“Before you balance the world, balance yourself.”

- Painter Rellexiz

New Green Moon, Year 349 AA

Path of Beginnings

Painted Rock Canyon, Panocua

Hidden deep within the Wilds, far inside the territories of the Manyari, a momentous cheer rang out. It echoed along the seemingly insurmountable walls of Painted Rock Canyon. The large, decorated stones placed precariously on top of the yarik-created pillars teetered, threatening to shake loose. But the Manyari had good reason to quake the world with celebration. A rare event had arrived and no one dared try to hide their joy.

A tall rock monument rested at the edge of the plateau’s cliffs on a protrusion that extended out from the wall. The heavy weight seemed ready to break the cliff, but the nearby Manyari remained unafraid. Large yarik boulders encircled the base of the formation and glowed as they used element energies to reinforce the rock formation and kept the cliff stable.

Below the tall structure was the majority of the Panocua Manyari, who danced, sang, and played drums in harmony, their horns and ears waving back and forth to the rhythm. Their songs called to anyone who could hear, inviting them to join and marked a goal for those on their way to them.

A group of Manyari girls lined the very edge of the cliff and kept a sharp eye fixed on the horizon with their furred ears fully extended, facing forward. They aligned their horns directly behind their ears to block the music and chatter. Together, they competed to be the first to spot a participant.

At the top of the rock monument was hollow, fashioned into an outlook for spectators and other important Manyari. They made themselves comfortable in the shade to watch, and though not a particularly hot day, they used yarik stone charged with wind and water to mist themselves in order to stay cool.

Okileal, one of the participant’s mothers, tapped her foot as she waited for something to happen. She wanted to pace, but didn’t desire to be obvious about her nervousness. A fellow mother had returned with two cups. One with wine, the other with water. She presented both to the unnerved mother, who didn’t notice. When she realized the offer, she took the water, but only to have something to distract herself. The mother with the wine shrugged lightly and drank the wine in a single swallow.

“Lua, How you calm?” Okilea asked.

“Because I don’t worry about things not in my control,” Lua said. “This is in our daughter’s hands.”

“I worry she’ll get hurt.”

“It’s the life of a mother to worry,” Lua said, looking to refill her cup.

Okilea felt her Chieftess’ hand on her shoulder and it stopped her from descending further.

“Okilea,” the Chieftess of Panocua called, “Daughter might win.”

“Yes, Chieftess Kokika. She worked very hard,” Okilea said.

“Have seen. Hope she ready.”

“The Path is important. She knows.”

“Good, good,” The Chieftess nodded and gave Okilea a comforting squeeze on the shoulder.

The Chieftess returned to her chair and left Okilea to grip the stone railing and wait for her daughter to appear. The Wisewoman of Panocua, an Inyari with her typical features of red hair and blueish-grey skin, sat next to Kokika with her eyes closed, holding tight to her staff that was made of many trinkets. One particular item, a green yarik crystal attached to her staff, glowed in slow pulses and helped her focus past all the noise. She held it lightly as she slowly titled her head and let her ears come out of hiding from beneath her horns. The moment she did, the sound of someone approaching rang in her long, hairless ears.

Across the wide chasm, two young Manyari outlooks hid amongst the small bush like trees and cactus to wait for the first signs of movement. One of the girls had blond, auburn hair with light green eyes to complement. The young girl excitedly held a fishing staff, with its globe of water on the top end held in place by a yarik stone in the middle. She stuck her slightly scaled hand into the water and fiddled with the stone. She kept her ears flat to her head to hold her a chisel, her sharp horns shifting while she concentrated. When the stone was readjusted inside, she used her horns to nab the tool from behind her ear and present it forward. When she began carving against the yarik stone’s surface, the globe reacted as it shifted and flattened into a convex shape. It took her a few tries before she could create an effective lens out of the water and magnify her view.

“I don’t know how you convinced me to come out here. We’re breaking the Chieftess’ order not to interfere. If we get caught, Yevy, I’m denying everything.”

“What kind of first friend are you, Rohs?” Yevy playfully said. “And we’re ain’t interfering with nothing. Wait, are you scared of getting caught?”

“NO…” Rohs lied.

Rohs became frustrated, tied her dark brown hair back, and flattened her horns to her head. She moved in to assist the configuration.

“If you’re going to do it, you gotta make it more round in the center and flatter in the edge. And you need a second one so the image isn’t flipped,” Rohs tried to educate.

