“So you see, when our eyes met, it was like a firewor…”

  Kill me.

  Suna took a deep, yet silent breath through his nose as he kept rowing, purposefully rowing harder to drown out Jack's rambling about his romance with Floundea.

  He did not mind someone telling him their story, but when a bloody part kept being repeated over and over and over again, it eventually got to his nerves.

  “When she told me that…” He recalled dramatically with his red palm clutching his chest

  “Jack! Can you say something about Delia? The gatekeeper?” Suna cut him off. If he was going to keep rambling, then he might as well get useful information.

  Thankfully, Jack did not seem to take offense at that; instead, he said, “Yes, Delia, she might be an opponent we have to face… Well, the first thing that came to my mind was that she has two sisters. Uzu and Dua. It is widely regarded that Delia was always accompanied by both always. All three worked together in perfect harmony. Uzu, the Reaper. Dua…”

  Jack uncharacteristically stopped talking, his red face took a serious expression, and he furrowed his eyebrows. He stood in alarm, sending their small boat rippling. Suna cursed as a sudden jerk of motion took him off guard. He gripped tightly to the boat’s bow and tilted his head at the Runebearer.

  The Runebearer held up his hand. In Jack’s other hand was his spear. Suna watched the muscles strain and tighten on the Tiefling's palm; something was happening.

  Jack crouched and formed a fist with his left arm.

  Suna dropped the oar and summoned his Gale Bow. He took in a breath and let it out. A wave of wind shuddered around him, flapping his mage’s cloak and even threatening to blow off his brimhat. Water rippled. Wind formed around Suna’s outstretched right arm, forming itself into a bow made of sickles of wind gathering. Suna made sure to hold his bow far away from Jack, as it could be quite dangerous to even get close to it.

  He opened his palm, and the wind responded, solidifying the Gale Bow.

  “Well?” Suna asked.

  “It's my skill,” Jack lifted his spear, its butt-end against the boat’s wood. The spear shuddered, as if it were freezing. “Something is near, something powerful,” Jack said.

  Suna took the Tiefling’s words in. His eyes began to look out for any sign of the enemy. But the cold, thick fog was all he could see.

  “There,” Jack pointed. Suna waited for a couple of seconds before his Eagle Eyes revealed a shadow of a boat, slightly bigger than theirs, that appeared. Turned out it wasn’t just one but five of them.

  Suna opened his left palm, and motes of orange light appeared in a soft, bubbly glow. He grabbed them, and they waved unruly in his hand before stretching out and forming into a light-red arrow, glowing in the fog around him with the color of dawn.

  He drew the Emberwind Arrow to his ear, excited to finally try it on a monster.

  But, unfortunately… “Wait,” the Tiefling said.

  Annoyance flared inside Suna, but he waited, and the outline of boats grew clearer until he finally could identify whoever it was.

  A bulky… No, bulky is an understatement; the creature’s body was the size of a boulder—worse still, it was certainly tougher than a boulder with its full-plated armor, somehow covering its massive frame. Its head was covered with a bucket-like helmet with a thin slit for vision. In its arms were two gigantic shields, covering almost all of the creature’s body.

  One boat held two of them, one rowing, while the other held its shield.

  [Undead Shieldnite. Lvl 35]

  “Jack? Can you see them?”

  “Yes, these are the sisters' shields. Delia and Dua were both mages, and Uzu was a reaper and preferred to be aggressive. They’re the personal bodyguard to the two mages, Suna.”

  “Why are they here then?” Suna muttered. Those five boats were going straight to the right–they were about to ignore Suna’s and Jack completely. Four boats were positioned in a square, and one was in the middle of the formation.

  The Shieldnite held a shield, shielding their boat with those ridiculous shields. Suna couldn’t aim at it.

  “You think I can pierce through them? Or are we just going to let them pass?” Suna asked.

