“I knew I would find you here,” Cobal said as he walked into the Iridescent Seashell. The cozy inn built around a circular central bar was filled with townspeople. For as scared and anxious as most of them had been when they first talked to Miyara at the docks, all of that seemed to have faded quickly after they met the flamboyant, charismatic and loud pirate captain who was now the center of their attention.
“Cobal,” she yelled out, spilling her drink all over the table as she motioned towards him. “Come join us for a drink, these people are great.”
Cobal sighed and shook his head, knowing there was no arguing. “One drink then.”
“That’s the spirit.” Eliana grabbed a stool with one hand and slammed it down next to her. “Sit, we have much to talk about,” she said.
Cobal sat down next to her, with an unfamiliar villager off to his side. Eliana grabbed another man’s drink and handed it to Cbal. “We got word from Ferla.”
“Ferla?” For a moment Cobal didn’t know who she was talking about.
“The captain of the Chandecobra? Kind of a forgettable man to be honest so I don’t blame you.”
Now Cobal remembered. When Mana, Mirgia, Kimi, Dylon and himself had first set out from Saphestan to start their journey north towards Jasodar, they booked a stay on the Chandecobra in the port town of Fitseren. Ferla had been a large man with a ton of charisma, but when he came upon the crew of the Tidesetter by accident he never stood a chance against them. Ferla was one of the few people who disappeared alongside Mirgia and Kimi when their raid on the cultists had gone so poorly.
“So he’s alright? That’s a relief to hear.”
“Not only is he alright, he told me where he was and he said that your friends are there too.”
“Really? What happened?”
“Well, it sounds like a confusing bunch of nonsense, but I kept the letter, so give it a read.”
She tried at least seven pockets before she finally found the one where she’d kept the letter and she tossed it towards Cobal who opened it up and read it.
Captain Tidescreecher,
After we were separated from you and your crew during the battle on Triban island, myself and three of our companions found ourselves in a strange place. We soon learned that we were in the northern part of the kingdom of Severanti. After several days traveling south we arrived in the city of Kirisar, a pleasant oasis built into the hard sandstone that the region is famous for. Not soon after we got to this city, disaster struck. A strange coliseum arose from the ground, surrounding the city. On top of that, the nobleman in charge of Kirisar seems to have gone missing so the civil unrest is quickly reaching a boiling point. With no one able to leave the city, we focused on communicating with the outside world. If this letter reaches you, that means the messenger bird that was sent to Mirgia from Milinia made its way back there. I’ve requested the elven leadership to send this letter onwards to you and urge you to inform Cobal and Mana of what has happened to us. As of now, we are doing fine. We’ve joined a small caravan in their camp and have been reasonably safe as a group. Alongside me are Tevan from my crew as well as Mirgia and Kimi’Thania. I believe the elf should be able to make it out of the labyrinth on his own due to his impressive skills, but he has chosen not to leave the rest of us behind. I have yet to be able to convince him otherwise. We will be fine on our own but if you do find yourself particularly bored, I can assure you that Severanti’s wine is very much worth the trip.
Best regards,
Captain Ferla Sapur.
Cobal smiled. “That’s good news, they’re safe and we know where they are.”
“You’re leaving out the part that they’re trapped in a giant maze or something.”
“Let’s not focus on the negative side of things, for now we know where they are and once we finish our business here in the peninsula, we can perhaps go and save them. If Severanti is experiencing political unrest then now might be a good time to gain some favors with the local lords there and strengthen our bonds, especially after we caused a stink with Rilodar.”
“Yeah, that was a real bad move on your dad’s part.”
Cobal sighed. “That’s borderline treasonous talk, you know that right?”
“I’m wanted in three countries.”
Cobal chuckled. “Well, at least Ferla told us where they are, Mirgia sent that letter a while ago but wouldn’t disclose anything, presumably to not worry us.”
“That’s because Mirgia can take care of his own problems but Ferla is a coward who wants us to rescue him.”
“Perhaps, but I’d rather know where they are than keep wondering.”
“But first we have a job to do here,” Eliana said, “and I’d love to be more informed about what that job is and why exactly you called for my help, besides my charm.” She slammed her mug down on the table. “Alright children, party’s over, I’ve got business to attend to.” She winked at Cobal. “Go get Mana and your other friend and meet me aboard the Tidesetter.” And without paying for a single drink, she left the tavern.
“This is already the second time today I’m having a meeting on the deck of this ship,” Cobal remarked.
“Is it not to your liking, oh wise prince?” Eliana joked.
“I just wish the company was more refined.”
“Now that is something I cannot help you with, I’m afraid.” Eliana was wearing her colorful patchwork overcoat that she liked to wear whenever she was aboard her ship. Besides the crew, just Cobal, Mana and Cassandra were present.
