The Demon King's Hero Of Light

Aella was pulled deep under the water, feeling the pressure of the water all around her, as the thing fled from her. What had she grabbed that could pull her like this? Had it already absorbed enough magic to grow beyond its original form? Or was it something new?

As the creature slowed its descent, Aella moved closer to see what it could be and an eye appeared out of the gloom as large as she was. The pupil contracted as it focused on her.

Panic was an option she had lost a long time ago, as a child. Aella reacted the moment she saw the eye, realizing it could see her as a snack, and swam towards it. When it darted to eat her whole, Aella watched the rows of teeth that lined this thing"s mouth and throat and decided she wasn"t interested in getting eaten. Teleporting behind its head, she formed a large spike with her black weapon, and tried to stab it. Its hide was too thick. The blade skittered along it, leaving a scratch that was barely visible.

Feeling anger from the weapon, she swam down along its neck, looking for a weak spot. This thing was a giant turtle! She hesitated for only a moment when she encountered the sh.e.l.l, and then started swimming back to the surface, hoping it would follow her. It didn"t have to. She watched as the rows of teeth started to close around her and teleported back to the sh.o.r.e where Precious was waiting.

"Get anything?" he asked, looking up from where he was licking himself.

Aella looked at him, panting and dripping wet as fire and air fought to dry her off.

"I"ll take that as a "no,"" he said, standing up and giving himself a shake.

Glancing back at the churning waters, Aella realized that the turtle wasn"t done with her! The ma.s.sive head of the beast rose out of the water, ignoring the storm all around it, and turned her way.

"Great," she mumbled, grabbing up Precious and teleporting away.

"Why are you leaving?" asked Precious in surprise. "It was just a turtle. I bet it would be delicious, and would give someone a nice home to live in."

Aella shook her head as she stood on a cliff overlooking a different body of water. "The meat would have gone bad before everyone could eat it, and it would be annoying to try and carve up."

"You know fully well there"s preservation techniques that could be used, as well as magical blades to cut it," he sniffed.

"How did a week-old kitten get so smart, with such big words?" she asked, glancing over at him as he lay on her shoulder.

"I"ve been listening to the general advise that"s whispering in your head, and the other voices that you ignore. They"ve been teaching me a lot!" he answered with a grin.

"Wait, since when?" she asked, surprised she hadn"t noticed.

"Every since the air mastery ring gave me protection from the storm," he shrugged.

Aella nodded, realizing she had felt it forge the way through the bond. She just hadn"t realized it had opened him up to all of the voices she had.

"Are you going to catch some fish, or not?" he asked, looking down at the water below them.

Aella glanced down and saw that she could make out forms of things swimming in the water. Watching them for a few moments, some started to jump out of the water, possible to escape other larger predators, and Aella saw in surprise, they didn"t seem to be jumping out of the water in the spot she had thought they were swimming. It took several more minutes of watching for her to figure out there must be something causing the illusion. Taking it all into account, she dived towards where a large fish was just below the surface. It saw her coming and dived deep.

Pausing above the water, she looked around to see all of the fish had dived down to avoid her. Flying back up to the cliff, she made herself invisible as her shadow ability laughed at her. Had she forgotten how to sneak up on something so quickly?

"I"ll wait here," sighed Precious, jumping from her shoulder and laying down on the cliff edge. "Go get some fish so we can feed the lizard people."

Aella nodded and teleported right above the water. She would have to wait a long time for the fish to return to the surface, so she took a breath and slowly entered the cold water. It was hard to see as the water churned around her, but she dived down deeper where the waters were more still. She could sense the bottom of the water, and the drop ahead from the rock as she sunk deeper. Perching on the underwater cliff, she allowed her body to relax and feel the water as it drifted around her as she clung to the rock for support.

It wasn"t like the freedom of the air. The water had more weight and tugged at her in a different way she couldn"t understand. When a fish darted past her, she could feel its movement through the water as the water brushed up against her. Trying to understand it, she decided it was similar to the way that air moved when a bird flew through it. If you were close enough, you could feel the breeze of the bird"s wings flapping. Glancing down into the depths, Aella used her shadow ability to see through the gloom.

A large fish, big enough to swallow her whole, drifted up, barely making the water move at all. Aella was glad she was invisible, but realized it knew she was there from some other method. Not allowing her body to move at all, she drifted in the water like a piece of vegetation, watching as the fish examined her cliff curiously. Was this fish too big for the lizards? She didn"t think so as it turned from one side to another. Could she get close enough to grab it? It was strong and powerful, but if she could but touch it, then it wouldn"t matter.

Her finger twitched in antic.i.p.ation, and the fish zeroed in on the movement, even though she was still invisible. It drew closer, trying to find her. But how did it know she was there?

Tentacles, or long whiskers, jutted from its jaw and wiggled around, almost as if it was tasting the water like a snake tasted the air. Could it be smelling her? Then she saw the faintest hint of a zap between two of the whiskers and her eyes widened in understanding. It could sense the natural electricity her body was giving off!

If she moved a muscle, the fish would sense it and would draw closer. Could she get it close enough to touch, without it swallowing her? She didn"t relish the idea of being swallowed, but if that was what it took…

Aella twitched her finger again, this time on purpose. The fish hesitated a moment, before drawing closer to her. It was almost close enough for her to grab.

A second fish flashed by to her left, and the giant fish darted to suck it up into its giant maw of a mouth. Aella darted towards it at the same moment, and managed to grab its front fin before it could react. Teleporting high above the mountains, Aella watched the fish flap and struggle as it fell. When it hit the rocks below, it still flipped and flapped around for a few more minutes before growing still.

"That was cheating," said Precious when she returned to pick him up.

"I didn"t get eaten," she sniffed.

"No, but you didn"t kill it yourself. You let it fall to its death," he said, rolling his eyes. "I don"t care; I"m hungry. Let"s go so I can get something to eat!"

Aella teleported over to the fish and examined it to make sure it was dead, then teleported it to the cave after making sure there was a clear s.p.a.ce for it.

The lizards jumped back in surprise as the fish appeared in the middle of their cave, then as they noticed her, they all fell to their knees and groveled before her.

"You"ll have to be careful," said Precious, shaking his head. "They"re going to say you"re a G.o.d!"

"I"m not a G.o.d," she said, looking around at them.

"You are the Realm Guardian! You have provided us with such bounty! We thank you!" groveled one of the lizards.