by Bill Mays
“Ouch!” She cried out as another splinter embedded itself in her delicate foot.
Finally, she reached her designated work spot. There was a small table built onto the deck, complete with a solid chopping block. It was close to the edge of the ship so that the fish guts could be easily tossed into the sea.
Kreasha sighed as she looked over her tedious task. “What have I gotten myself into?” She mumbled. “What would everyone say if they could see me now?” She gazed out at the tossing water with the thought of diving overboard just to be away from her degrading duties.
The lady pulled the first fish from the bucket. It was slimy to the touch and quite unpleasant in general. It jabbed its spiny fin into her hand and leapt from her grasp. She whimpered in pain as it flopped away and managed to fall overboard and escape back into the sea. Kreasha shrieked in frustration, drawing laughs from the distant deck hands who witnessed the whole scene. She had never expected the fish still to be alive. She glared at the deck hands. They simply went back to their own duties still chuckling.
“Who do they think they’re toying with?” She hissed to herself. “If they only realized who I am, they’d be treating me a lot differently!”
“And who exactly are you, Ma’am?” A tiny voice asked innocently.
Kreasha spun about in surprise. She had not noticed anyone nearby. The knife was poised for defense but looked awkward in her delicate hand. There, hiding from the deckhands behind a group of the secured barrels used to collect rainwater, was a tiny fairy with colorful wings. The girl’s fountain of brown hair was blowing about her cherubic face in the breeze and her butterfly wings were glinting in the early morning sunlight.
“A fairy,” the lady gasped in shock.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but you don’t look like any fairy I’ve ever seen. First of all you are way too big, and secondly you don’t have any wings.” Nivit looked confused.
“She wasn’t saying that she’s a fairy, you idiot!” Another small voice squeaked in annoyance.
“No, I’m Kreasha, Kreasha Newmons of the Noble House of Newmons,” she clarified. “Who might you and your unseen friend be? Are you sea fairies?”
“I’m Nivit, and that is Mr. Ado. He’s invisible right now. He can do that because he’s a powerful tremlin wizard,” the tiny girl grinned while pinching her nostrils shut. The smell of fish was overwhelming here. Ado only grumbled.
“A gremlin wizard and a fairy, you must be the gladiator, Tark’s, friends.”
“Yes! Yes we are!” Nivit beamed as she twirled through the air. She forgot to keep her nose pinched and nearly wretched when the strong smell of fish invaded her nostrils.
While she recovered from her coughing fit, Ado appeared leaning against a barrel. “I thought you might know something about the gladiator. Where are they keeping him?” The gremlin asked cautiously. He still was not sure if he could trust the woman or not.
The lady in red seemed overjoyed to see them. She was more than happy to help. Kreasha paused for a moment in thought. “Last I saw the warrior he was in a holding room below decks. Tark was pretty banged up, though.”
“Oh no!” Nivit gasped. “Is he going to be alright?” Her big eyes were getting all watery.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Ado squeaked. “Stop your blubbering!”
“Perhaps, I could help you get him out of there? I know a little bit of magic myself, though I am no wizard by far,” the lady added. It was clear from her tone that she doubted the gremlin’s skills.
“Perhaps you can,” Ado replied skeptically. There was something about the noblewoman that rubbed him the wrong way. He could detect an aura of magic about her.
“But first, you two can help me tend to these fish. I fear I can’t go anywhere until I finish with them,” the lady grinned slyly. “I’m afraid I’m not very good with such menial tasks.”
She really had no intentions of preparing the fish. The two little helpers had arrived at just the right time. Ado and Nivit exchanged looks of disgust. Suddenly, the tiny fairy let out an exclamation of joy as she twirled through the air. This time she was careful to keep her nose pinched.
“Look! It’s Mr. Tark! He’s coming this way!”
“And he has more fish,” Ado grumbled as he pinched his own nose closed. The rocking of the ship was making his head spin.
The gladiator carried two more large buckets of fish. Each was filled with the scaly flopping animals. Kreasha did not know whether to be excited or afraid.
“My lady, I bear gifts. The dwarf, Sarry, told me to bring them to you,” Tark smiled.
“Mr. Tark!”
The scream nearly made him drop the buckets. There before him were Nivit and Ado. He could hardly believe his eyes.
“You mean we go through all of this trouble and you just wanted to join a pirate crew!” Ado squeaked indignantly as he appeared from behind a barrel with one hand on his belly and the other pinching his nose closed.
“Mr. Tark wants to be a pirate, but why?” Nivit chirped holding her own nose.
“What are you talking about?” Tark was a little confused and still surprised.
The lady laughed at the scene. “I believe your little friend thinks you wanted to be here.”
“I’m making the best of a bad situation, that’s all,” the gladiator clarified. “Where is Herrin?” The little fairy grew sullen at mention of her friend’s name.
