Naoromi listened carefully saying, "There is just one voice. I think it is Shefar."
The woman seemed confused by the use of magic as she looked questioningly at her sister. Nodding in turn, Yaroma replied, "That is Shefar, but just one siren singing is rather uncommon. I wonder why she would risk using her magic alone?"
"Well, it seems to be coming from the same place you and your sisters tried to capture our men when we came across you the first time," Sebastian said and gestured with his hand as if to give everyone a push forward. The other mages understood the gesture easily enough and began to walk forward with their hands touching their swords' grips.
Mages were enough of a weapon without a sword and everyone capable of magic had the defensive runes if not more. Even Ashleen, whose lightning could defend her without directing it, had let him place the marks invisibly on her. Most of the women of the north weren't fans of marking their bodies, but the invisible runes meant they could be protected and only notice them when something triggered their defense.
Yaroma pulled at Olan's hand leading the way. The women had been told to direct the deafened men in case such a thing had happened. Sebastian had hoped there would be no incident, but preparing had led them to bring a force consisting of more than half their number being women. Sirens couldn't control them and they could protect their male team members.
When they arrived at the inlet separating the two islands, a young blonde haired woman floating in the water could be seen singing. A tail flipped forward driving the girl back towards the far island at the sight of the group walking towards her. At first panic from seeing so many women among the men, who weren't walking in a daze at all despite her magic, crossed the girl's eyes; but then she caught sight of the two dark haired sisters leading the two mages.
"Yaroma, Naoromi, you're back!" the younger girl cried out stopping her song in her surprise.
Sebastian noted several men and women lurking in the brush beneath the trees on the far side of the water. They were dressed lightly like the locals had been when they had arrived. The blonde mermaid only wore a green bra like garment above the tail. It looked like waxed leaves somehow sewn together as if they used one of the local plants for weaving and maintained the properties of a leaf.
"Shefar, why are you using your magic?" the elder sister called out in complaint. "You could have snared our friends!"
Blinking in surprise, the mermaid swam closer asking in return, "You're not being coerced by more pirates?"
The question seemed odd and it was Sebastian who asked, "Have more pirates returned since we left you the fort?"
"Ah, the nice man who freed us is with you!" Shefar waved back at the trees. She called to those hiding badly, "It's safe!
Without the siren's song playing, the men with him removed the ear plugs and Sebastian returned to his body while the girl swam to the water's edge changing back to a human girl before wading through the last couple feet to greet her sisters. Not from the same mother's womb as the two dark haired girls, Shefar was a sister because the sirens related to one another as such since their group was so exclusive.
"Why are you afraid of pirates?" Sebastian asked again bringing the conversation back to his worry for their people.
Her blue eyes, slightly large like the other mermaids had, looked to the mage making a face that implied repulsion. "We tried to do as you told us. We held the pirates inside new cages as our prisoners, but there were those among our people who still sympathized with them. They talked the others into letting some of the pirates help us work the fields.
"Since no one wanted to feed the prisoners off more of our hard work, it wasn't that difficult to convince them. We knew to be careful and didn't let them all out at any one time, but some of them escaped from the fields. Then another group with two of the wizards managed to disappear from the cages, but no one saw them leave. Only a hole in the cage and one in the wall behind it left any evidence that they had burned their way out of it."
Her eyes turned dark and dropped away towards the ground, "They killed the remaining two wizards for fear of them escaping as well."
Sebastian felt a pain in his heart with that confession. For all his attempts to end things peacefully, the merfolk had put two men to death for the crimes of the others. "Did the ships come to collect the rest?"
The girl's eyes brightened slightly as she nodded. "A ship from... Talu?"
"Talos," he corrected for the girl knowing the first allied land he could inform of the pirates' capture. Talos had been a brief stop on the way west and home.
"Yes, that was it," Shefar nodded sending her blond hair cascading down the front of her shoulders onto her chest. The deep green of her top made the light blond hair stand out like sunlight in a clearing. "A ship from Talos came to take away the captain and those who remained. They offered to leave behind a few soldiers as well, but the elders said that they could try to bring them in now that the others were no longer necessary to guard.
"They only asked them to send another ship from time to time to check up on us so they could put them on 'trial' as they called it."
Sebastian heard the story and asked, "And have you found the ones who disappeared?"
"The hunters found a few dead, or at least they said that they were dead when they found them. Noram leads the hunters now and no one questioned it. A few of us wondered if they killed them instead of having to try guarding them once more."
"Maybe I should see what help we can offer while we're here then," Sebastian offered gesturing towards the water with an open hand.
The younger girl nodded and quickly joined her sisters. Using their amulets and mumbled words of power, the three walked into the water and soon had tails to begin swimming across. They didn't offer to help the others swim across as they had months before. Liam stepped up and began to chant a spell instead.
