“Speaking of court,” Aqua changed the subject. “What do we want to tell Yvne and her two children?”

  “I don’t know.” Alex flinched. “Dealing with them is problematic. Cosmos told Merumeru they were prisoners right? Do we even have to tell them anything?”

  Aqua gave Alex a look like she was being silly. “You personally brought her maids back. They should already know that the ice cn was attacked. They are likely to see this as the opening blow for a bigger fight.”

  “But they attacked the temple first.” Alex compined, blowing a tuft of hair from her face. “If anything it should be the other way around.”

  “They are demons.” Aqua stated matter-of-factly. “They like to twist things in a way that suits them best. They may strike back hard against the temple, or they may not. But burying their camp and ruining their cultivation time is going to be mud in the eye to their higher ups.”

  “Why does this have anything to do with Yvne?” Alex made a face.

  “Because,” The nereid looked to the cabin. “With Ki sleeping, she’s the only one around here with a leadership css. Remember what Ki said? That when winter comes things will be different. Yvne might not be very high level but she could help navigate this situation.”

  “I don’t know.” Alex shook her head. “I trust Ki more than Yvne. Isn’t it enough to follow Merumeru’s pn and keep them as prisoners?”

  “Ki was worried about how the winter court would treat humans in the forest. When they get here whoever is the fey noble will take control of the nymphs that are still awake.” Aqua dropped the bombshell.

  “What will that mean for people in town and wandering around the forest?” Alex imagined all the trouble that some of those tribes that set off rather than stay with their rivals.

  “Exactly.” Aqua made a gesture. “The winter court is harsh. They’ll likely overreact to any slight.”

  “Does that include the Nereids?” Alex shot the blue girl a look.

  Aqua ughed. “The winter court, the summer court, any court can try. But trying to force water into a certain shape always backfires.”

  “At least that’s a constant.” Alex eyed the shop, trying to think of anything to do other than talking with the woman that reminded her of her near-maidifcation experience. “What can we do to prepare for trouble with the winter court?”

  “I don’t think they would target you.” Aqua looked thoughtful. “At least not directly. It is an offense against the court that would lead to reprisals. Like if they think that the humans are being bad guests, that is what would cause them to want them gone.”

  Alex thought about all the conflict the different people groups had, some people that got turned into shrubs. “I get your point, but I don’t know, if they want everyone to go isn’t the options only the wastend or back into the demon occupied nds?”

  Aqua nodded. “Yes, well a couple months ago I would say that, but with how quickly everyone got out and transported on the river there might be other options.”

  “By sneaking people all the way past the capitol?” Alex thought that would be impressive. “That trick worked well enough with the toy boat and the submarine, but I’m not sure if we took the barge we’d be as lucky. Also, I’m not even sure it could handle the blue water.”

  “They’ve started building that clipper ship you made a toy of.” Aqua smirked. “I don’t think it’ll be done before winter ends.”

  “Maybe I’ll talk to her ter.” Alex headed back. “The more important problem is getting the ore off the isnd. I’m heading to town, because that is more pressing than figuring out how to save everyone.”

  With the help from some of the workers, it didn’t take long to get the carriage loaded back up. Alex left the camper by the shop and they just loaded the ore into the trailer. Any bumps in the road might spill the rock, but because it could just be a card for most of the way that wasn’t really an issue.

  After a change of clothes, a short trip through the pipes, Alex accompanied by Fufi and Zeke arrived at town to offload the ore at the recent area created for bcksmithing.

  “Hey, have you ever heard of Paldium before?” Alex summoned the carriage and showed the trailer filled with serpentine stripped rocks.

  —--

  Meanwhile….

  The sun filtered through the murky water, casting golden patterns onto the sandbank of the river's edge. At the bar of the river near the capital, wooden ships had beams poking out like long-dead leviathans. Amongst the wreckage, Merumeru’s tiny submarine navigated the obstacle course, paying close attention to danger through the dome-like cockpit.

  The slime girl jiggled with excitement. She turned dials and pressed buttons, bsting her way through the wrecks with her dual ‘pew pew’ cannons mounted on either side.

