Chapter 13-352: A Legion Going Fishing (1/2)

“The Deep Ones aren’t known for playing nice with anyone, let alone Fey females. Checking to see if there’s a known Waterbound presence up here...” Off in Heavenbound Hall, records were quickly accessed, even as there was a lot of transcribing being done for the preparation to go to a non-electrical tech level. “None. Which doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”

The Waterbound were a diverse bunch, scattered between those that were truly Wavebound, and those bound to Oceans, Seas, Lakes, and Rivers. Indeed, they ranged from some of the weakest Place Spirits all the way up to the massive Oceans, and then the true Elemental Pact beyond those.

There were a LOT of Warlocks around with Water-based Pacts.

“A convenient source of watery-corpses for making Briny undead,” Legion observed fatalistically. The Illuminati already had a transfer point nearby. There was no reason they would not introduce some corruption for power into the local human population that they could take advantage of.

“No doubt they simply call the missing ‘the price of the sea’, never imagining that is precisely what it is,” Traveler spat.

“And justify it to themselves by pointing out their homes don’t get attacked from the sea,” Legion nodded immediately, gritting their teeth. They were totally experts at justification for murder, and sighed. “More idiots...”

“I’ve a lot of ground to cover, and there’s time. Waterjump to me when you are free. I’ll have even more work for you!”

Legion nodded in resignation, pushing away, and floated in the air for a moment before plunging into the cold waters of the North Sea.

They didn’t have the range of a true Caster, but unlike most such, they could Waterjump repeatedly, and with their relationship with the Elements, had no need for a Lived-Line for accuracy, although having one did extend their range.

Ninety miles was within that range. The power of Water swirled around them, and escorted them east.

--------

They rose from the water outside a narrow gorge in the grey rocks of the Norse coast. Attempting to negotiate the passage there with anything larger than a rowboat would have been suicide, and on a rowboat still probably suicide.

Flying, not so much an issue.

Their Astral Ward cloaked them from the Grantors sensing a Water Pact, although they doubtless had servants in the waters to alert them to any trespassers. Even from far in the distance, Traveler’s Commune clearly indicated there were magical beasts of size in the waters nearby of more than animal intelligence, probably able to take on whales or orcas. Sea serpents or giant eels, probably, warned to stay away from humans for fear of discovery.

One of them was in the waters beyond here.

There was no Stillflight field. From an Elemental perspective, that was an Earth power, and so creatures of Water would not have it. Pact-born flying powers wouldn’t work underwater, unlike magical spells, so it wasn’t much of an issue for Waterbound, who would simply retreat into its depths.

Invisible, they stood on the air with Angel Walk and surveyed the place beyond.

Hazy sunlight spilled down from the narrow top of the gorge, illuminating the dispersed force of the waves on the waters here, which were much deeper than they appeared, and went back further in, forming a grotto out of easy view of anything silly enough to climb to the top of those rocks, its waters in ceaseless, quiet motion.

Two bathing rocks were out there in the light, and they saw two of the Grantors there.

Sirines...

The legendary tempters of sailors were far from restricted to the Mediterranean, and indeed, with the triton presence there, were quite rare. They deigned to take the form of beautiful humanoids, somewhere between elves, fey, and humans, and their hypnotic songs were on a par with those of harpies, with rather more magical power in the water.

The grotto went much farther back, and was illuminated in the distance by witchlights or similar things. So, they had two to deal with.

Opening the Eyes of Heaven to take a good Look at the two naked Fey sunbathing in the faint light made them forcibly relax to stop from clenching their hands too hard.

Black, turgid and fickle, with that cloying distance of a manipulator who had others do their killing for them, as if using the hands of others absolved them of the sin.

Yes, they knew that mindset quite well...

The problem was that killing them both would instantly alert the other three, as would moving them, as the sirines could all sense the presence of one another without trying. There was a Pact Grantor here who had shared that Granting authority with her subordinates to a lesser degree.

However, there was one bit of good news, in that the creature in the water down there was a minion of the further of the two sunbathers, and so wouldn’t be alerting anything further in.

They looked down and into the water, focusing past the wave-action and swirls of debris, to see what was down there.

It was a Greenland Shark... sort of. Its jaws were too big, and it was forty feet long. It might not even have been able to fit easily through the crevasse into this place. Certainly anything coming into this place would have gotten a most unwelcome surprise.

Magic could change things, but Greenland sharks grew slowly. This shark was probably five hundred years old or older if it grew naturally.

How long had these sirines been here?

They pushed off along the air, not bothering to pop their wings as unneeded.

The two sunbathing sirines were clearly not expecting trouble, especially a Sword sweeping through silently out of invisibility and chopping through the head of the first, then flickering over next to the second and plunging down through her face into the stone.