After the last of us had been pulled aboard, with our captive mermaid in tow, we convened on the deck. The smell of brine and the drip of our wet selves on the deck were practically the only sounds, aside from Karac’s coughing.
Dex had run forward, and unlocked the anchor, where it slid freely into the water. After securing the rope tightly, she pointed Zenith aft to repeat the process. The ship came to something of a restive halt, the waves slapping the hull.
We bound the mermaid hand and…fin, before waking her. I stood back, speaking with Bingo, while Sered and the rest interrogated our prisoner. I speak no elvish, which I assume is the language she used – I did occasionally pick up words, like “food” and “sun”. I also saw – much to my surprise – Sered strike her several times. Her angry hissing blended into words while he shouted questions back to her.
The sun’s light was tapping the sea when he stood, looking over at us. “I have the location where they took him.”
Bingo stepped forward. “How do we get there? None of us know how to sail!”
Sered looked around, checking out the deck. “We swim. It’s only inside this tower here.” He waved at the Tooth of Vasylim before us, which had threatened to dash the ship apart only moments before. “We can use casks and other floats for those of you who don’t have the skill.”
I looked over. “I’ll stay here to guard the prisoner.”
Karac snapped his gaze over. “From?”
I looked over at the sea, where the sun had set a moment ago. Then up at the wheel deck, where Ereliya stood with a gaze of fury of an intensity I’d rarely seen before. I nodded at her. “From reprisal.”
The deck cracked loudly, and enormous thorns thrust themselves up, oozing sap and ichor.
He looked up, looked back to me. Nodded with a grim expression. He reached down to the bound mermaid, who flinched at his approach. Her swollen cheek had already begun to bruise. He frowned, then snatched away the coral circlet from her head. He brandished it at her and waggled it, muttering something in elvish. Bingo whispered to me, “Proof we have her.”
Some of them retrieved various objects from the deck, and over the side they went. To say I regretted my choice would be true, but on the other hand, I dislike swimming in water whose depth I can’t see. I love diving in clear seas, but this? I’d seen too many attacks to trust these seas.
I pulled a stool over and sat next to the bound she-fish. I fired up the second half of my prior cigar, and laid Sybarron across my lap. I’d ceased to think of him as “my sword” after our conversation a few days ago.
The bobbing heads of the group receded into the fast-darkening twilight, and I think I caught sight of them going up a rough rock-face before full dark set in.
Ereliya walked past me, giving me a wide berth. She whispered something at the mermaid, then turned to me. “I’ll kill her if he doesn’t return.”
“I’ll gladly hold her while you do, if that be the case.”
“Don’t think that somehow endears you to me, Shadrim. I have not, and probably will not, forgive you for bringing that on board.” She walked to the railing and looked off to the island.
The night passed long and quiet. The stars, as usual, were beautiful, where they were able to peek out from between the clouds.
Part of me, looking up, wondered at the persons who had forged pacts like mine with the beings that lived among those stars – even the stars themselves. I had not known such things could be done, until I spent those few days in study and introspection looking for my connection to the infernal Host. In my studies, I found that some aspects of the arcane can be gleaned from the bright stars. Whether they were simply discovered remnants of power drifting through the cosmos, or sentient beings, there were varying theories.
In any case, the stars of the feywild are wondrous. They come in a variety of colors, brightnesses. Some flicker, others are steady beams. A very few seem to circle one another, the most notable being the Six Siblings – each a different color, they swirl about one another at a rapid pace no more than a fingernail’s width apart.
I reached out a foot to deliver a swift kick to the mermaid before she slithered any further. I stood and held Sybarron at her neck. “No more moving. Savvy?” I used my best pirate accent to emphasize the point.
She went limp on the deck. I slid a bucket of water over to her, from which she gulped a few swallows.
When dawn grew close, the soft blue of it slowly growing in the sky, the stars silently faded from their resting places. Although I have confidence in my companion’s abilities, I began to wonder what I would do if they did not return.
My ponderings were given reinforcement shortly after dawn when the heads of two women surfaced near the ship. They called out in some rough form of elvish, to which our captive shouted a response – or at least tried to, before Sybarron’s point came to rest on her throat.
“Speak no more, or I’ll pin you to the deck through a spot you’re going to need.”
Fortunately, that was not necessary. I heard a voice a few moments ago I recognized. “Az! AZ!”
Looking over the side, I saw Sered’s form, swimming up o the side.
