive fireball at them, his aim went wide as he was dragged down by the neck by an invisible force.

A shimmering pale-blue glow surrounded Kuna’s entire arm as he stalked closer to the demon. He didn’t know how he did it- it was if the knowledge just popped into his head. He just knew the tether went two ways, and decided to use it himself. A strange, alien strength was surging through him as well. He had no idea where it came from, but for the moment, he didn’t care. Every time Tuimana rose, he forcefully slammed his head back into the water, sending steam flying up into the air as the demon angrily strained against the pull and gurgled into the water.

“It’s a shame you don’t have to breath. This would be so much more satisfying if you were mortal,” Kuna muttered darkly, with a certain edge that made his voice sound very slightly distorted, deeper, and more bestial. Suddenly he used the tie to jerk the demon back and flip him backwards, slamming him on the other side. “I could rip your throat open and skullfuck your worthless brains out, with your blood as lube,” he growled angrily, watching as the demon writhed around against the tight grip of his own soul-tether. A twisted grin crossed his face as he allowed his enemy to start to stand again, only for him to be slammed back down and claw at the ground beneath the water, shooting up fresh clouds of steam.

“Your bones would sound wonderful snapping and crunching in m-” he started to say, then suddenly widened his eyes and took a step back, releasing the tether for a moment as he heard the words leave his mouth. He’d said them, but he realized he was just repeating something he’d heard without thinking. “W-wait no, what-??” Up until that point, it all felt cathartic, but he was coherent enough to realize something was amiss. Where the fuck did that come from?! he wondered.

He was in control, but he’d just gotten caught up in the moment and started repeating what sounded suitably angry and vengeful. But while he might’ve been pissed, nothing would make him even think about putting the flesh of another creature in his mouth. Much less fornicating with… no, no, that was definitely not something he came up with. The idea hideously repulsed him. Someone or something was speaking to him in his own mind, sending him ideas and visions, but he wasn’t sure who or what. Until that point, he’d been going with the flow because it suited his own genuine rage. But clearly the originator of the ideas was very, very different from him in some very important ways, and he was growing more wary of listening to it, however helpful they may have been for a moment there.

Tuimana grumbled as he stood up. Seeing Kuna temporarily lost in his own thoughts, he yanked the sereva down by the tether. “I don’t know how you-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Kuna stood back up and yanked him right back, the anger surging inside him again. “Suck an entire pile of rotting, fetid corpse dicks, asshole!” They both strained at the invisible bond connecting the two of them, glaring at each other intensely. By all account, the demon should have been able to overpower him, but the sereva seemed to be getting help from somewhere. He might’ve been wary, but he wasn’t about to let the demon in front of him start THAT shit again.

With an annoyed snarl, Tuimana suddenly severed the tie, causing a brief surge of energy that knocked Kuna back. The whispering voice and images began fading from Kuna’s mind. “Now try and protect your friends without that little trick, you little shit.”

Again, the demon turned to hurl a ball of molten earth and fire at the others. But once again, his attack was interrupted, as something surged out of the water and slammed into him, knocking him back into the woods and causing a number of trees to erupt into a fiery inferno. As the water and sand covered in ocean debris fell away, it revealed the object to be a solid, dark stone. It cracked open and Zyn burst out, summoning up a wall of earth just in time to catch a barrage of fireballs launched at him.

He glanced briefly over at Kuna, then back at the others. “Run, Kuna. Don’t worry about the others, I’ll get them free. You’re the one that’s in the most danger here, as long as he’s got a grip on-”

“H-he doesn’t. He… cut it, I think.”

“Huh? Why w-” Zyn started to ask, only to get knocked back by another fireball that was big enough to burst through the earthen wall.