“She wasn’t well enough to travel yet, but she said to hurry back. She’s studying up on the ancient writings,” Ado squeaked.
“Herrin? Who’s Herrin?” The lady asked. “And what ancient writings are you talking about?”
“A friend,” Tark responded curtly. He ignored her question about the writings.
“How do we get back to Seaside? I assume you have a plan,” the big man looked to Ado.
Ado seemed annoyed. “Do I have to do everything?”
“Why don’t we ask the pirates if they’ll take us back?” Nivit suggested.
The lady giggled. “She’s such an innocent and adorable creature.”
“Wait a while, that opinion will change,” Ado grumbled.
“I overheard them saying they were going to drop me off at the dwarf port of Gurdail,” the big man explained. “Hopefully, that isn’t too far away. You didn’t happen to bring the map with you, did you?” He again looked to the gremlin who again looked quite annoyed.
“We were in a little bit of a hurry, you ungrateful ogre!” The gremlin hissed. “No, we didn’t bring the map, we didn’t bring the sage, and we didn’t bring another boat to sail back on either!”
“Well, aren’t you two just chummy,” the lady giggled again.
“So what are we going to do, Mr. Tark?” The fairy looked to him for an answer.
Tark sighed loudly. “We wait and see what Gurdail has to offer in the way of transportation back to Seaside, I guess.”
“Great! I wonder how long we’ll be stuck on this floating prison.” Ado grumbled.
“Do you think I could come with you? I mean, back to Villinsk,” the lady clarified. “I don’t know how much more of the pirate life I can handle.”
“You two, enough chatting, get back to work!” One of the deckhands shouted. Ado and Nivit were careful to stay out of sight.
Tark looked to the shouting crewman and nodded. He then turned to the lady handing her another bucket of fish. “We’ll see what Kottia has to say. It’s her ship after all.”
The lady wrinkled her brow. She did not like that answer or the pushy pirate woman. He directed the rest of his statement to his little companions.
“The plan is to stay hidden and stay close. Unless something changes, we’ll leave at Gurdail.”
Ado grumbled and turned invisible. Nivit nodded and shifted into the form of a small seagull. Kreasha watched the impressive display of magic, and then turned back to her chore at hand. She also looked at the two extra buckets of fish Tark had just brought. The lady was regretting her choice to boa
rd the ship more than any of them could know. Right now, she wanted to cry or scream or maybe even hit someone.
- Chapter 29 -
Dark Waters
Tark walked along the deck, headed back to his small room. The ship was not that big and he arrived shortly. The big man felt out of place aboard the Siren. Though allowing him to roam the ship freely, the crew always watched Tark closely. Evidently, word had spread of his bad luck status, for no one spoke to him and all avoided his presence for any length of time. He had often heard that the seafaring peoples were very superstitious, now he knew it to be true. The only people aboard the ship that did not seem afraid of him, besides his little companions, were the captain, the mage, the dwarf, and lizard man, and of course the Lady Kreasha. The woman had all but attached herself to the big man’s side. Since she knew about his little friends, he simply accepted her company. He did not want to chance their exposure. Originally, the ebony-haired woman reminded him of another lady in his life. He quickly learned she was nothing like Dalia. Though they were both noble bred and held a refined beauty, they were very different women. Dalia was thoughtful, strong, and self-sufficient. She had gentleness and warmth behind her delicate exterior. Kreasha was none of those things. The woman was friendly enough, but everything about her seemed superficial and self-centered. She was the type of lady Tark had grown to expect during his days as a gladiator in Drackmoore. They were all detached from the world and looking down their noses on everyone else around them. All of her concerns circled around her own well-being, and her identity was tied to her family name and reputation. The woman was also spoiled and had no concept of what it was to work for a living. The gladiator found her to be very boring. She had high cheekbones, a pert nose, and full lips, but looking at her was only good for so long. The lady seemed more concerned with the state of her gown than the state of her country. She barely even mentioned the war, as if it did not exist. Tark thought of how Dalia had fought for a country that was not even her own. It only made him respect her all the more.
His every day was filled with tasks of physical labor assigned by the captain or one of her underlings. The big man did not mind, though, for it helped him to pass the time. He spent every night with Ado, Nivit, and his random and restless visions. The flashing images were growing more intense and his ankle tattoo had begun to itch. Both realizations made him uncomfortable. The Lady Kreasha would often join him in the evenings for idle and boring conversation. She had been given a semi-free reign of the ship as well. Her own tasks had all but vanished. The noblewoman did not seem to be good at anything that was useful to the crew. When she asked to be released with the gladiator at Gurdail, they were more than happy to comply. She was from Villinsk and they did not plan on going back there anytime soon, thus they would just be towing her around until they could head back for a reward that may or may not exist. The captain did not think she was worth the time or the trouble.
