"Heatmom!"

  Scintilla groaned as she rolled over, almost wanting to push some sand in her ears. Couldn't they just let her sleep for-

  "Mom, heatmom! You have to see what Mia and Flux did!"

  Of course I do, Scintilla thought as the door to her private room was shoved open.

  A pitter-patter of feet raced to her stone bed as Zan and Soot sprinted inside, the latter jumping up and down as he ran, which made him look like the Hazy Rabbits from back home. Just as she cracked open an eye, Zan jumped on top of her, cuddling into her arms and almost purring.

  "Heatmom, it was really crazy," Soot said, his arms flailing around. "They managed to run over the edge of the entire sail, jumped from the side, slid down, and landed on the rail! In one go!"

  Before Scintilla's mind could fully comprehend what she'd heard, Zan whispered in her ear.

  "Soot tried to, but he almost fell down, and Glow did it, then left."

  Scintilla's hair stood on end, and she closed her eyes, trying not to imagine one or more of her children falling from The Concerto and into the storm below. She'd told them to stop doing dangerous things for months now, but the trip was just too long. It was a surprise that it hadn't happened before.

  Irwin, please head back as soon as you can, she thought, pushing herself upright, holding Zan in her arms. Otherwise, I'll be crazy, or one of them dead!

  She shivered at her own mind's poor attempt at an inward joke.

  "Mom?!" Soot shouted.

  "Alright, I'm coming," she said, dropping Zan to her feet. The girl looked at her in dismay, making as if to be picked up again.

  "You can walk. You are way too big for me to carry you around."

  Zan's lower lip trembled, but when Scintilla merely raised an eyebrow, it stopped, and she rolled her eyes in a way that Scintilla knew she herself did when she was annoyed.

  Tiscian would laugh till she cried if she saw this, Scintilla thought, thinking about her own heatmother for a moment.

  She was reminded of reality when Soot's patience ran thin, and he began pulling her hand.

  Scintilla dug her heels into the deck. It was a good thing Irwin had helped her get her first heartcard, or she'd have been pulled from her feet by the boy. Although they all looked like six or seven-year-olds, the cards Irwin had gifted them made them both strong and agile beyond their years. As it was, she didn't budge and raised her eyebrow.

  "Sootahr, what did we discuss?"

  The little boy rolled his eyes at the use of his full name but relented. "I won't pull heatmother around," he piped.

  "Exactly," she said, smiling at her tiny rebellious son.

  Soot stopped pulling, and Scintilla followed him out of the room, with Zan calmly holding her other hand. She sighed, reaching out and rubbing the little Ignitzian's hair.

  "Where are the others?" she asked, smiling at her daughter.

  "Ti is talking with Boohm about his times as a merchant, and Ihrana and Zender are watching what Mia and Flux are doing," Zan piped.

  They still won't use their full names, Scintilla thought, wondering if she should put more effort into it.

  "And Gallowil?" she asked.

  Zan's smile turned proud. "He's practicing down in the hull with a few of the blademaidens!"

  Of course he is, Scintilla thought, feeling a stab of worry for her adopted son.

  During the first six months of their journey, the kids still somehow hoped that Irwin would mysteriously catch up with them. But as time passed, they had started to slowly understand it wasn't going to happen. Each had dealt with it in another way.

  Soot had begun sneaking around, trying to, as he said it, 'find the secrets dad left'. Somehow, he'd decided in his head that Irwin had left things for them to find, and he had decided to find them all. As crazy as it sounded, he was one of those she worried least over. She just hoped he'd not decide there was a secret on the bottom of the hull…

  Ti had begun talking with everyone, asking them questions about things. Her interests rapidly outgrew what someone her age should want to know, and Scintilla had had to have a conversation with the adults in the crew to warn them not to tell her everything she wanted to know. Scintilla wondered if Irwin had somehow captured some of Daubutim's heat to transfer to their little daughter. She knew things didn't work like that with Galadins, but Ti seemed to have only one interest. Learn. And it reminded her of Irwin's stories about his friend.

  Zan, if she wasn't hanging around the other kids or cuddling with her, was singing and humming. She also had the tendency to stare out into the storm and, when asked, answered that she was searching for Chaos Whales.

  Still, as much as she worried about those three of her children, the other three were the ones that kept her up at night.

  Flux, Mia, and Glow hounded the ship as they tried to find things to do. After just a month in the journey, all three had begun increasing their training with Scintilla and the blademaidens, but even that didn't seem enough to distract them. They kept finding more dangerous things to do, but so far, they had stayed away from the rails of the ship.

  I should have known, she thought, smiling ruefully as she thought about her own antics when she was this old.

