“Our people will be honored to benefit from your skills, Master Faryn,” Kumi said with a small bow.
The elf peered at my shoulder through the torn cloth of my robes, prodded the wound with her fingers, and nodded.
“That’s good work.” She smiled at Kumi. “You should let it rest, mighty Swordslinger.”
“No promises,” I said. “Trouble has a way of finding me.”
“It really does.” Faryn shook her head and turned to leave. “I’ll see you later--hopefully in one piece.”
Kumi led the rest of us out of the courtyard and through a large gate to the north. At the edge of the rock on which the palace stood, a stream ran out over the edge and formed a waterfall that plunged down to the city below. There was no sign of stairs to the peak of the mountain.
“Step into the water,” Kumi said. “It will take you down.”
I peered over the drop at the hard ground 40 feet below. “Won’t that just be gravity?”
“Trust me.” Kumi laid a hand on my arm again and smiled. “I’ll show you.”
She stepped into the stream where it frothed and plummeted over the edge. The water rose up to form a disk beneath her feet. It went with the flow of the water, over the edge, and Kumi sank slowly from view.
I took a deep breath and followed her lead. I expected my feet to get wet as I stepped onto the water, but instead, the water formed a rubbery platform beneath me. There was a brief, dizzying moment of fear as I went over the edge. The fight-or-flight instincts in the animal recesses of my brain constricted around me. Sweat flooded my palms, and I meditated to calm myself.
The fear faded slowly as I continued to inhale and exhale. My mind cleared, and I could enjoy the view as an invisible elevator carried me to the bottom, with the waterfall crashing around me. The disk fell away as I reached the bottom. Water streamed over my head as gravity took hold and water soaked my clothes from above. I laughed, stepped out of the waterfall, and shook like a dog drying itself.
“You could have warned me about that last part,” I said.
“What, you’re afraid of getting a bit wet?” Kumi asked with a smile. “A warrior of your skill and bravery? I hardly believe it.”
“I prefer to know what’s coming.”
“Sometimes, there’s pleasure in the unexpected. And novelty. In this case, I’m rather enjoying the view.”
Her gaze ran up and down as it took in the way my robes clung to my body. I returned the favor and enjoyed the droplets of water still running down the bare skin of her shoulders and across the swell of her breasts. Her skirts plastered themselves to round hips and shapely legs. She bit her lip and gave me a sparkling smile.
“Any reason why we didn’t take this waterfall elevator to get up to the palace? It would have been a lot faster than climbing the mountain path.” I didn’t add that it might have saved the lives of her father’s bodyguards.
“I’m not sure what an elevator is,” the princess answered, “but the aqua-disc only travels down. Allowing it to transport people upward would provide a weakness in the defense of the palace.”
Unfortunately, that hadn’t stopped the monsters from reaching the palace.
“Wet, wet, wet!” Kegohr said as he emerged from the waterfall. Vesma followed a moment later, and she scowled as she twisted the water from her hair.
“This way,” Kumi said before she led us off through the streets.
The princess asked the others about their backgrounds and the powers they had gained through Augmenting as we walked. She listened intently and asked more questions about Radiant Dragon, clearly in awe of what we could do. To a Wild water Augmenter, the power of tamed fire Augmentation was something extraordinary.
“And to combine that with other powers,” she said, looking at me. “Your sap healing technique on its own would be amazing, and that’s just one facet. I can’t wrap my head around it all.”
Kegohr laughed. “That’s just part of the parcel with our mate Effin.” He slapped me on the shoulder with so much half-ogre strength that I almost fell over. “He always defies expectations.”
Our route took us through the upper reaches of Qihin City toward the towering rock formations of the rear wall. Rivers and streams still gushed between the houses, but the rapids distinguished them from the steady streams in the parts of Qihin City I’d seen earlier.
The Temple of the Deep stood at the base of the rock formations between the churning waters of two rapidly flowing rivers. The outer walls gleamed with a layer of magical ice that spiked up toward the mountain with polished points. A layered pagoda tower with curved roofs rose above the walls. Water sluiced from its layered ceiling and added to the roar of racing water. A grand gateway in the shape of a dragon’s mouth, with glittering gems for eyes, stared down from the gatehouse above.
“You mentioned relics earlier,” I said to Kumi as I looked at the temple. I couldn’t help but think of the Sundered Heart and the spirit within the weapon. Or of the powerful scroll Xilarion had given me that could summon a fire golem.
“Objects of power that have been in our line since the clan was first formed,” Kumi explained. “It is watched over by the dragon spirit, Yono, known by some as the Guardian of Crashing Waves.”
“Friend of yours, Nydarth?” I silently asked the sword.
She snorted. “You think just because I’m a dragon spirit that Yono is my friend? Not all dragons are fire creatures, Ethan. Some take to other elements. I’ve heard of this Yono, but I’ve never met her properly.”
Fishfolk guards stood to either side of the gate. Their blue and green uniforms were trimmed with a silver brocade that
