Abide With Me

The Eye of the Storm

Aachi and Murali, along with the other troops comprising otters, beavers, young men and women, with serious eyes and determined faces, arrived at the base of Ratnapura mountain's main waterfall.

Climbing out of the coracles, Aachi and Murali took a minute to stand upright on stable land, after the dangerously wobbly coracle ride. "Baena, we need to meet the Chieftain," said Aachi in an urgent whisper. "I will ask around," Murali assured her as he blended in with the young people walking in orderly columns towards the forest around the base of the waterfall.

Captain Natasha and the Intel Six were taking stock of the new arrivals. Swiftly dispensing duties, Capt. Natasha and the Salesgirl otter began calling out instructions. "Men and women, form two columns in front of me please. Beavers and Otters fall in* in front of him," pointing to the Student. "Citizens of the Aquatic Realm, this way please. Avians, follow the Maths Teacher Owl! Your team leaders will take over now."

"The Prince of the Aquatic Realm, Chengse de Yanjing, thanks you for your willingness to serve!" The words of the Maths Teacher were greeted with a rousing cheer, "Long Live HRH The Prince!" Shushing the crowd, Master Owl said, "Silence please, dear Citizens, for we must not alert the enemy!"

The DaNi in the miners outfit stood ready at the edge of the stream that lead away from the waterfall towards the mountainside. "Members of the Aquatic Realm, please take one of these." Each DaNi and waterfowl was handed a coded pearl just before they slipped into the water. Each pearl, working with the watercourse, would land the member safely at the coordinates embedded in it. All the member had to do was enjoy the swim!

The boy and girl student duo diligently matched DaNi carriers to human troops and instructed them on how to breathe when the DaNi they rode went underwater. After a repeat of instructions, the carrier DaNi slipped into the water and disappeared without a ripple.

A series of hoots, chirps and tweets later, the night sky witnessed staggered sorties* of Owls, Nightjars, Vultures, Hawks, Eagles,  Osprey and other raptors. The Math Teacher Owl kept careful notes on flight paths, altitudes, and wind direction as he handed out navigation instructions to each sortie.

Through the still night, the Messaging Mynahs continued to call intermittently. Chief War Guna Dena and Madam War held a quick conference on troop movement and camp requirements. Madam War stoically forebore questioning the Chief on SaMi's whereabouts.

Prince Chengse and SaMi sat at the water's edge behind a cluster of rocks that protected them from the public eye. SaMi had undone her braids to dry and the omnipresent foul smell from the water seemed to lessen as her hair dried out. The Prince raised his eyebrows at SaMi's annoyed look. "Nothing much, Chengse Ge," answered SaMi, interpreting the eyebrows correctly. "I am sick of this smell, reminds me of the chemistry laboratory in my high school." She paused, struck by something she remembered.

Excitedly, she asked, "Chengse Ge, do you keep your eyes open underwater when you dive?"
"Of course, I am DaNi!" answered the Prince.
"Well, what did you notice about the rocks, as we left the channel we had dug and swam to this part of the grotto?"

Prince Chengse said, "They appeared to be crusted with some yellow coloured crystals. The rocks seemed to have layers..." his voice petered out as he thought back.

SaMi jumped up, only to be pulled back down by Prince Chengse. "Chengse Ge, don't you see, the layered rocks, yellow crystals, the foul smell... it is Sulphur! The rocks under the smelly stream contain Sulphur!" The Scientist grinned elatedly at her own deduction and Prince Chengse said, "SaMi, what a valuable discovery!"

Lan Zhan and Pranith co-opted a few more prisoners into the communication chain. Bichen set off on his own, using both glare and slash to wreck chains. Lan Zhan summoned Wangji and the Chord Assassination notes attacked and made short work of the manacles. The freed prisoners followed their friends released earlier. Gathering the evidence of their freedom, they hid some away in crevices and cracks among the rocks and simply dunked the rest into the foul water.