Getting out of the guild house proved far easier than getting in. I made my way out into the expansive courtyard, through the brass gates, and out onto the dock. Faryn waited there as the wind pulled at her mahogany hair and fanned it around her like a mystic curtain of energy. She beamed at me as I approached, and a bolt of heat warmed my insides despite the cold morning.
“Come with me,” she said without preamble. “I have a boat waiting.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“To a Vigorous Zone,” she replied. “I’m going to help you learn some new techniques.”
“More wood Augmenting?” I asked with a waggle of my eyebrows.
“Combining wood with water, just like you combined it with fire before.” Faryn’s smile widened. “A new set of skills for a burgeoning Swordslinger.”
I’d told Vesma that I wouldn’t be long, but she’d have to forgive me once I returned to the guild house with a new combo element.
Chapter Seven
When we reached the docks, there weren’t any guild members or guards in sight.
“I don’t see anyone who can pilot a boat,” Faryn observed.
“I’ve seen it done before,” I said.
“You think you can do it?”
I shrugged. “How hard can it be? After all, I have water pathways now.”
“I would very much like to see this.” Faryn settled into a boat, and I took a seat at the back.
I’d seen members of the guild use these craft effortlessly through channeling their Vigor. I placed my hand on the seahorse carving, drew upon my supply of Vigor, and pressed it through my hand. The boat shuddered as blue ribbons of energy swirled through the boat’s timbers.
Faryn’s eyes grew wide as they stared at the enchanted seahorse rippling with magic. “I believe the carving is something similar to a scroll or artificial Vigor pathway. Why don’t you channel through the boat in the same way you channel through the Sundered Heart. From there, it shouldn’t—”
The boat lurched as I sent Vigor into the prow. We hurtled through the waves like we were riding in a motorboat. It took me a few minutes to get a feel for how the boat handled, but all I needed to do was adjust the direction of Vigor flowing inside my water pathways, and the boat followed.
In minutes, we shot past towering cliffs and isolated fishing villages. Faryn directed me between islands populated by puffins and gulls. Seals basked on rocks, indifferent to our passage, while the tentacles of stranger beasts shot out of the water to snatch unwary, low-flying gulls. I made sure to stay well clear of churning ripples of bubbles after that.
The breeze against my skin chased away the last remnants of sleep. Faryn leaned over the side of the boat, creating a wake of foam with her fingers. It had been a long time since we’d found any privacy, and my gaze wandered fondly from her face down her body to shapely legs exposed by the cut of her robes. Her katana-like blade rested in its carved sheath over her knees. It wasn’t difficult to remember the sensation of those knees wrapped around me.
“So, you couldn’t wait to ‘educate’ me some more?” I asked with a grin.
She smiled back but didn’t take the bait.
“You didn’t have to go to all these lengths,” I continued. “You could have just left a note in my shoe and arranged to meet in some dark corner of the House of Resplendent Tears. Even those uptight water Augmenters will have hidden places they can go for a little private tutoring.”
She sighed and shook her head. “It was tempting, but this is not the time. Now, it’s more important than ever that I remain professional.”
I laughed. “It’s a little late for that, isn’t it?”
“It’s never too late for anything,” she said, a familiar twinkle returning to her eyes. “But a good teacher saves something as a reward for a good pupil.”
“I’ll be on my best behavior,” I said. “Cross my heart.”
Faryn ran a slender hand across the starboard side of the stern. “We’re approaching the zone now. Over there.” She indicated a low-lying, swampy, and waterlogged expanse of saturated earth and muddy water.
I turned our vessel to the right, toward the coastal area. “How do you know so much about the Diamond Coast?”
“Xilarion did give you a map. Did you pay it more than a glance?”
“A little more than a glance, yes. But Vesma is the better pathfinder, so I let her handle directions.”
I pulled back on the craft’s pace as we approached land. We came to rest on a thick mud bank beside a relatively solid patch of ground. Sludge rose up around our feet as we climbed out of the boat.
I shifted onto firmer land, where the roots of reeds held the earth together in seemingly solid clumps. Even there, I could feel myself sinking if I stood still for more than a few seconds. Good footing was one of the most important elements in a fight, and this swamp was a deathtrap for an unwary Augmenter. I needed to watch my step while we ventured further.
The marsh was scattered with bedraggled trees and scraggly bushes bearing unfamiliar fruit. Some I recognized as similar to plants back on earth, but others were completely unfamiliar. Scaled creatures slithered between them and vanished into the reeds as we drew closer.
“You never struck me as a marshlands type of girl,” I said to Faryn as we squelched over a somewhat stable pathway through the reeds. “There’s nothing here except dying trees and reeds.”
She laughed. “I’ll admit, it’s not my first choice of scenery. But one discovers much about their courage when they decide to confront dangerous situations. I’ve been taking that lesson in stride.”
“Guess you’re never too old to learn, right?” I laughed. Despite her youthful beauty, Faryn was more than a hundred years old. The combination of her elvish race and Augmentation
