13 Fish Out of Water 1

Snap! Snap! Keiji: "Don't fall overboard!" Yuuki: "Don't let them get on the boat!" The preceptors hollered urgent instructions from the leading canoe over the uproar of the turbulent Mizusashi river. An off-shore commotion was unfolding around them. The young sailors were too preoccupied to respond to the directions of their guardians. A pack of lamia surrounded their canoes, trying to take bites out of them. Snap! Snap! Lamia were hideous, riverine beasts with bulbous, smooth heads and at least three feet long bodies. Some were as large as seven feet. They had gaping jaws that snapped like crocodiles, with a mouthful of teeth as large as fingers. Their most distinguishing and most eerie feature was that they had no eyes. Lamia navigated through vibrations and smells, and their only aim was raw flesh. Hence, Keiji's instructions to not fall overboard made mighty sense. Moreover, since the lamia were amphibious, they could hop on land, or in this case, on boats, canoes, and ships. With the support of their tails, they could hop like frogs. Therefore, thwarting their attempts to get on the canoes seemed like a priority as well. A month had passed since the training of the Legacy Trials aspirants had started. Summer had settled in with a torrid vein. The preceptor duo, Keiji and Yuuki, had decided to temper their students in a summer camp. The location of their choosing was kept hush-hush till the last moment. After a few days worth of paperwork and preparation, they set off to their destination. The party had begun their journey from the base of Chojo hill, where the Mizusashi and the Kurosashi rivers meet to form the mighty Reisui river. The Reisui torrents are so powerful that only ocean-grade ships could cruise through them unharmed. Therefore, shipbuilding had thrived as a prosperous trade in Karasuma. Many boats had sunk in the unforgiving Reisui until the villagers learned to pay reverence to the river and carve resilient, deep-water boats and ships. Karasuma had three major ports. The Nagato port on the Kurosashi river, north of Chojo hill, was primarily a trade and commerce unit. The Minato port on the Reisui, east of the hill, was where the royal naval fleets were stationed. The Gakuto port, south of the hill, was for the use of ordinary folk. Even though the Daigaku had access to all three ports, the preceptors and the Legacy Unit used hidden docks and jetties known only to them. Chojo hill was an extensive area with undulating terrain. To date, it had not been possible to map the region entirely. Therefore, secret modes of access remained hidden or undiscovered. The river-faring party had left from a rocky, clandestine pier with five military-grade canoes. The party included Keiji and Yuuki sensei, who represented the Daigaku. The twelve qualified aspirants of the Legacy Trials belonging to Mikashita-kin accompanied them. Tagging along was a sub-squad of three soldiers, comprising Lieutenant Yorokobi Miyamoto and two non-ranking soldiers. Kento was heir to the reigning Overlord Senju Mikashita. Hence, a military escort was mandatory at all times once he stepped outside the kin grounds. The party had divided themselves among the canoes as follows: Canoe 1: Keiji (Male, 26), Yuuki sensei (Male, 23) Canoe 2: Shigeo (Male,15), Akako (Female, 16), Kento (Male, 16) Canoe 3: Hajime (Male, 20), Megumin (Female, 19), Yuuta (Male, 20) Canoe 4: Daigo (Male, 20), Kafu (Male, 19), Chiyo (Female, 17) Canoe 5: Nadeko (Female, 15), Illumi (Male, 15), Masaki (Male, 15) The Mizusashi backwaters formed a sprawling marshland, beyond which lay their destination, the Bokuso glades. As the river turned around Chojo hill from the West, it backtracked several miles into the south-western lands and gave birth to the Doronuma marshes. The marshes were murky and treacherous, home to rabid beasts of prey, venomous reptiles, and blood-thirsty insects. The local tribes believed that dark magical beasts, capable of kitsu manipulation, had also made the land their abode. However, Karasuma researchers had found no evidence to support that claim. The way to the Bokuso glades was a narrow creek through the Doronuma marshes, known as the Kegare. To enter the stream, the party had to row upstream from Minato port, in the Reisui, and turn west into the Mizusashi. A mile up the river's mouth, the waters flooded into the land to form the Kegare creek on the left. It was an upstream journey, but their military-grade canoes were kitsu operated and overcame the resistance of the rivers with ease. Trouble arrived when the party encountered a pack of hungry lamia moving upstream. The lamia make their way downstream into the warmer waters at night and retract upstream in the morning to hunt for prey. They consume anything moving, from fish to humans to larger animals. The carnivorous lamia were, thus, apex predators of the river waters. Setting off kitsu sequences could damage and sink the boats, and hence the young sailors had not resorted to that yet. They had tried to fend off the gnarled creatures with their swords. As the lamia crashed against their canoes, the sailing kitsu ingrained into them started dwindling, and the boats slowed down. The preceptor and military sub-squad canoes were thirty feet ahead of the last canoe. Canoe 3 (Hajime-Megumin-Yuuta) and Canoe 4 (Daigo-Kafu-Chiyo) were not far behind. Canoe 2 (Shigeo-Akako-Kento) and Canoe 5 (Nadeko-Illumi-Masaki) lagged as they could not fight the creatures off fast enough. The lamia besieged the canoes, slowing them down. It was only a matter of time before any grievous injury or mortality took place.