Sol's Shine and the Kingdom of Water

Chapter 18 Descent Into Chaos

Sol and Duke knew they were getting closer to their destination when they started to feel the ocean's breeze. There wouldn't be much land left for Inti to cover if he already met the water's edge. Sköll was now starting to get confused at this point, as if the scent he was following was somehow weaker than it was before despite being closer to their destination. "Shouldn't be too long now. I hope you know what you're getting into, kid." Duke said to Sol. "To be honest, I'm not too sure what to expect when we find him. Does it really matter either way?" Sol asked Duke a fair question. "Good point. I bet things are going to get real interesting at least!"

Sköll was now running along sand and in a matter of seconds, the sand that the blood wolf was running along led them to a beach. Everything was difficult to see since the sun had already gone down but a lighthouse at the end of the beach they were on was still active. Thanks to the lighthouse, he was able to see dozens of sirens flying around it. The sirens themselves seemed to be fighting someone but neither Sol or Duke could make out who they were fighting to begin with.

Upon closer inspection, Sol was able to see the docked airship in the water that had left him behind. When Sköll got as close as he could to the ship, Sol jumped off of the wolf's back to try and understand what was going on. Sköll started to slow down and eventually started to lay in the sand to rest, giving Duke the opportunity to dismount him as well. "Master Duke!" Yvonne's voice called out to the dwarf as she started to run towards them from the airship. Krissy's crew wasn't that far behind Yvonne and William decided to join her to meet with Sol and Duke.

From what Duke could see, in Yvonne's hands was the head of a siren. "Yvonne! I can see Sol wasn't kidding about the whole siren situation. He told me about it on the way here." Duke said to her. Everyone looked back up at the lighthouse to see a few sirens being tossed around by an unseeable force, suggesting to Sol that they encountered the white athera.

"Krissy and Brook went up to the lighthouse to fight those two star demons but we're not sure how they're doing at the moment. We're not sure how to help without getting in their way but we also saw someone fall from the cliff. We couldn't make out who it was and everything here has gotten me worried sick." William tried to tell Sol about everything he knew. "What about Aria? Is she around?" Sol asked. "Brook said that she was going to try and convince her father and the other atheras to leave the area and get them to safety but we're not exactly sure how she's doing with that either. We're sitting ducks out here!" Yvonne said. "After seeing all of these sirens, I don't think it would be that hard to convince them to leave." Duke said.

Sol didn't need any further explanation of what was going down. His sword lit up in flames and the prince started to run up the hill. He couldn't help but become worried about his friends, knowing what they were up against. Knowing that the sirens probably wanted to kill the white athera didn't make things better for Sol either since he knew that star demon was just a child. Overall, the whole situation they were in was just a complete mess.

Yvonne herself wanted to run away to protect Cinder but couldn't stop looking at the sirens attacking the lighthouse. "What's wrong?" Duke asked her. "Someone I met has a mom who probably turned into a siren like Cinder. I'm just afraid that if she's somewhere up toward that lighthouse and tries to attack a star demon then she'll be killed again." Yvonne wasn't entirely sure what to do but William started to have an idea of his own. "I can help. Lilac has shown me a picture of her before so I know what she looks like." Duke stroked his beard as he looked at the airship sitting in the water.

"If we cannot get involved with the star demons, then perhaps we'll just have to lure the sirens away from them. That way, we can keep the person we're looking for away from the fight." "How are we supposed to do that?!" Don complained. "With a dumb toy that shoots walnuts and a giant ship." Duke chuckled as he handed Yvonne her own invention, along with a bag full of walnuts. It was clear that with what they had, Yvonne was supposed to aggravate the sirens and lure them away using the airship.