The sharks and fish people charged in, fearless before their enemies. Instead of rushing in to attack the air breathers with their weapons, they swam several feet over the heads of the interlopers and threw weighted nets down on top of them. Malek was the first one captured within the net and was bore down by the weighted webbing to the seafloor. As his body threw up a small cloud of silt as he hit the soft sand, several of the fish creatures dashed in to secure the net and their prize.
Borik and Maude charged after the fallen cleric in an attempt to rescue him, but the undersea dwellers were far swifter and darted between them, jabbing at them with their spears and tridents. Maude and Borik quickly found themselves separated as they defended themselves from the swift attacks. Tarth launched another swarm of magical bolts, striking four of them and driving them away from his friends. His valiant effort to defend his friends cost him as several of the creatures darted in and wrapped the wizard up in a strong net. They bundled Tarth up so tightly with the net that the he could barely twitch a hand much less cast a spell.
As Borik lashed out at two of the hideous-looking fish people with his axe, another group dropped a net from above. It was quickly becoming apparent that the surface dwellers were unaccustomed to fighting in this three dimensional environment and were at a severe disadvantage even if they had not been outnumbered five to one.
Another group attempted to drop a net on Maude but, as it dropped toward her, she swung her massive sword in an overhand chop that swept the net over and away from her. She charged toward the group that was securing Tarth in an attempt to free the wizard in hopes that he had a spell that could help them all escape.
As she swam forward, two of the fish people holding Tarth swam at her. She readied herself for the charge, but instead of attacking her with their spears, they suddenly broke apart and darted several feet to each side of the warrior woman. Between the two fish men was a rope that caught Maude across her waist. The two fish people turned in toward each other, crossed behind Maude, and wrapped her up in the rope swimming concentric circles around her, tightly wrapping the rope around her torso, arms, and finally her legs.
The warrior shouted, cursed, and struggled against the creatures that had captured her and her party. One of the scaled creatures swam toward her and spoke.
"Quiet, air breather! You have trespassed in the waters belonging to the mighty Pescaran people, and your lives are now ours," the creature informed them.
“We didn’t mean to trespass!” Maude shouted defensively. “How were we to know this was your territory?”
"It makes no difference. Everything in the sea belongs to the Pescarans. You are in the sea, so you belong to the Pescarans."
Maude saw that the voice did not actually come from the mouth of the Pescaran but from a large snail-like shell that hung from around its neck.
Now that the battle had died down, the party of surface dwellers got a better look at these undersea people. Fine, dark blue and green scales covered the ocean dwellers and a large dorsal fin that ran down the length of their backs, which they raised and lowered at will. When the creature spoke, they could see that rows of small but needle-sharp teeth filled their wide mouths. The hands grasping their weapons and nets, as well as their feet, were webbed and their toes and fingers were tipped in sharp claws nearly an inch long.
"What are you going to do with us? What will happen to us?" asked Maude.
“You will die, of course," the fish-man said with a laugh that sounded like a man drowning." “King Icxzantrelix will decide the manner of your death.”
Pescaran warriors slung the humans, dwarf, and elf onto the backs of sharks ridden by some of the Pescarans. The trussed up adventurers started to notice a difference in the seafloor the farther they traveled. Smooth sand gave way to more and more rocks and then ancient carved stone blocks and broken fluted columns.
As they neared the dark outline of huge rocks scattered about the seafloor, they could see the silhouettes of dozens, perhaps hundreds of Pescarans. It soon became apparent that what they had mistaken for natural rock formations was actually the ruins of a long ago destroyed city. Few of the coral and barnacle-encrusted buildings had roofs or doors. Maude guessed it would be rather pointless except for privacy purposes.
Their captors deposited them onto the stone floor of what was once a grand hall. Maude looked up at the large Pescaran seated on a stone throne atop a dozen stone steps and she figured this was once the throne room of a long lost civilization.
"I see you have brought me gifts, Traxillarxis," the creature on the throne gurgled.
