"What the-!" Leonotis exclaimed, leaping to his feet as the monstrous fish erupted from the water.
His training with Gethii kicked in, a reflexive instinct.
He swung his root-sword in the swift, practiced motion of the airstrike skill Gethii had shown him countless times. Normally, the movement was just that a movement, an exercise in form without substance.
But this time was different.
He felt a sharp snap of green energy leave the sword, and a single, unnaturally sharp, emerald-green leaf, hard as flint, shot from the tip of the gnarled wood.
It sliced through the air with a faint whistle and embedded itself deep in the dorsal fin of one of the attacking fish.
Leonotis stared, shocked that it had actually worked, but had no time to ponder the unpredictable nature of his magic.
One of the fish, ignoring the new decoration on its companion, slammed its immense body against the side of the lily pad, sending a violent jolt through their makeshift vessel.
Low roared, a primal, guttural sound that seemed to vibrate the very air.
Her hands clenched into fists, and a visible ripple ran through her frame as her muscles visibly bulked beneath her tunic, her fingernails elongating and thickening into wickedly sharp, dark claws.
A low, dangerous growl rumbled in her chest, a precursor to the more significant transformation she was holding in check through sheer force of will.
The second fish, the one Leonotis had struck, snapped at him, eager for revenge for its injured fin.
Its teeth, like a row of daggers, clicked inches from his leg.
He dodged agilely, his root-sword whistling through the air in a swift, retaliatory arc that left a shallow, weeping gash along the creature's slimy, scaled flank.
The fish thrashed in fury, its bioluminescent lure swinging wildly, casting hypnotic, dancing blue patterns across the churning water.
Jacqueline rose, her eyes glowing with a soft, determined blue light.
She extended her hands towards the water, her voice a low, melodic chant of ancient words.
A shimmering, crystalline barrier of water solidified around the entire edge of the lily pad, deflecting the snapping jaws of the attacking fish with a sound like shattering glass, each impact sending rainbow-hued spray into the air.
Despite Jacqueline's protective magic, one of the creatures, driven by a frenzied hunger, managed to breach the watery shield.
Its powerful, muscular tail lashed out and struck Low's leg with the force of a battering ram.
She stumbled, a hiss of pain escaping her lips, and nearly tumbled into the churning water where the beasts awaited.
Leonotis, seeing her peril, lunged forward without thinking, grabbing her arm just as the monstrous fish lunged again, its teeth snapping inches from her face.
With a grunt of effort, he hauled her back onto the relative safety of the lily pad.
The gentle, rhythmic sway of the Lily-Liner intensified then, morphing into a more urgent, violent rocking.
The lush green banks of the river, once lazily drifting by, began to streak past in a blur of indistinct foliage and color.
The cheerful symphony of birdsong was completely replaced by the deep, rushing roar of the water gaining speed.
"Uh, is it just me," Leonotis said, bracing his feet against the slippery, vibrating lily pad surface, "or are we picking up a bit of… speed?"
Low, who was still rubbing her bruised leg with a grimace, squinted at the rapidly approaching shoreline.
"We should have passed a major landmark by now. What about the Stone Giants from the map? I didn't see them."
Jacqueline, her brow furrowed with concern, pointed a trembling finger ahead.
"The cluster of white rocks shaped like Sleeping Giants? Those were supposed to mark the turn-off for Greenfield Creek, the tributary that leads towards the Capital."
"Stone Giants are usually pretty hard to miss," Leonotis said, his voice laced with a growing, cold concern. "Those fish… they weren't just attacking. They were a distraction."
Just as the realization dawned that they were being swept uncontrollably downstream at an alarming rate, the water ahead churned violently.
This time, three of the monstrous fish breached the surface simultaneously, their bodies sleek and powerful.
These were larger, more scarred than their previous attackers, their bioluminescent lures glowing with an even more intense, hypnotic blue light that seemed to pulse in time with the river's angry current.
Their teeth looked like jagged shards of glass.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Low roared, scrambling to her feet, her partial transformation lending her an uncanny sense of balance.
Even with her transformation the unstable platform made it difficult to maintain her footing as the Lily-Liner bucked and plunged in the increasingly turbulent water.
Leonotis, trying to fend off a snapping jaw with his sword, found his footing constantly shifting.
"Jacqueline! That watery shield thing again, please! This overgrown salad leaf is not exactly built for this!"
Jacqueline was already chanting, her hands weaving intricate, desperate patterns in the air.
The shimmering barrier reappeared, but the sheer, combined force of the attacking fish caused it to waver and crackle under the strain.
One of the creatures slammed its massive head against the shield, sending a spray of cold water over them.
"It's not holding!" Jacqueline cried, her voice strained, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "They're too strong! Their numbers… I can't repel them all!"
Low, seizing an opportunity, used the lurching motion of the lily pad to her advantage.
As one of the fish lunged, its maw wide, she threw her weight in the opposite direction, causing the creature to overshoot and momentarily beach its upper body on the edge of the giant leaf.
Before it could thrash its way free, she brought her heavy boot down on its head with a sickening, wet crunch.
"Leonotis! To your left!" Jacqueline yelled.
Another fish was darting towards him from the side, its glowing lure swinging like a deadly, hypnotic pendulum.
Leonotis ducked under the snapping jaws and thrust his sword deep into the creature's exposed flank.
It thrashed wildly, its powerful tail whipping against the lily pad, threatening to knock them all into the churning, monster-infested water.
"We need to coordinate!" Leonotis yelled over the roar of the river and the snapping of teeth.
"Jacqueline, can you try to channel the water to push them away, create some space?"
Jacqueline nodded, her eyes blazing with focus.
She extended her hands towards the river, and the water around the lily pad began to swirl and surge, creating miniature, powerful whirlpools that buffeted the attacking fish, momentarily disorienting them and forcing them back.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Low, with a ferocious roar of her own, grabbed a third fish as it jumped out of the water, wrapping her arms around its thrashing, slimy body.
It roared in fury, bucking and thrashing, but Low held on tight, her claws digging deep into its thick, slippery scales.
"Now, Leonotis!" she yelled, clinging precariously to the monstrous fish, her knuckles white.
Leonotis didn't hesitate.
He leaped across the swaying lily pad, his movements sure-footed despite the chaos, and plunged his root-sword deep into the creature Low was holding.
With a final, violent shudder, the massive fish went still, and Low, with a grunt of exertion, shoved its dead weight off the lily pad and tumbled back onto the relative safety of their leafy vessel.
The remaining fish, seemingly deterred by the loss of their companions, finally disappeared back into the murky, turbulent depths.
But the relentless current continued to pull them downstream, their intended destination, and any semblance of control, now far behind them.