I lost sight of Kumi behind a cluster of reeds, but she appeared ahead of me. Her laughter echoed over the waterlogged ground and through the scraggly willows as they sagged over pools of dark water.
“You’ve got quite the talent for running,” I said as she finally slowed.
“Not all of us can conjure fire or ice,” she teased as she leaped across a swampy patch to the next trail over.
Shapes moved in the night around us. Some were just trees and bushes swaying in a gentle wind off the ocean. Others moved with more purpose. Animals, birds, and monsters pursued their prey through the night as we strolled through the marshes.
“So, what part of these marshes interest you so much?” Kumi asked.
“Nearest to the water core. It’s where the zone’s power is strongest, so that’s where I need to meditate.”
“I know the place. If the spirits smile on us, perhaps we’ll be spared the indignity of a battle without our weapons.”
“The spirits don’t often smile on me, then.” And I didn’t have the Sundered Heart with me, either. Perhaps it had been a bad idea to leave it behind, but Kumi’s challenge had blown caution to the wind. Besides, I hardly needed a sword when I was able to conjure the powers of wood, fire, water, ash, and sap.
“Perhaps you could show respect,” she said. “Show them your power without killing their creatures.”
“So, what, just wave my magic in front of their faces until they die of sheer panic?”
The princess shook her head with a smile. “Discipline them, if necessary. Unless you’re looking to hunt for a new technique through their cores?”
“Didn’t bring my knife.”
She slid her arm around mine and squeezed it gently. “Then you have no need to destroy them.”
“Weren’t you more than happy to help us kill them on the beach before?”
“Suffice it to say I was far more interested in a certain hunter there.” Kumi winked.
My blood warmed as she gave my sleeve a playful tug and withdrew her arm from mine.
We moved further down the track until the sound of squelching mud and a cloud of mist surrounded us. I summoned Ice Armor around myself and readied myself for an attack from where shapes were moving in the darkness.
Kumi stayed closed behind to watch and wait. I’d seen fog like this before, so I wasn’t surprised when a pack of lampreys blocked our path to the water heart. A trickle of hisses and the moonlight’s reflection against needle-sharp teeth gave away their position to our left.
I summoned a handful of Stinging Palm thorns and threw them at the nearest lamprey. The wooden projectiles skewered the creature through the leg, and it lost its balance, fell off the path, and hissed into the marsh below.
“I’m not used to pulling my punches,” I said as another lamprey appeared behind us.
“I’m sure you’re not,” Kumi said mischievously as she dodged a swipe of claws.
I launched another barrage of thorns at her attacker. The thorns caught it in the shoulder and spun it around. The creature screeched and clutched the wound. I sent it back to the marsh with a savage kick to the chest.
I summoned an Ash Cloud around a pair of lampreys as they tried to take advantage of my exposed back. Kumi danced around the attacking monsters as I dashed toward them. They flailed blindly as I knocked two heads together. I kicked one lamprey into the marsh and peppered the second with a spray of thorns across its back. It yelped in alarm and turned to face me. I summoned a Plank Pillar beneath its feet and flung it into the swampy ferns.
“You’re quite the Augmenter,” Kumi said. “I’ve never seen anyone mix elements like this before. It’s… well, it’s exciting.”
“I’ve got tricks, but that song of yours?” I said. “I wish I could do something similar. You’ve bailed me out of trouble more than once with it.”
A lamprey jumped out of the swamp to our left. I waved my hand and channeled the Crashing Wave technique. Water fountained from the ground to slam into the beast. I laughed in amazement as the lamprey went flying and spun off across the swamp to land with a splash 200 feet away.
“That works a lot better when you’re not trying to move the ocean,” I said.
“It took Father the better part of a century to learn the sea’s movements,” Kumi said with a smile. “And here you are, trying to hit the stars with an unfortunate swamp monster.”
The admiration in her voice was unmistakable, but I changed the subject to learn more about her.
“I guess you spent a lot of time out here when you were younger. Catching frogs or chasing lampreys or whatever Qihin kids do for entertainment.”
“It’s true,” Kumi said as we walked on past the injured and cowering lampreys. “Labu and I would often venture out in search of adventure—sometimes into the swamps or the mountains, more often along the coast, and most of all into the glades. We would get into fights with the other Wild Augmenters who lived in places like this, then use our powers to protect ourselves.”
“So, we need to watch out for being attacked by random strangers?” I asked.
Kumi looked embarrassed. “We weren’t that bad. It was mostly the Wilds who started proceedings. The ones who live out here and in the Isles don’t have a good relationship with the city. They get angry and frustrated, and it leads to trouble.”
“You’re defending the people who tried to kidnap you?”
“Be quiet, bold adventurer.” She elbowed me in the ribs.
The mist dissipated as the lampreys retreated. Kumi opened her mouth to say something, but shut it when a tentacle brushed her dress. She jumped back just as a pair of starsquids emerged from the marsh.
I called on the power of wood, sent it down through the ground in front of me, and made a Plank Pillar appear beneath one of the starsquids. It slid off the wooden pole effortlessly, but I
