Bladewarriors Book 1: Refresh

It was amazing. Pure and simple, it was mind-boggling. The monotonous deluge of water fell down around them, the sound of its pitter-patter grating on the young girl's nerves as it continued to drench her – mind, body, and soul.

"Doesn't this ever stop!"

Ivy whined, sloshing her feet through the constant film of liquid that seemed to cover the ground. It gave her the distinct impression the entire realm was constantly in a state of severe flooding.

"Why would you want this to stop!"

The green haired girl glanced – irritated – to her side, watching as Flare stared straight up, allowing the water to constantly smack him in the face as it continued its journey to the ground, a look of utter satisfaction covering it. She was getting a little tired of his attitude about the downpour, too. Part of her was jealous that he seemed to be able to enjoy it on such a pure and genuine level… but mostly she was just sick of him going on and on about how utterly fantastic it all was. It made her want to gag.

"It very rarely stops." Myst turned back, giving her an apologetic smile as she shrugged. "I'm sorry, Ivy."

She wasn't sure how much she cared for that girl, either. At first, she had definitely been glad to have another female around – the idea of being stuck alone with two teenage boys, one of which she could hardly tolerate, wasn't very appealing. The more they walked through the rain, though, and the more Ivy was forced to stare at how absolutely dry she managed to stay, the more part of her wanted to just reach out and smack the girl.

"Can't it just let up for a little?" The tomboy groaned, sagging her shoulders as she drooped her head. "Just to a mild sprinkle or something!"

"Stop complaining."

Ivy turned a quick glare to the white-haired idiot of their group.

"It's not that bad." He sighed, safely tucked beneath a fancy umbrella of ice that spouted from the tip of his sword. The only think wet on the annoying brat were the boots on his feet.

"Easy for you to say." Ivy spat back, sighing as she lowered her head again. "Are we at least almost there?"

"Almost." Ondine replied, a sturdy parasol protecting her from the deluge as well. "Should be just over the next hill."

"That's what you said at the last hill." Ivy sighed, rolling her head. "And the one before that. And the one before that. And the one before that."

"And you all think I'm the annoying one in the group?"

"Shut up." Ivy spat back quickly at Frost's comment. "This is just too much water. And too much walking. It's been three days!"

"No it hasn't." Frost argued – Ivy was convinced it was for the pure sake of arguing. "It's only been like… two and a half."

"I rounded up." The tomboy sighed.

Somehow, Ivy had known traversing the realms wasn't going to be quick and easy, but she had never really appreciated how large each elemental cage was until then. In her own realm, she had rarely left Verde Village, and when she did, she hadn't really gone far. Even the trip to The Tree Frog's Tower had only taken a few hours, given that her hometown was the closest village to it. She had, of course, known trips to other villages and towns took a few days, but never actually experienced it herself. Being forced to walk three long days in the constantly pouring rain had given her a healthy appreciation for the repugnant proportion of each realm's expanse. The thought that she would have to make a similarly distanced walk at least seven more times didn't do much to put her in a better mood, either.

"Its fine, Ivy." Frost stopped a few feet ahead of, standing at the peak of the hill they were marching up with Myst and the girl's mother. "Looks like we're finally here!"

"Really!" Ivy exclaimed, a beam of metaphorical sunshine gracing her day – the real sun far to shy to poke its head into the water realm. The tomboy rushed up the short distance to the top of the hill, pausing as she reached the top to stare out Sentinel Bay.

"It's… humongous!" Ivy shouted, caught off guard by the town's incredible breadth.

The city of Sentinel Bay stretched out before them, running along the coast and stretching inland nearly to the hill they were standing on. The expanse was filled with building after building, and as she peered down into the distant streets, she could see the bustle of what looked like thousands of people going about their lives.

"Holy crap… there's a lot of people down there."

In a rare moment, Ivy actually agreed with the white-haired idiot as she stared down at what seemed to be thousands and thousands of humans going about their lives. She had never seen anything like it!