  A voice shouted from outside the gss dome. “Merumeru, focus! We’re here to salvage not py,” Ariel’s tone carried a touch of exasperation. Floating nearby, the sea elf’s elegant silhouette wove gracefully through the water. She kept a webbed hand on the sub so that they wouldn’t get separated.

  “Aw, come on Ariel!” Merumeru shouted in her own nguage. To anyone not fluent in elemental it would have sounded like “Meru, me ruuuuu.”

  Her body shifted, and she formed a pyful smiling face. But she got the message and steered the pod closer to the glint of metal amongst the wrecks.

  Ariel rolled her eyes. “Just be careful. This is really dangerous. Also, please don’t blow up anything we are trying to salvage.”

  Merumeru nestled itself next to the remains of a sunken galleon and opened the cockpit. She pulled at a corroded metal pipe sticking out of the ship’s hull, sucking it into her body. Ariel helped pull the pipe free the rest of the way and Merumeru finished acquiring the pipe.

  “Score! One more pipe for the collection!” Merumeru beamed at acquiring another pipe for her pipe storage inventory.

  Suddenly the surface of the water above them erupted. A water imp spshed down nding with a spray of bubbles. The creature was small but vicious, with webbed cws, glowing blue eyes, and matching blue skin. Its wiry form darted through the water towards Merumeru.

  “Merumeru look out!” Ariel cried.

  Merumeru squished up and shot back into the cockpit like a crawfish that had gotten spooked.

  Ariel kicked off the hull of a nearby wreck to gain distance. “Okay, this one you should not be careful about shooting.”

  Merumeru didn’t hesitate. “On it!” She rotated the submarine so that the cannons lined up with the diving imp. Her cannons roared to life, sending bursts of energy towards the imp.

  “Pew pew!” She shouted, in sync with the guns, bouncing excitedly with each shot.

  The water imp screeched when a shot grazed it, forcing it to retreat towards the surface. It cwed widely at the water.

  Merumeru grinned. “That’s right you better run!”

  The submarine zipped forward, clockwork parts ticking frantically. Ariel darted beside the sub and held fast to the small craft. Together they pressed the attack.

  “Homing shot!” Ariel bubbled out the name of a skill while Merumeru kept firing.

  A ‘pew pew’ bolt struck the imp center of mass. It let out a burble and fouled the water, its body already started turning to mist like all imps did when defeated.

  “Where there is one imp, there sure are others.” Ariel called out, her tone sharp. “Let's retreat for now.”

  Together they sped from the wreckage, leaving the imp behind in their wake.

  As they reached a safer part of the river Ariel exhaled. “Good shooting Merumeru.”

  Merumeru beamed, her slimy form rippling with pride. “Thanks! It looks like after three trips down here our luck finally ran out. But these cannons are not just for show.”

  Ariel chuckled, shaking her head. “Let’s hope that there isn’t a trap here next time. Water cultivators are really rare but it sounds like the demon leaders are onto us and trying to take some measures to keep us from sneaking around.”

  And so they stayed as deep in the water as they could, headed up riving, picking out anything from the seafloor that could be useful but wasn’t too big to carry.

  They got some actual silver, silverware, some ceramic ptes, a few more bits of corroded pipes, elbow joints and an iron bell from some ship. She even found an anchor, but it was too big to take with them. Merumeru had left the bathysphere back at the swap grotto for more speed.

  Ariel tried to pull the anchor, but it was stuck in the mud. “I can’t get it.”

  When they got to a pce that was safe to surface, Funi was there waiting for them. “How’d it go? Did you find any good ship parts?”

  “A few things.” Ariel pointed to Merumeru. “She grabbed a big pipe and we got some small things.” The sea elf held up a rope net that had the booty then cimed from the river floor. “How about you, did you see anything?”

  The fmingo shook her beak. “Not much, there is some more activity at the shipyard, but other than the keel and the ribs they haven’t got much. There are more eyes on the harbor than before, but most of the demons don’t want to get too close to the water.”

  “Darn.” The sea elf grumbled. “Merumeru, we should wait a few more days. Also, you might want to get Alex to upgrade your vessel if we are going to go into the open ocean. That gss doesn’t look very thick. But, the good news is that my skills work on it. If you ever go fighting demons again, bring me along! Also, when we pirate that big ship they are working on you will always be welcome on my crew.”