Another Friend in Amphibia

Chapter 76: Sparrow Down

Marcy was riding Joe Sparrow over the open ocean. It was somewhat liberating being able to fly again after being stuck on the ground with the Southern Toad Army for so long. Hopefully her arrival would bring some hope to the city after being besieged for so long.

Marcy looked at the map in front of her. During her time sailing, she gained a lot of experience navigating the ocean. No doubt the ocean would end soon and Newtopia would be in sight.

There were five flying creatures approaching in a "V" formation. They looked like giant vultures. They flew right over her, one of their talons attempted to scratch at her.

Marcy ducked down and avoided the scratch as they flew by. She looked behind her and saw the vultures turning around to give chase. This wasn't normal behavior.

Suddenly green liquid projectiles were launched from the water far below. They flew past but it was clear someone on the water was trying to shoot them down.

Marcy turned around and launched a crossbow bolt at one of the vultures, forcing it to back off.

Suddenly Joe Sparrow screeched as one of the green projectiles hit his wing. He spiraled out of control and started plummeting towards the ocean below. Marcy looked at the wing, trying to assess the damage. The liquid had absorbed into his feathers but there weren't any visible injuries.

She watched as the ocean came closer every second. If she didn't do something soon, they were going to crash. Joe Sparrow might not survive.

Marcy randomly plucked a feather from Joe Sparrow and crushed it. Then she poured what was left of the feather into a water breathing spell she had prepared, hoping the two would combine. She slammed the pouch against the saddle to activate its effect.

The combined effect was instantaneous. Marcy and Joe Sparrow's descent had unnaturally slowed, and their terminal velocity decreased. A bubble of air could also be seen surrounding them like a forcefield. Mixing a water breathing spell with a hastily prepared feather falling spell was a risky move but it paid off in the end.

They slowly fell into the water then began to sink. Luckily, the bubble of magical air kept them dry but now they had a new problem. They were stranded on the open ocean in presumably hostile territory. If they couldn't get back to the air, they would be stuck here.

Marcy needed to think about the situation, maybe there was a spell she could improvise to get them back to the surface. That was when she noticed some light in the darkness. There looked to be some structures made of coral in the distance. Dim lights illuminated what looked to be windows. This was a strange sight, but luckily it wasn't too far away.

Marcy and Joe Sparrow came to rest on the ocean floor, only a short distance from the entrance to the coral palace. It wasn't that far, if they moved quickly, they could make it inside before the spell wore off. Luckily, the bubble of air was rather large, giving her a lot of room to work with.

She hopped off Joe Sparrow and gave him a light push. "Come on Joe, we gotta make it!" Marcy yelled, trying to encourage Joe Sparrow to move forward.

The giant sparrow was still injured and refused to move. He remained in place.

"Move Joe!" Marcy screamed, throwing herself at the giant sparrow desperately.

Joe Sparrow finally decided to move. He took a few steps forward, with his wings remaining close.

"Almost there!" Marcy continued pushing the giant sparrow towards the massive coral structure.

Marcy opened the door once they reached it. Despite the palace being underwater, the water stopped at the door and wouldn't flood the entryway in even when the door was opened. She didn't know of any spells that could do something at that scale. Whoever runs this place must be great with magic.