She turned her eyes outward, staring out at the sea that seemed to stretch out forever. Along the shore, ships and boats clogged the small bay the city was focused around, their sails dotting the view. They were a fair bit bigger than the tiny canoes and dinghies she was used to – they looked like they could easily fit dozens of people as opposed to two or three.

"By the gods…"

Ivy turned as the whispered words of the fiery teen reached her ears, finding the awestruck, dumbfounded expression of the boy from the Fire Realm staring at the same sight. His eyes seemed to dance, trying to take it all in as he slowly turned his head from one end of the horizon to the other, baffled by the view.

"What the heck is that!" Flare screamed, taking a few steps forward as he thrust his arm out to point at the ocean. He couldn't believe it – his eyes had to be tricking him. There was a gigantic puddle in front of them, stretching all the way toward the horizon, filling the world in nearly every direction. He could barely comprehend it. How could there be so much water!

"It's called the ocean." Myst replied, smiling at his stupor. "Specifically, the part in front of us right now is referred to as Sentinel Bay, though."

"Is it… real?"

Ondine laughed at the question, amused by the boy's ignorance, but Flare didn't care. He had to ask – he had to be sure. Even with Myst talking about it, his mind didn't want to believe what his eyes were showing him. That much water… all in one place?

Flare spun quickly, looking toward Ivy and Frost. Surely they had to be amazed by this as well. Surely they had never seen anything like it either! For once, he wasn't entirely disappointed. The two were staring out at the watery expanse with at least a mild look of interest.

"This is incredible, right?" Flare asked, hoping they might at least agree with him. "You haven't seen this before, have you?"

"No." Ivy replied, shaking her head, the braids of hair shedding water wildly as she did. "There's a lake near my home that I always thought was pretty big, but this is…"

"That's a lot of melted snow." Frost finished, nodding to himself.

"We can take a closer look, if you'd like?"

The fiery redhead twisted toward Ondine, spying the eldest of their group with cautious exuberance.

"Can we really!" he replied, trying and failing to hide at least a small portion of his excitement from the woman. She merely laughed in response, nodding.

"I don't see the harm." Myst agreed, staring out at the port. "We have to go into town anyway. A slight detour shouldn't hurt anything."

"What are we waiting for, then!" Flare exclaimed, leaping in the air as he spun around. "Let's go!"

"H-hold on!" Myst tried to call out to the redhead, but the boy was already well on his way before she had even begun to speak, dashing halfway down the hillside in a matter of seconds. The rest of them stood, staring a moment, impressed by the sheer speed of the Flamian.

"I guess we should follow him before we lose him." Ivy commented, laughing as she turned to look at Myst.

"I guess you're right." The nymph nodded.

The group started forward, heading toward the port city. After a minute or so, when Flare realized they weren't right behind him, the excited teen had turned back, rejoining the group where he relentlessly pestered them to move faster. The walk into town, and then the trek through the streets to the port took more than a small amount of time, a few hours passing along the way. But during that time, Ivy did manage to get her wish as the rain let up and, eventually, stopped altogether, giving the world a moment to dry as they all reached the edge of the Sentinel Bay Docks.

"Incredible!" Flare yelled out as he leaned over a railing that separated the town from the beach and the ocean beyond. The eyes of the people around were quickly drawn to the excited shouts of the redhead as he stared out at the sea. It was even more amazing up close.

"Wow." Ivy added, grinning as she stared out at the watery expanse as well. "I kind of have to agree with Flare on this one. It is pretty incredible."

"Sweet."

Frost leapt over the small fence separating them from the water, landing with a soft thud in the sand beyond.

"I could use something to drink now that the rain's stopped." He moved forward, approaching the massive body of water.

"No, Frost!" Myst yelled out, trying to inform the fool. "You can't drink ocean water!"

"It's fine!" Frost shouted back as he leaned down at the edge of the sea. "I can deal with a little sand!"