Ice formed into a bridge reaching from one beach to the other making an easy, if slippery crossing for the others. While most of the group attempted to cross the thick ice as it lifted and fell slightly with the waves entering the islet, Sebastian called on a large, blue mage shield. Cast horizontally, he called upon more in a line as he held Ashleen's hand. The two began walking across his line of shields. Never more than four created at one time, the couple crossed as quickly as the others. Water rippled over the blue shields, but Ashleen was barefoot and his boots could take more than a couple inches of water.
Elzen saw his temporary platforms and began trying the same thing. His strength was a little less and his ability to juggle multiple shields wasn't as strong, but creating two shields at a time the younger mage looked like he was playing a game as he stepped from one shield to another casting a new one with each step.
The minor obstacle passed, the expedition was led on a minor path by the barefoot Shefar. A cleared trail was virtually unnoticed and felt at times like they were just walking through openings in the brush, but it continued without having to cut away at the greenery around them. Sebastian noticed that two of the islanders remained where they entered the path keeping their selves hidden.
"Shefar, how did you know that we were coming?"
"Noram set up lookouts around the island. A few spots on the island are tall enough to watch the beaches of the closest islands. When they saw people stepping out of a glowing doorway onto the beach, I hurried to my position. There are only three of us here who can use the song to protect us, so we take turns and have our assigned points to cover."
Thinking that their use of the siren song felt unethical, Sebastian also realized that the unique magic was probably the strongest defense they actually had. These were farmers and former slaves. Few of them were likely to have any training with weapons though they had inherited a decent arsenal from the pirates they had imprisoned after Sebastian and his people had liberated the tribe.
"Are your people familiar with all the islands now, Shefar?" he asked the girl thinking that the islands separated by small bodies of water were really li
ke a small country in size. If they had been under the pirates' control and been held to just the one island or whichever islands were used for farming to feed the settlement, then they might not have a clear picture of where the pirates could hide.
"They haven't examined them all yet. The escaped slavers have halted some of our exploration, but we did find something important." The girl left off what that was as she gestured to the fort ahead of them.
The wood walled fort had changed a lot in a matter of months. The jungle had been cleared back for hundreds of feet and new houses with gardens stood out from the fifteen foot wall. With the number of houses, Sebastian wondered if most of the tribe had moved outside of the walls.
"Did some of the sailors from Talos remain behind or have new ships come to bring settlers here?" he asked trying to figure out why they had left the relative security of the wooden walls if pirates still roamed the islands in small numbers.
She shook her head. "Hidden people from the tribe found our hunters and many moved here to join us."
The little blond mermaid looked to see if anyone from the group unknown to her were listening to the conversation as she lowered her voice. "Some of our people must have escaped to the water with some amulets. They weren't the special ones my sisters and I use, but they could change and a druid has been able to make more as that faction of the tribe grew without notice from the pirates.
"Not everyone was willing to rejoin us on land, of course, but some have and the others are still helping us with trade and other help."
This was surprising news. Instead of a small tribe that would be lucky to number forty, there were apparently other factions on and around the islands as well. They would have to guard the secret of the origins of their people, but perhaps using a different access point and walking from another island could help disguise that in the future.
Sebastian looked and saw that only Ashleen was likely to hear their words. "Remember to keep their real homes a secret. I don't fear that these people will spread the story, but should the wrong people hear, more than just slavers could try to capture your people."
Her big blue eyes looked at him soberly proving that Shefar already knew that much. She was young but her life had been exposed to the evils man could commit against their fellow men and women. The warning wasn't needed, but was a reminder none the less.
Entering the fort, Sebastian found more changes. Most of the large cages originally used to hold the remnant of the tribe day and night had been destroyed. A single cage remained while more houses filled the space as did dozens of children and adults going about their business. Actual shops had been set up to make tools, distribute food and clothing, as well as several other necessary tasks for a budding community.
Two familiar looking individuals came forward to meet them followed by several more that looked less like the people he had found trapped in those cages.
"Falcon Sebastian, it is good to see you again, but how have you come here?" an older woman with similar features to Yaroma and her sister asked as she approached them with a smile. The larger man beside her held a frown, but Sebastian wasn't sure if it was for them or something else already bothering the hunter.
"We have discovered new magic that can move us between two points however distant in a short time," the mage said and felt the older mages and wizards tense up at his offhand comment. This wasn't a community of wizards, however, so Sebastian didn't feel the need to mask the truth from them. A community that had no ships wasn't advanced enough to have trained wizards anyway after all. "It was time to bring your daughters home, Mirom, and I was able to find a path here; so here we are."
"That is a very handy magic," the dark haired woman admitted with a nod. "You bring more than just my daughters, however, so I wonder what else you hope to do here."
Going through the quick introductions of Falconi Brelan as well as wizards Oltus and Dinah; Sebastian stated, "With our new magic and the ability to travel so far, and with permission from the king of Southwall, we came to see if your people would like to join us in an alliance and trade. We know that you are just beginning to establish yourselves here and hoped to be able to maybe bring more of our people here to help you."
