The Other Side: A Second Chance

As the ship lurched forward and began to move away from shore, I turned to look overboard and saw my mother standing on the dock before turning away as an explosion rocked the town, followed by another, and another!

"Blimey, they're firing rockets into the town!" I heard someone shout as I saw bright streaks of light shooting upwards along the horizon on the other end of town before arcing down and slamming into already burning buildings.

I whined and turned away as the sound of fighting began to build up again, and I pushed my way through the densely packed ship.

"Isa! Isa!" I shouted and grabbed a stranger's hand. "Mister, have you seen a serelli lady? Her name is Isa."

The older human glanced down at me and shook his head. "N-No, dear. I have not seen anyone like that." He grabbed his hat and pulled it down over his face.

I next approached a woman clutching a sobbing baby. "I'm sorry, I don't know who you speak of." She told me as she gripped her baby tighter.

Then an elderly lady who was tightly holding her cane. "Oh, you poor thing, where are your parents?" She raised her head toward me.

I moaned and kept moving, pushing my way past more people as I searched for her. I moved to the front end of the ship, where I found a set of white stairs leading to what I assumed to be the helm and began to climb them to get a clear overhead view.

Yet as I neared the top of the stairs, I heard a familiar voice. "Luna?" I turned to see at the bottom of the steps a battered and beaten Isa, her face and alabaster polo caked in blood, mud, and dust.

I nearly tripped down the steps as I turned to run towards her. I practically leaped into her arms, and she caught me and held me close. She pressed my face tightly into her bosom as she audibly purred and nuzzled the top of my head.

"I thought I lost all of you," she said with a shaky breath.

"I thought so too!" I cried.

"Where's your mother?" She asked me.

I pulled my face off her chest and wiped my eyes. "She stayed back; she's helping the soldiers buy more time for us while searching for Papa and Varis."

Isa bit her lip and smiled sadly. "Always was a hero that Cailynn."

"How did this happen?" I choked a little. "We were ahead… How did they get here so fast?" I sniffed and wiped my eyes some more.

Isa swallowed hard. "I don't exactly know, but I think it was those cylinders. That's the only way I can think of." Isa shuddered. "Those weren't bombs. At least, I think."

I sniffed and whimpered. "Do you think Momma will survive?" I asked.

"Of course she will," Isa said calmly. "Your mother and father used to be wonderful adventurers. Almost heroes in some areas of the world. Both of them have been through a lot; they know how to take care of themselves and others." She smiled. "Your mother will be okay; as of right now, we need to focus on the now."

I nodded. "So what do we do now?" I asked softly.

"Well, we wait and cross the lake." Isa smirked and poked me gently. "Everything will be okay. I promise—"

"WATCH OUT!"

Some near the end of the ship shouted, and I heard screams as suddenly something rammed into the rear of the boat, which sent a shockwave of heat and energy forward, which knocked Isa and me over as the vessel lurched upwards.

Screams filled the air as people began to clamber to their feet the boat let off a loud groan like a beast in pain and began to turn.

"What happened!" Was a phrase I heard people shouting, yet I think the answer was clear: another rocket that illuminated the sky above arched downwards. I gasped as the missile slammed into the water beside the boat before detonating. The shockwave rammed the boat once more, this time rocking it heavily to the side! Spraying the deck with steaming water and debris.

"Fire on the top deck! Fire on the top deck!" I heard a booming voice echo out from one of the many funnel-like intercoms, and a claxon horn began to sound.

Isa gripped onto me tightly as we got up and ran to the edge of the boat, and looking back, we saw further down, towards the rear of the ship, a massive inferno blaze. I could hear screaming coming from within, and my heart sank as I watched a few people who were on fire leap off the side of the boat and into the murky black water below.

"Why?! Why?! We're not fighting them!" I cried. We're noncombatants; we're fleeing! Why are they trying to kill us?!

"The engine's on fire! Get the lifeboats! Lifeboats!" I heard one of the sailors shout as he began smacking his colleagues back into focus. "The boat is going to blow; we need to get these people out—"

A loud eruption of red and blue fire rocketed into the air as the entire boat lurched upward, blasting us with another heated shockwave! Isa gripped me tightly, and we screamed as the boat lifted before coming down as the engine of the ship detonated.

Men and women dove from the boat as the ship began to capsize. "I-I can't swim!" I screamed as Isa held me.

"You'll have to try and learn now!" She said to me, "Just hold onto me!"

"The ship is tipping; we won't be able to get the lifeboats ready in time!" I heard someone shout, and more and more people began to dive from the vessel into the black depths. Another man screamed with agony as he fell onto the deck of the ship, his clothes engulfed in red and blue fire as others began to smack him with loose cloth, attempting to beat out the flames. A woman nearby clutched her screaming baby; she too was sobbing uncontrollably.

"It doesn't matter!" I heard a sailor shout. "We'll hail the Tatiana! Till then, we abandon ship! Abandon ship!"