“Cassandra, this is Eliana Tidesinger, better known as Captain Tidescreecher and this is her ship. She is also a close friend and ally of ours.” Cobal looked from Eliana to Cassandra. “And this is Cassandra, the daughter of a baker and also a good friend of ours.”
“You’re the first pirate I’ve met,” Cassandra remarked.
“I, on the other hand, have met many bakers.”
“Well I’m not a baker.”
“Then what are you?”
“A visionary,” Cassandra said proudly.
“That means she likes making weird things out of metal,” Cobal added.
“Dangerous things?”
Cassandra’s eyes got that sparkle they so often got. “If you want them to be.”
Eliana put her arm around Cassandra and grinned. “You and I are going to get along splendidly.”
“We are here for a reason though,” Mana reminded them.
“Yes yes, we’ll talk later,” she said to Cassandra. She turned her attention to Mana. “You haven’t told me yet why you called me over here, so let’s start with that.” Eliana sat down on the deck, legs crossed.
The rest of them sat down as well, with a couple of the crew present as well for this meeting.
“We got a letter from Cassandra here that the people of her town have been disappearing, walking into the ocean at night after strange lights were spotted. We learned from Diana – who also spoke with Miyara here this morning while you were getting drunk – that there is an old tale of a ghost ship with pirates that got trapped after trying to steal from a powerful wizard on Shark Tooth Island.”
The look of recognition in Eliana’s eyes didn’t go unnoticed by Cobal.
“We are hoping to find out what happened to these people and we want to try and bring them back to safety. One of them is Cassandra’s uncle and an acquaintance of ours.”
“And you figured out that the best way to deal with ghost pirates is to bring living pirates.”
Cobal struggled to keep a straight face while saying “well, we only know two people with boats and one of them is currently stuck in Severanti, so you were really the only option we had left.”
He didn’t react fast enough and a second later Eliana had him in a headlock. “You’ve gotten cockier since we split up, I’ll fix that real quick.”
Cassandra laughed loudly, “I like her already.”
“Somehow I knew you would,” Mana said.
“So, where are we going?”
Cobal looked at Mana, who nodded. “Well, we have a stop we want to make before we head to Shark Tooth Island. They might be able to give us some insight into what has been happening.”
Eliana looked from one to the other and her expression dropped. “Oh no, absolutely not. There’s not a chance we’re going.”
“What’s wrong?” Mana asked.
“You want me to go to Arana with you, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Mana said. “I’m surprised you knew. Have you been there before?”
“That’s one way of putting it.” Eliana got up and walked to the ship’s railing, looking out over the water for a while before speaking. “I’m all for tossing the three of you overboard and waiting up here until you’re back, but I’m not coming with you.”
“Why not?” Cobal asked.
“I’m not coming with you to Arana, and that is the end of this conversation.”
Cobal wanted to ask more questions but he felt Mana’s hand on his shoulder and when he looked at her she shook his head. “If you can just wait for us on the surface that is more than enough. The three of us will go to Arana and speak with Kiiran there. We should be back reasonably quickly.”
Eliana didn’t argue and that seemed to be the end of the conversation. What was a pleasant reunion had suddenly turned quite tense and the atmosphere didn’t improve much throughout the day. They prepared a small rowboat that would take them to the coral reef where they found the entrance the last time they were here. Two crew members went with the trio and although it took them a while to find the right place, they were eventually confident that they’d found it.
“Now remember,” Mana said to the other two, “These bubbles of air around you can only be used once. I’ve refined the magic a lot over the past few weeks, but it’s still very difficult for me to pull off. You can dive down, breathe out and then take one big breath from these.” Mana gave them strange balloon-like objects that she had made. They looked like a small wineskin made from thin but sturdy material with a stopper at the top to keep the air in. “It will make you have to swim a little bit harder due to the air wanting to go up, but you should be able to compensate for it. It will then allow you to breathe from it once when you’re down there, which should be a big help. Don’t try to use it too quickly, only really use it when you’re already down there and you’ve either spotted the entrance or you’re planning to swim back up. It’s just a safety measure, not an actual bit of diving equipment. The magic is crude at best.” It was Mana’s solution to not having enough air to make it down there safely. If they got to the correct spot in one try, they probably wouldn’t need it, but having a safety precaution never hurt. After they were all set and clear on what the plan was, they each dropped into the water. The trio disappeared below the waves one by one, leaving the two crew members who waited with bated breath to see if anything went wrong. Luckily, it didn’t seem to be the case, and after they were confident that the prince and his companions wouldn’t resurface anytime soon, they went back to the Tidesetter to await their return.
Opal Kaharis 