“No promises,” I laugh, dipping my oar in the water and pushing away from the Titanic. Now that we have an escort, I’m not as afraid as I was before. I do eye the leopard seals in the distance though, just in case.
Svetlana pops out of the hood long enough to ask, “Want me to chop off his head now?”
Which tells me she’s asked before. Vesper eyes me and I raise my brow.
“No,” she grumbles, and then says more under her breath I can’t hear. Svetlana laughs and tucks back inside her hood, leaving me to stare at the two of them suspiciously.
The women are planning my demise. I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to it . . .
. . . or if I should sleep with my eyes open from now on.
CHAPTER35
VESPER
Once we cross the largest expanse of water, we stay along the edges. The Frostbit Sea buts up against the edges of the Verdant Nexus. All along the edges, the lush, green rainforest is frozen in ice, forever reaching toward the ocean. Within those trees, we’re watched by numerous creatures, some of which we’ve seen before and others we haven’t. The large bugs hover just away from the frost. Furry creatures linger in the trees, watching with wide eyes and calling to each other. Quickly, we decide not to set foot into the Verdant Nexus quadrant until we’re at least a Tier Two. There’s so much of it we’ve yet to explore.
The edges of the Frostbit Sea are covered in ice. Floating chunks clunk against the boat as we push them out of the way. Every now and then we have to go into deeper water to avoid a large ice sheet we can’t push past. Those are the times I glance nervously toward the water. Even if the Narwhal is helping us, it makes me nervous. When the Ice Grief Orchard comes into view again, my shoulders relax a little, even if it means we’re going to be faced with the frigid cold snow yet again. Luckily, this region seems smaller than the Verdant Nexus. I’m hoping we can make quick work of the Ice Grief Orchard and make it to the final zone in the Shatterlands, find the Minor Boss, and leave this cold hellscape behind.
“Do you think we need to worry about the vines like in the Silent Forest?” Locke asks suddenly as we grow closer to where we plan to leave the boat behind.
I hadn’t even thought of that. We’d entered the Ice Grief Orchard on our way to the Broken Caldera. Nothing had attacked us then but . . .
“The trees are frozen,” I point out, my eyes on the icicles hanging from the bare branches, fruit forever encased in ice hanging sporadically along them. “I don’t think the vines will be moving, let alone attack us. Plus, this is a different region entirely.”
“The trees are a barrier,” Svetlana says. “Clearly.”
I glance at her in confusion. “A barrier for what?” I ask, frowning.
“Between the outer regions and the inner,” she answers. “After all, you must have three keys to enter the inner regions. It would make sense for there to be some sort of physical barrier, no?”
I blink at her words and then look at her where she balances on my shoulder beneath my hood. “You’re probably right. That does make sense.”
She tilts her head, nods, and then withdraws deeper into the hood when the wind whips past us. I have no desire to see her die again even if she can respawn, so I gently tuck my hood tighter to my face, giving her as much cover and warmth as possible.
“This is your stop!” the Narwhal declares excitedly, pointing to the trees with his horn. “You’ve made it without dying! Congratulations!”
“Thanks, Narwhal,” I say, using the oar to steady myself in the boat as I stand. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
He giggles, his voice deep and low. “Perhaps one more stroke for the road then?” He directs his horn toward me.
I wince when Locke turns his grin toward me. “I’d rather not.”
“Aww,” Narwhal says.
“I’ll do it,” Locke declares happily. The Narwhal directs his horn to Locke who grips it roughly and strokes it like he’s stroking his own cock. He locks eyes with me as he does it, making my face flush red. “Is that good?”
“Oh, yeah,” Narwhal says. “So good. Right there. Oh . . .”
Locke’s grin widens and his eyes don’t move from mine. The Narwhal shivers and sinks into the water deeper, his eyes closing briefly.
“Thank you, Bone Breaker,” the Narwhal says as he pulls away. “As a thank you for your kindness, have this gift.”
A small bottle appears in the air before Locke, who stares at it with wide eyes, confused. He hadn’t stroked the Narwhal’s horn for any reason other than to mess with me, but he’d been rewarded for it.
I suddenly feel like an absolute idiot for not doing it.
Locke plucks it from the air and opens the description window.
