Chapter 53 - Dry Land

  After that, the rescue turned into more of a death march than a triumphant procession.

  There were five hundred and forty-two souls in all, imprisoned down there in the depths as fodder for the lobster army. They were all exhausted. Some of them had been down there for as much as a day and were suffering from dehydration and the beginnings of hunger. Even the more recent arrivals were worn out from the long march down to this place from the shore and the terror of being held captive by monsters.

  I don’t know how I would have gotten them all out of there if it hadn’t been for Claudia Grimm.

  “All right, everyone! Enough milling about! We need to get marching. This young man was nice enough to save us from this mess, but now it’s time to become self-saving princesses and do as he asks. Form up, and let’s start walking!” Claudia called out, her hands cupped to her mouth so her voice would carry. “No one’s going to bring a bus out here to get us home safe. Let’s move! Look out for your neighbor. Help each other! March!”

  The woman was a marvel. She had to be like eighty years old, maybe older. She walked with a stooped hunch, but no lack of energy. Claudia was Asian—Chinese, I thought, but couldn’t tell for sure. Her accent was Southie, not South Sea. She was a battle-axe of a woman, and in seconds she had the whole crowd paying attention and listening to her.

  They set out as she asked, and soon we were marching north across the bottom of Boston Harbor, which was a strange, even eerie place. I ripped a couple dozen of the glowing orbs from the seaweed holding them in place and handed them out to people so we’d have light to see by, but their glow only extended so far. Beyond that was darkness. I could still see, thanks to my Nightvision. The rest of them were walking into the dark.

  I swam above them, watching the water in all directions as we pushed steadily on. A few times some sort of monstrous fish took notice of us, but they were thankfully never more than tier three, which let me chase them off quickly enough.

  I used some of the rest of the time to sort through the rest of the crystals I’d gotten from the outpost. It turned out, I’d done quite well, and combined with the ones I already had, I was able to rank my Strength up to tier eight, too. After that I went on a little clear crystal merging spree, combining a bunch of the things until I had something that looked like an optimal spread.

  The only clear stones I hadn’t added yet were Intellect and Charisma. I had a bunch of those, so I could certainly have added some, but I was more focused on the physical skills and stats for the time being. I would add those, too, but for now I wanted to maximize my effectiveness in a fight, and the best way of doing that seemed to be more Strength, Stamina, and Agility. Plus some more Will, just so I could use my Flight and Gust of Wind powers better.

  Magical Stones

  Point 1: Clear Stone (Tier 8) - Strength

  Point 1, Second Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 7) - Stamina

  Point 1, Third Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 7) - Agility

  Point 1, Fourth Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 6) - Will

  Point 1, Fifth Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 5) - Will

  Point 1, Sixth Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 6) - Stamina

  Point 1, Seventh Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 5) - Agility

  Point 1, Eighth Ring: Clear Stone (Tier 4) - Strength

  +

  Point 2: Yellow Stone (Tier 5) - Flight

  Point 2, Second Ring: Yellow Stone (Tier 3) - Gust of Wind

  +

  Point 3: Grey Stone (Tier 8) - Natural Armor

  Point 3, Second Ring: Grey Stone (Tier 3) - Regeneration

  +

  Point 4: Blue Stone (Tier 2) - Water Breathing

  +

  Point 5: Black Stone (Tier 4) - NightVision

  Spare Stones

  Clear: Strength (Tier 1) x2, Stamina (Tier 1) x6, Agility (Tier 1) x 4, Will (Tier 1) x7, Intellect (Tier 1) x4, Intellect (Tier 2) x3, Intellect (Tier 3) x1, Charisma (Tier 1) x6, Charisma (Tier 2) x8, Charisma (Tier 3) x2

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Yellow: Air Elemental (Tier 2) x1

  Grey: Natural Armor (Tier 1) x6, Natural Armor (Tier 2) x5, Regeneration (Tier 2) x1, Sense Danger (Tier 3) x1

  Blue: Create Water (Tier 1) x6, Water Breathing (Tier 1) x4, Ice Blast (Tier 1) x5

  It was only about a mile to the locks up by the Museum of Science, but it took us almost two hours to march that far. Two hours in the cold, dark waters of the harbor were a lot for these people. As wiped out as they’d been before we set off, most of them were borderline coming apart by the time we arrived. I’d even started carrying people for short distances, just to let them rest.

  The one person who wouldn’t let me carry her, even though she certainly looked like she needed it, was Claudia. She marched along at the head of the formation, one of the glowing orbs in her hand, a dogged expression on her face.

  “Why?” I asked. “I don’t think anyone’s going to judge you if you let me give you a ride for a little while.”

  “Because if another one of those lizard-fish things like the one you just booped on the snoot comes over, I don’t want you dropping me so you can chase after it, young man.”

  I let her be for a bit after that, just swimming alongside in silence. After a few minutes, she opened up to me about her life. She’d been born in China, but her family moved to the United States when she was still a baby. She’d lived in Boston almost all her life and figured she’d probably die there. Likely soon, too, because she didn’t see how she could keep up with everything now that the world had gone crazy.