  As she reached the deck, she was just in time to see Miamore and Halflux sprint across the ship's railing, jump to the edge of the sail, and climb up in a way she knew she couldn't copy.

  I'm going to die from worry at some point, she thought as images of both falling down and splattering on the deck or over the railing played through her mind.

  She was about to run forward to stop them when a deep, rumbling voice stopped her.

  "Don't worry, I'm paying attention."

  Scintilla glanced back at the massive Ganvil on the deck behind her.

  "Thank you, Nim'dor," she said, smiling at the Ganvil with a large measure of relief. The Ganvil had gotten incredibly interested in the antics of her children and had already saved them from a few broken bones.

  "Heatmom! Look!"

  Scintilla looked up just in time to see Flux reach the top of the sail and do a handstand before sliding down the other side, screaming with laughter. He seemed to have no realization of the fact that he might slide down into the storm below.

  Scintilla rushed forward, but it wasn't needed. A silver line cracked through the air, wrapped around the little boy, and yanked him back on deck. Zender was looking at Flux as he landed on the deck before him. He bounced twice, then stopped and laughed in his high-pitched child's voice. Zender shook his head, and Scintilla had the idea that he was about to say something. However, what she assumed would have been scolding was cut short.

  "Now me!" Mia shouted, jumping down and sliding down the sail, screaming in delight.

  Scintilla groaned, preparing herself to move if she had to, but it wasn't necessary. As Mia reached the edge, Zender moved like a blur, his whip stretching out to entangle her and yank her onto the deck.

  Scintilla was about to tell them how dangerous that had been when Flux and Mia ran up to her with glittering eyes.

  "Heatmom, heatmom! Did you see?"

  "Gliding down was so much fun!"

  "Can you do that? Try!"

  Scintilla held back a groan, and when she saw Zender and Ihrana grin at her, her eyes narrowed as she had an idea. Looking at her two balls of energy, she smiled.

  "Yes, I saw, and no, I can't do that. Also… I don't want you two to do this again-" two faces turned sad, but she continued. "-instead, why don't you ask Zender to use his whip as a swing again?"

  Mia's eyes widened, and Flux jumped a foot in the air.

  "Yes," he said, turning to Mia. "Let's get Glow!"

  The two turned and sprinted away while Zender grimaced, shaking his head.

  "Why don't you two go and see if Ti wants to join?" Scintilla said, looking at Soot and Zan.

  The two nodded, though Soot snorted when Zan grabbed his hand. Still, he let her hold it as they sprinted away.

  Scintilla walked toward Zender and Ihrana, noticing how the two of them seemed almost glued together. She felt a stab, wishing Irwin were here, then shoved it down.

  "I thought I asked you two to make sure they wouldn't do anything too dangerous?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Zender looked at her, the corners of his lips quirking up. "Between Nim'dor, Earilla, and me, there's no way they would have gotten hurt," he said. "Besides, sail gliding is a very useful pastime on a ship!"

  If that's true, why didn't you mention it in the last half year? Scintilla thought, but she didn't say anything.

  Instead, she looked at the helm, where Earilla was smiling at her. Two of her Faerits sat on her shoulders.

  "I had it under control," she said, her voice carrying towards them. "A few of my friends were ready to get them if all else failed."

  "Good," Scintilla said, raising an eyebrow. "Still, please don't let them do these things, or I'll make you two the ones who will take care of them when we get home."

  The word home caused Earilla's eyes to snap ahead, and Scintilla sighed as she walked toward the younger woman. Unlike Zender, her cards didn't change her physique as much, and except for the kids, she was the smallest on the ship. She was also the one with the biggest burden.

  "Are we still on course?" Scintilla asked, putting her hand on Earilla's shoulder.

  Earilla nodded. "We are."

  "No change in the duration?" Scintilla asked, hopefully.

  "A bit over a year left," Earilla sighed. "We are already going faster than anyone has likely ever crossed the branch. Not needing to restock food or keep to all of the Portal Corridors is allowing us to do it in less than half the time it would normally take to get there."

  "Good, let me know if anything changes," Scintilla said as she heard her children run back on deck.

  How am I going to keep them entertained for another year? she worried.

  --

  Time passed at a slow and steady pace as the Concerto continued its rush back to the other side of the branch.

  Soon, another ten months had passed, but as Scintilla looked at Earilla, she knew their safe trip might have just come to an end.

  "It's odd," Earilla said, staring ahead. "My Faerits are telling me there's danger all around, but they can't explain why, and I can't sense anything."