Gurdail was a taboo subject among the crew. For some reason, they all avoided the topic. Once, Tark had asked Sarry about the dwarf port. He figured that maybe being a dwarf himself, he might know more about the place. The stout little man seemed uncomfortable with its mention and merely informed him that the port would be reached soon.
It took some time and effort, but the gladiator did manage to engage the elusive ship’s mage in a private conversation. She had nothing else to add on the dwarf town, besides a passing mention of it being under a curse. She casually turned the discussion to focus on the blue gem. The tall, redheaded woman was very restless in his presence. It was as if it bothered her to look directly at him. Xina could only tell him that she could see an intense aura of importance about him. She knew nothing of the artifact or its history, only that it held great power and purpose. Needless to say, the meeting was very disappointing. Tark hoped to learn something about his destiny from the woman.
On this night, Tark relaxed on his cot with his little friends nearby. Both Ado and Nivit had been ill since boarding the vessel. They required frequent visits to a bucket Tark kept in the corner of the room, and were having trouble keeping any food down. They wanted nothing more than to be done with this whole sailing business. The big man was glad to share the news he had received earlier in the evening. He could barely stand the smell anymore, and he was tired of having to constantly go out on deck and dump the contents of the bucket overboard. He was sure the entire crew thought him diseased as well as cursed.
“You will both be happy to know that Gurdail is less than two days away.”
Ado and Nivit began cheering happily. The gladiator neglected to mention that everyone spoke of the port town with a strange foreboding, if they spoke of it at all. Whatever the troubles, all they needed was a way back to Seaside. Kreasha had also learned of their nearing arrival, though her joy seemed much more contained.
“Dwarf port or not, I’ll be ready to kiss somebody’s dirty little feet if they can just get me back to solid ground!” Ado squeaked. “Maybe we can even find a way to transport us back to Seaside without taking another ship. I wonder if any mages live there. I doubt a mage that could help us would want to live at a dwarf port. I sure wouldn’t want to.” It was obvious the gremlin did not look forward to sailing again.
“Yea! Land!” Nivit chirped as she twirled in circles about the small room. Only her pure happiness kept her from losing the contents of her stomach again.
“Herrin will have had a couple of weeks to study those old writings by the time we get back. I hope she’s found something useful,” Ado grinned. “Then we can be done with this whole quest nonsense.”
“And, Herrin and I can get back to the woods, and our garden. I bet Lilelee is awfully lonely since we left,” the fairy sighed. “She really hates being alone. It’s sad that she can’t leave her tree, or maybe she’d be with us right now.” It was clear that the tiny girl missed her adopted home and family badly.
The thought almost brought a tear to Tark’s eye. How he would love to be done with it all. Then he could start a new life, doing whatever felt right. He could possibly even locate Dalia again. He would find a place of his own; maybe raise some livestock. It had been so long since he truly had a home. Everything about that adventure brought joy to his heart. He pushed the dreams from his mind. It was too much to hope for. As long as he held the artifact, his life would be beyond his control. Thinking back on his childhood village of Minta, he wondered if he might actually be cursed. Could he ever have a normal life?
“First things first,” he mumbled. “I’ll take this one step at a time.”
The little ones eventually settled down to sleep and Tark returned to his night of jumbled visions. To Tark’s great pleasure, the lady had declined to join them this evening. He was not in the mood for any more of her endless chatter about the finer things in life. During the flashing pictures, one distinct image caught his attention. It was those black hungry eyes, searching for him. They floated by a couple of times before they locked onto him. He suddenly recognized that evil glare. It undoubtedly belonged to his former master, Meiron. His ankle tattoo, the black twisting dragon, began to burn. Tark heard a maniacal laughter echo in his head as the image faded. The realization sent a chill up his spine. The Dark Lord had found him somehow. The gladiator jolted upright on his cot with a shout that awakened his miniature companions.
“What is it?” Ado screeched in fear. The gremlin was prepared to cast an invisibility spell.
“Is everything alright, Mr. Tark?” Nivit asked sleepily.
The big man rubbed away the burning sensation from his ankle. “I must warn the captain and crew! The Dark Lord has found me!” Tark all but shouted as he jumped to his feet and threw on his clothes.
He dashed from the room to find Kottia and warn her of the danger headed their way. He only hoped the woman did not decide to toss him overboard for the effort. The big man knocked loudly on Kreasha’s door as he passed.
“Warn her!” He called out to his companions as he ran on.
“What is the meaning of this, Drackmoorian?” Kottia grumbled.
“It better be good,” Sslath seconded the motion with a hissing growl and a twitch of his thick tail.
“Have ye lost yer mind, man?” The dwarf scratched his long braided beard sleepily.