The Pescaran king was noticeably larger than nearly all of the other fish people and sported rings of gold and gems on his fingers as well as one through his nose. However, what truly caught Maude and her companions’ attention was the ornate silver trident the king gripped in his scaly, clawed fist.
The trident was magnificent, wrought in some silver metal that reflected like an exquisite glass mirror. Runes, sigils, and artistic depictions of undersea creatures and battles covered every inch of its impressive length. Each engraving glowed with a faint blue eldritch light that made them recognizable even from this distance.
"Great King Icxzantrelix, we captured these air breathers a few leagues from here. They killed several of our people as well as several noble sharks."
The King’s gills flapped open and closed in obvious agitation. "Take them to the arena pit; they will fight for our amusement. Send word throughout the city that we shall have a tournament of historic proportions!"
Guards floated the surface dwellers out of the once magnificent hall and across the ruined city. Every Pescaran citizen stopped and stared as the guards paraded them down the streets. Their captors shouted to the onlookers that before them were the newest additions to the arena games. They exalted their crimes of trespassing and desecration of their sacred sharks. They would fight for the pleasure and entertainment of the people before the Pescarans feasted on their flesh.
The procession wound around the avenues of the city for the better part of an hour before being taken to a massive, circular arena somewhere near the center of the city.
The arena was a huge stone construction full of arches and built-in stone benches. A large coral gate opened at their approach and the party taken below the arena into a large corridor filled with cells. Coral gates, similar to the one closing off the ramp that led down here from the arena pit, secured the individual cells.
The Pescaran guards deposited Maude and her group into one of the larger cells. They noticed that a few of the cells were occupied by Pescarans while the majority of others by another aquatic race. Their captors freed them of nets that tightly bound them and removed all of their weapons then left them largely to themselves. Once the guards were out of sight, one of the other prisoners began to speak in an unknown language.
The new sea creature was more delicate-looking than the Pescarans and lacked the large dorsal fin down the back. The scales covering their bodies were smaller although they too had webbed hands and feet. Unlike the Pescarans, the slender fingers did not end in vicious claws. Maude and her group gave the aquatic prisoner looks of incomprehension until Tarth replied to one of the apparent questions in his native tongue. This brought about a broken conversation between the two that went on for several minutes until Maude finally interjected.
"Tarth, can you understand her?" she asked.
"Yes, Maudeline, though at first I did not realize it because the dialect is quite off from my own. However, it is unmistakably elven in origin," Tarth explained. "It would appear that she and her captured companions are of the legendary sea elves. It is quite fascinating. I had never thought to see one myself."
"Can she speak common or Valerian?" Maude asked.
"Yes, I am sorry I did not attempt your common tongue first. I am afraid my people have very few dealings with surface dwellers. My name is Zathenlanis," the sea elf replied in broken but understandable trade tongue.
"My name is Maude. This is Malek and Borik, and Tarth you already spoke to."
"It is a pleasure to meet you all. I wish it had been under better circumstances. It saddens me to see that the first surface dwellers I have spoken to in decades are prisoners sentenced to die in the arena. But that is the fate that awaits us all, unfortunately," Zathenlanis lamented.
"What are you and your people doing down here? Are the Pescarans an enemy of your people?" Malek asked the sea elf.
"Oh yes, we have been mortal enemies since time immemorial. We were on a patrol of our territorial borders when a larger group of Pescarans captured us in a raid. Whenever anyone is caught by the evil Pescarans they are either publicly tortured and executed or forced to fight in the arena."
"How long have you and your friends been prisoners here?" inquired Maude.
"We have been here for nearly a moon cycle. We have lost seven out of a score of our brethren in the arena. If you win the battle you are in, you will live to fight in another battle. I fear that the crowds are getting bored of us, and we will soon be put in a battle we are unlikely to survive."
"What do you fight in the arena?"