Without another moment of hesitation, Kuna turned and bolted towards his friends. Fortunately, with Tuimana’s attention temporarily drawn away, Hoku had succeeded in dousing enough of the fire and magma that a gap had started to appear in the wall surrounding them. It was still too hot to safely step touch, but Lykou managed to leap through the steam, wincing a bit as the heat from the steam stung his body slightly. Once he was on the other side, the grabbed Kuna and quickly checked him over. “You alright Ku? We couldn’t see what was happening, but it sounded like… um…”

“I… I don’t know! But we’ve got to go before-”

The sereva was cut off as Zyn came hurtling back onto the ground next to them. He grumbled as he sat up, then glanced up at them. “Hey guys. Chat later, kay?” he said, before teleporting back into the fray.

The others gradually made their own daring jumps over the glowing, steaming lumps of hot stone formed from the cooling lava. Kalei’s tail lightly grazed it and he let out a startled, pained yelp in the process. Kani managed to get over without issue, but the plumage on the end of Hoku’s tail caught the edge of the flames on either side of the gap and started burning. She let out a startled cry and quickly used her magic to douse the flame. Luckily she was quick enough to avoid any painful injury, but it left the end of her tail a bit bare in the process.

With all of them free, they again turned to run away. A shower of fresh fireballs blocked their path before they could get far, however. So it went for several more minutes, with their path getting cut off by massive chunks of rock and flame every time they tried to escape in a different direction. Despite Zyn’s best efforts, the demon was truly relentless and powerful.

Suddenly, the sky started to grow dark, however, as clouds began rapidly building up. Rain started to fall, sizzling into puffs of steam the moment the droplets hit Tuimana’s body, as he charged after the fleeing group. He hurled a particularly large, flaming boulder past them, which slammed into the ground and knocked them all on their backs from the explosive shockwave. When they got up, the enormous, red-hot stone was blocking their way long enough for him to catch up. Zyn quickly teleported over to place himself between them and the demon’s fist, grunting as he dug his feet into the ground and took the impact before it could strike Kani.

“GIVE UP! You are no match for-” Tuimana started shouting, then paused when familiar glowing lines started to appear on his body. His angry expression soon faded to one of abject horror. “W-wait, no… nonono NO!”

Zyn smirked. “Dumbass. I don’t know why, but you cut the last thing keeping you from sweet, sweet justice. And now it’s time to face judgment.” His playful look soon turned slightly anxious as he looked off to the side, noting the ocean starting to churn more intensely. A storm was building and lightning began dancing across the sky in the distance. “Uh… brace yourself guys...”

Tuimana tried to flee, but the lines acted like some kind of net, holding him in place. They stretched out past the demon as well, extending out into the ocean. He swore and strained against them, but his powers seemed to drain away every time he tried to use them. The tide started eerily drawing back, further and further, revealing a plethora of shells, barnacles, crabs, and other sea life and debris as it receded.

Suddenly, the ocean began to… rise up. It was like a mountain of water surging up into the sky. Slowly, an enormous pair of eyes, each bigger than any building Lykou, Kuna, or any of their friends had seen opened up and glared down at Tuimana. A moment later, a string of other eyes opened, joining them. A tentacled face formed out of the water as the unfathomably large entity moved slowly towards the coast. Thunder rolled across the sky, and suddenly the lightning in the background began to illuminate strange shapes in the water at the bottom. They were all completely alien, and clearly moving along with the ancient deity. A number of them were disturbingly large themselves, for living things.

Then, in a single, blindingly large flash of lightning, whose thunder shook the ground, the shadows vanished. A moment later, with another thunderclap, they reappeared along with orbs of floating water housing them, all over the island. A few were near the group of mortals that’d previously been trying to escape Tuimana. And to put it simply, the creatures lurking within would have scared off even their worst nightmares- even Kuna’s. They were eldritch and menacing looking, covered in hooks, barbs, multiple limbs, antennae and feelers, and oddly glowing bits. And the eyes… none of them had fewer than five eyes, often in various places besides just their heads, and varying in size.

