Chapter Twenty-Two: Into the Mouth of the Sea

          Theresa stood at the entrance of the outpost as Adisa and Ceridwen raced by on the backs of Artemis and Apollo. Nassar walked up with a scowl prominent on his face.

"I thought I told you to find us a way to get to the sea!" Nassar voice hissed out in a threaten tone.

Theresa stood unfazed by his crude comment. Instead of humoring Nassar by replying, she raised her fingers to her lips and whistled. In a flash Nyx leapt out from behind a tent and raced to Theresa's side, emitting a low humming growl directed towards Nassar.

"Hop on." Theresa smirked as Nassar stood still, his body speaking of no impressment, but his eyes spoke of shock. He climbed onto the back of Nyx and Theresa mounted Nyx in front of Nassar.

The two Magic Born rode in silence, minus the constant inaudible groans produce by Nassar every time Nyx stumbled or hit a dip in the earth. Theresa closed her eyes and let the wind wash her hair in its breath. She watched as the horizon ahead opened into a vast ocean. A smile gently found a way to Theresa's face, as Nyx bolted towards the sea. But her expression of glee was quickly dubbed for a perplexed gaze when she thought of their mission.

"How exactly do we get the Fulgur scale?" Theresa broke the silence as she pondered aloud.

Nassar rolled his eyes as if her question was incompetent and foolish.

"Obviously we can't walk up and ask for a scale...We're going to have to kill it." Nassar tone mimicked that of a mother talking to a child, mocking Theresa's question.

Nyx stop, Theresa commanded her panther to cease moving, with only a thought. Nyx slammed her claws into the ground. As Theresa gripped into Nyx's silky fur, Nassar, caught off guard by the sudden stop, was tossed onto the ground.

Theresa sat atop Nyx, glaring down at Nassar as he pushed back his mangled blonde hair and sprang to a stand.

"What is the matter with that stupid animal of yours." Nassar barked.

Nyx growled and raised her upper lip, revealing her razor-sharp fangs.

Theresa jumped off of Nyx and used her powers to knock Nassar back on his behind.

"No! What is that matter with you, ever since we arrived you've been nothing but rude and a totally prick." Theresa extended her hand and willing Nassar's body to the ground, gluing him to the earth with her mind.

"Are you insane? Let me up!" Nassar roared, gritting his teeth as he tried to break free of Theresa's invisible barrier of energy.

"Answer my question and maybe I will." Theresa replied a smirk tugging on the edge of her lips, trying to hid from view.

"I have a better idea, witch." Nassar closed his eyes and dug his fingers into the dirt he laid on. A monstrous root snaked through the ground until it reached Theresa's feet and tackled her to the dirt, twisting around her and restraining her to the earth.

Nassar jumped to his feet, now free form Theresa's bind. Nyx turned her attention towards Nassar, as Theresa thrashed on the ground. Nassar's eyes turned dark green, and he swept his hands forward, commanding a gigantic vine to blast Nyx aside.

Theresa stopped sprawling like a helpless damsel.

"Nyx!" A fire ignited in Theresa's muddy eyes, as they turned volcanic with fury.

"Tell your kitty to stand down next time." Nassar laughed as he flashed a cold glace towards the unconscious panther on the ground.

A blaze exploded in Theresa's stomach, like a firework corroding the night sky with searing blue flames. She let out a battle cry as she willed the root off her body. Nassar grunted in annoyance and threw his hands forward sending a wave of land vipers, bark and granite as skin, towards Theresa's body.

Theresa screamed and squeezed her fist closed. Under the energy of Theresa's rage, the massive serpents of wood imploded into tiny splitters and rained down, like a toothpick shower. Theresa's body vibrated in anger, as she sprinted towards Nassar.

She leapt through the air and delivered a fist to Nassar's nose. Wasting no time in letting him recover Theresa's dropped her body to the ground and delivered a sweep kick to Nassar's legs, knocking him to the ground.

He landed with a thud, grunting as the breath was snatched from his lungs.

"Alright you win." Nassar coughed, but Theresa's wasn't down with him. She launched herself onto his body, pinning him to the ground with her hands around his throat.

"What is wrong with you? You could have killed her!" Saliva flew from Theresa's mouth and smacked Nassar in the face as she yelled at him.

"Get off of me!" Nassar pushed Theresa off and climbed to his feet, dusting himself off.

Theresa stood and walked over to Nyx, bending over to stroke the panther's silky coat.

Nassar grabbed his back pack, which fell from his back when he tumbled from Nyx, and furiously threw it over his shoulder.

"Let's get to the edge of the sea before night." Nassar's spoke without turning to Theresa, and without waiting for a respond, turned and stomped toward the ocean.

***

          By the time Theresa had woken Nyx, Nassar was two-hundred feet closer to the ocean than they were. Theresa watched as Nassar stormed towards the raging waves, his existence being swallowed by the flames of the setting sun. Nyx limped beside Theresa, as she angrily followed in Nassar's footsteps.

