Chapter 359: Island Amenities

All throughout the trip, Kai had been wondering how an island could really be hidden. Alright, he’d been doing a lot of other things, but the question had been in the back of his mind ever since the Elven Council had introduced their gift.

When the elves said they were close, he began to admit there might be something to it... because he couldn’t see anything at all. No change in the waves, no birds, not even any mist. Yet they were supposedly getting closer and closer to their destination after the long trip, and the sailors would only say that he’d see soon. His guess was that many of them didn’t even know, because it was a tightly guarded state secret, after all.

Then, all at once, the island appeared. It flickered into existence so rapidly that Kai reacted as if it was an attack and took a step back... and it disappeared again.

Blinking, Kai shifted back and forth so that the island appeared and disappeared in his vision. From one side of the ship there were sheer stone cliffs, but when he stepped to the other side, they vanished. Now that he was looking closely, he could see a spray in the air that seemed to reflect the waves and the sky, but not the ship. The shimmer had been indistinguishable from the ocean at a distance, rendering the island basically invisible except from a specific angle.

As they drew closer, the illusion weakened and everyone began to look. His wives emerged on the deck and moved up beside him, watching curiously.

"So what is this?" Kai asked. "I can’t explain it, so it is straight magic?"

"Obviously it’s magic," Zae Zin Nim said. "But as for what type, it doesn’t feel like qi. You’d need an elaborate technique for this, and it doesn’t feel right."

"Definitely a chakra base," Omilaena said. "I’ll have to take a closer look to figure out what’s being concentrated. Hmm, some kind of natural formation that focuses the ocean..."

Omilaena leaned forward on the railing to see better, accidentally pushing her hips back against him... or so he would have thought if he didn’t know her, and she didn’t need to twist so much to line them up properly. She was actively trying to grind her ass against his crotch, just like she had back in Yulthens, albeit with less teasing this time.

"Careful, don’t fall over." Kai grabbed her hip as if steadying her, actually pulling her closer. Now that there was no danger, his body responded to hers without any hesitation.

"That’s so considerate of you." Omilaena looked back over her shoulder, innocent except for the quirk at the edge of her lips.

"Really?" Zae Zin Nim loomed closer with a scowl. "Even here?"

Kai wasn’t completely sure about parsing her moods, which had shifted since they got married. He thought the root cause wasn’t really disapproval, instead something closer to jealousy... except it definitely wouldn’t be right to treat her the same way. After a pause, Kai put an arm around her shoulders.

Thankfully, Zae Zin Nim leaned in and seemed content - all she’d wanted was some affirmation to match Omilaena’s overtly sexual affection. Or at least that was his best guess. Sometimes Kai still couldn’t believe that he was pulling this off and they were all happy together.

In that strange position, they watched Darkmist Island as they approached. As their ship drew closer, the cliff walls looked increasingly foreboding and the shimmering mist shifted darker. All the reflected light that made it illusory seemed to dim the sky and rendered the mists a black cloud. The majority of it wafted from the top of the island itself.

Omilaena straightened, though she remained backed up against him. "What kind of hellhole did they give us?"

"They didn’t promise a paradise," Kai pointed out, "just a hidden island with all three sources of power."

"But implicit in the offer was the idea that it was livable," Zae Zin Nim said. "This place..."

"I’d like to relax too, but I wouldn’t mind a challenge."

One of the elven sailors swung down on a rope to land beside them. "Don’t worry," he said, "the island used to be a refuge for elven royalty. It might need a bit of work, but we’ll take care of that too."

"Speaking of that, how are we getting up?" Kai asked. "I could fly us, but I assume there has to be a way for ships to get up that cliff face."

"There’s a refuge around the side in the cliffs," the sailor said with a gesture around the island. "You’ll see it soon enough."

"Why didn’t we approach from that side, then?"

"The illusion also hides some nasty shoals. Some sort of razor coral that will destroy ships that get too close. All I know is that this is the only charted safe approach."