As the ship began to slowly list, Isa had to lightly smack me back into focus as I stood there, stunned. She then turned and motioned for me to climb onto her back.

"That bag you have, is that the one Cailynn gave you?" She asked me and nodded slowly, unable to speak as I watched people around us panicking or diving overboard. "Excellent. We may need it here."

Hesitantly, I clung to Isa's back as the ship continued to lurch to its side. I did my best to block out the sounds of the screaming and sobbing people around me, yet it was impossible. Not too far off, I saw the other steamboat chugging along, and for a second, I despised it as envy filled me as I watched the others safely onboard watching us. Yet as quickly as that feeling came, it vanished when I noticed lights in the water.

Three blue and white lights shimmered beneath the water, rapidly moving towards the ship. With fear gripping me, I patted Isa on the shoulder and pointed to them, and I saw her eyes fill with dread.

"By the gods…" was all she muttered when suddenly three fighting machines jettisoned themselves out of the water, their metallic tendrils shooting outward like grappling hooks and latching onto the vessel as they yanked themselves from the water. Like a robotic Kraken, the machines entangled the ship as they forced themselves on board, their glass-like eyes opening, and from them came the dreaded incinerating light.

Within seconds, the boat was engulfed in fire and screams as the few soldiers on board attempted to fight back with their rifles, but as soon as the light shone upon them, the guns fell silent and were instead replaced with screams of agony.

"They're in the water; they're in the fucking water!" I began to panic as Isa gripped me tightly.

By this point, the boat was nearly vertical, and Isa said, "Take a deep breath."

And so, we did. Swallowing as much air as we could, Isa pushed off the boat, and we dove into the frigid water. It was pitch black beneath the waves. The cold felt like thousands of needles were piercing my flesh as Isa began to make a break for the surface.

I held onto her as tightly as I could, and I tried not to open my eyes, yet fear took hold, and I did. And immediately regretted it. Beneath us, two more blue and white lights pierced the darkness, and I began to panic and nudge Isa just as we broke the surface of the water.

I gasped and cried. "They're beneath us! Beneath us!"

As Isa trod the water, she glanced around at the other people who had dove into the water around us. A man who was treading in the water next to us gasped and shrieked.

"S-something touched my leg—" Before he could finish, we watched as he was abruptly yanked beneath.

"Shit!" Isa cursed and quickly began to swim ahead as people began to scream and panic all around us. "Luna, that bag."

"Y-yeah?" I asked, looking back and gasping as I watched another woman and a man be yanked beneath the waves, and I cried.

"If we get grabbed, I need you to turn it inside out under water, facing that monster!" She shouted that she continued to swim not towards Kassel but towards the shores along its edges.

"They're in the water! In the water!" A woman screamed, which caused more people around us to panic in the water.

"I can't swim! I can't swim!" A young boy screamed.

"Help us! Somebody help us—" A man nearby was silenced as he was yanked beneath the water.

Isa cursed and continued to swim harder as she began to pant and huff. I began to think I needed to help. I needed to do something. This entire journey, I've been useless.

What can I do?! I'm just a fucking kid. How can I do anything? All I know is simple little spells, and I…

That's it.

"I-Isa!" I said, "I-I know what I can do."

The woman grunted as she tiredly continued to swim as quickly as she could. Her face was focused yet also fearful. She blinked, glanced back at me, and said, "What?"

I grabbed my wand. "I can launch us." I gulped nervously.

In front of us, a tendril shot up out of the water over a helpless elven woman who screamed as it crashed back down onto her, forcibly dragging her beneath the waves, causing Isa to curse loudly and backpedal away from the monster.

Just then, its tendrils pierced the surface of the waves again and spun towards us. "Whatever it is, do it now!" Isa shouted fearfully, without a second thought. I focused on the spell I wanted to cast, and like in the alley, I aimed to our side and shouted the words.

"Gust!"

A surge of tingling energy shot throughout my body, up my arm, and into my wand as the ruby tip burned brightly as I imagined a surge of wind blowing towards us, and in a flash, a cold and powerful wind rammed into us, throwing us out of the path of the tendril!

I gripped Isa tightly as the wind lifted us out of the water, carrying us about ten feet off the ground as it threw us in the air, and before I knew it, we crashed into the water! I clung to her for dear life as we spiraled beneath the waves, yet after a second, Isa regained her bearings and swam for the surface.

Piercing the water, we both gulped down as much air as we could and gasped. "Oh, you're such a little genius!" Isa said as she spat water from her mouth and tread, yet as she turned around to figure out where we were, a second tendril shot up from the water.

Before Isa could even tell me, I was already casting the spell once again, and I shouted, "Gust!"

A second gust, even more powerful than the first, threw us back and out of the water towards land! Yet I had overcalculated. The gust threw us so hard that we slammed into the water with a wet clap, and both mine and Isa's backs hit the ground as we landed in the shallow waters!