"It's not that, it's-!"

Myst didn't get a chance to finish her warning as Frost reached out with a cupped hand and quickly took a sip of the liquid. This poorly informed action was, of course, met with the appropriate response as the boy quickly twisted his face in disgust before spitting out the water and rubbing his tongue across the back of his hand a few times.

"Oh man, that's awful!" Frost exclaimed, shivering at the aftertaste still in his mouth. "I need something to wash the taste of that water away with…"

The boy glanced down, seeing the massive amount of water at his feet, and reached out to the liquid once more.

"Frost, n-!"

Myst was cut off this time as Ivy reached out, clapping a hand over her lips as she watched.

"No, no… let him figure it out." Ivy stated, grinning wickedly as she watched with a tad too much amusement when the boy, once more, twisted his face and spit the water out.

"Right! Water bad!" Frost yelled, trying to scratch the salty taste from his tongue as he turned to look at the group behind him. "Why'd you let me do that again!"

Ivy shrugged, simply grinning as the fool paced his way back up to join the rest of the group.

"So…" Flare began as Frost rejoined them, still flicking his tongue in and out of his mouth in attempt to dispel the awful taste. "You can't drink all this water?"

"The ocean is filled with salt water." Ondine answered, giggling at Frost's discomfort as he continued to deal with the after effects of his ignorance. "You could drink it, but you'll get pretty sick."

"And it tastes really bad." Frost stated again, just in case anyone hadn't picked up on it by that point.

"What a waste…" Flare stated, staring out sadly at the massive expanse of liquid.

"Anyway," Myst responded, segueing into a different topic, "we should probably get my mom to my aunt's house. And then we can see about tracking down the White Priest."

"I guess so." Flare replied, suddenly less impressed by the ocean. "Where do you suppose this White Priest fellow would be?"

"Priests are usually religious people, right?" Frost questioned as he flipped over the railing, joining the rest of them on the proper side once more. "I'm sure he'd be at a church or a temple or a holy hut or something."

"They're not that kind of priest." Ondine replied, smiling once more at the boy's ineptitude. "It's more a term for 'elder'. We really don't have places of worship, after all."

"Well then that really doesn't help us with this whole White Priest thing." Flare sighed.

"You say White Priest?"

The group turned as a gruff voice called out to them, finding the stubbly face of one of the sailors working at the docks calling out to them as he set down a rather large and heavy looking box. The group looked to each other a moment before Myst stepped forward and replied.

"We did." The nymph shouted. "We were hoping for a chance to speak with him."

"Well you're in luck!' The man smiled as he turned to point further down the beach. "He's supposed to be down at the end of the third pier, but you'd best hurry if you hope to chat with him. He's supposed to be heading off somewhere soon, or something like that."

Myst grinned, nodding as she shouted back, "Really! Thank you so much!"

"Better not waste any more time, then." Flare stated as the girl turned back to face them.

"Right."

Myst turned, leading the way as the five of them jogged down the beach, heading toward the pier the sailor had mentioned. It was somewhat slow going, though. As they passed by the mouth of each pier, the path became clogged with sailors and people, all seeming to be quickly loading up the boats and ships docked there. The crowds of people forced the group to split and twist through them, converging on the other side. Eventually, though, they found their way to the third pier, pushing their way all the way to the far end. There, standing near the edge, was a lone man dressed in thick, white robes – a strange white hat seated upon his head. It reminded Flare vaguely of a drop of water.

"Pardon us, sir!" Myst called out as they grew close, shouting through huffs and puffs. "Are you The White Priest?"

The man turned as the girl called out to him, revealing a surprisingly young, clean-shaven mug. Locks of short black hair poked out from beneath the man's strange hat as his deep green eyes scanned the group coming to a stop in front of him. They were a sight, to say the least. One of them seemed to be dressed for winter, while another was dressed for the warm season. Then there was the girl with the strange green hair – he had never seen anything like it. But the most interesting face among the group didn't belong to any of these people. It belonged to the girl with two-toned blue hair.