“We made a deal, free her.” He looked back over his shoulder at the two, clearly wanting to strike them dead.
I walked back to the bound she-fish, and sliced through her bonds. Waved at her to be gone. She struggled back from me, and halted for a moment, looking up at me.
“GAH!” I shouted at her, putting my best fierce face on. She flinched back quickly, and slithered snakelike over the side. The soft plunk of her entry into the water marked her exit. The other two chittered among themselves before they too, vanished beneath the waves.
A while later, the others came back into sight, this time bearing Shalvar. He floated on his back, moaning loudly. His clothes were pierced in several places, and I could see remnants of bloodstains that hadn’t completely washed out.
Ereliya went practically insane when she saw Shalvar. The thorns that had sprouted last night split open with a series of rattling snaps across the entire deck. Pink, blue, and yellow blossoms sprang from their interiors, and before long the deck was awash in the scent of honey.
She pulled Shalvar from the grasp of Karac as he dragged Shalvar from the water and up the netting on the side. She pulled him up bodily, slinging him through the air to come to rest in her arms on the deck. They talked quietly, unmistakenly the tones of a reunited couple. I’ve seen enough people returning from campaign to know the sounds of a couple rejoined.
Variously, everyone headed downstairs to switch for dry clothes. Mostly, I think they simply wanted to grant Ereliya and Shalvar a dose of privacy. I joined them, stopping in the galley to grab a small slab of some pickled vegetable.
We brought Shalvar below after the sun rose, when it banished Ereliya back into the body of the vessel. He whispered something to Zenith before passing out.
“He’ll sleep for a few hours. We’re to stay anchored here,” Zenith said. “I’m to go upstairs and stay by the wheel in case she needs something.”
We all concurred.
* * *
Shalvar woke some six hours later, relatively coherent. He joined us up top, looking considerably better. He didn’t speak much, just headed to the wheel assembly and resumed his lean. After a couple of hours I walked up to check on him.
“I appreciate your having come for me. They’d have had me for supper had you all not stepped in.”
“Well, we couldn’t very well abandon you. Who would be captain?” I waved around at the various members. “We’d probably be beating each other up trying to figure out how anything works, and at Sunset Ereliya would probably be throwing us overboard anyway.” I grinned while I said this.
“Hmph. Probably right.” He spun the wheel. “Still, not much to do here.”
“Don’t exaggerate. I’ve seen you pilot in a fight. Thank you, by the way – you’ve saved us as well.”
“It’s my job here, after all.”
“I suppose so.” I took a few swallows off my waterskin and offered it to him. He shook his head with a thankful expression.
“I do wish to thank you for your efforts, though. I will relax my requirement for payment when we return.”
“Well, I’m sure we’d all appreciate keeping our experiential memories that much more intact.” I grinned once again.
“And before I forget,” he walked down the steps and over to Sered. “I have something for you.” Sered looked at him quizzically, as he reached under his cloak and retrieved a small bundle.
“These boots should help you next time you choose to go swimming. I’ve had them for a while, but I know how to swim.” Sered took the boots gingerly, uncertain what to say. Eventually he just looked impassively at Shalvar and said “Thank you.”
“I can’t estimate this very accurately, but we should be at the Taer sometime day after tomorrow.”
I nodded. “Fair enough. Let’s just hope we don’t get too many more bumps along the way.”
Two days passed, surprisingly without incident. On the night of the second day, we finally caught sight of an island on the horizon. Shalvar informed us that we’d probably reach it somewhen around daylight.
* * *
I woke in the grey dawn, a cold breeze coming down the stairs and flowing over me. I’ve come to realize I enjoy the cold now, almost as much as the fire my ancestry gives me a taste for.
Heading abovedeck, I saw the others gathering at the port railing. Shalvar was with them. The island rose out of the sea with a light misting, great conifers starting yards away from the shore, much as the harbor colony we departed from. Behind and around us, broken hulls and wrecked ships faded in and out of the mists, like ghost skeletons poking out of the sea.
The Eladrin pulled two small acorns from his side pouch and tossed them, one after the other, into the sea.
When they hit, they immediately foamed in the water, quickly growing into large rowboats. I withheld the joke that came to mind about the small boats being his children.
Sered looked back at me and frowned. “Glad you could join us, hellspawn.” His tone fairly dripped with resentment, or perhaps it was disgust.