          When Theresa finally reached the beach, the sun had sunk into the deep dark waves of the ocean and the moon had replaced it. Nassar somehow had managed to spark up a flame and light a small fire.

Nyx hummed a fuming growl and Nassar flashed Theresa an annoyed glare.

"I'll go find dinner..." Nassar stood and began digging through his knapsack. "Fantastic..." He hurled his bag onto the sand. "I left my blood bow and arrows at the outpost." Nassar roared.

Theresa smirked gazing down at her wristlets, which held her throwing knives, and mentally applauded herself for remembering to bring her weapon.

Nassar's scowl grew ten folds as he noticed Theresa's expression, and why glee was plastered to her face. Amusing Theresa with a smile, Nassar created a fist and held his arm above the sandy beach. He opened his hand and stiffened his fingers.

As he rose his hand upward, a piece of wood sprouted from the ground, ground higher and rising into a point. Nassar angrily snatched the makeshift spear from the earth and trudged towards the crashing waves.

Theresa giggled under her breath, then spoke.

"What are you planning on doing with that?"

Nassar whirled around, oblivious to the massive wall of water, gaining speed behind him.

"I'm going to spear a fish, you idi─" But before Nassar's insult could roll form his lips a giant wave tackled him to the ground.

Theresa couldn't hold it in any longer, and she toppled over as a massive belly-laugh erupted from her lungs.

Nassar sprung up, pushing himself off the ground and hollering in outrage.

He kicked at the waves, spewing curses like a deranged sailor. Finally noticing Theresa laughing her heart out on the ground, he stomped over to her.

"You think this is funny?" Nassar barked.

"Well, I'm not rolling on the wet ground for nothing." Theresa giggled.

Nassar opened his mouth to make a snide remark, but paused. A smile slowly climbed to his lips and he began to laugh alongside Theresa.

After a few moments of, they stopped and turned to each other.

Nassar moistened his lips and exhaled.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry for being a giant prick..."

Theresa shrugged her shoulders in agreeance with his comment.

"Apology accepted. And...I'm sorry for over reacting, and for almost killing you."

Nassar scoffed.

"Ha, you almost killing me? That's a good one." Nassar laughed, and Theresa lightly punched him in the arm. Nassar gazed into Theresa's pupils and a grin rolled to his lips. "Apology accepted. Clean slate?"

Theresa nodded.

"Good, well we better get some rest, that Fulgur isn't going to skin itself."

***

Theresa's eyes drifted away from dreams and into reality as the morning sun beamed down on her and Nassar. Nyx was gone, but Theresa was use to her pet slipping away from time to time.

Nassar sat on the ground watching the silent embers feed on what was left of the wood the fueled last night's fire. He had obviously been awake longer that Theresa, because two forearm sized sea trout were roasting on the coals of the fading fire.

"Morning." Nassar said, as he cut the meat off of the cooked fish, with a knife he had borrowed from Theresa's wristlets. "Hungry?"

Theresa sat upright and stretched.

"You know, considering the feast we had last night, I'm not that hungry." Theresa graced the air with a grin as Nassar rolled his eyes. "Here, give me." Theresa reached for the piece of fish.

After they had consumed their breakfast Nassar's expression of delight thawed and hardened into a gaze of grim seriousness.

"Theresa, getting the scale is going to be hard, but if one of us gets hurt and we already have the scale, the other has to promise to leave with it...no questioned asked. The Fulgur scale is our top priority, understand?"

Theresa nodded, no replied left her lips, but her skin paled three shades lighter than a ghost.

"Let's do this..." Nassar closed her eyes and dropped his arms to the side of his body and slow rose them to the sky. Behind him a vine coiled through the air, gripping the wind and growing around nothingness. Nassar turned and tore two leaves from the plant.

"What's that for?" Theresa asked.

"Can you breathe underwater?" Nassar questioned. "This is a Fluctus Plant, after eating the leaves from its branches the consumer can breathe underwater for a short period of time. Nassar handed Theresa a leave and they both swallowed the Fluctus whole.

"Ready?" Nassar asked, his voice shaking, unable to hide the anxiety coursing through his blood stream.

"If by ready you mean scared out of my mind, then yes..." Theresa shared a distressed look with Nassar, then they both raced towards the monstrosity that was the ocean.

As Theresa's head submerged underwater she opened her eyes, to her surprise she could see crystal clear.

Must be the Fluctus. She thought, as she scanned the underwater world her and Nassar just entered. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse pf Nassar motioning for her.

She turned and noticed Nassar pointing below them. Theresa dropped her head towards the bottom of the ocean, and directly below them was an underwater cavern. Theresa watched as Nassar began to kick toward the dark ravine that sat between the broken earth, and she followed.

Soon her clear vision began to fade, and all she could see was about two feet in front of her face. Theresa and Nassar where swimming through the dark fissure, when a chill corkscrewed around Theresa's being, and she reached for a knife.

The chill turned to a frosted glaze when Theresa heard bubbles churning a few feet away.

