Chapter 321 (Patreon)

Chapter 321

Kel guided the group to his lair in the middle of the ocean near the demon continent, and it truly was a sight to behold. In the midst of the stormy ocean, the water dragon had parted the water, creating an enormous trench hundreds of kilometers long that reached all the way to the ocean floor, defying multiple laws of nature governing water.

“If we were to somehow go down to your actual lair at the bottom, what would we see there?” Sophia tried to get a peek down the trench, but their boat was still too far away from the edge in order to stay safe.

“See? Not much.” Kel shook his head. “It’s basically pitch-black down there most of the time unless the sun is exactly above the trench. Other than that, it’s just a massive cave system down there. As I said before, I’m a humble dragon.”

“Humble?” The blonde simply gestured all around her.

"You cared more about the trench because others could see it, while the cave is unreachable for almost every being in existence, right?” Maya raised an eyebrow. “I’m dating the biggest attention seeker in existence, so I can see what you did there.”

“I don’t think I like your partner.” Kel focused his eyes on Sophia.

“Same.” She just reacted with a big nod.

“She was spot on, huh?” The rest of the group looked at Kel with a warm expression.

“Anyway.” The blonde dropped the topic. “Well, a wet, dark cave, an actual one, doesn’t sound too enticing right now, but you never know, so,” Sophia took one of the portal stones from her storage and chucked it over the edge of the trench.

“Great idea!” Steph gave her sister a thumbs-up. “I wanna get into that dark, wet cave sometime in the future!”

“You want to get into Kel’s hole?” Maya, knowing exactly what she did, raised an eyebrow.

“By the way, how do we get on the other side of the trench?” Chloe didn’t want to partake in the conversation and pointed ahead of their boat. “I assume that the demon continent is beyond it, right?”

“It is indeed behind the horizon that way.” Kel nodded once before looking in the direction she was pointing. “Normally, you’d have to sail all the way around it. That’s why no one ever takes this route. However, you’re traveling with the water elder dragon, the creator of this place, so you’re in luck because I have some tricks ready.”

“You’re really the humblest of dragons.” Maya lightly rolled her eyes in return.

“I’m starting to feel like this is also one of the reasons no one ever returns after leaving to find the demos, with it being right between the continents.” Anna awkwardly scratched her cheek while thinking about it.

“I don’t know what this is about, but my trench leaves plenty of space between those places." Kel shook his head. "We actually made quite the detour when I pulled you along with the current. You’d only get lost here if you have no idea where you’re going.”

“Like when you set sail to find a different continent?” The princess stared right at him.

"Anyway, here we go!" The dragon had nothing to say on the matter, so he dropped the topic and started preparing to get them to the other side.

Soon after, the water around them became more violent again. Big waves crashed over the edge of the trench before the whole thing suddenly split in half, and even more water rushed in where the abyss used to be. After a couple of minutes, the trench had been successfully closed right in front of the boat, creating a roughly 100-meter-wide bridge of water that easily let them sail to the other side.

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“WOAH! This is sooo cool!” Steph’s eyes were sparkling as they were crossing to the other side. She was leaning all the way over the railing, far enough that Chloe got worried and was holding her steady, to be able to stare down the abyss to see what was down there. “It’s so deep I can’t even see the bottom! It just gradually becomes darker until it’s all black.”

“It’s a good thing that Ari left earlier.” Anna gingerly peeked over the railing. “She really wouldn’t have liked this.”

“Speaking of, is this even safe?” Maya was still steering the boat when she was looking around with a bit of a concerned expression. “Like, it’s over if we get pulled over the edge by a current.”

“I would really prefer if you keep us centered.” The princess didn’t like the sound of it.

“It’s not like I was planning to steer us over the edge!” She stared at her. “It’s just that water can behave with a bit of temperament, especially when you make it defy physics.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” Kel, who was swimming in front of them, turned his head around to face the boat. “The water on the edges of this bridge acts as a natural railing. Your boat can’t go over it. I wouldn’t want to experience the repercussions of Sophia if my lair here would get any of you hurt.”

“Good choice.” The tiger in question gave him a thumbs-up.

“That’s great to hear!” Anna and Maya let out a sigh of relief after hearing that.

“We really need to have a training session where you teach me some water tricks!” Sophia smiled at the dragon. “This is so cool! I mean, I could probably do the same by using a ton of my authority, but you make it look so effortless! I barely felt any magic being used!"

“This is no trick that I can teach you.” Kel did not sound amused. “It’s effortless for me because I’m the water elder dragon. It comes with the job description.”

"It's worth a try~." The blonde didn't care about potential limitations. "I've managed to surprise the Mira a couple of times already. I’m sure I can surprise a dragon, as well!”

“Well, it certainly would be interesting to watch you trying.” He wasn’t against the idea. “I don’t mind, so we can give it a go someday.”

“Awesome!”

“By the way, are there any other places to get sidetracked here?” As they were getting to the other side, Anna tried to make out anything of interest further away from them on the ocean, but all she could see at the moment was more water.

“Oi!” Sophia didn't appreciate that they were actively looking for distractions now. “Well, unless there’s something interesting, of course.” She wasn't actually against it.

“Unfortunately, or fortunately, I’m not entirely sure, but there’s nothing really worth visiting for a while.” Kel went silent for a moment to think. “My lair is close to the continent, so that would be the next logical destination. There are several islands that are technically part of the continent and could probably interest you, though. They’re right in front of the coast.”

“Ohh!” The blonde excitedly clapped her hands. “Are they inhabited?”

“Some of the bigger ones used to at least.” He paused for a second. “It’s been a long time since I was last near them. Some of the islands might not even exist anymore.”

“Absolutely worth exploring!” Steph raised her arm high in the air once she finished staring down the abyss, as it, much to her disappointment, never stared back at her. “Let’s go and find out! I can’t wait to meet some demons!”

“Same!” Her sister agreed with her. “Kel, would you be so nice and guide us to an island on the way that used to be inhabited when you were last there?”

“Of course.” He slightly moved his massive head up and down.

“Wait, Aura, you’ve come from the demon continent not too long ago!” Sophia suddenly remembered that bit of her past. “Do you maybe remember which of the islands still has people living on them?”

“I know which islands were inhabited in the area I left the continent, yes.” The wolf lightly tilted her head while looking at her. “The detour to Kel’s lair here was quite substantial, so we're entering the demon continent in a completely different place than where I left it."

“Ahh, fair enough.” The blonde nodded a few times. “Makes sense, so I guess it will be a surprise after all.”

“Although, the islands where I left were quite busy with people, so I’d assume it’s the same everywhere.” Aura didn't want to dampen her mood. “If the islands are still there and haven’t become inhospitable otherwise, I’m certain we’ll come across a good one.”

“I like the sound of that!” Sophia smiled at her. “Alright, let’s go!”

"Let's go!" Steph was even more excited than her sister. Though, her being excited was her default modus, so that wasn't a surprise to anyone.

Having agreed on that, the group finished crossing Kel’s bridge, and once he returned his trench back to normal, the dragon started guiding their board towards the demon continent and the nearest islands surrounding it.