Apparently, Cyran couldn’t have a trip to the Crescent Isles where he didn’t have something go disastrously wrong. At this point, he was beginning to think that he would have to make a sacrifice to the gods so he could have a peaceful trip to the island nation, which wouldn’t work in the slightest, considering that the gods were at present unable to fulfill such requests.

Oh, well. It was a nice thought.

At the very least, he just asked for one. One. A single night on the beach of the Crescent Coast without monsters jumping out at him or some kind of robbery attempt gone wrong. No, not a night - ten minutes, even. Apparently he could not even ask for that much, given that the moment he tried to get close to the beach, he was stopped by a couple of men holding spears surrounding the area.

“Halt. No one allowed onto the beach after last night’s tsunami.”

Cyran stopped, exhaustion creeping into his veins. Blood and ash, what is it going to be this time? “I’m just hoping to go for a quick stroll while the moon is still up. What seems to be the problem?”

The two guards shared a look before shrugging.

“Manta Gliders. A couple of them washed up on the beach and now they’re stuck there. Wouldn’t be as much of a problem if they weren’t lashing out and attacking people.”

“I’ve never seen them act like this before.” The other admitted nervously.

“Our orders are just to keep everyone a safe distance away until someone’s shown up to take care of them and get them back to the sea.”

Oh, for the love of-

Cyran pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. “If I promise to take care of the problem, will you just let me go for a walk?”

Another shrug shared between the two.

“Don’t see the harm in it.”

“Thanks.” Without waiting to see if they had anything else to say, he breezed past them, making his way further out to the beach. He could take care of this. Just a couple of fish to fillet and then he could properly enjoy his vacation.

Mubashir lay unconscious. Well, more like awake, but with his eyes closed. No, he could blink, so it was just really dark. There was sand below him… And something flopping angrily above him. Mubashir had been out for a swim before this happened, if he recalled correctly. Attempting to avoid paying passage for a boat from the Marsh to these isles. It was nighttime… and a rather large wave swept him ashore, where he now finds himself.



It was quite hard to move, to be rather frank. The thing above him was incredibly heavy, and wet. It was as though a massive blanket of angry meat had been thrown over him whilst sunbathing. Gods, why did all bad things happen at the beach. Even if there were something that could get this thing off of him, there was still the sun to worry about. He couldn’t move his arms enough to cast Overcast, or Sandstorm, so the only move remaining would be to pull his cape over his face as fast as possible as soon as he had the opportunity.



There, the thing had flapped high enough to see a glimmer of light. Air rushed into his crushed lungs and he called out.



“Hello?” Flap “Iss anyone” Flap “There?” Flap “I’m under” Flap “The blanket”

It didn’t take long for Cyran to find the beached manta gliders. They were the only things on the sand at the moment, after all.

What was even more surprising was the muffled cries for help Cyran could barely make out. It almost sounded too far away… no - it was close by, but how was that possible? Cyran was utterly bewildered at the sound until one of the gliders flopped around, and he caught a glimpse of a figure on the ground, smushed into the sand where the glider’s flipper kept crushing him down.

Oh, gods! Was that a person? How in the hell had he survived being crushed by a giant sea creature, much less avoided being smothered? No time to think about that now - Cyran had to act before the poor bystander was smothered to death!

“Hold on, I’ll get you out of there!” Somehow.

Only, when Cyran stared up at the writhing creature, he wondered how in the hell he was expected to go about moving such a large beast in the first place.

He stared at the manta glider.

He stared down at his dagger.

“Um.”

The man’s choked, flailing intermittent gasps brought Cyran back to reality. He might not have been strong enough to move the glider, but he could at the very least tire it out. With a newfound resolve, Cyran dashed closer, ducking under the way of its swinging tail, until he was close enough to put his hand against its side.^[1] The beast struggled while Cyran sapped its energy, attempting to get rid of the parasite latched to it, but eventually, it slumped over, docile.

That only gave Cyran half a second to attempt to shove the creature and give its captive a moment to claw his way out.

---

1. Vampiric Touch

    Feeling the energy of the beasts undulations relax a fair bit, Mubashir decided that now was the time. And this was the place under this Giant Manta. With one turn, he rolled out as the wing flapped up and pulled to a stop in the sand. His eyes opened, the bright sunlight constricting his pupils as he lay. In but a moment, he witnessed his saviour, and saw that it was in fact not Shaa. His prayers had been answered.



    And then he burst into flames. The shift from darkness to sun so suddenly overwhelmed his poor spf 5 sunblock by several orders of magnitudes. He turned too and fro in an attempt to extinguish the inferno before finally pulling his sail cape over his face. Beneath the covers, the flames died down, and he was able to break out the big guns. Toad cream he had picked up in the marsh, it would keep the flames at bay at least.



    Rolling around a bit more, Mubashir came to a complete stop. With one motion, and the Mantas still flapping in the background, he flourished himself to his feet with a twirly spin. His arm elevated his cape high into the air with a perfect Zeinavan bow. Speaking with a distinct hiss, he addressed his newfound saviour.