It's coming straight for us... Theresa thought. The churning became violent and the sound erupted into a furious whisk. Sloshes of water vibrated beneath Theresa and Nassar and they exchanged panicked glances, making a hastened distinction to sprint to the top of the crevasse.

As the two swam out of the abyss and into the light, a monstrous figure exploded out from under them. Theresa floated on the opposite side of the ravine of Nassar, the Fulgur looming in the middle, blocking Theresa's path. Theresa tightened her grip on the knife she held, and like a bear trap clomping shut, she wasn't about to let go.

For a brief moment the Fulgur just stared at the two Magic Born. The monster's body was covered in blue green scales. Razor sharp fingernails extended from its webbed hands. Gills were mounted on its neck and a jagged dorsal fin sprouted from its head. Where the Fulgur's legs should have been, a giant serpent's tail sprouted, a spear like barb on the end.

Theresa noticed a large root slithering below Nassar's feet, and she willed the rest of her knifes to unsheathe. Five knifes, under the influence of Theresa's mind, suspended themselves around her body, ready to shred through the water and into the Fulgur's body.

The Fulgur seemed to be annoyed by Theresa's preparation for battle, and charged. Like a bolt of lightning the Fulgur jolted towards Theresa, but Nassar commanded a vine to snare the beast, the massive root wrapped around the Fulgur's waist. Theresa sunk two knifes into the Fulgur's biceps and swam towards the monster, ready to snag a scale.

Theresa, now only a few feet from the sea creature, raised her hand and command a knife to slice the edge of the Fulgur's cheek, a scale drifted from its body and Theresa snagged it out of the water.

As Theresa's hand clamped around the shiny scale the Fulgur's tail whipped around and the barb pierced Theresa's chest. The venom on the Fulgur pumped through Theresa's veins and her body froze. Her eyes screamed in horror but her body remind still, as crimson blood bellowed from her chest like bonfire smoke and she dropped into the abyss below.

Bubbles exploded from Nassar's mouth as he tried to yell, but the words were muffed by the water. He watched as the monster broke free of his trap and chased after Theresa's falling body.

Nassar threw his arms out to the side and pulled them straight upward. A giant oak burst through the seafloor beneath him, the limb the size of his torso, and the trunk the size of a watchtower. Nassar lunged his body at the Fulgur and the tree mimicked his action. The Fulgur was knocked aside and tangled as the tree's branches coiled and twined around the Fulgur's body parts. Nassar's eyes were swallowed by a green so deep it could have smothered the Dark Forest. He pulled is arms across his chest and closed his fist, the tree twisted tighter. Nassar hurled his arms to his side and the colossal tree copied his moment, ripping the Fulgur in two as it relayed Nassar's fury.

Nassar's eyes regained their original color of sunset orange and panic discharged through his blood stream as he realized he had lost sight of Theresa. Immediately Nassar raced into the abyss of darkness search for Theresa. Quickly he noticed blood looming in the water and hurriedly followed the trial.

Seconds later his chest swelled in fear and a lump was lodged in his throat, as he gazed upon Theresa's motionless body. He wrapped his arms around Theresa's body and furiously kicked his legs trying to reach the surface of the ocean.

Before he could reach the surface of the cavern his chest began to burn, the Fluctus Plant was wearing off. A white-hot flame lit in his lungs as he emerged from the gorge. Nassar continued kicking, his head thumping in pain, his heart rapidly pumping and his chest contracting because of the little oxygen that remained.

Darkness began to cloud his vison, speckles of black hazing over his eyes, and just before his passed out, his head shattered through the surface of the water and his gasped for air. He jerked Theresa above water and drug her towards the beach.

Nassar pulled Theresa onto the sand and collapsed beside her. Her body was still in a paralyzed state, and the wound from the Fulgur's tail was still prominent.

Theresa's body began to twitch, she began to blink, then her legs shivered, and her arms thumped. Suddenly, her body jolted back into motion and all the gears began to shift. She slowly edged her hand to her chest and graced the wound with her hand, which was painted in read.

Nassar hovered over her a tiny vine had crawled up his arm and was sprouting purple berries.

"Eat this..." Nassar voice was quaked with dismay, the amount of blood overwhelming.

Theresa let Nassar feed her the berries, and the wound began to close, but she was still in grave danger. If she wasn't treated further, very soon, she would die.

"That's all I can do until we get back to camp. Call Nyx we have to get you back before you lose any more blood." Nassar scooped his arms under Theresa and lifted her up.

"Nassar...Aren't you forgetting something..." Theresa coughed.

Nassar carried her to their fire from the night before, which was now char and ash. His swept up her knapsack and through it over his shoulder, alone with his own.

"Forgetting what?" Nassar calmly spoke to Theresa, her eyes fluttering open and shut with every word he spoke.

Theresa let a smile slowly climb to the bridge of her lips, as she opened her hand and the sunlight danced around the shining blue green Fulgur scale she held in her palm.

Nassar smiled.

"I knew I could count on you." As Nassar spoke Nyx dashed up to him, and he mounted Theresa on the panther's back, then climbed on and commanded the animal to the outpost.

splay=b