  I listened to her for a long time, just quietly nodding and answering when she asked me something. It wasn’t easy keeping my attention split between her and the water around us, but she always seemed to know when my focus drifted because something big was swimming nearby, and paused until the threat passed.

  “I don’t think you’re worried about me dropping you to chase fish,” I said at last.

  “No? What you think, then?”

  I glanced back at the enormous crowd behind us and remembered how quickly and easily she’d taken on the weight of responsibility for all of them. She reminded me of myself, in a way. I had powers, so I’d taken on the role of using them to help people. Claudia had nothing but her voice and the thin bit of respect her hardiness and age bought her, but she’d seen people in trouble and stepped in to help without hesitation. We needed more people like her.

  “That you don’t want to lose the respect of these people,” I replied.

  “Hmm. Might be something to that,” Claudia said. “You’ve got something between your ears, anyway.”

  “Thanks,” I replied. I fished into a pocket, carefully selecting and pulling out a pair of clear crystals, which I snapped together. “I’d like you to take this, please.”

  She peered at the stone in my hand like it might bite her. “Why would I want that?”

  “It’s a Stamina crystal, tier two,” I said. I knew she already had a tier one Water Breathing stone, thanks to the lobsters. “You don’t want me to carry you, but these people? They need to see you standing strong. You’re helping them just by putting one foot in front of the other. Let me do my part, too?”

  She harrumphed. “I think you’re already doing your part and then some, boy. But…fine. I’ll take your gift.”

  Claudia reached out and took the stone from my hand. It sank instantly into her palm. The effect was almost instant. I watched the lines of fatigue vanish from her face. The pain she must have been feeling from this long forced march was just gone. Even her back straightened a little.

  “How’s that?” I asked.

  “Feels good,” Claudia replied. “Maybe I can get used to this magic nonsense, after all.”

  I hoped that was true. The old woman made me smile just from looking at her, and she’d helped save a lot of lives out there.

  Eventually, we came ashore right next to the bridge where the Museum sat. I brought them up on the south side, because it was already growing light out. Dawn was not too far away, so I wouldn’t have time to get them all over to Harvard and the relative safety I’d seen there.

  I stood on the bank as they all marched onto dry land. Many of the former captives collapsed as soon as they were out of the water, but there wasn’t time to rest. Not yet.

  “Okay, folks! We’re not out of the woods yet,” I said. “Those lobsters are still nearby. We’re near friendly lines, but not there yet. I’m going to get you all to some police, who can help get you to safety.”

  There was some groaning at that, and scores of people remained where they’d flopped on the ground, right until Claudia stepped up. The new and improved version had even more pep in her step, thanks to the Stamina boost. She sounded more like a Drill Sergeant than a grandma.

  “Get up! All of you, up, now! You want to be back down there in the dark?” Claudia hollered. “You want to be eaten by monsters? Oh, you do, eh?” She chuckled. “Not me. I’m going to follow this boy here and live. You stay here, you’re gonna die. Up! Up! Let’s move!”

  That was all it took. Everyone in the crowd seemed to either fear disappointing the old woman or didn’t want to be shown up by her. Either way, they got back to their feet. Stronger people helped the weak and exhausted carry on. We were so close now. Just had to get them down Storrow Drive and up Cambridge Street, and I could get them an escort from Captain MacGregor.

  I flew escort over the mob to make sure nothing bothered them, but I needn’t have bothered. The goblins I’d seen before remained hidden in their fort. The giant birds weren’t awake, yet. Even the lobsters were nowhere to be seen as we made our way up the hill.

  Police guarding their camp site spotted us and called out, so I flew up to explain the situation. A few moments later, they had MacGregor awake and watching the crowd.

  “You found them where?” MacGregor asked.

  “In the harbor. The lobsters had a base down there, underwater.”

  “Under water,” he replied. “How?”

  “Water Breathing crystals,” I replied. “They gave each prisoner one. Then they haul them all down there. What I saw down there was bad, though. Really bad. They aren’t keeping prisoners. They’re just keeping them alive to keep them fresh.”

  “Fresh as in…” MacGregor’s voice trailed off as he reached the same conclusions I had.

  I nodded.

  “Damn. Good job on rescuing them. I’ll get a couple of my people to escort them across the river.”

  “Harvard might be a good place to aim for,” I told him. “I visited there last night. They’ve got the lights on, sort of. Candles and lamps, but it’s something. They’re organized and working to build defenses, too.”

  “Good to know,” MacGregor replied. “We can work with that.”

  He barked orders, and some of his people rushed over to help with this newest batch of refugees. They brought blankets, water, and food, helping to get the people settled so they could rest before moving out to someplace more safe.

  I let myself smile at last. What I’d seen down there was a horror, no doubt. I hadn’t saved every victim. But I’d saved a lot of people from that fate, and I’d struck what felt like a major blow against the enemy. It felt like a good start.