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Scintilla frowned as she looked around the storm. Earilla's Faerits seemed to have an uncanny knack for keeping them out of trouble, not unlike Greldo's hound, but unlike Coal, they weren't able to give any details. Over the last month, they had changed course multiple times already, and although they were moving roughly in the right direction, they had already added a few weeks to their journey.

  Worse. They had no idea what was causing Earilla's Faerits to be as anxious as they were.

  "Nim'dor?" she asked, looking at the powerful Ganvil.

  "I don't sense anything different. No odd movements or energy fluctuations."

  Great, Scintilla thought as she clenched her hands.

  "Alright, and they are telling you it's getting worse?"

  Earilla nodded, biting her lower lip.

  "Before, it was a distant sense that we kept moving away from or around. Now, it's… They feel like there's something all around us, and it has somehow circled around. The only somewhat safe path seems to be forward."

  Scintilla took a deep breath, then nodded. "Keep going," she said, turning to look at Zender. "Warn Lamia, Helm, and the blademaidens. They need to get up here."

  Zender dashed away. Two steps in, his whip shot through the air like a silvery lightning bolt, only for him to appear at its end. A moment later, he vanished down into the ship, the cracking of his whip sounding out as he rushed forward.

  "Heatmom, what is wrong?"

  Scintilla looked up to see Mia, Glow, and Flux hanging above her.

  "Get down from there," she said.

  Something in her voice must have been different from her usual complaints, as all three dropped down instantly, moving toward her with wide eyes.

  --

  "Soot, you are crazy," Zan whispered. "You know there's no way Dad left anything at the top of the sail! We've been there thousands of times by now. Besides, Zender was whipping through the ship just now. Let's go and see what he was doing?"

  "We can do that too, but I really think there's something up there! We just didn't take a good enough look," Soot whispered back conspiratorily. "I'm sure of it! There are only a few-"

  A scream from above deck shut both of them up, and Zan stepped next to Soot, clasping his hand, eyes wide and terrified.

  "That was Mia…"

  "It's fine," Soot whispered, his eyes wide as he looked up at the ceiling of the cabin. "Flux probably just jump-scared her."

  They were still hesitating when the sound of running footsteps came from the stairs. They closed in on where they were, and a moment later, Glow appeared at the door of the cabin they had been using as their not-so-secret secret hideout.

  "Glow?" Soot whispered.

  Glow looked at them, and he hesitated.

  "Glow?" Soot asked, suddenly worried.

  "Heatmom said not to come on deck…" Glow said slowly, his gaze locking onto Zan. He hesitated, then frowned as if struggling with something. "Keep Zan here," he finally said, turning around and sprinting away.

  Keep Zan here? Soot thought as he looked at Zan, whose eyes had widened.

  "Soot?" she whispered.

  That means I will miss it… Soot thought, not knowing what it was but knowing it had to be interesting. He sniffed in annoyance that Glow hadn't just stayed here. He already seemed to know what was happening.

  "Let's just stay here till they tell us what happened," he said, feeling annoyed.

  "But you want to look?"

  "Yes," Soot said without hesitation. "But Heatmom is still angry with me for digging through her bed to find the secret Dad left on the bottom. So it's best we stay here."

  "Thank you," Zan whispered.

  Soot shrugged, though he felt a bit of pride. Flux, Mia, and Glow might be good at a lot of things, but when Ti was on one of her information-gathering missions, Zan always came to him.

  Still, I wonder what caused Mia to scream like that, he wondered.

  Neither of them noticed the tiny Faerit that was crouched in a corner behind a crate.

  --

  Glow shot up the stairs and onto the deck. Scintilla was crouched at the railing, hugging Mia, while Flux stood between two of the Blademaidens. Ahead of them, within the storm, an enormous shape slowly floated past. Covered in deep scars and blood, half of the Chaos Whale's head had been blown up, and he felt a slight sense of nausea as he scanned the long, winding wounds.

  "Glow?"

  Glow looked at Heatmom and nodded. "I found them. Soot will keep her below deck."

  “Good,” Scintilla said. "Are you alright?"

  Glow nodded, turning his attention to the storm.

  "I'm fine," he lied, holding back his anger.

  How could someone or something do this to Chaos Whales? They didn't harm anyone, were so nice, and could sing so well! Was this why Heatmom had been so worried earlier?

  If Dad were here, he'd find who did this and make them pay, he thought.

  As the ship continued ahead slowly, they passed another four corpses.

  What could have done this? Glow thought, frowning. He could hear Mia sniffle softly, and he was glad he'd found Zan. If their sister had seen this, she would have had nightmares for months. He shivered as he saw a ragged wound carved through the side of an enormous Chaos Whale head.