Looking around as if she needed to take in the nature around them, Wizard Dinah added, "Your islands are very beautiful from what I have seen and the weather is much warmer than Southwall. If the king will permit the use of portals to come here, I think that many of the nobles of Southwall would find this an ideal place to vacation during our harsh winters.
"If there were homes and services available here provided by your people, you could charge a lot of gold to help bring in commerce for trade. If you allowed them to build homes to live here alongside your people, that would go a long way to build even stronger relations between our people. We are simply here to see what you would like to do."
Oltus nodded and added, "Falcon Sebastian suggested our coming, but we only came to find out if your people would be receptive to our presence here. We could establish an outpost here with soldiers to help protect your interests as well, but if you were to tell us to go away, there would be no hurt feelings either."
The hunter looked ready to tell them to go away and started to take a breath to speak when Mirom placed her hand against his chest. Speaking for her tribe as elder and leader of her people, the woman replied, "Our people have some trust issues since few who have come here have brought positive actions with them. While I would need to bring others from the tribe to discuss how far we would like to extend our friendship, I think we should remain open to your ideas.
"Also we owe much to Falcon Sebastian. He saved us from slavery after all." She looked to the mage and added, "I hope that my daughters managed to repay at least some of our debt. They were insistent on following you, though I hadn't been fond of the idea of their leaving. Too many of our people have left to never return."
"They did well," Sebastian assured her, "but the time of service was over in my opinion. I never asked to be repaid. We simply did what we believed was right.
"Now I hope we can help each other. The portals can be set to let your people visit Hala and perhaps other cities in Southwall as well as we figure out where we stand. Wizard Nartreya is a nature wizard and can help you research products you have that might be valuable as well as being helpful in what might be brought here to grow as cash crops.
"Other types of wizards and researchers can be at your disposal as well as the soldiers, Oltus mentioned."
The woman smiled politely, but the mage knew a tolerant smile when he saw one. It would take time and much negotiating to figure out where they stood with the merfolk, which had the added worry of protecting the secret of those living beneath the waves as well.
After continuing to talk for awhile, the mages and wizards who weren't there to directly discuss the future with the locals began to wander the inner fort's courtyard like grounds. They spoke with the people there getting to know both the people and some of their needs. Worries were spoken of and Sebastian with Ashleen beside him found himself hoping that these people would let them help.
Olan and Yaroma continued to hope to marry, which left the man sweating as he prepared to speak with her family to discuss something beyond the union between their two peoples. Elzen wandered with Naoromi beside him watching as the young woman continued to greet her friends and family who she had left behind. While the younger mage certainly liked the mermaid, no one saw that relationship growing like her older sister's with Olan.
It was only a little while after Sebastian was looking at the members of his group circulating amongst the tribe that he realized that Evie had disappeared.
"Where did that girl go?" he asked aloud drawing Ashleen's eyes to him.
"Who?" she asked.
"Evie's wandered off. I don't see her anywhere in the fort."
Rilena had been walking nearby and overheard her friend. Looking around as well, she added to his comment complaining, "What is that girl u
p to now?"
Speaking in a calm voice, Ashleen replied, "I'm sure that she is fine. We just need to see if anyone noticed her wander off."
They began asking the people around them as they began their search. Most had no idea, though the little red head was remarkable enough to be noticed. Like Serrena's curly auburn hair, which caught the light with red highlights, Evie's hair stood out from the predominantly brunette tribe's folk. There were a few blondes, usually among the young, but Sebastian hadn't noticed any with red hair like the wilder's.
When a younger girl remembered seeing Evie with Shefar walking towards the front gate of the fort, Sebastian let Falconi Brelan know that he needed to find the girl outside.
Rilena and Ashleen refused to let him go alone, though the mage thought he could make better time if he did. Still after using the spell known as hound, Sebastian used his heightened sense of smell to find Evie's scent before following a path back towards the way they had come.
Chapter 22- Netted Fish
Evie wandered through the jungle following the narrow path worn between the fort and the inlet to the north. She walked with Shefar and the two girls found that they liked each other almost immediately.
"You know I never thought to try only changing halfway into an animal before," Evie commented to her new friend as they walked. Both girls remained barefoot, even though the plants had roots that could cause stubbed toes and broken branches or dried sticks could harm their feet.
"Mermaids aren't considered animals," Shefar corrected, though the red haired girl hadn't specifically said that was what she was thinking. "We're people who use magic to change into mermaids which can live beneath the sea without air the way humans do. Mother has tried teaching us the old myths about why the ancestors first left the land to find their way in the sea, but I admit that I haven't truly paid enough attention to remember why.
"I'm not sure anyone really knows anyway. They're just stories.
"I do know why my people left the ocean to stand on these islands though."
Battle Mage: Winds of Change (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 11) Page 32