A Next Island Love Story by Pope L’Brung
Book 6, Chapter 1
I awoke in the guest room of my friend’s holiday tent on the beach near Crystal Bay.
I have come to Next Island in search of a Haruspex girl I met on Toulan a few days ago. I had run into old friend of mine from Calypso called PK. He was also searching for something. He was looking for a teleportation portal that was rumoured to send travellers back in time. We joined together to help each other on our quests.
For the last two days we have interacted with many contacts, including The Haruspex Elder. The Elder offered to help both of us if we would complete some tasks. What started as a simple trust building mission has turned into a grind. Each new contact we’ve met have been asking us to complete a separate task on their behalf.
There’s a lot of tension here on Next Island amongst the opposing factions. They don’t tell the tourists about that. Yesterday we had to kill some mutated beasts that were designed (and targeted) to attack an innocent village.
Last night, PK and I met with guards from the N.E.O. (New Elysian Order). We went to help establish a bond between the Haruspex and the N.E.O. faction. They have now asked us to help locate a lost scout of theirs, last seen near Resa Docks.
I found PK in the kitchen making breakfast and tea for us.
“How are you feeling, kid?” he asked me. “You get any rest last night?”
I actually slept well, considering the stressful chain mission I’d been attempting. I dreamt of Jihkanna again during the night and she soothed my soul. I felt a new confidence within me. I smiled and took my cup of tea. “I’m ready for Resa Docks,” I replied.
We finished our hearty breakfast and packed our gear. Our goal was to be in Resa Docks by mid-morning.
Book 6, Chapter 2
Neither PK nor I had ever been to Resa Docks before. There is meant to be a teleportation portal at Resa Docks, but we would have to fly there for the first time to add the location to our individual databases.
We were warned that Resa Docks was dangerous. The Resa are a nomadic group that broke off from the Stel faction. They are known as fierce raiders. Sacttered all over Next Island, they raid encampments mercilessly and care for nothing but their own survival.
The N.E.O. guards had given us the coordinates for Resa Docks. PK summoned his sleipnir and we both boarded. As we asceneded up above Crystal Bay, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful Next Island looks in the morning. I gazed down at the landscape as we flew. The colours were amazing. It reminded me of Jihkanna’s mosaic art.
Slowly the colourful landscape started to turn from green to brown. Less grass and trees. More dirt and sand. The ground below appeared more barren and unwelcoming.
“That’s it, just over this ridge,” PK informed me on the voice intercom.
As we flew over the ridge, we saw a deep ravine below. Several hundred meters below us was an inlet of water.
“Down there,” he pointed. He banked the sleipnir to the left and began our descent into the canyon. He touched down on the docks surrounded by water. Resa Docks was literally set of docks made from wood and supported by giant rocks carved from the ravine. We exited the vehicle and touched the teleportation portal to add its location. There was no one here to greet us. Perhaps we should be grateful for that.
Our task was to investigate some recent checkpoints that that were meant to be visited by the lost scout. Hopefully, we could find the scout…or at least a clue of what happened to him.
Book 6, Chapter 3
We were now at Resa Docks. Our mission was to retrace the steps of a lost N.E.O. scout and report our findings.
The area felt cold and unwelcoming. The docks were set deep in a cavern ravine. An inlet had been dammed using large boulders carved from the ravine itself. Wooden slat pathways led in all directions and seemed like a maze. I leaned over the edge of the dock to look into the water below us.
“Shark!” I screamed.
I had never been so scared. A giant swimming beast peered out from under the dock. It’s dorsal fin harrowingly pacing in and out from just beneath us. I was absolutely terrified. Nothing could be worse than this. I tried to scream again but was unable. I couldn’t move or speak. Frozen in terror. My eyes still worked though. That’s when I saw another. And another. The water beneath us was infested with Great White Sharks. I think this might be a phobia for me. I was not able to handle this.
PK pulled me from the edge toward the middle of the dock path. “Careful, Pope. Those things look nasty. Stay away from the water,” he scolded.
It took me several minutes to gain feeling in my extremeties again. I had been literally paralysed by fear and couldn’t move. I had never experienced anything like that before. Apparently, I do NOT like sharks. I wanted to leave this place. Immediately.
PK asked if I wanted to sit inside the sleipnir while he looked for the checkpoints alone. It made me feel like a coward.
I took a deep breathe…exhaled…and tried to gather my wits.
“I’m Ok,” I replied, bluffing. “Let’s get this done. Quickly.”
“Stay close to me and away from the edge,” he ordered. “There are about half a dozen checkpoints here that we need to find. Just stay away from the water and we’ll be fine.”
Stay away from the water? We were surrounded by water.
Book 6, Chapter 4
We walked briskly along the wooden slats of Resa Docks. I followed PK with my hand on his shoulder as we hurried to the checkpoints. I kept my eyes forward and tried not to look down at the water beneath us. I was terrified of sharks.
The planks of the dock creaked as we moved along its winding paths. PK led me to various areas of the wooden docks, searching each checkpoint given to us by the N.E.O. guards. At one of the checkpoints he found an item. It was blue in colour. PK grabbed it and handed it to me. It appeared to be a piece of some type of electonic item. A transfunctioner part? I beleive the lost scout was looking for something like this. I placed the item in my pocket and carried on following PK on the path to the next checkpoint. Luckily, the checkpoint coordinates were all correct and were located close to each other. We covered the first few checkpoints quickly.
I was keeping my cool and my shark-phobia was receding…then we reached the end of a pier. The next checkpoint was across the water to separate dock that wasn’t connected to our path. Somehow we would have to get from here to…there. Across the water.
PK didn’t skip a beat. He re-summoned his sleipnir and flew us safely to the other dock with the accuracy and precision of a skilled captain. So far, so good. We quickly walked along these wooden (and creaky) paths to the next checkpoint. We found another small item similar to the first. This one was red. It appeared to be another transfunctioner piece. I think we need just one more piece.
The final checkpoint coordinates led us to the end of another pier. Uh oh. The last checkpoint was in a small wooden lifeboat wedged between a giant rock and the banks of the canyon wall. Surrounded by water.
Book 6, Chapter 5
“Stay here. Don’t move,” commanded PK.
We were standing at the end of a pier at Resa Docks attempting to investigate the final checkpoint in a series of checkpoints given to us by the N.E.O.
I didn’t have to look down into the water. I knew the sharks were still there. I could sense them. I was terrified of this whole place and wanted to leave. I wanted to be finished with this mission.
PK summoned a small hoverpod vehicle and quickly entered it by himself. I didn’t want to be left alone but I was unable to resist. He hovered across the shark infested water to the small boat beached on a jagged rock.
My skin crawled and my hands shook. I impatiently watched as he stepped from his hoverpod into the wooden lifeboat. He held up an item, smiled, and gave the ‘thumbs up’ signal. He then held up what looked to be a six pack of beer. He smiled even bigger and seemed to be more excited about the beer.
I ventured a quick peek into the water between us. Sharks. Still tons of them everywhere. I was having difficulty breathing and started to freeze up again. PK coud tell I was distressed. He sped in his hoverpod returning across the water back to me. He exited, grabbed my shoulders and nudged me closer to the centre of the docks away from the water.
He handed me the small item he found in the boat. It was a yellow piece of the transfunctioner, similar to the red and blue pieces.
We now had the three pieces that the N.E.O. scout was looking for. The original instructions were to assemble the pieces to create some type of item. If the three pieces were found, we were directed to a final waypoint.
PK and located the final waypoint on Resa Docks. After much confusion and extensive investigation, it appeared that the coordinates led to a small pier house that was only accessible by underwater.