The priest gasped, turning about fully as his eyes widened, staring intently at the girl that had called out to him. He couldn't believe it.

"It's you…" the man stated, almost whispering the words as he stared at the girl.

Myst paused, looking around a moment, uncertain the man was talking to her. As she peeked back over her shoulder, though, and found no one else there, she could only assume the man was.

"Yes?" She replied uncertainly, staring at the priest as he took a slow step forward.

"By the gods, it really is you!" The man smiled, beginning to laugh as he shook his head. "I had almost lost hope!"

"I'm sorry… do I know you?" Myst responded, feeling a little uneasy all of a sudden.

"No, but I know you." The man replied, calming his laughter as he took a more serious tone. "You're the one who escaped The Serpent."

Myst was taken aback by the man's statement, not because it wasn't true, but because he shouldn't have known about it. She felt the eyes of her companions turn toward her as the priest stood, seemingly waiting for her response – for her confirmation.

"I guess… I am." Myst stated. She had never really seen what happened as her escaping, though. It was more that she was saved – pulled from The Creature's clutches seconds before her demise by the God of Life. Or, rather, by The Aqua Saber if she was to believe what the god had told them.

"What a stroke of brilliant luck!" The priest laughed, elated as he clapped his hands together, bending his head down. "I asked Ilayda to send you to me, but I never thought she really would. But now that you're here, I can fulfill The Serpent's demands!"

"What demands?" Ondine stepped forward, placing herself in front of her daughter as she eyed the priest.

"Surely you know." The man replied, staring at the group of them. "You must know! Everyone in Sentinel Bay knows!"

"We just arrived." Ivy responded, shaking her head. "You'll have to forgive our ignorance."

The priest's smile began to fade as his eyes flicked from one person's face to the next, finding the same look of confusion on each of them. They really didn't know. He sighed, steeling himself as he stood up straight. If they didn't know, it was his duty to inform them.

"The Serpent was infuriated by your disappearance." The man began, focusing his stare on the blue haired teenager. "I don't know how you managed to escape her – or even survive for that matter – but the act enraged The Creature of Ilayda beyond anything The Blue Priest had ever seen. She made a decree to him, a demand unto us Priests."

"What sort of demand?" Flare asked the question, turning his eyes to Myst as he did. He was sure the same thought was running through all of their minds.

"She demanded the head of the Aqua Saberess." The priest answered, still focused on Myst. "She gave us three days to find you, and to turn you over to her or one of her warriors. If we failed… she promised she would destroy Sentinel Bay."

"No!" Ondine gasped, eyes widening at the mere thought.

"Why?" Myst shook her head, stepping out from behind her mother. "She can't! Why here!"

"She hoped the horror of the threat would lure you from hiding." The priest responded, nodding to her. "I thought maybe that's why you had decided to show – but if you hadn't know…"

"That's insane!" the redhead of the group shouted out, clenching his teeth. "This city's huge! There are thousands of people here! Can she really do that!"

"It is not The Serpent that will carry out this threat." The priest turned, looking out to see as he raised a hand, pointing toward the center of the bay. "It is he that will wipe this city clean."

Myst stepped forward, squinting into the distance, searching in the direction The White Priest was indicating. At first, she could see only the waves of the ocean, slowly churning the seas around them. Then she noticed a figure appear from among the waves, seemingly standing on the undulating surface of the water, staring in at the city. It was a being she had seen before. A creature she had previously met. A beast she had once fought.

"Sentry…"

The name sent a shiver down Myst's spine even as she spoke it, memories of her former attempt to take the beast's life still fresh in her mind. Back then, she had had the element of surprise, and the advantage of terrain. She had managed to hold her own, at least for a moment. But fighting there… that would be a different battle.