  I'll probably have nightmares, he knew, shivering and wishing his father was there.

  "You okay?"

  Glow jolted as Boohm's voice came from behind him. He turned around, looking at the tall, bald Onyxian with the pale cloth bandage around his eyes.

  How does he sneak up on me like that? he thought.

  "I'm fine," Glow said, turning back to the railing. "Did they-"

  "Tell me what's out there?" Boohm said. "Sadly, yes. How many so far?"

  Glow looked around, counting those he saw.

  "Seven, I think," he said, his hands on the railing too small to wrap around it.

  He jolted again as Boohm knelt beside him, putting an arm around him.

  "Don't worry, Gallowil. Life is like this," Boohm rumbled.

  Glow nodded but barely listened, not even reacting to the use of his full name.

  Did something just move?

  He stared at one of the carcasses, trying to see what had just moved. Perhaps one of the Chaos Whales was still alive?

  A thick tentacle lazily pierced through a thunderous storm cloud. As thick as a tree, it wrapped around one of the Chaos Whale carcasses and just as soundlessly pulled it back into the storm.

  "Gallowil what's the matter?" Boohm asked in an uncharacteristically soft whisper.

  “O… Ocu… Oculithar," Glow stuttered.

  Boohm rose, carrying him up and hugging him while his voice boomed out together with that of Nim'dor.

  "Dahlia!"

  "On my way," a muted shout came from below.

  Glow struggled to get free from Boohm's embrace.

  "I have to stop Zan," he said, worried about how his sister would react if she came above deck.

  Boohm dropped to his knees and let him go. "Go," he said. "And stay with her and Soot!"

  Glow nodded as he sprinted across the deck to the door that led down into the ship. Dahlia exited as he reached it, almost barrelling over him.

  "Look out! Glow, go below decks," she shouted, dodging around him before running away.

  Glow was about to go inside when Helm barged out.

  The older Fiz'rin calmly looked around.

  "Glow?"

  "There are Chaos Whale bodies and an Oculithar," Glow said, looking up at the man who, in many ways, resembled his father. Almost as big, with a skin that gleamed like metal, and a calm personality. He also knew great stories about Igniz.

  "I'm going to Zan and Soot," he said, dodging around the massive man.

  He thought he heard Helm say something, but then he was rushing down the stairs.

  --

  Dahlia reached the deck just as her bonded Ganvil, Juul'rish, appeared from her soulscape. The tiny silver Ganvil landed on her shoulder as they moved to stand beside Nim'dor.

  "Is it attacking us?" she asked, looking around and trying to remain calm. She felt disgusted as she looked at the mutilated carcasses, but there was no sign of the Oculithar. Still, one looked around at the others and told her it had to be out there.

  Damnit! It had been such a calm trip until now. Why did they have to run into-

  A tentacle flailed from the dark storm that surrounded them, illuminated by a burst of lightning that crackled sideways through the swirling cloud. It wrapped around a heavily mangled Chaos Whale body that was as big as The Concerto, dragging it away.

  "Why are we flying so slow?" she asked, looking at the steering wheel.

  Earilla stood there, her head flicking from side to side as her silver eyes examined their surroundings. She didn't answer, but two of her Faerits were perched on her shoulders, pressed tightly against her neck.

  "Earilla's Faerit says we are surrounded," Nim'dor rumbled.

  What? But we made all those course changes so we could evade whatever was out there… right? Dahlia thought, looking around. "By what? Multiple Oculithar?"

  "Just one…"

  Dahlia grimaced. "Juul, let's get ready."

  Juul'rish soundlessly flew from her shoulder and landed on the ground, changing into her large, working shape.

  Dahlia grabbed a few cards from her pocket, always ready just in case, and tossed the top one on Juul'rish before waiting. If she began now, that would definitely draw attention, and Nim'dor should be fine for a few moments.

  A quick look around showed the dozens of Blademaidens spread out, blades drawn, while Helm stood with his arms crossed in the middle like a giant, calm rock. Scintilla was with three of her children, who were staring into the clouds with eyes wide with fear and horror.

  As the Concerto floated forward, Dahlia watched another few Chaos Whale bodies appear in view, smaller than the others.

  She heard Scintilla whisper something to Mia and Flux, who nodded, turned around, and ran to the door, disappearing into the ship.

  "There's a barrier up ahead," Nim'dor said. "It's incredibly weak, and I think…"

  He fell quiet as a shuddering, pale, barely visible barrier appeared ahead of them.

  "It's the only place that seems safe," Earilla said. "What do we do?"

  "Go in," Scintilla said as she looked at the surrounding blademaidens. "Prepare for battle."

