Behind the palace, the waters of the lake were veiled in shadow, hidden out of reach from the sun's glare. From the surface of lake, lotus rose on lightly-bending green stems. The water that rippled beneath their stems was unusually warm for the frigid winter breeze that skimmed it. But still, without the touch of direct sunlight, their petals remained tightly closed, their buds like large pink teardrops hung above the water.
Ahead, the Ball of Souls was in full swing. The sounds of laughter and music could be heard all the way across the water. As the shadows of the palace grew longer, the lanterns that dangled below the roofs of the pavilions began to light up one by one. Their combined glow made each round pavilion look like lanterns themselves. The biggest and brightest burned in the centre of the lake, while four smaller ones sat diametrically from it, casting their lights on the water and the bridges that connected them to the main bridge.
Meanwhile, behind the palace, it remained dark. Quiet.
The water rippled once more.
Then, a slender, grey trunk rose from below the surface. The eyes were next, framed by large, flapping ears beside them. These eyes were huge and round like mirrors, the irises yellow like saffron, split down the centre by razor-thin, black pupils. But at the right angle, the eyes reflected the light in a way that made them look vermillion.
The eyes of a crocodile, on the head of an elephant. Below the water, the creature’s shape was long, plank-like, a still shadow below the water. Even though the palace’s water was clear and not murky, it would’ve been easy to miss if it hadn’t moved.
Moments later, the makara pried open its decidedly un-elephantlike jaws, raining water down from its sharp upper teeth. And then, it said:
“If I see a duck, can I eat it?”
On the base of the palace, Ying was carefully scaling a ledge just above the water. Currently in anthropine form, she had her hair tucked below her headscarf, and her tail coiled up into the leggings below her tunic. She paused to look at the makara in the water with incredulity.
“There aren’t any ducks reared in the palace lake,” the pixiu-woman stated.
“Yeah,” Asha replied from the water, “but one could’ve snuck in.”
Ying threw up her hands. “Why are you hungry? We just had lunch!”
“That barely counts!” Asha snapped her jaws frustratedly. “Do you really think a bowl of noodles is anything compared to a whole, fresh duck?”
Ying shook her head. “Honestly, sometimes I’m still amazed at how fast your metabolism is for a croc. It must be because of how small you are.”
“Rarhhh, what did you just say??”
Ying ignored her and continued to tiptoe along the ledge, pressing her back flat to the palace’s outer wall. Even as she snarked with Asha, her brown eyes stayed keen, watching out for the guards circling the palace turrets and keeping within their blind spots.
Eventually, she huffed, giving her shoulders a ruffling, distinctly lion-like shake. “I still don’t understand why we’re still sleuthing about. Why don’t I just swoop down from the sky and grab her?”
“Because our objective is to recruit her, not kill her.”
Jemi was crouched on the ledge above her. She was in her fully-human form, too, gold curls fanning out behind her in the wind. Her brown cloak was wrapped tightly around her, the red tassels of her scarf brushing the tops of her boots. She glanced downward at Ying over her knees.
Ying frowned. “Aaand… why can’t we just muscle her over to the moon and make her drink?”
“First, that’s assuming we are capable of ‘muscling’ someone like the Commander. Secondly,” Jemi stated, “even if it worked, it is unlikely she would be cooperative after her transformation—if we didn’t first convince her why she should help our side.”
“Ohh, I see,” Ying rubbed her chin. “So, we’re going to go up to her, pretend to be a bunch of friendly travellers…”
“Nah,” said Jemi. Checking that the coast was clear, she leapt off the ledge and slid down the wall, her feet finding near-invisible footholds in the unevenness of the cement. Finally she landed on the lowest ledge next to Ying, who startled at how fast she had descended.
The woman peeked over the edge of the ledge and called, “Nessie? You there?”
A boy’s face surfaced from the lake. Blinking, Lochlan wiped his dripping teal hair out of his eyes. “Yeah?”
“Don’t mist us later,” she told him. “If it’s possible, you can try misting the royal guard’s notice; but it won’t matter too much.”
“Okie,” Lochlan saluted. Meanwhile, Ying and Asha both gawked.
“Huuuuh? Why?”
“You’re going to leave us completely exposed?”
“That’s right.” A mischievous grin spread on the gold-haired woman’s face. “We’re going to give the Commander a proper introduction to Beasts. And what better way to win someone’s heart than through a heroic rescue?”
~~~