Yevy dismissed her.

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me. I’m the one who showed you how to do this,” Yevy argued. “Besides, you’re not giving me much to work with. This stone isn’t the greatest.”

“It was the only one I could find. I brought the staff, didn’t I?” the Rohs said.

Yevy scoffed and shook her head, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll get it. Just tell me if you see anything.”

The Yevy swiped at the newly made line and the water pulled itself into two perfect shapes. One final modification and the lenses focused to give them a faraway view of the landscape. They pushed their faces together to look happily into the wide lens. They both nodded their heads, still pressed against each other. Rohs blushed slightly, though Yevy didn’t notice as she rotated the staff to search for any signs of activity.

“I’m still surprised your sister wanted to do this,” Rohs commented.

“Me too, but you know how she is…always got to prove something.” Yevy said obviously.

“Do you know what stones your sister chose?”

“One of each primary element. We got some really good ones. Mama and her spent months finding and crafting them.”

“Can’t wait to see how she uses them. I wonder if she will go the climbing route, or take Glass Bend. She’ll probably use her water stone to cross the Two Fates river.”

“LOOK!” Yevy suddenly yelled, scaring her friend.

At first it was the glowing hand of a yarik charged glove, clawing itself into the rock hard ground as if soft, followed by the second one that secured someone’s hold. With a mighty pull, the girl flipped out from hiding below the horizon with a flashy twist and landed softly with a small wind burst to cushion her. She stood tall, checked back over the cliff she had just conquered, and wore a victorious smile. She left her competition behind and came to full speed with a snap of yarik wind, bursting from her foot.

Yevy’s horns and ears popped out from behind the lens. “It’s Saleal!” she said joyously. “I knew it!”

“Who’s behind her?” Rohs asked.

“EVERYONE!” Yevy cheered. “She’s got no competition.”

The racers of the Path of Beginnings had reached the last stage of the competition. Saleal lead the race that few entered lightly and for everyone that participated, dreamed of winning. It was a race of honor, of prowess and strength. A race to show you were the best a tribe could offer. A race ran not for one’s self, but for family and all Manyari people.

This was the first trial in the Path to become the next Chieftess.

The rest of the participants finally cleared the cliff’s edge and were in pursuit of Saleal. Each of the athletes wore the same type of attire: woven linens beneath leather harnesses and lightly padded pieces. Each racer wore a necklace featuring small, rough stones with visible veins of crystallized minerals. Equipment not made for protection, but kept specifically light for the competition. There were slots at strategic locations in each piece of gear where one could securely slot a yarik stone. And how each one carried their array of stones was different, some holstering them in a bandolier across their chest or in a belt slot around their waist. Others simply had a pouch on the outside of their biceps to keep their reserve.

An obvious division of skill kept Saleal separated from the others, as she easily maintained her position. Saleal was at the beginning of her prime years of physical fitness, only sixteen years of age and two years younger than the next youngest racer. Her body wasted no unnecessary energy as she showed running prowess with perfect form and an optimal breathing technique that she synced with her movements. Every muscle flexed purposefully to power her stride and widened her ever-increasing lead. Her outline buzzed as her barely visible scales shifted along her. The collection of prominent hardscales she had accumulated over her body, rotated to cut air along the curves of her well-defined frame and reduce air resistance. When she leaned forward even more, she pulled her arms closer to body while they pumped alternately in straight lines. All of her actions together made it feel as if the air was not there.

Saleal smiled as if she was the only one on the course and forgot about the others behind her that were then clearing the cliff. Saleal remembered the others, hopped in a full circle to see the tight pack of racers who struggled to keep pace with her. She slowed a bit to conserve energy, but the others saw it as a charity they didn’t want. If not for being so tired and focused, they would have looked more displeased with the way Saleal didn’t seem to take the race seriously. Mostly, their displeasure was because of their current trailing position.

“We get it, Saleal. You’re fast,” the head of the losing pack said, trying to sound calm.

“Can you at least look like you’re having to try?” another commented.

“I don’t know why you all are getting annoyed. You knew this would happen,” a third racer resigned.

Saleal slowed her pace. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry,” she taunted slightly for them to catch up.

“Don’t take the bait,” a fourth racer warned.

But someone did and increased her speed from the back of the ranks, serpentining between the racers and bumping into a few on her way forward.