Karac also looked over, a frown on his face as well. Bingo elbowed his way past Zenith to get to the rail and start down. “Outa my way, mister donothing.” His voice piped with some combination of self-amusement and irritation. He clambered down into the first boat.
Zenith had an expressionless look. “Whatever you say, stub.” He looked over at me. “We should have thrown you and that cursed sword into the ocean days ago.” I simply showed him my teeth.
Karac got into the other boat. When Dex got in, he growled something at her which I couldn’t quite make out.
The others settled into the boats. I was aggravated as hell – no pun intended – that I had to take the bow of the boat with Bingo and Sered in it. That blue-skinned prig had just about hit my fill limit with his snide remark.
We rowed in, moving over the calm sea towards the frosted sands of the beach. Beneath us, the water was crystal clear and smooth. I could see wreckage, ruined armor, weapons, even coins and gems glinting up at us from the sea floor.
The smell of the sea in winter is an amazing thing – brisk, clean, sharp. There isn’t any of the rotting vegetation you get with summer. Occasional glinting fish darted past us, silvery flashes against the ruin on the floor.
Looking up at the shore, I tried to get a glimpse into the trees, hoping we would not run into an ambush while we were on the boats. A small ship was sunk to our left, half-exposed beneath the slowly receding tide, and another wreck rested on the shore ahead of us, slowly disintegrating in the weather.
Something there, deep in the trees, flashed. A mirror, or a reflection.
Behind me, Sered’s voice muttered out. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this, you dog. Your hide will bear the mark of my loathing.”
I felt the bite of his spirit-mark set upon me, and leaped – a moment too late – into the water. His sword flashed across my back, which I’m sure cut me nicely across my lower muscles there. The water, waist-deep where I was, splashed up around me as I raced away from the boat. I heard Bingo give a surprised yell and a quick splash there as well.
I reached to him with my perceptions, feeling his desire to pursue, and sank my curse into his spirit. I spat back over my shoulder: “Filthy creature, when I’m done with you perhaps you’ll be recycled into something a little more useful.” I slid a stealthy arcane bite into the curse, and saw the frost lick up over his tunic as the teeth of it sank home. He grunted with anger, trying to clear his vision from the deceptive glamour of my attack.
Something grabbed me, like a blanket of iron wrapping itself around me, squeezing…and I found myself face-to-face with Sered again. He was grinning, and we were both some yards away from our boat, towards the shore. He swung his greatsword, which was glowing with golden fire. I parried as best I could with Sybarron, but the strike rattled my arm all the way to my spine. I countered with a strike of my own, pushing a fierce burst of eldritch power into the edge of the blade as I raked it across his lower abdomen. He recoiled, and I only just barely cut into him.
“One more lifetime to add to your memories soon, you sanctimonious prig,” with that curse I felt my power bite into him, and I ripped open a rift behind me, stepping through some fifteen yards back. As I pulled back through the rift to arrive next to the crushed hull on our left, a burst of chill exploded from my place next to Sered, chilling his body and lining him with frost. I saw him grimace and begin almost immediately to rip his feet free from the suddenly-iced sea he found himself in.
Taking a quick glance over to the other boat, I saw violence erupting there as well. Zenith had floated from his position in the boat away to aft of it, and Dex stood in the boat, weapons out. Bingo moved woodenly through the sea towards my wreck. Karac, back in our boat, cried out “Sered!” as he ploughed through the water to get to the Deva, attempting to help him get free.
I invoked a band of energy around me, tiny points of light glimmering angrily with violent energy. I had to keep concentrating to control them, and arrowed one of them at Sered while he splashed towards me. My shot went wide, sizzling in the water beside him.
I ran up beside Bingo, and whispered to him, “They’ve gone mad, we can only save ourselves – protect ourselves if they attack us – take Sered down and we can perhaps convince the others to stand down. You’ve always been a good companion.” I actually felt a bit of what I said, though my purpose was to point him at Karac and Sered before finding a good opportunity to level him in a blow.
He looked at me, his eyes glassy and rolled up into his head, and spoke in a voice I found strange until I recognized it was Zenith’s. “Keep talking, fireborn. Your body’s going to sink here along with the other trash.” With that he turned and drew his bow to shoot at me. I swung Sybarron at him, sinking a good cut on the shoulder. I funneled a burst of vitality through Sybarron’s blade and felt the blade rip at the internals of the halfwise, pulling his blood so strongly that the ends of his veins actually protruded from the cut. I felt him – Sybarron, that is – smile inside as he inflicted a grievous wound on the halfwise. Despite this, Bingo’s arrow found its way into my leg, but only passed through the meat of my thigh. Unless I did something soon, though, I wouldn’t be running any contests soon.