Stars flashed before my eyes, and all the air was knocked from my lungs, and I instinctively breathed in, swallowing water down into my lungs. In a panic, I kicked and tried to swim, but I felt someone grab my hand and yank me onto the shore. I gasped and sputtered as I felt someone clapping me on the back, and I vomited the water back onto the rocky shore.

I coughed and groaned as I inhaled as much air as I could, and I looked up to see a soaked Isa holding me tight. "Are you okay? That was brilliant!" She praised me, and I nodded.

"Y-Yeah… I just put too much effort into it." I coughed.

A distant claxon alarm echoed from both the ships and the town as far-off screams and gunfire continued to echo from the town. The two of us turned to see much of Kassel in flames as a few explosions—some blue, others red—fired upwards in the sky as the battle raged on. A distant howl of more fighting machines reached us as I saw from the tree line, seven of them coming into view on the distant parallel shore. Four of them marched into the water of the lake, the others converging on the town.

However, a few more people lucky enough to get out of the water met up with us on shore. Yet many of them did not stay; they clambered on all fours, faces vacant of any emotion as they quickly got to their feet and stumbled into the woodland, running for their lives. Men and women of all races and classes quickly scrambled to safety. A lone girl walked on shore, a teenager, her expression shocked as she simply stumbled towards the trees.

"H-How are we going to get across the river?" I asked as I shuddered. The cool spring combined with my soaked clothes made me shiver.

Isa opened her waterlogged bag and cursed softly as she checked her gear and zipped it back shut. "If memory serves me right, further west there's a bridge. Yet with how fast the Rusivites are going, they'll be right on our heels."

I whimpered softly as Isa continued. "Another route would be to find a boat. There are plenty of fishing villages. Yet with them in the water like that… I don't know how safe that'll be."

So, we're fucked.

"No. Not yet." The voice said.

You have a lot of explaining to do. I thought angrily.

"Within time. I had warned you days ago to move fast; if you had only listened to me, this wouldn't be happening."

Shut up.

I gripped the side of my head and groaned. Isa looked at me. "Luna, what is wrong?"

I gulped. "Something is wrong with me…" I spoke.

Isa grabbed my hand, and we began to walk into the tree line with the few other survivors away from the shore. "Tell me as we move."

We pushed our way through the underbrush, and I said, "Th-that voice I told you about. The one in my dreams… ever since the start of this mess. It's been talking to me."

Isa didn't stop; however, she glanced over her shoulder as we moved. "How so?"

"I-I don't know, but it's like a second thing in my head. I-It warned me to get on the boat, and just now. It spoke to me… like someone is in my head watching my every move."

"Is it talking now?" She asked as we began to climb up a ridge, which provided an overview of another nearby beach. Isa held a hand up and stopped me as we saw dozens of people who had successfully gotten out of the water resting on the shoreline. We saw families hugging and sobbing, children screaming for their parents, and couples consoling each other. Though some were not so lucky, people were screaming out for loved ones, calling out for help, and simply begging the gods for help and forgiveness.

I shook my head. "N-not now…"

"Get to cover. You're too exposed; they'll see you." The voice hissed.

I gasped. "We need to hide now."

Isa blinked. "What do you—" she cut herself off and nodded as we both got down.

Out in the water near the beach where all the people rested, three fighting machines rose out of the water and sounded their dreadful horns. Immediately, the dozens of people on shore screamed in horror and began to run for the tree line. Yet a few of them rushed towards the water. One of them looked to be a soldier wielding a stick, and around it was a white T-shirt that he waved.

"We surrender! We surrender!" He screamed as a few men and women got to their knees, hands up, and sobbed.

Yet as the fighting machines marched onto shore, their eyes began to open, and their searchlights began to incinerate anyone in their path. The soldier and surrendering men in front screamed as their bodies burst into steam and fire. The few who had gotten to their knees scrambled and tried to run, yet the light leaped from man to woman to man again. All turning to fire. I covered my mouth and muffled a cry as the entire shoreline became lit with flames, and soon, the screaming faded as the machines began to patrol the burning canopy, chasing those who had fled into the forest.

One of them, however, turned in our direction, its spotlight shining over us as it began to approach. The ground trembled as its tendrils shot out like grappling hooks, gripping the ridgeline as it began to climb up. Isa grabbed me and yanked me close to her as the massive metallic feet, still dripping with lake water, slammed into the ground around us and walked right over, breaking through trees and uprooting them as its heavy feet tore right through as it went past us.

I tried not to make a sound, yet a muffled cry escaped my lips, and Isa clamped her clawed hand over my mouth. After a minute, the machine was gone. We both let off a collective sigh of relief, and Isa stood up.

"I take it; the voice told you they were coming." She said that, and I nodded my head. "Whoever it is, they seem to be on our side, or at least yours." Isa took my hand. "Let us move. We need to find someplace safe to rest."

We quickly got to our feet, and I turned towards the burning beach that was now covered in glass and ash. I sobbed softly as we ran into the tree line. My wet dress pulled over my mouth as I tried not to inhale the smoke as the sounds of horrified screams of victims and warfare followed behind us.