“I’m not going to let her win, not today.” The advancing girl grinned.

She increased her speed to catch up and Saleal looked back, thrilled someone took up the challenge.

“Hey, Fawis, don’t usually see you up at the front. Have you been pretending this whole time, because that would be a great tactic!” Saleal respected.

Fawis ignored the slight and informed, “I’m here to ruin your day.”

“What, ruin my day? You couldn’t possibly.” Saleal spun around again and started running backwards as fast as Fawis was running forward. “I know we all can’t be Chieftess, but remember, it doesn’t matter who wins. We’re in this together! Together, we hold up the world,” Saleal finished in an official tone.

Fawis fumed at her joking for a moment and pushed herself harder to overtake Saleal.

“You haven’t won yet!” Fawis said confidently.

“Yeah! That’s the spirit!” Saleal beamed.

Saleal turned back around and trailed behind Fawis to enjoy the lead. Before Saleal could start her takeover, Fawis took a steady breath and retrieved a yarik stone of wind. She slotted it into a compartment in the small of her back, activated it with a swipe, and in an instant it provided a jet of wind to give her a boost of speed. She stumbled at first to keep footing, but managed after a few awkward steps. Her happiness from retaining first position was short-lived, for even with the added propulsion, Saleal caught up with Fawis using her natural sprinting ability.

Saleal came into Fawis’ peripheral, smiled and waved, then activated her own stone to take back the lead. Surprisingly, Fawis wasn’t bothered by losing the first place position and smiled devilishly as Saleal escaped her.

Yevy and Rohs hadn’t moved from their secret outlook, heads still squished together to share the lens’ view. Yevy suddenly cheered, causing Rohs to recoil and hide her ears from the piercing sound.

“She’s going to do it. She’s going for Painted Pillars!” Yevy exclaimed.

Rohs quickly came back to look and agreed, “I can’t believe she’s going to try!”

Yevy turned the staff slowly and bent a crooked eyebrow.

“Someone is chasing her,” Rohs said.

“Who?” Yevy asked in disbelief.

“I think it’s Fawis,” Rohs said, pulling away slowly.

Yevy pulled away to share the shock with her friend, but then they both quickly returned to pressing their heads together to watch.

The trailing pack of girls all sighed, relaxed their ears and horns to a flat position, and resigned to the likelihood of losing as they watched the two girls take the shorter, more dangerous path. They divert to the right, towards the gradual slope and the safely winding path down the side of the plateau. The girl in last place stuttered to a stop and gave up trying altogether. She used her yarik stone of water to cool herself with a drink and a dowsing shower. Once empty of all its liquid, she pocketed the stone and started her walk of defeat.

Saleal and Fawis disappeared from the group of girls as they started their descent to the Glass Bends. A natural, snaking path that was carved by water over a few thousand years was named so because of its smooth earthen chute that glistened and reflected like glass after a rain. To that day, people still used it as the normal method of traversing quickly down the side of the cliff face.

Each girl hopped before entering the path and took an earth and wind yarik stone to combine their energies. While in the air, they would place both stones into their back, non-dominate boot compartment and activate the stones before they touched the ground again. As they skated their way down the path, their earth yarik kept them adhered to the surface and their wind stone gave a continuous added push. Some of the more risky competitors configured their stones to have less traction from their earth stones, allowing them to gather more momentum at the cost of stability. The rankings changed several times between the pack as they took the safer of the two routes.

Above them, on the top of the plateau, an overseer of the race was watching the girls move through the glass bends, counting three fewer racers than at the start. The moment she looked up, Saleal and Fawis zoomed past the overseer. In a blink, they were there, and in the next, they were a few meters away, heading to the Painted Pillars. The realization of what the overseer saw wouldn’t reach her mind for a bit, so she simply stared dumbfounded at the runaway pair.

As they reached the end of the Plateau, the tops of the Paint Pillars formations came into view, complete with their huge decorated boulders and colorful stone towers that held them. Others have tried the path in the past, none ever successfully, and most needing to be rescued. Saleal had practiced with Yevy in secret for months, balancing atop of stones to master that route. At best, Saleal could only psych herself up, as she wouldn’t know if the training would be rewarding. But the unknown wouldn’t be a deterrent, her confidence rising the closer she came to the plateau’s edge. She adjusted her speed to plan her initial course and, on the last step, launched herself over the edge with a mighty push. Her ears and horns flap freely as her sleek body pierces through the air. Though she no longer touched the ground, her legs continued to pump legs as if she ran along an invisible path into the sky.

