Enmity of Atlas

First things first–water. They had a good amount of food, but they had very little water. Since they’d been traveling along sources of fresh water, they hadn't need to store much, their small waterskins their main containers. Now, however, if they intended to go through the desert, they’d need a lot of stored water, especially for Millie. She was a water spirit, after all. She didn’t need to swim in water, not quite an amphibian as it so happens, but she did need to drink a lot. It seemed her water intake was closer to several gallons a day as opposed to a handful dozen ounces.

They quickly hiked over to the Liafer, taking care to be as quiet as they could so as to not alert any monsters that might’ve been lurking in the area. Once they’d gotten close enough, they slowed down, creeping through the tree line, peering closely into the water to be sure that there wasn’t anything waiting for them. Sure enough, as they got close, a massive shark creature surged forward, bursting up the river, its fins sending waves of water crashing over the edge of the river. Their group hid close to the tree line, watching as the enemies passed, staying especially quiet. It seemed that Kiva was right. Monsters were going to be surging up the river now to chase after Kullisates. There was no way they’d be able to safely travel north, not with so many dangerous creatures close at hand. It was even more important than ever to make sure they got the water they’d need.

When they were certain they were alone, they darted forward, climbing down to a ledge right next to the water and filling up whatever they could think of up with as much water as they could, their waterskins practically bursting from the seams. They managed to get a decent chunk of water from the flowing river, but it wasn’t nearly enough. They’d only be able to last a couple days.

“I don’t think we can travel through the desert. We’d need 10 times the water stored before I could even consider letting us take that chance,” Trenton said, bending low over the rushing river.

“Millie, can you make water?” Garrote asked, looking over at the spirit.

Millie shook her head, “I can, but I use water that’s already in the air. The desert doesn’t have enough to make any.”

Garrote scratched her head, looking back down at the river helplessly, “Do we really have nothing else to fill?”

Leo shook his head, “No, not unless you’re hiding something else up your sleeve,” he said, looking over to Trenton.

Trenton thought about it for a second. What if he…no the idea was stupid. It would never work…or would it? Trenton placed his hand into the flowing water, focusing his mind on his desire. Typically, he could store anything in his storage just by touching it and thinking of it being stowed away, but this was a flowing river. It wasn’t like he could just pick it up and put it in his pocket, right? Trenton focused on trying to store the water, his eyes locked on the churning river, when he suddenly felt a ghostly hand gripping at his core, dragging away his energy. He could feel his life essence draining, his vitality used to fuel the wicked spell.

Trenton staggered back, pale and sweating, severing the magic to stop himself from being killed. His back slammed against the uneven stone wall, his whole body slumping into a seated position, his breaths heavy. He felt horrible, more tired than he’d ever been in his life. He could barely even keep his eyes open.

After a couple of seconds, his blurry vision faded back in, the world coming into a not quite pristine focus. Everyone was staring slack jawed at a big hole in front of them, their gazes unbelieving. Wait, wasn’t the river just in front of them? Trenton shooed away the fog from his mind, focusing with everything he had on the scene before him. Where a moment ago there was a rapid flowing river, there was now nothing, just a massive hole stretching down several hundred feet. The water was gone, nowhere to be seen. Trenton tried to connect the dots between what he’d just done and what the river now looked like, but his mind couldn’t quite make the leap. He was far too exhausted.

“What did you do!?” Garrote asked, swiveling on Trenton. “And are you alright!?” Trenton tried to respond, but all he managed was a handful of painful heaves. He was still rather out of it.

“I don’t know whether to be horrified or grateful,” Kiva said, looking over at Trenton with a sense of awe.

“The water will flow back in soon. It’s not like he took the entire ocean and It’ll rain again soon. Come on, we can’t linger here,” Leo said, his words plain and simple.

Trenton didn’t notice it at the time, but Leo seemed to be acting even odder than before. He seemed torn up over something inside of himself. Garrote and Kiva didn’t know him well enough to know that this behavior was unusual, and he’d partly been like this since Rema’s so Millie saw it as pretty normal as well. The only one who really had the means to identify this was Trenton, who was currently a bit out of commission. Trenton had seen a little bit of it back on the ship, but hadn’t thought anything of it at the time. Now, however, it was stretching on a bit too long.

With the water collected, Garrote nodded, closing his eyes and raising his palms to the sky. They all slowly floated back upwards, the hilly terrain stretching out in front of them. He lowered them softly to the ground, sweat accumulating on his forehead.

“Is it really that difficult to pick us up?” Millie asked, her resolve slowly rebuilding itself having been in contact with the water.

“More than you can believe. Picking things up with graviturgy feels about identical to if I were to pick it up with my bare hands. So when I lift all of us, I’m effectively grabbing and pulling everyone up through the air. It’s really hard, but I need to get better at it. I’ll actually carry Trenton for now. It’ll help me train magic while we move,” Garrote said, coming to a full standing position.

“Right, let’s move out. That should be our water problem sorted, at least. Hopefully we don’t run into any combat today,” Kiva said, pulling out her compass and leading them north east.

After a couple miles, they broke out of the tree line, sand slowly replacing the grass until they were traveling over full sand dunes, the pleasant pastures of the river nowhere in sight. The heat was only building the further into the desert they got, rising to a nearly unbearable swelter, but they endured, pushing on until night came. During this time, Garrote carried Trenton using his magic, training both his magical acuity and physical strength all in one. Since Trenton was so tired, the moment that he’d eaten a little and taken in a little bit of water, he immediately passed out, quickly regaining his energy via his body's unusually quick restorative properties. That night, they made camp by a reddish brown rockface, Leo making them a large fire with firewood he had on hand to keep them warm amidst the now piercing chill permeating their bodies.

