A Song for Winter: Beach Episode

    Ever since William touched The Scion’s golden mask fire magic lanced through his body causing him perpetual torment. Ice baths temporarily dulled the pain but couldn’t permanently stop his skin from burning and organs from feeling like they were in an inferno. Violet, Regalius, and the rest of the druids tried their best to dispel the burning curse but nothing prevailed. Finally, Violet accepted this was beyond their capabilities and had the harvest druids open a portal for her that William managed to force himself to walk through.

 

    William collapsed onto a white sand beach on the other side of the portal. The sun beat down upon the sands as water lapped at the beach. In sheer agony, William pulled himself into the cold salt waters and off of the hot beach. Once in the water, he could see Violet talking to a group of sea otters dressed in colorful swim trunks or bikinis with bright floors strung around their necks. Some of the otters had ear piercings that appeared to be made of seashells while others had bracelets of what appeared to be small shells. They were too far off for William to make out the conversation but they kept making strange hand signs. After a few moments, some laughed before Violet waded over to William.

 

    “That's a circle of ocean druids,” Violet explained as she looked back at the otters, “they think they can break the curse but we’ll have to wear ceremonial garb and you aren’t going to like this ritual.” Moments later William was stripped down and redressed in a pair of black swim trunks with the help of Violet who had redressed herself in a red bikini. With the lionesses and a couple of the otters’ help William was laid down on a polished wooden board and pushed out into the ocean. William lay on his back on the board while the ocean druids drew strange symbols on his body with strange glowing green paint. 

 

    “Alright bro, it's gonna feel like you are drowning,” the male otter that looked to be in charge warned William, “because effectively you will be. Try not to die.” Before William could react the otters began chanting in unison in a language the folf didn’t recognize. Ocean water began to swell up around them forming intricate patterns in the air before forming into a large sphere of water overhead. The sphere hung there in the air for a moment before it crashed down on William’s face and filled his mouth and nose with water that rushed through his body. He tried to fight it but William lost consciousness while he coughed and choked on the water.

 

    William woke on the beach sometime later in the wet sand of the tideline. He coughed up some water and then noticed that his body no longer felt like it was on fire and he felt full of energy. The ritual to break the curse from the golden mask had worked! William leaped to his feet and ran down the beach to Violet who he wrapped up in a massive hug. With the curse lifted the two of them spent the rest of the day playing on the beach with the ocean druids. There was volleyball, a sand castle building contest, a massive cookout barbeque, and as the sunset Willliam and Violet shared a long overdue first kiss.