I gripped his soul with a curse, and dodged back behind the broken vessel to get clear of his arrows. I squeezed off another bolt of star-stuff, wrenching him with my curse as the bolt sank home. He also ran, scrambling towards shore, but not before I hit him hard with a spell that ran flames through his hair and set a few corners of his clothing alight. I saw blood flowing, and felt the urge to finish the job on him. Glancing over, I saw Zenith and Dex occupied with one another, and Karac was going head-to-head with Sered. I heard the dwarf, who was up to his shoulders in the surf, shout something about honor as he moved on the tall deva.
So I had time to bring the little dog to heel.
I chased after the halfwise, letting my blood-fury propel me towards him, and slung spell after spell at his retreating form. He didn’t even pause to shoot at me, though he probably had a clean shot had he taken it. After a moment, he did draw up and turn on me, just in time for me to blast him clean in the face. I unloaded a bolt of pure agony from the depths of my memories of the Plains of Avernus, and watched as the pink light coruscated up across his face, sparking off his wet jerkin.
He dropped, bow floating gently in the soft waves of the surf.
Contrary to the rumor, a halfwise bleeds red, like a pure human.
I limped up to the treeline, releasing a cascade of infernal healing to knit my leg back together. Bit back the scream that came with it, and wiped frantically at my eyes to clear them. That little monster used some vicious heads on his arrows, and they were far from pleasant. My own blood stopped flowing, and clotted quickly, though I could barely see with the agony of the fire. Again, the sensation of burning fiercely enough to damage my kind is uniquely painful to us. Dex had chased Zenith off, he had vanished among some ship wreckage a good long way from the rest of us. I contemplated chasing Dex down and holding her under, but she turned to Karac and Sered, moving on the dwarf to get a clean shot.
Best to leave them to one another’s tender mercies, I think. I set myself up with a good vantage point and settled Sybarron into his sheath while bringing my bow out. Sered saw this, and maneuvered to put Karac between us. Karac saw this, and shouted with rage while shaking his arms at the deva. “What are you doing? What kind of cowardly move was that?”
Sered said something to him that I couldn’t make out, and shoved the dwarf towards me. Karac gave a growling howl and swung his axe at Sered at the same moment that I loosed an arrow laced with chilling power at him. I saw my arrow sink into his shoulder while he flung himself away from Karac’s axe swing. The dwarf followed up with a vicious thrust, using the point at the head of his axe, sinking it in his belly. The deva’s blood, light blue and sparkling with silver motes, splashed out across the dwarf’s armored shoulder.
Darkness fell upon my vision. I sat up, breathing hard with the exertion and the pain.
And cracked my head solidly on the wooden bulkhead above my bunk.
I staggered out into the grey dawn, a cold breeze coming down the stairs and flowing over me. I enjoyed the chill washing over my face as I strapped on my armor. Perhaps I enjoyed it more than the licking of flames.
Heading abovedeck, I saw the others gathering at the port railing. Shalvar was with them. The island rose out of the sea with a light misting, great conifers starting yards away from the shore, much as the harbor colony we departed from. Behind and around us, broken hulls and wrecked ships faded in and out of the mists, like ghost skeletons poking out of the sea.
The Eladrin pulled two small acorns from his side pouch and tossed them, one after the other, into the sea.
When they hit, they immediately foamed in the water, quickly growing into large rowboats. I withheld the joke that came to mind about the small boats being his children.
Sered looked back at me and frowned. “Next time you’ll be mine, demonkin.”
I drew out a cigar and lit it with a small brimstone flame from my thumbnail. “Next time you won’t be attacking me by surprise, to stab me in the back.” I blew a little smoke towards him across the ocean breeze.
Karac just glared at us both, sore anger on his face.
Shalvar, watching this exchange, held up a hand. “Shan Doresh is testing his talent on you. Remember he is Archfey – in his own realm he is little short of a divine being. Here, he reaches out and touches your dreams. Had you died in them, it is quite possible you may never have awoke. Sleep in this realm is a land of danger, so be wary.”
We climbed into the boats and headed for shore.