Saleal had forgotten about the race for a moment. The built up adrenaline that fueled her body sent a euphoria coursing through her. It was a feeling she only got when she ran or pushed her physical limits, and the sensation always precluded a change in her perception of the world. Colors looked brighter, and only the most important sounds entered her clearly. Time was a crawl in that perfect arc, and she happily lived in as long as gravity allowed.

An audible gasp echoed through the canyon as everyone exhaled sharply. Okilea tightened her grip on the railing as she looked out across the expanse. Her hands made slight grooves as she pressed anxiously against the stone. Her hands trembled until the other mother placed a calming hand on top, still with a cup of wine in the other. She gave a comforting head nod, which allowed Okilea to relax but only momentarily as a second gasp reverberated in the canyon.

Saleal heard the second gasp, followed by the sound of loudly activating yarik coming from behind her. Her ears rotated backwards right before seeing a rapidly approaching Fawis rocketing towards her at unthinkable speed. Fawis had slotted two more of her four allotted stones, the one already placed in her back and then one in each of her gauntlets. With the three active sources, all wind yarik, it gave her enough thrust to allow her to rocket her through the air. She used her pointed backwards arms to make minor corrections in her flight to keep her on course to coast over the Painted Pillars. More importantly, it moved her past the already airborne leader.

Saleal hadn’t the time to process Fawis’ bold move as the turbulent air violently threw her downward and out of the way. Fawis gave a quick side glance and smirked as she took the lead. Had Saleal witnessed the confidence of her opponent, she would have been impressed and excited for the once timid racer, but that was no time for admiration.

Saleal contended with the reality of being diverted off her intended path, towards an unwanted landing on a boulder that was barely big enough for her to stand. She swiped at the stone on her back for a single burst to keep her from missing the boulder. The yarik stone deactivated afterwards and with little time to prepare, she brought her feet together, bent her knees slightly, and made contact with the boulder. The pillar holding the rock crumbled at the tip, but maintained integrity. Saleal tittered with the boulder while expertly finding her balance. After stabilizing herself, she watched her competition sail away and gave a minor salute in recognition.

As the pack of girls weaved down the Glass Bend, they watched the flying girl, amazed but not astonished when seeing one of their own in flight.

“Saleal is crazy,” one erroneously said.

“She looks like a Sukwa,” one admired.

“I don’t think that’s Saleal,” another thought aloud.

Together, the group of girls skating down the path looked more carefully and in unison they said, “Fawis?!”

All wind stones, huh? She’s full of surprises today! Does she think she can make it all the way across the canyon? What does she think she is, a Wind Rider? Saleal joked to herself, a widening grin growing on her face.

As if to answer Fawis’ hubris, her yarik stones began to run out of energy, starting with the one on her back. Even at that distance, Saleal saw Fawis’ visible distress as she looked back at her failing stone. When she mistakenly reached to adjust the stone, she had forgotten about the yarik wind that still poured out of her gauntlets. As a consequence, the redirected wind threw her into an uncontrollable tumble.

Everyone who watched winced collectively as they watched Fawis move about like a leaf caught by a gust of air. One concerned mother in the outlook turned away as her daughter Fawis disappeared below the plateau’s horizon. Some of the Manyari rushed to the edge to track Fawis’ journey as she luckily plunged into the river that divided the canyon. A overseer in a sayo rowed towards the plume of water to confirm Fawis’ condition. Everyone took a relieved breath when Fawis emerged from the waters. Though coughing and gasping for breath, the overseer gave an upward fist pump to the overseer up top the plateau, who then mimicked the hand signal. It eased worries, as it was a good sign that Fawis was okay. The mother of Fawis was informed of her daughter’s wellbeing, but had to be helped to a seat from the unexpected thrill.

That’s good, Saleal thought, relieved that her competitor was safe.

The boulder she was precariously standing on suddenly crushed down another few centimeters on the pillar.

“That’s NOT good,” she said aloud.