"Usually sea creatures like giant octopus, sharks, death rays, and Morkoths. Morkoths are the worst. They are huge, evil creatures with tentacles like an octopus, a head like a frog, and teeth like a shark. We often must fight Pescaran criminals, professional gladiators, or just those wanting to prove themselves in battle. They once tried to get us to fight each other but we would choose death and torture before we would do that, so they eventually stopped trying."
"What keeps people or the sea creatures from escaping once they are in the arena? It's not as if there is a roof on the damn thing," Borik demanded to know in his typical brusque fashion.
"Pescaran priests are able to conjure some sort of field that the marine species do not like. This drives them back if they get too near the assembled crowd or the top of the arena. There are also dozens of guards along the top of the arena armed with spears and harpoons to prevent escape. The priests are also able to control the more animal-like creatures with a limited form of mind control similar to the way they control their sharks."
"These bars are made of coral, why can't I break them? Coral shouldn't be that tough," Maude stated as she wrenched on the rough white bars.
"The coral is grown and strengthened by the priests’ spells. It is nearly as strong as your iron."
"Can't your people free you? Are they not strong enough to try a rescue or invasion?" Maude asked the sea elf.
"This is a strong city with many Pescarans. An invasion would be costly to both sides. My people would surely attempt to free us and wage battle against the city, but King Icxzantrelix possesses an artifact of terrible power. My people are helpless against it. We have had to keep moving to hide from Icxzantrelix before he can coordinate an assault against our homes. As long as he possesses the trident, my people must live in fear of discovery."
"Is that the trident we saw him with when we were brought before him? It was silver with glowing runes and etchings," Maude asked as she described the magnificent looking weapon.
"Yes, he is never parted from it. It is what keeps him in power. Pescarans believe power gives the right to rule. Without the trident, others would continually challenge him for leadership. With it, none dares to stand against him," Zathenlanis explained.
"That must be what we were sent to retrieve. If we could get the trident away from Icxzantrelix, would you help us fight and escape?"
"Of course, I would give anything to be free of this prison and their tormenting. If you could take the trident away where the Pescarans could not use it against my people, then we would finally be able to defend ourselves. My people would be deeply indebted to you."
"Tarth, how long will this spell of yours last?" Maude asked the wizard.
"Hm? Oh, about twelve hours I should say, my dear Maude. I have another currently prepared and will ensure that I keep at least one ready for casting at all times, so long as they let me meditate and study," the elf replied.
"How are you going to study without your spell book you dopey elf?" Borik asked.
Tarth shot him a knowing look and replied, "A good wizard is never without his spell book."
"So yours is on the boat or what?" the dwarf shot back.
"Humph, I have it right here, you spindly-legged little cretin," Tarth shot back, pulling his spell book out of a magical pocket in his voluminous robes.
"Great, your book is sure to be a soggy pulpy mess now, jellyfish brains."
"Any wizard worth his salt protects his precious tome from such mundane maltreatment as water and fire, so there," Tarth returned frostily before sticking his tongue out at the rude dwarf to emphasize his point.
"By the gods, Tarth, the wrinkles really jut out of your face when you do that. Careful or they may just stay like that," the obnoxious dwarf said slyly.
Tarth let out a sharp squeal of distress, sucking his tongue back in his mouth and using his hands to pull his cheeks back in an attempt to remove any wrinkles that may have marred his perfect face.
"Stop it, you two," Maude ordered them both. "Let's get some rest and tend our wounds. Tarth will have to cast his spell on us again in a few hours and needs to rest, so let's all be ready. I'm sure we will be fighting again soon."
The group rested while Tarth was lost in his spell book and meditations. Malek healed the mostly minor wounds they had received in their battle against the sharks and Pescarans. Borik was the worst with several deep bruises from the vicious bites and subsequent ingestion from the huge monster that attacked him. Maude also had several deep bruises, a few puncture marks, and sprains from the shaking she received.
Later that evening, Tarth recast his spell that allowed the party to survive and act beneath the seas. The morning meal consisted of raw, unseasoned fish. Around what Maude assumed was noon the guards came for them to compete in their first battle. They just hoped it would not be their last.