That wouldn’t stop flying vessels, of course, but Kai had to admit that the island’s defenses were reasonably good. Most importantly, the mist itself made it feel like just another random spot of ocean, and there was so much empty space between the three continents that no one was likely to stumble across it.

Around the side of the island, a craggy area of the cliffs concealed a cavern. Once they got inside, he saw the first signs of civilization: the rocks had been carved into an elegant dock, not so different from the one they’d used to leave the Elven Wilds. Stairs were carved into the cliff and their group climbed their way upwards until at last they came out on the top.

Except it wasn’t exactly the top: Kai realized that they were actually at the bottom of a steep caldera. The whole island was maybe a dozen square miles, he estimated, with grassy cliffs arcing up in all directions. A building sat in the center, and with only the island arcing in all directions, it looked like the only building in the world. As far as he could tell, the mist didn’t emanate from any point in particular; inside the caldera it just made the environment seem a bit shaded, even at midday, but they could still see a circle of sky overhead.

"Cozy," Omilaena said. "I can see the appeal."

"Mostly chakra." Zae Zin Nim folded her arms in her sleeves as she inspected everything. "But I suppose we should explore."

An overgrown path led from the docks staircase to the sole building. Up closer, not dwarfed by the entire caldera, Kai saw that it was a small mansion atop a hill. He wanted to inspect the area around it more carefully, because there were a number of oddities: chakra-laden trees, a strange hedge, lanterns that burned with mana, and more on the other side. But the others seemed mostly interested in investigating the building itself.

Stairs snaking up the shallowest side of the hill led them to the mansion - it looked in good shape to Kai, but the elves apologized profusely and said they’d begin repair work. In addition to the sailors they’d brought along a number of crafters, who set about investigating the property. Quite a few parts of the grounds were thoroughly overgrown and Zae Zin Nim began issuing instructions about how they should be trimmed, apparently wanting a more natural look. Or perhaps she just wanted the elves to leave sooner.

Since he didn’t care so much about that himself, Kai walked through the main doors. Most of the mansion appeared to be in good shape, but some areas had been worn down and the roof of the master bedroom had broken. Clearly some time ago, judging from the mildew across the chamber.

"We’re terribly sorry, my lord." One of the elves bowed deeply as they looked through the hole to the sky. "We’ll have all of this cleaned up as quickly as possible. Do you have any requests?"

"Uh, nothing special. Just fix it up. One big bed." Kai felt a bit awkward giving that detail, as if he was emphasizing what was going to happen there, but the elf didn’t even blink. Then again, he suspected their activities had been audible throughout the voyage, so it was no surprise. "Where are you going to get repair supplies? I saw a forest, but..."

"We brought everything we need in spatial items," the elf said. "Please don’t give it another thought and let us take care of it."

It seemed that the master bedroom would take a while to repair, even with all of that, but as Kai explored he didn’t think that staying at Darkmist Island would be any hardship. There were intact guest bedrooms, as well as all the usual chambers he’d expect. This was honestly more than he’d ever imagined buying as a hunter and it was astonishing that it was just being given to him.

Then again, they’d gone toe-to-toe with one of the four god abilities of Rosemount. Kai still thought of himself as an ordinary hunter with bad luck most of the time.

He wasn’t sure how much he wanted to unpack, especially if they were beginning construction. On one hand, there was technically no reason to ever keep items outside his spatial ring. On the other hand, there was something comforting about setting out his usual daily objects and making the area feel like it was really his.

What they really needed was some sort of location to keep flying ships - he thought Zae Zin Nim would like that. Then again, maybe the luxury would be outweighed by the risk, and she’d prefer that he have it on hand? He worried about it before deciding that he was being stupid and could just ask her what she wanted.

His idle thoughts were interrupted by Omilaena skidding around the corner, eyes hard. "Quiet," she hissed an inch from his face. "The elves have betrayed us. Come with me."

"What?" Kai couldn’t believe they’d do something so stupid now, after all this, but he obeyed, following Omilaena through the corridors as quickly as they could move quietly. "How and why?"

"There’s no time to explain, but trust me, you’ll know as soon as you see it."