All at once, everyone was hit with a wave of… something. It was like the projection-style communication galdra used, only a thousand times more intense, and incomprehensible. The ideas and impressions it attempted to convey were completely alien to them. Everyone but Zynshal stumbled over dizzily, and even he winced from it. After a moment, the feeling faded. Then, the words began- coming from every single entity lurking in orbs of water all at once, echoing in a thousand different nearly-synchronized voices.

<([We, the council of the Great Abyss, are here to speak on behalf of ourselves, the concordance of the divine attendants of the Crimson Isles, and T’nari of the Primordial Depths.])>

Hoku stared up at the enormous deity with a mixture of awe, fear, and wonder. The others were mostly bewildered and at least little terrified. Whironui had been impressive, but this was something else entirely. Kuna clung to Lykou as his eyes nervously flitted between the nearest eldritch beings hovering in their suspended watery vessels. Occasionally one caught his eye and stared back at him, making him all the more unsettled. The konuul held him close, glancing back and forth between the nightmare-creatures and the mountainous spirit looming over the island. Kalei and Kani held each other as well, feeling similarly creeped out by the bizarre creatures- or perhaps spirits, they weren’t sure- lurking nearby. Zyn just dismissed his magic and crossed his arms, then stepped back to join them and watch the show with a mostly neutral expression.

<([Tuimana, now former fire and earth aspected attendant spirit of the central island, has been found guilty of indulging in forbidden rituals and contorting the cosmic tapestry for his own purposes. This includes the entering of a demonic pact with a mortal by the name of Kairangi.])>

There was a pause, as Tuimana thrashed around in his restraints, desperately searching for another way out. “NO! This isn’t- this can’t be happening!” he cried out, then turned back to Kuna after a moment. “You! Sereva! Please, I beg of you, don’t let them take me! I-I meant what I said before, I can help you, there doesn’t need to be any bloodshed! I’m sorry for losing my temper- I can do things differently, just-”

Suddenly, the glowing lines wove themselves across the demon’s face, sealing his mouth shut.

<([In alignment with the judgment of his peers and the rules of the spirit world, Tuimana will, along with his mortal accomplice, now be taken to Dalzai-Nar, where they will remain until such time as they are deemed suitable for reincarnation.])>

“Probably a thousand years minimum for old Tui-boy,” Zyn commented in a hushed tone to the others with a brief, faint smirk.

Tuimana was slowly lifted up into the air in front of the looming ocean god. Thunder boomed as more lightning danced around in the sky. The demon screamed and howled in anger, fear, and desperation as he tried to escape the mystical cage binding him.

<([T’nari will now render the agreed-upon judgment.])>

A set of eight enormous watery tentacles lifted up and formed a circle in front of the thrashing demon. Strands of darkness started appearing and spreading, attaching to glowing points on the tips of the tentacles. After a few minutes, the darkness started to glow with a faint, deep red light, transforming the solid blackness into a portal. Just looking at it made any mortal feel like their skin was crawling and trying to flee their body. A chill ran down each of their spines. Even Zyn winced and averted his gaze momentarily.

And then Tuimana was hurled through the portal. It sealed up behind him, cutting off one last horrible, thundering scream of anger and indignation- and sheer terror.

<([This concordance has now concluded. Attendant spirits of the Crimson Isles will be resuming activity within that domain. May this serve as a warning about the grave consequences of demonic actions and collaboration.])>

With that, the strange entities began vanishing, one at a time. T’nari sank back down into the ocean and the storm began to fade. However, just before the deity vanished completely, it paused and its eyes fell upon Hoku. It lingered for a moment, as she stared back, trembling slightly. The massive being then gave the subtlest of nods in recognition before sinking back into the depths. A few moments later, the tide came rolling back in.

“Well, that’s that then,” Zyn said, as if it were no big deal, turning around to the stunned and bewildered group. “Now that that’s out of the way, everyone alright? Any injuries need healing or- ahfuckcatchimLykou.”

Fortunately, Lykou didn’t even need to be told as much, and caught Kuna instinctively as the sereva’s eyes rolled up and he fainted on the spot.