“Oh, aether,” I said. “Can we take him just with us two? We could just run away…”

  I thought back to when I ran from Jungle King Kola, which seemed a long time ago now. It had worked, after all. Though later I’d had to fight him anyway.

  “Let’s make that Plan B,” Clorandine said breathlessly between leaps and slashes. “Plan A is he’s already here!”

  In a galestorm filled with flying painful pebbles, [Gravel Warden Cerius] arrived. I swerved, and Clorandine kept her footing on me but I heard her blade clank as it struck him. That was not the sound I wanted to hear when she hit a boar.

  He was massive, a floating blob with face and runic tusks marked with blue runes. His fur calcified and rimed with caked gravel. He had graceful wings like a manta ray. As he swept over us his undercarriage broke over us like a great swell of ocean wave.

  The other remaining sky boars followed the Gravel Warden, roaring. Clorandine departed with a screech, nimbly jumping from beast to beast while she slashed. I dodged, and was lucky to land a punch on a manta ray. Above me leaping Clorandine slew a sky boar and two more manta rays.

  [Experience Gained: +950 XP]

  Cerius had begun to whirl around, a [Stone Cyclone] forming about him. I picked up the purple-haired swordsgirl again. The [Gravel Warden] was much faster than me. It was definitely going to have to be Plan A.

  “I could just try to pick a skill now, and hope for the best?”

  “With a skill!?! That’s really taking your life into your own hands. It’s way easier if you know how to use the skill first, trust me.”

  “Actually that’s exactly my problem. I have [Wind Extraction] but no idea how to use it.”

  “You need a [Trainer],” Clorandine said calmly as the [Stone Cyclone] bore down upon us. “You can find them in towns.”

  We plunged into the cyclone, stones pelting me. Some of them were sharp and cutting. Clorandine’s blade began to glow an eerie indigo. A second later I flew right into the [Gravel Warden], and she brought the katana down in a shimmering slash that smoked the air behind it into a dead purple gloom called [Poison Surge]. Chunks of calcified stone slurry went everywhere, and blood welled from the wound.

  “ARROOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” the [Gravel Warden] roared and the sky came to life.

  The cyclone winds pummeled us this close. I couldn’t hang on to him, and flew out. Everywhere around I saw islands twitching and starting to dance about. I understood what was happening. These were sky boars and he had called to them. When Clorandine flew out a second later and I reoriented I snagged her.

  “We’ve gotta kill him quick before that whole herd tramples down on us! They’re coming!”

  “He may die from the [Poison Surge],” Clorandine whispered, bloody. “It will amplify over time.”

  I wished Mossy was here. Or Val. Someone with great combo and/or finishing power. Clorandine seemed pretty strong, but she also was bleeding.

  Plan B then.

  I shifted gears, flipping and going the opposite direction suddenly. When Cerius started chasing and gaining on me I veered away again and aligned toward the island chain of Needles. I could hear the storm he was again gathering rattling and pinging off other actual sky islands around him. And the bleating of the approaching sky herd.

  “AROOOOOOHUUUUUUU!!” [Gravel Warden Cerius] howled again, wings pushing mightily and a storm gathering behind him.

  “How’s he looking?” I asked.

  “Really scary,” said Clorandine.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “How long until he drops dead?”

  “Well ideally we’d keep poisoning him, and that would help the poison to surge. So it could be now, but it also could be…never?”

  I groaned. “Do you have more poison techniques?”

  She nodded.

  “We’ve got to go back in!”

  “It’s not like that, it’s a bow but I only get it once.”

  “That’s perfect!”

  I slowed down, letting the [Gravel Warden] gain on us as Clorandine sheathed the katana and set herself. The air slurped like profane water around her. A ghostly, spectral bow appeared and she drew it back, aiming carefully…

  She stopped suddenly, for there was a star shining to the right of the Warden. I saw it too. The Warden bearing down on us.

  “Now, Clorandine!”

