Gen was about to call over Baegun to ride, but Groova just picked him up and put him on her shoulder as she walked.
His legs dangled off her collarbone and he grabbed a fistful of her wild black hair to steady himself.
“Alright, cool, this works too,” Gen said, adjusting his grip.
“So what are we hunting? Fish? I feel like fish makes the most sense. Quick to clean, easy to cook. No hours of butchering, no giant pile of bones to deal with.”
Groova nodded, her massive frame already moving toward the treeline.
“Groova like fish. Fish tasty. Gen like fish?”
“Gen likes anything that doesn’t take 4 hours to prepare,” Gen said.
“Fish is perfect.”
She took one step, then another, and then she teleported.
The world blurred.
One moment they were at the edge of the clearing, the next they were 50 meters deeper in the forest.
Then another 50 meters.
Then another.
The teleports came in rapid bursts, 8 times a second, each one covering the same distance.
The trees flickered past in a dizzying smear of green and brown and the wind whipped Gen’s hair straight back.
He held on tight and squeezed his eyes shut against the disorientation.
In less than a minute they burst out of the treeline and onto the rocky shore of the lake.
Gen blinked, his vision swimming, his stomach doing slow flips.
He looked around and saw the familiar expanse of blue water stretching out before them, the same freshwater lake that had almost killed him with a turtle on day 2.
“We lost the aspen dryad,” Gen said, his voice still a little unsteady from the rapid teleportation.
“You just left her behind. She’s probably still running through the forest trying to catch up.”
Groova shrugged, completely unbothered.
“Pale one fast. Pale one catch up.”
“Yeah, but you could have waited. That’s just rude, man.”
Before Gen could continue his half-hearted scolding, a pale figure burst out of the treeline about 200 meters down the shore.
The aspen dryad skidded to a halt, her chest heaving, her red eyes fixed on them with an expression that was hard to read but definitely not happy.
She had sprinted the whole way.
Groova waved at her.
The aspen dryad did not wave back.
“See?” Groova said.
“Pale one catch up.”
Gen sighed and slid off her shoulder, landing on the rocky shore with a soft crunch.
He looked out at the water, trying to spot any signs of fish near the surface.
“Alright. So what’s the plan? Are you two going to dive in and grab something, or do I need to build a fishing pole real quick?”
Groova did not answer.
She just took a running start and dove into the water with a splash that sent spray 10 feet in the air.
The aspen dryad followed a moment later, her pale body cutting through the surface with barely a ripple.
Gen stood there on the shore, mouth half open, arms dangling at his sides.
He watched the ripples spread and fade until the water went still again.
Then he shrugged, found a flat rock, and sat down.
“Well, alright then.” (✌️😭)
He leaned back, propped himself up on his hands, and stared out at the glassy surface of the lake.
The sun felt warm on his face.
A light breeze rustled the leaves along the shore.
He listened to the birds and the gentle lap of water against the rocks and tried to relax.
It was nice, actually.
Quiet.
Peaceful.
About 5 minutes passed before he heard the beat of wings overhead.
He looked up and saw Vyxia descending from the sky in a slow spiral, her white hair streaming behind her like a banner.
She landed on the shore a few feet away, arms crossed, chin up, that familiar bratty expression firmly in place.
“Are they still at it?” she asked, gesturing toward the water.
Gen shrugged.
“They dove in and haven’t come up yet. I assume they’re hunting.”
Vyxia let out a long, put-upon sigh.
“Dryads. They have no sense of urgency. They could be down there for hours.”
“They’ve been down there for 5 minutes,” Gen said.
“Exactly. 5 minutes too long. I have better things to do than wait for them.” She made a show of inspecting her nails, then glanced at him sideways.
“Are you just going to sit there the whole time?”
“Yep.”
“How dull.”
“Yep.”
“…”
“…”
“Stawp ignoring me human!”
She huffed, rolled her eyes, and launched herself back into the air.
Her wings caught the wind and she shot across the surface of the lake at mach speed, a white blur against the blue water.
She was gone within seconds, leaving Gen alone again.
He watched her disappear over the horizon and then turned back to the water.
The ripples had long since settled.