"… Are we talking about squid-face out there?" Frost questioned, squinting hard as he stared out into the bay as well. "Can tentacle-cheeks really do all that?"

"According to ancient lore," The White Priest spoke as he lowered his hand, staring out at the beast in the middle of the water, "The Sentry was once known as The Sentinel, and protected this bay from the harshness of the sea, and the monsters that dwelled within its deep.

"But when The Dragon King rose, The Serpent wrested control of the realm for the Shimmering Goddess, Ilayda. The Sentinel at the time stood against The Serpent, holding off the beasts massive powers, gaining strength from the ocean itself. However, even The Sentinel was no match for one of the gods' Creatures, and he fell at The Serpent's hand. The Serpent then took The Sentinel's flesh, and returned life to it, mutating the protector as she did. The new beast gained incredible power from its new lady, as well, becoming even stronger. Thus was born The Sentry – the only creature in existence whose power is said to compare to that of Ilayda's Creature."

"So… he's kind of strong, then?" Frost replied, tilting his head to the side as he stared at the creature.

"Incredibly so." The priest nodded, turning back to the group. "Destroying Sentinel Bay would be nothing to him – a wave of the hand."

The priest turned back to the group, finding the appropriate level of awe covering most of their faces. Though, oddly, the white haired boy seemed less than impressed as he stared at his fingernails, trying to pick the dirt from beneath them. The priest was made to wonder if the boy had been paying attention at all.

"But now that you're here," The White Priest stated, turning his attention back toward Myst as he moved toward her, "we won't have to worry about that."

The leader of the realm reached out, wrapping a hand around the girl's wrist.

"Come with me. We need to hurry and get you out there so you can turn yourself over to them."

"No." Myst responded sternly as she quickly freed herself from the man's grasp, taking a step away from him. "I'm not giving myself up."

"What!" The White Priest bellowed incredulously. "Weren't you paying attention! Didn't you hear what I just said!"

"I did." Myst nodded. "But I won't give myself up."

"That beast out there is going to destroy Sentinel Bay!" the priest shouted, thrusting a finger toward the creature in the water. "He's going to sweep away thousands and thousands of lives! Don't you understand!"

"We do…"

The priest turned, laying eyes on the redheaded boy.

"We understand, but Myst can't give herself up." Flare responded, staring at the strange creature in the water, smiling as he did. "We'd never defeat The Serpent if she did that."

"Defeat… The Serpent?"

The priest repeated the phrase, trying to make sense of it. As he did, though, only one explanation seemed sound: these people were insane. He was trying to reason with lunatics.

"You can't defeat The Serpent!" The White Priest screamed, shaking his head. "You can't even defeat that beast!"

"I bet you we can!" Frost exclaimed. "I bet you that fancy white hat, you've got there."

"Wh-what!" The man replied, confused. "What makes you people think you can do something so ridiculous!"

"Because…"

The priest turned, finding it was the eldest of the group that spoke, looking to him, rather than staring out at the beast in the ocean.

"They can do it… because of every one of these four carries a Mystic Blade."

The priest paused, sure he had heard wrong. Or maybe this woman was just insane as well. He swung his gaze to the four teens around her, searching their person with his eyes. Even as he saw them, though – those gleaming hilts, and dazzling blades – the man wasn't sure he believed it. Four Mystic Blades? In one spot? Such a thing had not happened in…

"…ten thousand years." The man whispered the words aloud as he completed his thought, considering the possibilities. Four Mystic Bladesmen… it was a far cry from the full legion of the mythical warriors and their magical swords, but with four them…

"… Even if you defeat The Serpent…" the man mumbled, mostly to himself, "Even if you managed that somehow… The Dragon King would come…"

"That's why we're going to kick his ass too." Frost stated matter-of-factly.

The priest laughed, believing it a joke. But none of them joined in the merriment. He quickly quieted himself, staring at these four, now certain they were insane. And suddenly, he wondered if he might be crazy as well. Because as he stared… he thought they might actually do it.