She worked unsuccessfully to keep herself atop, but the pillar gave way and took Saleal with it. Saleal reactivated the stone at her back and jumped for the next boulder and pillar. While in her leap, she quickly inserted a yarik stone into her right gauntlet, hoping she had grabbed an earth stone. It soon became apparent that her leap wasn’t powerful enough to land her on top of the next rock. For the first time during the race, she felt panic. She optimistically activated her gauntlet and reached out to the pillar. Her fingers pushed into the solid rock as if soft clay, allowing her to create a handhold. Her impact destabilized the pillar and sent a fracture down to the base. It also dislodged the boulder above and she swung to the other side of the pillar to avoid being struck. She held on with the aid of her gauntlet, placed both of her legs sideways on the pillar. Once again, she changed the output of the yarik stone at her back.

The stone charged its wind to a fierce point, but before she could make her next leap, the downed boulder from the first dislodgement rolled into her current pillar. The impact at the base started the chain of uncaring, upended pillars in her direction. Before she lost the opportunity, she set forth her stored yarik wind and released her hold on the rock. Her timing and blast of air was enough to raise her to the top of the next boulder prior to it too being toppled. As with the rest of the boulders, her landing upset its natural balance. The boulder began to sway as she worked to stay on top, this time having more options and preparedness for her next leaps.

Saleal jumped from one boulder to the next, continuing the chain reaction of falling boulders and felled pillars. Each boulder she left behind gave her renewed confidence as she made her way closer to the ravine bottom and her next obstacle, the wide river of Two Fates.

In between boulder jumps, she saw Fawis swimming, exerting all the effort she could to stay ahead. The mild current of Two Fates river was enough for Fawis to have to work against. It surprised Saleal that Fawis had been crossing without any yarik, then realizing that she probably hadn’t brought any.

The rhythm of Saleal’s jumps sped up as she approached the last boulder that she purposely struck at an angle to dislodge it immediately and maintain her momentum. She rode atop, safely down to the sandy banks below, and before the impact, she leaped from the boulder. With the last bit of her yarik wind, she boosted forward and changed the boulder’s path so as not to be crushed by its tumbling. With a keen roll, she was back on her feet and running. While she satisfyingly watched the boulder roll to its final resting place, a new surprise took her. The pack of other racers emerged from the end of Glass Bend.

Saleal had lost her advantage from the time it took to improvise her route. She was no longer first and there was real competition in the race she once thought already won.

The girls in the pack looked equally stunned that Saleal was there with them. After a short exchange of bewilderment, all the girls in the pack activated their yarik wind in a bid to claim victory. Saleal immediately faced the new hurdle of having no more assistance from her nearly exhausted wind stone and tired body. Her natural athleticism wasn’t enough to keep up with the other racer’s yarik or renewed vigor and it only took moments for her to fall a hundred meters behind.

Saleal felt a rare shiver as the fear of losing crept into her mind. Her heart raced a little faster, and beads of sweat formed on her brow. Despite it all, she smiled as she took her place at the back.

Fawis cleared the river, breathing hard. Her respite didn’t last when she saw the girls across the way. In a bit of panic, she discarded her used yarik stones as dead weight and slotted her last yarik earth stone into her gauntlet. She ran without looking back, focused on the eight hundred meter tall Panocua Cliff wall that was next on her list to conquer.

As the crowded racers approached the river, they prepared themselves by retrieving water stones. They slotted them in their gauntlets, and others into their boots, but they all did with great efficiency. As soon as they entered the water, their yarik stones came alive with the power to manipulate the river’s water. Some parted water tunnels for them to slip through the water. Others ran across the river, their stones making the river beneath them dense enough to step. There were a couple that swam across, aided by their stones with every stroke.

Another race overseer, inside a sayo, stood and cheered for the girls while they crossed. The girl’s waves had compounded and created turbulent waters in their wake. The overseer sat and held tight to their sayo, amused and grateful to still be upright. The waves mellowed and as she rowed to the shore, she noticed Saleal had yet to cross.

When Saleal approached the river, she retrieved her earth stone, ran low and dragged it across the sandy shores. She swiped and held one line on the earth stone to command it to absorb the sand. Satisfied with the amount, she stopped and then grabbed two more stones; a water stone and what was left of her wind stone. She took three fingers and swiped at all three to activate them in tandem. The sand returned and formed around all the yarik stones. As the sand poured out, she formed it into a disc by continually pressing it between her palms. The diameter reached the width of her upper torso, which prompted her to swipe a different line on the earth stone and hold its new shape.