The lake sat still and silent, like a sheet of glass stretching to the horizon.
Then he saw something.
A shape, emerging from the water about 30 meters down the shore.
It rose slowly, almost hesitantly, until a head and shoulders broke the surface.
Gen squinted, trying to make out details through the glare of the sun.
The skin had a muddy blue to dark aquamarine color, like the bottom of a deep tide pool.
And as the creature turned, he caught a glint of something along its arms and neck.
Scales.
Those were definitely scales.
Gen’s brain screamed at him to stay put.
His body did not listen.
He grabbed a stick from the ground, a pathetic piece of driftwood that would not stop a determined squirrel, and started creeping toward the creature.
He told himself it was for investigation.
For science.
He inched closer, step by careful step.
The creature had its back to him, its dark green hair hanging in ropes like old seaweed, water dripping from the ends.
It had a lean frame, narrow shoulders, and a waist that curved in and then flared out.
Small breasts, perky and firm.
Sharp teeth visible even from this distance, poking out from between closed lips.
Its eyes were hidden behind the curtain of wet hair.
Gen’s foot came down on a dry twig.
The snap echoed across the shore like a gunshot.
The creature spun around.
They locked eyes.
Gen saw the face clearly for the first time.
The dark green hair plastered to the sides of a angular face.
The wide mouth full of teeth that looked like they could shred through bone.
Before Gen could speak, the creature pounced.
It crossed the 10 meters in a single bound and hit him square in the chest.
The impact drove him backward and he hit the rocky ground hard, his skull bouncing off the stone.
The breath left his lungs in a harsh wheeze.
The stick came up instinctively, a pathetic barrier between him and the creature’s snapping jaws.
The creature bit down on the stick and sheared clean through it.
The splintered ends fell to either side of Gen’s face.
The creature was inches from him now, its breath hot and wet against his skin.
It growled, low and rumbling, its sharp teeth hovering near his throat.
Gen squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the end.
The end did not come.
The creature went still.
Its growl cut off mid-rumble.
Gen cracked one eye open and saw it staring at his chest.
Not his face.
His chest.
More specifically, the spot where his magic reserve sat, right in the center of his sternum.
The creature’s expression shifted.
The aggression drained away, replaced by something else.
Caution, at first.
Then curiosity.
Then hunger, but not the kind that wanted to kill.
The kind that wanted to taste.
(ouu sh-)
A string of drool dripped from the creature’s open mouth and landed on Gen’s cheek.
“Gross,” Gen whispered.
The creature tilted its head, studying him like a puzzle.
Its hand came up, cold and webbed, and pressed against his chest.
It sniffed him, long and deep, dragging its nose from his collarbone to his jaw.
Then it leaned back and inspected his face with the same intense focus.
It opened its mouth to lick his cheek—
Groova appeared out of thin air, her claws slashing through the space where the creature’s head had been a fraction of a second before.
The creature must have sensed her teleport because it launched itself backward with a hiss, hitting the water and disappearing beneath the surface before Groova’s claws even finished their arc.
Groova stood over Gen, her red eyes blazing, her claws still extended.
“Gen okay? Gen hurt? Did it bite Gen?”
Gen pushed himself up onto his elbows.
His head throbbed from hitting the rock and his back ached.
“I’m… ehh, I’m kinda okay. Bruised but breathing.”
The aspen dryad walked up the shore, a giant 6-foot bluegill balanced under her arm.
The fish had to weigh at least 500 pounds, its silvery body gleaming in the sun.
She dropped it on the rocks with a heavy thud and looked at Gen, then at the water, then back at Gen.
Vyxia descended from the sky and landed on the shore.
She looked at the giant fish, then at Gen sitting on the ground with drool still on his cheek, and her expression shifted to exasperation.
“What the hell happened now?”
Gen wiped his cheek with the back of his hand.
“Some fish monster woman thing pounced on me. It was like a a human but with scales everywhere and teeth like a shark. It bit my stick in half, got real close to my face, started sniffing me, and then Groova showed up and scared it off.”
Vyxia’s eyes went wide.
She rushed over and grabbed Gen by the shoulders, shaking him hard.
“You met a SEAMAID?!”