  “I’m interested in what they are protecting, and no. I don’t think you can pierce that armor, not counting the shields either… Let me do something first.” Jack stood and spun his spear, wind coalescing into it, like a miniature typhoon. “It's strange enough for these Shieldnites to be on a boat… there is no way they could swim in those things. Get ready to fire Suna.”

  In one motion, Jack hurled his spear into the lake. It parted the water and launched deep. For a couple of seconds, nothing happened as the standoff continued. However, the next thing he knew, the first boat burst apart in a loud crack. Jack’s spear flew up, splintering wood in its wake.

  The weight of both Shieldnites overwhelmed the cracked boat, and they plunged into the lake. One hand tried to reach the sky, but ultimately was held down by its own body’s weight.

  With the boat destroyed, Suna got a clear look at the boat it was protecting. It's much larger than the two–enough to hold four Shieldnites on its blocky surface. Sitting right in the middle of the Shieldnites, however, was an entirely different creature.

  Suna's eyes widened, and his mouth opened a slight gap. He let out a small chuckle at what this meant.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  [Dua. Undead Lantern Mistress. Lvl 45]

  “Suna!”

  Jack did not need to say any more. Suna released his spell arrow. Orange light rushed, like a beam in arrow form, straight at the Undead Sister.

  Their boat rocked from the mere recoil, pushing them back–reversing its whole momentum.

  His arrow was about to connect; it should have… but the Lantern Mistress suddenly held up a lantern. It was green at first. Then–it turned bright orange.

  And his Spell arrow disappeared.

  “She absorbed your spell,” Jack stated. His spear flew back to him. The Runebearer caught it and drew a sharp breath.

  Dua reminded him of how the Banshee looked. But she was more–regal. She carried the bearing of a noble woman, whereas the Banshee carried the look of a psycho woman. Dua’s face was smooth, and was deathly pale. Her eyes were wide, very big, with a green glow and no visible retinas. Her dress was a Gothic dark green, which fit her hair color, with complicated embroidery decorating it like a coiling dark wire. In both of her hands was a lantern, one glowed orange, now turned green again. The other was glowing red.

  “Soul!” Jack called out, his face turned to Suna with urgency. “She has a soul she was trying to protect!” The Runebearer pointed with his spear.

  Suna did not know what he was talking about. He launched his arrow again, blasting it straight at Dua.

  This time, however, one of the Shieldnites moved, blocking his arrow with that huge shield. His spell arrow thudded with a searing blaze, and its power was gone—it stayed stuck in the steel shield. The Shieldnite lowered its shield and looked at Suna through that bucket-like helmet.

  Suna felt his lips writhe into a light smile.

  Always someone above you…

  “She is returning it!” Jack shouted. The Runebearer began to spin his spear again—charging it with wind.

  Dua raised one of her lanterns, and above her was an orange arrow–the Emberwind Arrow–turned into a green light, and they began to move. His Archer Instinct poked him, and Suna had already moved first.

  He drew another Emberwind arrow and launched it. Both arrows rushed at each other and coalesced straight in the middle between their boats.

  A star breathed into existence, sending raw heat blasting outward, pushing all boats farther from its point of energy. The light unfurled into nothingness, and there was no break to be had.

  Suna fired another arrow; another spell arrow flew. This time, he used less Mana for each arrow, and they rushed like a shard of light. Dua summoned a green bubble that manifested straight into being in front of her boat. Each of the lights suddenly grew smaller in size within her bony fist, and they flew straight at each of Suna’s arrows, wrapping around them with a green light that coiled like a snake. His arrow ceased to exist; it's a magic that seeks another spell.

  But it seemed that was not all. Now those green bubbles appeared again, and zipped straight at Suna and Jack like a whiplash.

  Jack spun his spear, and wind rushed to slow down the spell.

  Suna did not know he could do that. Furthermore, Jack kept going faster and faster, and the green spell was thrown back to Dua, who did not make a move. Two Shieldnites caught the attack, protecting their master.