  Dahlia began preparing herself. The best she could do was keep the barrier up.

  As she began resonating her cards, the Concerto floated through the barrier into a suddenly calm pocket of space.

  It was barely half a mile across, and dozens of Chaos Whales, most much smaller than their ship, were flying around a distant, bright portal that hung in the middle of the air. Two heavily scarred Chaos Whales, larger than the largest Dahlia had seen, lay on the ground, motionless.

  For two moments, everyone was frozen as the storm's constant, far too familiar roar abated to a distant rumble, and they heard the sad, deep singing of the Chaos Whales. Then, the calm was shattered as crackling lightning rippled across the barrier around them. Massive tentacles wrapped around it, and innumerable pale eyes hovered behind the tentacles as an Oculithar tried to spy inside.

  "..."

  "Can someone tell me what is going on?" Boohm rumbled, his voice breaking the stunned and worried silence.

  Everyone began talking at once until Scintilla shouted for quiet.

  "We are inside a portal barrier with a barrier so weak that it has so little glow we didn't see it in time," she said, looking around. "There's an Oculithar around it, and dozens of small Chaos Whales are flying around a portal that… I think it is new? Or weak?"

  "Weak," Nim'dor calmly agreed. "It is rank one, and the pressure from it is barely able to hold this barrier up against the storm, let alone the Oculithar. We have about an hour or two before it is going to shatter."

  "Great. Then we need to get out of here," Boohm said.

  Everyone turned to Earilla, who was looking around with a deep frown on her face. As the Concerto flew further into the calm pocket, it slowed to a stop.

  "I…" Earilla shook her head and frowned again, looking around, then at her Faerit, before turning to the others.

  "The only way is that way," she said, pointing at the other side of the barrier. "But it's not really safe… just less dangerous?"

  Everyone watched the spot she pointed at, and the tentacles wrapped around that area of the portal gallery barrier.

  "If we go there, can they sense how long till we reach a safer area?" Scintilla asked.

  Earilla was quiet for another few seconds before frowning at her Faerits.

  "They say it's like a thin corridor that swirls through space. If we can follow it, it should be safe beyond."

  "How far from our goal is it?" Helm asked, his deep voice sounding as calm as ever.

  Earilla's eyes narrowed, then she pointed at a spoke of the steering wheel. "If this is where we have to go," she said before moving her hand further away. "And we are here. We need to move like this."

  She moved her finger to the side, then around, and then back to the spoke on the steering wheel.

  "So, it's a detour," Helm said. "How much time will it cost?"

  "Months," Earilla said with a grimace.

  Everyone was quiet again. Then Scintilla let out a weary sigh.

  "There's no other option," she said, glancing at Earilla, who shrugged, then nodded.

  "Fine. Let's head out."

  "What about the Chaos Whale babies?!" a scared voice piped from the doorway.

  Everyone turned to see Zan standing at the door opening, the other kids slowly moving out beside her and looking worried.

  "I told you to go below deck," Scintilla said, but she sounded more weary than angry.

  "We need to take them with us!" Zan said, her eyes showing more defiance than fear. "They are alone and afraid!"

  "Little flame, even if we could get them to follow us," Scintilla said as she walked to her children. "The Oculithar is hunting them. If we take them along, it will mean it will follow us."

  "But aren't we faster?" Zan asked, turning to stare at the large group of Chaos Whales. "If they follow us, we can run home. Dad said they killed an Oculithar!"

  Scintilla grimaced.

  "It was a very small one," Zender said, walking forward. "This one is way too big."

  "So we are just going to leave them to die?" Zan asked, her voice cracking as tears flowed down her face.

  The adults shared a look, and Scintilla sighed as she looked at Earilla.

  "Set course," she ordered, turning to Dahlia. "Prepare to boost the shield, but only do so if you have to. We have no idea if it will draw the Oculithar's attention."

  "No, it's not fair," Zan cried, running to the side of the deck, shrugging off the efforts of her siblings to stop her. She gripped the sides of the deck, took a deep breath, and let out a high, sad cry that seemed to pierce all other sounds radiating out.

  Scintilla teleported forward, appearing beside her daughter.

  "Zan, we can't bring them," she began, only for a deep, sad cry to drown out her voice.

  She stared up, seeing the Chaos Whales flying, turning from their circling, and slowly flying towards them.

  Oh no…

  Zan wiped her face with her hand. "They are coming with us," she said.

  Common = Quartz, Uncommon = Amethyst, Rare = Topaz, Very Rare = Emerald, Epic = Ruby, Legendary = Diamond, Mythical = Ammolite