  She let fly an arrow of dark jellyfish [Pain Blossom] magic that sunk deep into the [Gravel Warden]’s eye. More bellowing. The [Gravel Warden] thrashed past us, the storm whipping me and Clorandine spinning into the sky.

  As I flew toward Clorandine I saw a pale form floating near her. I still scooped her up but found myself face to face with Luneth! I couldn’t help but grin, though blood dripped from Clorandine’s pale hand.

  “Luneth! Boy am I glad to see you!”

  He only had eyes for Clorandine. Floating softly beside her. “Are you okay, my love?”

  She kissed him, then looked at him firmly as she drew her jellyfish-etched katana. “Step aside and let me kill this boar.”

  A moment later, Clorandine was jumping again at the redoubled assault of [Gravel Warden Cerius]. I joined her wielding the [Aether Lance]. She was right. I had to get good at it someday. Even Luneth joined in with a [Prediction Counter]. We were blown away again by his storm, but it was taking a toll on the beast. His roar this time was weaker, as the herd began to close in on us.

  As I picked up Clorandine again Luneth flew beside me. “Thank you for taking care of her, Daniel. For bringing her back.”

  “Any time!” I said gritting my teeth.

  I swung back the [Aether Lance] in preparation to strike. Clorandine stood riding on my back like I was a surf board. And Luneth stood with his arms crossed like he hadn’t a care in the world. The [Gravel Warden] came rumbling down the sky with his herd behind him in droves at us, trying to outrun the squalling storm behind them.

  He fell before he reached us, his wings stumbled and did not scoop in unison, then the [Gravel Warden] suddenly plummeted. The herd, confused and afraid, did not follow him to their demise but scattered in many directions. I backed us up into a dense pack of islands and let the stampede play out, breathing heavily.

  [Experience Gained: +12500 XP]

  [Loot Obtained: Relic]

  [LEVEL UP: Clorandine Melspark]

  [Thorn Dancer: Level 16]

  [LEVEL UP: Daniel]

  [Driften Waker: Level 16]

  [LEVEL UP: Luneth]

  [Moon Prophet: Level 15]

  [NEW Moon Prophet feature: Skill]

  “In time in the Gyre here in the Great Abalone Sky,” Clorandine explained breathing heavily, “there will be another Warden.”

  A smooth stone necklace appeared in her hand.

  She was looking at some of the larger sky boars that had stopped stampeding working on dragging storms behind them. I wondered if since the Area Boss was dead or not present, it unlocked his special abilities for the low-level monsters to use. Another thing for the research someday pile.

  “I met King Arthur!” Clorandine was explaining to Luneth as she sheathed her blade. “He was kind of crazy and mean, though. I saw Avalos and everything! He had us for dinner. The fabled Fried Chicken of Avalos. Oh yeah, King Arthur is Daniel’s brother!”

  “Really?” said Luneth incredulously.

  I cringed, as this story was already out of control and I didn’t really know what to do about it. I shrugged. I would have to ask Val later. She had some experience in controlling a narrative about one’s past.

  “Basically, yes.”

  “So how do we get out of here?” Clorandine asked eventually as we watched the stampede fizzle.

  “About that,” Luneth said. “We have been unfortunately detailed in Needles for contraband.”

  “Contraband? Everybody? The whole Fool’s Errand crew?”

  “Yes, and yes. Tanzan and I joined the crew recently. I am myself supposed to be in the jail right now, haha.”

  “More importantly,” Clorandine mused, “detained by whose authority?”

  “Big dude portside name of Duke Mowd. He’s a [Junk Warlord] apparently. That class is tough, and strong, but that’s but about it. Carries a big jagged axe.”

  “So he runs the town? Like the sheriff or whatever?”

  “He said he’s the rightful ruler. He’s got a gang and yeah they’re a bunch of ruffians it looks like.”

  “That’s nothing we can’t sort out,” I said. “Clorandine, Luneth, do you feel like pacifism is in order or are you with me if I try a rescue mission?”

  “We’re with you!” they both said in unison.