  “They got farther,” Suna clicked his tongue. Thanks to their exchange of spells earlier, it pushed them farther away, and Dua’s fleet was still sailing toward wherever they were.

  “That lantern, the one that glowed with red… There’s a soul in it,” Jack repeated. Each word sounded deep and serious.

  “Whose?” Suna asked.

  “Must be someone important. It was said if one of them gets injured, then Dua will sav—”

  “Go away!”

  Suna blinked. He looked at Jack, who in turn looked back at Suna.

  They both then proceeded to stare at Dua, who was now standing by the edge of the boat and breathing heavily.

  “Just to make sure…” Suna said. “That’s not you, right?”

  “My voice is much more beautiful than that.”

  True. It came out croaked, and almost so… rueful.

  “It can speak?” Suna asked again, an undead speaking…

  “That is news to me,” Jack muttered.

  “You wretched fleshly creature! It's not enough to separate me from Delia?! Why did you have to do this, why!? You wretched thief and... wretched human! Each time you came at us, and each time you died, but you kept coming, new faces every time! Is it not enough to be brutally killed and raised as an undead by our lord? Your brethren have been blessed so much by his beautiful magic! Yet, why should you come and try to kill us? Why? Just why you—wretched! How many of you that Uzu need to splay apart? How many of you, Delia, need to burn? Know your place already, you wretched thief! Your existence is merely a bug on our heels. We permitted you to be alive… Had it not been for the drows… Stop coming at us! Why should you attack us? Was it because of our attempt to bless you with our lord’s magic? Why must you reject such a blessing? Have you lost all resemblance of thinking capability in your wretched head? And now, you—you came and injured Uzu… Had it not been for our lord’s benevolence, I—I would… Don’t come after me! Or... Or—”

  Her voice faded away as her boat carried her. She was still screaming, and Suna made out the muffled sounds of it as her boat slowly bled into the cold fog.

  “What was that? Jack?”

  “You’re asking me?” Jack said dumbfounded. The Tiefling appeared overwhelmed, as if his eyes just opened for the first time.

  “She only had ‘Wretched’ in her insult vocabulary.”

  “Yes, Suna, I heard all of those, too. But there’s much more important information,” Jack said. He paused before letting his body relax, then continued. “The soul of Uzu, her sister, is trapped to be healed within her lantern. Something must’ve happened… I think they—”

  “They lost a fight,” Suna finished for him. James and Floundea survived; they must have.

  “Yes, yes!” Jack's face blossomed in a grin.

  “She told us not to chase,” Suna said. “So, what to do?”

  “Why, Suna. If you heard my story, then you’d know I’ve had a hard time listening to a female.”

  Name: Suna Amor

  Level: 37.

  Class: [Flintwind Archer]

  Rune: 123

  Feat: 18

  Mana: 12555/14250

  Pyre Flame: 82

  Class Skill (12/15) → (12/35)

  - Archer Instinct [Uncommon]

  - Gale Backstep [Uncommon]

  - Moving Shot [Uncommon]

  - Flint Draw [Uncommon]

  - Arcane String [Uncommon]

  - Gale Bow [Rare]

  - Spell String Mastery [Rare]

  - Hissing Volley [Rare]

  - Drill Arrow [Uncommon]

  - Still Form [Uncommon]

  - Saproot Arrow [Rare]

  - Emberwind Arrow [Rare]

  General Skill (11/15) → (11/35)

  - Swift Draw [Uncommon]

  - Drowfication [Rare]

  - Rune Seeker [Uncommon]

  - Gale Step [Uncommon]

  - Wind Veil [Uncommon]

  - Thermal instinct [Uncommon]

  - Enchanced Sense [Uncommon]

  - Enduring Body [Uncommon]

  - Battle Focus [Common]

  - Eagle Eyes [Uncommon]

  - Pyre Shield [Rare]

  Strength: 1157

  Dexterity: 1355

  Vitality: 889

  Arcanery: 1425

  Sense: 845