    “I….Am Mubasshir the Magnifiscent! You have ssaved me from another thoussand yearss of entrapment, and I am forever in your debt. A pleassure, it iss, to make your acquaintansce.”

Cyran couldn’t hold the manta glider for long, but he didn’t have to - the man managed to wriggle out from under the manta, laying on his back on the sand. He looked… unharmed, as far as Cyran could tell, but he needed a closer look. He dropped the glider’s fin, turning to get closer to the poor, unfortunate victim. He wasn’t much of a healer, but he could manage in a pinch.

“Are you alright-? Oh dear god!”

That was the moment the man turned into a bonfire.

Cyran hastily summoned ice around his arms. It wouldn’t do much to douse the fire, but at the very least he might be able to use it to combat the flames - but a few moments later, the man managed to put it out with his cape, and pulled himself to his feet, once again, completely unharmed.

… Who the heck was this guy?

Was he being serious about a thousand years of entrapment?

Cyran blinked, holding out his hand. “… Cyran. And there’s really no need to talk about debts, I’m just happy you’re unharmed.” Somehow. “Are you sure you don’t need to go see a healer? I don’t think bursting into flames is, um, healthy.”

Behind him, the manta gliders flipped and flopped around on the sand, still trying to strike at Cyran and Mubashir from where they were grounded in the sand and reminding Cyran of their presence. He should probably figure out how to get those things back into the water, shouldn’t he?

“Healthy iss eh, Matter of opinion. Take thesse Mantass for insstansce, lounging around on the beach all day would not be healthy. But sset them on fire however….I forgot where I wass going with thiss. The blassted thingss probably wasshed up on the beach when I did” He says, turning to stroke his burned beard. The pain was outrageous, but in truth he would be fine after a quick drink. Such were the burdens of the vampiric, hiding your pain that others might not see you suffer.



It was quite similar to the plight of these rays. Floundering on the beach, unable to go anywhere, incapable of consuming garlic. A single tear fell from his eyes as he connected to their plight in such a visceral way. It was as though the sea was their afterlife, and the beach was their curse. If he were able to help them move on, then maybe he would be brave enough himself one day to do the same. Some society types speak to an easy secret of alleviating philosophically derived pain, and that's helping others.



“Cyran, wass it? Will you help me get thesse poor creaturess back into the ssurf? I know that you came all thiss way to resscue me, but one final tassk will ssee me eternally grateful for an unfortunately long time.”

Cyran blinked, uncomprehending the metaphor that Mubashir was trying to put together.

“I don’t get it.”

Well it made sense to Mubashir, and neither he nor the mantas looked like they were planning on keeling over anytime soon, so Cyran figured that it made sense… maybe. He was so distracted trying to puzzle out what Mubashir meant that he almost missed the tear that rolled down Mubashir’s cheek. What in the world was was he upset about…?

“Oh, of course…” He actually hadn’t even known that Mubashir was even here, and he was pretty sure that the locals hadn’t either, but if that made Mubashir feel better to believe that, then Cyran wasn’t going to be the one to burst his bubble. “I’m happy to help.” He replied, turning to stare at the manta gliders.

“A small problem, though… how are we supposed to go about that?” It was easy to speak about helping clear up this beach and make the Crescent Isles a safer society, but it was not exactly a secret that Cyran wasn’t particularly strong. These manta gliders would be leagues heavier than he could handle, and with them flapping around, it would be even more difficult to get them to still.

Perhaps Cyran could give them a scare…

“Ah, yess! Quite ssimply…ahhh…..” He stroked his pointed beard for a moment, pondering the question. How WERE they meant to slide these sea saucers back into the water. It wasn’t exactly a secret that Mubashir wasn’t super strong… Physically. Magically however, he was second only to the witch of the moonglade!



“Hah! Magic” Mubasshir shouts to noone in particular. He followed this train of thought with another few seconds of pondering. Waving his arms into the sunny sky, he cast a spell that would surely solve this entire situation. The clouds gathered overhead, pulled from the mere vapor of the atmosphere in ways strange and unethical. The light from the sun dimmed and Mubashir relaxed significantly.



“Ahh, much better. Ass for the Mantass….Maybe we could sscare them back into the water?” The man said, shrugging. Were his minions not on vacation this could be solved with ease, but no. Ethical workplace compensation included time off. He could squint and see Sumaita and The Duke lounging about about a mile down the beach, but he dare not interrupt. Except they looked a bit miffed about the sudden change in weather.

“Magic…?” Mubashir seemed confident in his own ability, so Cyran was content to sit back and watch as the man waved his arms in the sky. What was he planning? Perhaps intending to teleport the manta gliders into the ocean, or summon a wave that would get them back in the water? Cyran tilted his head to the sky to get a better look at the dark smattering of clouds that gathered upon Mubashir’s call, waiting for something to happen.

… But nothing did.

Was that it?

Well, that had confirmed absolutely nothing, save for the fact that Cyran was fairly certain Mubashir was a vampire. He raised a brow when Mubashir suggested frightening them, or something along those lines.

