Soulwielders Book One: Elemental

The Ocean Depths.

Melora and I played cards for a while on top of the sled. Melora eventually got bored and yawned. "I'm gonna take a nap Ave."

"I thought MerPeople went days without sleeping?" I said.

Melora shrugged. "Well, that's never been the case for me. I normally need to sleep every 24 hours or so. But I did inherit the trait of needing to sleep as soon as I feel tired."

"Well, that's a bit odd. Hey, I've been meaning to ask, how come you had legs instead of a tail when we first met?"

Melora paused. "I've never been able to switch between a tail and legs. The doctor can't explain it, my mom blames my pop."

Melora had very clearly implied that her father had left her, so I didn't press that matter. Melora shut her eyes and laid her head on my shoulder.

I wasn't really sure how to respond so I stayed silent for a moment. "Melora?"

Melora frowned, her eyes still shut. "What is it now?"

"What are you doing?" That woke her up. She shot away like a rod, her eyes wide and her face blue.

"Um, nothing Avian." Melora sputtered.

I wasn't stupid. At least not completely stupid. "Melora, I think you're a great friend but I don't think of you that way."

Melora tried playing it off like she wasn't trying to be flirtatious. "Look Avian, that's not what I was trying to do, really."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then I guess it's perfectly normal to lay your head on somebody like a pillow in Wurterence.

"Oh, shut up!"

The sun had set over the horizon by the time we finally reached the Glacial Outpost.

We didn't waste any time and ran through the outpost to the teleporter. Oritz set the destination and before long we were at the Pearl Trench.

The teleporter took us to one of the large metal battleships above the water. Wurterence and Earth had a deal that Earth would provide multiple battleships and submarines in return for Wurterence providing rare ocean minerals.

We navigated to the command deck where a Captain was hunched over a table. "These creatures are immune to all of our firepower. The best we can do is topple them." He said to another man.

"Perhaps if we use the molten guns, that will pierce their shells." The man said, he looked up at us. "Captain, the Soulwielder has arrived!"

The captain turned to us, relief spreading across his face. "Thank goodness! Soulwielder, I am Captain Nock." He extended his hand.

"I'm Avian, it's a pleasure to meet you." I shook his hand.

"If you could not tell, we have been attacked early. Coral Crabs are bombarding our forces. Normally they never venture out of the Deep Sandfields, but here they are. Our artillery is not strong enough to pierce their shells. We were hoping you would have some sort of fire spell to destroy them." Captain Nock hastily explained.

Melora shook her head. "There's no spell powerful enough to breach their shells. But you might be able to get in between the gaps."

"Are we against blocking off the trench?" I asked I needed to know as a backup plan.

Captain Nock shook his head. "The monarchy would prefer if we did not simply to make getting forces to the remote outposts easier but they are fine with it in case of emergencies."

Oritz peered at the map. "What if we increased fire on the side entrances. They seem to be using it as a back door and for cover."

The other man nodded. "That's a good idea, yes. I'll report that right away."