The disk held its form but was getting increasingly cold. She had to toss it a few times to keep her hands from numbing. She didn’t have to hold it long as she planted a foot, spun around and flung the disk near-parallel to the water’s surface. The disc skipped several times, freezing sections of the water in its wake. It flew past all the racers and when it reached the other side, it anchored into the shore. Its ice zipped from that point and completed a frozen bridge across the river.

Saleal spent no time wondering if the bridge would hold and leaped onto it. Her feet slipped but she was able to ride the icy surface. She skated, pumping her legs to increase speed and maintain balance. It only became difficult when the waves created by other girls would hit the ice bridge and cause unexpected shifts in the angle of ice. At one point she grabbed the side of the ice that tilted at a steep angle, worried that she might cut herself on the edges. Despite the challenges, she was finally closing the distance.

One of the last two girls about to exit the water had a mishap with her yarik stone and it pushed her off course. She unwillingly headed to another girl who was unprepared when they collided. The collision also slammed together the two crystals they stashed in their shoulders pouches—A fire and water stone. The sudden release of stored elements combined to explode with steam just below the water. It sent the two stones soaring skyward with a tail of steam and left behind a giant plume of water and enormous waves. Saleal hadn’t the chance to react. Her bridge split, and waves tossed her backwards into the waters.

Ice chunks fell all around her as Saleal tried to orientate herself. She quickly located the river’s surface by spotting the distorted sun through the chaotic waters and swam toward it. The first gasping breaths were a relief as she treaded water and looked for the correct shore to race. She scouted her competition, extending their advantage and lessening her chances of winning. The others had already reached the cliff face, activating their earth stones in their boots and gauntlets to climb. A few girls used their earth stones to quickly summon a pillar of earth beneath them that sent them airborne a decent amount. Above them all, more than halfway up the Panocua Cliff, was Fawis moving efficiently. Nothing was stopping her and she would soon be at the top.

Saleal grumbled as she buoyed up and down, spitting out a mouth full of river after a wave dipped her below the surface once. Still an excellent swimmer, Saleal made it across quickly and as she stepped onto the shore. She watched the final bit of water and wind sputter out her disk. Quickly, she deactivated them, broke the stones free from the hardened sand, and took measurement of the energy in the three remaining stones. Her earth stone still had some energy, the wind stone possibly having one use left, the water was completely empty and her fire stone was untouched.

While she unenthusiastically looked down at her stones, she focused on the water and fire stone, remembering how they combined and rose so quickly into the sky. She worked through its application in her head when a flash of light on the shore pulled her attention to the trio of Fawis’ discarded stones.

“Even better,” she said with returning excitement.

She looked down at the strewn stones, then the top of the cliff, and finally to the Manyari overseer docking her sayo. With a half smile, she scooped up all the stones and rushed to the sayo with a new plan.

She swiped at her water stone to activate it and plunged it into the river. She let it be and ran over to the race overseer, who thought Saleal was helping as she hefted the watercraft aground in a single strong pull. The overseer thanked her, but was ignored by Saleal, who hurried to scavenge the sayo’s standard belongings.

“Saleal?” the overseer wondered.

Saleal once again ignored her and found what she needed. A bundle of rope and a net. She took a few steps, turned around, held both up, and bowed to the overseer.

“Thanks!” Saleal said.

Returning to the water stone, she threw her supplies on the sand and went to work altering all four of the wind stones. She retrieved a chisel from a pouch on her left arm and haphazardly carved new lines. There were no rules about carrying yarik crafting tools, but no one else brought them. Most found it foolish to think there was time to craft, nor would they want added weight. The lines she carved might appear similar, but the differences were obvious to Saleal, though she didn’t have the time to check for accuracy.

The overseer had casually walked up to Saleal to watch her haste.

“You gave a good effort today. You should be proud,” the overseer comforted.

“I’m not out of the race yet,” Saleal informed.

“There is nothing wrong with accepting defeat,” the overseer said with a head tilt.

“There is for me,” Saleal argued.

Saleal threw the yarik wind stone onto the net, bound it all with rope, and closed the open end of the net with a knot. She hopped to standing and swung the stone around her head while running in a circle. The overseer had ducked to avoid being struck. A whistling sound grew louder the quicker she swung and, once swinging at a high rate, Saleal ran for the shore where she retrieved her water stone. With a quick turnaround, she kicked water and sand into the air to regain traction and send herself towards the Panocua Cliff.