“Surely, it could not be that easy.” Could it?

If they could not use any kind of physical force to move the mantas, and neither had any kind of spell that would simply move them, then Cyran supposed it wouldn’t hurt to give them a big enough shock to spur them into moving on their own. “Stand back a bit, if you please.” Cyran warned Mubashir, waiting until the vampire stepped a safe distance away before turning back to the gliders and brandishing his cloak.^[1] A wave of fear seemed to ripple through the gliders, which suddenly started frantically flipping and flapping in an attempt to get as far away from the horrifying man as possible.

---

1. Banner Lord

    Mubashir took a few polite steps back as the elf began his work. A simple flip of the cloak? Pedant…wHOA MY GODS. For a moment, that was extremely terrifying. The vampire felt as though he were a bull staring at a sheet that billowed from a windowsill. The momentary fear was irrelevant to any affects that emanated from Cyrans cloak, and more that he wasn’t sure if the effect that had overtaken the now frightened mantas was magical in nature or not.



    It was quite interesting, seeing them flop back towards the water with all of their might. One might ask why they hadn’t done that this entire time. As they touched the water however, their purpose was made apparent. In a Mubashir shaped hole in the sand, underneath where the manta had been flapping, lay half-buried a crystal clear green gem.



“Oh, neat!” He says, bending over to pluck it from the sand. “Is this yourss?” The mantas angrily flapped nearby at the barest edge of the surf, suspiciously eying the fashionable elf.

Huh. Somehow, spooking the gliders seemed to work. Cyran slowly inched his way closer to the water, forcing the gliders to flip and flop over one another, fearful of the rather unassuming elf for reasons they could not explain. It didn’t take as long as Cyran thought it would to get them closer to the surf, where the tide took care of the rest. A wave crested over the beach, snagging the manta gliders before the creatures could wizen up and realize that the elven man staring them down was not actually that frightening.

That was one problem taken care of, at least. Cyran turned back to Mubashir, confused as to what the man was talking about, when he noticed a gemstone in Mubashir’s hands.

Was that…?

Cyran had been sent here in the first place to take care of a mission for one of his usual contacts - a lizardfolk whom Cyran didn’t bother learning the name of for the sake of anonymity - but when he’d arrived, the artifact had already gone missing, making the mission a bust. But upon closer inspection… maybe Cyran wouldn’t be going home empty-handed after all.

How did it even get here on the beach? It didn’t matter. Cyran simply fixed the kindest smile he could on his face, holding his hand out. “Actually, it is… it must have slipped out of my pocket when I was dealing with the mantas. Thank you for finding it.”

Oh, well that would explain everything then.



“So…you weren’t really out here to save me then…” Mubashir said, solemnly. It had taken him this long to realize not every beach-goer had his best interests at heart. The Mantas nearby flopped soddenly, each splash punctuating a beat in Mubashirs still heart. He outstretched the gem-holding hand, his characteristic moustache droopier than ever.



The clouds parted, revealing the sun hiding behind them. The light that struck the gem hit it in such a fashion that it was concentrated through a face, and directed straight at Mubashirs eyes. The blinding radiance illuminated his body and even caused him to give off a pale glow.



For about two seconds, he stood there. Brilliant as the dawn. And then he burst into flames once more. Green flames due to the light from the emerald leapt into the sky from the mans various silks and robes. His arms waved wildly, desperately searching for the surf to once more cleanse his soul, but once his legs hit the water, no relief was found. Collapsing, his number finally up, he burned there face down in the surf. Minions not even half a kilometre away.



Both Sumaita and The Duke watched the horizon as they both crumbled to dust, another pile of sand on an endless beach. Kaslan unsuprisingly, slept quite comfortably in the still-burning turban, maybe one day he will find a new master to obey. As for Mubashir, well, His own ashes spread out into the waves, before being eaten immediately by the waiting angry mantas. The emerald sat at Cyrans feet, glimmering in the light, and finally at peace.

“Erm, well, I wasn’t really aware that you were here, but helping you out was a fortunate circumstance…” Cyran trailed off, noticing Mubashir’s enthusiasm waning. The poor guy actually looked a bit… crestfallen as he held up his arm. Cyran wondered what the hell he was doing, when the clouds began to part, casting rays of sun upon them both.

“Wait, what are you doing-?” Cyran gasped, cut off as a beam of sunbeam struck the gemstone, bathing Mubashir in a burst of bright, brilliant light. And then he began burning once more. Cyran frantically moved to put the man out, but the man started running for respite in the ocean, already burning out, like the last dying embers of a comet before he finally flopped down, unmoving.

“What the fuck?”

Did he just… die? Cyran could only stare in abject horror at the Mubashes that were currently being pulled apart by the waves, thoroughly confused by everything that had just happened. Mubashir had been an enigma of a man in his… life? Undeath? In the few brief seconds that Cyran had known him. He wished he could say he felt grief, but mostly, Cyran was just bewildered.

“Um… may you rest in peace.” Cyran bowed his head before bending down to pick up the gemstone. At least his contact would be happy he managed to retrieve the gemstone.