Guards led the party of surface dwellers out of their cells and back up the long ramp toward the "surface" and the inner circle of the arena. When they emerged into the arena, a loud roar filled their ears from the shouts and screams of nearly a thousand Pescarans, the power of their voices amplified by the water. Their numbers did not come close to filling the seats of the ancient arena and Maude was very pleased to see that. It meant that escape was far more likely than if Pescaran citizens filled the seats to the capacity of the thirty or forty thousand people it could accommodate.
The guards returned the surface dwellers’ weapons, pointed out the guards and priests along the rim of the arena, and gestured with a claw across the throat that left no question of what would happen if they tried to flee.
From an even larger door leading down a different ramp at the far side of the arena, handlers herded out numerous large manta rays. There was at least a score of the creatures and as they began to swim nearer, they could tell that these were no ordinary rays. Their mouths were filled with razor-sharp teeth much like a shark and they moved with intelligence greater than a person would normally attribute to a mere fish.
The crowd cheered as the death rays made their aggressive advance toward the surface dwellers. The crowd knew they kept the evil rays starved and were hungry and aggressive. Tarth cast a spell that conjured several images of himself to confuse the enemy, Malek chanted a prayer to Solarian to aid his friends in battle, and Maude and Borik took up defensive positions around the cleric and wizard to protect each other’s backs.
A few of the bolder, or perhaps hungrier, rays darted in hoping to draw first blood. Maude launched a vicious attack, bringing her sword around in a swift and powerful swipe that nearly cut one of the rays in twain. Borik and Malek swung at another ray that sought to get the first taste of blood and received an axe and a hammer to the spine for its trouble.
The next attack came as a concerted effort as the rays swarmed en masse. The fighters’ swings were a flurry
of blows in a wild attempt to ward off the snapping jaws and long, lashing barbed tails of the death rays. Tarth sent a fireball streaking out to the outer edge of the attacking throng of evil fish. They could all feel the sudden rise in the water temperature as a ball of steam boiled several rays alive.
Maude lashed out again and cleaved deeply into another ray, but three more bit down hard on her arm, leg, and torso and commenced to trying to shake her apart since their teeth could not penetrate the strong steel of her full plate armor.
Borik and Malek did not have such near-impenetrable protection. As Borik swung at another ray before it swiftly darted out of harm’s way, a second got behind him and bit down on his thigh. The sharp teeth of the ray pierced the chain links that protected his arms and legs. The dwarf could feel the ray's teeth sink into his flesh but not deeply. He gripped the handle of his axe high up on the haft and brought it down on the head of the deadly fish that was gnawing on his leg. The axe failed to bite deep enough for an immediately lethal blow due to the lack of leverage the modified grip afforded, but it parted the skin and scales of the ray deep enough to draw a significant amount of blood. The ray released its grip and swam quickly but unsteadily away from the dangerous meal.
Malek turned swiftly at a movement at his back and had just enough time to glimpse a death ray close its mouth around Tarth’s head and torso. He let out a cry of shock and surprise before watching the image of the wizard dissolve into nothingness. Saved by his duplicate, Tarth reached out and touched the ray with a slender delicate hand. The motion and the touch seemed more like a delicate caress than an attack, but the results were readily apparent. The ray began to twist and spasm in the water before falling still and floating toward the top of the arena on its long trek toward the surface.
Studying the results of his shocking touch gave Tarth an idea. He began waving his arms and chanting the words to another spell. He thrust his hand out toward the largest group of rays, several of which were chewing on and shaking Maude in her armor or circling nearby hoping for their turn. Arcs of electricity suddenly filled the area. Maude, Borik, and Malek let out cries of pain and alarm. The three companions felt every muscle in their body contract as the electricity ran its searing course through their bodies. The effect on the rays was even more dramatic. A dozen of the killer fish immediately began writhing and twisting in the water, the ones latched onto Maude let go and joined in the strange spastic display before falling still and floating upwards.
The Sorcerer's Ascension (The Sorcerer's Path) Page 39