The Desolate Cliffs was a region of the world known for its steep, rocky terrain, even more so than Colossus Cliffs. The only saving grace was the mix of long stretches of sand, which allowed them some easier travel. They’d definitely be making slower progress than they had anticipated, but so long as they made up for the time elsewhere, they’d still be fine. Kiva and Trenton had half been expecting this when they chose this path, so they were at least mentally prepared for this struggle.

That night, they reset up guard watches, only one two person shift available to them now. Having slept most of the day, Trenton was practically back in perfect condition, his weariness completely tamed. He was hungry, and unbelievably parched, but that could be solved. He just had to figure out how to actually get the water out without releasing millions of gallons of water all at once. That would almost certainly kill all of them on impact.

Channeling his presence into the necklace, Trenton felt for the water, conjuring its image with his mind. When he felt like he had it locked down, he pulled at it with his presence, trying to just get a little bit of the water. From his hand, where he had his necklace clutched, he felt a wet sensation, a slight trickle pouring out of his clenched fist. Now with more vigor, he pulled at the water, summoning a slight stream to pour from his hand and into a large pot, where they’d boil it to make sure it was safe to consume.

“So that’s where the water was. I had no idea your necklace was a storage system. I didn’t even know that was possible, actually. How does it work?” Garrote asked, while Leo saw to boiling the water.

“Not sure. It seems like I can pull little bits out at a time, though, thankfully,” Trenton replied, holding his hand to the fire to dry it, slipping his necklace back around his neck.

“Thank the gods. I’d rather not be crushed to death under the entire Liafer river out in the middle of a desert,” Kiva said, eating a bit of a ration kit they had.

“That sounds kinda fun! Lots of water to swim in,” Millie exclaimed wistfully, mimicking a breast stroke.

“Call me crazy, but instantaneous death doesn’t sound very fun to me,” Garrote remarked.

“Because you’re boring,” Millie said, sticking her tongue out at Garrote, who stuck his tongue out in response.

“Don’t be fighting girls. You’ve only just met,” Leo said, setting down the steaming pot of water down in front of them. He still had that somber look from before, but he was hiding it better now. The only person that was able to tell was Trenton, who thought better of saying anything in front of the whole group. “Watch the temperature, but it’s otherwise safe to drink.”

After a couple of minutes, the water had cooled down and was safe to drink, everyone filling their water skins and partaking in the fresh feast. It was divine, like the first shower after a thousand years of no rain. Still finishing their paltry ration meals, they gourged themselves on the water, not worried about how much they were drinking. Since Trenton had taken so much of the river, water would definitely not be a problem from here on.

“Say, Trenton, where’d you get that necklace?” Garrote asked, leaning forward with wide eyes.

“Back when we were still traveling to Wyrm’s Perch, Leo, Walibeld, and I ran into a run down cathedral out on the plains. It was brilliant, massive like you wouldn’t believe, and still in great condition for how long it’s been sitting out there. It’s a marvel it’s even in one piece. Anyway, we ran into this weird man at the top who gave it to me. He also gave me this book,” Trenton said, pulling out the book, “which I’ve been slowly reading through.”

“Oh yeah, I remember seeing you reading that on the boat one night. What’s it about?” Kiva asked, Garrote snatching the book from his hands and inspecting it.

“It doesn’t have a title or an author? What kind of book is this?” Garrote asked, flipping through the pages. When he’d flipped through the whole book, he handed it back to Trenton, furrowing his brows at him. “You said you’ve been reading it?”

“Yeah, I have. There isn’t a lot, but it’s something to do in whatever free time I can find. Why?” Trenton replied a little confused at Garrote’s tone of voice.

“The whole things blank! There isn’t a single word anywhere in the book,” Garrote exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air like it was obvious.

“Blank? What are you talking about?” Trenton said, thoroughly confused now. He opened the book to a passage, turning it around for everyone to see and pointing at it. “There’s a passage right here. It’s really close to the beginning, too,” Trenton said. But as Trenton held up the book, he was only met with more confusion.

“Trenton, there’s nothing there. Are you feeling alright?” Kiva asked, her brow knitted with concern. Trenton flipped the book back around, looking back at the page. The passage was definitely still there, easily legible in big bold print. What were they on about?

“Can you not see the words? It’s a whole-actually here, I’ll read it for you,” Trenton said, scanning over the words to read it aloud. However, the second he tried to start reading it, his whole jaw clenched violently, his tongue stiff and unmoving. He panicked, trying to no avail to open his mouth.

“Are you okay?” Leo asked, concerned now.

Trenton shook his head, clawing at his jaw to try and force it open. Garrote moved forward to help him, but the moment that Trenton tumbled backwards, the book falling to the ground closed, his jaw loosened, his whole body untensing. Trenton gasped, slowly regaining his composure and control on the ground as they all knelt around him.

“What was that?” Millie asked, her voice full of fear, everyone helping Trenton back to his seated position

“I don’t know,” Trenton said, working his jaw to make sure everything was still functional. “My whole face seized up the moment I tried saying anything.”

Garrote grabbed the book, inspecting it closely, “Well, I’m a little more tempted to believe you know after that little stint. If the book was given to you by the weird man, maybe it was only meant to be read by you. It’s possible it has some psychic enchantments to stop us from seeing the words and to stop you from saying them or something. I’m not super familiar with other types of magic.”

Kiva sat there silently for a moment, thinking the whole thing over, “Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised actually. I’m not sure, but I feel like I’ve heard of magic like that before,” she shook her head. “I’d have to look more into it.”

“C’mon, we should be heading to bed. It’s getting late,” Leo said, standing up and stretching. He had the first watch that night. With a mix of displeased grumbles, they all settled in their respective tents, their setups closer to the campfire for heat and warmth, every person sleeping with several layers of blankets.