The princess leaped over the side of the boat without another word and sprinted up the short beach.
“She can’t keep that up,” Faryn said as we raced after the princess. “She’ll fall like a leaf in the wind.”
“One final push, and we can all rest,” I said.
The brightly painted woodwork of the city’s buildings became silhouettes broken by the light from windows. Few people had drawn their shutters despite the howling wind. Instead, they had placed lamps, candles, and glowing stones on the windowsills. Light streamed out toward the sea to guide home any sailors who were still out in the ocean’s rage. The lights illuminated our path as we raced through the streets. We couldn’t afford to pause, not for a second.
We would need something special to deal with the wyrms. Something big and unexpected. Something that would take some preparation. But we had to catch Cadrin and take the lures from him first.
We dashed across a bridge, through a square, and across a series of stepping stones.
“Look, up there!” Faryn shouted.
She pointed to an open-roofed shrine on top of a small rock plateau. It was the very same shrine where Vesma, Kumi, and I had fought a horde of monsters when we first came into the city. A shining point of bright blue could be seen on top of one of the pillars.
“That’s one of the lures,” Kumi said as we caught up to her.
“I’ve got it,” Vesma said.
She sprinted along the road, then flung her hands out and shot fire from them. The bursts of flame combined with her natural athleticism to propel her in a series of great bounds that grew higher as she came closer to the shrine. She leaped like a coiled spring as she neared the base of the plateau and fired off a final intense burst of flame. She soared through the air, landed on the shrine, and snatched up the lure.
It was time to do some fishing.
“Gather ‘round,” I said to the others. “I’ve got a plan.”
We stood in a cobbled square as the rain thundered down and cascaded off the nearby rooftops. Willows whipped in the wind at the corners of the square as I cast my eyes around for materials for something to fight the tidal wyrms with.
“We’re going to make a giant harpoon,” I said. “Faryn, you’ve spent over a century building a connection to the power of wood. I need you to call on that connection, to summon forth as much wood power as you can—from you, from me, from all around us.”
“Do you want me to channel it into Plank Pillar?” she asked. “That might be the closest to a harpoon shape.”
“Exactly like that.”
“That sounds ambitious,” she said as her expression flickered with excitement and uncertainty. “I’m not sure it’s wise after our little altercation at the guild.”
Faryn held her arms wide and closed her eyes. The willows turned their branches toward her as she drew upon everything that carried the essence of wood. I let my own power move and turned to face the roof of the shrine.
“Create it on the roof. We need a way of getting it over the wall and into the ocean.”
“I’m not sure I have enough Vigor,” Faryn said.
Kumi stepped forward. “I can’t exactly produce Vigor, but I can bolster your channels and make your own Vigor more effective.”
“Are you sure you can handle it after the boat ride?”
“If it means saving my father, I’ll try.”
Kumi faced us and began to chant. The rain was drawn onto her and trickled down her body as the deep connection between her and the element of water took hold.
Suddenly, something burst from the shrine’s roof. A pillar of wood, and then, another, and another. Water and wood flowed through the three of us as we melded our powers together.
“Vesma,” I said, “take lookout. I need to know where the wyrms are.”
She nodded and sprinted down the street toward the wall of the city.
Leaves sprouted from the giant harpoon we’d created on top of the shrine only to be snatched away by the wind. The wooden shaft grew until it was taller than Kegohr, taller than the nearby trees.
The tiles on the shrine’s roof came loose as the structure took the Plank Pillar’s weight. The whole structure shivered, and the top trembled. Cracks appeared down the sides, and I was hit by a moment of panic as I thought that it was all about to fall apart. But splinters of wood broke away around the top and clattered to the ground to leave behind a sharpened tip like the point of a harpoon.
“That’s perfect,” I said. “Now, one last thing. Can you help me form an airtight hollow in the base, like a cartridge in a bullet?”
“Like a what?” Faryn asked through gritted teeth.
“Like…” I tried to think of anything comparable to a bullet in a world that had no guns. “Just a big hollow space, okay?”
Both women nodded. An opening appeared near the base of the harpoon, and sawdust poured out. The stream of sawdust stopped coming after a minute, and bark grew back over the hole to seal it shut.
Kegohr followed me as I sprinted up the road and climbed the outside of the shrine. When I reached the rooftop, I took hold of the side of the harpoon with the half-ogre’s help and lowered it until it rested at the perfect angle. The harpoon’s point protruded over the rooftop as I tied the lure to the tip of the improvised weapon. I wanted the core of the tidal wyrm, but my priority was getting it away from the city. If I could turn the wyrms against each other while they fought for the lure, it would save Qihin City.
We had a weapon ready to fight the tidal wyrms, but we had to make sure that they came to it. And that meant finding the other lure. If
